The Universe Will Die Without You

by The-EverLasting-Ash

It’s so different without you... sometimes it’s frightening. AU JeffxNess, JeffxTony, Other pairings in the future. Novelized version of Jeff's point of view in the game. Not completely canon, Paula's 8 yrs old. Dark themes Shonen-Ai/slash

19. All for the Sake of Friendship

A/N: Thanks to Orkidee, Red, Konoha's Kage, DevirouBa, Angel and on DA, HyrulePirate for reviewing/ giving your feedback on the story so far! X3 You guys are awesome! (Thumbs up)

To answer your two questions Red, for the part where the gang was laughing at Jeff, I tried foreshadowing the fact that Ness's slap to his cheek was starting to show a mark, but I probably didn't illustrate that enough. And for your question about if Picky threw the yo-yo in there or not, no in fact, he didn't throw the yo-yo in there. You'll find out in this chapter a little bit more about the yo-yo that I hope helps a little. :3

So I did have a small writers block in the beginning of the chapter, after the intro, because I couldn't make that area more interesting, I dunno. Like in most of my chapters, important things happen, including the finding of something that will be realllly important as the story grows for a certain character. (You'll know who as this chapter progresses)

I do have one warning though for this chapter, and it is in fact in the intro itself. You… you'll see what happens… o3o;; (hides in a hole and blushes)

Hopefully there aren't too many errors I overlooked. Anyways, hopefully I did alright with this, and I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!

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It was dark outside as I sat alone in Maxwell's classroom. Not that it was nighttime, but it was just dark and stormy outside. I looked up at the clock, which had been missing ever since I even noticed. I looked down at my palm before I was about to rub my eye. Everything seemed hazy and out of place.

Something… something didn't…

The door swung open, and running in was not only Tony but Paula? And why did they…

By the time they were right in front of me, I was baffled at their gigantic appearance. What was going on? Paula was crying, and Tony ran his fingers though his hair.

"Tony? What's going on…?" I managed to say, trying not to be intimidated by their size.

"Jeff, we need to get you out of here; they're coming after you right now!" He said, reaching his hand out towards me. I flinched as I was seemingly lifted in the air. Heart pounding; I finally managed to reach my arms out in front of me… only to touch a flat surface in return. I froze.

… was I in another glass container? Oh god…

BANG-CRASH-BOOM!

Paula and Tony were seemingly helpless as something crashed through the ceiling of our school. Tony held the jar; I was in close to his chest as the air cleared up. I gawked at the even bigger, monstrous, and hairy gorilla standing before us, wearing a red tie nonetheless. Punching its massive chest and roaring its cry, my entire being shook as the creature lunged before us.

"Tony! Paula!" I yelled. Tony yelped as he was forcefully knocked to the ground while Paula fled the scene without a second thought. This couldn't be real, I thought as my jar rolled pathetically on the classroom tile floor. Before I knew it, before I could blink, I was picked up by another.

This creature seemed to be what they called a furry, a red fox, standing like a human, wearing the clothing of a jet pilot. He held up what looked to be a laser gun at the gorilla. And before I knew it, tension was filling the air. I frantically looked around me- what happened to Tony?! He seemed to be nowhere in sight anymore from what I could tell.

Looking back at the two, the gorilla flared up his nostrils while the fox seemingly taunted him, swishing his tail in the process.

ROAR!

The tension shattered instantly as another battle cry ripped through the air in the distance. The gorilla suddenly fled out into the ceiling where it came from. My heart started to pound.

STOMP! STOMP! STOMP!

The fox held my container closely underneath his arm; as I could see the many individual hairs rub against my glass; it was hard to see where we were headed as he started running out of the classroom.

I wasn't sure how long it took before he made a sharp halt, but when he did, he started to sprint again, only in a different direction. The stomping was so loud that I thought my ears would burst. And in the bit of visible glass, I could see it- what everyone was running from.

It was big, and bright magenta, and its teeth wound around its jaw like a wreath; all of those sharp individual teeth I thought. I couldn't get much more detail out of it. Finally, the fox seemingly found his way out of my school, and when his arm lifted slightly so I could see the snow of Winters, there was none.

A giant city. We were downtown, in a trash-written city I was unaware about. What happened to Winters- where did it go? My eyes went wide as we passed by a poster, and eventually a statue of what looked to be what now seemed to be my new nemesis in my life.

"Pokey…" The name passed my lips silently as I was startled once more, being suddenly flung out of the fox's arms, only to be ended up in another's grasp. It was around this time when it started raining; I could hear the thunder from afar… or was that the great magenta monster back in my school?

Anyways, I was held over the head of someone who… in all honesty had no actual 'head' to begin with. His body was perfectly round, and if he had a face, it was covered seemingly with a mask. Yellow eyes glowed through the mask as he held out his golden sword. Two bat-like wings extended out around him. It was time to say goodbye to the fox, lying on the ground as we launched in the air.

By this time, the rain clashed against the glass, as it was almost impossible to see now. Another roar in the distance… echoing the cries in the dark sky. My stomach turned slightly; all of this running in each direction, nonetheless the running rain water around me was starting to make me feel queasy. I braced myself; who was I to be in the grasp of next? Or better off, who would be the first to release me? God, I felt like one of those fictional creatures that could fit into pockets that every kid wanted to collect.

A flash.

Was it lightning? Yes… no? I couldn't tell.

Another flash. No… it wasn't lightning, there was no thunder to follow behind. The flashing was so near…

The winged creature that had held me hostage in the air had finally managed to yelp in surprise, making me slip out of his grasp finally. The realization hit as I saw the distance between us grew rapidly; I was falling. Was I to die? If so… why wasn't I screaming? Why-

And then it stopped. Another cry roared in the distance- bellowing and ripping through my ears during the moment of pause. Then a voice. A familiar one… As a giant hand rubbed the glass clear again, I was rotated to a face I expected to see. Only, it was that egotistical one; intimidated expression replaced with dominance and power. Darker if you will.

Ness's dark bangs covered part of his eyes and the purple hat he wore to the side had covered part of his forehead. Water dripped from his bangs, from his nose, to the glass that confined me trapped. A devilish smirk crossed his features. I gulped in return, looking back up at him.

Then there was that beastly roar again, working in harmony with the storm. I stuttered violently again.

"What's wrong? You don't have anything to fear… you know that," Ness said, in a lower tone.

"Then why do I feel so threatened all the sudden?" I spoke, voice shaken and barely visible. Ness reached out.

"If there's anything you should fear… it would be me. You're mine now," He said darkly, grinning as he opened the glass container, un-doing whatever spell kept me inside the glass. But once I could feel myself gaining back my normal size-

BANG-BANG-STOMP!

I shook suddenly, almost falling flat onto my face, only being prevented by the strange Ness's hand grappling my shoulder, and halting me upwards. Now that I could see, we were in a dark alley. In the rain. And the giant pink winged monster was right before us, staring right at us. I exhaled a shaky puff of breath. Pearly white teeth, stained in blood glared back at us as it growled in a low tone. I glanced sideways to the Ness who had just seemingly released me. He was grinning like no tomorrow.

"You can run if you want. Just don't expect to get away," He told me, holding up his bat.

"You mean… no matter…" I started to say. However, he didn't let me finish as he ran foolishly and boldly towards the magenta beast. And once the creature screamed again, my instincts told me to flee- run for dear life.

Why did it feel like the more I ran, the weaker I became? It was like running was all I could do, and if there was nowhere to run to, I was doomed. Was this what a damsel in distress felt like when she was in trouble? I ran as far as the streets would let me, running out of the way of other strange beings that were foolishly fighting; on the tops of these buildings for God's sake. I kept distancing myself from everyone; I could feel their greedily eyes on me. Especially the magenta beast. Especially Ness.

Then my doom came to me, running into a brick wall. The alley's walls surrounded and trapped me. All I could do was lean against the wall, trying to steady down my heart beat. The monster's cries, at the very grateful least, seemed distant. I decided to let off a sigh. Turning around however, I jumped slightly, facing the leering presence of Ness, right smack in front of me. Damn, how couldn't I hear him approaching me? He seemed so close… Yet he still inched closer to me.

"What-" The evil smirk on his face only grew as he took another step closer, all until I was pressed up against the back alley wall, cornered. Helpless. Why was I helpless?

"You really thought you could escape, didn't you? You can't… you're my prize," He spoke in a low, breathy tone. My heart pounding never settled down it seemed, and it only started catching up again. He was only inches away from me, dominating my own space as he pressed closer into me. I grasped the wall, anything to gain my space back. He looked into me humorously.

"Ness… stop…" I told him.

"Stop what? I'll make you do whatever I want, while we're still standing here," He spoke, pressing his knee in between my legs, as if trying to tack me to the wall. I exhaled. I was speechless as another cry echoed yonder while looking into Ness's darker face, which seemed millimeters away now. I was powerless. And it happened before I could inhale, before anything.

He was rough, practically shoving his lips onto my own as my eyes widened into the kiss. He let his hands prop my shoulders hard against the brick wall; rain dripping on both of us as his mouth searched me. It was to the point where I couldn't keep count of how fast my heart really was beating, trying to gain little control, but with no success whatsoever. And I pathetically gave in, eyes eventually fluttering closed as my lips explored with him. It started to hurt my lips- he was so rough!

I shivered as his tongue snaked passed my lips, practically licking my gums like it was a spoon of frosting. The battle for dominance was determined the moment he entered. I weakly tried bringing my arms from my sides to snake around him. Why was I letting all of this happen? Only to be shocked out of my reverie a moment later.

My eyes shot open, as I chocked on my air; looking at his face, the lips that had once been toying with me. Unspeakable- a pain so severe I couldn't explain as my hand tried to find the place on my body that screamed. When his twisted smile decorated his face, the sharp teeth were comparable to the magenta beast, who I could have sworn approached us at this very moment. My eyes traveled down to my mid-section, all soaked in my dark red seeping fluids. His hand was there, holding what had to have been some sort of a blade. I could start to feel something trickle from the corner of my mouth.

"Wh…" I couldn't make any words.

"Why?" He spoke. "Why not, after what you've tried to do to me…" He spoke, withdrawing the blade, as I reacted with a violent jolt. Before I could register anything else, something flew and hit me right smack across the head as I fell to the rain soaked concrete. Noticing the deep color of red swirl and dance along the runny ground like whirlpools, my eyes looked back up at the young boy, who had held his bat way above his head.

"Don't worry Jeff, I'll make sure you die before that mean old chimera gets you," He spoke calmly, swinging the bat down at me.

"Gah!" I yelped, shooting up from my pillow; with a pounding chest, and a sweaty brow, breathing rapidly. It took moments, moments to register exactly what had just happened. Once I recognized the surroundings of Ness's house in the dark, my sigh was long and staggered. I rest my forehead in my hands, straining my eyes to the distant glowing clock that read 3:55 am. I forgot that I had left my glasses on my face through the night. I plopped back down onto my pillows, letting my eyes roam the ceiling.

A dream. A nightmare. Why was I having them so frequently recently? I swore under my breath, rubbing my face and removing my glasses.

"If it really was a dream… why did it feel so real?" I spoke silently.

And why did my body remember it like it really happened?

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The Universe Will Die Without You

Chapter 19 All for The Sake of Friendship

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Something wet.

Something cold.

Whatever it was, it caressed my cheek, rubbing itself all over. The sound of a snort. I shivered awake, gasping as I did so. When I realized my body was facing the back of the couch, I flipped over quickly.

Ness's dog greeted my morning face with a lick on the chin. I looked, trying to focus my sight, realizing I had taken my glasses off when I woke up at night. The white terrier wagged his tail. I sighed, plopping my head back down on the pillow.

Sunlight shown through the window next to the front door, and my senses became clouded with the sounds of chirping birds and the scent of fresh-brewed coffee. When was the last time I woke up to the smell of coffee like this…? Oh yeah, when I was only four. My eyes looked at the clock, which had read 8:35 am. I let my eyes flutter closed again.

Thoughts of the dream came to me again, and while I felt embarrassed of myself for dreaming such a dream, there was one line that Ness spoke of that kept repeating in my head.

"Why?" He spoke. "Why not, after what you've tried to do to me…" I turned around, burying my face in my pillow. I eventually shivered, grasping my pillowcase.

No… I thought. No, I was nothing like him. I was nothing like that sick sly that had control over that city... And I was going to prove it. This was now the second time a dream like this happened to me. My first continuation dream? Probably not… but the alter-ego of Ness was starting to freak me out. Soon enough, I was startled once more by one's licking at my ear lobe. I shot up again, looking down at the dog, which jumped back slightly. I frowned, reaching out to him to pet his head. He seemed very mellow most of the time, I thought as he let me reach behind his own ear. I decided then that it was impossible for me to fall back asleep, and the smell of the coffee was keeping me from doing so. As I sat there, I noticed, excluding the chirping birds that it was relatively quiet in the house. Who made the coffee? Were the other's still in bed? I got up and walked into the kitchen.
I was momentarily blind from the bright morning sun rays shining through the window above the kitchen sink. But when I got it out of my eyes, I saw, there was no one in sight. The sounds of birds chirping filled my ears even more now; they sounded close by. I decided to head towards the back yard, where I noticed the sliding glass door was open.

"Good morning Jeff," I jumped in surprise as Ness's mother spoke, frantically looking around on the patio to find her. She was lounging in her outside chair, with her legs up and a mug of coffee in her hands. I waved.

"Good morning," I told her.

"Would you like some coffee?" She asked. "You look like you need a dose," She laughed. I admitted I was a little ditsy from my rough time sleeping.

"Did you sleep alright?" She said after a moment of pause.

"Uh, yeah I slept fine, thanks" I said.

"No, you look a little disoriented, go back to sleep then, there's no rush!" She said. I sighed.

"I dunno, it's hard for me to sleep now that the sun has ordered me to wake up," I laughed.

"Haha, tell it to get out and ignore it," She joked. I smiled slightly as we looked at each other. She seemed welcoming, as her eyes smiled back at me, with no awkwardness in them or anything. At the same time, she seemed strong. I guess that was what mothers were for…

"Have a seat," She said, offering the chair across from me. I nodded slightly, sitting down and resting my hands on my knees. And there we were, just sitting there. This time, though I was thankful, it didn't feel awkward to me, and the cool morning air felt nice against my once frozen skin. I must have warmed up over the night somehow.

"Is everyone still asleep?" I asked. Debbie took a sip of her coffee.

"Actually no. It turned out a bunch of Ness's friends found out of his return, so they decided to skip school to play baseball with him this morning," She said. Tracy and Kaitlin had to go to school, but Paula is still sleeping like a log." I tensed slightly.

"So he's out there all by himself?" I started to worry. "What if something happens to him?" I semi questioned. However, she looked as if she had no idea what the fuss was over. After she looked into my eyes and sighed with a smile, she said, "Nothing." I rose an eyebrow.

"Nothing?"

"Nothing. Nothing will happen to him," She said, sipping her coffee. I shook my head.

"No no, you don't understand-"

"I understand perfectly."

"We've been through too much, what if someone-"

"Jeff, you need to settle down," She went on.

"Settle down? I need to go find him!" I said, standing up.

"Jeff, I'm not blind to not see what kind of person my own son has grown up to be," She said. I paused.

"What… do you mean?" I asked. Did she know he had…? She sighed, looking up into the trees.

"Sit down again, I'd like to talk to you," She said. My stomach flopped. A talk with Ness's mom? I sighed in defeat, letting myself sink slowly back into my chair.

"Now… why are you so tense about Ness going out with a few of his school friends alone in a town that he grew up in?" She asked. I bit my lip.

"I… we've…" How could I tell her what has happened to us so far? How could I tell her all of our struggles? Our fights? How could I tell her that Paula was kidnapped before? How could I explain about Ness being hospitalized?

"I can see that you are a very fine young gentleman looking out for my son, but for right now it isn't necessary. He's a strong boy," She smiled. I curved my mouth a little. I was a little lost at words

"I… I heard you and him last night. I could even hear him crying… him being scared. Yet he goes out…" I trailed off. She laughed.

"He's still a young boy, I know. So I allow him to do the things that make him feel like a normal growing kid," She noted. I finally got it… or did I?

"When did you…?"

"We both are well enough aware that my son isn't any ordinary kid. I knew it, even when I was pregnant with him; there was something special about my Ness…" She smiled. Suddenly, millions of questions rose in my head again, waiting eagerly to be answered.

"Then… do you know what PSI is?" I asked. She laughed.

"I'm not sure to be honest. Ness said that he honestly wasn't sure himself, but he knew it was called PSI. He knew he had it. He knew Paula had it, before he even met her. He could only say that PSI was his perspective on everything and how he sees life. The universe. And he told me this when he was around seven," She explained. Interesting…

"Did he say what it felt like to have it?" I asked. She took another sip of her coffee.

"It's his own energy… just so much energy! He could feel the energy in everything he touched for Pete's sake, he knew King was to have his small tumors removed from his abdominal area, years before it even happened," She explained. Interesting…

"You seem fascinated… nonetheless you seem pretty interested in finding out about my own son. Why is that so?" She asked. I froze slightly. There were many things to say… just not what lingered in the back of my mind. I couldn't say anything like that, I thought.

"He just seems so stressed when we travel now. It's also kind of hard for us to talk to each other… I don't know really how or what he feels about everything. Sometimes, when he really does need to talk, he spills his guts out, but lately it's been pretty mute between the two of us. I just…"

"Do you want him to be happy?" She added. I looked up at her.

"Of course, I want him to be happy… but I don't know how I can make that possible," I replied. Debbie brought her nose to the rim of her mug.

"Why do you say that?" She asked. I frowened.

"I honestly don't even know if he thinks of me as a friend or not… he even said when we were on the bus together, he didn't really know what to think of me… I guess we're close enough to talk… even if it's for a little while," I said.

"You've thought about how to approach him right for a long time, haven't you?" She asked with a chuckle behind her voice. I flushed slightly.

"Maybe…" There was a moment of pause, all until she let off a hardy laugh. I pierced my lips.

"Wha- what's so funny?" I asked in slight annoyance.

"Well it seems like, if I can communicate with you like this, there shouldn't be anything to worry about," She smiled. "I appreciate the fact that you really are looking out for the better of my son, I really do. He's had some bad luck with that," She said. I frowned again.

"So tell me…" As I shifted in my seat, I felt something round in my pocket that bothered me. Pausing in mid sentence, I took whatever was in my pocket out, only to remember, embarrassingly in front of Debbie- that I had Ness's yo-yo in my presence. A laugh passed her lips.

"Did Ness give that to you now?" She asked. I sighed.

"No…" I said. She looked at me, expectantly for me to continue.

"I found it on his floor, and noticing that it was broken, I took it, figuring that I could fix it for him when I have the chance," I replied. Debbie 'hmmed' in response.

"I believe… Ness intended to give that yo-yo to his friend Pokey on his birthday… when they were still close friends of course," She added. My eyes traveled to her, surprised at this sudden news. Now I knew why, Picky had said that Pokey would have taken a certain yo-yo, if anything.

"So… why does Ness have it again?" I asked.

"Well, as you may have guessed, their friendship fell apart a couple of years ago, and Pokey ended up either giving the yo-yo back or Ness took it back from him, one of the two. It was already broken when Ness got it back…" I looked down at the red yo-yo, lying limply in my hands.

"So… for a while, this was a symbol of their friendship?" I asked.

"You could say that," She replied. I finally gritted my teeth.

"What… what made Ness and Pokey drop their friendship?" I finally asked. I knew it was a horrible question to ask, and she knew it too. But the response I got was something I really didn't want to hear.

"What bothers me is… I really don't know," She said. "But once it broke apart, the happy Ness you saw in those photos were gone," She said. Damn it, was I even allowed finding the answer to that question? It was as if Pokey was dangling the answer in front of me, only to yank it away once I got too close.

"He was such a happy young boy before the break up, always smiling and playing… and then for a while, he didn't even want to talk or get out of bed… and he was pretty silent with his school mates from then on," She said. I didn't like the sound of that either.

"So he became depressed for a while?" I asked. Kind of like what happened to me when I first entered boarding school, I thought.

"The only people Ness would ever speak with were Tracy, his father and I… but it was very minimal for the first three months. We did all we could to help him out of his rut, I made him steak for a whole week while spending time with him; Tracy tried pairing him up with a very cute girl, and his father even came home for another whole week to try and spend time with him. Nothing…"

"No…thing?" I said.

"The first time he smiled since, after the meteor crash, he said this, 'Someday soon, I am going to meet Paula. And when I do, we will travel the world and visit the eight places I have always dreamt of visiting.'" My jaw felt loose a little.

"Paula was in every sentence he spoke, before finding her of course. It came to my intention to ask him, just who was this Paula and how he knew her. He simply just said, 'I heard her voice mom… she is a friend I am yet to meet. And I can't wait to meet her for I can just tell- she is just like me.'"

"And that's when you decided…" I said.

"Yes, that was when I decided to let him go. It was the most talk I had heard from him in a very long while, and his happiness was growing from the talk of this Paula. Don't get me wrong, I was very skeptical of my young 13 year old son at the time go out into the world at his age without any adult supervision, but something inside me just knew, this was something that would have to happen in order for him to be happy. The more he was gone, the more he called home, and the more he spoke over the phone. And even though, you're right, he isn't entirely happy yet. But at least my son and I can talk normally to each other again. I'm very grateful for that, at the least," She said. I frowned.

"I can only assume that it's because Ness can trust you…," I sighed. "He doesn't talk to me like he does with you or Paula… I don't know what I can do," I said.

"He does care for you Jeff… and he's even told me sometimes that he worries about you. Just like you worry about him," She smiled. It was true… and even Venus showed me this before.

"Maybe the next time you see him or when you get the chance, tell him how you feel; tell him that you're there for him. If not that, maybe ask him if the two of you could start your friendship over again and start fresh," She suggested. It rolled through my mind. I did want him to know that I cared, but I didn't want to seem awkward while doing so. Maybe starting our friendship over on a lighter note would clear up some of the issues we had been having before. Maybe…

Maybe I'll stop thinking of him like the way I have been… more like a friend instead of a-

"You alright there Jeff?" She asked.

"Yeah… you're right. He needs a friend, so I'll be that friend. Thank you Debbie, you've helped me think things through a little… I think I'll go find his baseball game and possibly cheer him on," I said smiling slightly. She nodded.

"Talk to me whenever you need it; that's why I'm here," She said. I nodded, standing up as the screen door opened. In the doorway stood Paula, with a blank look on her face and a blanket wrapped around her shoulders.

"Morning Jeff," She said.

"Morning yourself," I smiled.

"Jeff was about to go see Ness's baseball game," Debbie spoke. Paula's eyes lit up.

"I wanna see Ness play baseball!" She spoke enthusiastically, as her blanket slid down to her ankles. "I wanna see him kick some butt in sports," She said, rushing up the stairway. I chuckled.

"I guess Paula is coming too," I said.

"Jeff?"

"?"

"… Thank you so much," Debbie said. I cracked a smile.

"It's no problem…" I replied.

"And don't be scared to feel open around me, you get tense very easily yourself," She said. I nodded.

"And don't worry, your secret is safe with me as well," She winked. I flushed.

"What secret?" I questioned. Debbie laughed.

"It was obvious from dinner last night… you're his boy aren't you?" She asked. Oh… that. I paused.

"It's okay Jeff… I won't tell a soul," She smiled. I looked this time, really looked to see if she was truthful. I finally sighed in defeat.

"Now go have fun today," She smiled. I nodded, walking inside, meeting Paula before exiting the front door.

---

"How'd you sleep?" Paula asked me. I shrugged.

"Alright… how was sleeping with those girly… girls?" I asked. Paula laughed.

"I survived; after all, I'm a girl too aren't I?" She said.

"Mmm… yeah, if anything it must have been less awkward for you…"

"Yeah… for some reason, I don't see, convinced that you had a good night sleep," Paula added. I flushed a little.

"It's easy for you to read me like a book isn't it?" I asked. Paula laughed.

"It's hard to hide secrets from me," She said. I cringed slightly.

"That's… great," I spoke sarcastically. She looked at me skeptically, finally smiled to herself. I drifted my eyes away from her.

"… It's so peaceful here…" She added. "Nothing like the other cities we've been to." I let myself smile a little, drifting my sight around.

"Yeah, you're right Paula… we don't see this very often do we?" I added, crossing my arms behind my head. Paula grunted.

"It was similar like this when we returned to Threed in a sense. Just lacking the home feeling is all," She said. We were silent mostly after that, only to be halted by the sight of some grassy fields dead ahead on the side of the street. And further down was what looked like a baseball field. An active one that was.

"He must be there," Paula said, pointing ahead at the small crowd of people playing baseball. We picked up out pace, though not making it into a full blown run.

It was surprising to see that it was a decent amount of kids playing on the field; all of them were boys, excluding a few sporty tom-boyish girls. To say the truth, I had never really seen an actual baseball game in person, considering there was no space besides the indoors up in Winters that wasn't covered in 6 feet of snow. And it was kind of interesting, how organized this game actually was. Paula and I sat on the bleachers by ourselves behind the fence, and I could tell that some of the grownups passing by gave us awkward glances, probably wondering why none of us were in school in the first place.

"There's Ness coming out in the field!" Paula pointed out as most of the kids, at least on his team cheered him on. When I saw him, I hated admitting that the small smirk that decorated his face seemed comparable to his evil sneer in my dream. I tried keeping it secret, but I gulped slightly. I wasn't going to be afraid, was I?

"Ness! Ness! Over here!" Paula waved her arms over her head. I bit my lip, about to sit her back down and not drag attention, but a few of the kids already looked at us with awkward glances. When Ness had spotted us, he seemed surprised at first, but then he waved at us with his one arm.

"Bat already Ness, make it a good one, or else it'll be tied," The pitcher told him.

"It'll be better than your turn was!" Ness replied confidentially. There was no bitterness between the two, only taunting in a sporty fashion. So then he threw the ball…

And Ness missed the ball, swinging with all his might.

"STRIKE ONE!" Some loud mouthed kid yelled. We all 'awwed' in disappointment. Some of the kids tried encouraging him. But he seemed cool about it to me…

"That was a warm up, Jonny-boy," He told the pitcher as he got the ball back.

"Well I'm just warming up myself," He replied, throwing the ball again. Ness swung the bat once more.

He missed again.

"STRIKE TWO!!" He yelled.

This time, he did seem a little surprised that he missed again, either that or he flinched from how loud that damn kid was shouting strikes. And when his team cheered him on again, so did Paula.

"You can do it, Ness!" She shouted, jumping up and down like a candy-hyper kid. I sighed, standing up myself.

"Hit the ball Ness, if anyone can wield a bat, it's you! Show then what you can do!" I told him, wrapping my hands around the corners of my mouth. Ness looked back at me, but looked away again soon after, holding the bat up.

"Who are those two?" One of the people asked. Ness looked back at us again, eventually forming a smile.

"My best friends, that's who," He said as the ball came at him once more.

We could all tell that the kid was about to yell out 'strike three, you're out' but we were all caught off guard when Ness not only hit the ball, but really hit the ball.

Smash!

He started to run, but we were all too busy watching the ball fly away, practically into infinity. It just kept going up and up and up into the sky. And to my speculation… it didn't even come back down after that. It was gone.

Ness ran the home run, even while everyone watched the sky for the balls return. Though it never did.

"Holy hell Ness, I think that ball would have made it to Mars by now!" The pitcher commented.

"What? You thought I'd go stale and rusty in this game? Think. Again." He poked his chest laughing.

"No… no strike three?" The strike kid asked. The catcher patted him on the back.

"No strike three," He said as the strike kid sulked. Ness smirked when he turned to us and flashed us his peace sign.

"We win!" A few of the kids cheered.

"Baw, I'm never on a winning team," Another one sulked. It was then that Ness walked away.

"See you guys, that was fun! We should do that again," Ness said, waving to them.

"Wait, where do you think you're going?" One of the kids asked. "What about my ball?" Ness shrugged.

"Sucks to be you; go bribe my dad at work to buy you a new one," He replied jokingly.

"Wait, will we see you again soon?" Another asked. Ness was unresponsive vocally, but instead waved back to them bye and paced towards us.

---

"Wow, that was amazing Ness!" Paula told him. Ness was in a happy, cocky mood at the time, and was holding his bat on his shoulder marching proudly.

"I hadn't played baseball in a long time; that felt great!" He replied snickering.

"You really got that ball up in the sky, I don't think it'll ever come down," Paula noted.

"I made a bet with them that when I returned we'd play base ball and I'd win, and I was right!" He cheered, suddenly turning around to us, halting us on the sidewalk. Paula stood there happily, but on the other hand, I quickly glanced the other way.

"Thanks for encouraging me you two…" He said, grinning.

"Are you gonna see them again before we leave?" Paula asked. Ness shrugged.

"Probably not…" Ness replied. There was a pause.

"You're quiet this morning…" Ness noted, poking me with the tip of his bat. I frowned, glancing at him then looking away.

"I'm always quiet…" I replied.

"Oh… nu-uh," He said.

"…" I was suddenly caught off guard when Ness suddenly poked me again with the bat, this time handing me the bat. I fumbled with it, as my glasses fell out of line.

"You're it!" He said, as he grabbed Paula's hand and dashed off in front. I stood there blankly until I realized the situation. Tag?

"Wait! Ness, Paula, wait for me!" I hollered at them embarrassingly.

I guess it didn't matter that much then, both Ness and Paula seemed pretty happy.

---

I panted when I had finally reached Ness's house, though none of them were in sight. My breath came to a slow, glancing around the place.

"God damn it Ness, where the hell are you two?" I muttered to myself as I felt my right pant leg lift slightly, feeling something cold and smooth caress my ankle. I jumped out of shock as I turned swiftly around, only to startle what was behind me on its side.

Mr. Ziggy was it? He flailed about on his back as I must have startled him myself. I sighed.

"I'll have to get used to you again," I said while hearing one's cute young laughter along with a devious snicker as Ness and Paula revealed themselves from the bushes. I raised an eyebrow to them.

"What was that about?" I asked, looking back down at Mr. Ziggy, who was still pathetically trying to get back up on his small feet.

"I'm sorry, but your reaction was priceless," Ness laughed. I frowned.

"How'd you like something wet and cold always creeping up on your skin without your permission?" I asked. This only made Ness laugh even more now. I sighed in defeat. He seemed much livelier today, I thought. Paula kept laughing even more now.

"What's so funny Paula?" I asked as she pointed to Mr. Ziggy, who had been going through more of his sneezing fits, making him jerk out of control on the pavement. I had to admit, it looked pretty damn funny.

"That poor oddball," Paula said, picking the pathetic Mr. Saturn up into her arms and holding it up to my face.

"Say you're sorry Mr. Ziggy," She said. There was a moment of pause where the Mr. Saturn and I stared into each other's eyes, wrinkling his nose. What a peculiar creature, I thought, all until he let off another violent sneeze that sprayed all over my face. Ness started to laugh again as I whipped my face clean. Paula took him away. Nice.

"Oops, sorry," She said, trying to not laugh.

"You two making fun of me or something?" I finally asked.

"No no, it's nothing like that!" Paula said. Honestly, it isn't anything like that!" She said.

"Yeah, don't worry; we make fun of each other all the time, right Paula?" Ness asked her as she nodded in return. Before I could add something, pointing up my finger, the front door had opened.

"You kids hungry for breakfast, or what?" Ness's mom asked. All of us looked at each other as our stomachs growled.

---

Debbie was nice enough to make us all breakfast, as I could tell entering the house with the warm scent of blueberry pancakes and bacon filling my nostrils. It was more of a feast what she did- cooking up enough pancakes to stack all of our plates as well as making enough omelets and bacon to also feed the dog. Every single bite was heaven; how much better the school cafeteria would be if she was the cook!

"Wow Ness, my hungry boy, would you like more?" She asked. Ness nodded, handing her his plate. I hadn't even bitten into my omelet yet.

"You should enjoy your food rather than suck it up like a vacuum Ness, cherish it," I added. Ness whipped his mouth from finishing his glass of milk.

"I'm hungry," He stated. "Besides, I want to make sure we have time to go visit Paula's parents for a little while," He said.

"I said we didn't have to go see them…" Paula said. Ness sighed.

"Even Jeff got to see… well you know what I mean. It's your turn, I feel bad as it is about keeping you away from your family, they miss you, I'm sure of it. Just go back for me? So they know that you're alright…" He said. Paula picked at her omelet then. It seemed like ever since we had our first argument at Belch's lair that he's been anxious to make sure that Paula was well taken care of.

"I mean, you seemed happy when I called them for you…"

"Jeff hasn't met them. If dad met him, he'd freak finding out I've been traveling with two older guys…" She explained. I put my fork down.

"That's the thing Paula, really… you aren't an eight year old girl… you're more than that. Appearances don't matter, you're more mature than Ness after all," I said winking to Ness, who had quickly looked away, stuffing his mouth with the pancakes that his mother returned with.

"And it makes me wonder if you really are that young…" I added, finishing my plate off. Paula was silent for a little bit.

"Maybe you're right…" She said. Ness gulped his food down.

"How'd you convince her so suddenly?" Ness asked. I avoided his eye contact shrugging.

"I learned that trick from someone… not too long ago to be honest," I said, looking over to Debbie, who was now putting the leftovers away.

"Debbie, the breakfast was amazing, thank you so much," Paula said; bringing Ness's then her own plate up to her in the kitchen, while I got up to put mine away as well.

"Thanks Debbie, it's not often that I eat food as great as that," I added. Debbie laughed.

"It's nothing! Go out and do what you need to do, you kids coming back to sleep over tonight?" She asked.

"Yeah, we are… if that's ok with you, mom…" Ness said. Debbie took a moment examining Ness. He seemed to go back into his sulky mood.

"Take as much time as you need Ness, you know there isn't any rush with me," She said smiling. Ness just simply nodded, and got up.

"Let's go then," He said, making his way to the front door in an anxious rush. Paula and I looked at each other with side glances, both of us sighing.

"Ness," We said in unison.

"Did you compromise with him yet, Jeff?" Debbie asked. I frowned.

"No… not yet," I said. Debbie sighed.

"You need to do that… the sooner, the better," She replied. I bit my lip as I let Paula continue in front of me as she got the stuff she needed.

"Did I do something wrong?" I asked.

"Not really, but he seems pretty sensitive around you two. I could tell that he was a little jealous of you being able to persuade her with little effort. I don't know-"

"But he shouldn't get upset over stupid little things like that, I didn't mean it like that, honestly!" I said. Debbie nodded.

"You're right, you didn't. And he needs to see that you mean no offense to him more," She said, almost hinting me on. I nodded, thinking as I made my way to the door, about what kind of person he thought I was really becoming for him. I shook my head.

It was just too bad that he didn't have the time to tell me what he saw in me before dinner last night.

---

It was silent between the three of us most of the trip, Ness being ahead of Paula and I. Seriously, now it was my turn to question, when was his sulking and babying going to stop? So what if I was able to convince Paula what he had been trying to convince her all this time? She doesn't think of him any less of a friend than me.

We arrived in what seemed to be Twoson in a little less than an hour, considering it was in walking distance rather than far off like Summers of Fourside. The two towns must have been closely linked together somehow, both seemed pretty friendly. Except this time… people really noticed us on the streets.

More like they noticed Twoson's famous Paula Polestar.

"Paula! Paula! Over here!!" Some guy in the park waved at us. Paula awkwardly waved a hand at them, looking a bit tentative as a small crowd of people started following us. Ness happened to let us catch up, only to hold her hand and drag her along.

"I don't like this, let's get there before we're mauled down by your fan-base," He said, walking ahead of me. I shook my head, trying to catch up to them.

---

"Polestar… Preschool?" I spoke out loud as we stood in front of the dark green roofed building. That's right, I soon thought, her parents ran a pre-school together and that was where Paula got known. I didn't know how long I stood there, staring at the white, black splotched cat on the rooftop, but was soon interrupted as Paula knocked on the door.

"Jeff, come on," Ness said. I soon obeyed, walking up to the porch.

"So… this is your home, Paula?" I asked, looking around the porch; that seemed to be kept clean. The giant cotton tree that towered over the building was a nice touch, but the fact that we kept receiving awkward glances from the passerby's left my stomach unsettled.

"Is it always like this over here?" I asked. Paula said nothing as the front door opened, just a crack. On the other side was a dirty golden haired man peeking through the doorway, light brown eyes widening when they rested on Paula, who had smiled sweetly to the man.

"Hi, Dad…" She said. The door swung open, revealing the father in utter shock and surprise. He was rather lean, but fairly tall, and his short beard decorated his younger face. He wore a plaid green button up shirt and casual jeans.

"P… Paula!" He exclaimed, messing with his hair. "I… haha… wasn't expecting you back here this soon, how are you? Is something wrong? No one's hurt you right?" He asked, glancing at the two of us awkwardly. I could tell right from the start it seemed, that he was a bit overly protective.

"I'm fine Dad…" She said, standing on her toes to look past inside. "I just wanted to come back and visit you guys for a little bit if that's ok with you and Mom…" She said. Her father again, took weird glances at us, especially me, who in all honesty, looked away timidly.

"Are you finally… no, you still need to go out there and save the world… as you call it I assume," He said. There was a pause for a moment in the door. This was an awkward family reunion I thought. Paula frowned slightly.

"I can't live with you forever, Dad…" She said. Her father took this information in by exhaling, slightly rolling his eyes.

"You think way beyond your age, you know that? You're not even-"

"Greg, who's at the-" A strawberry-blond woman said approaching the door stopping in mid-sentence.

"Paula! Ness! I wasn't expecting you two to be returning so soon! And who's your friend here?" Her mom was pretty much the exact opposite of her father, easy-going and straight and to the point. Paula turned to me, and grabbed my hand.

"This is Jeff, he's traveling with us too," She told her. Her mother immediately held out her hand towards me.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Jeff, always a pleasure to meet Paula's friends," She said smiling, almost like a business woman. I was tentative, holding out my hand as she shook it rather violently. "Why don't you kids come in and have some tea?" She said, right off the bat. The look on Greg's face was horrific.

"What-"

"That would be perfect… thank you," Paula said, smiling sweetly.

---

We were taken back to the kitchen for a few, all of us gathering around the table that was kept neat and clean. The children, it seemed, were outside playing, unaware that their daughter was here in the moment. Paula's mother passed me some tea.

"So… how has your trip been?" She asked. All of us kind of looked at each other.

"It's been…" Suddenly, the phone rang.

"Oh, let me get that," She said, as her curly blond-red hair swirled around her as she answered the phone. Greg seemed to aggravatingly run his fingers through his hair.

"While your mother is busy, I might as well talk. Ness… Jeff is it? You've heard me say this before, but if I find out that-"

"Dad, please they're fine!" Paula said.

"They might be just golly and dandy about all this, but I'm as sure as hell not! I mean… I just want to make sure things are okay. …I don't even know how I let you go out on your own in the first place!" He seemed to stumble over his words, trying not to raise his voice. Paula rolled her eyes and slouched in her chair.

"I'm not five-"

"And you aren't twenty either, Paula!" He replied.

"Hey… may I say something?" I asked.

"Like what? Tell me that she's perfectly fine in the hands of a… nerdy kid in a green tux? I don't even know a single thing about you, yet you come into my house, only to take my daughter from my eyes an hour later?! I can't-" Paula suddenly slammed her fist on the table in a fit of rage. All of us flinched, looking at her timidly. Paula was staring hard at her Dad now, who was looking back with the same kind of look. But the tense moment broke off once the door bell rang.

"Greg, will you get that?" Her mother asked. Greg got up, still staring at his own daughter as he made a b-line towards the door. Ness and I looked at each other now; neither of us could say a thing.

"It's best not to say anything to him… he gets like that…" Ness whispered. I gulped slightly; I hadn't dealt with this kind of situation before, nonetheless a girl's father before. Boy, they were the most frightening men that walk the earth I thought. Second to my own of course… But did he have a form of turrets?

"Paula, sweetie, what's wrong?" Her mother said, walking to the table. Paula now was slouched in her chair, bitter and utterly mad. Ness looked down, twitching his fingers and tapping his shoe nervously.

"Thanks for the tea mom… we'll be leaving soon," She mumbled, getting out of her chair and rushing upstairs. Her mother shook her head, walking towards the cupboard. Ness and Jeff exchanged glances with our heads hung low.

"Don't be down you two, you did nothing wrong. And since she's come back in one piece, I assume you did a good job keeping her safe from most of the lunatics out there," She said smiling, holding a metal frying pan to us.

"So… you want us to cook or something?" Ness asked.

"No no, give this to her when you three are out again, she'll get a good laugh," She said jokingly, placing the frying pan on the table and walking out the back door.

"A… frying pan?" I said, picking it up. "What is she going to do with this, she doesn't need to cook," I said.

"She could… use it like I use a bat?" Ness replied, taking the frying pan from my hands and examining its worn out appearance.

"I… I feel bad for her to say the truth…" I said.

"Why?" Ness asked. "Oh…" I sighed.

"God damn it, I told you never to return here again!" We heard an enraged Greg say at the door. Ness and I looked at each other until deciding to go to the door to see what the commotion was.

"It doesn't mean I won't come here again, now does it? I just came by to deliver a miss sent letter, something I assume, you don't want someone else to have, am I right?" I heard a strangely familiar voice say. Though I couldn't pin point whose it was to be honest. Ness and I slowly got closer to the door, until Greg finally closed the door.

"Who's he talking to?" Ness said, grabbing the door knob and opening it slowly. When both of us peeked out the door, my eyes widened slightly.

"No buddy, I don't want your shiny glasses and so-called brilliant mind on my door step, I don't allow creeps like you around here," Greg argued. Orange kid smiled, extending his arms out to his sides like a gesture of 'oh well.'

"I'm not the only scientist walking among the streets, hell, maybe there's one in your house right now," He replied coolly. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"You're only here because you're spying on my daughter am I right? Don't make me phone the police and ruin your reputation. I could care less if you were once her teacher, you're not coming anywhere near my daughter…" He said, mumbling something illegible afterwards. Something slammed heart on my heart right about there at this sort of exclamation, but I wasn't sure why.

"Haha… it was nothing like that," he smirked, dropping the parchment down at Greg's feet. "You're so overly assuming, it's not like I would do something so grotesque like some of her fans attempting to sneak into your house would every night. If anything, thank those two boys for keeping her safe, because all you can do is blow your head off," He said, walking off confidentially. Greg looked as if his head was about to blow, all red and sweaty as he snatched up the letter.

"Go back to hell and un-boiling eggs like the cocky little bastard you are. Maybe hens will praise you by then!" He yelled, stomping back towards the door. Ness and I panicked slightly, looking around franticly until deciding to run back to the kitchen table and sitting down. By that time, he marched through the door and slammed the door shut. We looked at each other horrified. If Orange kid mentioned us to him, whom he did, we were toast and we'd lose Paula from our team for good. But instead, he marched towards what seemed like the bathroom. We both sighed in relief.

"I feel like we're about to get some sort of lecture soon," I added. Ness shivered slightly.

"I hadn't seen him this angry before…"

"Though isn't it strange? Why and how did Orange kid know? We hadn't seen them at all once we got here…" I added. "And if the two of them knew each other before… Paula never said anything like that back when we saw him in Threed…"

"He lives a block away from here… near where Apple Kid lives," Ness said. I bit my lip.

"I wonder what he has to say…" I said.

"We can visit him on the way back if you want," Ness said. I thought of this for a moment.

"I guess…" I said, imagining his room covered in "Frizzy Doc Andonuts" posters. I sulked as we heard one's footsteps run down the stairs.

"Paula… are you okay?" Ness asked timidly. Paula just nodded.

"We should go, it's almost three," She said. Ness and I nodded and slowly stood up. I wasn't sure if I wanted to sneak out or run for my life out of there, but I guess Paula provided a bit of relief and protection for us while we were under her roof. I soon remembered the frying pan on the table, which I grabbed quickly and handed to her.

"Your mom wanted you to have this… I don't know why," I told her. Paula looked from the pan up to me, shaking her head and accepting the pan and putting it into her bag.

"Let's just go," She said, as we made our way towards the door.

"Are you three leaving already?" Paula seemed annoyed, twirling around towards her mom.

"Yeah… I'll call you guys soon okay?" She said. Her mother smiled.

"Give me a hug," She said, extending her arms out. Paula could barely smile, as she collided into her and gave her one tight squeeze before leaving.

"Tell Dad I love him too," She said before going out in front of us down the front steps.

"Don't worry sweetie, he knows. Take care Ness and Jeff!" She waved to us. Both of us waved back, without saying a word. And by the time we were out on the sidewalks again, Paula was a good five yards ahead of us. The last thing I could recall from her home was the sound of her father's aggravated, worried voice talking to her mother.

"Pippi, how could you let her go off like that again?!"

---

The silence that bestowed upon us as we walked down the block was unsettling, as neither Ness nor I wanted to speak up, afraid of upsetting Paula, who had looked really down. I really didn't know how she would respond.

"Paula…?" Ness asked, pausing at the corner of the block as she started walking out into the street. Paula stopped, but didn't turn around.

"Ummm… I need to visit Apple Kid for a second… is that okay with you?" Ness asked, almost as if Paula was now in charge. But when she turned around, her passive face was replaced with a wide grin, but with damp eyes.

"Okay," Her voice hitched. "Let's go then." I frowned sympathetically.

---

Apple Kid's house was for some expected reason brick red and the windows were white and worn. This house seemed pretty old to be honest, since for some reason, this area felt lower class. Ness knocked on the door, only to pause looking down moments later.

"What is it?" I asked. Ness bent down, and picked up from under the door mat, what seemed to be a note. Ness eventually sighed after reading the parchment.

"He's not here," He said, handing me the crumbled, grease-splotched paper. My eyes scanned the paper.

Dear Ness,

Sorry if I'm not here if you come by. If you're reading this, I'm currently on my way to finding Doctor Andonut's Lab. I'm so pleased that he accepted my offer! Expect to see my science projects improve in no time Ness! I'll call you if I need anything, or if I find anything useful!

Sincerely,

Apple Kid

I crumbled up the paper. So he accepted him eh? I guess I'd have to deal with that bastard longer, I thought. Great…

I guess we should go home then…" Ness said, as we turned around to find Paula standing by the mailbox, a tear rolling down her cheek. Ness stood there looking at her, taking his cap off to run a hand through his hair.

"Paula… I'm sorry this… this is my fault. I didn't realize that you didn't want to see your parents…" He spoke, standing before her. Was it possible that she was in the same kind of situation I was in without me knowing? Paula rubbed her eye.

"… I'm such an idiot, Paula…" Ness said, running his fingers through his hair. "I was hoping you'd figure that out by now…"

"You could have said something though… we would have helped out somehow…" I wasn't sure what I meant by that sentence as to how we'd help out her family issues. Paula sniffed.

"You're not stupid Ness… It's not that I didn't want to see my parents, but it's really rare… they're always busy. Dad is about work, worry, work worry… and mom could care less if I do what I want because she's busier than Dad and she trusts me more. And it seems like whenever I'm over there, all that happens is arguing about what's right or what's safe for me without getting to know me… god, I wish they'd just stop looking at me as Paula Polestar that everyone seems to go after and look at me as their daughter instead…" She sulked, sitting down on the curb. Ness and I looked at each other again.

"And it's really hard for Dad to accept the two of you; I knew that before we went. He's worried that you two are like… you know," Her breath cut her off as Ness and I sat by her, letting her sit between the two of us. We sat there in silence for a while.

"… You know they're like this… because they love you, right?" Ness finally said. Paula shook her head.

"We don't seem like a family though…" She said. "More like co-workers…"

"Paula… we just saw your father defending you from someone that might have wanted to harm you. He called you his daughter, not Paula Polestar, or just Paula," I said. Paula hugged her knees closer to her. Ness sighed.

"They are taking care of a lot of kids after all… all of them that need more supervision than you do."

"I used to be locked in my room all the time," Paula replied. "That's what my Dad wants me to do right now…"

"But he's not making you do that if you're out here," I said. "Out of the three of us, you're the only one that has parents always living together, and living in a place like that, I can see why it's so chaotic, they're dealing with many things together all the time, so they're bound to quarrel. But I don't know… I looked at how you dealt with your Dad and he backed off. His weakness seemed to be your depression or harm to you, so he backed off, figuring that you'd be happier this way. He wants you to be happy… and so does your mother… I just know it," I explained.

"And your mother is doing the best she can to support your decisions… while your father just wants to make sure that you're safe and happy doing so," Ness finished. "Paula, they love you."

"I don't believe you guys…" Ness and I smirked at each other, seeing the glint in his eyes of a plan.

---

We returned to the Polestar Preschool with a bundle of flowers in Paula's hands as we run the door bell again. We could hear someone's footsteps approaching the door as we somewhat braced ourselves as Greg opened the door once more. He sighed again looking at the three of us.

"I thought you were going back out with your friends again Paula?" He said. Paula nodded her head.

"I am, but I want to give these to you two… thanks for letting me do what I need to do and what I want… even if it's hard for you to watch…" She said, handing him the bundle of pink and yellow flowers. Greg stood there, somewhat dumbfounded.

"Sweetie… naw I need to apologize to you. I just get…"

"Overly protective. I know…" She smiled. Greg knelt down to her level, looking at all three of us in the process.

"I love you, Paula. Not like those other people out there, but like a father. And your mother feels the same way too…" He seemed to be at loss of words as they both held hands, until Paula wrapped her own around his neck, embracing him. I hated to admit it, but I frowned.

"I love you too, daddy… I'll come home safe to you, always," She said, letting go. "But right now… I need to do this, with my two friends. It's hard to explain… or comprehend," She said. "Where's mom?" She asked. Greg smiled at her.

"Your mother is out doing errands right now. I'll be sure to pass the message along to her," He said, standing up and ruffling her hair. "Did you get that frying pan?" He asked. Paula laughed.

"Yes, I got the frying pan, dad and I'll be sure to hit someone if they try to hurt me," She said. I snickered at that remark. They didn't want to let them out, but they wanted to make sure that their daughter was equipped eh? Her father chuckled.

"That's my girl," He said, pinching her cheek. Paula rubbed it, almost embarrassingly.

"I apologize to you two, especially you… Jeff? Thanks for keeping my daughter company and taking care of her, like she needs," He said, smelling the flowers and humming.

"It's alright, we'll take good care of her, we promise," Ness said.

"Alright Paula… go out there and show 'em what you're made of honey!" He said, as he waved us goodbye as we walked out of Twoson and back to Ness's house.

---

Paula was happily holding our hands as we walked happily back home in the nice afternoon sunlight, and it seemed like all of us had forgotten our troubles from before. Heck, even my dream was long gone from my mind by this time, and as we approached Ness's front yard, Tracy was walking out of the front porch with a huge grin on her face.

"Paula, wanna come with me to go to Kaitlin's house?" Tracy asked suddenly. Paula waited for a second.

"But didn't you say before that Kaitlin lives in Twoson?" She responded.

"We'll take the bus silly, let's-"

"Tracy, no," Ness said, thankfully. Tracy stopped.

"And why not?" She asked.

"You're not taking Paula with you by yourselves in Twoson, are you serious!?" He said. Tracy frowned.

"Okay fine… want to take a walk with me instead? I'll get you your favorite ice cream cone… before dinner," She said winking. Paula looked back at the two of us. Ness was a little unsettled at first but nodded.

"Not too far Tracy, alright?" He said. Tracy squealed, grabbing Paula's hand and dashing off.

"She'll be in better hands!" She said back as they made their way across the street. Ness snorted.

"Sure," He said rolling his eyes and walking inside. I followed behind, distantly of course.

Inside, Debbie was busy putting some of our laundry in the washing machine. I didn't realize, until I passed by that she was putting my pajamas in as well.

"Oh, you don't have to do that for me…" I said, halting her. She looked me over instead.

"Get out of those clothes Jeff, I'll clean those too," She said. I flushed slightly, looking down at my attire, all scratched, dirty and worn. I was sure I had yellow stains decorating my white button up shirt in the arm pits by now.

"I don't have any other clothes to wear though…" he said.

"I'll lend you some of my husband's casual clothes, they'll fit you," She smiled, walking up the stairs to I guess, go fetch me some clothing. I looked up the stairway, wondering to myself or not whether to go up there or not.

"You can come up you know," Ness said, as he strode to his bathroom, working on the rim of his shirt to come over his head. I quickly looked away before he could get it completely off, even though he was already in the bathroom. He must have realized something like this too when he shut the door quickly behind him. I shook my head as I could noticed Debbie coming back downstairs to hand me the bundle of clothing, which consisted of an overgrown white shirt and a pair of baggy pajama pants and socks.

"You coming with us to the store?" Debbie asked me. When Ness walked back out of the bathroom, and into his room, I shook my head.

"Nah… you two go do what you need to do. I'll just stay here and read, I'm kind of tired anyways," I said, faking a yawn.

"You're not just saying that because you're trying to avoid my-"

No no no, not that either," I said. "I'll be fine… if anywhere I'm perfectly fine here, Debbie… thanks," I smiled. Debbie soon shrugged.

"Well alright hun, go relax and make yourself feel at home. I'll plan dinner at the same time if not earlier," She said, going into the kitchen to grab her purse as Ness walked down the stairs with his bundle of dirty clothing, wearing a dark navy blue hoodie and slightly baggier blue jeans.

"Why don't you want to come?" Ness asked. I shrugged.

"Just tired…" I replied, avoiding him best as possible, getting into the bathroom to change so she can wash them in the next load. I could feel Ness's eyes on my back then for a moment, before they went on and left.

---

It was relatively quiet throughout the house after I changed into the overgrown and overstretched clothing that was given to me. It was kind of strange that I was alone by myself, in someone else's humble abode. Though I guess, counting not only King the dog, but Mr. Ziggy, I wasn't really alone. And Picky had to have been next door by then, seeing how it was already nearing five o' clock. I sighed while plopping down on the couch. What to do now? Apparently I was trusted enough to watch the house, all on my own…

I eyed my bag, deciding to dig though it a little while. Digging out and finding my gun, which still wasn't fixed, I finally decided that it wasn't worth fixing for there were better ones out there, and I couldn't make this one any stronger than it was. It was just going to be awkward to ask Ness to get me another one, I thought. Either that or find a way to make my own gun… but I didn't have the right or strong enough materials in my bag. Lifting it, I realized how heavy it really was. How was I lugging around all of this stuff? Nonetheless junk that I was supposed to fix and make useful? I hadn't learned a damn useful thing yet, I thought. The most threatening thing on me was a knife… and the HP sucker, which refused to work half of the time nonetheless. Maybe… maybe…

I took the HP sucker out of my bag, studying its structure, until growling to myself. I hated admitting it… but it was true, I was losing my touch on mechanics. How was I to provide usefulness to the team if I didn't have that kind of vast knowledge in our arsenal? I dug out an old skip sandwich that had gone bad, and was about to throw it away, only to run into something I slightly cringed at, only to pause and dig up.

One of my dad's text books… I thought, looking at the smaller paperback book as I got up to throw away the rotten sandwich. I had grabbed one of his books while I was there?

"I should throw this book away while I'm at it," I mumbled to myself, tossing the sandwich inside, but for some reason, I held on to the book, eventually growling in defeat, to go sit down on the couch and scan through the pages.

I didn't know what I was thinking when I was over in his lab, for the book I had grabbed was fairly basic, providing some of the same information I learned in school except more in depth for the typical college student. The different diagrams of rockets had more key terms linked to all of them. And to think, that I would most likely have to read this text book, if I ever wanted to go into a field such as rocketry…

The phone rang just then. I jumped up slightly at the ringing sound, one of the phones playing a classical melody. I walked to find the phone, which had had the caller ID information. I read the ID, "Minch." I was tentative at first, but then I remembered, it must have been from next door. I answered the phone.

"Hello?" I said over the phone.

"Jeff?" I heard Picky's voice say over the line.

"Yeah…"

"Get over here… I think I found it," He said, hanging up. I immediately hung up and went next door, locking the door behind me. I can wait for them to come back before I get back in, I thought.

---

When I invaded the trashy front yard of the Minch's, I was surprised that he wasn't waiting on the front porch or something. I waited there for a moment, finally deciding to ring the doorbell, only to be greeted by an opening door before I could do so. However, the one that opened the door wasn't Picky, and my eyes widened in fear.

Holy god, I thought when I had first laid eyes on what seemed to be their mother, Lardna. Boy was she a bunch of lard… She not only towered over me both vertically and horizontally, but every step she took vibrated. But I couldn't fear her just by how overly massive she was, she just looked… and she smelled…

Her bright magenta lip stick practically covered more than her fish lips and the bright blue eye makeup she wore made her look like a clown. Her dirty hair was messy and out of place… was that a wig in fact? I shivered when I saw that what she wore was way to revealing of her chest. All those blue veins, I thought, holding my stomach in and covering my mouth looking away as I swallowed my acid back down. And to top it all off, her teeth were literally brown and rotting, I thought maybe her teeth were eating themselves just to get out of her mouth. No wonder Ness called her the bloody hulk… She inhaled the cigarette she held between her pink painted fingernails.

"Hey, you got a scrawny friend here visiting you! I'm going out again, so don't go teasing the cats! Especially my new one, Snickerbutt," She said, squeezing through the doorway and making her way down the steps without excusing herself. Snickerbutt? Seriously? I snickered to myself. I got clear out of her way, not looking back at her skanky appearance as I rushed inside, only to hold my breath in again.

Picky walked down the stairway, to sit down casually on the couch, having to swat a piece of dried cat feces out of his way.

"Picky… your mom…" I started, trying to keep a straight face. Picky shrugged.

"You can laugh; she's done that to herself anyways. It's gross… I know," He said.

"You can't possibly live here the rest of the time, can you?" I asked him.

"I'll run away one of these days, what you think I'd stay in a wreck like this and get thrown in a foster care program? You know me better," He said, eyeing the countertop. I nodded, keeping my breathing to a low from the awful stench in the air.

"Here," He said, tossing me what looked to be a small black leather book. I caught it clumsily, and flipped it right way up.

"What is it?" I asked, opening the book to find many of the lined pages written on. My eyes widened, as I dropped the book.

"You…" I looked up from the book to him. "This is… this…" I would have never imagined that Pokey would have left something this valuable behind for the world to see if they found it…

"I've only read the first few pages, but yeah. That's his diary," he said. "I took the key and lock off of it too so you don't have to worry about that." I didn't understand… why didn't he burn something like this? Did he want someone to find it and read through it?

"Picky… this could be something we've been searching for this entire time… this book might hold a lot of answers I've been searching for…" I said. I couldn't believe how casual he was about all this as he shrugged his shoulders, kicking his feet up on the coffee table.

"You can have that if you give me-"

"I don't have anything to give, Picky," I replied pausing. We both looked at each other for a moment. Picky looked puzzled.

"What?"

"… Why are you doing this?" I asked him. Picky looked across at his feet.

"I don't know… revenge I guess," He said. Revenge?

"Did he do anything to you?" I asked.

"Well one, he ruined our family. Two just because he's an utter jerk to me now. Besides, I bet you'll find that useful one way or the other," He said. I nodded.

"I'm sorry Picky," I told him, as I heard a car pulling in next door.

"You coming over for dinner?" I asked. Picky sunk his back into the cushions.

"Nah… not tonight," He replied. All I could do was pick up the small book carefully and nod, walking out the door.

"Thanks Picky… this was the kind of lead I was looking for," I told him. He smiled.

"Just don't let Ness see that… he'll freak out," He told me before I walked back over next door, hiding the book as best as I could.

---

Apparently Tracy and Paula were back as well since they were both gathered on the couch watching television. I eyed my bag that sat next to the couch, feeling kind of awkward as I took my bag with me to the bathroom.

"Where were you Jeff?" Paula asked. I fumbled embarrassingly.

"I umm… I decided to walk the block is all. I made sure the door was locked and everything," I told them. Paula frowned.

"What?" She questioned. I took in a deep breath, only to be cut off by Ness running down the stairs. I kept the book behind my back.

"Looks like you're hiding something," Tracy added. Crap…

"No… I'm… gah my back hurts!" I said, getting into the bathroom and closing the door behind me. I kept my back to the door, heart hammering as I held the book in my hands. Paula saw right through the lie, how could I be so stupid! A knock at the door.

"Jeff, are you alright?" Ness asked through the door. I immediately looked around me. Where to hide the book, just through dinner time? I thought. When I had spotted a sweatshirt that Debbie handed to me as well sitting on the tub curb, I grabbed it, finding a nice sized pocket in the front of it. Perfect, I thought. I slipped the shirt on and stuck the book in the big pocket. I opened the door to a curious Ness looking slightly right up at me, removing his eyes away as soon as I blinked.

"Are you alright? You weren't here when we pulled in…" He said. God damn it, I didn't think everyone would be questioning me like this, I wasn't gone for long!

"I… took a small walk just around the block with Picky since he came over to see what was up. We just talked about each other's day is all…" I said, exhaling, hoping he'd absorb my tale. I could tell that he wasn't sure whether to believe me or not.

"Why does your back hurt?" He asked. I bit my lip.

"Slept on it weird is all. Don't worry Ness, I'm fine…" I said with a hint of annoyance. Ness seemed to get the picture as he backed off slightly. I frowned slightly.

"Sorry Ness," I told him suddenly. Ness raised an eyebrow.

"Why…?" He asked.

"Just… yeah," I said, walking past him with my bag in hand. And it was around this time that I was so grateful when Ness's mom poked her head through the doorway.

"Dinner's ready," She told us. Already? How'd she cook so fast? I thought.

"But you guys just got home?" I said.

"We got take-out tonight," Ness said, punching my shoulder lightly. "I'm starving," He said. I shook my head.

You're always hungry, Ness…

---

Before I knew it, my plate was empty. I had never eaten oriental food as good as this before, though it couldn't compare with what Debbie had made for us last night. Most of us just talked about normal things, though I was quiet through most of it. Tracy was the one that did most of the talking. As the sun went down, I let my eyes drift over to the back yard and King whom was casually lying in the grass. It was then that I saw a small flicker of light. Then another and another and another... My eyebrows perked up as I saw several of these flickering lights flying around everywhere.

"What's wrong Jeff, never seen fire flies?" Ness asked.

"No…" I replied watching the small flying insects in astonishment. Standing up and walking out into the grass, I watched around me as the flashing lights flew carelessly close around me. It was almost like magic. I had heard of these bugs, but I had never witnessed them in person. I must have been caught off guard for a long time, because when I felt something ice cold slide down my shirt on my back, I jumped, turning to a snickering Ness.

"Gah, what was that for?" I asked as a firefly landed on my shoulder. How long had I been standing here?

"Everyone's inside now Jeff, come inside," He said, pausing me as he brought his hands to my shoulder to catch the bug on my shoulder. Ness poked his eye into his hands to see the insect glow.

"Here, hold it and see for yourself," He said. I frowned a little, intimidated. I hadn't held a bug before.

"Kay…" I replied holding out my hands as Ness transferred the bug into my hands. The only problem was that I didn't close my hands as fast as I should have as the bug flew away from my hands.

"You klutz," Ness laughed. "Of course it's gonna fly away if you don't close up your hands!" He grinned. As I saw his toothy smile, I immediately looked away, remembering the darker half of him suddenly flash through my mind. Stop thinking about that stupid dream of yours, Jeff!

"You're lucky to live out here where these fireflies are," I said. Ness grunted.

"I used to catch them all the time when I was young," Ness told me as he caught another one.

"Here, just look in my hands," He said, holding out his hands. I blinked for a moment before leaning in and peeking in. The bug was longer and narrower than I thought, considering my near-sighted eyes weren't all that great. Its long narrow wings were black and outlined in the color yellow. And as the bug blinked its light again, I flinched backwards a bit, making a giggle pass Ness's lips.

"You'll get used to them someday hopefully," Ness said. I nodded before yawned a little.

"Sleepy already?" Ness asked. I hadn't really thought of it yet, but yes I was a bit sleepy at the time, even though it had to have been only eight o' clock.

"Yeah a little…" I said. Ness's giddy nature faded down a bit as he let part of his mouth lift up.

"You should go to bed then, we have a big day tomorrow… we'll be getting to one of the sanctuary locations… hopefully reach Summers," Ness explained, walking towards the door. "I should go to sleep myself, Paula and Tracy already went up to their room," Ness said.

"Wait… Ness?" I said suddenly. I had a feeling this was going to get awkward again. Ness looked back at me. And all we could do then is just stare for a moment. Were my words and ideas just lost whenever I looked at him or what? Ness's expression fell tentative.

"Well…?" I shook my head.

"… I'll tell you later," I told him.

---

The house fell silent early that night as I lied down on the back of my couch waiting to be sure that everyone was locked into their rooms. And when I was sure and ready, I turned on a nearby lamp and pulled out the small black book from my sweatshirt. I examined its worn down appearance, carrying the faint scent of must and cigarette smoke. Why did he have a diary? Did he really have to write things down? Was it a way for Pokey to vent out his emotions so he could keep calm and cool whenever he spoke in public? I took in a deep breath, opening the cover to the first page.

May 21, 199X

This will probably be the only thing that I'll receive from my parents that will hold some sort of meaning someday for a while, if not ever again. Scratch that, this diary means everything at the moment because it is the only thing, if I read it, that holds what seems to be the meaning of me, if that even made any sense at all.

Picky, if you ever read this, whether I'm dead or not, be aware that you will never see me the same way, ever again. And I really could care less.

Because honestly, by the time you see this, we're enemies. So before that happens, you might as well read this, since you already opened the book. So let's go over our lives so far- through my eyes.

Do you remember when we first moved to Onett?

Of course not, you weren't born yet. But do you remember when "they" moved in next door? Probably not, you were just finishing your ABC's at that time.

I was about eight and you were two. The house had been empty for a year; its previous owners were too old to handle the household on their own. It was a shame because they passed away in half that time. I missed their chocolate chip cookies and mint iced tea so much.

Anyways, you were doing what babies do best. I was busy spying through the window at the giant truck, with gruff men carrying giant furniture and boxes. I wanted a good look at the family but at the time, I really couldn't tell who was who. The first time I saw Debbie, I snickered as she dropped her vase. She didn't seem too happy as she tried picking it all up. Tracy was about five I believe at the time and she helped her out. I shrugged; I assumed it was just a mother, father and daughter living next to us for the next years to come. Then when I saw them carrying a baseball themed dresser, I kept my eyes on the lookout, thinking that there must have been a boy living with them as well.

I really wasn't sure what I was thinking when I first saw him.

Ness was holding his bat and glove like they were both his teddy bear. He seemed lost, looking around for something. When I saw his face under short locks of clean jet black hair, there was something different about him… I wasn't sure what it was at the time. And I didn't know how to react, whether to like it or repel it. But something about his young face and those glittering eyes made me wonder if I would be seeing him in school anytime soon. He looked a little younger than me, so I didn't expect him in my grade. When his father snuck up on him, he turned around surprised. His grin was humongous and happy; I had never seen a boy so happy around his father as he held him up over his head, giving him a piggy back ride into the house. I kept watching and watching, but he never returned back outside that day.

And when I turned away from the window, my stomach growled in an odd fashion. So I went to go get something to eat.

---

I suddenly closed the book as I heard someone's door open upstairs. Thinking in a rush, I hid the book underneath me on the cushions and as I could sense someone tip-toeing down the steps, I realized I didn't have enough time to turn the light out, so I pretended that I had fallen asleep forgetting to.

Whoever it was sighed when they turned the light out over me. It sounded like…

When I heard the back kitchen door slide open, I curiously opened one of my eyes. Who would go out of the house at this time of night? When I was sure that they had gone out, I was daring enough to get on my feet and follow them outside into the moonlit outdoors when fireflies danced.

I tried being as silent as possible, opening the sliding door. I looked around the back yard, but there was no person in sight. Spending at least five minutes out there searching I sighed, almost about to go back in to fall asleep.

"Jeff, up here!" I heard Ness whisper from up above. I looked around above me, only to soon spot Ness, who had been sitting on the roof top.

"Ness, what are you doing?" I asked. Ness suddenly told me to shush with a finger on his lips while pointing down below him, where I had found a small wall fence, perfect for me to climb up with. So I got up on the rooftop, sitting by a not so sleepy, but quiet Ness. Ness lay back down as he let his eyes wander in the night sky. I joined him, laying my back on the rough rooftop to let my eyes become absorbed in the glittery night sky.

It was better than watching the fireflies I thought. Or it almost looked as if they had flown up into the heavens, swirling around in different shades of silver blues and purples. But then again… it was nothing like watching it up on top of Maxwell's classroom rooftop. Onett's lights got in the way, so you couldn't see as much as you wanted.

"I knew you were awake all this time Jeff," Ness remarked.

"How'd you know?" I asked.

"Well because one, your glasses were on and you only sleep with those when you're really tired, which you weren't," He said.

"I was tired…" I said. Ness could only reply with a chuckle.

"Kay, so I heard you come downstairs and I decided to follow you, is that really a bad thing?" I asked.

"No… not really I guess." We were both silent for a little bit.

"I should let you gaze up at this… sometime when we have the chance back up in Winters," I told him. "You can see every bit of the night sky up there." Ness sighed through his nose.

"I bet it's amazing…" He said, awkwardly. We just lied there, that was all we could do. The cool night air absorbed my skin and made it its own. I glanced my eyes to Ness, whom was still lost in the stars. Was he trying to find something, or did he always look up to the sky like that? On the back of my mind, the darker Ness from my dream still lingered, but the real Ness was still real and… Nessy… I bit my lip.

"Ness?" I asked. At first, I wasn't even sure if he had heard me, but then he responded by humming.

"…"

"What did you want to say when we were out with the fireflies?" He asked, glancing at me. I bit my lip harder then. I hadn't really rehearsed what I was going to communicate yet.

"… You know I care for you… as a friend, don't you?" I asked. Ness laughed.

"Well I hope so… at least I hope you aren't traveling with us to kill me or something," He said humorously. For some reason, the dark Ness flashed through my mind with the bat over his head.

"Why would I do that?" I asked. Ness shrugged.

"You never know…" He said. My heart skipped a beat.

"… Riiiight. No, seriously… I do," I said. Ness closed his eyes.

"I know that you dope…" I fiddled with my fingers. This was going into a direction I didn't plan on.

"Okay… what I'm trying to say is… I don't want to end up like some friend that will abandon you… you know… like…" I didn't want to bring Pokey into the conversation; that was the last thing I wanted to do. "And if you think I've been acting strange around you… I don't want to mean you any harm. I just don't always approach situations with you very well… and I'm sorry," I said. Ness looked over to me.

"… Did you have that on your mind for a long time?" He asked. I shrugged.

"I don't know…"

"…"

"… I was hoping maybe… to start our friendship over again. Whatever that means… start fresh and forget our awkward moments in the past," I said. Ness hummed.

"You did think this over," He laughed. I flushed, while mentally telling myself not to.

"Okay okay… if it's really bothering you… we can reset our friendship," He said, turning to his side to face me. He looked like he was about to laugh again as he held his hand out.

"Hi there, stranger that happens to be lying with me on my rooftop, my name is Ness," He snickered. I rolled my eyes humorously.

"Hi yourself Ness, sorry for randomly landing on your rooftop from the moon," I emphasized. "They call me Jeff in my homeland where we grow from old to young." We both shook hands, looking at each other and trying not to laugh, until Ness managed to let off a snort.

"Wow Jeff… how young are you then, eighty-five?"

"More like three hundred and forty-five," I replied.

"Well will you be my friend then?" He asked. "You can explore our world with me and Paula if you'd like," He said. I chuckled.

"If you two can mind my overly grown space goggles that are required for me to sustain life on your planet that is," I replied, adjusting my crooked glasses. Ness laughed. Were my glasses that big to him?

"Sure, we don't mind, only as long as you don't mind how old we are… which… now I'm confused," Ness and I laughed until the two of us sighed as we looked back up into space. We were like this for at least ten minutes at the least.

"Jeff… do you ever feel like you're being told something when you're looking up into the night sky?" He asked.

"Like an anonymous voice in my head? Not really. Why?" I asked with a hint of humor behind my voice. Ness shook his head.

"Not like that… I mean, don't you ever feel like… when you're looking up there that, you feel like the sky is… I dunno… telling you something. Something you can't find anywhere here, but is also guiding you somehow. Like you're just a small fragment of something huge… but the whole thing would fall apart if you were to disappear from it…" Ness rambled. I thought of Pokey's phrase when he said that, or, 'The universe would die without him' as he'd say.

"I think I know what you mean… sometimes I feel inspired. I feel like there's a hope still when I look up there… like there's still time to make something right in this world, even if its small and you don't say a thing," I said.

"Sometimes I smile… other times I feel like crying when I look up in the stars… I've kept my eye on it, even when I was only a baby according to mom…" We were quiet again, and I could feel my eyes becoming droopy until I closed them. I wasn't too sure, but I had a hunch that Ness's eyes were starting to close as well.

"When I'm out here like this at night… I often feel as if I am the universe or the sky… it becomes a feeling that's hard for me to explain," Ness mumbled. I could only grunt; keeping my eyes closed.

"… I feel it too Ness… I feel it too…"

Both of us lied on the rooftop until the stars consumed us and let us drift to sleep.