Tron: Adagio

By: Shadow Chaser

Author's Notes:

This story covers the entire comic, Tron: Betrayal, and flashbacks from Tron: Legacy itself. The scenarios of the game Evolution are not mentioned in here as I did not play the game. All characters are not mine, they belong to Disney.

Story:

Nocturne

Spurred on by Alan-One's reassuring message given to him by Flynn, Tron rode his lightcycle into the heart of Sector 105. He ignored the jeering shouts by some of the more radical Isos as he drove by and skidded to a stop at the base of Ophelia's tower. Hopping off of his lightcycle and immediately putting the baton back into its holster, he headed up the steps, eyes set and focused on his task.

"Programs like you are not allowed here," Giles stepped forward from where he had been standing by the doors to the tower, flanked by two other Isos. Beyond them he thought he saw Ophelia talking with a couple of other Isos within the tower. It looked like his timing had been good; she was probably heading out.

He held up a hand, palm faced outwards in an attempt to show them that he meant no harm, "Let me pass, Giles. I need to talk with Ophelia."

Giles smirked, "She does not want to talk to you."

"And do you presume to speak for her now?" he asked, taking another step forward. The two Isos held up their inactivated discs in warning, but Tron was too experienced to let such idle threats intimidate him.

Giles had a flustered look, but he drew himself up and nodded once, "Her words are my words."

"Then I'm sure you don't mind if I-" he started to move past him just as Giles snapped his fingers and the two Isos leapt to restrain Tron. Tron easily evaded their attempts, but made no move to strike back at them. If he hit them, then he knew he would have no chance of maintaining the peace between the Isos and the rest of The Grid.

"Get him!" Giles had backed away, a slightly panicked look on his face as he saw how easily Tron had eluded the initial two Isos.

Tron narrowed his eyes as he noticed a few more Iso guards hurrying towards him, intent on restraining him. His senses told him that the two he had initially evaded were getting back up after stumbling down the stairs. Just then the doors to the tower opened and Ophelia stepped out, pausing at the top to stare down at what was happening.

"Ophelia-" he started, but was cut off by Giles.

"Nothing to concern yourself about," Giles waved at her, "please, the others are awaiting your presence."

"Ophelia! Dammit-" Tron felt hands grab him, but didn't fight the hold the other Isos had on him. "Ophelia! I need to talk with you!"

She stared at him, her gaze unreadable as he struggled against the Isos who were trying to pull him down the stairs. He dared not break away from the grips of his captors lest he injure them on the steps from his own force. His passive sensors told him that they were attracting a rather large crowd of Isos now, gathering to watch the happenings. Any sign of him moving to escape his captors and he knew that the Isos would take it as the wrong message.

"Ophelia!" he shouted, suppressing the command protocols that were automatically routing through his own systems to escape.

"Ophelia, really, there is no need-"

Tron saw her hold up a hand to stop Giles from talking before waving her hand at the other Iso guards that held him captive. "Let him go, please."

"But-"

"I said, let him go," her voice was hard and the guards abruptly released him, nearly making him fall to the ground in their haste.

"Thank you-" he started, but she cut him off.

"I will allow you to state your request and then leave," she raised an eyebrow at Giles and the other more hostile Isos, "peacefully." Gesturing for him to follow her she disappeared back inside and Tron complied, ignoring the glare Giles sent to him as he passed by the other Iso.

As soon as he stepped inside the tower, he saw that she had retreated to the side near the spiraling staircase, giving them some privacy though Giles and some of the other Isos could clearly see her. He appreciated the gesture, how ever small, and made his way towards her.

"Ophelia-"

"You cannot keep doing this Tron," she cut him off softly; "I know you are sworn to protect Kevin Flynn whenever he is in The Grid, but you cannot do this."

"I know," he spread his hands out, "I just wanted to see if there was any way we could come to a medium without anymore escalation."

"Clu was the one who escalated things first," her soft demeanor instantly hardened as she glared at nothing in particular, "he was the one who started to derezz my fellow brothers and sisters. Talk to him if you wish this escalation to die down."

"I will," Tron promised, "but I wanted to talk to you first, because I know you know how The Grid was before all of this happened. I want to know if there is anything you or I can do to return The Grid to what it once was."

She shook her head, "Things have changed too much, even you know that as well as I do."

"But the Isos…"

She looked up at him, her hardened expression melting into a more compassionate one, "I will try to reign in Giles and his group, but they have the right to do what they are doing. Can you not see that?"

"What they are doing is disrupting the safety and security of The Grid itself, Ophelia," he shook his head, "they are making my responsibilities harder."

She laughed lightly before reaching up and touching his cheek, "Ever the responsible one."

Tron grasped her hand with his own, reminding himself of what she had done for him the first time he had entered the building and defeated one of the gridbug leaders. There was an undercurrent of sadness that ran through him, the same kind of sadness he felt when Yori had declined to join him in the new system. He realized that this was truly the last time he would probably ever talk with her, even though she would still be in The Grid. Their pride, their responsibilities, her duties to her people, his duties to keep the integrity of The Grid would constantly put them in conflict with each other if things kept up this way.

In a way, it was like losing Yori again, but this time, it was Ophelia.

There would be no compromise and in that moment of clarity Tron realized why Yori, who had loved him so, had given him the parting physical contact, a kiss was what Flynn had called it. It was because she probably knew what was going to happen and wanted him to remember her as she was, not what could have been. She had known that she was too entrenched into the old system and could not leave like he was able to. She had known that whatever means Flynn tried to bring her and the others into the new system, they would not be compatible.

Her kiss was to release him from his duties to that system and to send him to his new future.

Tron made his decision and tightened his grip on her hand before leaning down and kissed Ophelia fiercely on the lips. He would release her from her perceived duties to him, to be free of treading the line between his responsibilities and her own. He would continue on his own and keep the peace as best as he could. Flynn was right, the Isos would grow into their own and perhaps, somewhere in the future, their paths would merge again and this time, their responsibilities would be the same. But for now…

He finally understood that this was a farewell, and hoped that she would remember him as he was, not what could have been. Releasing her just as he heard the doors to the tower wrenched open, Giles and some of the other Isos perhaps thinking that he had attacked her, he gave her a sad smile.

There was nothing to be said and nothing that was said as he turned around and walked past Giles and the others, headed out of the tower.

He did not look back as he activated his lightcycle and sped off. They were now on separate paths.

Author's Notes:

All I have to say is: I have a nasty habit of being cruel to my favorite characters. It's a twisted love I have for them. And this isn't the cruelest I can be. ^_^ Oh, that comes much, much, later in one of the later tracks/chapters.

So I remembered the first time Flynn kissed Yori, it was before he jumped into the beam that was the heart of the MCP, kind of like a goodbye kiss. Then Yori kissed Tron as they celebrated a new MCP-less future. Then I realized, as a program, Yori would only know the kiss to be like a goodbye kiss of sorts so I took that thread and ran with it, culminating in this chapter which I've been waiting to write for the Tron/Ophelia pairing.

"Nocturne" as a track itself, without any context, is a rather sad track, much like the previous track, but more in terms of farewells. In terms of when it plays in the movie, it is also one of the changing points, much like my story here. From here on out, you know it's ramping up to Clu's betrayal.