This is a sequel to „A new life". It takes place after chapter 17, so if you haven't read the story up to that point (which is almost all of it), you may not understand everything. Also, this is shoujo-ai, of course. If you don't like it, you don't want to read this. However, if you read it, please review and tell me what you think about it. Just don't flame me because of my simple English please. English isn't my native language and there's not much I can do to improve it. Thanks.
Disclaimer: I don't own Chrono Cross or any of it's characters. It all belongs to Square-Enix.
"Back to the roots" or "Taking a whole new path"
Chapter 1 – What a new life looks like…
It was a cold and starry night. The moon shone brightly in a futile attempt to banish the impenetrable darkness of the night. Nothing could be heard except of the wind rustling in the trees…and a few soft footsteps if one listened very closely.
Two shadows made their way up a cold and also slippery wall until they reached a balcony, which seemingly served as a perfect entrance to the mansion. The mansion was well- guarded and climbing in from the forest side was one of the easier ways to get inside without being noticed right away.
Strong arms pulled their owner over the edge of the balcony, careful not to make any more noise than absolutely necessary.
"Didn't I tell ya this was the best way?", Kidd whispered and smiled, reaching out her right hand to help her companion up as well.
"We will see about zat.", Harle answered in a serious tone, but had to smile nonetheless as she took Kidd's helping hand.
Examining this side of the manor, they saw that the corridor, which seemingly led from the balcony all around the mansion, was just surrounded by a low wall. "Good", Kidd thought. This would give them enough opportunities to escape if things were to get ugly.
Together, they entered the corridor in front of them, which led in two directions. Guessing either way would lead them to their goal eventually, they chose continuing left.
With careful steps, the two of them proceeded along the corridor, making sure to always stay close to the walls, in the shadows. It wasn't Kidd's and Harle's first time in Viper Manor, but still, they had to be cautious if they didn't want to get caught. And also, it didn't look exactly like the old Viper Manor anymore. After its rebuild, which took quite some time, it now looked a little more modern, but was still recognizable as Viper Manor.
"Zat reminds moi of our première meeting.", Harle whispered, only two steps behind Kidd.
"Hm". Kidd answered, looking around the corner to check for guards, finding none. "Which wasn't exactly nice."
Harle had to giggle and followed Kidd around the corner. Indeed, the first time they had met, Harle hadn't been very nice to her, having only eyes for Serge. But things were different now. Much different. Harle wondered why she had been so rude to Kidd before…was it because she had seen her as a rival? Or was it because Harle had been all alone…and Kidd hadn't?
Harle's thoughts were interrupted when Kidd before her came to a sudden stop.
Harle, who wasn't aware for a moment, bumped into Kidd and lost her balance for a moment but caught it just before she sent them both lying on the floor.
She was just about to complain when Kidd's voice shushed her.
"There's someone coming.", Kidd said while looking to the side, making sure Harle could hear it. When Harle understood the meaning of that sentence, Kidd had already turned around and walked back a few steps, looking anxiously for some place to hide.
Eventually, Harle heard the metallic clanks as well, realizing that a soldier must be approaching them. Quickly both of them hid behind the corner they just came from, hoping the soldier would turn the other way.
Pressing their bodies close to the wall, they heard the steps coming closer and closer, until they came to a stop only a few metres away from them. Both Kidd and Harle held their breaths, waiting for the soldier to choose a direction.
"Just don't go left!", Kidd thought to herself. She didn't want to attract attention this early, it would only cause them unnecessary trouble. Not that Kidd feared a fight with these soldiers, she just wanted this to be over soon. She didn't like this mission at all. She and Harle were here to steal a certain relic from Viper, the Blazing Heart. To Kidd, it didn't sound like much and she doubted something like this even existed, but an order was an order. However, the last time she was here to steal something, it didn't go exactly well. She certainly wasn't in the mood to put her life on the line again.
After what seemed like an eternity, the soldier decided to continue left, walking away from them. Both Kidd and Harle exhaled at the same time, feeling somewhat relieved.
However, just as Kidd weighed safety against risk and decided to proceed further, Harle had already strode past her without Kidd motioning to do so.
"Oi!", Kidd said automatically, pulling Harle back against the wall with a thud.
"What iz it!", Harle hissed, trying to be quiet in spite of her partner's slightly annoying behaviour. Kidd backed away a little, surprised by Harle's sudden anger. "It's just…", Kidd started, until she was harshly interrupted.
"Who's there!", the soldier, whom the two women had at all but forgotten, suddenly asked, his voice deep and unfriendly.
"Just great…", Kidd whispered, but before she could look in his direction, Harle had already disposed of him by kicking him hard into the side, sending him flying over the edge of the not-so-tall wall on the left side of the corridor.
To Harle's surprise, the man didn't even scream. He just fell over the edge and after a lot of rustling, the two of them could hear a loud thud, indicating he had reached the ground.
"Geez, was that necessary? If ya hadn't moved on so fast, he wouldn't have noticed us!" Kidd scolded.
"Mon dieu, what exzactly iz ze problem? He's gone, non?", Harle asked, now unnerved.
"Didn't I say we wanted ta stay unnoticed? It'll only cause us trouble if those guys are after us.", Kidd shot back.
"So what? It waz your fault in ze firzt place. If you hadn't stopped moi, it would have been juzt fine. Anywayz, moi izn't scared at all, let zem come if zey wish.", Harle said angrily, looking to the side.
"Then just go and let 'em catch ya, while I'll leave with the Blazin' Heart and without this bloody pack on my toes!" Now Kidd was furious as well. She didn't like how Harle thought about this as a game or something like that.
"Fine.", Harle said and turned her back to Kidd, walking off in the same direction the soldier was going to take.
"FINE!", Kidd said loud enough for Harle to hear. But instead of following her, she took the same way she had wanted to all along.
After a few minutes of quietly following this corridor, Kidd grew uneasy. It certainly hadn't been a good idea to split up like that. Actually, it had been a terrible idea. But no, Kidd wouldn't run after Harle. It wasn't like her to do something like that and after all, it wasn't even her fault. It was Harle's for being so impatient and offensive.
Still, while sneaking around several corners and eavesdropping on the soldiers in the armory, she started to worry about Harle. She just hoped she hadn't gotten herself into trouble like Kidd told her she would.
"Hey, do you think Viper's acting strange lately?", one of the soldiers inside the armory said, drawing Kidd's attention back to them. Feeling this could get interesting, Kidd pressed her head closer to the wooden door.
"Now that you mention it, he seems…excited about something.", another soldier replied.
"Yeah, that's what I thought as well. I wonder if it has to do with her?" Now Kidd was really interested. She didn't particularly like Viper, and because of that, any information about him could come in handy later on.
"I think so. She's been around him a lot recently. Wonder what she's up to…"
Kidd was eager to listen to them some more, but another approaching soldier made that impossible. So she continued deeper into the mansion, hoping she would find the relic soon.
In the meantime, Harle was already inside the treasure vault, hoping to find the Blazing Heart here. Getting inside had been easy, in spite of the four soldiers guarding the door, who now lay unconscious among the treasure boxes and jewellery.
Harle walked quietly across the room, searching for something striking, something different. Of course, it wasn't easy in the dark, but Harle wasn't as daring as to light the candles or torches.
"It would be easier wit' deux people…", Harle quietly mumbled to herself while opening one of the countless treasure boxes, finding nothing but ordinary gems. With a sigh she shut it again, thinking back to her argument with Kidd just about ten minutes ago.
Harle didn't like how Kidd had decided everything since the start of their mission. Of course, Kidd also was the more experienced one of the two, but that didn't make it easier if she wasn't even allowed to take a few steps without Kidd telling her to do so.
Harle sighed again. Both of them weren't used to work as a team like this. They were perfect together in battle, but this was another story entirely.
After kicking rather forcefully against one of the boxes, Harle turned around and left the room. The Blazing Heart had to be elsewhere. Somewhere one could actually find it without searching through dozens of boxes.
Continuing onward, she passed two doors, which she didn't even bother to open, guessing they were just ordinary rooms anyway. She didn't have time to look through every single room, so she decided just to check the suspicious looking ones.
Turning around the next corner, she saw the way leading to a set of double doors on the right, and stairs on the left. She chose going right and opened the heavy doors, which weren't guarded at all, as carefully as possible. Inside, the sight of thousands of books greeted her. The library. Harle didn't expect to find anything here, but decided to at least take a quick look at every row of books. Something like the wanted relic would stand out, so I'd be easy to find it here. Walking slowly along the rows of books, Harle suddenly heard sounds from above. It sounded like footsteps, quick ones. Maybe it was more than one person up there.
Guessing it was useless to stay in the library any longer, Harle quickly left the room and headed upstairs, to find a beautifully decorated door at the end of the corridor. Approaching the door, she heard voices, at least three or four of them. They were hard to tell apart. To her terror, Harle recognized one of them. It was Kidd's. Her voice was muffled, but Harle could still tell it was hers. She expected the others to belong to Viper and one or two of his soldiers.
That was bad. Harle had to do something, and fast. She didn't want to wait until even more soldiers came here, or worse, they did something to Kidd.
Leaning close to the door, she could make out a few pieces of their conversation. Apparently, Kidd had only been caught a few minutes ago, while looking for the relic in this room. The soldiers were still questioning her about all kinds of things, while Viper didn't say much at all. Judging from the directions their voices came from, Harle suspected Kidd being at the left wall, while the soldiers were about one metre in front of the door. Viper's position was unknown to Harle, but she guessed he was near the right wall, where she suspected his desk to be.
Seeing how there was only one way to help Kidd without taking too many risks, Harle went to the other side of the corridor, so that the door was about three metres in front of her. It wasn't much, but it had to be enough. She took three cards into her left hand and prepared herself. Then she pushed herself from the wall and ran directly towards the door. Just before she ran into the door, her right hand pushed the handle down and opened it. With all her might she pushed the door open, and just as expected, two soldiers flew to the far back of the room. But before she had the time to deal with them, she threw the cards she had kept in her left hand in direction of Viper, who was too surprised to be able to dodge them.
Now with Viper at least momentarily down, Harle had a little time to take care of the soldiers, who were already charging her. Having not enough time to draw her cards, she knocked out the first with a fierce punch into the face, and the second with a kick into the stomach.
After seeing them fall to the ground unconsciously, Harle finally turned left to regard Kidd, whose arms and legs were fettered. Her mouth was covered by a white cloth tied around her head. With a sigh, Harle walked towards Kidd and took out a card to cut the ropes and the cloth.
"Always getting yourself into trouble, non?", she said in the process.
"Seems like it. Thanks for helping me out.", Kidd answered and smiled sheepishly. However, Harle had already turned around and searched the desk for the relic. Kidd frowned but decided to join her, though she kept one eye on Viper the whole time.
"Three aces, huh? Guess that wins every battle.", Kidd said jokingly upon inspecting the cards Harle struck Viper with. Now Harle had to chuckle as well, despite her efforts not to. She hated it when Kidd made her laugh when she was still angry at her. It always made her anger seem so pointless.
"Ya know, I'm sorry for what happened earlier. I guess I'm not used to do things like that as a team. Will ya forgive me?", she said while hugging Harle from behind. "…juzt zis once.", Harle answered and turned around to give Kidd a quick kiss.
Then, they continued to search for the relic, but to no avail. Within the drawers, the only found scrolls and all kinds of blueprints and maps. A few of them were particularly interesting. One showed the kingdom of Guardia, which was a little odd, because Guardia was pretty far away and Kidd couldn't think of any reason why Viper would have any business there. The other maps showed Porre and Marbule. On each map there were two certain spots marked with a cross. It just looked too much like a treasure map to be ignored, so they decided to take it with them. They couldn't return with empty hands, after all. And maybe, the Blazing Heart was to be found in one of those places marked on the map.
"It's a good enough excuse. Let's go back now. There isn't anythin' here anymore.", Kidd said, already on her way to the door. Harle just nodded silently and followed. Somehow, she felt there was more to these maps than just some treasure, but she didn't have the time to brood over things like that now. First, they had to get out of here safely.
Walking down the stairs, Harle wondered about the consequences this would have. After all, Viper had seen them both and it wasn't completely unlikely for him to want his things back. Maybe he'd even go that far as to send the 5 Devas after Kidd and her. She wasn't exactly scared of Glenn and Marcy, those two were still too inexperienced, but Karsh and the others were a whole different story, especially if they were to attack them together.
"Come on, let's hurry Harle! I wanna get outta here, it's almost daybreak too!", Kidd urged and they sprinted along the corridors. They didn't see any soldiers anymore, it was almost suspicious.
They left the same way they came, over the balcony. Harle climbed down first, trying hard not to slip and fall down. Kidd followed her quickly and smoothly, having no difficulties with this at all.
When they reached the forest ground, they dashed off into the forest. The sun had already started to rise by then, and Kidd hoped they'd make it in time.
When they finally reached the mountains, from which they could already see the shore, Harle guessed it to be already nine o'clock in the morning, which didn't leave them much time to reach the shore. So they simply took the shortest, though more dangerous, passes to get over the mountains.
When they reached the beach shortly before noon, there was nobody to be seen yet.
"We even made it on time.", Kidd said and let herself fall backwards into the white sand.
"It'z ze leazt we could do, non? After failing in our mission.", Harle answered, and Kidd could clearly hear the worry in her voice.
"Ya worry too much. None of 'em could've made it better. And also, it's their fault we didn't find the bloody relic. Givin' us wrong information and all.", Kidd said, looking up to Harle, who still stood there worriedly.
"Aww, c'mon!", Kidd suddenly shouted and tugged at Harle's arm, dragging her down beside her, "They won't chop yer head off or somethin'. Even if they tried, they'd never get past me." With a smirk, Kidd brushed away a few stray locks on Harle face and kissed her forehead gently. Harle just smiled in return, feeling her worries fading away.
Together, they watched the ocean in front of them, enjoying this rare moment of silence. After they had beaten the last one of the dragons, Kidd had thought they'd lead a more peaceful life, but Harle had been up to more adventures and to Kidd, it was just as well.
"Look, it'z zere!", Harle suddenly said and got up, watching the ship on the horizon. It was still far away, but undeniably heading towards the both of them.
"About damn time.", Kidd complained, but smiled nonetheless.