Disclaimer: We own only Laruëalas, Jupiter, Jiana, and the twisted effigy of a plotline.
Chapter 24 – Laurëalas Heero
Jupiter had said Ji was leaving for Nichi's house. Hopefully she'd be in a better mood when she returned – even if there were more characters that came back with her. As soon as I heard the car leave the gravel driveway I set about trying to decide how to get down. Oddly enough, the hand- and footholds I had used on my way up seemed to have disappeared.
"Yay. Now howm'I gonna get down?" As I stared at the wide bole of the tree, I suddenly realized how far I'd climbed up, and my paralyzing fear of heights began to kick in. I hurriedly looked straight ahead again. Nope. I looked up. Leaves, branches, clouds. Nope, not that either. I closed my eyes tightly, trying to pretend I was sitting on the ground. This was so not working. I could feel gravity dragging on me, the weight of the sky above pressing me down. Together they would knock me from my perch and I would fall and I would die. It was irrational and I knew it, but my mind couldn't rid itself of the thought. Then I heard a slight rustling noise below me.
"Hello?" The voice sounded slightly uncertain. I wasn't about to look down again, but could tell from the sound of it that it was Trunks.
I didn't open my eyes, "Hi."
"You all right?"
"Peachy with a side of keen. Why?"
"You smell terrified."
"Uh huh."
"Stuck up the tree?"
"Yup."
"How?"
"Scared of heights."
"Then what are you doing up there?"
"Hiding from Jiji. I gave some people sugar-highs and she's mad at me."
"Ah. You want help?"
"Yes, please, if you don't mind."
"Okay, jump. I'll catch you."
"Not a flippin' snowflake's chance in any seventh Frell."
"Huh?"
"No way!" Trunks sighed heavily, followed by the sound of rushing air. The next thing I knew he had plucked me out of the tree and set me back on the ground. "Uh, thanks."
"Wouldn't want you getting yourself killed." He was teasing me, but in a halfway distracted manner.
"Well, I know I certainly wouldn't, but just out of curiosity why do you care?" He shrugged in an indifferent manner. However, my mind was suddenly racing, putting together details that I had overlooked and/or ignored in my earlier overly emotional state. There was the fact that he had come and rescued me when he had no particular reason to do so, the fact that he'd been in Jiji's room all day (excepting lunch), the fact that Ji had been upset and confused all day. Then there was that 'the knife would break on him' comment. "Oh. You like Jiana." I grinned. "Well it's about time someone did!" Trunks seemed taken aback both by my sudden discovery as well as by my reaction to it. "Not that she's unlikable or anything, but she's so different from anyone at school… or in town. And she's built walls around herself from them making fun of her so much. I thought if would be forever before anyone could see past them!" Trunks stared at me, trying to make some sense out of the swiftly flowing words. "Oh, I was babbling wasn't I."
He finally gave up and grasped on the last thing he had deciphered. "Who was making fun of her?" There was a dangerous gleam in his eye, something I could vaguely recognize as anger mixed with bloodlust.
"Um… no one in particular really. It comes with the territory of being intelligent and living in a world of your own. Jupiter got it worse than she did. I just got teased for being related to the two of them." I shrugged in a dismissive manner. "It wasn't so bad for me though. I learned to be invisible. Jiana can't do that. She doesn't even realize it, but she just isn't capable of standing along on the sidelines. She has to be in the center of attention and doing her own thing. She can be very stubborn sometimes. I think though that she mostly just wants people to acknowledge her as normal, which won't happen because she isn't." I smiled faintly at the thought of my baby sister. "I wouldn't want her to be."
"You really like your sister." I started mentally, remembering suddenly why I had been talking in the first place.
"Yeah. I really look up to her. It's strange, but a lot of the time it seems like she's the older one. She's more mature, definitely, though more times than not I'm the more responsible one. Well, I'm glad someone's finally taken an interest in her. It'll be good for her once she gets over the initial shock of it. Too bad it's someone fictional. You really couldn't stay here, and she won't want to leave here, even if it's possible."
I turned and went inside then, leaving Trunks with his own thoughts and me with mine. Could she leave? Would she want to? I needed Jiana more than she needed me, more than anyone could have guessed. Jiji was my one solid anchor to reality, because she could visit my insanity and not be effected by it. But she had always hated reality herself, she'd hated the backward schools and teachers and technology. There was no magic, no space travel, and no adventures. Would she want to leave if offered the chance? I'd told Trunks that she wouldn't, but the truth was that I simply didn't know.