"Inventing the Future"

Author's Note:Trigger warning! There's some heavy stuff ahead. This chapter references another Dark Cloud story I wrote years ago, 'A Portrait Speaks', and that story received an 'M' rating for a very good reason. Anyone who is easily triggered by depictions of abusive relationships (verbal, emotional) or sexual situations should avoid this chapter. It is not my intention to cause harm to anyone who might read this, and I hope you'll heed the warning!

"Chapter 46: Old Flame"

As the Blackstone One arrived at the Veniccio Station, Parn mopped the sweat from his forehead and wondered why he hadn't thought to dress for a warmer climate. When he and Julia were still together, she had often talked about wanting to see the ocean, and how she hoped that the two of them would get to do that someday.

Parn stepped off the train, and breathed in the salty ocean air. Despite the heat, he had to admit that the landscape was quite pleasing to look at. 'Maybe I'll get a few paintings done before I take her home with me.'

He hadn't been able to top his previous work, and his thoughts kept returning to Julia as he wondered if he had made a mistake. Perhaps he still loved her, or maybe he was just tired of being alone. Either way, he just knew she would take him back. After all, she hadn't wanted him to leave her in the first place.

It never dawned on him how cruel had been to her, or how selfish he was once he decided that he really wanted something.

His boots clacked hollowly on the wooden decks as he approached the squat metal houses. There were four of them; one blue, one red, one purple, and one green. And, sitting in a deck chair in front of the purple house, was the same fair-haired lady who had plagued his dreams until he put brush to canvas. She was still as beautiful as the day he had applied his last brush stroke!

Julia looked up when a shadow fell over the pages of her book. For a moment, she thought that her Parn had somehow made it into this world, and she smiled up at him.

Then the smell of paint thinner assailed her nostrils, and her smile slowly faded. This was the wrong Parn. She put down her book and stood, folding her hands in front of herself and greeting him in a coolly composed voice. "Hello, Parn."

"Julia..." he smiled, "It's been a while."

"It has. What brings you here?"

Her voice held no tone, no inflection, no enthusiasm whatsoever, and Parn never even noticed. He moved in to kiss her, but she held up a hand to stop him and stepped aside. Confused, he asked her, "Aren't you happy to see me?"

"It's a bit of a surprise," Julia said diplomatically, "I never expected to see you again."

"Well..." Parn was a bit flustered by her chilly welcome, but knowing how shy she was, he wondered if it was the public setting. "Maybe we should talk inside, where it's a bit more..." he smiled again, a hint of suggestiveness coming into his voice, "private."

Julia shook her head firmly. "We'll talk out here, Parn."

Laughing a bit incredulously, Parn shrugged his shoulders. "Fine. Outside, then."

Jaming was on his way to do some shopping, and he slowed his walk when he spotted Parn speaking to Julia. He frowned. Meredith wasn't going to like this, and he wasn't too thrilled about it either! He remembered the pain in Julia's face when she told him how poorly Parn had treated her.

He watched them just long enough to determine that Julia was in no immediate distress before continuing on his way. 'None of my business...'

"Did you come to do some sight-seeing?" Julia asked, though she'd already thought of a possible reason for his visit. "There isn't much in terms of shopping, but there are some lovely views-"

"I'm looking at one right now," Parn interrupted her as he moved closer to her.

"Parn..."

"Julia, I didn't come here to watch the sun set and drink piña coladas out of a coconut shell." Parn took her hands in his, and mistook her shocked immobility for consent. "I came to take you back to Balance Valley with me."

Julia gaped up at him, an unfamiliar emotion hitting her so hard that at first she couldn't identify it. "I..."

"I made a mistake," Parn told her, "I do still love you. And I want you to come home with me."

'I'm sorry, but I don't think I love you anymore...This one will be more beautiful than even you...Mistake...It needs correcting...Mistake...'

Julia had a name for that feeling now. For the first time since Parn had left her because she wasn't as pliable as he thought she would be, she allowed herself to feel angry. Why had she ever wanted to stay with this man, who had called her a mistake? In being with him at all, she had done his counterpart on the other side of the canvas a great disservice. "I am home, Parn. I'm staying right here. And you're going to get back on that train and return to Balance Valley."

"Excuse me?" Parn wasn't sure he had heard right. "Julia, don't be difficult, now. Don't tell me you've forgotten everything."

"I've forgotten nothing," Julia shook her head. "I remember our first time, when you wouldn't stop after I said it hurt."

"I said I was sorry. I was inexperienced!" he protested, reddening as he looked around to make sure nobody had heard her.

"And I remember all the times I put your needs above my own, and never got so much as a thank-you. I remember being told that I was your property because I came from a painting you made. I'm not finished," She raised her voice slightly when he began to argue. "I remember the pain in my heart when you ended things, and I remember my own guilt for sleeping with you when it was the Parn in the painting who had my love first. And now, because you changed your mind, I'm expected to just...uproot myself yet again and go with you."

"Julia...I made you!" Parn had grown angry now. "You are mine. And you're coming home with me! Now, enough of this foolishn-"

Julia quickly retreated into her house, locking the door behind her. The fear in her eyes was unmistakable. Parn had never hit her, but he was unpredictable when he was angry, and she had actually seen him destroy his own works of art. Technically, the only painting in the immediate area was her!

Parn was pounding on the door and roaring Julia's name when Meredith spoke behind him.

"I don't think she wants to talk to you, Parn."

Parn whipped around and saw Meredith and her strange-looking boyfriend standing about a dozen feet away. Meredith's belly was growing round with her advancing pregnancy, and Jaming stood beside her, looking grim while she looked hostile. In the ensuing silence, Julia's muffled whimpers could be heard through the door. Parn glared at Meredith. "Mind your own business, 'Mouse'."

"Hm...'Mouse'. Haven't heard that one in a while. But with the racket you're making, everyone on the decks can hear you, whether they want to or not. What you're doing is called 'harassment', and it's illegal, did you know that?"

Parn took a step towards Meredith, looking enraged. He wasn't even sure what he intended to do, but his right hand clenched into a fist at his side.

Jaming responded by stepping in front of her, and Parn didn't push it. "Parn, there doesn't need to be any ugliness here today." He said, doing his best to sound calm and reasonable. Confrontations gave him a sour stomach, but he hadn't liked the way Parn's fist had clenched, and the risk to his girlfriend and child outweighed the risk to himself. "Take a walk. Cool down a bit...if that's possible in this heat."

"Yeah, you would know about ugliness, wouldn't you?" Parn muttered, but he'd already lost his nerve.

Jaming reflected that, as insults went, that one was pretty weak.

No one spoke for a long, tense moment, until Parn turned and strode away. As a parting shot, he called over his shoulder, "Congratulations on your baby. I didn't see a wedding ring on either of you. Your conservative mother must be thrilled."

Meredith wisely held her tongue until he was out of earshot before muttering a curse that caused Jaming, who had quite an extensive vocabulary himself, to go wide-eyed.

"Is he gone?" Julia half-whispered through the door.

"For now," Jaming sighed, still looking in the direction Parn had taken. "Are you all right?"

"I will be...I just want to be alone for a while..."

Meredith whispered something in Jaming's ear, and he nodded and indicated that the question should come from her. "Listen...if you ever feel unsafe, or if you decide you want some company after all, our guest room is open to you. Okay?"

"Th-thank you..."

Jaming put his arm around Meredith's shoulders as the two of them headed for home.

"I don't like this..." she told him, "Just walking away."

"I don't like it, either," Jaming admitted, tossing a glance over his shoulder. No sign of Parn. He must have taken their advice and gone off to clear his head. "but for now, it's up to Julia."

"I know..."