With a Bang

I don't own Chrono Trigger, but my love will always be there to keep me warm in it's place. It'll also keep me warm from the lack of profits from my writing. =)


Lucca ran as fast as she could to her motorized vehicle. The contraption had been inspired by the jet-bike from the future.

Of course, she had made some modifications of her own, making sure that it was her bike alone. It was powered by her fires. Which was also nice, because due to making it during the winter, she had needed something to keep her warm. Heat didn't bother her so much nowadays, just the cold.

This bike, which had tires of a rubber polymer she had created, required her to flick on the power source, then begin to slowly leak energy into it. The engines roared to life, before quieting to a mild rumble.

Lucca had created a combustion engine, but where she was the source of the reaction.

In a hurry, Lucca was haphazardly dressed, mainly in her pajamas. So it was a loose shirt and shorts today. Does my luck get any better than this? Lucca asked herself, rolling her eyes as she adjusted her gun belts, then glasses.

She revved the engine a little before she got going, as a way to calm her nerves. Told him that wire would come in handy she thought, triumphant every time she used her machination, four wheels and everything.

Without further contemplation, or wondering exactly why Magus had come upon her doorstep at a damnably early hour in the morning, or why he had his sister with him. Or why he seemed half dead, and his sister only a little better. If nothing else, it made her drive faster. And mutter under her breath, cursing random things as she went.

The trip to Crono's house was much faster, taking maybe a grand total of 10 minutes, whereas before it had taken her at least half of an hour to trudge there herself. This made her smile. Science wins again. When she got to Crono's house, she let herself in, having been assured that she was allowed to do so since before she had hit puberty. Lucca felt a mild twinge of guilt at taking advantage of that offer, having done so only rarely in the past. Even more rarely lately, as she was usually busy in her shed, working on her new machines. Besides, her new found hard to control emotions would sometimes get the better of her. She really didn't like being teased in town.

Tip-toeing up the stairs to Crono's room, she rapped on the door, listening for a sign that he had heard. The soft breathing went undisturbed. Funny how the slightest noise would wake him up, when we were off saving the world, she grumbled to herself, finally just opening the door and barging in to jab at him ruthlessly with her finger.

The cat woke up before Crono, giving her a filthy look before hopping down to the floor, to clean itself by the desk. At least one of them woke up, she thought, pursing her lips.

Finally, she leaned over, grabbed his tunic from the front, and hauling him up slightly, she couldn't manage more than that, she slapped him on his face, lighter than she had a village boy the other day, but enough to elicit a startled gasp from her victim.

Watching his eyes slowly clear as he woke up, she dropped him the short distance, and she heard a slight 'oof' that made her smile lightly to herself.

At last, the boy, closer to a man now, woke up enough to look at her, run a hand through his eternally messy hair, and ask -What's up?-

"Magus is back," she whispered to him urgently, and was glad to see the widening of eyes meet hers. "And he brought Schala back with him."

-Schala? She's alive?- Crono asked, dumb with shock.

"Apparently, and they look half dead to boot," Lucca muttered back, grumbling to herself again. "I was hoping you would help me grab Marle, so we could have a go-over of them," she entreated, suddenly shy of the answer.

-Well,we had better get going.- Crono told her, getting up in his pajamas. Lucca politely averted her eyes, as he grabbed his trousers, then shrugged into a shirt and tunic. -No time like the present.- he joked, grabbing his sword belt, and buckling it on as they walked down the stairs. The cat followed, rubbing against Crono's legs, with a seeming intent to trip him as a way to stall his leaving. That cat received a short pat on the head for it's efforts, and then they were off again, on the way to the castle, Crono shooting down the random critters that leaped at them, teeth, or branches, ready to tear.

Parking the vehicle at the bottom of the great stairway, Crono grabbed her hand, and it seemed as if they almost flew up the stairs, the boy was so light and quick. Lucca was hard put not to trip, and was smug over her ability not to, until they reached the top, and she did.

Crono smiled at the guards, waving slightly, and they were let in, even if they received puzzled looks as to why they were here so early. That was when Crono grabbed her hand again, and Lucca tried to protest that it wasn't quite as urgent as she had made it seem, afraid of the possibility of tripping in front of a more noble audience this time.

It was quicker that way, though. The red-haired boy seemed to move at light speed, although that was silly. Lucca knew they were going much slower than light. I wonder if we broke the speed of light, if we could go through walls? But that was a silly thought as well. No, that speed would kill us.

Crono stopped suddenly, and Lucca breathlessly stopped with him, Crono having to steady her, as she was disoriented by the sudden stop. She would have been more fussy about it, but she saw his apologetic look, and shrugged it off.

Looking, she saw the sentries outside of the princess's room, and brushed herself off, making a futile effort to straighten herself out. It didn't work.

"Can we speak with the Princess, please," she asked, coughing a little in self-awareness. The guard merely smirked at her, and waved her on, as if daring her to awaken the princess.

Steeling herself, Lucca went in, giving Crono a look that implied that he should stay out in the hallway. Goodness forbid he should see Marle in a lacy nightgown. She rolled her eyes to herself, as she wandered over, and poked ruthlessly at her second victim of the night. Third if you count the cat, she mused, as she poked the princess of Guardia once more, a little harder than necessary.

"Hey, Marle," she hissed, "wake up!" and she accentuated her point with another jab at the lightly snoring mass in the blankets.

The girl blinked at her, more woman now, and managed to look pretty even when sleep disheveled.

"We need you to get up," she told Marle, voice without patience. "Magus and Schala are at my house, and they might need a little bit of a helping hand."

That woke Marle up immediately. She got out of bed, and began to chatter. Why me? Lucca asked to herself, looking up, as if seeking mercy. Then she looked back at the princess. Of course she would actually be wearing a lacy nightgown.

"Magus?" was the first question, then "Schala, too? I thought she was dead."

Lucca rubbed her left temple, sighing a little to herself. "Apparently not," was her reply, once more, a little grumpier than it needed to be.

Marle didn't notice. "They're hurt? How?" then she asked, "Why your house? Is it because it's isolated and so far away from everything?" Ouch, went Lucca's mind. "But I need to hurry, don't I?" Marle then asked.

Of course you need to get dressed, Lucca thought to herself. Then, mentally wincing, but knowing it would hurry the distractable creature up, she said, "Crono's with me."

"Crono?" Marle's eyes widened, visibly perking up at the name of the man she was courting outrageously. It did the trick, she found some clothing, and changed in a flurry of flying clothes, then managed to brush her hair, and look at herself in the mirror and primp a little, all in the space of a minute. Then she dashed to the door, which Lucca had opened, and ran out, looking around for Crono. "Crono!" she cried, joy in her voice, as she threw herself at Lucca's longest friend, and still the person she longed for randomly in her weak moments.

Crono gestured for them to go, giving the hurry sign, which Marle knew and understood, even if she couldn't grasp the hand language yet. But somehow Magus got the hang of it in a few weeks. It wasn't a fair comparison, she knew it, but couldn't help herself. The silly bimbo got to throw herself at Crono, be fawned upon, and still be denser than a neutron star.

This time, Crono grabbed both of their hands, and sped down they staircase, and went to the door, where he stopped momentarily, to wave at the guards while Lucca opened the door for them, then the dizzying journey down the stairs to her waiting vehicle.

Out of habit, Lucca had made it to accommodate three, so they all fit comfortably. Crono held on to her waist, and Marle his. The slight squeeze let her know that they were ready, and she brought her contraption to roaring life, and they were going at a breakneck speed, and it was finally her turn to make them breathless.

Lucca was a superb driver, if not the most skilled runner of intense speeds. So the trip back was, for the most part, uninteresting, except for the random gasps Marle made, as Lucca expertly weaved around humps and brush, finally slowing down as they approached her house, and made parked it carefully in front of her shed, where she nudged her head, signaling them to dismount, so she could put in in the shed itself.

She met them inside, and brought them up to her room, where the two inhabitants hadn't budged an inch.

"Why does Magus look so young?" were the first words out of Marle's mouth, showing a keen observation of the superficial, that Lucca had missed.

"Huh?" was her answer, dumbstruck. "Young?"

Marle just pointed, and looking, Lucca noticed that she was right. Magus did look younger. Closer to their age, if a little older. "How did that happen?" she asked aloud, poking her glasses back into place with one finger. Crono shrugged, and started to speak.

-Are we going to heal them now?- he asked, the only one to remember the first goal. -We can ask him when he wakes up.-

At Marle's scrunched up look, as she thought hard, trying to figure out what Crono had just said, Lucca sighed again, and reiterated for him. "We can ask them when they wake up," she stated, voice urging action. "How about we heal them first?"

Marle gasped in horror, realizing that she had forgotten. "Or course! How could I have forgot?!" she wailed, then covered her mouth, looking quickly at the sleeping pair. "Could we move him to a more comfortable position?" she asked quietly, this time.

"Sure," Lucca answered, simply, and with the help of Crono, okay, it was mostly Crono, they moved him so he was sleeping next to Schala, both of them on their backs, still.

This time it was Marle who pursed her lips. "I wish you all would take better care of yourselves," she grumbled, before she brought the chair around, sat in it, and began her ministrations of the two on the bed, starting with Magus, because he actually looked worse, before moving on to Schala.

The process took a very long time, as Marle was trying to be as gentle as possible, and not shock their systems, and let them sleep peaceably.

Leaning back, later, Marle yawned as she stretched.

"Can I sleep on your couch?" she asked, voice tired.

"Of course. Let me get out some sleeping pads and blankets," Lucca offered, tired herself after running around all morning. Crono went with her to help, and when they returned to the living room of Lucca's house, Marle was already asleep. I guess it really took a lot out of her to fix them, Lucca thought, once again realizing, as much as Marle annoyed her, she was really a sweet and caring person, which made her feel guilty for her jealousy.

-Goodnight- Crono signed to her, after they had placed the pads on the floor.

-Goodnight- Lucca signed back, as she went for the lights, and switched them off, and smiled gratefully at the speck of light Crono had to light her way back to the temporary sleeping arrangements.

She was asleep quickly too, the questions she had thought would keep her awake doing nothing of the sort.


Magus woke up slowly, wondering at why he felt as good as he did. Limbs that he had expected to be sore felt limber. In fact, he felt much better than he had in years, it seemed. Joints more supple. He felt...healthier.

Odd, why should I feel healthier, of all things? he thought irritably, opening his eyes, only to see a foreign ceiling. Which caused him to wonder further, before the events of the past days, years? flashed through his mind. How long was I trapped in time? It was an honest question, that he couldn't really answer. Then he became aware of the warmth next to him, soft and sweet smelling.

Which caused another violent mental reaction. I actually succeeded, he thought, crowing, delighted. Looking to his side, he saw Schala, face serene in sleep, less drawn that he had seen it in a very long time. In fact, she was snuggling up to him slightly, and he noticed that her hand was on his arm.

Her mussy hair was even more endearing. His free hand moved of it's own volition, and he watched with fascination as it moved to her face, and brushed the wayward strands back. This was too good to be true. Nothing ever truly went his way, nothing ever had, anyways. If his hands hadn't touched her, and he hadn't felt her warmth and solidity, he would have chalked it up to dreaming once more. So he contented himself with staying with her while she slept, unwilling to move away from the being he had dreamed of saving all these years.

He could live with failing to save his home, as long as she was alive, safe, and hopefully happy.

Laying with her calmed him down, and he felt his eyelids drooping, as his energy waned again with a feeling he hadn't really been allowed to feel since he was a child. Not even when he was the fabled Prophet of Zeal. Now, there was no Lavos to worry over, no Queen Zeal to hurt them, no Dalton to ruin any more moments in time. He felt happy.


Waking up yet again, he noticed that his sister had rolled over, and he was still holding on to her. Her back to his chest, he could feel her breathing. If he concentrated, her heartbeat was also there, all his nerves centered on her, and her alone. Then he felt another need rise up. Which he had to take care of.

So carefully, he unentwined himself with the vision before him, and softly crept out of the room, noticing his boots and gloves were gone for the first time since he had woken up, as well as his cape.

This irritated him to no end, although he had to admit, he probably would have been sore, and uncomfortable when he had woken up, still fully geared to wander through time and inhospitable climates.

Reaching the main room, still ghostly silent, as he usually was no matter what, he heard voices that he recognized. And he remembered coming to Lucca for help, seeing that she had been the closest of the people he trusted to help him. As much as he trusted anyone.

"What are we going to do?" he heard one voice ask. "You can't expect them to just live here as long as they want, I don't have the funding to feed extra mouths!" It was Lucca, ever pragmatic, which was one trait he didn't mind in a person.

"I could help there!" laughed another voice. "Besides, I wouldn't want Guardia's old scourge in the castle. Daddy probably wouldn't approve." and now there was a pouting tone to the voice.

Then again, Lucca, "Well, could you also help with bedding? I have the space, but you can't expect sleeping pads to be enough to-" and she cut off suddenly, and there was silence. "Okay, but could you help me clear out the rooms, at least as well? They've been used for storage."

That meant Crono was here as well. Shifting slightly, he straightened his shoulders, shook his hair into place, his magics sorting it out, and entered the room nonchalantly, leaning against a wall casually.

Looking out the window, he gauged it was late afternoon. The trio already in the livingroom looked like they hadn't gotten up much earlier, and were situated around a messy situation of blankets, pillows, and narrow sleeping pads. "Good afternoon, I hope I'm not interrupting anything?" he drawled out, inspecting his nails, talons, sharp things at the end of his fingers.

Looking mildly guilty, they shook their heads, until Lucca brashly put forth, "Look here, you, where do you intend to stay?"

"I wouldn't dream of pushing myself and Schala onto your hospitality," he told them drolly, emphasis on his sarcasm. "If you don't mind, I was roused by nature's call, could you point me in the right direction befoe we continue this terribly...interesting conversation?"

Flushing, the girls looked away, while Crono smiled, and pointed to a room, and flashed some words at him, explaining the use of Lucca's strange utilities, and how they flushed. Nodding with appreciation to the man, Magus swept out of the room with dignity and grace, disappearing, and smiling to himself at the discomfiture his presence had garnered.

When he was fully relieved, he finished his morning ministratins, as late as they were, and nodded to the three in the room, before heading back up, when he was halted in his tracks by a sudden question.

"Hey! Why do you look our age?" demanded Marle, always distracted by the superficial.

"Younger?" he muttered to himself, suddenly looking at his hands. They seemed more pliable, but he had aged slowly either way. "What are you gabbering on about?" he demanded right back, harshly. I could've regressed in the time storm, he thought to himself, musingly. It distrubed him, but it was possible. He remembered the battering, and the feeling that years were passing him by both ways, and his run-in with being extremely elderly on the way, and young as well.

"It's true!" Marle huffed, quietly, more dignified than he remembered her, if still just as ditzy. Then again, she is an ice mage.

Suddenly glowing through her hands, hair going semi-weightless, she produced a highly sheened pane of ice, very reflective, as she had tweaked the composition of it, as if she were used to creating mirror plates of ice. Probably is, at that, he amended, remembering who she was, and her vain nature.

And looking shocked him. More than he had expected. Looking at his face, he was still himself, red-eyed and pale, same thin features, lean body, and long blue hair. Still the same pointy ears and sharp teeth. But younger. Tall strong body, with it's angular features, lean and elegant at the same time.

Noticing his wide eyes, he immediately put on a scowl.

-What happened?- Crono asked, hands showing his curiousity by twitching here and there.

Hesitating, not really wanting to tell them, but at the same time, feeling that he owed it to them for helping his sister, he was silent for a few moments. Until he did answer, slowly, the words coming unwillingly from his tight lips. "When I was going through time, I felt as if I had aged forwards and backwards multiple times. I must have left at this point of maturity."

"You went through time?" Lucca asked, voice sharp and full of curiosity. "How?"

"By figuring it out," he shot back, voice sharp.

-Is that how you got Schala back?- Crono asked, carefully, face still and calm.

"Of course," he snapped, "How else would I have gotten her back?"

"Then why didn't she age forward or reversed, like you did?" Lucca asked, inquisitive by nature, and really wanting to know the answers.

"Because I only had enough energy to shield her from time's waves," he explained, as if to a very slow child. "Now, if you will excuse me, I wish to get back to her before she wakes in a strange place." And with that, he turned on his heel, hair swishing around, walking quickly to the stairs once more, before quickly turning, and spitting out nastily, "Thank you for healing us."

In his hurry to leave the room, he missed the lopsided smiles they gave each other at his taciturn nature, only feeling a slight irritation that he needed to say something else to them instead.

Going up the staircase, he schooled himself back into calmness, reminding himself that Schala was up there, waiting for him. Which made him hurry again, before hesitating at the door, he opened it carefully, making sure to make no noise, he closed it gently behind him. Last thing he wanted to do was to interrupt the first good rest his sister had been able to enjoy in a long time. So he sat himself down in the chair that was sitting at the perfect distance from the bed, and oriented just so he had a good view of his sleeping sister, and was within reach of her as well. He would wait for her to wake up in her own time.

Which turned out to be a few days, and he only left her side when he couldn't help it, but his meals were brought to him, which he at sparingly of, and he slept almost not at all. He kept watch on his still peacefully sleeping sister, awaiting her awakening, fearing at times that there was something wrong with her.

He hardly believed Marle's reassurances that she would wake up when she had gotten over the strain she had endured, scoffing at the girl, although he was secretly relieved to hear her say it. The girl did know healing top to bottom, after all. He had grudgingly allowed her to fix him more than once. .

So when Schala did finally wake up, he was by her side, with barely contained joy, tinged with care over her health.


a/n: Well! Things are looking up! I do so love making Magus grudgingly grateful, I do. Well, thank you for your review (you know who you are), it sure does help spur me on to update. By the way, I really do like knowing what you think. I am glad that everyone seems to like this story so far, and I have gotten so many followers since it started (didn't really expect anyone to actually read it)! Lemme know what you like and dislike! What you would like to happen. I can't promise that I'll do any of it, but I will put a sincere effort in reading anything you say. After all, if you bothered to say it, least I can do is read it with a joy borne of people telling me what they think and feel. =)