Karone-Sakura; thankyou for your permission… I'm glad I have it… (hehee!)
LittleMidgett; I think you've influenced me somewhat… James is just like his daddy!
Gpshaw; dude! You like… sooo totally gave me a cool idea for this next bit! Thanks!
You like babies! Somebody give this guy some red pills… seriously… V doesn't even like my nephew that much…
V; says who?
Me; says you! Now shut up! I'm busy…
Tiamath; yep, dey sure are… hmm, wonder why?
(wiggles eyebrows, then looks at number of reviews…)
GAH! 82! OH MY….
V; guys, she just fainted… MIDGETT!
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Robert
Well, Desiree soon learned about her heritage as well… and had exactly the same reaction James did.
But could ya blame them? They'd just been told their 'mom' (I still have troubles saying that word and not laughing) and dad were actually two people the same age as them, and all this stuff about the past and junk…
Honestly? It made my head spin.
So, about a month later, as Tobias and Marco were out scouting or whatever, I was helping Sakura train James and Desiree.
"All right, a little higher…" I moved behind Desiree so I could position her arms correctly… "That's it. Now, keep both eyes open, spread your legs a bit…"
I backed away, and watched as she aimed at the target provided by the Hork-Bajir, then…
"FIRE!"
She did. It… hit! Only…
"Wrong tree" I muttered, going and yanking the arrow from the poor sapling. Said a small apology to the earth, like my grandfather taught me, and went and gave her back the arrow. She looked at me sheepishly.
"Uh… sorry"
"That's ok. One more time?"
"All right"
I let her fix herself up for another shot, only moving forward to fix her arm or put a strand of her hair back so she could see… not what you think… as well as just little adjustments, and watched as she took another shot.
FWAP!
It hit the target!
Ok, it hit the rim of the target, but it still hit.
"Better! Much, much better" I praised, smiling at her. She blushed, moving some leaves around on the ground with her foot, then looking back up at me.
"Really?"
"Really" I smiled.
"Heeeya!" James cried, and my head shot around to see him bring his sword awkwardly down on Sakura. She dodged him swiftly, slamming the back of his head with the flat of her blade. He stumbled to the ground with a soft 'oof' sound.
"Is that really my brother?" Desiree asked for about the zillionth time, and I groaned a little. But I stayed silent, my eyes glued to the fight.
"You make too much noise James. You must learn to be light on your feet"
"Ow. Light? I've got… news for you Sakura" he groaned, getting up painfully "I've been in a wheelchair for over ten years of my life. I'm still not used to my legs, let alone feet"
"I understand that. But you have to learn" she said gently, helping him up the rest of the way.
"She's right. We all have to learn to use what we have" I said, folding my arms across my chest. James gave me a strange look, then began to brush the grass of his jeans.
"What did you have to learn to do? Walk on your hands?"
I stiffened, remembering the years with my father… it was brutal…
"To protect myself from a man that should have been protecting me. Also…" I managed a wry smiled "To fight aliens from outer space"
He managed a small smile at me. Then, looked at Sakura.
"All right, let's try this again"
We practised for a while longer, before James and Desiree gave up, and went to find either Jade or Jake. Guess they wanted to get to know them better or something…
So three hours later, I was sitting on the bank of the small river that flowed in the valley. I was alone, and relished in it. I wasn't really a person who liked to be around a large group of people for such a long time… unless it was in desperate circumstances…
A sword suddenly landed at my feet. I looked at it.
And smiled.
"So, you want to fight me?"
"I want to test your reflexes. See how much you remember" Sakura said, and I turned and looked up at her. She was holding her own sword, smiling at me. I was amazed at how fast she'd adapted to the clothes of today. She was amazing…
"Well all right then" I grabbed the sword as I got up, turning to face her. She smiled…
I don't know who started it first, but all of a sudden we were swinging and blocking and parrying and just doing all we could to attack one another.
"Ha!" I cried, slamming my sword down on hers. I was suddenly booted in the stomach, and flailed backwards, loosing my balance for just an instant.
Seconds later I was on my back, and Sakura pinned me under her weight.
"You wouldn't be holding back, now would you?" She almost purred, pressing her blade against my throat. I wasn't afraid. I knew she wouldn't hurt me that way…
"Not a chance! Ha!" I kicked her, sending her sprawling over me, then tumbling off me as I used my weight to throw her over my head.
She hit the ground, on her back, crying out in pain. My hand went to my throat, feeling a small trickle of blood. That was nothing. I'd been through worse…
She used her legs to get her back on her feet, spinning around to look at me. I smiled, holding my sword out, challenging her. She took that challenge, and once again all that was heard was clattering of swords, and cries and shouts as we fought.
"Very good Robert. You have improved. Sadly, not enough to do you much good" She suddenly dropped her sword, then ran at me.
I was stuck to the spot. I mean, what could I do? Slice and dice her?
She ran, and I was vaguely aware of her hands gripping my shoulders, using my sword arm as leverage to flip over me.
I barely had time to think what as I tried to turn, before I was knocked down again. The sword flew out of my hands, and seconds later my arms and legs were pinned in such a way I couldn't move.
Sakura smiled down at me.
"As I said, you have improved, but not enough"
"I see that" I grunted, trying to move under her. Whatever she'd done… or however she'd done it… not even anything I'd learnt could stop her. And I'd learned a lot of martial arts…
I was stuck.
She smiled down at me again. I smiled up at her… she was amazing…
Before I knew it, she was leaning down and kissing me. Somehow… I don't know how… my arms were freed, and I wrapped them around her, pulling her in a little closer.
Her hands were running through my hair, sending shivers up my spine…
What happened next… well, just use your imagination.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
((This part I wrote to Kelly Clarkson's Beautiful Disaster. The perfect song when describing Jake...))
Jade
I found Jake that night, walking… no, pacing… in front of a cliff. Hannah was with Tom and Tina (they knew because I'd told them discreetly) and I hoped they'd be good babysitters.
Ryan was off with Phoebe… somewhere…
"Jake"
Those eyes turned to look at me… like he'd never seen me before, then sighed.
"Hey Jade. I thought you were with Amanda and that"
"I was. But I… I wanted to talk to you"
He fell silent.
"Jake, talk to me. What happened between you and Cassie?"
He looked at me like I was nuts. Then he looked out over the valley.
"I don't want to talk about it"
"Um… ok… but if you do…"
"She gave up the blue box Jade!" He suddenly screamed, coming and grabbing my arms, shaking them violently. I pulled back, out of his grasp, staring at him.
"Jake… what… who did?"
"Cassie! The… Robert's dad had it… took the damn thing… and now… now we're… we're…"
"Screwed?" I offered helpfully, just seconds before it really hit me. Cassie, she'd given up our only advantage! And now… and now…
"See? Do you understand Jade?" He had my arms again, making me look up into his eyes.
"Yeah. Now… can you let go? You're kinda hurting me"
He jumped away from me like he'd been slapped. Then he shook his head, going and looking back out over the valley.
"I'm…. I'm sorry Jade…"
"It's ok. I understand. At least, a little" I sighed, finally going over to him and wrapping my arms around his waist. I dug my head in the back of his shoulder, and eventually, he gently patted my arms.
"Thanks Jade. I like being here with you… now…"
He pulled me around and I stood with my back against his chest, his arms around my waist this time. His chin gently rested on my shoulder, and he sighed.
"This is so beautiful" I muttered. The sun was just beginning to set, and my eyes never left it, even as Jake wrapped his arms a little tighter around me.
This was what we were fighting for. Life. Freedom. Families…
Hannah. I realised she was now my family too.
"I'm a… a 'mom'" I said, then stifled a giggle. Jake let out a soft laugh.
"Yeah. And I'm a… a dad. Still really hasn't hit me yet"
"Same. I guess we'll get used to it… soon…"
We stood there, and watched the sun go down.
"Umm… hey guys"
We looked around to see James and Desiree come into view. Both looked a little guilty…a little timid about approaching us… but determined.
I already saw James was just like his father. Even if he hadn't really known Jake… didn't know him enough…
Desiree was a lot like me in the shortness category. I didn't mind that really… nice to know my genes were somewhere in there.
"Hey James. Hi Desiree" I said brightly, pulling away from Jake, who slightly held on to me for just an instant, then let me go.
"Hey uh… guys. I thought you were both training with Sakura and Robert" Jake said.
"Yeah, we were. And now… well, uh… we thought we might just… talk to you two for a bit. You know, get to know you both" James said, giving me a slightly funny look.
Jake and I shared a glance, before turning our focus back on the two.
"All right" Jake smiled "I wouldn't mind just to sit and chat for once"
So we did.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
I know! I know! Action is coming soon! GAH! TOO MUCH… TOO MANY IDEAS… CAN'T…
IMA GOIN INTO OVERLOOOAADDD!
