Hey, everyone, sorry for the late update. My computer had a virus (darn virus!) and when dad went to delete the thing, it erased my hard drive! Argh! >O I was so mad! Luckily, I managed to get most of my files back, but I lost the ending to this story where I had typed it up. And it was so good, too! ;.; (cries) Ah, well. Thank you all for your patience, and thank you so much for reviewing! You really made my day! This chapter is dedicated to everyone who stuck with me!
WARNING: This fic is more mature than what I usually write. It's more mature than PG-13 (T), but I don't think it's enough to be rated an R (M). This meaning, there is no lemon, but there are innuendoes and mature conversations in existence. If you feel that the rating needs to go up, please tell me so in either a review or an e-mail.
WARNING 2: This chapter is the first chapter with any kind of innuendoes in it. If you are offended by that sort of thing, then please skip it. Alright, on with it, then!
Disclaimer: I do not own Chrono Crusade or anything affiliated with it. They all belong to Daisuke Moriyama-san.
Return to Times of Yore
By GundamWingFanatic90
Submitted: 16 October 2005
Past, Eden, Rosette
The months passed quickly, the Sinners continuing their search for Pandaemonium's head, and me… well, I just hung around, helping where I could (there was really nothing else to do around the floating fortress). I got my own room the day after I arrived, and borrowed a couple of pairs of clothes- slacks and shirts, mostly- from Shader. I did a lot of the laundry- Chrono and Aion (amazingly) took turns helping me with that- and helped Shader in her lab, and I soon got to know all of them very well.
Viede was the tall, quiet one, preferring reading and chess to physical activity and defensive fighting to offensive. Genai was quite rambunctious, like me, quickly becoming one of my favorites, his wits and temper giving him an edge akin to mine in our often-occurring banter. Rizelle was the cold one, or so I was told. She seemed to like Genai a lot- she had a crush on him, as I would later learn- and, as one of the only three females on Eden, I found myself able to talk to her easily, if the occasion rarely arose where I needed to. Shader was the techno-geek of the group, more often than not shut up in her lab, not wanting to be disturbed (though I did see a lot of her, helping as I did). But when she was out, she was a riot, the comic relief of the crew. It was hard to believe how much warmth there was in that small group- they became like a second family to me. Those were good times.
They all changed a little, though, even as I watched from the sidelines. There began to be more laughter around, and Chrono even started to smile more. There wasn't much of a change, but there was enough to be noticed. Rizelle, Shader, and I even had fun chasing Genai around the sole time he dared to nick some of our unmentionables from the clotheslines.
"GENAI! GET BACK HERE, YOU PERVERT!" Rizelle screeched, her face flaming as she gave pursuit after our wayward friend. Genai just laughed heartily and fled. Shader and I gave chase, as well, our own faces burning with embarrassment. When we didn't catch him 45 minutes later, the three of us put our heads together in a huddle, attempting to devise a plan to get our bloomers and bras back.
"Well, we could…"
"No, that wouldn't work, he's too damn smart…"
"How about we…"
In the end, Rizelle turned into her true form and weaved an invisible web across a hallway, hiding in the shadows in wait. When Shader and I chased him down it, he got stuck in the web, and the three of us pounced on him. By the time we had all exacted our individual revenges on the poor demon, he was black and blue all over, unable to see out of either of his eyes, had an arm and both legs broken, and, to top it all off, we had given him a triple assault of my 'Double Super Atomic Noogie Attack'. The whole group- save Genai- was rolling with laughter when we told the story at dinnertime. Never again would he try to steal our unmentionables.
Needless to say, he never tried that stunt again. And Aion, my sworn enemy, became like an older brother to me, just as much- if not more- than Genai and Viede.
Chrono, however, was another story. While he did smile more and more, and even laugh increasingly often, I was concerned for him, though I tried not to show it most of the time. He always seemed to be angry at something for whatever reason, and even when he did grin and tell me he was fine, that anger and bitterness never left his eyes. The night we all got drunk again- the umpteenth time since I came four months beforehand- and the night that I let slip about Mary Magdalene, was the night I found out what.
We were all sitting- or dancing, whatever the case- around the dinner table that night, just like any other night. I was half-drunk, and Chrono was besting Aion and Rizelle both in yet another drinking contest- the first one he'd actually managed to stay conscious in without forfeiting after 926 shots of whiskey- while Shader and Viede did a swaying, wobbly jig around the room and Genai snored from a chair off to the side.
"Thuh head ove Paaandaemooonium hic containsh all thuh informashun thaaat we hic neeeed to follow shroooough wif are hic plaaaan." Aion slurred, the alcohol greatly impeding his speech. "Thuh proooblehm… ish thaaat… we dunno wuh-herrre it hic ish." I actually laughed out loud at this point, earning confused stares from almost everyone in the room. When I managed to get my mirth under control again, I smirked at Aion.
"Try lookin' in the Grand Canyon." I said, my words slurring only a little. "Even so, you'll need somethin' hic else to find it 'less you wanna look fer it by hand." Aion rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, but whaaat?" he asked. I hiccupped a bit, giggling as I did so.
"Mary Magdalene." I drawled. "'The girl that could see the future', the 'Holy Maiden', the 'Saint'. She gots hic powers, that one. She can hic help you hic find Pandaemonium's hic head." A sudden motion from Chrono caught my eye just before he slammed his hand down on the table, also rising to his feet in the same motion.
"We shouldn't use an innocent girl to our ends." he said heatedly. "It's not right." He shot me a scalding glare. "I would've thought that you, as a nun, would know that and feel the same way." Then, aside to Rizelle, he muttered, "I quit. I'm headin' to bed." I huffed as he strode purposefully out of the room.
"Whass his problem?" I asked. Rizelle favored me with one of her 'sympathetic' glares.
"I don't know. Why don't you go ask him?" she hissed. I 'hmph!'d and stood up suddenly.
"Fine, I will!" I exclaimed loudly, and stalked out into the hall. I knew where he'd be, and made a beeline for the edge of Eden. That was one of his favorite places to sit, and even though he had said he was going to bed, I knew him too well to think that he'd just go to sleep when he had a lot to think about. Sure enough, he was there.
"Oi, you!" I cried out to him, the haze of drunkenness speedily fading from my mind and body. "What the hell's your problem?" He turned and gave me a vehement glare, which I pointedly ignored as I showered him with a matching glare of my own, standing next to him with my arms crossed over my breasts. "I know that you've been kinda moody lately, but this is ridiculous!" I uncrossed my arms and gestured to either side of myself before sitting down with a sigh. The sight of the land far below had always calmed me, for some reason. "Chrono, what's wrong?" He snorted derisively, the same disgusted sneer present on his face. Suddenly it hit me.
"We shouldn't use an innocent girl to our ends." he said heatedly. "It's not right." He shot me a scalding glare. "I would've thought that you, as a nun, would know that and feel the same way."
He wasn't angry at me or Aion or anyone else- he was angry at himself.
Chrono wrenched the door open, only to be met with blinding, burning light and the sight of Pursuers standing over the charred remains of hundreds of other demons. Not even registering the fact that his armor was being burnt off and that his hair was being cut, he picked up the blackened corpse of what would have been a youngling, barely 5 or so years old. The harsh wind of Pandaemonium mixed with the Astral blasts of the Pursuers slowly caused the body to fall apart into ashes, and they blew away, back the way Chrono had come. Enraged, he then attacked the Pursuers with all he had. They didn't stand a chance.
In the end, I watched from outside the memory as he stood among the decimated battlefield, the 100 demons that he had slain lying in disorganized piles around him. He had never recovered from the trauma.
"You shouldn't feel guilty for what you did, Chrono." I whispered, my hand slowly coming up to cradle the Life Clock against my chest. He blinked and looked over at me.
"You shouldn't feel guilty or angry at yourself for killing 100 demons." I said in clarification, though just as quietly and without averting my gaze from the plains below. I could sense his shock at what I said, and looked up at him.
"Who told you about that?" he asked. I smiled softly and prepared to tell him a story.
"No one told me." I began, grin fading. "In my time, you and I were in a battle, with… another powerful demon… and you were badly wounded by him. You didn't want to drain my soul even more by healing, though, so you shut yourself up in your mind and didn't let your Legion heal you. I was out for a week while you suffered, but when I woke up and found out about it, I…" I trailed off, attempting to gather my thoughts. "You wouldn't wake up when I came to you, so…" I took a breath. "In the Magdalan Order, there is a machine that can allow one person to enter another person's soul to purge them of evil spirits or demons. When you use this machine, we call it a 'Dive'." I looked up into his eyes in a clash of crimson and indigo that belied all emotion. "I 'dove' into your soul to find you. On the way, I had to see all of your memories, so that I could get to the real you… one of your memories that I witnessed was when you escaped from Pandaemonium with the other Sinners." I allowed a small smile to grace my lips as I closed my eyes in remembrance, and I lifted my hand to place it on top of his violet head, a gesture that we had always used to calm each other, a gesture of comforting. "You're not alone, you know. I know exactly how you felt when you were done with that battle, how you felt while it was being waged. I know your every emotion from that day, and I don't blame you for feeling that way."
"But how can you not?" he asked. He hadn't tried to move away from my hand, surprisingly.
"Because I love you, Chrono, and I care about you." I admitted softly. "If you hadn't killed those demons, they would have killed you, and Aion, and Shader, and Rizelle, and Genai, and Viede, without a second thought. The difference between you and them is that you feel remorse and regret for it. That just goes to show that you can care, too. You have a heart, resting right here." I turned to him, and placed my hand over his heart, feeling its steady beat beneath my palm. "And though you did something wrong, you shouldn't dwell on it. God forgives all people, no matter what. I know that He will forgive you, too, if you believe in Him. I know that I do." He lifted his eyes to meet mine.
"Why do you believe in Him?" he whispered to me. Our faces were slowly moving towards each other, only inches apart now, our eyes slipping closed unanimously.
"Because He brought me you." I breathed, and then gently brushed my lips against his. A gasp escaped us at the contact, but neither I nor he attempted to pull away. Instead, I kissed him again, harder. In a few seconds, we broke apart for air, hovering only a centimeter or so away from each other.
"I love you, Rosette…" he breathed against my mouth. I found a smile spreading across my lips.
"Really?" I asked. I felt him grinning.
"Yeah, really." he replied.
"I love you, too, Chrono." I whispered. And then, I kissed him again. All of our wants and needs became clear to each other, the kiss deepening to an intensity that I had never thought to reach before. In a few moments, we separated again, and we rose to our feet. I took his hands in my own and led him along the halls. When I asked, he told me that Shader was back in her lab, asleep, and the others were all in the dining room, still.
"How do you know?" I whispered. He smirked.
"I can hear them, and they're so drunk that they're broadcasting their thoughts." he said simply. I nodded with a grin, and we continued on to his room, where he suddenly pulled me against his chest again, diving in for another intense kiss as I palmed his door open, and we made our way in, closing the door and locking it behind us. In minutes, my habit and dress fell to the floor, forgotten, to join his coat, sleeves, headband, and vest, as we flopped onto the bed, all caution being thrown to the wind as, in the blackness of the room in the nighttime, we became one.
Ack. My face is so red right now, I could probably put a tomato to shame. That has got to be the most intense chapter thus far. Hope you liked it, though. (grins) Mmmkay, then, I have to go. Please read and review!
-Fanatic