Todd wasn't sure how he got home. After he was out of the park he had slowed his hops to a walk. His mind was completely numb. He can't believe he had just turned down his one chance to be with Serena. Maybe, if he went back now he could still… No, it was for the best. There's no way she could be happy with him. He did the right thing. But then why did he feel so miserable? Todd walked into the Brotherhood house and saw Pietro who was obviously waiting for him to come home. Todd just kept walking, not in the mood to talk to Pietro.
"Hey there Toad. Look I know you're a little steamed from what happened earlier," Pietro said walking behind him, "and I can understand how you feel…" Bull crap. Todd thought.
"But I can assure you it was no big loss. Like I said before, done, over with, ancient history. " Todd pretended not to notice him though his hands were clenched at his sides. Pietro patted him on the shoulder.
"Don't worry, you'll get over it." It was like a reflex. Without thinking Todd had swung his fist around and hit Pietro in the stomach completely winding him.
Pietro staggered back groaning in pain. "What was that for?"
Todd said calmly, "No big deal."
"You hit me!" Pietro snapped.
"Don't worry," Todd said a little fiercely as he started walking up the stairs. "You'll get over it." Tabitha came out and saw Pietro doubled up in pain.
She folded her arms. "What did you do this time?"
Toad was heading to his room when he bumped into Lance. "Hey Toad, wait up."
"Not now Lance." Todd growled.
"Look I know you're ticked off because of the pictures but..."
"No it's not the pictures!" Todd yelled.
Lance looked at him. "Did something happen?" Todd nodded. "You wanna talk about it?"
Todd sighed. "Sure, why not?"
"Let's go in my room." Lance suggested. They went into Lance's room and he shut the door behind them. Todd flopped down on the bed.
"So what's up?" Lance asked,
"The end of my world." Todd replied gloomily.
"What happened?"
Todd wondered if he should tell Lance the truth. But then he thought, what the heck? "I met Serena at the park."
"Really?" Lance was taken aback. "What happened?"
Todd shrugged. "We talked to each other."
"That's it?" Lance asked disappointed.
"Pretty much."
"Well that explains why you were gone for so long."
"Yeah."
"So, talk about anything special?"
"She asked if we could start over again."
"She did?" Lance asked in surprise.
Todd nodded somberly. "Yeah."
"And did you say yes?"
Todd shook his head. "No."
Lance choked. "But… how come?"
"I just couldn't."
"That's not a reason." Lance remarked.
"Lance, how could you expect me to accept her offer?"
"How could you say no? I thought that you loved her."
"I do. At first I wasn't sure, but now I know that I really do…" Todd swallowed, "love her."
"Then why? Why didn't you say yes?"
Todd traced the surface of the bed with his finger. "I wanted to, but then I realized how selfish it would've been of me to do that. After all the suffering I put her through, I don't deserve her."
"She suffers because she loves!" Lance burst out. "And the thing she loves most in the world is you! If you don't take responsibility for that then your remorse isn't worth crap! Go see her! Help her!"
"How? How can I do that?" Todd screamed. "I forgot all of it, who she was and what we were! It's the cruelest thing I could have done to anybody! Why would you want me to remind her of that?"
Lance looked at him hard. "You've helped her before."
"That was then, this is now." Todd said firmly. "The guy I was is gone. In the end all I've done is hurt her." This was more than Lance could take. He was angry at the young teen for blaming himself, and for throwing away the chance to be happy because of it.
"Toad, listen to me! What you're doing is selfish. You two used to be an item. Do you really think that just running away from that fact is going to help either of you? All you can do is sit there and feel sorry over the fact that you forgot about her. You say you don't want to hurt her anymore yet you just did by rejecting her. You say you love her and yet look at how you're acting. You need to stop thinking about yourself and start thinking about her!"
"I am thinking about her!" Todd shouted. "I'm trying to help her!"
"How? Because of what you did Serena's probably broken and she may never recover. Is that what you call helping her?" Lance asked him.
"I'm just doing what I think is right."
"Oh sure your brain may tell you that, but what do your feelings say? Deep down you know that what you're doing is stupid."
"And what do you know?" Todd shouted. "You don't know anything!" And with that he jumped out of the open window away from the house.
"Toad wait! Aw great there he goes again!" Lance cried exasperatedly.
Tabitha poked her head in the room. "Having troubles Rock man?"
"Shut-up." Lance snapped.
"Hey don't worry," she said reassuringly. "I'm sure he'll come around."
"You really think so?"
"Nah, I'm just dishing out false reassurance." Tabitha waved.
Lance rolled his eyes. "Thanks."
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Later after much hopping around and what not, Todd had found a nice little café to think and clear out his head. The waitress had given him a glass of water, which he just stared at blankly deep in thought.
How could Lance possibly understand what he was going through? How could anyone understand? He was sick of people telling him how they understand his feelings. Well they didn't. Nobody did… except for her. He wished he could just forget her again. Things seemed so much easier when he didn't know about her. No, the reason why this whole thing started was because he forgot.
It was too late anyway. Even if he wanted to get back together with her he wouldn't be able to now. What he did was done. There's nothing he could do about it. He can't go back and start over. Not now. It was over. He had his chance and he threw it away. Besides, she'll be happier without him. Both of them will move on and forget the whole thing ever happened. Yeah right!
As Todd stared at the glass of water he noticed Serena's face swimming inside it. In frustration he picked it up and threw it against the wall and it shattered decorating the floor with broken glass and water.
"Sober too." A voice said amused. Todd looked over and saw a boy of about his age with untamed chestnut hair that stuck up all over the place. He had two piercings in each ear and a scar across his right cheek. He was playing a solitary game of chess. "So what's eating you?"
"Why do you want to know?" Todd snapped.
"Hey, I can understand if you don't want to tell me." The boy said. "But it might be nice to get it off your chest."
"No thanks." Todd snapped.
"Suit yourself." He shrugged as he started to put the pieces back in their original position. Todd watched him.
"Isn't it kinda boring playing chess by yourself?" Todd asked offhandedly.
"Heck no, it lets me challenge myself." He smiled. "Besides there's no one else to play me."
"I could play you."
The boy raised an eyebrow. "Do think you got what it takes? I'm not bragging or anything but I've been playing chess for a long time."
Todd grinned. "No problem yo."
(Ten minutes later...)
"And your knight is mine!" Todd said triumphantly.
"Geez, you're the best challenge I've had in a long time. Where'd you learn how to play?"
"I learned how to play this game way back." Todd said. As they played Todd kept thinking more and more about Serena. It was impossible to distract himself from her. He could get her out of his head. When she had kissed him he had felt so many things. He wondered if what he had felt was Serena's feelings. But right now Todd felt sad, angry, and guilty. In fact he felt as if his heart was tearing itself to shreds. He needed to talk to someone.
"And now I'll take your rook." The boy's voice cut into his thoughts.
"Hey um…" Todd started.
"I'm not taking back that move."
"I've been having some problems lately." Todd finished.
"I figured." He said casually. "So what is it? Parents? Girlfriend?"
"There's this girl I really care about." Todd told him.
"Girl trouble huh?" He chuckled. "One of the worst."
"I'm afraid she might be… upset."
"So why don't you go see her? Or call her at least. She probably is upset worrying about you."
Todd shook his head. "No, once I hear her voice… if she calls my name… that will be it. I'd have to go to her and hold her close. And I can't do that. My past with her is clouded, I don't even know how we met."
"Amnesia's a tricky thing." The boy told him. "There's no telling how long it will take to recover or to what extent. It's amazing you even remember her at all."
Todd continued. "At first I thought it wouldn't matter but… society won't accept me as I am. Who could accept let alone respect a criminal? I have no family, no home, and no value. When I was by myself I didn't care about all that… but knowing her I care a lot. I want to make her happy but how can I? All I ever did was hurt her, made her cry. That's something I can never ask her to forgive. Yet at the same time her warmth is all that keeps me going."
The boy looked at him in amazement. "You really love her don't you? And I bet she loves you too which means she probably doesn't care about all this stuff you're going on about. She just wants to be with you, to go through the good and the bad with you, and to heck with everything else." He used his other knight to take Todd's queen. "Sometimes Todd, it really is as plain as black and white. Sure things may get tough, but that's all the more reason to take a look at the girl standing next to you."
"So what do I do?" Todd asked.
He smiled. "Talk to her, tell her how you feel."
Tell her how he felt? How did he feel? Todd thought about it and the image of her face came clear into view. The answer was obvious. He loved her. He couldn't live without her, not anymore. He knew what he had to do. He had to let her know how much he cared. If time couldn't set things right, then he sure as hell would. He jumped up knocking some of the pieces over and began to leave.
"Hey!" He said surprised at Todd's sudden haste. "Where are you going?"
Todd looked at him, a steely determination shone in his eyes. "I'm gonna go set things right. I'm gonna tell her how I feel." He turned and left.
The boy chuckled as he placed the pieces back in there positions. "Heh, maybe I should learn to take my own advice." He took his knight and placed it on one of the squares smiling. "Checkmate."
What you've all been waiting for, Todd and Serena finally get back together in Reunification! YAY!