In The Beginning

"This sucks!" Marle whined rolling onto her back on the bed. The princess sulked, a minute frown on her pretty little face. With a silent agreement Crono sat down on his own bed leaning against the wall, starting to polish his katana, as it had started to look a little worn out. The third member of their motley crew, a certain red haired genius, was biting her lips as she scribbled on a piece of paper, ignoring the others. For a long moment, silence reigned in the somewhat small room, each busy with their own thoughts and emotions. Finally, Marle, bored with staring up at the ceiling, flipping around to watch Lucca write about their findings in a bid to try and understand the situation. Marle always found it amusing to watch Lucca at work, the way the girl's face would frown in focus, almost like a child with an unsolvable puzzle, made her laugh.

Crono smiled as his eyes glanced over at his two friends, the princess and the genius, both of who were the catalysts behind the whole situation. But he didn't blame them for it. It was all just an accident really. One silly little mistake resulted in a wild goose chase across all of Time. What a way to phrase their mission to save the world. Lucca would probably give him a scandalised stare if he ever got around to telling her his thoughts. She was convinced they were meant to have discovered how to travel through time. But if that were true they were also probably supposed to find out what on earth was going on in Zeal, and that certainly has not happened yet.

The sapphire eyes travelled down to his calloused hands. A thoughtful frown appeared on his face as he contemplated their situation. Ever since they had arrived in the kingdom of Zeal they had been trying to figure out where Lavos was but to no avail. Everything they had tried to track down ended in a dead end. Crono didn't blame Marle for sounding so defeated. Even he was getting sick of running around and finding nothing. They knew Lavos was here, even though there was no trace of it.

"ARRRGGGHHH!" The loud scream originated from Lucca, who had thrown her book against the wall and sat there scowling at it. Crono and Marle were used to this kind of behaviour. Lucca was vicious when she got frustrated, it was just a part of her persona.

Crono calmly picked up the book and straightened it out. Written on the white pages were mathematical formulas and scribbled words that made no sense to Crono. Ignoring that he handed the book to Lucca silently. Grudgingly the scientist accepted the book all the while pouting like a young child. Then Crono realised something. They were all children. None of them were over the age of twenty. None of them were hero material. And none of them had been ready for this. He understood the pressure that Lucca was under. So young and yet, the fate of the world depended on their frail shoulders, especially Lucca's. The teenage genius was the brains of the operation so to speak. The pressure would not disappear with futile noises of comfort. So instead of speaking meaningless words, Crono offered a small smile instead.

Lucca stared at him frustrated by herself, by her lack of success, and by the situation they were in. How Crono could smile in a situation like this was beyond her. Crono, however, kept smiling, offering her hope. Marle had no part of this close interaction between the two best friends. She was a part of the team but the two had known each other far longer. A friend she might be, but never as close to Crono as Lucca was. Very few people would ever be.

Eventually, in the face of Crono's good mood, Lucca lost her anger and a reluctant smile curled her lips. "I know. I should relax and have fun while I can," she sighed, giving Crono a fond grin. The teenage boy grinned back ruffling her red hair affectionately.

"Oi!" Lucca yelped covering her hair with her hands. Mock glaring at her best friend she grabbed a pillow and began to hit him with it. The boy backed away from her pleading desperately.

"Mercy!" he cried trying his best to protect himself from her attack. "Lucca, stop it!" Loud laughter bubbled out of him as a hand tickled his waist from behind. He whirled to find Marle grinning wickedly at him. Horror dawned on his face. "Marle," he warned trying to back away only to be hit with a pillow. Looking behind he found Lucca. Trapped between the two girls he had no choice but to endure their torture.

Irritated people of Zeal, rudely shocked out of their meditation by loud laughter, glared at one of the many guest quarters. "Hmph, teenagers," one of the magic users was heard to have muttered after getting up to relocate to a quieter area.

He crept out of bed slowly, taking care not to wake his friends. Luckily the floor was covered in thick carpet making it easier for him to walk across the floor without being heard. The door opened silently, and he slid out of the dark room leaving his two friends to sleep in peace.

Outside, only a few people were awake. Most had gone to sleep or were meditation to improve their skills. However, here and there, were a few scholars, gathered into small groups and speaking to each other in hushed tones. Crono grinned when he heard three men arguing over whether the earth was round or not. Several other solitary scholars were also wandering around the place with a book in their hands and a preoccupied look in their eyes. None of them noticed Crono as the redhead walked past them to get outside.

When Crono reached the open doorway he halted in awe. The garden just outside the city was absolutely breathtaking. He stepped outside with barely concealed reverence. It was all he could do not to gape in wonder. Bright emerald eyes drank in the scenery contentedly. Shining above the floating kingdom was the pale moon and it seemed as if he could reach up and touch it. Scattered around the garden were numerous kinds of flowers. The light from the moon made the pale flowers glow and the dark flowers dim.

Feeling a sense of serenity wash over him, Crono smiled, heading for the rocky outcrop that would allow him to see the world beneath. Reaching it he sat down, dangling his legs over the edge. Down below he could see Enhasa shining dimly, and even further down he could see the dim shapes of mountains and valleys. The Earthbound ones. He felt sorry for those people, the ones stuck on the ground with no hope for the future. At the same time, he admired them. Their tenacity, their determination to keep living, shamed him.

But at the same time he did not blame the people of Zeal. He could understand their point of view. He did not agree with them, but he understood them. They did not want their talent to die, to pass away, forgotten by their descendent. They wanted to keep their culture and abilities alive. And even though Crono knew that eventually their society would disappear, it only enhanced his understanding. So he did not blame them. Allow them to take pride in their culture because he knew it would soon be gone.

"What are you doing here?" The cold, unfriendly voice startled Crono out of his thoughts. The teen nearly leapt up in fright. He twisted his torso around and found himself staring at a young boy with pale blue hair and equally pale blue eyes. Crono recognised him as the boy who had announced one of the party's death.

And it seemed as if the boy recognised him as well, seeing as how his piercing blue eyes widened in surprise. Then his eyes narrowed again in arrogant anger. In response, Crono smiled in welcome. "Good evening," he said softly, not wanting to ruin the fragile, surreal atmosphere. His gentle words did nothing to soften the youth's mood.

"What are you doing here?" the boy asked again coldly.

Crono shrugged, turning back to the view. "I couldn't sleep." Silence. The redhead smiled when he did not hear the boy move away. Not turning around he patted the ground next to him. "Sit down, I don't mind. It'll be nice to have some company." After a long pause Crono heard clothes rustling as the boy did indeed sit down beside him.

He did not know why but the younger boy intrigued him. It was not just because of his strange prophetic statement but also because Crono could sense the loneliness in the boy. And that loneliness struck a chord in him. When he heard the boy speaking to his sister, his words made Crono's heart ache in sympathy. For that reasons Crono decided he would take the opportunity to talk to him. "My name is Crono by the way," he said still not looking at the boy.

"……Janus." Only now did Crono look down at him.

"Nice to meet you Janus," Crono said. He found himself the focus of a pair of puzzled sapphire eyes. With a grin Crono turned back to the moon. For a while the two sat in silence, simply enjoying the chance to see the wondrous view and to experience the peaceful atmosphere.

It was a while before the silence was broken. "Why are you here?" This time the voice held no anger, no arrogance, only vague curiosity. Crono took a deep breath of the crisp night air before looking down at the boy and answering.

"Because I couldn't go to sleep."

With some amusement Crono saw Janus frown. He looked somewhat similar to Marle when he did that. There was a hint of impatience mixed with exasperation in that frown. Crono had seen only Marle and Janus with that sort of face. Perhaps it a sort of trait present in only those with royal blood. Janus shook his head quickly. "No, I mean what are you doing here, in Zeal, in this place." Crono looked at him, startled by the words. He recovered quickly though.

"I have no idea what you mean. You make it sound like I'm some sort of foreigner from another world," he said with a small laugh. Janus' sceptical look told him he did not succeed. Crono put on his best innocent expression and stared back.

The boy beside him rolled his eyes at his expression. "I'm young not stupid. Just because I have no magic doesn't mean I can't see. You don't look or sound like anyone from Zeal or an earthbound one. You dress differently, talk differently, and you might know magic but you weren't born with it."

Crono gave up the pretence and grinned at Janus. "You're pretty smart." The boy shrugged even though Crono detected a small blush on his face. Crono grinned.

Janus looked embarrassed by Crono's regard and tried to cover up. "You still didn't answer my question."

The grin faded away and a sigh escaped Crono's lips. He had once had a talk with Lucca concerning what would happen if he were to change the past. Needless to say his friend fervently opposed the idea. Crono would never forget the lecture that followed his question. By telling Janus about the future would it change anything? He did not think it would but to be on the safe side he came to the conclusion that he should reveal as little as possible.

"I'm not from this place, that's true. My friends and I are here to locate and hopefully destroy something that attacked our homes." Crono figured he could not get any vaguer than that.

Janus stared at him gravely. He looked away. "Don't," the boy ordered firmly.

The teen looked at his younger companion, startled by the stern voice. "W - What?" he stuttered.

"Don't look for this thing," Janus elaborated without looking at the older boy.

Crono frowned. "Why not?" he asked. He found himself staring into grave emrald eyes.

"Because you'll die," the younger boy whispered harshly, "You'll die and the world will die with you."

Stunned Crono tried to come up with an appropriate response. "How do you know that?" was all he could think up. How could the boy be so sure that he would die? Could he see the future?

And it seemed that Janus could indeed see the future as was proven by his next words. "I saw you fight it, that thing called Lavos and it killed you. I saw you die in my dreams. Your friends were crying, and in the distant future, Lavos rose to destroy the world."

Crono knew that he was telling the truth. How else could he know about Lavos and the future? The question was, what was Crono going to do about it.

The answer was…nothing. He would try his hardest not to die of course but what else could be do? Ever since breaking out of Guardia Castle's dungeons he knew that what was to follow could possibly cost him his life. Truth be told, he had not really expected to survive this long. Coming so close to death so many times, death it self did not seem so daunting anymore.

So he smiled down at his young friend. "Hm, I suppose I had better make sure I look good when I die then," he joked.

Janus looked up in shock. "Don't you care? You'll die if you fight it. Why would you still want to throw away your life?"

Sighing, Crono drew one knee up to his chest. He gathered his thoughts and tried to explain himself to the mystic. "I don't want to die. I dno't think anyone wants to die, not if they've truly lived. But if it's meant to happen, then nothing I do will change it, the future is set."

"NO!" Janus shouted shaking his head from side to side. "The future can be changed, it has to be!" A hint of desperation entered his voice. Crono blinked in surprise. He did not expect this sort of response to his words.

Tentatively Crono reached out and touched Janus on the shoulder. "Why does it have to be changed?" the redhead asked.

The boy did not answer. He stared straight ahead at the misty sky below with unseeing eyes. Slowly Crono dropped his hand. The boy's preiouvs words came back to him and Crono could suddenly understand. "What did you see in your dreams that makes you so afraid for the future? What is it that you want to change?"

"Nothing," Janus mumbled, "You'll just make fun of me anyway."

"C'mon, you can tell me. I promise not to laugh or anything." Crono nudged the boy with his elbow, trying to show how sincere he was.

Janus fidgeted, tugging on the grass viciously. Crono waited and his patience eventually proved fruitful. "…I saw Zeal falling apart. I saw magic disappearing in the world. I saw Schala dying. The whole world was one fire…" the whispered words trailed off.

"…Oh," Crono said weakly.

The younger grinned bitterly. "Yeah."

"So that's why you don't want me to die. Because if I die then it means that what you see will come to pass."

Janus shrugged. He really liked to do that, Crono noted. "Sort of."

Crono blinked. "Sort of?" he repeated, tilting his head slightly to the side in confusion.

Janus shrugged again, this time in a sheepish fasion. Crono could've sworn that the boy was blushing slightly. "Um...yeah," Janus said quietly, "But you also shouldn't die because your friends will cry if you do." Crono pondered his words. Lucca, Marle, Robo, Frog, and Ayla. Well, Marle and Lucca would cry for sure. He wasn't positive that robots could cry, Frog was a warrior who understood that death was the warrior's way of life, and Ayla was almost as pragmatic as Frog. His mother didn't even know what was going on. How…sad. Probably only two people out of his whole list of acquaintances would cry if he died.

Crono shook his head at the uncharacteristically dour path his thought had taken. There was time enough to think of death later, for now he should enjoy life. It wasn't in his nature to dwell on possible unpleasant consequences of his question. Lucca had once described Crono as oblivious and that was probably true enough.

Unfortunately, it seemed that Janus wasn't so philosophical, which meant that Crono would have to be the one to shock the boy out of his pessimism. "So," Crono began, making the younger one look up, "Would you cry if I die?"

"What!" The voice was more a squeak than anything else.

The redhead had to grin at the shock and surprise that the boy was emanating. "Well, you said that my friends will cry. I consider you a friend, so would you cry?"

"When am I one of your friends?"

"Since I talked to you."

Aqua eyes narrowed in confusion. "Just because we talked doesn't mean we're friends!"

"Well, I think it does."

Janus opened his mouth to retort but nothing came out. He tried again, and again it was obvious that he found nothing to say. Lips twisted in irritation as Janus found that nothing came to mind. Irritation turned into frustrated anger when Crono began to laugh. "What's so funny?" Janus snapped.

Crono managed to tone down his amusement enough to answer. "You're just like another friend of mine. She hates it when someone isn't being logical." Janus huffed, folding his arm and sulking. Crono choked down anymore laughter that was forthcoming and settled for grinning at the younger boy. "You didn't answer my question by the way."

"No, I'm not going to cry because I'm not your friend."

"Aww, don't you like me?" Crono should be surprised that he was acting as if Janus really was one of his friends. He had known the purple haired boy for only a fraction of an hour and already he considered Janus on par with Marle, Robo, and Frog. But the boy was familiar. He reminded Crono of the way he used to be; shy, confused, and scared of the world. Crono wouldn't call himself caring by any stretch but he'd always had a soft spot for younger kids.

Janus meanwhile, was looking up at Crono in distress. "I – You – The hell!"

Crono struggled not to laugh. "Look, how about we start the conversation again. Hi, my name's Crono. Would you like to be my friend?" He held out his hand in supplication.

Eyes darted from face to hand and back again. Crono smiled winsomely. When Janus sighed deeply, he knew he had won. Janus reluctantly placed his hand in Crono's. "Fine, yes."

"Good because now I have another reason not to die."

"Hmph. You make it sound like I would cry."

"Well, maybe you'll cry inside."

Janus didn't answer and Crono was happy to let it go. Both fell into a comfortable silence, each caught up in their own thought. Some day Crono would look back on that conversation and wonder what on earth had prompted him to go make friends with a stranger who would turn out to be such a pain in the arse.

"Janus!" Both boys literally jumped when they heard the voice. It was lucky that both had a good sense of balance; the two coming dangerously close to falling off the edge of the floating island.

"Crap!" the boy in question swore viciously. "That's my sister."

"The really pretty girl?" Crono questioned, only to have Janus turn a death glare onto him. "Whoa! I meant,the attractive girl that I would never ever even contemplate going near for the fear of death." Janus's glare, if at all possible, got even more threatening. "I'm going to shut up now," Crono mumbled.

Without a word Janus turned to go, only stop when he reached the footpath. "Don't forget," he said without looking back, "You can't go get yourself killed…because then I'll have to cry after all." Crono opened his mouth to answer but Janus darted away, disappearing into the night in a rustle of clothes.

A/N

1. The gremlins made me do it

2. I like this one. Maybe I'll write a sequel to it.

3. I like Janus, he reminds me of my own Janus. Both so damn bitter and sarcastic.

4. I realise that no one knows Crono's personality since he doesn't even SPEAK in the game but I'm going with the genki boy theory.