"What should we see first?" Tobias asked Jordan, turning to look at him.

Jordan tilted his head to the side, thinking. Then his eyes brightened and he grinned at Tobias. "Let's get some ice cream!" He took the lead, trotting ahead in his joy so that Tobias had to run to keep up with him. He stopped in front of a vender, pulling a wallet from his pocket. He peered over his shoulder at the other boy. "What do you want?"

Tobias examined his feet, rubbing the toe of his shoe in the dust. "I don't, um… have any money." He admitted.

Jordan slid his hand under Tobias's chin, pulling his head up gently to meet those beautiful blue eyes with his own sea green "Don't worry about it. What do you want?"

Tobias blushed a deep red, turning away from Jordan and pretending to be deeply engrossed in the sign advertising the various ice cream bars to hide his embarrassment.

"Been a very, very long time since I've had chocolate…" He murmured, "How about that one?" He pointed.

Jordan nodded. "A toasted almond and a chocolate center Good Humor, please." He paid for them, handing Tobias's to him with a regal bow. "Enjoy!" They sat back down where Jordan had been before, watching the sea lions.

Tobias nearly moaned at the first taste of the chocolate, causing Jordan to giggle through his mouthful of ice cream. "I told you I hadn't had any for a long time!" Tobias protested, which only caused Jordan to laugh harder. "What is it?" He insisted, glaring half-heartedly at the other boy.

"You're covered with chocolate." Jordan told him through giggles. "Here." Jordan reached out his thumb; wiping chocolate out of the corner of his mouth. Before Tobias could react, Jordan leapt up, tossing his Popsicle stick into a nearby trash can and holding his hand out for Tobias. "Let's go!"

Tobias smiled shyly, but took his hand. Jordan pulled him up, then let his hand go quickly, sporting a light blush of his own "Where're we going now?" Tobias asked.
Jordan pulled a colorful map out of his pocket, examining it for a moment. "Well, the rainforest is right here, why don't we see it first? It's pretty cool."

"Sounds good." Jordan led them toward it. "Hey, why don't I get one of those maps?"

Jordan laughed. "Only people who actually pay to get in get them, if you fly in unannounced they don't feel a need to help you get around."

"Humph." They entered the rainforest through wood doors, then plastic strips hanging from the ceiling. It was hot, and humid, but then what would you expect from a rain forest? It too was empty but for them. Birds sang, some emitting strange, guttural noises, unfamiliar to these American boys. The trees stood tall and strikingly green before them.

"Look." Jordan said quietly. Tobias looked. Jordan pointed high into the trees. "A bat. That's a fruit bat." It hung, huge and furry in the trees.

Tobias watched it silently, and then turned to Jordan. "I was one of those once."

Jordan nodded. "To save the Chee's crystal."

"I was much smaller, though."

Jordan led Tobias to a bench beside a tank of piranha's, where they sat, gazing out into the small but dense forest. "I've read about it. But…Tell me what it was like."

They stayed in the zoo for hours, wandering around to see the various animals, and stopping for Tobias to demorph and remorph every two hours. But it felt like mere minutes to Tobias. The stories poured off his lips, stories of his friends, and their battles. He had never told anymore about them before. In truth, he had never had anyone he could talk to before except for Rachel, and well, she had been there on these adventures so why would he have told her? They had other, more important things to speak about… too much, in fact, far too much was left unsaid… but regardless, he loved talking to Jordan. He ate up the words silently, wide-eyed, gazing at Tobias in wonder. He had read about these adventures in Marco's books, in history books, but they were nothing like this… he saw them through Tobias's eyes, the blood, the danger, saw the emotions running through his eyes like wild-fire. He saw them dull with pain.

"What's wrong?"

Tobias stared silently ahead of them, into a huge tank. They were at the high point of the zoo, looking down over the arctic region of it. Jordan stepped ahead, pressing his hand against the cold glass and peering down into the islands of ice. Then he saw it. A large polar bear lay on the ice, sprawled out. He looked to Jordan's eyes altogether harmless, although he wouldn't have wanted to meet him head on, but that look in Tobias's eyes told him there was something bigger going on here… "Tobias…?" Tobias said nothing, he didn't even move. He just stood stock still, staring at the bear. Jordan was at a lack for what to do. It tore him apart, seeing this boy in pain, and he could almost feel it emanating off of Tobias now like an aura. He wrapped an arm around Tobias, pulling him in close to him. Tobias pressed his head against his shoulder, shielding his view. "What is it, Tobias…?"

Tobias shook his head violently, but then buried it deeper into the boy's shoulder. "One of those killed her." He whispered, nearly inaudible. "One of those killed my…my…" He started, looking up into Jordan's eyes as if realizing, suddenly what he was doing. "You should go."
"No!" Jordan grabbed for his hand, holding it in his own. "I can't leave you like this, Tobias, not all alone."

Tobias lowered his head as if hiding his tears. "Please. Please go. I can't… Please go." He backed away from Jordan, turning and leaning against the freezing glass of the tank, staring fixedly at the great white creature.

Jordan stood there for a long time, staring fixedly at him… but after a while, he left.