Author's Note: Okay, I took a long time writing this fic. Thanks to Ermite and all the people who sent me reviews, I've read them, and I'm glad you liked my story, at least what I've got so far. It'll take me a little while to finish this story, because it's one of the most complicated fictions I've ever written, so be patient! But I promise the wait will be worthy!

Chapter 5: And they finally meet

Veronica stopped the car, and looked at David. She gently pulled him close to her, and caressed his hair. When she put her hand on his back, her fingers caught a tiny button behind his neck. She remembered the books she had read about Mecha technology, and she tried to guess what the button was for.

"Wait...isn't this the imprinting button? And what if I...?" she thought, but she immediately remembered what she had to do "no, no, I can't...I CAN'T!" she cried out, and David looked at her.

"Veronica...why are you crying?" he asked, but she covered her face, to hide her tears.

"No...it's nothing" she said, with tears in her eyes. How could she explain him what she was feeling, that she wanted to keep him? Would David understand? She had no idea.

"You're lying" he said, looking at her suspiciously "Mommy and I don't like people who lie" he added, and she leaned her head in his lap.

"David...I love you so much" she said "I wish you could stay with me..."

"But I'm here with you"

"No, you don't understand...I'd like you to be with me...forever" she whispered. David surprised a lot.

"No...my mommy...I love my mommy, and I know she loves me" he said innocently.

"She loves you? Then why did she leave you?" she said, half confused, half angry. He shrugged doubtfully, because he had the same question pitching in his little silicon brain.

"I don't know...but she must have had a good reason...she can't hate me, Veronica. I know she can't" he finally said, but then he saw the sad expression in her eyes and added hopefully "But I like you too" he smiled at her.

"David..." she said, and hugged him "You're right, David. You have a mother, and you should be with her. I'll do the right thing and I'll take you back with her" she thought as David returned her embrace with a tighter one and a sweet smile, and took the road that would lead her to New Jersey. 

-------------------------------------------

Long away from there, a woman was in a living room, sitting in a sofa near a window. Tapping her fingers against the windowsill, Monica Swinton looked to the streets, with tears in her eyes. The sky was full of stars, which, like tiny lamps, spread their light through the window to Monica's face.

Although it had been some days since she left him in the woods, she still felt horribly guilty. She looked at a picture she had in her hand; there were Monica, David and Teddy, during Martin's birthday, when the three of them were sitting in front of the pool, Teddy was in David's lap.

"Why did I leave him? Why?" she thought, as the tears falling from her eyes dampened the picture. Then she stood up, and she thought "Why do I have this really strange feeling?", as she looked to the sky through the window crystal, stained with drops of rain.

-------------------------------------------

Veronica, David and Teddy had arrived to New Jersey, the car quickly passed by lots of modern houses and buildings, until David saw one house that was very familiar to him...

"Yes! Here it is! That's my house, Veronica! That's it!" David said joyfully, excited with the thought of seeing his beloved Mommy again...

"Okay...we'll stop here, then" she said, parking the car in a corner nearby. Then they got out of the car, with Teddy clinging on David's back.

-------------------------------------------

Monica stood up and turned off the lights of the living room, and the windows showed a snowy garden with a mountain, like Mount Fuji. It was amazing what a hologram could do.

-------------------------------------------

Veronica took David's hand and led him to the house's entrance, then they walked through the small hallway and found a door. Then Veronica's finger firmly pressed the doorbell.

-------------------------------------------

Monica looked at the clock: it was 9 o'clock. Then she walked through the room to her bedroom, when she heard the doorbell ring.

"Who could be at this hour?" She asked herself as she walked to the doorway. Yawning constantly, she opened the door, and she held her breath when she saw who was at the door...

There was a tall, brown-haired girl, looking at her seriously. Besides her, there was a blonde-haired, blue-eyed little boy that was so familiar to her...

"D-David?!" Monica gasped, surprised, as David approached her.

"Mommy! I missed you so much!" he said cheerfully, hugging her so lovingly. Monica trembled slightly, and numbly responded to David's hug, not as tightly as he hugged her. She looked at the young girl in front of her, who was still besides David, like refusing to separate him from her. Veronica returned Monica's wondering glance with one full of confusion and seriousness.

"Wha..what are you doing here?...Who are you?" Monica asked. David smiled at her.

"She's my friend Veronica" he said "She found me in the forest, and brought me here, Mommy. She brought me back to you" he said with a sweet smile.

"You're David's mom, aren't you?" Veronica said, still with a blank, serious expression. David smiled at Veronica and nodded. The girl looked at Monica with a confused look on her face, studying the older woman, who looked like she would look in 10 years...

"I'm Veronica Adams" she finally said, smiling slightly "I found David last night wandering around in the woods...wonder what was he doing there" she added gingerly, as her eyes traveled from Monica's face to David's. Monica noticed it.

"David...why don't you go to your room while I talk to this nice lady" she said, and David smiled.

"Yes, Mommy. C'mon, Teddy" he said to his furry friend, who was clinging to David's back.

When David left, Monica looked at the younger girl in front of her, who looked pretty much like herself, just 10 or 12 years younger. Veronica shivered slightly through her green sweater, and Monica smiled at her.

"Oh, I forgot to offer you a seat" she said, as she sat down in the large sofa in the living room and patted the space besides her "Do you want to sit?" she offered, and Veronica obeyed.

"Thanks...Look, there's something I'd like to know" she said dully.

"And that is..."

"I just want to know why you left David alone" she said. "There, you said it" she thought "Couldn't you be a bit gentle?"

Monica's expression changed from seriousness to shock.

"Look, you don't understand..." she said, when she was interrupted by the girl.

"Maybe I don't know anything about you or your life" Veronica said very calmly "Or why did you adopt David...but why did you leave him? There must be a reason, nothing happens without a reason"

"And why do you think I left him?" Monica finally asked.

"Because he was there, completely alone, when he's s'possed to be with his mother...with a loving mother" she said, emphasizing the last two words.

"I do love him!" Monica almost cried.

"Really? You do? Then why was he alone, why did you throw him away?" Veronica asked, almost mockingly. The tone of her voice made Monica's heart ache more than before.

"I didn't throw him away!" she said "I saved him!"

"You saved him? From what? If I hadn't found him, he'd be caught by the Flesh Fair...or something worse than that" the girl said.

"I know!, And I'm really thankful for what you did, for saving David's life...that's more than I could do" Monica said.

"Look, I can't understand the reasons why you left him, but let me tell you he's a wonderful boy..." Veronica spoke "He might be a robot, but he's real to me. The way he feels, how he behaves with people, the incredible love he has to offer...because he HAS so much love inside him, so much to offer you, and you didn't want to accept it!, at least that's what it seems"

"You don't have the right to say-"

"And now you're here, safe in your house, completely oblivious about what happens to him, not caring if he's sad or if he's safe...have you wondered what would have happened if he were found by someone different and not me?"

"I tried to save him! He was going to be destroyed!" Monica said "My husband wanted to take him back to Cybertronics, so he'd be killed"

"And why? Didn't he want him anymore?"

"Well, he said David was a danger to us" Monica said, and told her everything that happened to them since Martin came back: the accident with the scissors, when David ate spinach, and when he tried to drown Martin...and when they discovered David was innocent. "Henry didn't want to listen to me, he obliged me to take David to the company to be destroyed...I couldn't do it. I just...couldn't. So I left him in the forest. At least he would survive"

"But without you" Veronica said "He loves you so much he walked through the forest looking for a Blue Fairy to be real...so you would love him...you mean the world for him. Doesn't that move your heart, even a bit? When he told me that, I...I felt so glad he loved you so much, even if you didn't deserve it...can't you see you hurt his little heart? He's a robot, but he has a HEART like the rest of us" she said, with tears in her eyes "I understand your reasons, but couldn't you find another solution?"

"There was no other choice!" Monica cried.

-------------------------------------------

While David was in the kitchen making some coffee for the women, he could barely hear what they were saying.

"Teddy, what are they talking about?" he asked, as Teddy passed him two mugs to pour the coffee in.

"I don't know" the bear answered as David poured the coffee.

"Why don't we go and see?" David suggested "Then I can give them the coffee"

"Okay" Teddy agreed and they walked to the living room.

-------------------------------------------

"Of course there should have been! One that wouldn't hurt him...maybe take him to some relatives or something. But you didn't think what he would feel, so you dumped him" Veronica said grimly.

"I-"

"You didn't care about him, so you left him. And if weren't for me, he'd still be out there, in danger. Maybe you didn't love him, but I do. I really do. But I decided to listen to my conscience and I brought him back...with his mother, with you, who threw him away when-"

"I didn't throw him away!" Monica said; the girl's words hurt her so much she felt her heart bleeding "At least I gave him a chance!"

"A chance for what? To feel the sadness for being rejected? A chance to die out there, with all those goons from the Flesh Fair around?" the girl asked.

"I warned him about that" Monica defeated "I told him everything he needed to know to be safe!"

"It's not the same thing! He's just a little boy who needs your love, and you didn't want to give it to him...all that means that you DID NOT LOVE HIM!" Veronica said angrily.

A loud crash of porcelain breaking could be heard from the fireplace. Both women looked at the tiny figure standing there, with a puddle of coffee and pieces of porcelain mugs around him. His face had an expression of surprise, wonder and confusion, his jaw dropped and his eyes wide open...

"David...?" Veronica gasped, when she saw David's shocked expression. Obviously he had heard her last words, which caused him a strong impact, that left him frozen...

"No...no...mommy..." he mumbled breathlessly "You...you don't...hate me...do you?" he asked slowly, and Monica looked at him, a sad expression formed in her face.

David looked at Veronica, who was startled as well.

"My mommy...does she hate me?" he asked her worriedly, and she reached out to him.

"David...look, I-" she tried to say, but he stopped her. His poor little brain was in so much chaos that he didn't know what to do, and his anger and confusion were sputtered in a few words...

"No...you...stop speaking!" he said, pushing Veronica off him. Then he ran away, breaking Monica's favorite glass table as he ran.

Monica looked at Veronica very angrily.

"Look what you've done!" she said, and Veronica just bowed her head, with tears in her eyes...

-------------------------------------------

David ran to his room, and slammed the door shut. He sat in a corner, his head between his hands. He needed to think, his mind was all messed up with the memories he had from his mommy and how much he loved her...now this girl who looks like her had just appeared in his life and made him feel confused...and all the doubts he had...his head was about to explode...

"David..." Teddy said, putting one of his furry paws on David's face, as if trying to comfort him.

"My brain is falling out" David said, moving his head to one side "Mommy...Veronica...why? Why are you doing this? I'm so confused...I don't know what to do..." he mumbled, wiping his eyes as if trying to wipe his tears away...

Then he remembered everything that happened in those two days he spent with Veronica, all the fun he had with that girl who liked him, the night at the hotel, the breakfast in the road, and when they were singing...then he remembered his mom, who had imprinted him. When she read to him and Martin, when she tucked him in the bed, and when he made coffee for her every morning...beautiful moments with two different people...or at least, that's what he thought. Maybe Monica and Veronica weren't so different...

Lots of images were crossing his mind: Monica smiling, then Veronica smiling...the coffee he made for his mommy every morning, and the chocolate Veronica was drinking in the car...Monica reading "Pinocchio" to him and Martin, then Veronica and him singing in the car...and the most important image, Monica tucking him on Martin's bed, then Veronica hugging him when they slept in the hotel's bed...

His brain seemed to collapse. His jaw dropped, and he felt a cold wave running through his body. But he didn't care. He CEASED to care about anything...the gyroscope inside his silicon brain stopped its normal functioning, and he fell backwards on the floor.

"Mommy...Veronica..." were his last words...

"David?" Teddy's voice called him, and the bear kneeled besides David's prostrated body. When he saw David's still body, he furrowed his brows and said "I have to call Mommy" and he ran out of the room.

-------------------------------------------

"Why did you do it?!" Monica yelled at Veronica.

"It was time for him to know! He must know the kind of mother he has!" the younger girl answered.

"But look what happened!" Monica said, when Teddy stepped into the living room. Both women looked at him.

"Teddy...where's David?" Monica asked.

"Mommy, David is in his room...but he..." Teddy stopped, and Veronica lifted him up.

"He...what? What's wrong, for Christ's sake!" she bellowed.

"Follow me" Teddy said and ran to David's room, followed by Monica and Veronica.

-------------------------------------------

When they arrived to David's room, they found a chaotic mess, because David had thrown everything on the floor in a furious despair. Veronica looked around the room, when something blue caught her eye. It was a blue shoe, and when she walked further, she found an unconscious, frozen little body in the floor...

"Oh, no...oh, no..." she mumbled "David, no...not you!" she cried, and shook David's body.

"Wha...David?!" Monica said, and reached Veronica, who was holding David's body into her arms.

"David, talk to me! Please!" she cried, but David's blank expression remained in his face, not changing "David, wake up! David!" she cried again.

"Oh, no..." Monica said, and shed some tears from her eyes "David...we...lost him..." she added when she saw David's frozen body. Veronica looked at her with all the fury she had.

"No...we didn't lose him...we CAN'T lose him..." she finally said, as she left the room, carrying David's body into her arms...

************************************

Author's Note: Whoa...another cliffy here! What will Veronica and Monica do now? Where will Veronica take David? And what will happen to him? Check out Chapter 6!