Author's note: Sorry about the late update again… I had a lot of stuff on my mind, especially school… stupidstupidstupid school!
100 reviews! Eek! That's awesome. Couldn't have done it without you guys!
I'm having some difficulties with my # 'R' key! If there are any places where there isn't an 'R,' I know… I have to beat on my keyboard to make it work… (BANG BANG BANG!) Stupid & thing. I bet I look really dumb, cussing at my computer typey thing.
Song lyrics for "Flora's Secret" copyright by Enya. Taken off the A Day without Rain album
And I swear that I won't use any more lyrics in this story. Boy, can't you tell I'm paranoid about being sued?
Oh, and before I forget, Does anyone know how to upload pictures onto your little blog thing? Any help is much appreciated. Thanks. I hope I'm doing the disclaimer right; I seriously don't wanna get sued. I don't have any money anyway.
Chapter 22: Beauty and the Beast
Peter stood alone on the second floor, dumbfounded and slightly panicky, 'Otto's right… I can't lose her.' He darted off towards his bedroom, where his senses were telling him to find her. Peter stopped in the doorway to find her sitting on the edge of the bed. He silently crept up, sat on the bed beside her, and wrapped his arms around her.
At his touch, MJ whipped around to face him, teary-eyed. Peter stared into her eyes, seeing all of the confusion, pain and loneliness inside of them. "MJ…I…"
"I know, Peter. I just… When I made the decision to love you, I understood the fact that this was not going to be easy. Times like now are what I'm talking about. Peter, I'm afraid for us… and you. I don't want to lose you, I love you too much." She buried her head in his chest and sobbed.
Peter waited as she cried. His costume soon became soaked and he spoke without a further thought, "MJ, I'll make a promise to you. I'll take a week off, just to be with you."
"An entire week?" She asked, a tiny smile creeping across her face. Peter nodded and MJ's smile dropped a bit, "I'm sorry Peter, but I seriously don't think you can last that long."
Peter grinned, "You're on! Besides Otto will probably club me if I break my promise." He held her close and kissed her on the forehead. She sighed contentedly as Peter thought to himself, "Oh boy, this is not going to be easy."
Otto walked down the stairs and down the hall to stand in front of the slightly ajar, library doors. He pushed one open a little more before slipping in amongst the bookshelves.
Where is she?
Hiding, no doubt
Duh!
Shush! I hear something
Otto could hear it too. Though it was very faint and quiet, it sounded like… singing. Otto nimbly climbed to the top of the nearest bookshelf and peered over the edge.
It's coming from behind the next one, They all said at once.
He gently hopped the gap between the two cases, barely making a sound or making any movement happen in the books below. Rosie stood in the aisle flipping through the pages of a literature book, singing quietly to herself:
Lovers in the long grass,
Look above them
Only they can see where the clouds are going,
Only to discover
Dust and Sunlight
Ever make the sky so blue
Afternoon is hazy,
River flowing
All around the sounds moving closer to them
Telling them the story,
Told by Flora
Dreams they never knew
Silver willows,
Tears from Persia
Those who come from a far off island
Winter Chanterelle lies
Under cover
Glory-of-the-sun in blue
Some they know as passion,
Some as freedom,
Some they know as love
And the way it leaves them
Summer snowflake
For a season
When the sky is blue
When the sky above is blue,
She stopped singing as an actuator snaked its way down in font of her and looked into her face. "Why hello," She said, gently stroking it and receiving a contented trill. Without looking up, she addressed her husband, "You've been here this whole time haven't you."
"Perhaps." Otto appeared from the top of the case and draped his legs over the edge and staring into Rosie's soft, green eyes. They paused as they stared at each other before Otto slipped off of his perch and onto the floor, taking her hands in his.
"What did you come down here for?" She asked wrapping her arms around him.
"Well as you stated before, we should enjoy the day so I thought I would escort you outside," He said in his most regal literature-sounding manner, but let's face it, Otto's not very good at that sort of thing. Rosie looked at him before laughing. "Well don't make fun of me, I gave it my best shot," he continued meekly and blushing.
"That's why it's so funny."
Peter still sat on the bed with MJ resting against his chest. He looked around a few times before gently nudging her, "Where's Aunt May?"
MJ looked up to him and thought for a moment. "I think she's spending some time alone, I mean, if I found out my nephew was Spiderman, I'd be pretty shocked too."
"I'm going to go find her," He said, getting to his feet and walking out of the room. He stopped and looked into his aunt's room; May sat on the edge of the bed, a picture of Uncle Ben, Peter and herself in her hand. Peter walked behind her and gently placed his hand on her shoulder. With a small gasp, she whipped around and faced him, tears filling her eyes. "Aunt May," he whispered as she came forward and sobbed into his chest.
"It...was…you this whole time." She backed up and looked at him in his costume. "It's just…" She broke off, smiled and shook her head.
"Aunt May, I-" Peter stammered.
"No," She said firmly, "I have to say something first… I apologize for avoiding you over the past few days, and I don't want you to say anything else about the other day. It's in the past now, and I just want us to be a family again, even if it seems a bit farfetched to have two super humans in it." She gave him a small smile before coming forward to embrace him. Peter held her to him just as he did the day she moved out of the old house.
A little while later, Peter emerged from his bedroom in normal clothes, to find his Aunt taking his costume downstairs.
"Aunt May, what are you doing?" He asked skeptically.
She looked at him and raised her eyebrows. "Well, what good to you is a dirty, torn outfit?" She gave him a nod before continuing down the flight of stairs. Peter gave a small laugh at his aunt's eagerness, as MJ came beside him.
"One week huh?" she elbowed him with a giggle.
Peter sighed and nodded, "Yes." He looked out of the window and down into the green expanse of Central Park to find Otto and Rosie sitting beneath a large tree, laughing about something. Apparently, Otto had a book in his hand and was looking at it, shaking his head in a very confused manner. Eager to just go outside at least, he gently took a hold of MJ's wrist and beckoned for her to follow. "Aunt May!" He called. She appeared in the doorway, "You don't think you're going anywhere without me, do you?" she asked, a smile spreading across her face.
They both followedPeter out of the door, across the road and about fifty yards over the emerald-green, new growth. "Hey guys," Otto greeted them. The three sat down in the shade next to Otto and Rosie. Peter leaned back against the tree and closed his eyes as MJ rested her head on his chest.
Otto returned to his book, read a few lines before tuning the book upside down, "Y'know, it's easier to understand this way."
Rosie gave him a funny look before suddenly punching him on the arm and laughing.
"You are very abusive," Otto said, trying to keep a straight face and rubbing his arm.
Moments later a few wailing sirens cut though the warm, spring air. Otto looked over at Peter; he was struggling to keep his place. Raising an eyebrow, Otto questioned Peter's behavior.
"I made a promise to MJ that… I would lay off my duties for a week." He paused and gave Otto a painful smile. Otto returned a warm smile to him, "Good job." Otto placed the book in the grass and sighed.
After a few minutes, Rosie spoke to her husband. "Lay your head back."
"Lay my head back?" He asked her. Rosie simply nodded. He obeyed and laid his head on her lap. She removed his glasses and looked into his eyes. "What's wrong?" He asked as she smiled and shook her head.
"I just have a… song stuck in my head, that's all." She said as she gently began stroking his hair. How much longer had it gotten anyway?
"You can go ahead, I don't mind," He smiled.
She continued running her hand though his wavy hair before absently singing the last few verses of the song:
Lying in the long grass,
Close beside her
Giving her the name
Of the one the moon loves
This will be the day she
Will remember,
When she knew his heart was,
Loving in the long grass
Close beside her
Whispering of love
And the way it leaves them
Lying in the long grass
In the sunlight
They believe it's true love
And from all around them,
Flora's secret
Telling them of love
And the way it breathes and
Looking up from eyes of
Amaranthine
They can see the sky is blue
Knowing that their love is true
Dreams they never knew
And the sky above is blue
As she trailed off on the last note, Otto felt all of his muscles relax and he dozed off. Looking down, she laughed at seeing Otto asleep. With that last note, all of his cares went away. The symbiote, Eddie, that mysterious bell tower. All of it, Otto really felt as if he couldn't care less. As a warm breeze rustled his hair, he stirred and awoke.
Rosie looked into his calm face. The dappled sunlight that filtered through the foliage, gave the scars on the side of his face, a pearly-looking gleam. They seemed to give him… a rugged look, but beneath that, the reassuring visage of Otto was still present.
Peter glanced over at them and smiled. "So the Beauty is the only one capable of taming the Beast, huh?"
Otto propped himself up on his elbows and looked over at Peter, "Yeah, yeah, yeah say what you will."
"But honestly, what do we have in common?" Rosie asked.
Otto paused and thought for a while and Rosie crossed her arms. "We're both carbon-based life forms," he finallyadmitted with a grin and taking her hand in his.
She returned his smile, "Oh stop that." She laughed as Otto got to his feet and climbed up the tree. Rosie stood up and looked to him as he sat on a particularly thick branch. "Here, give me a boost," she called up to him.
With a tentacle, he reached down and gingerly picked her up, and sat her on the branch next to him.
So this is… Rosie
Ooooh
MOM!
She's pretty
Otto couldn't help but laugh at the third actuator's statement. Being its normal, goofy self, italways seemed to lighten things up a bit. Each actuator had been created with a different one of Otto's characteristics. The first one had the straight-forward leadership skills, the second: the kind of casual attitude, the third one was the goofy one; always questioning everything and the fourth was the skeptical, somewhat grumpy one. The fourth one had its good moods here and there, but for the most part, was relatively always snapping at the third one.
All around them, large purple-white blossoms filled the early spring air with their heavy perfume. With an actuator, he gently pulled one off of its stem and handed it to Rosie. My flower My Rose, He thought as she examined the flower delicately before looking at him.
About twenty-five feet below where the couple was sitting, May sat examining the book that Otto had placed on the ground. T.S. Elliot was what it said in large gold letters on the front of the red binding. Opening it, she began reading it enjoyably.
MJ looked up into the tree to Otto and Rosie. 'Its wonderful how something so rough and something so fair make the best couple I've ever seen,' she thought as she leaned back to her place against Peter. Peter couldn't help but feel a tiny bit uncomfortable. Now that everyone knew the promise he made to MJ, Otto would probably goad May into hiding the costume.
Back up in the tree, Rosie leaned back against Otto. Now that he was at peace, maybe he could do some thinking… about that bell tower. He had checked the library, well… most of it, for any record of an old, partially destroyed bell tower.
"So, what have you been thinking of that's kept you so stressed lately?" Rosie's voice cut him from his thoughts.
"How did you know that?" he curiously questioned.
"I'm your wife… I know everything, now get serious for a moment, what has it been?" she asked sarcastically.
"I thought you knew everything," he retorted. Suddenly, a black and white blur came out of nowhere and hit Otto like a missile. Whatever it was slammed him into the grass and tumbled backwards with him down the hill.
"Hello Felicia!" She called, looking for a way to get down. Peter got up and shot a webline up to the trees, gently took hold of Rosie and descended again.
Otto continued rolling down the hill until he reached the bottom, and landed in some particularly soft grass, to his relief. The actuators hissed as they looked around for their father's attacker. To his right, Otto heard feminine laughter and saw Cat lying on her stomach, facing him. "Ha-ha! Gotcha!"
"Cat!" He exclaimed, rubbing his neck. "I'm not fully healed yet!" He tried desperately to keep a straight face, only to burst out laughing. Cat suddenly sprang forward and tackled him again. Peter chuckled to himself as he watched Cat wrestling with Otto. He finally managed to get her off of him and into the grass. Otto lay on his back panting as Cat walked over to him and bent over so that her face was about a foot away from his.
"Well, it's nice to see you have some of your strength back," She said grinning and brushing herself off. Her black-leather body suit shone in the morning sunlight.
"And it's nice to se you cut your hair again," he said, noticing that he hair had been cut back to about the length to her jawbone, just like when he first met her
"Sorry about that. I just felt like I had to pounce on you" she spoke, helping him to his feet.
"So, what's up?" Cat asked, once at the top of the hill again.
"Well, we wanted to explain our behavior the other day," Peter informed her.
"We just didn't want to see you hurt." Otto said gently.
Cat paused for a moment. "I guess you really did mean it when you told me that you guys care about me, huh?" She asked, her shoulders drooping a bit. She had such good friends.
"Of course," Peter answered.
"Well, you healed nicely," she said nodding to Otto's scars. Now apart from having his battle scars, he had numerous dirt and grass stains all over him. They all sat in a calm silence.
"Cat, I want to tell you something, and I truly mean this. We're your friends, and we will always care about you." Peter spoke softly.
A couple of joggers running by gave Otto a few funny/ scared looks as they saw the actuators. "What're you lookin' at?" Otto questioned firmly. Cat laughed. Otto thought for a few minutes. 'I'm gonna have to tell her about the dream sooner or later.' Right now though, it was time to patch things up with his friends.