DISCLAIMER:

I do not own Sym-Bionic Titan. If I did, it would not have been cancelled due to lack of merchandise.

Special thanks to: everyone who reviews, follows, and faves! Thanks so much! As always, this chapter is for you!

Hey guys! I'm so in love with this chapter idea (and the idea for the next) that I'm spasming out in CCP! The guy next to me just asked what a disclaimer was… oh, my. Well, anyway, this isn't the last chapter but we're definitely wrapping it up here. Something I forgot to put in the earlier chapters was that the Spring Dance was actually Prom. I can't believe I forgot that… how stupid of me… well, anyway, it's Prom, and you can probably guess how this will go *winks*. The actual Prom scene will be continued in the next chapter, because it would have taken even longer to write and I didn't want to keep you waiting any more than I already have (sorry for that, end of school is a lot of work). I also paraphrased part of Andre's quote from a deviantART person, look at the bottom for the person and their link- they're extremely awesome! Anyway, read, enjoy, and review!

Chapter 16

"It is safe to return to Galaluna."

Lance, Ilana, and Amy all turned with astonishment as Octus told them the news that he had just received from the King.

"We can- and are expected to- return ASAP."

-o-o-o-

The departure date was terrible- the night of the spring dance, the night of Prom. As if they weren't already going to lose enough, a night of fun had been turned into a night of parting. Of course, none of them had a date to Prom except for Octus (he wasn't looking to having that conversation with Kimmy), but that wasn't the point. It was cruelly ironic that Prom was the only night that the rift gate could be opened from both sides so they could get back home- the only night for the next year.

They were all numb. The day after Octus told them- a Thursday- was filled with jumbled voices, all gargling, as if they were filled with water. The four of them walked through the halls seeing nothing, hearing nothing… feeling nothing. It was a stab to the heart (or processor) for each of them, each in a different way.

For Ilana, who had taken refuge on this planet to escape her own burning one, she had found so much on this planet to fall in love with, and it had given her ideas on how to improve her own planet. It made her realize that the commoner faced problems that were never presented to a princess, often harder than she ever had to deal with. It made her realize that people needed hope that things would get better, and while that wasn't always provided by the government that it should to the best it can to help. It made her realize how much a government was truly for its people, and how much the people depended on the government to help. Overall, though, staying on Earth made her realize that there were things that were more important than being a princess- being a person.

Lance might not have wanted to admit it, but being on Earth had done him some good, too. Anger management, for example. Disregarding the whole street-racing road-rage incident, and Mike Chan in general, Sherman was so calm (though not without its drama) and different from the Royal Guard that he had learned, little by little, to control himself. (Of course, he would still go berserk if anyone so much as touched Ilana [or Amy, for that matter], but that wasn't going to change.) He had learned to see more than just destruction, death, chaos, misery, sadness… he had learned to see something more in everyday life- not quite beauty, not yet, but more like…. Positivity? He wasn't quite sure, but Lance knew that even if none of that had ever happened, Earth had given him two other things for which he would go through this all over again for- Amy and Ilana. Two irreplaceable miracles- though he would never tell them that.

As for Octus, Earth had been… interesting, indeed. He had learned many new things that were now installed in his programming, but of course the…biggest…. Impact on his robotic life had been Kimmy. Who would've guessed that a simple teenage girl- nothing special, just a bundle of muscle, bones, and other assorted body masses- could have changed him so much? For her to activate within him a new kind of programming that had never before been felt by a robot, to change his very species and classification to something beyond just a robot but not yet human- Something he couldn't even explain! Earth and Kimmy, to Octus, had been more than just an experience to gather data about these Earthlings- it had been an opportunity to live life- or at least to process it- in a way that mattered.

And then there was Amy… what had Earth given her? After all the planets she had been to- Ryoch, with her second family- Arnos, with its strange clicking and flowing language- Mutrad, with all of its horrors- Galaluna, with all of what she thought of as her original home. After seeing all these planets, with their advanced technologies and societies, rules and procedures so much complex than this primitive planet, after traveling across foreign worlds only to arrive at this one, what could Earth have possibly given Amy that she hadn't already gained elsewhere?

The answer was actually quite simple. Earth had given her happiness.

Sure, Ryoch and all of her friends and new family had been gratifying to say the least, Arnos had provided wisdom beyond the years of even Maya, and Mutrad had taught her to appreciate virtues, with Galaluna stressing the importance of peace and connection within oneself, but at the end of each of those planets she never felt settled. She either knew that at some point she would have to leave, or felt that she should. There was an Earth saying: "Home is where the heart is". Amy's heart had always been with her brother, and reuniting with him on Earth made her happier than she had been in a long time. What had Earth given her? What did this strange planet teach? The simplest and perhaps most gratifying virtues that existed.

Happiness and home.

And they all had to leave.

-o-o-o-

They decided not to tell anyone.

Both Lance and Ilana remembered their little AWOL stunt back when Octus had been deactivated, and how hard it was without realizing it to be away from their friends. Their reunions had already hurt- none of them thought that they would be able to bear the parting with their friends begging them not to leave. Instead they all wrote letters- the cover story was that there were reasons that they couldn't explain, but they were all moving on emergency leave to the middle of the Canadian wilderness, where mail wouldn't be able to be delivered. Ilana wrote to her friends in soccer, on the homecoming committee, each of her teachers, and Jason. Lance didn't have anyone to really write to except for Kristen, seeing as how he was so antisocial that he didn't really know anyone. He wrote small notes to his old band mates in Disenfranchised, too (not without a slight accusation of an unfair ejection from a certain band on a certain teenage boy's social status). Newton, being the only one in a relationship, was the only one to tell someone of their leave before it actually happened. He explained the situation to a bawling Kimmy, during which he got so 'emotional' that his 'stomach' started to 'hurt'. He also wrote to Meat, and left a proof of several unsolved math theorems for his calculus teacher. Amy wrote so much her hand hurt- all her soccer friends, marching band friends, Wind Ensemble friends, and String Ensemble friends- especially Mike, Miranda, and…and Andre. That one was hard to write. She couldn't seem to get the words out, couldn't explain to him that she was leaving without so much as a good-bye after all that they had been through, never to be seen again. The memories started to flood back…

"Aw, come on, you chicken?" She teased him as he looked at the hamburger with a twisted face.

"No…"

"Then eat it!" Andre continued to stare in horror at the burger with ketchup on it. He didn't like ketchup, but Amy had dared him- and he never backed down from a dare, especially in front of a girl. "Just be glad I didn't add mustard", she taunted, and his face grew even more horrified.

"Fine", he growled, and took a bite with his eyes closed. They snapped open. "Hey", he said in surprise. "This is good!"

Amy laughed. "Told you!"

And another memory…

They were just walking along in the dark, back towards the band room. It was a Wednesday night, and they were the last ones walking back from the band field after helping to clean up all the microphones and such on the field. They were talking about the rising of the band Disenfranchised, and Andre forgot the crack in the middle of the walkway and tripped. Amy tried to catch him but his leg accidentally tripped her, and she came down with him. They laughed.

More memories- memories of the most ordinary moments that they had shared- eating, talking, laughing- and some of the most extraordinary- getting first place in the final round of MBOS (an extremely presitgous marching band competition). She realized how much she would miss him, and her heart felt like it was tearing. As it turned out, she didn't ask anyone to Prom- she was going to ask Mike as friends, but didn't when they got the news.

They were leaving, and all of their tuxedos and dresses collected dust in their closets.

-o-o-o-

The days flew by, and suddenly the day of Prom- and the day that the 'Lunis' family left- was here. Girls all across the school were giddy, and boys nervous, whispering in the halls about the best place to get a corsage, and things to make sure not to say to make their girlfriends' parents hate them. Each good-bye the Lunises had to say was like a stab in the chest, and as everyone walked nonchalantly away, they didn't know that they would never again see their friend. They would be lost to the 'Canadian wilderness'- aka Galaluna.

And then came the night.

The Galalunian pod would come to collect the four and the few belongings they could take from Earth at midnight Sherman time. Kimmy stuck by Newton's side all day, and into the night. They all ate dinner and reminisced times on Earth. Tears were shed, but the time just kept on whizzing by. Soon, it was nine thirty. Prom had started, but Kimmy told Newton that she didn't want to go to Prom if she couldn't go with him. That tugged at his processer wires [heartstrings]. Amy retreated to her room to think.

Lance watched her go with concern, but was stopped from following her by Ilana's hand on his shoulder. She shook her head. "She's leaving a lot behind, more than she ever has before. She needs to be alone." Lance looked sadly after her but nodded and sat down.

But that didn't stop another handsome young man from running into her room several minutes after her retreat. Lance had to be refrained from Ilana, Newton, and Kimmy from stopping the boy that went to Amy, but even the young corporal realized that Amy had to give the young man a proper good-bye, that he deserved it. Because they all knew at that point that Andre was completely, irrevocably, and painfully in love with Lance's little sister.

-o-o-o-

He hadn't even taken his car. Running the entire way to the Lunis household, he reflected on what Kimmy had told him.

She figured he deserved to know that the girl he loved was moving that night, never to be heard from again. She had just managed to call him while she was in the bathroom. They didn't want anyone knowing about it. If he didn't come right now, the only good-bye he would get from Amy would be a letter. Kimmy would've told Andre at school, but she couldn't find him.

No wonder Amy had seemed so sad today and wouldn't tell him why. He panted as he sprinted down their street, into their house, past the stunned occupants at the dinner table, and into Amy's room without even knocking. He wouldn't let this happen.

He found her lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling with an expressionless face that scared him, that made their move real. She looked at him in astonishment as he burst through her bedroom door and slammed the door behind him. She stood up from her bed, and started walking over to him. "Andre? What the h-?!"

"You are NOT leaving me", Andre growled, putting his hands on her shoulders, his eyes dangerously on fire. She looked at him.

"Wh-"

And he kissed her.

In the middle of her bedroom, with that fire in his eyes and the sadness and fatigue in hers, he put his hands on her shoulders, pressed his face to hers, and kissed her to make her stay.

His hands slid up to the back of her head, and he pressed her face even harder against his. He felt their lips melt together, and after a moment of processing, she…well…

You see, Amy had never been kissed before. It was a delayed automatic reaction. With her military training, well… she flipped him.

Luckily, onto her matress, but still. She collapsed sitting onto the edge of her bed, and the tears started running down her face. The expression in her eyes was excruciating, and as Andre slowly got up from the bed and sat next to her, he sighed. He went to put a comforting arm around her, but she shrugged it away. He tried to ignore the fact that that hurt.

"Please", Amy croaked, the weariness in her eyes bleeding into her voice. "Don't make this any harder than it has to be."

"Any harder than it has to be." Andre's voice became hard, stone cold. "And that means writing me a letter that I'll never see you again."

"Kimmy told you?"

He nodded. "I had a right to know. You're my best friend, and you're… you're more than that. I should get more than a letter."

Amy sighed. "I know. I know you're right. It's just…I've had too many good-byes. I've had to say good-bye to people who became my family, the closest and only and first friends that I had ever had. So many so-longs, too many farewells…. I can't take any more of it. They say that when one door closes another door opens, but...I don't want to leave. I finally found a home. And now I'm moving to-" she hesitated, seeming to search for a word. "…Canada."

Andre frowned at the way she hesitated when she said "Canada". Like…like she wasn't going there at all. Like…she was hiding something. Amy saw the realization that she was lying dawn in his eyes along with the hurt that came with it. And, right here, she hated herself. She hated herself for lying to him, for hurting him…for not being able to stay with him.

"Tell me the truth", he whispered. "I know you're not moving to Canada. No one just moves to Canada. There's something…strange about you, something that I can't put my finger on. Something besides just being wonderful and beautiful, something way beyond just those things. There's something that I don't know about you- and that bothers me. I used to just accept it. Everyone has secrets, and I realized that, so I was fine with it. But now I'm not. Because whatever your secret is, it's taking you away from me…and that is not okay."

She sighed. "Look, Andre-"

"Just tell me."

"It's not mine to tell!" Amy exclaimed in exasperation. "I wish I could tell you everything, Andre, I do. I wish you already knew, so I wouldn't have to tell you. But you have to understand that there's so much more to all of this than you can possibly realize, and I'm sorry, but that's all that I can tell you about that secret. And I would tell you more of mine- I would tell you all of mine- but they're not mine to tell, either! But, then, what can I tell you? I can tell you that I've travelled thousands and thousands of miles and more to get home- I've been a part of and had to leave families and friendships and whole countries and cultures that you have never seen and maybe never will see, and all to get home. But, more specifically, to get back to Lance. Because he's all I have left, or all I had left, and now I finally found him and I found a home and…I have to leave, right when I found something worth staying for. And, yeah, I've got more secrets right now than you'll have in a lifetime. But you're going to have to accept the fact that you can't know them. You might, someday. But not now."

Everything was quiet, deathly quiet. Amy was looking at her knees, and when she finally got up enough nerve to look up, she saw the strangest thing…

He was smiling.

"You're so amazing", he said softly. "I don't think I've ever met someone as loyal, real, or incredible as you are. Just… amazing."

She smiled a little, still crying, but her eyes remained sad, and his weary eyes soon returned, too.

"But, you see, Amy, there are a couple of things that I still can't handle. Things that have nothing to do with secrets, just you leaving." She cocked her head curiously. He took a breath to steady his nerves and continued. "Too many missed opportunities. I can't handle never being able to hold your hand, to lie in the grass and look up at the stars, to take walks together and to have you laugh at how awkward I would be when I would try to make the first move. To never meet you after classes, help you carry your books to the halls or say "to heck with a fancy restaurant we're having a pizza and video game night". To never again hear your witty humour, or to tell you that you're beautiful and have you genuinely believe it. To never dance together, or take car rides, or sit together on the couch with a scary or romantic or funny movie, or to call you up in the middle of the night to tell you I'm outside your door with roses or to hold hands or even just to talk. There's no way that I'm going to miss all the things that I've wanted to do with you the minute that I realized that somehow I was in love with the most beautiful and funny and amazing girl on the planet- you. Because there's no one else I'd ever want to do that with."

Amy just stared at him. Of all the things she thought he'd say, that speech certainly hadn't been one of them. 'Stay', or 'I'll tell Gerome he'll lose his best musician and he'll go ballistic on you if you leave', or 'Think about everyone who will miss you'. She had expected threats, pleads, and guilt trips. But she hadn't expected him to be honest with her.

She hadn't expected him to admit that he loved her.

And now he was sitting next to her, staring at her with those beautiful blueish-green eyes full of sadness and love and hope and a plea to stay, his trademark half-smile on his lips, his cheeks flushed, every inch of his face was screaming that, yes, he was in love with her.

And every inch of Amy's heart and every inch of her head was screaming that she loved him back.

So she kissed him. She didn't flip him, and she didn't break away. It was gentle at first, careful, trying to stay behind the border lines. But that soon changed, and the kiss became fiercer, deeper, more passionate, both of them the laying the beings of who they were before each other and at the same time laying claim to the other. The tears started streaming down their eyes, but they were happy tears- and when they finally broke away they were laughing, holding hands and leaning against each other.

As their heart beats slowly steadied, they didn't release hands. Andre surveyed the room- things were being packed up, and Amy's closet was half-open with boxes of clothes strewn around it. He saw a glimpse of a white, sparkling dress in the closet and realized it must have been Amy's Prom dress, before she realized she was going.

"It's really pretty", he said, getting up to get a better look at it. "You know, I even rented a stupid tux. It's in the trunk of my car at home, about five minutes away. I went into the store and had absolutely no idea what size I was, so it took three girls, one guy, five tuxes- one of them which I ripped a seam on- and an hour of frustration to finally find one that fit and, according to the girls-" Andre mimicked the girls' high voices: "Doesn't clash with my complexion".

Amy laughed, trying to imagine three girls trying to shove a tux over Andre's head as he struggled to try and get them to stop with a very amused salesman watching the whole event. So Andre.

"You know," he said, eyeing her dress, "Prom started a half an hour ago."

Her eyes lit up. "Hmmm…." Amy teased thoughtfully. "I wonder… Mr. Andre, king of dirty jokes with a soft side and a very handsome tuxedo, would you like to go with Prom with me tonight?"

He turned and grinned. "I've been waiting for you to ask me that."

"So, that's a yes?"

"Definitely."

Hehehehe. Don't worry, the whole next chapter is going to be on what happens at Prom. Which will be a LOT, so yay! I know that it isn't my best chapter- I wanted it to be so much better- but it's the best I can do, with my brain so burned out. Soooo sorry I took so long to update! I've got a crudload amount of finals approaching, and trig especially I'm going to fail at. Guess what I got on my latest Ch.8 test? 40%! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I HATE MY LIFE

Anyway, school ends this Tuesday (the 11th) for us so expect frequent updates after that. And then Marching Band starts on the 12th so YAY! Haha I fangirl about marching band a lot ;) Aaaanyway, here's the deviantART person and their link below, whom I quoted in Andre's little 'I-have-a-problem-with-you-leaving' speech. If you're a girl, it's pretty much a list of every single fantasy you've ever had of things you'd like to do with your crush/boyfriend. The person who wrote it is really good, so here they are:

Anaxandreah on deviantART. Here's the link (though I don't know if autocorrect will let me post it):

And then there's also another dedication. This one is to Andre.

The real. Andre.

Yeah, that's right. I based him off of a real person. I actually based his pervertedness off of another senior named Ander (hehe, word play), but the rest is just the real-life Andre G. He's a senior this year, graduating in two days, so below is my dedication to him for this chapter (which is ironic that he actually knows virtually nothing about this fanfic, he only saw the story on my phone once):

Oh, Andre. Andre, Andre, Andre. He's an absolutely amazing person (he's pretty good-looking, too), and I'm honored to have gotten to know him. I'm in MUN with him, and he's an amazing delegate, speaker, and friend. He has a way of making you laugh and listen to him seriously at the same time within a speech about HIV/AIDS in Africa (the type of things that we discuss in MUN), and I really wish I could have gotten some speaking tips from him. To put it in his own words, "Whose to say what the future holds? We might meet again someday, we might not. The point is that there was in fact a beautiful interlap between our beautiful paths. For a second there, we were together, and now we will be apart, and you will have to speak unto the cosmos alone." And the interlap truly was beautiful. I really do hope that our paths cross again. He's extremely smart (he got into Duke and then fricking said no… to Duke. He said no to Duke.) and overall amazing, especially to tolerate such a talkative, annoying freshman as I was (and still kind of am). I was so surprised when he chose me to be his co-chair for our annual MUN conference, and his immense sarcasm never ceases to put a huge grin on my face. His IB paper was a treat to read, and I wish him the best at USC. His funny faces are the best, and I'd like to thank him for always being there for me, whether I knew I needed it or not. When I'm a senior I hope to have a lot of his qualities. At some point along the way I think I may have had a crush on him, though I'm not completely sure. Either way he's been a great friend, an excellent mentor and one of my favorite people to have known. If I ever see the name "Andre G." on a presidential election ballot, I'll know who to vote for (but it'll be an intense race between him, Bryce, and Chris). I wish him the best in life. I know he'll be able to do absolutely anything, and hope he comes back sometime. He's amazing, and I'd like to thank him for all the great times we've had together. Next year won't be the same without him. Good-by, old friend.

I'll try to update as soon as possible. Review, please.