Uh, sorry that this is late in the day. I spent the weekend camping (Girl Scouts, woot!) and I got home this morning, then proceeded to shower, watch a few episodes of the Colbert Report, and then sleep until three. But it was worth it!
Whoever can find the parallelism in this chapter gets a virtual cookie (and maaaaaybe a drawing and shoutout on deviantart)
"Come on, somebody, why doncha run? Ol' Red's itchin' to have a little fun! Get my lantern! Get my gun! Red'll have you treed 'fore the mornin' comes," —Old Red, Blake Shelton
It was Volt that discovered them, even though Hydron was the first to hear them. He turned the corner, returning to the beginning of the maze, where his jaw dropped. The others arrived seconds later.
"Dan?" Shadow exclaimed. Dan, Joe and Rin all jumped and glanced to the left in surprise, looking up from the shouting match taking place between two of them. Rin and Dan were standing opposite each other, legs spread and shoulders tense as they shouted, while Joe had been leaning against the crate-wall with a hand on his head, clearly exasperated by the two. They all looked stunned for a moment after hearing Shadow's voice, Joe so much so that he had jumped away from the wall and took a fighting stance, but then Dan broke the silence.
"Oh, hey guys," he said distractedly. He turned his attention back to Rin immediately. "Runo. Kazarina must have hypnotized you. You're not 'Rin' or whoever she told you you were! You're Runo."
"Just because I don't have my memories doesn't mean that I am an idiot!" she screamed, lashing out with her hand. Dan jerked his head away, just barely missing her blow. She was glaring at him with a terrible ferocity, he eyes burning like molten gold. He stared back in shock, then focused his gaze on the purple fabric covering her mouth.
"You know, Runo, I think masks are more up Masquerade and Spectra's alley, not yours," he said. Her eyebrows furrowed in angry confusion.
"What—?" She didn't get a chance to finish because Dan launched himself at her, and she yelped as his hands seized her shoulders. Suddenly, they were falling backwards, his nose mere inches from hers. She was slammed into the ground with a grunt, and Dan wasted no time in sitting on her chest to keep her down. She let out a strangled hiss of pain and Dan focused some of his weight onto his feet, but kept enough on her to keep her pinned.
"Dan!" Mylene and Joe protested, but he was beyond hearing them. His hand seized the tiara on her head and flung it to the side, taking the veil with it and undoing her bun, then ripped off the mask over her face.
Almost immediately, he wished he hadn't. He gasped, eyes wide, as he shifted the entirety of his weight back onto the balls of his feet. His jaw hung unhinged as he took in the damage to her cheeks, to her jawline, to her face.
Her left cheek was marked with four parallel bruises, all a deep, royal purple. They surrounded four painful looking scabbed-over cuts, two of which were being held closed by crude, black stitches. A mirror of Dan's scarred-over jaw-burn stood out on her left jawline, the surrounding skin an angry red and some parts of the burn itself a sickly yellow. The whole burn was raised and swollen, clearly painful. Her neck was bruised with the same parallel purple lines, and a small patch of hair from the top of her head was missing. The skin there was covered in scabs, as though she had been scratched with claws.
Her eyes glittered defiantly despite being unmasked. In fact, as soon as Dan started blinking, she spat in his face. He brushed it away passively. He just stared at her with anguished eyes, taking in the damage that had been done to her face.
"Runo…" he whispered. "What did they do to you?"
She didn't respond in her same defiant manner, apparently recognizing his change in demeanor. Her glare wavered, and she seemed to be staring at him with a different emotion in her eyes. Confusion, Dan recognized, but what else lurked beneath, he couldn't tell.
"Look, I don't mean to interrupt this reunion of yours," Sid interjected, clearly not genuine in his assurance, "but we're kinda on a time limit, and I, for one, don't want to wind up on that witch's table."
"How did you even get in here?" Mylene demanded. "I thought they locked you up on the other side of the building!" Dan looked up at her, then at Joe. A look of nervous confusion appeared on his face.
"Uh, I'm not exactly sure how to explain that…"
"How about we start looking for the exit and worry about how we got in here as we walk?" Joe suggested tersely. "He's right; the clock is ticking, Dan."
"Alright," Dan replied, turning his attention back to Rin. "Runo, ("I'm not Runo!") I'm gonna let you up now, okay?"
He got to his feet and stepped over her, allowing her to rise as well. She shot him a glare, but stood nonetheless and yanked on her cape to smooth out the ruffles. Her hair tumbled down her back in all its cerulean glory, shining in the harsh, industrial lights that hung from above. When she bent down to pick up her veil and mask, though, Dan beat her to it. He kicked away her tiara, which hit the far side of the hall with a clatter, and snatched up the mask. He tore it in two and let the pieces flutter to the ground like the frayed, torn butterfly wings, and then met her eyes.
She was not happy.
"What the hell was that for?" she demanded.
"Runo…"
"Dan, let's go!" Mylene snapped, strutting forward and grabbing Rin's wrist despite her vocal protest. "You'll have plenty of time to chat about your relationship status after we get the hell out of here!"
"Relationship? Let me go!" Rin snarled, yanking against Mylene's grip. Dan grimaced automatically, knowing that that was definitely not the right thing for Rin to do. However, much to his surprise, Mylene didn't retaliate. She did send her a murderous glare, one that stilled the golden-eyed girl, and she instead opted to protest verbally. "Let go of me! When Mistress Kazarina get's a hold of you—"
"Oh, shut up," Mylene snapped, dragging her around the corner. Dan exchanged a glance with Joe and then looked at Lync, who had a nervous but sympathetic look on his face, before he darted after them. "There's only one way out of this maze, Runo("Quit calling me that!"). You can either wait there for the next three hours or come with us and get out faster."
That was when she seemed to see reason and quieted, though not without a predicted air of irritation. Mylene tossed her arm to away from her before strutting down the hall angrilly. Instead of protesting, she growled quietly to herself and stalked after Mylene, shooting a glare at the boys before joining her up front. They didn't speak; rather, they just seemed to tolerate each others' presences.
Meanwhile, the boys turned to a more pressing matter.
"So, how did you guys get out?" Lync asked, peering at Dan curiously. "The Gundalians made it sound like it was impossible to escape."
"Yeah. They came over and started going on and on about how tight the security on your room was," Sid grumbled, rolling his eyes. Shadow led them around a corner and the two girls followed close behind him while the other boys hung back, conversing. "Like any of us cared…"
"Well, that's the thing…" Dan started, frowning. "It's kinda unbelievable."
"Whoa, stop the presses," Sid said sarcastically. "Hotshot Dan Kuso says His Escape is Unbelievable. Someone call in the National Guard."
"Knock it off, Sid," Mylene called, revealing for all of her practiced indifference that she actually was eavesdropping. Sid shot her a glare that she didn't see but did as he was told. Dan shook his head. He was never gonna get used to him listening to her.
"Uh…well, remember how I told you I was getting weird dreams?"
"The whole 'Gate and Key' thing?" Lync asked. Joe cocked his head to the side, appearing curious.
Dan nodded, trying to ignore Joe's scrutinizing gaze, and then proceeded to explain how Wavern appeared and woke him up, prompting a few clarifying questions from the Vexos and Sid, then led him to Joe. Joe took over the explanation then, and Dan noted how he left out the majority of information about the Infinity Wavelength. "It's basically a residue of the energy Wavern expended when she held the Infinity Core," Joe said simply when Hydron asked for an explanation. "Because she was my Guardian Bakugan, I was exposed more than anyone else. Very little remains, just enough for me to heal myself and anyone in the vicinity." Dan glanced at him. That was a lie.
"How did you get past the video cameras?" Rin asked from up front, sounding genuinely curious instead of spiteful. Joe shrugged, a goofy grin on his face.
"I guess we just got lucky." There was a note of finality in his tone, the kind that invited no further questions. Everyone got the hint—even Sid. Although, Dan supposed as he watched the teen walk with a hand cupped over his ear, Sid probably hears those things but chooses to ignore them…
"Damn," Shadow growled from up front. He stopped, and the group of eight behind him followed suit. Dan blinked, then actively looked at the scene before him. It was a three way intersection, and Shadow was clearly not happy about it.
"Lync," the white-haired hyena whined, "can you please go back to scouting duty? All this leader business is hurting my head!"
Lync grumbled something that sounded suspiciously like a threat to the brawler, but walked forward anyway. "Mylene, are you still keeping that map?"
"Yeah."
"Good. I'm gonna need that."
"Lync is the scout?" Dan asked Hydron as Mylene passed a piece of paper to the pink-haired boy. Dan's eyes lingered on Rin, who was scowling at Mylene's side, until she caught his gaze and sent a scathing glare in his direction. The injuries to her face somehow made her more menacing and Dan was startled to find a small flicker of fear waver in his stomach. He quickly looked at Hydron again, trying to ignore the stab of pain that came with her anger.
"Yeah. He's pretty good with patterns and puzzles," Hydron explained, ignoring Dan's discomfort. "Always has been. It's why he's so good with computers."
"Now that you mention it…" Dan mused, "he always seemed to be more the computer-geek type than the brawler type." Lync turned down the hall on the right, pencil in hand and look of concentration on his face. Hydron motioned to the side of the hall and sat against the crates, resting his elbow on his hand and twirling a lock of his hair. Dan joined him while Joe and Volt struck up a conversation nearby.
"He had a big mouth," Hydron grumbled, "and he tried to fight using a more reckless approach than a Ventus brawler should have."
"I saw that," Dan nodded, refusing to allow himself to look at Rin again. "Shun mentioned that he was lacking in discipline or something. I don't think I've ever seen him win a battle." Hydron didn't look surprised, but frowned.
"Yeah, he was the weakest member of the Vexos, but only when he was fighting you guys," he explained. "Any other brawler and they wouldn't have stood a chance. You know, he had that aptitude that all the good brawlers have. I mean, not exactly aptitude, but, like that sort of…sense, I guess, of what cards to play and stuff." Hydron's forehead creased in frustration. "Do you understand what I'm talking about?"
Dan nodded, but looked equally perplexed. "Yeah, I know what you mean." There wasn't a word for it, or at least none that came as close as Hydron's description as an aptitude. The former prince continued.
"I mean, he was still a pretty dangerous opponent, even with a mechanical Bakugan, but he was always stronger with a live Bakugan. He just never settled down with one partner until he met Monarus." Dan recalled meeting the Ventus Bakugan, Moonlit Monarus, an evolution of the fairy-like Bakugan Shun enjoyed using. She was very level headed and respectful, but Dan recognized something in her demeanor that indicated how formidable she'd be in battle.
A contemplative look came over Hydron's face. "You know, I fought him once, after he and Shadow had a training battle and Lync wiped the floor with him. I thought it was a fluke, you know? He'd never been able to beat Shadow before, and Shadow came this close to beating him." He held up his index and thumb finger held close together to prove his point. "But when I fought him, it was obvious something in him had changed. He and Monarus just moved from attack to attack to attack, and I didn't even win one round against him!" His companion grinned, a sort of inexplicable pride welling in his chest.
Hydron looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "What are you smiling about?"
"I think he found his true partner." Dan recalled that moment when Drago returned to him after becoming the Perfect Core of New Vestroia. Something had clicked when he held him in his hands again. It was like he had finally realized he had another half, one he hadn't quite been conscious of missing until that moment.
"Dead end over here," Lync announced, popping out of the hall on the right. Everyone glanced at him, but went back to their business when he ducked into the next one, calling over his shoulder, "I'm gonna get a head start on this one. I'll be back in a few minutes." Sid grunted something intelligible as he leaned against one of the crates on the opposite end of the hall, looking annoyed. He rubbed at his ear.
Hydron cocked his head to the side.
"What do you mean, 'true partner'? I thought a brawler could battle with any Bakugan."
"Well…" Dan and Hydron looked up to discover that Volt and Joe had joined them. Joe sank to a seated position next to Dan while Volt made himself comfortable across from Hydron. Joe was the one who had spoken, and after contemplating what he wanted to say for a moment, he continued. "I think that Dan's right about having a true partner. I mean, a brawler can fight with any Bakugan, sure, but I always noticed it felt more natural to be fighting with my Guardian Bakugan rather than Siege or Robotallion."
"Hm…yeah, I guess I know what you mean," Hydron nodded, still looking a bit confused. A small, brown orb appeared on Hydron's shoulder, drawing the gazes of the brawlers. A Bakugan reminiscent to a spider popped out and peered at Dan curiously, and Dan recognized Apexeon 2, Hydrons' partner Bakugan. The look of perplexity on Hydron's face seemed to clear when he saw him. "Like, when I fought with Dryoid, I had to put a lot of thought into what I was doing. But when I'm battling with Apexeon, it's not like that."
"It feels more natural," Volt agreed. "I noticed that right away when I was fighting with Boriates. It felt nothing like when I was battling with Brontes."
"Aw, Volt!" Brontes exclaimed from Volt's shoulder. Volt grinned.
Dan sat so that his knees were up in front of him. He propped right elbow on his kneecap and rested his head on his hand, gazing thoughtfully at the path Lync had taken. "I think that has to do with the Switch Code," he said.
"Switch Code?"
"It's what Code Eve called the bond between Bakugan and Battler," Dan explained. "She said that while any brawler can fight with any Bakugan, only one brawler is destined to unlock the true power of that one Bakugan. That brawler holds the Switch Code for that one. I think that's what we're talking about. The sense of the card to play and when must come with that. Like, Drago and I will just, sort of…know when to activate certain abilities. I mean, beyond the obvious, logical part of it."
"So it's like a connection," Volt clarified, "between you and your Bakugan partner."
"Your true Bakugan partner," Dan nodded.
"So…your Guardian Bakugan," Joe suggested. Dan cocked his head to the side.
"You know," he said, "yeah. I think that's it. How did I not think of that before?"
"Because connections are Marucho's strong point, not yours," Joe chuckled hollowly. Dan rolled his eyes.
"Hey, I've got a decent idea of where we need to go," came Lync's voice as he poked his head out of the hall he had disappeared down. With that, everyone rose to their feet, Rin with an audible hiss of pain from where she had been sitting near Mylene. Dan glanced at her worriedly, tempted to go to her side but stopped when Joe snatched his wrist.
"She's still hypnotized, Dan," he warned in a hushed tone as they made their way over to Lync. "She thinks we're enemies. She's not gonna like it if you try to help her out."
"I know, but…" Dan's eyes turned back to her, anguished. "I made a mistake before all this happened, and I want her to know that I never meant to hurt her." Dan ignored Hydron's pointed glance in his direction.
"You can tell her when she wakes up," Joe assured him quietly. Lync led the way down the hall, bypassing the first two paths and leading them to the left down the third. "We're getting out of here. You'll have plenty of time to talk to her." He left out the part of that statement that both boys knew but didn't say. If she lets you talk to her.
"This is the tricky part," Lync announced as they came into a hall with four separate paths at different spots along the corridor. "I only had a chance to go down the first few hallways of each of these paths. I haven't hit a dead end in any one of them; they just keep going."
"Do you think this is the heart of the maze, then?" Mylene asked. Lync looked at her, unsure.
"I don't think it's the heart, exactly. I don't think we're that far inside. Remember the map the mayor showed you? This room is the gym on the North side. It's the largest one, and we haven't gone far enough in to be in the middle of the room."
"What makes you say that?" Shadow questioned, staring at the crates around him as if their presence exhausted him. "We've been twisting and turning through this place for almost an hour now; there's no way you can judge distance."
"Actually, I can," Lync retorted. "I memorized the dimensions of the larger rooms, since I didn't think it was possible to build them this big. I mean, the biggest one I've seen was the indoor arena in Professor Clay's lab in Alpha City. This one is just a bit smaller than that."
"So, what, a football field?" Dan asked.
"Uh…" Lync looked perplexed for a moment, then seemed to realize Dan was right. "Yeah, about the size of a football field."
"So?" Sid grumbled disinterestedly.
"So," he replied, holding up his map, "We've only gone about thirty-five yards into this room. We're not in the center yet, and I don't know which way to go now."
"So, what, just pick a hall at random?" Volt asked. Lync's lip twisted and he glanced from aperture to aperture. Mylene sighed.
Sid yanked his hand from his ear as if he'd been shocked. "Get down!" he shouted, shoving Volt and Shadow to the floor and eliciting their very vocal protests. Dan dove, snatching Hydron and Joe by their wrists, and yanked them to the ground, sparing them from the deadly green electricity that made his hair stand on end. It wasn't until the dangerously loud Rice-Crispy-esque noises faded that Dan dared look up, despite his foreknowledge of what he would find.
And, sure enough, there stood Airzel, arm outstretched and palm smoking, not even bothering to disguise the unabashed glee on his face from such an action. Rin and Mylene were both pressed against the wall near him, Rin looking startled but starting to appear more than a little smug. Mylene was just downright murderous, her eyes narrowed to menacing, cobra-like slits. Shadow wasn't faring as well, lying beside a dazed Lync, holding his head in one hand as growling as he glared up at the Gundalian. Sid was the only one still standing. His own arm was out in a gesture that mimicked that of his enemy. Dan started up at him in awe. How had he known Airzel was coming?
"Master Airzel!" Rin cried. Airzel glanced at her before Sid growled, attracting his attention once more. The girl hissed, apparently angry at having the spotlight stolen again. Dan, on the other hand, breathed a quiet sigh of relief. The less attention she got from the Gundalians, the safer she would be.
"Hmph, stand aside, Sid," Airzel ordered, his voice deadly serious despite his sneer. "Tell you what. You return Dan, Joe and Rin, and the rest of you can walk out of here with all the time in the world."
"What, and deprive Kazarina the opportunity to dissect us? What does she have to say about that, big shot?"
"Kazarina isn't in the position to be calling the shots," Airzel growled. Dan and the others blinked.
"Huh. Nice one, Kuso," Sid said after a moment. His glee was undisguised. "You must've hit her pretty hard if she's still out."
"Trust me, it was a long time coming," Dan assured him, smirking himself as he rose to his feet. The presence of his allies and the promise of freedom were emboldening him. The fear he felt when confronted with his captors was suddenly reduced to a feeble ball of anxiety. It was a pleasant change.
Joe and Hydron stood up beside him, glaring defiantly at Airzel, as Shadow propped himself up on one knee. Lynd didn't move.
That was when Dan realized that Lync's clothing was charred.
Airzel noticed his stare and followed his gaze, taking in the Ventus brawler who was groaning in pain on the ground. "Hmph. He'll live. Though not very long if you don't walk over here, children." He lifted his gaze and focused his red eyes on Dan. The brunette growled. His anxiety wriggled and grew, instilling in him a feeling of nausea. I'm so close!
Airzel reached out his hand, palm facing down, so that it hovered just above Lync. The pink haired teen glared up at him icily, clearly guessing his intentions. Airzel just stared, disinterestedly, down at him. That was when Mylene took a chance.
She was a dark blue blur as her arm whipped out from beneath her cloak, bringing with it her Electro Whip. Airzel didn't even have time to react as it connected, tearing through the fabric covering his calf. Suddenly, his back arched, his mouth open in a silent scream, as his body was paralyzed by the electric current running through the weapon. And then his eyes rolled up in his head, his knees gave out beneath him, and he fell to the ground. For a moment, he lay there, convulsing, but his body quickly stilled, save for the labored rising and falling of his chest.
The whole episode lasted about ten seconds.
"Holy crap!" Shadow exclaimed, shooting to his feet. He launched himself at Mylene, who had retracted the whip almost instantaneously, and flung his arms around her. His signature cackle filled their ears, broken occasionally by his shouts of glee. "You are the most amazing, insanely awesome, best girlfriend a guy could ever ask for!" he cried, looking disturbingly similar to an ecstatic child on Christmas morning. He then leaned in close to her ear and whispered something that Dan didn't catch, but Mylene didn't react combustibly like usual. She just rolled her eyes, but planted a light kiss on his cheek all the same, one that surprised Dan almost as much as seeing Airzel. She must have been rather shaken up if she was willing to show PDA for once. Either that, or Shadow was really laying on the flattery.
Dan was brought out of his musings by Joe's rushing forward urgently. He pushed Volt and Hydron out of the way and dropped to his knees beside Lync, who grimaced up at him with a forced grin.
"Help me get his shirt off," Joe ordered. Dan dropped to his knees beside Hydron and helped Joe to gently tug the charred garment off of him. Lync whimpered but cooperated, wincing all the while. Joe frowned as he looked him over, taking in the complicated fern-like markings that came with being struck by lightning.
"Where's it hurt worst?" he asked. Lync painstakingly lifted his left arm and gestured to the center of his chest, at the apex of the burn marks. Joe swallowed and licked his lips, tracing the intricate pattern with his eyes.
"That strike was not as powerful as it could have been," Sid shared from his position at the side of one of the hallways. He was peering down it, scanning for approaching enemies, no doubt. Shadow, Volt and Mylene had taken up similar positions at the other openings while Rin hovered halfway between Mylene and the group around Lync. She was clearly uncomfortable with the whole situation and didn't know who she should be sticking close to. For the most part, Airzel's unconscious form was being ignored.
"What do you mean?" Dan asked while Joe continued examining Lync. "How did you know he was coming?"
"Gundalians have a way of communicating organically," Sid explained. "We don't need phones or Baku-meters to make contact with each other. Instead, we can just put a hand over our ear and speak, and the person we're trying to talk to will hear us. But we only get that ability when we reach maturity, which is usually around sixteen or seventeen, and I'm seventeen.
"The same goes for the lightning. We can control how much energy we put into it and keep it within a desired range, if we practice with it. Airzel could have killed Lync; trust me, I know he's capable. But he kept it low enough just to hurt.
"He was aiming for you, Dan," Sid said grimly. Dan tensed. "But Pinky over there stepped funny and wound up getting hit with the shot. I blocked the rest." As if for good measure, Sid held out his hand, showing off a small display of red and white lightning sparks that danced along the contours of his palm. Dan looked on, intrigued, until he closed his fist and went back to glaring down the hallway. "Gill and Stoica are also walking around here, somewhere. They've all got a map on them so they can look around for you without getting lost. Hydron, see if you can find it." Hydron did as was suggested and headed over to Airzel. "That Anubias guy is hanging out at the end."
"Alright, that means two down, three to go," Dan surmised. He frowned. "Where's Barodius during all this?" Sid shrugged.
"Dunno. Didn't mention 'im." Dan growled, frustrated.
"Okay, Lync, this is gonna hurt for a bit, but it'll feel great afterwards," Joe said, attracting the attention of the others. "Are you okay with that?"
"Dude," Lync replied through clenched teeth, "I don't really care as long as I can punch that bastard in the face when you're done." Joe grinned wryly, then glanced over his shoulder at Rin.
"Hey, Rin, come here for a sec." She started.
"Huh? Why?" she asked, distrustfully. Joe shrugged. He looked up at her with a benign grin.
"I just thought you might like to see something cool. You're going to join up with Kazarina and them after we get out of here, right?" Dan bristled but a warning hand from Hydron stopped him from speaking. She was silent, just watching the sandy brunette with obvious wariness. He smiled serenely. "If that's the case, this'll be your only chance to see it." She scanned his face for a moment, considering the offer.
"What is this 'cool thing'?" she asked, her curiosity winning out. Or maybe she just recognizes him, Dan thought, since he must have been the last human she saw before they were captured… She strode over to him and stood across from Dan, shooting him a distrustful glare as she peered down at Lync beside Joe.
"This," Joe said, his expression becoming serious as he placed a hand against Lync's bruising, burned chest, and then wrapped the other around Rin's left wrist. She stiffened and Lync gasped in pain, just like Dan had when Joe healed his wrists, but Joe didn't apologize this time. Instead, he breathed in deeply, then slowly dispelled it, and a brilliant rainbow glow began to shine from his hands. Lync and Rin's shoulders both relaxed at the same time as the healing energy flowed, and even Dan enjoyed the wonderful sensation of bliss as the air vibrated with it. Each time he experienced it, it seemed to feel even better than the last, boosting his spirits and leaving him feeling rejuvenated.
His eyes flicked to Rin, whose eyes were closed in contentment. The bloody welts on her face were closing, the bruises on her neck and face fading. Dan glanced (chastely) at her chest, where he recognized the intricate spiderwebbing of lightning burns, but smiled in relief as they grew lighter, even though they didn't disappear altogether. The electrocautery burn lining her jaw faded as well, allowing the skin previously pulled painfully taut (Dan knew how much it hurt and was glad she was being spared the pain) to once again be given slack as it became covered with pink scar tissue. He imagined his own three rings looked similar beneath his bandage. A contented sigh passed her lips. Dan smiled and stepped over Lync to stand beside her.
She was beautiful, bruises and healing cuts or no. Dan lifted his arms and rested them on her shoulders, and then leaned in. He was unable to help himself. It had been so long since he felt her thin frame in his arms. And even though he knew he didn't deserve it, he just couldn't help it. She was here, standing in front of him. He was finally together with the girl he loved, even though she didn't remember him.
His lips brushed against her cheek, and though she didn't respond, he knew she noticed. He felt her shoulders give a little jerk in surprise, but she didn't pull away.
And then her forehead creased and Joe let go of her wrist, his face pale and clammy. Dan pulled back and looked down at him in concern, but the sandy-haired boy just forced a tired smile at him and turned his attention back to Lync. Dan focused on Rin.
Her lips were set in a firm line, her eyes pressed shut and her face screwed up as if in pain. The stitches that protruded from her cheek, still holding together the mostly healed cut, were pulled taut. Then, she gasped and her eyes shot open, revealing their usual, dazzling green. Dan's heart soared as she blinked, looking slightly surprised. She was back! She was back!
And then she saw Dan, and their eyes met. Time seemed to freeze. Everyone else melted into the background. It was just the two of them, alone in a Field belonging only to them.
Runo's green eyes widened and her arms rose, and she looked almost as if she were about to launch herself into his arms. About to reconcile and melt into his form. About to surrender her anger and pain and simply lose herself in his embrace.
But she stopped herself.
Dan had a sudden sense of déjà vu to the time when he returned from New Vestroia and saw her in the cafe. She had reacted similarly, almost hugging him but then stopping, her hands hovering in the air as though she didn't know what to do with them.
But she didn't yell out in anger and slap him across the face that time.
Ugh. I keep ending with her snapping out of it. Gaaaah.
Again, FIND THE PARALLELISM! And not the one that was so conveniently lampshaded here at the end. I will draw you something!
Anyway, thank you so much for reading! I'll update in 2 weeks!
Review!