Author's Note: To the reviewers, thanks. Your comments mean a lot to me, especially since this is my first fanfic. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, and don't worry, we're getting there.

Chapter 10

It was the next day. The sun was rising, and it seemed like a beautiful day. Inside the Bandicoot home, Crash was awake and tying his shoes. It was only 6:32 in the morning, which was completely unusual for the orange marsupial. He wasn't awake until around 9 or 10, but today he woke up early. Crash finished tying his shoes, and was prepared to go for a walk. Usually people went for a walk for exercise or just for a form of recreation, but the bandicoot was going to clear his mind. As he exited his room, he walked over to his sister's room to check on his friend. Walking into the room very slowly, he went in to find Pasadena was still asleep. He walked over, kissed her forehead, and whispered, "I'll be back in a bit." After he left and close the door, he went back into his room to grab his iPod, and proceeded to leave the house.

As he closed the door to his home, Crash did a bit of stretching. He then browsed through his iPod to find a song. After a few seconds of browsing, he found something and proceeded to walk into the forest.

I tear my heart open, I sew myself shut
My weakness is that I care too much
And my scars remind me that the past is real
I tear my heart open just to feel

"I'm leaving you," she said. As his girlfriend (or better yet, ex-girlfriend) said those words, Crash immediately felt that the world lost its meaning. "What?" As Crash felt confused, she said again, "I'm leaving you." At that point, Crash began to pour his heart out to her, begging her not to go. As she kept denying his feelings, he asked, "There's someone else, isn't there?" She said she fell for someone else, and that he made her happy. He could give her anything she wanted, and so, Tawna chose Pinstripe. Heartbroken, Crash felt his world, made of glass, shattered and broken. "I'm sorry, Crash."

Drunk and I'm feeling down
And I just wanna be alone
I'm pissed cause you came around
Why don't you just go home

Cause you channel all your pain
And I can't help you fix yourself
You're making me insane
All I can say is

Another time, their paths crossed again. Crash tried to avoid her, but nonetheless, she found a way to get back in his life. "Hey Crash, how you feeling? Pinstripe is doing so wonderful, so well, so...blah blah blah." Needless to say, Crash shut her out from his mind, but she kept coming back. He only put on a fake smile and said he was doing good as well, but the pain never hides itself. One day, he lost it. Every compliment she gave about Pinstripe drove him mad. "Why are you doing this to me? I thought I moved on, but you keep me from moving on when you talk about him! Don't you know how much you hurt me? How bad I felt when you never even bothered to talk to me? You keep adding on to the pain, and I'm just sick and tired of your bullshit!" That day, Crash never looked back as he left.

I tear my heart open,
I sew myself shut
My weakness is that I care too much
And our scars remind us that the past is real
I tear my heart open just to feel

I tried to help you once
Against my own advice
I saw you going down
But you never realized

That you're drowning in the water
So I offered you my hand
Compassions in my nature
Tonight is our last stand

"You saved me," she said as she held him in her arms. This was a long time ago, back when Crash first saved the world. And he saved her as well. He just smiled as he couldn't speak at that time. He just kissed her, and boy did that kiss felt amazing. But when he thought back to that moment, the bandicoot swore that her eyes were open the whole time. She just went with it. He should've known there was something going on when she looked back at the island. However, he wasn't paying attention, as his gaze set on the sunset, thinking of their "future" together. There was nothing. He just didn't know it.

I tear my heart open,
I sew myself shut
My weakness is that I care too much
And our scars remind us that the past is real
I tear my heart open just to feel

I'm drunk and I'm feeling down
And I just wanna be alone
You shouldn't ever come around
Why don't you just go home?

Cause you're drowning in the water
And I tried to grab your hand
And I left my heart open
But you didn't understand
But you didn't understand
Go fix yourself

Each day since their breakup, Crash had hoped to never feel that pain again. It came back when she visited after his statement about how he felt. "He broke up with me. Crash, I made a mistake. Please take me back, I'm sorry." Unfortunately, she was at Crash's word. Could he forgive her? Could he finally have the happiness he once had again? He did none of those things as he said, "You have no idea how long I waited for this. No. You had a chance, and now I remind you of a mistake you will regret for the of your life. Fix your own problem, because I'm done with fixing ours." At that moment, with tears in her eyes, she begged for his companionship back. "Get away from me! You may look like an angel, but you don't have the heart of one! And you'll never have mine ever again. Good luck with your pathetic life, Tawna." As she ran off, Crash turned with a few tears falling down his face, and whispered an apology. "I'm sorry, Tawna."

I can't help you fix yourself
But at least I can say I tried
I'm sorry but I gotta move on with my own life
I can't help you fix yourself
But at least I can say I tried
I'm sorry but I gotta move on with my own life

I tear my heart open,
I sew myself shut
My weakness is that I care too much
And our scars remind us that the past is real
I tear my heart open just to feel

Fate brought them face to face once more. "Hey," she said. At that point, Crash apologized for what he said. He then explained how he felt over time about them. She apologized for her mistakes and her actions. They talked for a while, and when they were about to leave, Tawna kissed him once more. Tears dropped from her eyes, making the kiss taste sweeter. Even though he enjoyed tasting her lips once more, it felt completely wrong. Crash pulled away and apologized, with her doing the same, explaining that she did it to see if there was any possible chance of them together. But they both shared their thoughts to find that there was nothing, and that there was probably never anything to begin with. Forgiving each other, they shared their final minutes talking about the past and what could've been. "Goodbye, Crash Bandicoot," she whispered as she gave him once last kiss before leaving. "Good luck, Tawna," he said before finally moving on. The scars may last forever, but the pain does go away.

I tear my heart open,
I sew myself shut
My weakness is that I care too much
And our scars remind us that the past is real
I tear my heart open just to feel

Crash tried to shrug off his memories. Thinking about his past made him angry and sad. Could he have saved something between them? Or could it just lead to another fallout? As he walked, Crash looked around and found himself in an open field. Taking the time to think to himself, he wondered about their talk, and wondered again what could've been. Alas, he figured that she had completely moved on, while he was still lingering in the past. The bandicoot continued his way through the field, and thought about his friend, who was probably still asleep. He did love her, but he thought about what would happen if they broke up. He would still want to be friends at least, and at the time, he knew that all he could want is just for her to be happy. Even if it meant she was happy with another man.

Deep down, Crash knew he would always love her no matter what. Reaching a tree that stood alone in the field, Crash decided to take a small break. Still thinking about Pasadena, the orange hero pondered on how he should reveal his feelings. Closing his eyes, he tried to find peace in the silence. As he felt a bit better, he opened his eyes. As he did, the bandicoot saw his friend in front of him. He looked deep into her eyes, and became lost in a light green sea of beauty. He moved foward slowly, and she did the same. As they moved closer, both their eyes began to close. They were in very few inches away, and as Crash moved foward, he kept moving until he fell foward. Looking up, he saw that Pasadena wasn't there anymore. "Pas? Where are you?" Crash looked around to see she wasn't anywhere, and he became afraid as he was alone. Standing up, he looked around once more, only to lean back against the tree and close his eyes once more. He felt stupid for asking, and thought he was going crazy about having a hallucination.

Opening his eyes, Crash decided it was time to go home. As he left the field, he looked back at the tree before moving on. As he continued to walk, he walked until he saw his home from a distance, due to him being on top of a hill. Before moving, the orange hero sat down to look at the sunrise. He would forget how beautiful his home was at sunrise, and it would take looking at one to remember its meaning. He loved the sunrise just as much as he loved sunsets. Where there was an ending, there was always a beginning. Crash then took out his iPod, and clicked on the Shuffle setting. After a few seconds of silence, a song began to play. Recognizing the song, Crash remembered how he would listen to it to help forget any bad memories.

You swear you recall nothing at all
That could make you come back down

You made up your mind to leave it all behind
Now you're forced to fight it out

You fall away from your past
But it's following you

Looking to his left, he saw Tawna. Thinking he was having a hallucination, he looked back to the sun. Crash shook his head, and asked, "What are you doing here?" With a smile, his ex said, "Oh, I just came to see if you're still thinking about me. Apparently you are." With a heavy sigh, Crash spoke, "I'm trying not to. It's not that easy." With a laugh, Tawna replied, "Nothing is ever easy. I thought you knew that. Especially since nothing ever seems easy on your adventures." It never did seem easy for the orange bandicoot. When was anything ever easy for him? Tawna moved closer and said, "Do you really love her?" Immediately, Crash looked at her and said, "With every single ounce of my heart." Tawna gave a flirtatious smirk, and wrapped her arm around Crash's neck. "That much, huh? I gotta admit, I was pretty foolish for letting you go." Smilling, the male bandicoot spoke, "You were. You're past it now, aren't ya?" Letting out a breath of acceptance, "Yeah. At least from your view. After all, I'm a fragment of your imagination." They both laughed.

You left something undone, it's now your rerun
It's the one you can't erase

You should have made it right, so you wouldn't have to fight
To put a smile back on your face

You fall away from your past
But it's following you
You fall away from your past
But it's following you

"Well, she's waiting for you. But what are you waiting for?" Crash looked toward the sun, and noticed it was beginning to reach its point of being too bright to look at. Covering his eyes, he looked back at Tawna and said, "I'm scared. What if, you know, us, happens between me and her?" Tawna looked at him and said, "That's a risk you'll have to take. No more wondering about telling her how you feel, Crash. Just tell her. Never wonder what it could've been. I made the mistake of leaving you. Don't make the mistake of leaving her."

You fall away
You fall away

Something I've done that I can't outrun
Something I've done that I can't outrun
Maybe you should wait maybe you should run
But there's something you've said that can't be undone

Crash then stood up. As he made a step foward, he turned around to face Tawna. She walked up and hugged him. Feeling something, he hadn't felt in a while, he hugged back. With an exhaled breath of uncertainty, Tawna then spoke. "You're still holding on. Crash, if this is what you want, just keep holding on. But if you really love her, let go." As she finished her sentence, she looked to see Crash still hugging her. Looking into his eyes, Crash broke the trance when he held her closer and said, "I forgive you." With a smile, she said, "Say those three little words, Crash."

And you fall away from your past
But It's following you
You fall away from your past
But it's following you
You fall away from your past
But it's following you
You fall away from your past
But it's following you

Every second seemed like an eternity as she waited for his response. Crash stopped hugging her, looked into her eyes, and turned around. "I forget you. The whole time I was thinking about what I wanted with you. I still want those things, but with her instead. She's everything I want, and everything I need. That being said, I know now, she is the one I want. I love her. I'll do anything to make her happy. But to start with her, I have to finish with you. And so, I'm done. I forget you, Tawna." As he looked back, she was no longer there. Taking a deep breath and closing his eyes, the long burden the orange hero carried for a very long time had been lifted. He took a step back, only to fall. As everything slowed down, he opened his eyes to see Tawna trying to reach him. Instead of reaching back, Crash let himself fall.

You fall away
It's following you...

Crash tumbled and rolled as he fell down the hill. Within a few seconds, he reached the bottom. Opening his eyes, the bandicoot felt no pain. He began to laugh. The pain was finally gone. There was no injuries to worry about. As he sat up, Crash looked around, only seeing his home within a small walking distance. Standing up, he dusted himself off. As he began to walk, he had a smile on his face. Now, there was nothing to fear any longer. Knowing what he wanted, he set his sights on his house. Thinking of her waiting for him, Crash smiled to himself and whispered, "I'm coming, Pas. Don't worry, I'm on my way..."

The songs in order are "Scars" by Papa Roach and "Fall Away" by The Fray. Any questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to leave a review. See ya.