Begin chapter

The next day Mr. Blaze decided to take the day off. He and Mr. Ayano had been working on the contract for the past two days, and it was nearly completed. Mr. Ayano was spending the day with his daughter, and he suggested to Mr. Blaze that he should spend the day with Chaud. He said that he would do that, and he was currently in Chaud's room, searching for any sign of where his son was. "Chaud is very neat and organized," he thought as he looked in his son's closet. "I can tell exactly what he took. He took a duffel bag, filled with," he paused to look at the voids in the closet, "two pairs of pants, three shirts, and, not much else." Mr. Blaze walked out of the closet and over to his son's desk.

He opened the drawers, and received a shock when he saw that they looked like a tornado had just hit. He continued down the drawers until he found the battle chip one. He was surprised when he found it almost filled. He looked at the list that Chaud kept of all of his chips, and Mr. Blaze dumped the drawer and started to organize the chips, and counted them when he was through with that. "He took the chips for program advances, some other swords, and various blasters. It looks like he just took his normal stash and didn't even bother with all the rare ones." Mr. Blaze sighed as he put the chips back in the drawer, and put the drawer back in the desk. He began to look through his son's other belongings, and he found the briefcase that he had given his son last year for his birthday.

Flashback

Mr. Blaze was sitting in his office, the briefcase that he was going to give his son was wrapped in silver paper and was sitting on his desk. It was a nice one, it was metal and had a combination lock on the top of it. He had called his son to his office five minutes ago, and was expecting him any second. All of the sudden the door opened and Chaud walked in and up to his father's desk. "Happy Birthday Chaud," he said as he handed the present to his son. Chaud tore the paper off with little pomp and circumstance, and stared at his gift.

"Wow, thanks for the briefcase," Chaud had said, and Mr. Blaze saw that his son hated the present. "Bye."

"Goodbye, oh, and keep up the good work," said Mr. Blaze as Chaud left. He then pulled up a blank word document and began to order Navi's around. He was going to have his company sponsor a race for Net Navis, and decided to get a head start on that.

End Flashback

Mr. Blaze looked at the small dent on the side of the case. He remembered that later that day he had gotten a report that Chaud had tried to break the window with it. Mr. Blaze had shrugged it off and got back to work. "I can't believe that I have missed out on being a dad. I could have at least invited him to a party, or given him a break every once in a while when he was little, but I had my head so far into the future that I missed the present," he thought as he put Chaud's room back in order. When he was done, he walked down to the first floor, and took a position by the large bay windows to see if his son would come home.

MRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMR

Chaud woke the next morning, thinking about the email that his dad sent to Lan. "He sent it to Lan, not to me. He sent it to my rival/partner/friend, not his son," he paused to listen to Mega scare Lan to wake him up. Chaud went into Lan's room every night about midnight to slot in the Gateway chip so that Mega would have a weapon to wake Lan with in the morning. Mega always woke Lan up around seven, and it was three till. "Proto, wake up, Mega's about to get Lan," he whispered. Proto woke up and got out of his bed. At exactly seven, an ear-piercing scream broke the silence of the morning. Chaud used this as his cue to get out of bed. About a minute after Lan woke up, he came barging into Chaud's room.

"CHAUD!" he yelled as he broke through the door. "HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU TO NOT SLOT IN THE GATEWAY CHIP? I LIKE TO SLEEP IN ON SATURDAY!" Chaud replied by shrugging.

"I don't know Lan, but you have your date with Maylu today," he said, getting out of his bed. "And I have my thing with Mary." Something registered in Lan's head when Chaud said the words "Maylu" and "date". He ran out of the room and into his to get ready. Chaud just chuckled and went over to his closet. He pulled out a pair of blue jeans and a tee shirt.

"Chaud, you might want to know that it's considerably colder than it was yesterday," said Proto as he checked the outside temp. Dentech had been unseasonably warm all winter, and it was finally getting cool. In fact it had dropped from high 70's to 50's and it was supposed to get cooler as the day wore on.

"Thanks Proto, I think that I'll wear that long sleeve black shirt under this red tee," he said as he pulled out the shirt. He put on his clothes, took the PET off the charger, jacked out Proto, and walked downstairs. He arrived in the kitchen to find Maylu already there, eating breakfast with Lan. "Morning Maylu."

"Good Morning Chaud, did you have a good night sleep?" she asked. Chaud walked over to a chair at the table and got some cereal.

"Yes I did, and you?" he asked back.

"It was fine. I have a feeling that Mega had some help getting Lan up this morning," she commented with a giggle. Lan shot Chaud a death glare, and Maylu began to laugh. "Now I know that Mega had help. What did you do?"

"I just slotted in a chip, that's all," he said, doing the "I'm did something wrong but I'm trying to look innocent" look. Lan chose this opportunity to fling some cereal at Chaud. The piece in question hit Chaud in the forehead, and he retaliated by flinging two pieces of food at Lan. Both hit Lan on the forehead. About this time, Lan's mom came into the kitchen, and threw both of the boys outside; and although Maylu wasn't specifically told to leave, she followed the two out the door.

"Good job Chaud, now you got us both kicked out of the house until nightfall," said a very annoyed Lan.

"Come on Lan," said Mega, "you know that you're just mad that you lost to Chaud."

"Correct," interjected Proto, "it would take years of training to beat Chaud. When he was little, he practiced firing peas at the other people at fancy restaurants."

"Ok, well, enough of this," said Maylu, "I want to go and do something." With this, she and Lan said goodbye to Chaud, and started walking towards the movie theater. Chaud looked at his watch, and started towards Yai's house to pick up Mary. Yai had given Mary a spare key to the back gate, and she gave it to Chaud when she found out who he was.

He arrived at Yai's house an hour after he had left Lan's because he got lost more than once, and when he opened the back gate, he saw that Mary was sitting out in front of Yai's pool in one of the chairs, waiting for him. "Hi Mary," he said, walking over to the reclining girl.

"Hi Chaud, I wasn't expecting you for another few minutes. Do you want to go into the house and warm up a bit?" she asked him. Chaud shook his head yes and walked into the house. Unfortunately for him, Mr. Ayano had just walked into the room as he did, and was almost immediately recognized by the older man.

"Good morning young man. I haven't seen you around here before, what is your name?" Mr. Ayano asked in a fatherly and warm tone.

"What should I do? I know that my dad hasn't told anyone about me going missing, and especially not Mr. Ayano, but I can't tell him that I'm my cousin, because things will become to complicated," Chaud thought frantically.

"This is Daniel," said Mary. She knew that Chaud was nervous about this situation, and she decided to cover for him. "He's my boyfriend from Netopia."

"Well Mary, I didn't know that you had a boyfriend. I'm sorry; I've been working on a contract with Blaze Quest and haven't really had the time to spend with my daughter and her pen pal (A/N: I don't really know how Mary and Yai met, but in my story, they are pen-pals). So Daniel, how has your day been so far?" Mr. Ayano asked.

"Well," Chaud replied, "It's been ok. I just got in this morning and haven't really had time to do anything. Mary and I were thinking about going to the carnival."

"Well, if you are, here's 600 Zenny for it. I know how stressful flying cross-country can be, and I don't really mind doing this. Mary, do you know where Yai is?" he asked, with a warm smile on his face.

"Yes sir, she's in her room asleep. She said that she was going to wake up around eight, and so she should be up soon." Right on cue, Yai came into the room. Mr. Ayano walked over to his daughter and gave her a hug. Chaud and Mary took this as their cue to leave. They knew that they couldn't get out the back door, so they were forced to go out the front. The main problem was that there was only one way out of the neighborhood, and that was past Blaze Mansion. "Chaud, we don't have to go now you know. We could go later when Mr. Ayano leaved with Yai."

"No, we need to go now so we can get to the carnival on time. And I know that my dad isn't going to take off work to go home and wait for me," he said as they started walking. "He doesn't care that much."

"Chaud, don't say that. He does care about you, just in a different way. Listen, I bet that he has been frantically searching for you since you left," said Mary, remembering the butler.

"Whatever," said Chaud as they started past Blaze Mansion. Chaud looked at his house, he quickly found his window. The shades were drawn like they normally were, but there was a light on in his room. Little did he know that his father had forgotten to turn it off when he left the room. They were almost to the gate when they heard a scream.

"CHAUD!"

Chaud turned around and saw his father running out of the house. "Chaud!" his father said again as he looked at his son. He looked in Chaud's eyes and saw fear, anger and confusion in them. Mr. Blaze ignored all of his son's emotions and pulled him into a tight hug. "Where were you?" he asked in a softened tone. "I was so worried about you, where have you been?"

"Dad?" Chaud asked, nervous about calling his father something loving, and about his father's mental state. His father was just as good, if not better, at hiding his emotions, but here he was, running and hugging his son in public. "Dad, are you ok?"

"Chaud, I have been worried sick about you. Please will you come home?" he asked, releasing his son. Looking at Chaud again, he sighed and asked again. "Will you and your friend come inside long enough for me to talk to you?" Chaud thought about this for a second before Mary spoke up.

"Of course we would like to come inside," she said as she walked over and linked her arm in Chaud's. Together they walked into the mansion, Mr. Blaze in the lead, followed by Chaud and Mary.

MRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMR

Meanwhile, Lan and Maylu had slotted in fashion chips that put them in light jackets, jeans, and long sleeve t-shires, jacked Mega and Roll into the cyber park, and now the couple was walking towards the cinema. "Lan," said Maylu. "We should see the new Leonardo de Caprio movie."

"Ok, whatever you want to see," he said as they walked up to the box office. He got the tickets and the two of them walked inside. They handed their tickets to the usher, and he told them that their theater was going to be the fifth one on their right. Lan and Maylu went to go and get some popcorn and then they walked into the theater in time for the previews.

While their ops were sitting down to watch the movie, Mega and Roll had found a nice big tree to sit under in the park. It was much warmer in the Net. In fact, it was springtime. The tree in question was on top of a grassy hill with a little brook running at the foot of the hill. Mega sat down first, and Roll sat down right next to him.

"Mega," said Roll as she put her head on his shoulder. "I never really thanked you for saving my life all those times. In fact, I don't think that I have ever said that at all." She took her head off of his shoulder when she said that, and she looked down at the ground.

"Roll," said Mega, pulling her closer and putting her head on his shoulder again. "Roll, you don't have to say thank you for all of that. It doesn't really matter, and I don't mind that you haven't said thanks for what I've done. I need to thank you for being strong and being there for me." Roll sighed and tried to move her head, but when she started to remove it from his shoulder, he took it and pushed it right back where it was.

"Mega," she said, about to break into tears, "I don't deserve to be your friend. I'm too weak, and you deserve someone better." This time she tried to stand up, but Mega had a firm grip on her, and she just fell across his lap.

"Roll, look at me," he said, "I can choose whomever I want in the world, I know that. I know that many guy navis would love to have you also, but I beat them to you. I chose you, and I was lucky enough that you chose me too. Like it or not, you're mine." He ended his little speech with a tight hug and a soft kiss on the cheek. Roll began to cry a little. "Roll, what's wrong?"

"I'm sorry; I've just been really stupid these past few months. After the race and when you went to Houston, I thought that you didn't like me anymore and that you were going to get someone else." She paused to catch her breath before she continued. "But now I realize that I've just been stupid this whole time. Stupid, stupid, stupid." Mega's eyes widened as he heard what Roll said.

"No, Roll," he said, pulling her closer, "I would never want anyone other than you, no one. I have a question though," he said as Roll's tear stricken face looked at his. "Were you jealous of Jena?"

"Yes," she answered in a small voice. Mega laughed a little as he continued to hold Roll tight.

"Roll, I just want to let you know that when I was little, I considered Jena my sister, and I still sorta do. Trust me; there is nothing in between us. In fact, some of the nurses commented that we would also fight like siblings."

"What did you fight over?" Roll asked, drying her eyes on her jacket sleeve.

"Stupid stuff like who was going to plant the stink bombs; who was going to repaint the ICU sign; who was going to take the blame, and other stupid kid stuff." Roll laughed when he started naming the things that he did.

"My, weren't you the little delinquent," she joked. Mega started laugh.

"I guess I was. But I bet that I am the only person alive that has managed to successfully bypass security and rig fire drills and other stuff like that age five."

"You did? I don't even know you anymore, do I?" Mega responded by kissing her on the lips.

"Sure you do, you just know a little more about me, that's all." So the two of them sat there under the tree like that for the rest of the morning.

MRMRMRMMRMRMRMRMRMMRMRMR

Chaud and Mary walked into the den of the Mansion. Mr. Blaze went and sat in a rather large leather chair, and Chaud and Mary sat in another. "Chaud," Mary whispered while his father asked for some tea from the butler, "it's going to be ok."

"I know, but I don't want you to leave my side. I'm still afraid," he whispered back before he turned his attention to his father. "So dad, what did you want to ask me?"

"Chaud, I know that I haven't been the best of fathers, but I know that what I did was wrong. I shouldn't have thrown those things at you, and I'm sorry. Not only am I sorry about that, but I'm also sorry for what I did when you were little. I didn't let you be a kid. I took that away from you. And I wish that I could turn the clock back and be a better father to you. Chaud, please come home." Chaud looked like he was about to cry when his father was finished talking to him. Mary looked at both of the guys in the room. She saw the two of them avoid eye contact, both ashamed of what they had done.

"I think that your dad is serious when he said that," Mary said to Chaud. "Listen Chaud, you should think this over before you do anything. No offense to you Mr. Blaze, but we were going to go to the carnival today. And Mr. Ayano gave me some money, so there is no need for any from you."

"No offense taken young lady. I see that Chaud likes you, and I will wait for him no matter how long it takes him to decide. Go and have some fun," he said, standing up. Chaud walked out of the house with Mary, and the two of them started towards the carnival.

MRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMR

Proto and Ring decided to walk to the carnival like their Op's were doing. They were close to their destination when Proto began to slow down. "Proto, what's wrong?" asked Ring when she noticed that Proto wasn't beside her.

"I'm just thinking," he answered.

"About what?"

"Mary and Chaud, and us." He looked away when he said the last part. Ring saw that, and she blushed. "I'm also thinking about how Yai will react when she finds out that Chaud and Mary are going out." Ring almost fell over laughing.

"I suspect that she's going to be ticked off. I know that she has her eye on him," Ring said as she tried to stop laughing.

"Yes, I'm just glad that Chaud likes someone that has a girl Navi." The two blushed as they walked into the carnival. Ring started to look around, and saw the huge roller coaster.

"Ooh, let's go on that first!" she squealed as she grabbed Proto's arm and yanked him towards the ride.

"I guess that this is going to be one of these days," he thought as he boarded the ride.

End Chapter