Sora: Hi. Guys! Sorry it's been so long since I last updated… but I'm back with another chapter, and that's all that matters, right? Well, I'll leave you guys for the short little update, okies?

Chapter 8: Van's Story

After their relaxing day at the park, it was soon time to return to the palace, before it got dark. Once at Rudolf's palace, everybody lined up to take a nice warm bath, including a very reluctant and grumbling Timber.

After that, they all went to the suite all six of them (Van, Fiona, Zeke, Irvine, Moonbay, and Timber, of course! ) would be staying in. The room was extremely large and luxurious with everybody having their own king-sized bed. The floor was covered in a plush carpet, and in the corner of the room was a roaring fireplace with a couple of comfy chairs all around.

Moonbay and Irvine were on the floor playing cards playing cards, while Van and Fiona were sitting before the fireplace reading. Zeke was curled up in a rug next to Van's bed, and Timber was stretched and purring in front of the comfortable fireplace.

The rest of the evening passed quietly, until Moonbay and Irvine started arguing over who won and who lost.

"Ha! I win! Royal Flush!" Moonbay declared, spreading her remaining cards for Irvine to see.

"It can't be, because I have the Ace of Spades." Irvine argued, showing his opponent the card.

Moonbay looked extremely confused. "Huh? But, it's right here!" she flashed him her identical Ace of Spades.

Irvine sighed and ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. "Two Aces of Spades? I'm tired of this game." He half-whined.

Moonbay puffed her cheeks while pouting. "You're only tired because you were losing!"

"Was not!"

"Was to!"

"Was not!"

"Was to!"

"Was NOT!!

"Ahhh! I can't take it anymore! Stop fighting!" Van yelled in frustration, making Moonbay and Irvine gape wide-eyed at him.

"Sorry." they apologized laughing sheepishly.

So much for that…

After half an hour or so, Van put down his large book, and sat down on the rug next to Zeke, leaving the book unfinished.

"Van, you still have 590 pages to go." Fiona pointed out, her Zoidian abilities enabling her to tell the number of unread pages a t a glance.

Van laid back, resting on Zeke. "I'm thinking of something else."

That piqued the fair-haired teen's interest. "Oh. About what?" she asked, putting her own book down, and moving to sit on Van's bed.

"My life. It's sort of a long story." He smiled softly at her.

"I have time."

"If you say so. Well, okay. I was born on the fourteenth of July, (A/n: I made it up, just in case.) together with a twin brother.

At this, Fiona looked extremely surprised. "You have a twin brother?" she gasped incredulously. It had never occurred to her that Van had a twin brother. How come he had never mentioned him before?

"Yeah. I know it's hard to believe, but I do have a twin. His name's Zack. Boy… we didn't always get along…" Van sighed.

"Would you tell me about your past?" Fiona asked, looking at Van with large ruby-red orbs.

"Nah… It's just my past. You don't wanna know about it." Van insisted, secretly loving all the attention he was getting from the beautiful zoidian girl.

"Oh, you're no fun." Fiona pouted playfully, eliciting a chuckle from Van.

"Fine then. If you insist. Well, as you know, I live alone with Maria. But it wasn't always like that. It used to be mom, dad, Maria, Zack, and me. But when I was 5 years old, my mother got really sick." Van's voice darkened here a bit. "Unfortunately, she passed away."

Fiona gasped. "Oh, Van. I'm so sorry! I didn't know…" Fiona whispered, but Van just gave her a reassuring smile.

"It's okay, Fiona. That was a long time ago." He replied gently at the girl, wiping away the small tears that had begun to form. Fiona was such a good-hearted girl. "Anyway, Maria had to work hard to help dad bring us up. I remember, Maria always liked me more because she said I was a "sweet" kid." Van blushed a bit at this comment.

"Cute!" Fiona whispered, giggling.

"What was that?" Van asked, quirking his eyebrows in question. Fiona just shrugged him off.

"Oh… nothing."

"Well, Zack was very jealous, and that's what created the friction between us. Then my dad died 6 years ago, when I was 9. After dad passed away, Zack was sent to live with a distant cousin because Maria couldn't handle both of us at the same time, and we've never met again. I stayed with Maria, and helped her keep us both alive, until I turned 14. Then, one day, on some ruins, I met my buddy named Zeke and a wonderful girl who would accompany me no matter what." he stated, receiving a huge warm smile from Fiona. "I think YOU know the rest of my life, don't you?"

"I never knew much about you, until now. You've gone through a lot, haven't you?" Fiona said, resting her chin on her knees, which she had brought close to her body.

"Nothing I couldn't handle." He smiled cockily, causing Fiona to giggle. "What about you? What's your story?"

Fiona looked down. "I really don't remember anything you don't know. My memory sort of came back when the Death Saurer awakened, but it's all still fuzzy."

"Well, I hope you get your memory back, so someday you can tell me all about your life as a Zoidian."

There was an awkward silence between them, as the two just gazed into each other's eyes. But… their little moment was interrupted by Zeke yawning. Van turned away, blushing.

"Well, let's finish these books! "Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix" is a pretty cool book. I want to see what happens next."

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"Why are they such close friends? I just can't picture a boy and a girl being such close friends without something going on between them." Moonbay whispered to Irvine, as they watched the exchange between both younger teens.

"Well, I hate to agree with you, but I think something IS starting to spark between them." Irvine muttered, resting back comfortably in his own bed.

Moonbay turned to look with wide eyes at Irvine. "Are you serious?"

"Dead serious. Since when do I joke in YOUR favor?" he replied with a smirk.

"You got a point there." Moonbay sighed. "Well, what do you say we… CREATE the atmosphere?" Moonbay replied, holding her chin thoughtfully.

"Moonbay… Don't." Irvine ordered.

"Pretty please with a cherry on top and a million dollars on the side?" she looked up at him with big puppy-dog eyes. Irvine almost choked.

"Wh… why does she look so cute?" he said to himself. "Those eyes have never affected me before…" he shook his head vigorously to vanquish the thought.

"Well, if you put it THAT way…" he replied tauntingly, back to his smooth tone of voice.

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" she chirped, hugging Irvine very tightly. The "wolf" couldn't help the redness that came to his cheeks. He hoped Moonbay didn't notice.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Well, how was that? I hope it makes up a bit for all the time I haven't updated! Now please, Review! As an enticement, I already have chapter 9 written! I like it, personally. Me no telling! Just saying Moonbay puts her plan into action… Oops! Lol Already said too much… Review, onegai!

Sora-chan

Oh, and I'm gonna revise all the chapters. I've improved my writing style a lot (and my PSAT writing results certainly prove it.) I'll fix those ol' chapters!

Next Chapter: Chapter 9- Star light, star bright