Title: The Bruises On My Heart: The Return
By: Cerulean Shadow
Summary: The sequel to "The Bruises On My Heart"! Numbuh Five and Numbuh One decide to return to the island. Only to find out more...

Numbuh One and Numbuh Five ran as fast as they possibly could go. The Delightful Children were following them mighty fast. Numbuh One kept shooting his weapon at the Delightful Children, but their machine was too strong. Numbuh Five remembered running through this path. It was when she was running from Theron and Maverick. The cougar and the wolf followed her from there to the cliff's wall. Then it hit her.

"Numbuh One! There's a cliff ahead of us! We'll be trapped if we don't go the other way!" Numbuh Five exclaimed.

"Right!" he replied.

They both turned towards an open space of the forest. The Delightful Children lost them. There, they hid beside another cliff that was a few feet from the flowing river below them. They panted and rested.

"That was close." Numbuh One said.
"Yeah. What did the Delightful Children mean by revenge?" Numbuh Five asked.
"I don't know. All I know is, we need to hide from those dorks."
"... Numbuh One?"
"Yes?"
"... Do you think that we should fight back, like we did last time?"
"... It's... it's been so long. We killed Theron... but I don't know if we can kill the Delightful Brats."

"Numbuh One!"

Numbuh Five stood up in front of him.

"When I was about to jump off that cliff because of my bite marks, you stopped me. You had faith in me. Your faith gave me the strength to fight back. Because of our teamwork and faith, we killed Theron for good." Numbuh Five said.

Numbuh One stared at her. He did have faith in her before. Why couldn't she have faith in him this time? He wanted to say, because he wasn't ready, but he couldn't lie to Numbuh Five. She was ready to fight Theron back then, but why couldn't he fight the Delightful Children this time? He stood up. Numbuh Five calmed down again. Numbuh One took a step closer to her. Then another. Until he reached her and hugged her. Blushing, Numbuh Five returned the hug.

"... I just don't want anything to happen to you. I let Theron attack you... but I wont let that happen again." he whispered in her ear.

"Numbuh One... it wasn't your fault. You tried to protect me. And that's why I love you." she said.

Numbuh One flashed a smile, and kissed her. That kiss lasted for a while. Then, a tree crashed down to the ground. Numbuh One and Numbuh Five broke the kiss, and faced what was ahead. The Delightful Children found them!

"Enjoying a moment? Sorry we ruined it, but we have to destroy you." The Delightful Children said sarcastically.

The machine pulled out the lasers and fired at the two kids. They dodged the shootings over and over again. Then, they saw the river.

"Jump!" Numbuh One yelled to Numbuh Five.

They both dived into the water. The Delightful Children were astonished.

"Well, the river is mighty strong for the two. It's a good thing Father told us that no one could survive the river. I suppose our work here is done." they said, and the machine stormed away.

But Numbuh One and Numbuh Five were still alive. Since that the DC kept their eye on the river, they have been hiding underwater until they went away. They breathed a huge breath of air as they reached the surface. They grabbed each other's hands and held on as the current carried them away.

"Hang on tight!" Numbuh One yelled to Numbuh Five.

Until, the river carried them to a rocky part of the stream. Waves and curves of the river kept sending them underwater, but they still held on. Numbuh One spotted a rock attached to the rocky shore. He quickly grabbed it and held on. Numbuh Five held on to his hand. Then she heard a sound. A loud, roaring sound. It was the falls!

"Numbuh Five! Hang on! Try to reach to shore!" Numbuh One exclaimed.

Numbuh Five swam to the rock, pulling her up to the shore. Numbuh One followed her. As Numbuh One reached up to the shore, he pulled Numbuh Five up off the rock. They watched the river flow through the falls. Numbuh Five hugged Numbuh One. Numbuh One returned her hug as they were glad to be alive.

"Well so much for 'nothing changed'." Numbuh Five said.
"Tell me about it. But at least you got to see the island again." Numbuh One said.
"Yeah."
"... Ready to go home?"
"Not yet. If there's one thing that Numbuh Five can't stand, is those Delightful Punks. They almost killed us back there. But now..." Numbuh Five said, facing Numbuh One.

"... It's our turn now."

TO BE CONTINUED...