Love and Burden
by The Great Red Dragon
***
Chapter 14
***
Nani dropped the Experiments off a few miles down the road, where a bit of a pathway led into the jungle.
"You've got less than two miles to walk", Nani told them from the front seat as they hoisted out the laser-device.
"I'll be back here in three hours to pick you guys up, okay?"
"Sure thing", Stitch replied.
He activated the laser-board and it hummed with power. Like it had in the garage, it lifted several feet off the ground in a light hover.
"Thank God we don't have to drag that heavy thing by ourselves", Owen commented, forgetting that Auron and Stitch weren't as weak as he was.
"Yeah, yeah", Stitch said as he closed the door to the backseat.
Lilo, who had taken Owen's seat in the front, poked her head out the window.
"Bye!", she called as Nani revved the car back up with a low roar.
"See ya later!", Stitch called back as the car began to pull away.
The Experiments watched as the small bug-car turned into the otherwise car- less road, and lost sight of it as it pulled away behind the wall of green wilderness.
"Well", Stitch said.
"We might as well get moving."
He activated a switch on the laser-device, and as he began to walk, it hovered behind him in silent following.
The other Experiments followed and caught up with him, with Owen complaining about the cold jungle-floor as they entered the lush.
***
Despite his lazy butt, Owen, as well as the others, was created to be swift. Even though they didn't run (they only walked), they covered more distance than most humans would at their pace; it would only take them a short time to reach their destination.
"Reihana?", Peka (who was walking next to Owen, somewhat behind Stitch) called over her shoulder.
"Are we going the right way, anyway?"
Reihana shrugged with a small smile.
"I wouldn't know", she answered.
"I mean...I haven't seen this place. Auron carried me out of here...maybe you should ask him."
All eyes turned to Auron, who hid his face, and everybody suspected he was hiding a blush.
"Uh, yeah, this is the right way, yeah...", he stammered.
Stitch, Peka, and Owen chuckled good-naturedly and turned back towards their path. Reihana, however, slowed her tracks enough for her to reach head-level with Auron, who didn't notice her until she was right next to him. When he did, he almost jumped.
"Oh-!", he exclaimed in a small screech.
"Rei-!.........I didn't hear you-..."
"I'm sorry", she apologized quietly.
"I didn't mean to scare you."
"Oh...that's alright", Auron said, regaining his composure.
"I wasn't scare...just a bit surprised."
He hid the fact that he had almost wet himself.
Reihana walked with him several more steps before continuing the conversation.
"Thank you", she began slowly.
"For what you did back in the car."
Auron put his hand behind his head, and his blush was replaced by a breeze of chill.
"...You're welcome", he said.
"That guy...well, he was being a real asshole-"
He stopped his sentence abruptly, ashamed at his use of foul language in front of Rei; what if she was offended?
But she appeared unperturbed, but lowered her head slightly, as if in personal shame.
"I shouldn't have freaked out like that", she said.
"Because of me, Nani got in trouble with the law."
"No, it's not your fault", Auron insisted.
"That idiot was just being...well, an idiot...and if I hadn't have done it, Stitch or Peka would've."
Reihana raised her head and smiled at him.
"But I thank you anyway", she said.
Auron nodded curtly.
"You're welcome", he said.
It seemed as if they walked many more miles through the vast jungle before they spoke again, this time about a different topic.
"I saw you", Reihana started again.
"I saw you many times in Jumba's lab...it just took me a while to remember."
Auron chuckled quietly.
"I'm that easy to forget?", he asked in a joke.
Reihana smiled.
"I saw you...and we talked a lot", she continued.
"You were aggressive, but you always were eager to speak with somebody."
"Okay", Auron said.
"Obviously, you are difficult to remember too, 'cause I don't remember any of that."
"I know why", Reihana said, her face falling.
"Jumba finally explained it to me...he mixed a chemical in your food everyday to make you forget my presence."
Auron's face changed to the resolved-neutral expression that he took whenever Jumba was mentioned, and he replied with a simple;
"Hmm."
Reihana sighed, but not vainly; she knew about the differences between Jumba and Auron, and respected it.
Before she could speak again, Auron inquired;
"If he wanted me to see you, why would he drug me to forget it?"
"He told me...", Reihana began.
"He told me...well, I didn't know that he knew that I was seeing you, but he now told me that he felt it was necessary for you to have friendly contact to keep you...well...'human'."
She looked up at him.
"I thought I knew everything back then", she told him.
"Even the things he didn't want me to know...I knew about the outside interference, and I knew that it had everything to do with you, but I didn't know what. I knew that somebody was watching Jumba and you, your progress...you weren't supposed to have any contact with any of the other Experiments, and to keep you from showing signs of it, Jumba made you forget me every time we spoke...but I came back whenever I could to see you."
Auron could not deny that hearing this news was a general shock to him. It meant that Jumba had actually done good for him inside the bad...but he never knew it.
In a way, he didn't want to believe Reihana; it would mean believing something positive about Jumba...it meant that the relentless torture had indeed only been a necessary masquerade.
"Auron?"
He turned to face Reihana, snapping out of his wake of thought.
He found her looking him in the eyes.
"Please believe me", she said.
"That Jumba did everything he could for you...he never wanted you to be a war-machine, and he never meant for any of that to happen. All he ever wanted was...was to be your father."
She looked away, and repressed a sniffle of emotion.
"I think I actually saw him cry, sometimes", she told him.
"He cried because he knew that you were sitting somewhere in a cell, hating him as much as he still loved you...and he says that you hated him rightfully."
Silence swept over Auron and Rei. Auron's mind was ablaze with what he had just heard. He didn't want to believe it, but he wanted to believe Reihana. Her words seemed the reality to him, and despite how strange the feeling was, he felt ready to accept it.
That was, just what she had said...but not forgiving Jumba.
"Rei...", he started off slowly.
"I...I believe what you just told me...and I believed everything that was told to me before. I realize that what Jumba did, and what he tried to do was for the best of the others...even I would've done the same thing...but I can't forgive him, and I can never ever forget."
He didn't dare look at Reihana, in fear that he was making her cry.
"I realize that Jumba isn't who I thought he was", he continued steadily.
"And the very best that I can do is ignore him...perhaps for the rest of my life. I'm sorry...but that's just the way things are for me."
He expected to have hurt her, and have changed her feelings about him. He expected her to hate him now, and he cursed himself for speaking so quickly.
But when he dared a look at her, she was smiling again, and it was an honest smile.
"I understand you", she told him.
"And I don't blame you...I'm only glad that you turned out as nice as you did...maybe you put some good into yourself."
Her smile widened as Auron looked back at her, and he smiled as well.
Suddenly, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He looked around in surprise, but there was nobody or nothing there.
"What the heck-?", he said in surprise, looking around him.
Then, he heard Reihana giggle.
He turned to her...and then finally got it.
He turned around, and found her abnormally long tail trailing behind them like an obedient dog.
Auron turned back to Rei and smiled meekly with fake annoyance.
"Very funny", he said.
Their conversation was cut short, as they heard Stitch call to them from up ahead;
"Hey, we're here!"
*********
[A/N: as well as the last chapter, this was supposed to be linked with another one, but the interaction between Auron and Reihana turned into a whole short-story itself. I'm glad that I managed to get this chapter written faster than the last (but then again, this one's shorter, isn't it?).
VOID99 - Auron's dreams will be explained in a chapter not too far away (believe me, they do have a meaning).
DanMat6288 - I'm sorry, but I don't much of that will be coming up; no Myrtle, no Hamsterviel, and no dance instructors. Molecular transportation, however, will be a concept in the future...but I'll tell you right now, once the fic is passed all of the emotional-working-out that's happening now, there's gonna be some serious action.
Thanks for everybody's reviews! I'll get the next chapter done ASAP!]
by The Great Red Dragon
***
Chapter 14
***
Nani dropped the Experiments off a few miles down the road, where a bit of a pathway led into the jungle.
"You've got less than two miles to walk", Nani told them from the front seat as they hoisted out the laser-device.
"I'll be back here in three hours to pick you guys up, okay?"
"Sure thing", Stitch replied.
He activated the laser-board and it hummed with power. Like it had in the garage, it lifted several feet off the ground in a light hover.
"Thank God we don't have to drag that heavy thing by ourselves", Owen commented, forgetting that Auron and Stitch weren't as weak as he was.
"Yeah, yeah", Stitch said as he closed the door to the backseat.
Lilo, who had taken Owen's seat in the front, poked her head out the window.
"Bye!", she called as Nani revved the car back up with a low roar.
"See ya later!", Stitch called back as the car began to pull away.
The Experiments watched as the small bug-car turned into the otherwise car- less road, and lost sight of it as it pulled away behind the wall of green wilderness.
"Well", Stitch said.
"We might as well get moving."
He activated a switch on the laser-device, and as he began to walk, it hovered behind him in silent following.
The other Experiments followed and caught up with him, with Owen complaining about the cold jungle-floor as they entered the lush.
***
Despite his lazy butt, Owen, as well as the others, was created to be swift. Even though they didn't run (they only walked), they covered more distance than most humans would at their pace; it would only take them a short time to reach their destination.
"Reihana?", Peka (who was walking next to Owen, somewhat behind Stitch) called over her shoulder.
"Are we going the right way, anyway?"
Reihana shrugged with a small smile.
"I wouldn't know", she answered.
"I mean...I haven't seen this place. Auron carried me out of here...maybe you should ask him."
All eyes turned to Auron, who hid his face, and everybody suspected he was hiding a blush.
"Uh, yeah, this is the right way, yeah...", he stammered.
Stitch, Peka, and Owen chuckled good-naturedly and turned back towards their path. Reihana, however, slowed her tracks enough for her to reach head-level with Auron, who didn't notice her until she was right next to him. When he did, he almost jumped.
"Oh-!", he exclaimed in a small screech.
"Rei-!.........I didn't hear you-..."
"I'm sorry", she apologized quietly.
"I didn't mean to scare you."
"Oh...that's alright", Auron said, regaining his composure.
"I wasn't scare...just a bit surprised."
He hid the fact that he had almost wet himself.
Reihana walked with him several more steps before continuing the conversation.
"Thank you", she began slowly.
"For what you did back in the car."
Auron put his hand behind his head, and his blush was replaced by a breeze of chill.
"...You're welcome", he said.
"That guy...well, he was being a real asshole-"
He stopped his sentence abruptly, ashamed at his use of foul language in front of Rei; what if she was offended?
But she appeared unperturbed, but lowered her head slightly, as if in personal shame.
"I shouldn't have freaked out like that", she said.
"Because of me, Nani got in trouble with the law."
"No, it's not your fault", Auron insisted.
"That idiot was just being...well, an idiot...and if I hadn't have done it, Stitch or Peka would've."
Reihana raised her head and smiled at him.
"But I thank you anyway", she said.
Auron nodded curtly.
"You're welcome", he said.
It seemed as if they walked many more miles through the vast jungle before they spoke again, this time about a different topic.
"I saw you", Reihana started again.
"I saw you many times in Jumba's lab...it just took me a while to remember."
Auron chuckled quietly.
"I'm that easy to forget?", he asked in a joke.
Reihana smiled.
"I saw you...and we talked a lot", she continued.
"You were aggressive, but you always were eager to speak with somebody."
"Okay", Auron said.
"Obviously, you are difficult to remember too, 'cause I don't remember any of that."
"I know why", Reihana said, her face falling.
"Jumba finally explained it to me...he mixed a chemical in your food everyday to make you forget my presence."
Auron's face changed to the resolved-neutral expression that he took whenever Jumba was mentioned, and he replied with a simple;
"Hmm."
Reihana sighed, but not vainly; she knew about the differences between Jumba and Auron, and respected it.
Before she could speak again, Auron inquired;
"If he wanted me to see you, why would he drug me to forget it?"
"He told me...", Reihana began.
"He told me...well, I didn't know that he knew that I was seeing you, but he now told me that he felt it was necessary for you to have friendly contact to keep you...well...'human'."
She looked up at him.
"I thought I knew everything back then", she told him.
"Even the things he didn't want me to know...I knew about the outside interference, and I knew that it had everything to do with you, but I didn't know what. I knew that somebody was watching Jumba and you, your progress...you weren't supposed to have any contact with any of the other Experiments, and to keep you from showing signs of it, Jumba made you forget me every time we spoke...but I came back whenever I could to see you."
Auron could not deny that hearing this news was a general shock to him. It meant that Jumba had actually done good for him inside the bad...but he never knew it.
In a way, he didn't want to believe Reihana; it would mean believing something positive about Jumba...it meant that the relentless torture had indeed only been a necessary masquerade.
"Auron?"
He turned to face Reihana, snapping out of his wake of thought.
He found her looking him in the eyes.
"Please believe me", she said.
"That Jumba did everything he could for you...he never wanted you to be a war-machine, and he never meant for any of that to happen. All he ever wanted was...was to be your father."
She looked away, and repressed a sniffle of emotion.
"I think I actually saw him cry, sometimes", she told him.
"He cried because he knew that you were sitting somewhere in a cell, hating him as much as he still loved you...and he says that you hated him rightfully."
Silence swept over Auron and Rei. Auron's mind was ablaze with what he had just heard. He didn't want to believe it, but he wanted to believe Reihana. Her words seemed the reality to him, and despite how strange the feeling was, he felt ready to accept it.
That was, just what she had said...but not forgiving Jumba.
"Rei...", he started off slowly.
"I...I believe what you just told me...and I believed everything that was told to me before. I realize that what Jumba did, and what he tried to do was for the best of the others...even I would've done the same thing...but I can't forgive him, and I can never ever forget."
He didn't dare look at Reihana, in fear that he was making her cry.
"I realize that Jumba isn't who I thought he was", he continued steadily.
"And the very best that I can do is ignore him...perhaps for the rest of my life. I'm sorry...but that's just the way things are for me."
He expected to have hurt her, and have changed her feelings about him. He expected her to hate him now, and he cursed himself for speaking so quickly.
But when he dared a look at her, she was smiling again, and it was an honest smile.
"I understand you", she told him.
"And I don't blame you...I'm only glad that you turned out as nice as you did...maybe you put some good into yourself."
Her smile widened as Auron looked back at her, and he smiled as well.
Suddenly, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He looked around in surprise, but there was nobody or nothing there.
"What the heck-?", he said in surprise, looking around him.
Then, he heard Reihana giggle.
He turned to her...and then finally got it.
He turned around, and found her abnormally long tail trailing behind them like an obedient dog.
Auron turned back to Rei and smiled meekly with fake annoyance.
"Very funny", he said.
Their conversation was cut short, as they heard Stitch call to them from up ahead;
"Hey, we're here!"
*********
[A/N: as well as the last chapter, this was supposed to be linked with another one, but the interaction between Auron and Reihana turned into a whole short-story itself. I'm glad that I managed to get this chapter written faster than the last (but then again, this one's shorter, isn't it?).
VOID99 - Auron's dreams will be explained in a chapter not too far away (believe me, they do have a meaning).
DanMat6288 - I'm sorry, but I don't much of that will be coming up; no Myrtle, no Hamsterviel, and no dance instructors. Molecular transportation, however, will be a concept in the future...but I'll tell you right now, once the fic is passed all of the emotional-working-out that's happening now, there's gonna be some serious action.
Thanks for everybody's reviews! I'll get the next chapter done ASAP!]