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

25. Trust

A/N: Thank you so much, Leander, Red, Revu, Konoha's Kage, Minakaku, Tekirai, RaixOfxSunshine, Pk, Ilana, and Anonymous for reviewing chapter 24! ;v;

Oh damn… look who updated after 3+months…. I want to apologize for how delayed this chapter is. I hope you readers know that I'm not the best at keeping these update promises (I said it would/could be updated a few weeks after the last update… in February.) Now it's… almost nearing mid-July. This fanfic will never end. Is the word, life an excuse for my inactivity? No? D: Bawww Ok, just kidding. So I've kinda neglected this, I should have updated a chapter towards the end of last semester at least, but then… yaaay end of semester pressures :D ahh k, I don't really have an excuse.

Having summer again right now. While I've been a little (little) busy too (I'm in a summer class now, woopee) I've also been kinda going through some personal family things. To put it simply, just a couple surgeries. Luckily, my grampa got out of his, and he's doing better, from what I hear. I really hope he is, it worries me once and a while. Someone else in my intimate family is going to have another surgery by the end of this month… it's not going to be fun.

Anyways, yeah, I'm extremely sorry about the delay and how I've neglected this story lately, but I'd say at least a quarter (if not half) of you know me from deviantart, so you guys know I'm still around and I haven't died. I've also kind of been having trouble with the Pokey entries… they haven't really been progressing like I thought they would. Gonna take a break from them so maybe I can update faster (you'll see as you read this one) There's also a big possibility now that, I might just destroy the diary all together and reveal the important information about Pokey a different way, because to be brutally honest, writing them is driving me insane now sadly;;;

While this chapter doesn't really… idk, progress through the plot as much? Jeff really has his mood swings in this chapter. And something that I've been keeping in my mind forever is finally revealed in this chapter, without much explanation. Overall, this chapter is very mushy/squishy for obvious reasons. xD

Also, I want to finally re-touch (kinda rewrite) some of the first chapters, and edit all the chapters because this website screwed a lot of stories/authors over by taking some form of text out of the original uploads (In my case, it's my triple dash interludes between scenes) If you've read my chapters and noticed how everything kind of just runs into each other, this is why. They were up, and readable once, gone the next. I was kinda mad at the time when this happened… I knew I wasn't going crazy when my X's disappeared… Now they're all going to be replaced with… more x's. Yes. It'll totally work guys, you'll see…

I hope that this chapter doesn't have too many flaws... I don't know if it'll make much sense or not... (doesn't know what she's talking about)

Anyways, I'm very sorry about the once again long wait. I hope you enjoy this nonetheless!

XxxxxxXxxxxxxXxxxxxXxxxxX

I could only listen on a subconscious level. That was the only thing that kept my mind linked to the real world. The voice of a young boy that I recognized was all I could hear then, pleading and whimpering my name.

"Pokey… Pokey say something!" I could barely recall what exactly had just happened or who was right beside me, but I wanted to believe that whoever they were had been reaching out to me. They were scared, and if my consciousness knew better by then, I would have only wanted to comfort them back.

And by this time, I wanted to believe that I was. I wanted to believe that I was hugging this person, just to tell them that it would be ok. Everything would be fine.

But at the time when I heard more unfamiliar voices surround my ears, our presences must have separated as I was dragged away in a dark tunnel. I started to become more aware of what was really going on.

But when I looked up, I could see strange faces looking down at me, all in strange goggles and masks. Their faces started to swirl, and pretty soon, everything in front of me was a giant whirlpool that became demandingly endless and dreamy. I closed my eyes before it could consume me.

It hurts… Ness, it hurts…

It was what I kept thinking, but another voice spoke those words for me.

xxxxx

My glasses must have fallen off of my face by the time I felt my stomach hurl into my spine by some inexplicable force. I shivered violently, coughing up fluids as I fell to my knees. Examining my hands closer, blood, saliva, mucus, and possible some other substances covered my hands as a strong grip managed to tug forcefully at my hair, forcing my chin to face up.

My vision was blurry but clear as the one holding my head was a silhouette. At first, the shadow of the astronaut, glaring down at me with one beam-like red eye. Blood trickling down my chin, and eyes blood shot in fear, I was helpless then.

"Oh Jeff… why did you do this to me?" On closer examination, or when my vision became clearer, mom glared down at me with an evil sneer and red eyes.

"I should have gotten rid of you before you were born, look what has happened now? It's your fault this all happened in the first place," She remarked. My broken teeth tried to clasp against each other. Before I could say anything, before I could do anything, mother's face disappeared and was replaced by another.

The man's blood shot eyes were locked onto mine… completely in focus now, as if he finally understood or as if I understood what was to happen here and right then.

Before I could react or do anything else, the man flung an arm at my face, to finish me off…

…

My eyes shot open, revealing myself that I was staring at the ceiling in the hotel. My chest was a blare, panting to keep up with my racing heart before I took one deep breath in. My eyes were wet… was I crying during my sleep? You're fine Jeff, you're safe… yet still, my subconscious kept telling me that I was never safe. Ever. As if it was just waiting for that moment that I would die. I cringed uncomfortable at the thought. Wanting to burry myself under the covers again, I had just barely forgotten about the boy that allegedly wanted me to sleep in the same bed as him.

Ness let off a disturbed whine, as he shifted in the bed next to me. And as I couldn't see well in the dark, I turned around to face him. If my eyes weren't deceiving me, the boy's face was buried into his own pillow, hands clutching the pillow, almost as if he was hiding. Hiding from what?

"Go away… go away…" I thought I heard him whimper in the pillow, as he squeezed it tighter. Was he having a nightmare? He was usually so peaceful whenever I saw him sleep… Without thinking of what would happen, I reached out to him, placing my hand to rest on the back of his own.

"Ness… Ness it's alright, it's just a dream…" I mumbled to him. "I'm right here…" But what if it was more than just a nightmare…?

Before I knew it, good seemed to triumph over evil as Ness's hand loosened to accept my fingers to loop with his. Ness sighed. I could only sigh in return.

And that was that, I thought, as Ness's painful mewls were gone.

I smiled, closing my eyes again, letting the dark room lure my mind into slumber once more.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxXxxxxxxxxxxxX

The Universe Will Die Without You

Chapter 25 Trust

XxxxxxxxxXxxxxxxxxxX

It was way past when the morning light had crept up to the window. Waaaay past that, I thought, as the sunlight awoken my sleepy eyes. Even so, I wasn't really in the mood to greet the mid-morning, as I wanted to burry my eyes away from the sun. It glared, into my eyes, since all I could see was light anyways, without the aid of my glasses. I didn't want to move out of bed or even think about it. I almost felt glued.

Literally.

And I didn't care then apparently, as I kept my eyes closed, letting my mind drift off again…

Only to find that instead of drifting off, it explored, as my mind became inevitably aware of yesterday's events, until I questioned my mind… or my mind questioned… either way. What I remembered or what my mind remembered… did any of it really happen? I sighed.

Nahh… it was a dream, I thought. We'll be getting Ness's next melody today, you know. The two of you. You'll help him hop the wall after you help him overcome his personal obstacle and he'll cry from how entranced he is with his sanctuary…

No wait… didn't that happen yesterday?

No Jeff, it was a dream you dumbass.

No…

You'll help him over the wall, the two of you will meet back up with Kato and Paula, but then the two of you will sleep in the same bed after kissing because he's sick…

Wait, what was the part before the he's sick?

No no you dumbass, that was a dream, your day will be totally different…

…

My eyes finally fluttered open.

It wasn't a dream… was it? And the more I pondered this, the more I questioned its existence, my lips reacted, from the muscle memory, as I could physically remember the slick exotic taste and smell that was Ness… the pressure against my lips… the texture of his tongue slicking against my own… I bit my lip, not sure how to take this all in.

Oh god… that wasn't a dream… that really happened…

Wanting to turn around, I felt paralyzed, but so be it. Let me rethink this through my brain.

Something that I had thought would never happen or, something that I had almost wanted to happen did, less than twenty four hours ago. And as I flushed to myself, I was almost afraid of turning around in the twin bed, to discover the boy that I had shared that same intimate moment with… I wouldn't turn around yet… not until my fluttering heart settled down.

But what if Ness was so sick that he wouldn't remember it much? Speaking of sick… my throat felt rather raw that morning… I hoped I wasn't catching a fever… especially what Ness has.

"You don't have powers Jeff, how could you possibly catch what Ness has?" I grumbled to myself.

Still…

Did I really like Ness so much to do everything that I had done for him the previous day? What drove me, to the brink of death, just to keep him safe and secure… to let him know that I cared for him… on such a level that I became obsessed with him? Why was I so attracted to him?

I really wasn't sure why. Yeah, Ness was really cute. He really is... I thought, thinking of his head poking through the cracked door. He was so cute… the media would try putting their greedy paws on him and make him the next pop star for under aged girls to drool over… if I didn't beat them of course. His eyes were unavoidable… at least to me. He was gorgeous, especially when it came to those deep eyes of his.

Why was I so drawn into them? It was like looking in a glittering globe or the night sky… watching the silvery violet swirl around his eyes like silk. They always provoked some sort of emotion… an emotion I couldn't quite understand of describe. I almost felt protective, when I looked into them… possessive if you will. Like they were mine, his eyes belonged to me and only me… no one else could get their tainted sin written hands on them…

… That was the role of his eyes. But did he see that possessiveness in me? Maybe I didn't feel like what I had just described all the while looking at them, but what if he saw differently? I always liked to just stare at them, which was why I avoided his gaze in the first place.

But the reason why I had these lovey-dovey feelings for Ness? Was it really because that he was the first to forgive me? For all of my sins or for what I blamed myself for… all of those years ago? No… Maxwell was the first to forgive me in that sense… though I told him nothing. Was it the fact that, while Ness's powers were still new to me, they held some sort of familiarity?

… Familiarity? When and why did I ever just think that?

Or was it just the fact that I liked being around him? But I had always been too cautious with my actions around him to really act like my total self, fearing that our friendship would break apart. Now that since we had kissed, could that mean that I could be comfortable around him again? Would he judge me wrongly if I did something I didn't mean? I wasn't sure… but I was nervous to turn around and greet the sleepy head in the morning.

… Or was I just terribly confused?

All of our moments in the future could be created and everlasting or they could be shattered and torn to the ground for all eternity… if something wrong were to occur. And that frightened me, to no extent.

But if I really did love him… would he love me back? Do I even love him? I thought it was too soon to be pondering that; we were still growing teens!

Oh teen hormones… how corny and angsty could you get?

As I finally mustered the courage to turn around, and start a new unknown chapter in our relationship, I still felt stuck. Why did I feel so stuck? I physically felt stuck; like something kept me facing the opposite way…

… wait a minute.

I didn't register before that; I was rather nice and warm.

Well duh, you've been sleeping in bed!

No no… this seemed different. I reached to my night stand for my glasses.

As I did finally turn around in bed, I could feel more shifting than needed under the covers. I shivered, almost yelped, as I felt something small stir and slid down my bare back. My breath hitched as I faced to the other small half of the bed, the side where Ness was to be…

But his head was nowhere. And before I could react to this, I was distracted. Distracted from something glittering in the distance of the room. When the sparkling object merged closer, I could see then that it was a butterfly. How did that get in here?

The butterfly, then delicately landed on top of the messy covers, right next to my head, facing me. I could finally see this small creature up close, I thought. Small and silver, with a shiny tinge of lavender on the body, and a touch of light blue, making a pattern on its clear, crystal like wings, almost representing the pattern of a snow flake…

As I was astonished, looking at the butterfly as it sat close to my eyesight, moving its wings slightly, it was then that I heard another whine, which lead to the sensation of something more noticeable, sliding up my bare back. Freaking out, I quickly grabbed the hem of the bed cover, quickly flipping it off of the bed…

And sure enough, underneath the covers was where Ness was hiding, face buried in my lower stomach, his arms wrapped around my waist. My heart again jumped. Ness's mind, whatever state it was in, must have registered the lack of the blanket, as he squeezed his arms around my waist tighter, keeping his face away from the light. My glasses fell crooked at this point.

The butterfly, after its own freak out session from my sudden movement, eventually fluttered, back, to delicately land itself on the side of Ness's black messy haired head. Ness let off a small whine in protest as the butterfly must have tickled him, as he planted his hand on his scalp to scratch it.

I could only stare- astonished at the boy that nuzzled into me, grasping the sheets, my shirt, anything that would keep him from reality. And when I was sure Ness had realized that he was waking up, he groaned before mumbling something illegible to himself. I didn't know the right approach to this to be honest; but subconsciously, I let my right hand roam to his messy hair to stroke it slightly. I must have startled him somehow, as he quickly put his own hand to his head, only to pause when it rest above my own.

"I'm still sleepy…" Ness finally moped groggily. His throat sounded worse which wasn't great news, but I figured he was at that point in his fever.

"Then sleep… we can't do anything until you're ready," I replied calmly and truthfully. Ness let off a big sigh.

"Why is the sun so bright…" Ness complained. I could only hum in response, letting my eyes wander to the nearest clock. It was already nearing half past ten, I thought…

Nonetheless, Ness barely moved out of his spot, arms still wrapped delicately around my waist, keeping me pacified to his chest and his forehead. I didn't know what I thought when his next sigh revealed my name, but it was in a matter of moments later when the hotel phone rang. Both of us flinched from the sudden interruption, but as soon as the phone rang more than three times, I ushered Ness's hands off of me, as I got up to answer it. Ness whined in disappointment as I left the bed.

"Hello?" I spoke, rubbing my eye.

"Hey, Jeff? It's me Paula, I was just calling to see how things were going with you two in your room," Paula asked. I grumbled, yawning to myself to rub the back of my neck.

"We're still technically sleeping I guess, why'd ya call so early? It's only ten thirty…" I said. I could hear a small snort on the other side.

"It's one thirty-five pm," She replied. I raised an eyebrow, checking my watch and the clocks. The hotel clock read one thirty-six. I checked my watch on the counter. One-thirty-seven. How'd I miss that one?

"Oh…" I replied. Paula could only giggle on the other side.

"It's ok, if you two still need to rest, then do so. How's Ness?"

"I dunno… sleeping?" I said, glancing at the boy, whom was now laying on his back.

"Haha, ok, I'll let the two of you be for now. We'll probably check on you later though. See ya," Paula said.

"Ok, see ya," I replied, before we both hung up. I sighed, before turning around to Ness who had actually sat up in bed. Ness looked like he was about to topple over any second, but proceeded to ask his question.

"Did something happen?" Ness asked, looking down. I paused for a moment, and then smiled.

"Nah… nothing at all. She was just wondering how you were," I replied, walking back to the bedside to sit by Ness.

"I didn't realize it was so late. I could still sleep myself haha," I laughed. Ness smiled. Ironically, it didn't feel awkward for me, but I had the suspicion that it wasn't the case for Ness, as his tiredness apparently made him accidentally tilt into my direction, his shoulder touching mine. Ness jumped because of this, removing himself immediately.

"Ah, sorry…" Ness spoke, as if wanting to look at me. I smiled, turning my head to him, as I saw him look down away from me, almost in shame. I cocked my head.

Without much thought, I calmly slung an arm around his shoulder to bring him closer to mine, until his head was already against my shoulder. The movement startled him for just a swift moment, but as I rest my head on top of his, he must have gotten the message, or at least I hoped he did. I kinda hoped that we could be a little closer anyways, especially after… yesterday.

Neither of us could say anything again for the longest time. But it was ok… we were ok then.

"What… exactly happened yesterday?" Ness asked. I chuckled slightly.

"I don't know… too much for one day, that's what," I replied. Ness sighed through his nose.

"… Still, you didn't tell me what you wanted to tell me yesterday," Ness finally said. For the moment, my heart sank, very deep. I lifted my head to look at him, lips apart slightly.

"Wha…" I spoke incredulously. "But…" Ness looked up so I could meet his eyes again. After a moment of us staring at each other again, Ness broke out a smile.

"I kid, I kid," He laughed lightly. I finally let off my sigh through part of an exhaling laugh.

"You better have been joking, Ness," I chuckled. Ness bit his lip, keeping that smirk on his face, looking at me expectantly, as if I was supposed to do something then. I raised an eyebrow.

"What?" I chuckled. Ness took another moment to study me, as if he was trying to make the air between us awkward. It worked. Especially when he leaned up to close his eyes as he gave me a peck on the nose. I flushed, but I tried not to shy away. Ness, despite his sickness, finally looked happy. I loved that. But was he really happy… because I made him happy? Ness lied back down into the mattress, tugging lightly at my shirt to lie down with him. I complied, laying my back next to him, so we could look at each other again.

"Still… you didn't actually tell me," Ness smiled. Smiling, I rolled my eyes.

"Well what do you want me to say?" I asked. Ness shrugged.

"Whatever's on your mind…" He replied. I sighed.

"Fine fine… let me think…" I said. However, I always sucked at thinking in these kinds of situations.

"You kinda give me a purpose to keep going," I finally said. Ness was silent.

"I'm not the best communicator… so I don't know if my words will sound better than what… yeah…"

"Is that really the case?" Ness asked. I sighed.

"In all honesty… yeah," I replied, looking down to the sheets now.

"Why?" He asked in a more serious tone. I frowned, mind flashing back to school, to Tony and Maxwell.

"You were kind of the answer that I had been waiting for ten years… I mean as in… these events. I knew… deep inside myself that, something wasn't right. I was stuck with that theory in my mind, every single day that I spent back at school… yet I felt like I couldn't say anything to anyone. I knew everyone would have called me crazy back then… insane. They all did. But when I finally met you and Paula… honestly, I didn't know what to expect. But when I was finally able to tell you everything that I wanted to let out of me… I don't know… that's probably not the answer you were hoping to hear, was it? I'm not very good with these kinds of conversations to be honest…" I told him. Ness was still quiet.

"I gave you the freedom to speak your mind?" He asked. Hahaha.

"It meant more to me than you could imagine," I replied. Ness could only smile slightly, finding my hand to touch with his own.

"You could have told me sooner you know," He replied.

"I know… I should have. Maybe things wouldn't have been as rough between us if I had just said so. I'm sorry," I said.

"Nahh… it's not your fault," Ness responded. I bit my lip.

"But if you're looking for a less angsty answer… it's simple. You make me happy too, Ness," I finally said. "Even though most of our times together were a little awkward... and maybe stressful… but we could change that!" Ness smiled.

"But I didn't think you'd be gay either when I first met you," He giggled. I snorted.

"Me, gay? Hah… honestly, I don't really have much of a preference," I told him. Ness paused for me to continue.

"Even if you were a girl… nothing would have been different by this time," I told him. "You are who you are… you can look like whatever you look like. You'll always have those eyes of yours though… that's one physical feature of yours that probably wouldn't change… hopefully it doesn't," I told him. I looked back up to Ness, whom had started to smile again.

"I don't bug you?" He asked.

"Nah," I replied. Again, I got to look at him for a moment.

"I like your eyes too," Ness replied. My smile was subtle, probably crooked as I looked back at Ness, who broke the eye contact by poking me in the stomach. I chuckled, returning the poke back to the side of his torso. Ness squirmed, giggling in the process.

"Waaa, no Jeff, that tickles-" He tried to hold it in, but apparently my pokes at his side, as soft and affectionate as they were, happened to be too much.

"Whaaat, you don't want to be tickled?" I asked him playfully, poking him again towards his belly button. Ness squeaked, which startled me; I hadn't prepared for that. Hahaha. I was amused at this, so I poked him again. Ness snorted, laying back on the bed again, shielding his abdominal area as he bit his lip to keep the squeals at bay. Awww, I thought. How cute…

"Aww, you don't like being tickled?" I asked again. Ness squeezed his eyes shut.

"Haha I don't know… maybe a little bit- ah!" I poked him again almost instantly. But in return, Ness pinched the side of my own torso.

"Ack! What was that for?" I asked. Even though the pinch slightly hurt, Ness smiled at this. I guess it was because my reaction wasn't so serious. We were both thankful we could kid- even just for a moment in time. It was about that time however that we calmed out of our playful quarrel.

I sighed, staring up at the ceiling. Ness nuzzled back into the covers, and buried his entire right cheek into the pillow.

"Sooo… about yesterday…" I said. "… Do you remember anything at all?"

"The moments I was awake of course," Ness replied. I ran my tongue against the inside of my cheek, remembering the strange man again. Not the perverted un-amusing local guy in the bathroom but… the other un-amusing local guy.

"Do you ever recall a strange man…? Ok, bad question, there were plenty of strange bad men we ran into yesterday… never mind," I said. I didn't want to feel like an ass if I wanted to talk about the strange man that attacked me instead of him… I didn't want to make it a case where mine was worse than his.

"The one that hurt you, right?" Ness asked. I turned my head slightly, until turning my back away from Ness.

"Yeah… him." I tried not to shiver from the memory of him, but I guess it couldn't be helped. When the moment of pause commenced, I looked at Ness, whom was looking off into space with this apathetic look. I frowned.

"Something you want to let out?" I asked.

"I don't know but…"

"…"

"There's something extremely familiar about him. He looked just like someone I once knew," Ness explained. It was a good thing he admitted something like this, I thought. Or else I would have tried to get it out of him instead. At least this made things a little easier.

"I see…" I replied. Ness tapped his fingers together while looking up to me as he lied on his back.

"And I'm sure you want to know some details don't you?" Ness asked. I smiled.

"It would be nice… but if it makes you uncomfortable, I'll understand," I replied. Ness closed his eyes.

"Nah… I better say it one way or the other." My thoughts then drifted to the scene again, when the man walked away from us, that sentence recorded in my mind, "Let him abuse his power… let him use it all up." As soon as Ness said nothing, I spoke up.

"He seemed to care for you… slightly. Do you remember anything that happened during that fiasco before we teleported around the world?" I asked. Ness hummed to himself.

"I don't really remember… why?" He asked. "What did he do?"

"Well… he told me how to help you. To be honest Ness… it's thanks to that strange bastard that you're ok… otherwise I wasn't sure what I would have done. He said, 'Let him abuse his power… let him use it all up.' Of course this was after he already beat me again to a bloody pulp…" I winced at the thought. The more I thought about it… the more it got to me. Him helping Ness while… trying so desperately to wipe my face off the earth… My heart fluttered uncomfortably. I just knew he would return someday… either way.

"Even so…" Ness spoke as he sat up. I'm sure at this time Ness looked at how I looked away from him. We were doing that a lot all the sudden, I wondered why? My heart skipped a beat, as Ness calmly wrapped his arms around my torso to gain more nuzzling control into the nip of my neck, feeling his breath against my own. I'm sure I turned scarlet again.

"Even if he offered to help, I don't like him for how he hurt you… and even if he did help, you were the one that was there for me in the end," He spoke. My breath shook slightly, as I rest my head against his.

"Still Ness-"
"Shhh..." I bit my lip.

"Ness… there's something I have to say, or bring up. Whoever he is, he isn't ordinary ok… he knows something, even if he looked confused. He knows something only we know… he knows about PSI," I said. Ness was quiet about this.

"And that's not something we can ignore… it's been eating me up inside me ever since I laid eyes on him… there's something I recognize about him too and... I just don't know," I said, not realizing how much my voice shook with that last part.

"Jeff stop… stay calm, ok?" Ness replied softly. The fact that Ness was still in physical contact with me didn't really help either… honestly.

"I believe you with the PSI… I think maybe when I was younger, this guy I knew that used to talk to me helped me realize PSI… at the same time, I wish he hadn't have come along. But I can't say that this man is the man from my past either," Ness explained. My thoughts drifted to Pokey's diary… possibly the same events but only in Pokey's perspective. I wanted to know Ness's perspective.

"So… what do you remember about this guy?" I asked. Ness finally removed himself from me, as a nostalgic smile crept upon him.

"He was around before Pokey became strange… and when I didn't even have Pokey to look to. I remember when it was Tracy and I by ourselves one day after school. Something happened to mom that afternoon to where she couldn't pick us up in time; so either way, we were stuck by ourselves until later in the evening. At the time it was scary for us, you know? Pokey was home; sick, and none of the other kids knew where we lived… we had to find our way on our own. Then I guess… that's when he showed up," He said. I tilted my head.

"He… didn't look that great from a distance, but when he noticed Tracy crying, he immediately came over to cheer her up when I alone failed. I forgot exactly what he did to make her smile again, but he was really kind to us… he bought us ice cream with what little change he had to spare. And I remember when we wanted to go home, instead of helping to lead the way home… he told us to lead. And in return, he protected us… even if we really didn't need it. But even so…" Ness paused in mid thought. "I felt like he knew a side of me that I was yet to discover." My frowned slightly. While Ness's description was kind of interesting… at the same time, it was almost creepy.

"I miss him. And… I really hope that the man we saw back there wasn't him…" Ness looked up to me, but instantly looked away, expressing hurt.

"…I'm sorry."

"Why are you sorry?"

"Because…"

"… Stop saying sorry, Ness."

"If I just had listened to you before yesterday and took better care of myself… none of that would have probably ever happened…" Ness said. I frowned.

"I know you want to keep going. I understand. Just know that you scared all of us back there… especially me. I didn't know what he could have done to you back there… I couldn't take the chances, even if I was dying." Ness and I looked at each other again. Ness's mouth was now frowning, his look full of apology and something else.

"Why do you put yourself last?" He asked. I shrugged.

"It's the least I can do," I replied.

"…Well what's that got to mean?" I didn't really know.

"You know… how much of a stuck up prick I can be. It's the least I can do for you at times like that," I said, bringing my knees to my chest to put my chin on them. I looked away, into the distance… I guessed. I didn't really know what I was doing then, I just let Ness examine me. Maybe he would know.

"I think you're wrong," Ness said. I glanced at him.

"Well what do you think is the right answer?"

"You're deeper than most people I know… I think this 'putting yourself last' thing all has to link back to your mom's death… even if you don't mean it to," Ness replied. I closed my eyes after hearing him say that.

"Why do you blame yourself for your mom passing on?" Ness asked.

"Why are you asking things about my mom when you haven't said anything about you and Pokey?" I replied more hastily than I should have. Ness seemed to flinch from that. I had to think fast then to keep the conversation from dying all the sudden.

"S-sorry… ummm… because it was my fault." Ness hugged his knees to his chin.

"No…" Ness said. I cocked my head. My eyebrows perked up. No?

"But before I… why do you think it was your fault?" Ness asked. My fingers fumbled.

"Well… I didn't listen to my mom first off… and it was as if I led her into a trap… I'm sure that… that thing wanted to… I don't know," I finished, barely mumbling to myself. Ness was unresponsive to that.

"Well… Pokey pretty much betrayed me as a friend…" He spoke. Oh…

"Well… we all knew that much," I replied. Ness bit his lip.

"Oh yeah…" Ness spoke. A moment of pause.

"It's just such a hard situation for me… or hard decision… to decide whether Pokey is really good or if he actually is bad," Ness explained. That if he was good?

"I don't want to sound harsh Ness but… when I spoke to him… he was anything but good… if you mean nice. He was definitely good… good at being our antagonist," I said.

"He still is… I guess… but, what if Pokey really is good? What if Pokey has no idea what's going on and that everything that he's been doing was totally under Giygas's control? What if Pokey is still the good friend I remember him to be?" He went on. I bit my lip. This conversation was starting to get into an uncomfortable direction… but I couldn't help but keep pressing him forward. I was so greedy for any answers I could milk out of him. My heart fluttered with my next question.

"Did you ever… I mean, how much did you like him?" I asked. Ness took a moment, before putting his own chin on his knees and smiling to himself.

"He was the one I went to when I couldn't rely on anyone else if my mom wasn't around... which happened a few number of times actually. I think I was the only one he spoke to, which makes me feel bad for him. But even so, he was the only one that seemed to accept my strange side… not many people did that," Ness replied. Ahhh…

"Well obviously he would accept your strange side, he's…" I kept my comment in, thinking of how offensive it could have been. "Still… he seems like he's on the high end… I don't know," I said. "I don't know much about him." Ness seemed very nervous now, fiddling with the sheets, twisting them around.

"I don't like talking about my past with Pokey with anyone because I don't really understand half of the things he did… but… I think I've gotten a better idea. I guess since… I can trust you and all…" He continued. I frowned slightly.

"Only talk about it if you feel safe doing so… even if I'm not the right person for you to vent to, I think you should vent to someone… let someone else know what's happened so at least we have a little ground on what's been going on…" I said. Ness was silent again.

"I've kinda felt spoiled around him I guess… I think that's part of the reason why Pokey grew jealous of me. I don't blame him though… I've always known that since his father helped mine in our financial issues, that he abused him…his father is really scary when he's mad. I remember the first day that it happened when Pokey came to my house shaking. He had a bloody nose, cuts and bruises, and a pretty big bump on his head. When I gave him some ice, he said that his father just raged out at him with one of the already burning frying pans. I had never seen him or anyone cry like he did. I didn't know what to do for him… it was a scary situation for the both of us… I remember him begging me to heal him with whatever 'powers' I had at the time… I didn't know what PSI was then… so I had no idea what he was talking about. 'Use those same powers you used when I got hit by that car, remember? You helped me then, and now you're saying you're unable to help me now?' He'd beg me." Ness put his forehead in his palms. I kept silent… but wow. When Ness spoke again, he almost mumbled, but I could still hear him since the room was relatively quiet, and the loud bustling outdoors were blocked by the shut windows.

"After a few weeks, it wasn't too bad, but they would have their moments… Pokey and his dad I mean. Pokey would come over more often, more than I wanted. He was starting to become almost needing and possessive around me, invading my space, but I let him, I knew he was just trying to get away from his dad. But… now that I know about him and Giygas… or Giegue, which is what he used to call him, it makes more sense now. 'Ness, I think I might be gaining some sort of power myself. Gi- I mean, I've been getting the sensation that there's a way out of this and that I can get some of the love and respect I deserve,' he said one day. I was really happy about his confidence at the time, even though I didn't know what he was talking about, but overall… the more verbal and physical his dad became, the more he smiled…" Ness said, before taking in a breath. He was becoming noticeably shaky, in his voice as well. And while everything that he just said was interesting and valuable information… the name Giegue stuck into my mind more.

"And… it went on like this until something came up one morning. When we met up to walk to school one morning… He was wearing a pink dress," Ness gulped. My eyes went wide as I cocked my head. What?

"His dad… made him wear a pink dress to school?" I asked, bewildered. Ness sighed. What the heck?

"… His mom was out of town that week… to visit her family for something. So it was just Pokey and him that week… it was the most unpleasant week either of us had to endure… and I don't know whether to forgive him or not," Ness said. "But… even so, there were those strange moments when he smiled to himself. He always tried to hide it from the others who pointed and laughed at him, but I could always tell from afar. I tried my best not to let Tracy see… so I told her to go hang out with someone else afterschool that day. But I guess it didn't matter, because the whole school knew by that time, after being dragged to the school office. Of course, since Pokey was bigger at the time, they had no clothes he could fit in to change… they didn't know how to deal with it. But Pokey did his best to lie, and told them that it was his choice. He tried his best to hide his scars, he really did, but I'm sure they noticed. It was that night when he threw rocks at my window and demanded me to come down to meet him. So I did… and I made sure to bring an ice pack too…

And when I saw him… he was yet again bruised… and I could see pink hand-prints all over his skin and on his face… 'You… you're wearing a skirt tomorrow too. You'll wear one… you'll wear one, or else if you don't, I'll… I'll…I…" At this point, Ness's eyes were watered up. He didn't finish Pokey's sentence… he didn't have to at the time. And to be honest… I didn't have the stomach for what he needed to say then.

"So I… I did…" He tried continuing. "I…"

"Ness…" I spoke softer than I thought I would. I shuddered to think exactly how his day went that next morning… I shivered violently, as I looked at Ness, who was looking away from me with his chin on his knees and his arms crossed under his nose, watery eyes as he sniffed.

"Ness…" A big part of me felt guilt then. Obviously, this must not have been the only thing that happened in their past. I felt frightened now… frightened of the little black leather book that was still lingering in the depths of my bag.

All I could do then was wrap my arms around him, pacifying him to myself. There was no comparison between us… but here we were, coping with everything that has happened to us so far… I could feel Ness's breath hitch. I stroked his hair. But as Ness seemed to have no response to my embrace so far… I started to let go, only to find him hammering his embrace back to mine, the moment I lost his contact. My glasses came out of line, as I looked at the shivering boy next to me, forehead buried in my shoulder as his fingers grasped my shirt. Returning the gesture, we stayed like that for another elapsed set of time.

"Did… did you listen…?" He asked At first, his voice confused me with what it said but at the same time, I understood. I smiled slightly, resting my chin on his head. Of course… I thought.

"Every last word of it," I replied. "I'll… I'll keep it safe." After a few more moments of our embrace, Ness finally broke it, bringing the back of his knuckles to caress his flooding eyes.

"Good… you're right… venting feels nice once and a while…" Ness sniffed, as he looked down at the covers. I smiled, lifting his chin, while my other hand whipped off any lingering tears on his cheeks. I must have taken him by surprise. I chuckled at this.

"See? This was exactly how I felt when you let me spill my thoughts out to you in the hospital… remember? After all… you were the first person in the entire universe that's heard me vent before… but…" I said, taking my hands from his face. "Did he… really force you into doing something like that? That's…" I wanted to say it was selfish, disgusting… heartless of him. But after Ness saying that he didn't know what to think of the situation, I didn't add it in. Ness could only nod, looking down. I frowned at this, letting my forehead rest against his own.

"Well… whatever he… or Giygas is planning to do now… they won't pursue it. We'll stop them. I guarantee… I promise he won't get away with anything," I told him. Ness tried to look up to me, but he couldn't for some reason. Shyness? Shame? I didn't know.

"Are… aren't you scared?" Ness asked. My lip curved down slightly.

"Why would you ask a silly question out of the blue like that…?" I asked, chuckling nervously. Ness paused for a moment. Curiosity got the best of me.

"And… scared of what?" I asked again, cocking my head slightly, making my forehead shift against his. Ness looked up to me finally, in the eyes, but almost immediately closed them, just to escape mine. There was something about this pause… something suspicious about it.

"Ness… if you're trying to tell me something, please say. I know it's hard but…" I told him. "At this point, it could mean saving a life… dozens of them." Ness bit his lip.

Something was definitely on his mind. This made me completely and utterly nervous, being because of the vibe he gave off… that sense of nervousness about him, and I could feel it against my head… my mind.

"If this has to do with… what happened between you and me, please say something so I don't make an ass of myself later," I asked. Ness shook his head slightly.

"It has nothing to do with us," He replied. At least he was starting to admit that he was keeping something from me… but what?

"Ok…" I said, finally removing my forehead from his. Ness whined in protest slightly by this. I wondered why…?

"N- never mind Jeff, my sickness is probably making me act weird again…"

"Ness, please be honest with me, at least with this. Why won't you tell me?" I asked.

"…"

"…"

"…I don't think you're ready to know it," He spoke. I cocked my head. Know it…? Know what?

Before I could say anything else, the door in the hotel room opened. Both of us reacted, a little too much, as I jumped off of the twin sized bed, landing on the floor uncomfortably on my tail bone. Ness didn't fall off, but he pulled the covers over his torso, for one reason or the other.

"House-keeping?" The lady at the door asked. I scratched my head.

"Uhhh… yeah, just the bathroom please," I responded. The lady smiled at the two of us, not noticing for some reason that I got up from the floor in an awkward fashion. I looked down to Ness, rubbing the back of my neck as I gave him a small smile.

"Maybe you should go find Paula and Kato," Ness said.

"And leave you un-attended? I don't think so," I responded.

"You could always call them and ask for them to come over here then," He said.

"Hmmm I guess. But there's no rush… I mean there's nothing much we have to do right now… well while you're like this I mean." Ness shrugged.

"Well if you bring the phone here I can call them," He said.

"Do you really want to?" I asked. Ness chuckled.

"You make it sound like you don't want them here," He spoke in a persuasive voice. I snorted.

"I… I just don't see what the rush is, ya know? So… there's no rush to call the others here, unless if you really want them to come," I said, feeling slightly flustered. What a dumb thing you just said! Even so, when I looked at Ness as he decided to lie on his stomach, another happy smile was crossed on his face.

"That's so cute," He laughed lightly. I blushed.

"How do you find that cute?" I asked. Ness could only stare at me as I looked down back at him, and when I could feel my cheeks heat up even more, his mouth curved up farther with half lidded eyes. I turned around quickly.

"Ugh uhh… well, erm-" My voice shook, which embarrassed me further. How great, I thought. Ness let off a chuckle.

"We don't need the others to come, if you really don't want them to," He responded. Was he starting to come onto me again?

"Do we really have to talk like this when the…"

"Is there anything else you need?" The nanny spoke to me. Practically jumping, I felt my glasses fall off my nose. Quickly catching them, I turned around quickly in a panic, practically shoving them back into my face.

"I-erm… no, that will be all, thank you," I told her. The nanny nodded, taking one last glance at us.

"Have a good day," She said, walking out of the room. By the time she walked out, Ness started to laugh. I probably looked pouty by then.

"S'not funny…" I said.

"Yahuh," He responded cheekily. I let off a staggered breath.

"Fine fine, I'll call them. Now that I'm too flustered to function… that makes perfect sense, right?" I mumbled the last bit to myself, as I dialed on the phone.

However, right when I called the room, there was a knock at the door, right as the phone was ringing on the other line. As the small pause commenced, the door knocked again.

"I'll get it," Ness said, as he got out of his bed.

"Wait, Ness, can you-" But before I could put the phone down, Ness was already halfway to the door before he caught himself from falling with the corner of the wall. Ness gasped slightly, as he regained his footing. I sighed, walking up beside him.

"You dope, you're still not recovered all the way," I told him, helping him settle correctly on his feet before opening the door myself as I could hear Paula's voice on the other side.

Paula and Kato were both holding food items, Paula carrying a cold pitcher of what looked like iced tea and Kato carrying a tray with a small pot of soup and crackers. Paula graced us with her smile.

"Soup and tea?" Paula asked.

"For the crippled one?" Kato continued smirking. I chuckled into my hand, glancing back at Ness.

"But I'm not crippled…" Ness said tilting his head before letting go of the wall and taking another step before his body decided to want to tumble again, catching him almost instantly.

"You should go back into bed Ness," I told him smiling. Ness looked at Paula and Kato before me, frowning.

"Do I really have to? I think I'm feeling better…" I instantly put my palm against his forehead, which must have taken him by surprise the way he blinked.

"Nah, you feel a little warm still. Like I've been saying, no rush right?" I said as I started leading back to bed.

"But I'm feeling much better than I did yesterday though, really!" Ness responded. Kato placed the tray on the dresser.

"That's great news Ness, but like Jeff said, I think it's best to rest a little longer, just to be safe," Kato spoke. Ness let off a protesting whine.

"Besides, I'm sure you'd love to have a small break from your adventures anyways," Paula said, pouring a cup of tea for him as I tucked him into bed.

"But we were just at my mom's house not long ago…" Ness mentioned.

"Pffft, I wasn't at your house," Kato said as he brought over the tray. "Don't spill this, it's pretty hot still."

"But… I'm not hungry," Ness said.

"Don't be silly, you haven't eaten since yesterday morning, you need something to nourish you, you'll feel much better faster," Paula said, placing the glass of tea next to his stand. Ness looked into his chicken noodle soup before picking up the spoon with a blank but incredulous expression. However, I wasn't sure if it was the sickness talking of the fact that he was nervous with the three of us staring at him, but his hand shook, as he tried to scoop up a little soup. But before he could even get the spoon over the bowl, all the bit in his spoon spilled over. I sighed, walking over.

"Clearly you need nutrients, but your body already forgot how to consume it," I half-joked, as I took the spoon from him and scooped some up.

"Open," I said. Ness cocked his head.

"Wha-" Right when he was about to say something, I managed to sneak the spoon past his lips. Ness's cheeks seemed to rose up, furrowing his eyebrows grumpily at me as he accepted the soup. I could only smile at his cute pouty expression. Withdrawing the spoon, I scooped up some more as I leaned in to wipe Ness's lips. Ness was clearly taken aback.

"Do you guys really have to pamper me like a prince all at once?" Ness asked as he tried sinking back into the pillows.

"Until you can hold a spoon steadily yourself, yes," Kato said, as he sat down in the chair to drink a bottle of water. "Of course, we can't touch you yet." Ness's frown deepened as I awaited for him to open his mouth again.

"Well… it's kind of embarrassing," Ness said, as his cheeks seemed to flare up again as I tried feeding him more soup. "Like Jeff said… no rush, right?" Ness spoke before he shyly accepted another spoonful of soup, keeping his eyes averted from mine. This was cute, I thought.

"Just eat, you dope. It'll go by quicker," I told him, and as he turned his head towards me, I managed to get another spoonful into his mouth. Ness narrowed his eyes at me slightly. I didn't really seem to think about exactly what was happening then, right in front of Kato and Paula. I was feeding him, and I seemed to enjoy it, while Ness seemed utterly uncomfortable with the situation. It didn't really hit me, until Paula spoke up.

"So, how were things over here last night?" She asked. Ness spit out his soup while I practically dropped the spoon.

"I-er-smoothly. Everything went smoothly," I spoke. Smooth one, Jeff, I thought. Paula and Kato looked at each other blankly. When both looked back, a smile was barely visible on Paula's expression. I fumbled immediately when I picked up the spoon.

"Nothing bad or… unusual happened to us last night," I said. When I looked back down at Ness, he looked back up at me; extremely pouty, with narrowed eyes and cheeks puffed out. His entire complexion now was pink. I sighed.

"Where did you sleep, Jeff?" Kato asked. I bit the inside of my cheek.

"The floor," I replied. Kato smirked slightly.

"That explains why you're so stiff," He said. Yeah right… I cleared my throat.

"Well… so what now?" I asked, bringing another spoon to Ness's lips, in which he accepted, shyly. "We still need to go to… how many locations?" I really had no idea, or I didn't remember.

"Eight total, for Ness to realize all of his PSI ability," Kato said. "I'm sure we have maybe about three more places to go, according to the three of you." Paula and I both looked at Ness, whom was attempting to scoop up another spoonful of soup, trying very hard not to pay attention to any of us.

"The question is, where to now?" I asked. "Is it across the sea for us? I mean, we were just in Scaraba, I wouldn't see why we couldn't go there," I said.

"We would have to double check that we aren't forgetting something behind though. That'll be a long journey, it'll seem pretty endless once we get going," Kato remarked. My shoulders sunk slightly, looking down to Ness, whom was about to put the spoon in his mouth with a shaky arm.

"What are you doing?" I chuckled pretty quietly, as I helped him by gently taking his hand to guide the soup to his lips. As soon as he swallowed, he pushed the soup away.

"I think I'm done for now…" Ness spoke quietly.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Well… it's kind of awkward for someone to be feeding me right now," He spoke. I sighed.

"Alright alright, we should just let you rest then," I said. "But you're going to eat some more later, you need it." Of course, we both knew exactly why Ness didn't want any more soup. It was just way too soon for us to act this close, even in front of Paula and Kato. A small twinge of guilt past through me as I saw him sink into his pillows. But what else was I to do? Kato nor Paula could touch him, and Ness struggled to eat for himself. It made me worry again slightly, he was once more lively and now he seemed slightly weaker than usual, especially after he told me more about Pokey and his past. I had to do something.

"At least take this in the meantime, Ness," Kato spoke, as he picked up a small pill jar, and handing him what seemed to be a multi-vitamin. Ness looked at the pill lazily, before plopping it into his mouth, and swallowing it. When he reached for his glass of tea, I gently got it for him, but I let him take his own sip. Ness sighed before looking around the room at all three of us.

"I'm sorry." I rolled my eyes.

"Stop saying-"

"No really… I am. I should have been more mature about the situations we were in yesterday. I should have taken better care of myself. Then you guys wouldn't have worried as much, and I wouldn't have risked anything bad with any of you…" He said, looking up at me one last time, before looking down in shame. "Now you all have to wait around for me to get better… I'm sorry." Randomly out of nowhere, the magical butterfly from before decided to flutter back around to land on Ness's head. I didn't know what to say besides my usual, 'don't say sorry' tactic.

Paula smiled, walking over to Ness's bedside, and did something that she was supposedly not supposed to do.

"It's ok, we forgive you," Paula spoke happily, as she wrapped her arms around him to embrace him. A lot of us were taken aback at this. But however, the embrace did nothing bad… at least not on the spot.

"Paula,"- Kato and I were slightly alarmed by this. She just disregarded what we were so uptight about before, was she sure that it was ok?

"I… I thought we weren't supposed to stay in contact," Ness said. Paula broke the embrace slightly, but she kept her hands placed on the sides of his arms.

"I don't sense any kind conflicting energy from you anymore… plus you're thinking… a little more logically now. I think the PSI bit of the fever died away and became just a fever," She smiled. Ness tilted his head.

"If… you say so," He said.

"How do you know that?" I asked. Kato hummed to himself.

"Now that she mentions it, I don't feel so repulsed around you like I did last night. A small step but an important one."

"Jeff, whatever you did, good job," Paula looked to me and winked. A small shiver, but a noticeable one, crept up my spine as I glanced away from her convincing grin.

"Yeah…" I breathed in. "Don't thank me, thank the guy that tired to kill me," I said. "I'm pretty sure that if he didn't give us the advice, something worse would be happening right now."

"I'd have to disagree with you," Ness said. "After all, you were with me, so what could have gone wrong?" He said, smiling. For some reason, rather than blushing a lot again, I became perplexed.

"That's funny… I was starting to wonder if I was becoming a dead weight to the three of you," I said.

"Don't be silly. We understand that you aren't capable with PSI, but at the same time you help with the small things that none of us can do," Paula said. I shrugged slowly.

"Like what…?" I asked.

"Like yesterday," Ness said. I could only tilt my head.

"But before that… I don't know," I said, turning around rubbing the back of my neck.

"You have good motives, Jeff. And a lot of them have been successful," Paula said. Like what?

"I don't know you well enough, but good job at keeping Ness safe from pretty much every threat you came across the previous day," Kato added randomly.

"And thanks for being there… for me," Ness said. My heart fluttered slightly. Did… did they really think I wasn't useless like I've always thought? For some reason…

"Jeff?" Paula said, noticing my long pause. But for some reason, I still couldn't turn around, as my mind was still struggling with the topic. When Paula walked in front of me to see me, her lips parted.

"Jeff… you're crying…" She said. Was I? I brought my fingers to my cheek, and sure enough, there was a moist touch.

"Oh… I didn't notice," I said, voice not sounding like myself. Paula frowned sympathetically.

"I just… I just didn't see it coming."

"Jeff…" Ness said. However, I didn't look back to him. I didn't want him to see me like this, I thought. Not while he was still helpless in bed.

"Why don't you get some fresh air, Jeff?" Paula suggested. I could only nod.

"Good idea…" I said, walking to the door. But before I turned the knob, I paused again. I turned around.

"I… I'm sorry. You guys just touched me is all…" I said, before turning the knob.

"Jeff-," I heard Ness say before I closed the door, leaning on it, to sigh. I could hear the three of them in the room still.

"Why did he get so sad all the sudden…" Ness spoke in a sad tone.

"Did I say something bad?" Kato said.

"I'm sure you didn't… I think this goes deeper than anything you could have said, Kato," Paula said. I could only smile to myself, as I started to walk down the hall to find a drinking fountain.

"I try believing in you guys more often now…" I mumbled to myself.

xxxxx

When I was waking up in the hospital room, I didn't have much thought besides what had happened. I didn't know, but from what I assumed, I had been hit by some sort of car that must have swerved out of control. However…

If I was hit by a car, then wouldn't I be in horrible pain then? Couldn't I have died? Even my doctors seemed to be puzzled, I thought. How could I have survived something like that?

Or better off… why did I survive? The doctor noticed my awake state, and walked to me.

"We don't know how this is possible, but after putting you through numerous exams, we've found absolutely no internal or external injuries with your body… do you feel ok nonetheless?" He asked me.

Of course, I said nothing to him.

Because when I looked at him, his face seemed to fade. Something else replaced it.

Something I didn't quite understand.

"Well… just in case, you can stay here for another night," He told me. "You have a visitor by the way, I'll send him up here right away.

When the doctor left, I just stared out into blank space again…

"Do you know the person who was driving the car at the time of the accident?" The nurse asked outside the room.

"Don't tell the boy, but we believe it to be his father."

xxxxx

After I took a drink from the fountain, I decided to go downstairs, to step outside, just for a brief moment, to take in the fresh-polluted air of Fourside. Hopefully, nothing would go wrong, I thought.

I wasn't sure if my cheeks were still covered in tears or not, they felt slightly drier, but at the same time I didn't check in the bathroom or in a mirror. I was in a strange mood, it was a mood where I was kind of happy, and I didn't want to see my expression convincing me otherwise.

When I opened the hotel doors and stepped out for the first time that day, I took in the air through my nostrils, closing my eyes.

But when I finally did open them, I could feel my heart flutter again. I was alone. Outside in Fourside. For about ten seconds but I could feel the strands of hair on my neck turn up. It didn't hit me that I could have been easily targetable… targetable to the man that wanted to kill me. I shivered violently, grabbing my shoulders. Did Ness feel like this all the time because of… his past? There was more to his past, more than I will ever have. That was just it, I thought. While Ness had this deep and dark past, I didn't really have any past… any that I could remember. When my fear took a hold of me, I immediately turned around to get inside again and seek Ness and the others. Worst of all- I had to make sure that Pokey's journal was out of Ness's reach.

"You sure you had enough air?" I heard a familiar voice say. I gasped slightly, turning my head at bullet speed around me, trying to find the source of the voice. Relief came over me when I spotted it.

Kato was casually leaning against the brick wall, looking out across the street. I got a good full view of his attire. The embroidery on his white sleeveless shirt and black pants were made out of golden thread, forming swirls of gold and occasional bursts of stars. His hair braided- reached his mid back. I studied the scar that went down the left side of his face, down the center of his white, hawk-like eye. How did he get here before me? Kato's black and white eye drifted to mine.

"You look really bewildered," He smirked.

"Well… yeah, how did you get out here already?" I asked. Kato shrugged.

"Easily… for me that is." Ahhh.

"I see…" I said. Was he up to something, or…?

"Well, I'm sure you don't know why I'm out here with you, I didn't need to come. But I decided that it would be best if I escorted you," He said. Escort? I cocked my head.

"I don't need an escort… to get back upstairs?" Kato held in a snicker.

"We're going on a little errand, you and I. Paula suggested it. Didn't really consider it at first, but in a sense it should work out. You'll get your air and I'll get my education," He said, already walking away. I paused for a second, looking at his back drifting away from me.

"Hey wait, where are you going?" I asked, catching up to him.

"A place called the department store, do you know where that is?" He asked. I froze for a split second. I hadn't been there since before I confronted Pokey… what a nightmare that place was. But then I thought since… well since Pokey was gone, maybe it wouldn't be as bad for a re-visit.

"You had complications there didn't you?" He asked.

"Yeah… a while back," I replied. Kato smiled.

"Well we'll just have to be sure to avoid those complications," He replied. I paused again.

"By the way… this isn't exactly the quickest way to get there," I said.

"Oh?" I bit my lip. This was awkward, I thought.

"Yeah… we should go this way," I told him. Kato smiled.

"Aight. This is another reason why you're tagging along, you know areas like this more than me," He said.

"I don't really know these kinds of areas well myself though… but ok." And after that we walked in silence for a while, passing a few blocks along the way. At the edge of my mind, I was still paranoid.

"So… to be educated?" I randomly asked.

"Yeah."

"…What?" Kato breathed in.

"So why is it harder to breath here than where I came from?" He asked. My mouth curved down.

"Pollution… do you know what that is?" I asked.

"Not really." Oh…

"Well… there are a lot of causes for it, but a common example is the smog and the exhaust coming out of the cars here, out in the back. The smog gets in the air, and that's what makes it harder to breathe in," I explained. Kato hummed.

"What's a department store?" I snorted randomly, trying not to sound offensive.

"What's so funny?" He asked. I couldn't keep in my chuckle.

"N-nothing," I said. I understood what he meant by 'education' after that question.

"It's just a place for local residents to buy products and groceries. But… you didn't know what it was before, and you were headed there? Did you even have a plan as to why you wanted to go?" I asked.

"It's you that wants to go," He said. I cocked my head again. This guy was…

"Paula said it was best that I take you there, to get a 'gift' for Ness… I guess it would be from the two of us maybe," He said. Oh… I thought. I kept myself from blushing again, but… she didn't happen to know that Ness and I…

"Is that ok with you?" Kato asked, stopping to look at me. Snapping me back to reality, I stuttered slightly.

"Well… I already have something I want to give him," I replied.

"Hmmm?" Crap, I said too much.

"Erm… just a… something I fixed for him. Something that he broke one time during combat," I lied slightly. Kato however cocked his head at me. I could only smile nervously.

"Was this recent?" He asked.

"No no, it happened a while back," I replied. Kato nodded as we continued.

"May I ask what it is?" He asked. I was afraid he'd ask that.

"Ah… just a pocket knife," I lied again.

"You're lying." My heart stammered.

"How…" Kato turned around and smirked at me.

"Clearly you're faltering right now because this conversation is making you nervous," He said. "I can tell with my very own eyes." I exhaled.

"I… I see… ok, if you must know, it's a yo-yo, but that's all I'm telling you." Kato chuckled slightly.

"Haha, ok. Just tell him not to break it again when you give it to him," He said as we waited to cross the street with a crowd of people. Most of them at least glanced Kato over once, the kids and some of the girls were the ones that looked the most.

"Why are we standing with this group of people we don't even know?" Kato whispered to me. I groaned inwardly. This would be constantly annoying if he kept asking questions. Pretty soon he's going to ask things like why the sky is blue, I thought.

"We're waiting to cross the street. See? The cars are still driving so we can't cross yet," I told him. Kato sighed, as we waited a few more seconds.

"Well… this is boring," He said. I could only nod, side glancing him for a split second, until he caught me off guard as he grabbed my hand.

"Let's try getting there in an alternative fashion," He told me as he dragged me out of the small crowd. Kato's grip was really strong, I thought embarrassingly.

"Ahh, what are you doing? This is the way to the department store!" I told him, trying to pry my hand from his. But as we turned the corner, his footsteps started to pace faster.

"You said you knew the way to get there, right?" He asked.

"Well yeah, if you let me direct you!" I replied. I could see his smirk, as he glanced down at me again, as he grasped my hand tighter. Ouch, I thought, how strong was he?

"Then that's all we need," Kato said before we started to pace rapidly.

"Kato!" I exclaimed as we took off running like bolts of lightning through the back streets and alleyways that I've traveled through.

And suddenly, here we were, I thought ten seconds after we halted in front of the department store. My glasses fell out of line as my hair felt like it was sticking up. Kato started to laugh slightly, looking at my expression.

"You look so stunned Jeff," He said. I rubbed my head, which almost felt like swaying.

"You- you could have warned me you were going to teleport before randomly dragging me off like that… I had a lot of random teleporting yesterday, I'm kinda not in the mood for it today," I said feeling my head swaying again. Kato however seemed to ignore my state of dizziness by putting a strong hand on my shoulder.

"Ah, come on, cheer up, we're here aren't we? The sooner we get what we need done, the sooner we can get back to the hotel and you can sleep till your heart is content," He said, walking in front of me up the stairs. I could only look blankly at him.

"I don't need anything here, Kato… I already told you what I wanted to give him, why do we have to be here? And it's not like I have any money…"

"We'll get something else then," Kato said waving Ness's atm card in my direction. My jaw dropped as he winked down to me.

"That's not… a very giving thing to do!" I stated. Kato shrugged.

"Paula was the one that gave it to me for the time being." Kato smiled before heading into the building again without me. I sighed in defeat. Kato seemed pretty happy, I thought. I wondered what he was like when he was mad? A part of me didn't want to find this out.

"I thought you were supposed to be escorting me, not dragging me all over the place…" I grumbled angrily to myself while I caught up.

When we were greeted at the doors, a small twinge of bad nostalgia came back as I looked at the escalators in front of us and how I remembered myself dragging a critically injured Ness down them. Kato seemed to be following the crowd, and he didn't really seem to know exactly what he was doing. I ran up to him.

"Kato, it's useless if we go ahead without withdrawing any cash!" I told him before he stepped on the escalator. Kato's cheeks were sucked in.

"What?"

"Eh… here let me see it," I told him snatching the atm card out of his hand. Hopefully he didn't take it the wrong way. When both of us approached the machine, there was already a man in front of us grumbling about his finances, before hitting the machine and stomping off. When we both approached the machine, we both paused. Studying the machine… I guess I knew what to do. After a moment of pause, Kato spoke up.

"Aren't you supposed to be some sort of acclaimed genius?" Kato asked. I bit my lip.

"Where'd you get that idea?" I asked nervously, swiping the card in. Pretty soon, the screen popped up with the next instructions.

"A code…? Crap, Ness knows the code!" I said, slapping my forehead. "Alright, now that we know we can't buy anything, can't we just go-" Kato ushered me aside as he punched in a 4-digit code. When the machine accepted, Kato's smile spread.

"How much should we withdraw?" He asked. I cocked my head.

"How do you know the code?" I asked, feeling slightly left out.

"Paula told it to me," He replied. I scratched my head.

"They never told me… ah, whatever, I don't care how much you take out, but not over 30," I told him. Kato waited for a moment. It took me a second, but once I realized that he was waiting for me, I sighed, as I punched in the digits for him. As soon as the machine spit out the cash, I claimed it, putting the cash in my shirt pocket.

"Alright alright… so what now?" I asked. "I'm kinda feeling guilty for leaving Paula and Ness at the hotel…" I said, as Kato took off the escalator without me. I shook my head.

"Why do you keep walking off without me?" I asked. Kato however was busy looking at the escalator as it went up. Apparently an impatient man waited behind him.

"You know, you either can go up or not, but if you aren't, let the people that do want to go up go ahead please," The man said, making his way up the escalator. Kato put his hand to his chin.

"Your culture has weird ways of transportation," He said. I snorted.

"It's because most of us don't have teleporting powers like you do,"- As I finished my sentence, Kato grabbed my sleeve again, as we both ascended the escalator. When I claimed myself back, I glanced back up at him awkwardly.

"Usually in my culture, if you want to get somewhere, you just get there… we never really needed moving platforms or rules to guide us there," He said. I sighed.

"It's more convenient, especially if some people have physical conditions. That's why we have elevators too," I said. He breathed out of his nose.

"What are those?" He asked. My mouth curved down as I raised an eyebrow.

"Eh… never mind." Kato only nodded. The second floor consisted of the cafeteria, and the door that lead to the weapons store. Kato seemed to let me guide the way finally, probably at a loss of what to do himself, but the problem was, I didn't really want or need to be here in the first place! It kind of made me nervous.

"Is there anything you'd like to do?" I asked, trying not to look at him for too long.

"Well… I'm not very fond of your cultures food so…" I sighed, straightening my glasses.

"Do you want to go to the drinking fountain?" I asked. His eyebrows perked up.

"You have water-dispensing devices as well?" He asked. I chucked slightly.

"Yeah, I suppose we do. What a coincidence…" Glancing up at Kato again, he seemed to be keeping a close eye on me. Why, I thought. I glanced back away from him, but it was only in a matter of moments when Kato leaned his head closer towards my face.

"Even if you don't need to buy anything for anything else, I'm sure you might want to buy something for yourself," He told me. His random closeness was startling, as I took a step backwards.

"Uhh… except we only took out thirty dollars and my appliances are pretty above that cost," I replied. His mouth curved down slightly. Turning around away from his view, I rubbed the back of my head from the awkward moment.

"Erm…" My eyes drifted to the top, as I spotted a flower sale on the next floor.

"We could always get some flowers," I told him smiling. Kato shrugged his shoulders.

"You're in charge, I'm just being your body guard after all," He said. I chuckled.

"You didn't really act like it just before. Besides, I can fend for myself… like you guys said back there; I'm not that useless… am I?" I asked. Kato let out a small laugh.

"You aren't equipped," He said. Oh yeah… I didn't reply. I spotted the bouquets of flowers as I made my way there, to try and spot a bunch out that would look nice. A lot of them were pretty bouquets, but some were overpriced, mainly the arrangements of roses. My eyes peered out for a bunch that looked similar to my measly five daisies that I bought off of the random man on the street. My shoulders steadily sunk as my eyes couldn't seek out any flowers with the similar colors or the navy blue. Even just one navy blue flower… I thought.

"Never mind…" I said, walking away. "There's nothing I really want to get him here…" I said, as my eyes locked onto something behind the glass on the counter. I froze for a second in time. Kato seemed to observe this. It was a small assortment of wrenches that I saw here the last time we were in the store. My mouth curved down. This wasn't the time to get something for yourself, I thought. But sure enough, when it was bluntly obvious to Kato, he ushered me to the counter. This was really starting to weird me out, I thought. On the other hand though…

"It looks nice…" I said quietly. Apparently, it was on clearance- priced at twenty dollars.

"Would those aid you in some way?" Kato asked. I looked up and shrugged.

"It's not like I totally need them, I have my own tool box… even though it's slightly limited at the moment…" My voice trailed off.

"To build and fix things?" He asked. I rubbed my neck.

"It's not like I've had much time nor energy to actually fix anything with you guys but… I did enjoy fixing and building things back in Winters… it helped me think and keep my mind off of my problems," I said smiling nostalgically thinking back at those nights with Tony and I staying up together. Kato soon snapped me out of my reverie.

"May we buy this?" Kato asked the lady at the counter. I became baffled.

"No no, that's Ness's money, don't waste it on me!" I said, waving my hands in front of me. However, as embarrassing it was, Kato made it even more-so as he suddenly grabbed one of my wrists gently to gain access to the cash in my shirt pocket. Not meaning to, I flushed slightly, as he took out the two ten dollar bills.

"The fact that you aren't really fighting back either means you're paranoid about any form of violence today, you really do want the tool set, or both," He said in a lighter tone, handing the woman the cash as he got the arrangement set of wrenches wrapped delicately in a blue plastic sleeve that could fold and button like a wallet. He dangled the set between us.

"You really do need to realize that if you don't think of your priorities more, you're also bringing ours down, as harsh as that may sound. But on a lighter tone, if you think about what you need and maybe want a little bit more and actually work to obtain them, or even just ask, maybe in the end you won't feel like such a dead weight to us. Think about it. Sure, maybe you're a bit smarter than I am, but all three of us have magical abilities. As much as you think Ness is the most vulnerable one right now, you're not much better off. You don't have much to fend off with anyways right now, so if you think a simple tool set can help you right now, then why not? Ness didn't tell us the atm number to us for nothing, he cares for us and our needs, and we care for his," Kato explained, dropping the set into my hands. Baffled by his long speech, I looked down at the set of tools in my hands. As much as I would have liked to believe him, I frowned to myself.

"Yeah but… I always feel bad using others to obtain personal gain… I don't think it's right," I said. Kato frowned slightly.

"Don't you ever think about what others want to do for you rather than seeing it as stealing?" He asked. I looked at my tools again, gaining the feeling that I didn't really want to let go of them, but the feeling was unsettling still. Kato sighed.

"Anyways, it felt good while it lasted. I never felt like I was able to do that much back home… let's see what else this place has to offer," Kato smiled to me. I looked at him blankly. Why was he being so generous all the sudden?

"Hey… you ok?" Kato raised an eyebrow waving his hand in front of my face.

"Ah… yes…" Kato smiled.

"Aight, show me more of your culture," He said, walking towards the next set of escalators. A small smile crept up on me. It was as if the mysterious violent Kato I met the first night was gone… he had been steadily disappearing, but it was the first time I really noticed it.

"Kato?" Kato looked back at me, as I walked up beside him.

"Don't ever do that again," I replied, smiling up to him. Kato smirked at me. I was sure he understood that I was thanking him.

xxxxx

The rest of the time was kind of boring, at least to me. Kato seemed to be interested in this whole "different culture" thing. It was ironically funny how the two of us would switch the escort role once and a while. It made me laugh a little, to see him struggle with our culture's way of life. Though, admittedly, I was a bit alarmed when he took one of the display baseball bats and swung it around, as if he was in combat.

"What are you doing? You'll get us kicked out!" I said, dodging out of his way as he swung the baseball bat towards me.

"I'm testing it for Ness; I didn't realize they sold combat weapons for him here too!" He replied. I growled.

"It's a baseball bat!- Ack, no don't hit that!" I said stopping him by grabbing his wrist. Kato looked down at me.

"You'll get us kicked out Kato, let me put it back," I sighed. Kato was un-responsive, and he didn't quite understand the situation apparently, but I was thankful that he actually let me; he really seemed serious about hitting something with it! I had shivered when I put the bat back, receiving some awkward glances in the process.

Well… besides the baseball bat incident, it was kind of amusing. Seeing him touch the collection of soft plush animals, he seemed mesmerized by the texture I guess. He grabbed a purple bear with a dark purple bow tie and he showed it to me.

"Would this aid Ness in his quest?" Kato asked, almost with puppy eyes, as he squished the bear again. On the corner of my eyes I could see a mother and a group of kids looking and pointing at Kato's strange appearance. I chuckled slightly.

"Maybe for distraction purposes… you really want to get it?" I asked. Kato turned the bear's face towards him as he tired focusing into the eyes of the stuffed animal. Really? A look of empathy appeared on his face.

"It's very cute," He added. I snorted.

"Hah… yes, I suppose so," I replied. Kato again ran his fingers through the plush fabric of the stuffed toy.

"I wonder what it could be used for?" He asked. I smiled slightly.

"I don't know… comfort?" I said. He kept looking into the stuffed animal… so strangely, I thought. He looked serious, as if he was trying to focus deeply on something as he gazed into it. I sighed.

"We'll get it… but that's it, I wanna get back, I feel guilty as it is playing ditch with you," I said, taking the ten out of my pocket and handing it to the employee. As I did so, I caught a glimpse of the door that led to the room where the alien hurt Ness and I. A small shiver went down my spine as I remembered that. I turned around, and Kato was holding his forehead, for some weird reason. I cocked my head.

"You ok?" I asked. Kato took a small moment to close his eyes.

"Kato…?" Kato looked down at me again, slowly taking his hand away. He was holding the stuffed animal by the arm, like a little kid would.

"Yes… I'm fine," He replied. I soon noticed that he was holding something else. Something that looked like a stone. Though it looked slightly different, it reminded me of the sound stone. I frowned slightly.

"Do you have a sound stone as well, or is that Ness's?" I asked. Kato shook his head.

"This isn't his stone, but it holds a similar purpose," He replied. A similar purpose eh?

"PSI-related?" I asked. Kato smiled.

"Ah." A slight bit of sympathy crept up on me. While it must have been convenient, at times, to have PSI, it almost seemed like a chore that not many others would know about. I pitied the three of them in that sense. But if Ness and Kato needed stones, why didn't Paula? Was she just pure or something?

"It helps me focus," Kato responded. Shivering slightly, I inwardly freaked out. It was almost as if he read my mind.

"I-I see." Kato took a deep breath through his nose as he let his eyes close for a second. I frowned.

"Is it hard?" I asked.

"Hmm?"

"To use PSI I mean… you were just like me at one point, weren't you?" I asked. Kato took out his water bottle he had been lugging around with him on his belt and took a drink. He shrugged.

"Not sure," He responded.

"Ahh…" My mind went back in time.

"I'm not saying that humans can't learn this so called PSI…" Pokey spoke in my memories.

"Anyways… we should be going back now… I feel dumb leaving the two of them by themselves for this long…" I said. Kato shrugged again.

"Why do you feel guilty? Ness and Paula wanted us to have a break, so I followed through." I frowned.

"You sound like you're trying to be a servant or something…" I said. Kato opened one eye at me, his white eye to be exact.

"I-I mean, yeah, sure team work, I get it, but… just because they say something doesn't mean you should do it, right?" I asked. Kato however, didn't respond to my question, and instead took another gulp of his water as we descended down some escalators. Again, I felt sort of embarrassed... dumb? Now that I thought of it… none of that question made much sense at the time.

Kato was a different sort of character all together, and I wasn't used to speaking to his type. He was very secretive about what he was thinking. I thought… what was he thinking? My thoughts trailed off slightly.

"So… you're a prince?" I asked, trying not to look at him. Kato sighed softly.

"Yes…" I kept silent for a moment.

"Sorry… I won't ask any more questions," I said. Yet again, Kato didn't say anything back. It was starting to make me nervous… and I didn't quite know why. When we made it back down to the third floor, Kato and I made our way to the other set of escalators when I randomly spotted something fall out of a lady's purse.

"Hold on for a second Kato," I told him as I picked up what seemed to be a identification card of some kind. When I looked up, the lady was making her way into the clothes store. Pacing up to her, I stopped her.

"Wait ma'am, I think you dropped this," I spoke after tapping her shoulder. She took a moment to register the card in my hand.

"Ahh… yes, this is mine," she said as she snatched the card out of my hand. However, without saying any kind of thank you or anything, she went back to her business. I frowned slightly. Maybe she wasn't having a great day, I thought, turning back around only to see Kato about to step onto the escalator after a crowd of people without me. I bit the inside of my cheek. If he was such an escort, I thought, why did he constantly continue without me?

"Kato, wait for me!" I said, jogging up to him as he stepped onto the ride down. He didn't seem to notice that I was rushing up to him, until it seemed too late, and in that moment, everything happened too fast for me to recall. I gasped.

My foot tripped over part of the metal flooring that happened to stick up slightly right before the escalator, which caused my entire upper body to catapult itself head first, down the set of moving stairs. But before I made my nasty tumble down the stairs, someone's quick reflex prevented that, as their strong arm slung quickly around my upper torso. I could feel gravity trying to pull myself through the grip, but it was too strong. However, gravity prevailed at gaining my glasses, as they flung right off of my face, clanking its way down the moving path. I blinked, goose bumps covering my entire body as I was held put. Everything in my sights were now a blur.

"Well that was close," Kato's voice spoke near, but not right against my ear. I bit my lip slightly from the situation.

"Ahh… sorry…" I told him in a shaky voice, trying to look up at him. And again, when I did, his eyes were clear. I looked away immediately, but blinked. "But thanks…"

"We're about to get to the bottom," He told me. "I'll tell you when to step off." I could only nod slightly. What was even more awkward was that his arm was still slung around my shoulders, pretty firmly as well, I thought to myself.

"Alright… step now," He told me. I took a moment to register this before, I almost tripped again. Luckily, my faster reflex kept me from doing so as I found my footing again.

"I… kinda need to see now… do you see my glasses anywhere?" I asked. Despite if I knew if Kato was searching or not, I searched myself, as best as I could, adjusting my sight as well as I could.

"Ah, they're over there," Kato mentioned, as he gestured me to walk with him a few feet away, next to a fern plant. Kato let go of me as he must have leaned down to receive them. He hummed.

"Hmm, they seem kinda loose, are they always like this?" He asked. I frowned slightly.

"Ah yeah… only if they've been under rough use though. It's ok, I know how to adjust them," I replied as I held out my hand to retrieve them. Instead to disbelieve, Kato ended up putting the pair of glasses past my ear instead. I blinked quickly, before looking up at him awkwardly. Kato formed a faint smile when he was sure I could see him.

"Be more careful next time," He told me. In a sense, I wanted to snap at him, because of how he seemed to want to go ahead without me. For some reason, I didn't do so.

"Alright…" I replied as I followed him. I looked at his back as we made our way towards the escalator. Since when did he lead in this place? He was only here once… I was so confused. I put a hand to my forehead. There were too many other things bothering me that kept me from becoming rash with him. Much much worse things in mind, I thought.

"Watch your step," He told me, as he tried slinging an arm around my shoulder. I declined his offer.

"I can get on by myself," I replied awkwardly. Kato shrugged, as he stepped on before me. I bit the tip of my tongue as I relied on the moving railing to guide me onto the last set of moving stairs. Getting on without a problem, I still had the sensation that I was going to fall. Without realizing it, I was holding onto the rail with both of my hands, until we made it to the bottom. I sighed as I got off. Kato waited until I seemed ready. Oh so now he waits… I thought.

"You're waiting now but didn't wait then, what gives?" I asked. Kato shrugged.

"Just making sure you're ok," He replied smirking to himself. My mouth curved down slightly.

"Well stop it, let's just go," I told him, as I led him out of the store. As soon as I was about to walk towards the usual path back, Kato again grabbed my sleeve and dragged me away from the crowd of leaving people.

"Kato, now what?" I asked. "I wanna get back-"

"We are," He replied. Oh… oh. Gritting my teeth in preparation as Kato held firmly onto my grip as we started to dash again the opposite way, knowing that we would get to our destination faster than the crowd.

xxxxx

When we slowed down to a stop, by the time we were there, I felt dizzy, as my sights were swirling in front of me.

"Don't fall now," He told me. I could only groan.

"I… need to lay down I guess," I said, holding my forehead. Damn Ness, I hope I wasn't catching anything related to your sickness!

"Need a lift up to your room?" He asked. Wait what?

"No no… I can manage myself; we can just take the elevator, right?" I asked.

When we walked in again, Kato pointed at the elevators.

Elevators under maintenance, the sign said. Oh yeah…

"Erm… I'm sure I'll be ok," I told him. However, when we made it to the stairs themselves, as I looked up to them, my eyesight swirled again. I grabbed my forehead as I held the railing, walking up the stairs. I guess the teleporting finally got to me, I thought.

"Damn, I should have known something like this would happen," Kato said as he helped to support me. I blinked slightly, not looking back up to him.

"For a normal person, you aren't normal. But your body is finally taking its toll, after all this stress, your system is wanting to crash. I shouldn't have made you teleport either, that was a bad decision. But, 'least we're back, right? And nothing bad has happened either," He replied.

"So… I'm getting sick too?" I asked. Kato sighed. I frowned, becoming slightly uncomfortable with his response. And I was definitely starting to get bugged… kind of scared? Of how he kept coming into physical contact with me… I kept wanting to recoil for some reason.

"I- I can walk up myself," I told him, taking his hand off my shoulder. Kato paused for a moment as he looked down to me. I didn't dare make eye contact with him.

"Well don't fall again," He replied. I bit my lip.

"I… won't." Kato nodded as he walked ahead of me up the stairs. I sighed. At least he didn't seem nearly as bad as I thought he would be…

xxxxx

I wasn't sure if I had felt this emotion before, I was always almost opinionless in the past. This time, I felt anger.

Anger towards my own father.

Who I would have expected to walk in to see me. Who was it instead?

Ness, Tracy and their mother walked into the hospital room, as they discovered me in bed. Tracy held their mother's hand while their mother held a bundle of flowers. Ness had a worried expression, clutching our red yo-yo up near his chest.

"Oh poor Pokey…" Their mother spoke, laying the flowers on the dresser by my bed to lean down on my forehead to kiss me. Tracy almost hid behind their mother. Ness walked up to the other side of my bed, giving me this look I didn't quite understand at the time.

"He doesn't look too hurt… just vewy tired…" Tracy spoke up.

"How are you doing?" Their mother asked. I could only look up to her. Her face was completely clear. So was Tracy's. So was Ness's.

"Just… I don't know what to say right now," I replied. Their mother didn't really know how to respond to that for some reason.

"Pokey…" Ness weeped on my other side. When I looked back to him, Ness slung his arms around my waist to hug me. Without much second thought, I hugged him back… not thinking too much at the situation, until he let go of me and spoke to me with full on eye contact.

"I'm sorry…" He spoke. I looked at him blankly. Or so I thought I was.

I ended up staring into his eyes more than anything. Ness held out the yo-yo, snapping me out of my trance. An uncomfortable expression decorated Ness's face.

"Please get better Pokey… I'm so sorry…" Ness looked down in shame. Putting the yo-yo in my lap.

"I'm sorry, but Pokey needs to be alone now, I'm afraid that I have to ask you to leave now," The nurse spoke, walking inside the room. When I looked at her face, it had started to become fuzzy and unclear as well. Their mother sighed.

"Pokey, when you come home tomorrow, I'm making your favorite meal, I've already arranged the plans with your mother and father… ohh, feel better now!" Their mother… her name was Debbie, that's right. I looked over to Ness again, looking at me with those puppy eyes. All until Debbie dragged the two of them off. Ness's sad- almost puzzled look was the last thing I saw before they left.

I looked down at the yo-yo, running my thumb over its red plastic surface.

"Now, you should rest up right now, because the anesthesia still needs some time to ward off…" The nurse's voice spoke out.

But when I looked up to the nurse, her entire face was gone.

xxxxx

While I opened our door, I could hear mutters on the other side. When I saw Paula and Ness, Paula seemed to be making Ness eat again as Paula looked at us, spoon in hand, which was stuck in Ness's mouth on the other end. Ness looked as if he was protesting, but I inwardly laughed at how silly he looked with a spoon stretching out his cheek.

"You're back! How was it?" Paula said, letting go of the spoon.

"It was alright…" I smiled. Kato yawned.

"Was good while it lasted," Kato said, as he plopped down onto the chair. "Ah Ness, we got you something," Kato reached into the plastic bag for the bear and tossed it to him. Ness caught it, taken aback by the bright purple plush, a strange uncertain look upon his face.

"Hah… a teddy bear… that's cute," Ness said. "But, what do I do with it?" Ness asked. "Not to… thank you," Ness said, trailing off. I soon pulled up a chair.

"Did you rest?" I asked, slightly concerned. "I'm sorry we were gone for a little while…" I looked down in guilt as I was sure Ness was looking at me.

"Ahah, don't look so down, of course I rested," Ness replied. "Do you feel any better?" Ness asked happily. I looked up to him again. Ness was smiling; it was that same smile that always stirred those damn butterflies when I first saw him smile like that. He tilted his head at me. I blushed.

"Yeah, I feel better… thanks," I rubbed the back of my head, taking a glance at the other two in the room. When I saw Kato looking at me, I immediately looked away.

"He's actually a little dizzy… if he takes it easy, I'm sure things will be ok," Kato replied. I furrowed my eyebrows. I was sure because of that, Ness's cute smile went away… I wanted it on his face longer than that.

"I'm fine," I replied to him. "Just because I trip once doesn't mean I'm a total klutz." Kato frowned.

"Fine, but if it's not the case, don't lie to yourself." I sighed. Whatever, I thought. There was a small pause in the room.

"So… what now?" Paula asked.

"Didn't we ask this before?" Ness said.

"Mmm," Kato replied. All of us were silent again, just thinking, I guessed.

"Ahh," Ness said out of the blue.

"Mmm?"

"Jeff, remember that odd-shaped key that we got yesterday? Where did you put it?" Ness asked. It took me a moment to digest what he was suggesting.

"What key?" I asked.

"That carrot-like key," Ness replied. "I think it's important somehow." Oh yeah… that. I hummed.

"Hold on a second," I told him, finding my bag carelessly laying on the ground. When I picked it up, somehow one of the handles slipped out of my hand as I unzipped the bag, making some of the contents fall out of it. I panicked inwardly, as I saw the small little black book fall out along with my glasses case and some supplies. Inwardly freaking out, I snatched up the diary first, and made sure it got safely into my bag before picking up the rest, and then took out the carrot key. I was pretty damn thankful that the yo-yo didn't fall out either.

"You mean this?" I asked, carefully putting the bag down and walking towards Ness's bed. I steered my mind sharply towards the carrot key… oh god.

No no, just because you're in a room full of psychics doesn't mean they can read your mind… I felt the back of my neck sweat.

"You ok?" Ness asked innocently.

"Ahaha, yes yes, I'm fine… just kinda… almost thought it wasn't in there that's all… that would have been really bad," I lied. Fuck, I lied. There you go again Jeff, you dishonest douche bag.

"Oh okay… well yeah, this is it. I wonder what it's for…" Ness said taking the key from me and examining it. "It seems unusual… as if it's not from around here." Paula took the key into her hands and examined it herself.

"Whatever it's used for, why give it such a peculiarly bizarre design?" She asked, handing the key to Kato. Kato held it out away from him and studied it. And for a moment, I could have sworn a look of realization appeared. Soon followed by a hum of recognition.

"This looks like the missing key that goes to those statues…" Kato barely mumbled.

"Statues?" Paula asked. Kato twirled the key around in his hand.

"That's right… in Dalaam." The three of us looked at each other.

"Does that mean we need to go to where you came from?" Ness asked.

"It's possible… it's a good thing I can teleport too, eh?" Kato smiled to Ness casually. For some reason however, when Kato's eyes turned to mine, it seemed darker than usual. I glanced away quickly. Why couldn't I look at Kato that much then?

"Yeah… that'll come in handy. I hope another piece is there," Ness smiled as he let himself plop down onto the bed. "I don't know if I want to teleport myself anytime soon anyways…" He must have been remembering yesterday.

"I'm sure it'll be fine when you get better," Paula added.

"Don't worry about anything today Ness, I urge you to recover. It'll help your performance if you get a full one," Kato added as he stood up and put the key on the dresser. "Mmm' gonna meditate for a little bit," Kato said as he started to walk out of the room.

"Guess I better go too, I can't let him go off on his own," Paula said.

"Hey Paula?" I asked.

"Hmm?"

"Thanks… thanks for watching Ness for a little bit I mean," I replied. Paula smiled.

"It's no biggie. If you need us, call," She smiled sweetly before leaving the room. I sighed.

"So… how was it?" Ness asked.

"Hmm?"

"With Kato I mean… I know you don't really trust him… but me and Paula thought it would be good if the two of you got to know each other a little more," Ness looked up to me without turning his head on the pillow.

"It was ok… nah, you're right, he's not that bad," I said.

"Hah… not that bad? Is there something that still bothers you about him?" He asked. I bit my lip.

"It's ok… I kinda feel the same I guess. He's really secretive. He does anything I tell him to though, but we don't know much about him… it's a little strange," He said.

"Yeah…" I said. "But he's kind, right?" I asked, more questioning than anything.

"Yeah, he is…" I wasn't very sure with my response.

"What, did he do anything weird?" Ness asked. I shook my head immediately.

"Well eh… he was kinda funny trying to grasp what it's like to live in a city like Fourside," I laughed slightly.

"Aha… I bet," Ness said before sighing. "Mmm still tired… you must be tired to, right?" Ness said, looking up at me again.

"I am… I don't know if I'd be able to fall asleep again though," I replied.

"Well… whenever you do want to rest, I can move over," he replied. I smiled.

"Don't worry about it quite yet," I told him. I glanced over to the clock, which had read four-thirty-five. I had plenty of time to work on that bazooka, I thought to myself…

"I miss mom and dad again," Ness said randomly, turning on his side to face me.

"I'm sorry… do you want to visit your mom again before we head to Dalaam when you're better?" I asked. Ness shook his head slowly.

"I mean… I want to see mom and dad together again… dad's always gone. And now I am too… I worry sometimes about them," He said. Another twinge of guilt passed through me. I don't know if I could ever understand the hardships Ness has to deal with…

"But… it's wrong of me to say that to you since…" Ness sunk under the covers slightly. I smiled.

"Nah, it doesn't matter either way," I replied. Ness frowned.

"I'm sorry…"

"Nah," I replied. And then for a moment, Ness and I just took the moment to stare at each other. I didn't know what else to really say… or what to do then.

"You look tired, are you sure you don't want to rest?" Ness asked. I shook my head, and got up. Walking up to his bedside, I let my hand touch his forehead. Ness blinked at my action, but his eyes still looked tired and out of energy.

"Nah, just rest for a bit… I'll be right here," I said, looking down to him one last time before walking away. But Ness's hand preventing me from heading further as he claimed it.

"You promise?" Ness asked. My lips parted as I looked back at him. He looked slightly worried, as if he didn't' want me to go.

"Of course." Ness let go slowly before sinking into the covers of his bed.

"I'll stay quiet so it won't bug you too much," I said before claiming my bag and my broken bazooka, as I got to work.

"I'd rather hear you work so it'll help me fall asleep faster," Ness replied. My heart fluttered slightly. Even though I wasn't sure how he meant it, I took it as a form of flattery.

"Ok, I'll work like I usually do," I chuckled.

xxxxx

I couldn't figure it out. The bazooka that is.

It was a pain, I thought. I tried not to growl in frustration, I didn't want Ness to hear me upset, that was the last thing I wanted at the time. Sure maybe I never had the luxury of touching a bazooka in school, but you'd think reading all the scientific books in school would help… but no.

It was just working not long ago, right? So why did it all the sudden crap out on me like that? It also made me wonder why I found it where I did… ultimately, I wondered who made it. I looked at the label again. Bazooka 300…

It better not have been something my dad created, I thought to myself. Even so, while these negative thoughts about my dad ran around through my head, I still took the small booklet of notes in my hand. My dad's writing was so slanted and hard to read, I thought…

I flipped the page again, noticing a sticky note plastered on the written page. It was a note… an old note to himself-

Don't forget to buy the bouquet of flowers for Mother's Day.

I paused, taking the note in for myself. A strange emotion… but a familiar one took over again. Anger? Pity? I wasn't sure…

Preventing myself from diving into more emotions, I turned the page again, only to find something else out of the ordinary.

A small slip of paper, folded together. Curiosity got the best of me as I immediately took the slip of paper in hand, opened it up to read it…

It was a letter… a letter I didn't really understand. It looked like a professional one though… or a failed attempt at one. It was stained with coffee, I thought. Maybe he had to write another one…

Hello again,

This is just another letter asking about how the dungeon man project is going. I've been very busy lately planning for the Phase Disorder Project on my end. From the looks of it, I'm confirming that it's more than possible at this point, and with it I can stop this nightmare-filled catastrophe once and for all. Either way, I hope you're doing well out there. I really hope you're less lonely in the Unforgiving Desert than I am back up in Winters. Isn't it ironic how different our forecasts are? If I'm ever stumped with my own project, I will contact you again to help me solve any puzzles that come along the way. I'd like for you to do the same, I request it. In the meantime, take care for me. And… if you ever see my son again, tell him I said hi… for me… will you? Please?

Your Good Friend,

Dr. Loid Andonuts

Doctor… Loid?

A knock at the door suddenly snapped me back to reality.

"Hey Jeff?" I could hear Kato's voice faintly on the other side of the door. I paused for a second, placing the small notebook somewhere where no one would randomly pick it up.

"Yes?" I asked, opening the door. I had forgotten how much time had passed, it must have been around seven by that time, judging from how dark the room was compared to the lighted hallways.

Kato and Paula waited outside, Paula looking the more anxious of the two.

"Paula wants to talk to you for a little bit. I'll babysit Ness for you," Kato told me.

"Ah… ok?" I wasn't sure why… what was happening?

"Oi, don't take too long," Kato said before walking in the room past me. I closed the door behind me. I turned to Paula, who in return smiled.

"Let's walk for a little bit," Paula said.

"O...kay?" I said, letting her lead the way down the hallway.

"Ummm… is something up?" I asked her. Paula took my hand.

"So, did you give him the yo-yo?" She asked. I bit my lip. Oh…

"No… why?" I asked.

"Well Ness seemed pretty happy today while you two were out. Very happy." Oh…

"Hah… that's good…" Oh Jeff you imbecile, didn't you realize already that Paula can see through you at all times? I thought. Paula looked up to me. Oh god Jeff, think of something else… puppies. Oh man puppies… think of all those… puppies…

"P… puppies?" Paula spoke out loud. My mouth sucked in, feeling the ever so nervous chills on the back of my neck. Suddenly Paula's eyes narrowed.

"You're hiding something…" She smiled.

"I am not," I stated unconvincingly.

"Are too." Urrggggh… I tried not growling, but my expression showed it. Paula giggled.

"You're adorable," she smiled, just like how Ness smiled to me. Both of them were cute when they did it… cept Paula was more cutesy-cute at doing it.

"Ahahaha… can we not talk about the things between Ness and I? It really makes me uncomfortable…" I asked. Paula however hummed.

"Obviously," She said. "Don't worry, Kato has no clue about any of this."

"Yeah, he better not know anything… that would be more than awkward," I said.

"So… you can't say anything?" She asked.

"Honestly, what can I really say? I don't know what to say… can't you talk about this to…" Before finishing my sentence, I slapped myself in the face, letting it linger there until I let it slide down my nose; knowing exactly the direction I just took this in. Accidentally.

"I knew it," Paula replied.

"I know you do…" I said uncomfortably. "I'll leave it up to your imagination."

"Hah… my 'imagination' happens to be a pretty realistic one, so it's not a problem," She winked at me. That little bugger, I thought… reading into my mind.

"Ahh, I get it I get it… you pretty much know everything about me, just by looking at me, don't you?" I asked her. She smiled happily.

"I know everything about the good sides of people, just by looking at them," She replied. So… having a little crush affair was good, eh?

"I… yes you do," I replied. Paula smiled.

"This is great! Maybe the two of you will end up being happier in the long run…" She said. "That would really help with the hardships in the future." What? If anything… I was sure things would be more complicated.

"I get it, you're talking more on Ness's account, aren't you? So… I made him happier?" I asked. Paula smiled again. I flushed.

"Well…" I looked up, scratching my chin, thinking to myself, hoping that she wouldn't read me. I really think things would be more complicated after this…

"I'm not very good at keeping commitments though Paula… it's gonna-"

"Do you care for him?" She asked.

"What? Yes, of course I care for him…"

"Then there's nothing to worry about," She said. My lips stayed parted. I did my best to keep my mind in the present, and not let it drift into any thoughts that Paula could dig into…

"If you say so," I adjusted my glasses again.

"Give him the yo-yo. It's really nice…" She said.

"Hah, you think so? I hope… he doesn't mind that I messed with his own property," I said. Paula laughed.

"Is that really what's bothering you?" She asked. I bit my lip.

"Haha… no," I said. "Ok ok, fine, I'll show it to him tonight… you better know what you're doing," I told her. Paula's smile was enthusiastic, as she guided my hand back to our room.

"Good, I promise, he'll love it," She said. My stomach flopped. I really hope so, I thought.

"Hey… Paula?" I asked, as we made it half way to the hotel room.

"Hmm?" I bit my lip.

"I… I don't know what I got myself into to be honest," I told her. Paula paused, looking at me with slight surprise and concern.

"I don't know if this is right or correct… why did I start liking Ness like this?" Paula cocked her head.

"I… thought you told me?" She added. I frowned.

"Yeah, I know but…" I ran my fingers through my hair. "I'm… kind of scared Paula. I'm scared that I've caused something horrible." Paula took a moment to study me, before she frowned.

"Don't… don't you dare compare yourself to him," She said. My eyes fluttered open. What…?

"Don't… you're nothing like him," She said. I finally shook violently.

"Hah… do you really think so…? I've been wondering about it for a long time now…"

"You're disgusting…" Pokey spoke into my thoughts. Paula took my hand again.

"You have something Ness desperately needs that Pokey could never offer," She told me.

"And what is that…?" I asked. She smiled, looking into my eyes.

"Trust." Trust? I lied… all the time.

"You only lie when you want to protect the people around you… and you do a really bad job at doing so haha," Paula giggled, reading my mind. I smiled slightly.

"Awww, well… ok," I said. "Thanks… Paula." Paula knocked at the door.

"It's all good, now do what you need to do," She said. "This might be your one and only chance." Ahh…

Kato opened the door.

"Hey, welcome back," He said. Paula smiled.

"Ok, I need to use your restroom… it shouldn't take too long," Paula said wincing slightly as she rushed inside. I could only crack a smile.

"I'll just wait out here," Kato said, walking out. I could only nod to him, closing the door slightly. Tip-toeing in, I wasn't sure if Ness was awake or not, but from the looks of it, he was still napping. Poor Ness, I thought. Kneeling down to my stuff again, I thought about just putting everything away and giving up for the night… My hand drifted over towards my father's notes… the letter still lingering on the corner of my mind… so he did have a name, I thought.

I was pretty oblivious at the small moment, putting my new tools Kato had "bought" for me at the department store, and placed them delicately in my bag, along with the book of notes where I usually put it, in the same pocket as Pokey's Diary…

I froze.

... It was this pocket, right? Searching madly now through my bag, trying to find the right pocket with the diary, my eyes widened in shock.

It was missing. Oh god no.

Looking madly over my shoulder at Ness's bed, I had to keep as quiet and unsuspicious as possible. He didn't take it without me noticing, did he? No… it was in there just now, I saw it while I was working… My head turned towards the door.

Without shocking him, I flung the door open. And to my disbelief, I saw exactly what I could have been speculating.

Kato was casually leaning against the wall, black leather diary in hand as he thumbed through another page. My face grew hot with anger.

"Give that back right now," I spoke in a low bitter tone, marching up to him to snatch the book. Calmly, Kato lifted the book above the both of us, while putting out a strong but firm hand to keep me from at bay. He looked me in the eye.

"Why?" He said. I gritted my teeth.

"I can't tell you, now give it here!" It was hard, keeping my voice at a low I thought, as I reached madly up to his hands. But almost pathetically easily, Kato kept it out of arms reach.

"What are you doing! Can't you respect other people's privacy?" I jumped madly. Then the unexpected. Kato grabbed me by the collar of my shirt. Jerking forward, I met his eyes again.

"What is this?" He asked, in a freakishly low tone of voice. I paused, finally feeling our gazes clash. Kato however, was strong enough to not look away. I bit my lip. Oh no no, this was not happening…

"I… I can't tell you," I replied. My breathing felt shallow then, almost as if I was panicking. Oh god, I was panicking then… the secret was out. And pretty soon Paula, or possibly Ness was going to walk out and figure out what I had been lugging around with me this entire time…

"Why can't you tell me?" He asked. I gritted my teeth.

"Kato, please stop… give it back," I said. All Kato could do however was stare at me. His stare was creepy, I thought. Very strong, and I felt as if I had let him into my mind now without wanting to. He broke through my eyesight now, and now I was to pay for those consequences. Why was I so pathetic?

"If this has something to do with Ness, then you better show him," He told me. I bit my lip.

"No… I can't show him yet. He's not… he's not ready I don't think," I replied. Kato sneered for a moment.

"He's not ready? Or are you not ready to reveal the fact that you've been hiding something big behind our backs this entire time?" He replied. I paused. He was right.

"I saw you panicking earlier about this thing falling out of your bag… we're a team, we shouldn't have to hide anything from anyone. Either you get rid of this, or you suck it up and tell all of us," He said. I looked down in frustration. Ness, I thought…

"I'm sorry… I can't get rid of it… nor can I tell anyone. That… that book could hold every single answer we've been looking for," I confessed. Kato glared.

"Then don't be a traitor and keep it all to yourself," He replied. Traitor? I could hear Paula finishing up in the bathroom, I thought.

"I haven't told Ness because… for his protection. He's been through a lot, I really think that now is not the best time," I told him, finally trying to look him into the eye now. Kato raised his eyebrow. Both of us looked to the door.

"Then… if this is how you want to play, we have to make a little deal," He said. I bit my lip. A deal? I didn't like the sound of this…

"… Fine," I replied. Kato looked around him.

"It's simple- if you want this book back, you have to tell everyone what's inside these pages," He said. "Especially Ness." Fuck…

"In the meantime, I will hold on to this book. I promise you, Paula, and Ness that this book won't see the light of day, ever, until you decide it's time to show everyone what you've been hiding from us," He said.

"But… what if Ness finds it in your stuff? Apparently from what you're saying, it's perfectly a-ok to just go through other's stuff, and-"

The door opened, Paula's head peeked through the door.

"Hey… is something the matter?" She said. I would have turned around to give her a horrified expression… now that I knew that these PSI-freaks could look right through me… or at least Kato… and Paula with my good side, I didn't dare turn my head towards her. Kato had immediately hidden the book away before Paula could see, or at least I suspected. Kato was very skilled at changing moods.

"It's alright here Paula… let's go back and rest for tomorrow," He smiled. Paula smiled back.

"Jeff," Paula said, trying to get my attention. Still, I didn't turn around. Paula walked in front of me.

"Jeff?" Paula said, again looking at me. I quickly change my expression. You're lying again Jeff, I thought. But to protect others… right?

"Hey… good night Paula. You need a good rest too," I said calmly. Paula observed me for a moment. Randomly, out of the blue, Paula wrapped her arms around my torso. Taken aback slightly, I returned the favor.

"You need the most rest out of all of us now… good night Jeff," Paula said, letting go as she followed Kato. Trying not to glare at the newly bastard-badge worthy… bastard, Kato flashed me a smile, as I saw him sneak the book into one of his side pouches.

"Good night, Jeff," Kato smiled calmly. "Thanks for the good day today," He said. I stayed silent. This was really bad, I thought. What if Kato was… bad? What if Kato was lying… what if he was working for Pokey all this time…

Or maybe… what if he thought the same exact thing about me? I bit my lip. This was all so complicated now…

When I was sure that the two of them were off this floor for the night, I took the moment to let my anger out, silently if I could. However, I ultimately couldn't help myself punching the wall. Wincing at the dumb idea, feeling the pain in my knuckles… I chose not to cry, I didn't need to. But I had to get that diary back… I couldn't trust him after that. Ultimately… I couldn't let Ness lay his eyes on them… not now…

So was all that at the department store just… a joke? I didn't understand what was to happen after then…

"How can I trust anyone to keep their word now… I can't trust anyone anymore," I told myself. That wasn't entirely true… I thought… but the people I trusted were the ones that couldn't know, I thought. But what ultimately let me have permission to know? Why did Picky give me permission to look, and hold the damn thing? I should have given the book to Ness in the first place… with Picky present, I thought. Not to keep it secret from him… fuck. I took my glasses off to let my hand slide down my face. What was I going to do?

"He is partly right… maybe I should just forget about that sick fuck for a while," I ranted under my breath. "For Ness's sake… for everyone." My thoughts trailed to the many faces I've seen so far on this trip… so many more that I'll be seeing too, I thought. Who could I trust, and who could I not? Could I even trust myself…?

I paused at that thought. I growled in frustration.

"Maybe he is right…" I said, finally deciding to walk back through the ajar door into the room. Randomly, I remembered that this entire day, I had been in my pajamas pants and white t-shirt…

The room was dark, but I still managed to navigate across the room, rubbing my eyes in the process. I had to lay down… while more than half of me wanted to snatch the book back away from Kato… from Poo. Poo, I thought. Poo… a small dark smile crept up on my expression.

He's hiding something too, I thought. And if he even dared to let my secret out… then his would have to go as well. I sighed, feeling slightly better. That was it, I thought. That was my little promise to myself… we knew each other a little bit more that night. And as I rubbed my glasses with the eye-glass cleaner my thoughts finally drifted to other subjects… or another topic that linked to the last.

"Loid…" I mumbled out loud.

"Jeff?" I heard a cute mumble speak from the bed. I turned my head back to the bed. Surely, Ness was sitting up; looking down to me, to see what was going on.

"You seem really troubled… are you ok?" He asked worryingly. I smiled slightly.

"Nah… everything's fine," I said lightly, turning around, sitting down to face him. "How are you doing?" I asked. Ness paused to study me for a moment. Everyone was studying me today, I thought. But for some reason then, I felt more comfortable, with my last conclusion, it didn't bother me one bit. Ness was acting adorable lately anyways. I smiled as he lowered his chin.

"Good… I'm kinda awake now though… I don't know how I can sleep tonight haha," Ness replied.

"I see…" I replied, standing up to walk over to his bedside. Ness seemed to observe my every move, as he prepared for my hand against his forehead. Ness's eyes were averted from mine.

"You still feel warm, but you're better than before," I told him. Ness frowned.

"Aww…" He said. I took my hand away, looking at him in the dark.

"What?" I chuckled. Ness glanced up, but looked away again.

"I just need to get better, that's all," He replied.

"Haha… you are getting better, remember? Paula could touch you today… that's great progress… I'm really proud," I told him, sitting next to him on the small mattress. Ness was strangely shy in that moment. I wondered why?

"When I do get better… I wonder how things will pan out from now on…" He said. I sighed, thinking of all the same kind of crap that's been happening myself.

"I honestly can't tell you…" I responded.

"I'm pretty scared…" Ness said. I frowned, feeling guilt rise in me.

"I'm tired of fighting my childhood friend… I don't understand anymore. One moment he wants… me to be his friend, the next he hurts me… I'm tired of Giygas too… Mmm' tired of PSI…" Ness mumbled, half ranted. My thoughts trailed to the yo-yo, keeping it in my thoughts. Ness cuddled a pillow close to his chest. "Do I bug you when I rant about this kind of stuff…?"

"What? No, of course not…" I replied. "I just… everything you say, I agree with... well the things I can understand I mean. I don't really know what I can say about PSI…" I said. "I just don't want to indulge into the topic too much… I don't like seeing you sad either," I said, looking down in shame. Ness paused, looking over towards me.

"Well… after saying what I just did… I am a little sad," Ness mentioned. "So… what are you going to do about it?" He added. I looked up with more open, aware eyes. Ness was now looking down in shame.

"I…" My mouth curved down. This was it, I thought. This was that one chance to show him how much I cared... I got up. Ness watched me walk away to my bag.

"Jeff?"

"You… saved me way back then. Forgiving me for something that I had always thought was my fault… even if that sounds stupid, it's true," I said rummaging through my bag until I found it. "It's about time… I do… somewhat, the same thing for you," I replied, feeling my heart swell up as I got back to his bed side, looking down at my hand before handing him the small yo-yo. I was so nervous of his reaction…

Ness looked at my palms blankly. Oh no, I thought… Ness slowly brought out his own hand to claim the red yo-yo… he did it so carefully too, almost as if he was holding something completely fragile that belonged to him, as if it could break at any moment.

"This… were they selling these at the store? Haha…" I stayed silent, as I watched him thumb over the smooth plastic surface of its side, before poking a finger through the loop of the yo-yo.

"I had one just like this actually… it broke though…" He said, smiling sarcastically. I bit my lip. He was oblivious… I watched him, smiling nostalgically as he let the toy fall and spring back up into his hand. I didn't know how to respond. He was completely unaware… or so I thought.

"Haha… it works well too," He said again, something different arousing in his voice. A glance at his eyes and a tear started to drip down his cheek.

"Ness…" Ness brought the toy back up wound into his hand, holding it.

"It doesn't feel new though… the plastic, I mean…" He mentioned. I sighed uncomfortably, watching his chin drift down as he looked at the toy in his hands. He might have started to get the idea. I don't know what drove me, but my hand reached for his face again, but towards a more delicate feature. Tilting Ness's sights towards mine, I looked calmly into him.

"It… was used. It's yours. I found it broken… so… thought I'd might fix it for you," I told him the best I could without becoming sidetracked. The butterflies felt horrible then, as the two of us gazed again. Ness looked like he was at a loss of words. So was I… Ness's lips were lush and parted, I thought. I ultimately frowned at myself. This was a dumb idea…

"I… I'm…" I struggled. I was about to walk away in shame, turning around. "Sorry… it was stupid of me…"

Ness quickly snatched my hand before I could walk off… squeezing it firmly.

"Jeff, wait…" I looked slowly back to Ness, this look on his face I still couldn't quite decipher. It was that same look that he had last night… tired but longing.

"Please come back," He said quietly. I frowned. I put my hand on my forehead, looking back down at him tiredly. Ness stood up in front of me, wobbling at first. But soon, he put himself forward, embracing me, leaning the side of his head against mine as he let his chin rest upon my shoulder.

"I… thank you," He said. "I… I love it." It was so hard for the both of us to express ourselves with each other, I thought. So much to say yet… nothing's really been said. Maybe that was why Ness did what he did next.

"Hey…" Ness spoke, breaking the contact, looking at my dreary eyes. He frowned.

"I don't know why you're suddenly looking so down but… can I… do something? Or… can we do something?" Ness asked. Do something? Do what…

"Huh…?" I spoke nervously. Ness smiled.

"Sit down," He said, still holding my hand as he sat down on the mattress. What did he want to… do? Ness patted the space next to him.

"Okay…" I said, sitting down next to him slowly. "Uhh… what do I do?" My voice shook slightly. Ness didn't look much better either.

"Can we…?"

"Can we?" I repeated.

"…Can we touch foreheads again, like we did this morning?" Ness asked, tilting his head to watch my reaction. Oh… I thought.

"I… uh, sure… I guess," I chuckled nervously. A small smile appeared on Ness, as he leaned in without a second thought, planning his forehead against mine, eyes still looking at each other. I could feel Ness's nose nestle next to mine as his smile grew bigger. He looked so goofy… it only made me smile as well.

"You're weird," I joked. "Not that I don't like that…" Ness laughed.

"I do this all the time with Paula… I've done it once with Kato… it's kinda just a PSI thing… we share each other's thoughts and powers with each other at a low frequency… it separates us from reality and it helps me relax," He replied, breathing in through his nose. Oh…

"So… I'm not capable, right?" I said. Ness hummed.

"I wouldn't say that… you can talk to Paula through telepathy… I think you have it somewhere in you," He replied. Ahh…

"So… you can… read my thoughts?" I suddenly became cautious again. "Can all of you read my every thought… just by looking at me?" I asked. Ness rotated his head slightly.

"It depends…" Ness replied. "Paula for example… she can see everything positive about what someone is thinking… nothing bad." I thought for a moment.

"And… you?" I asked. Ness paused. And in response, he removed his forehead from mine.

"Honestly, I've been kind of nervous to really try… you're tricky for me," Ness replied. So… I was mysterious to him?

"Kato likes to have staring contests with me, and sometimes he wins… it's scary when he does," I responded. Ness was silent, glancing up at me. I bit my lip.

"Hey Ness…? Remember back at your house when I asked you to look into my eyes and… we almost… anyways… I have a theory," I told him. Ness tilted his head.

"A theory?" I hummed.

"Remember Demetri when he became the invisible man?" I asked. Ness parted his lips.

"Yeah… what about him?"

"Well… did I ever tell you about what he told me once…? If I haven't, it was dumb of me not to… I mean, I… anyways. He said that there were four sets of eyes that could seek the true evil power… he's referring to us," I said. Ness tilted his head.

"You can see the bad in people and objects… and he said I can see their weaknesses. So… I can only guess that Paula can see the good in others and Kato… I'm not entirely sure. Maybe strength? Haha… I don't know," I rambled. Ness paused at this thought.

"I think it could be true," Ness said, looking a tad bit sad. I looked up to him again.

"I don't really know exactly how they or we work though… I guess over time, we can get a better understanding. We're… a pretty complicated bunch, aren't we?" I said. Ness took a moment before smiling softly again.

"Thank you… for saying that," Ness smiled. I could only smile in return.

"Of course," I responded. "But I wouldn't take my word as fact… ah, you know, haha," I scratched my neck.

"I'm sorry if you feel threatened by our PSI sometimes… we don't mean it, honestly," Ness mentioned. I paused.

"Hah… haha, you really think that? No, you guys are great, really," I smiled. Ness seemed to look at me again, almost as if he wanted me to continue. So I did.

"I mean… I've gotten used to the fact that I can't use PSI… and… we're helping each other out… aren't we?" I asked. Ness tilted his head again. I blushed slightly at his expression.

"Still… I'm sorry…" I shook my head.

"It's a pleasure being with you," I replied. Pleasure? … I hadn't thought of what I said, until it was said.

"A pleasure…?" Ness asked. I breathed in. Nodding.

"Yes… it's a pleasure," I responded again. How else would I be able to explore not only the world and others… but myself? Ness had that look again. That look where he was thinking of something.

"Close your eyes…" Ness spoke softly. I frowned.

"What? Why…" I asked, feeling nervous again. Ness formed a small smile.

"It won't hurt… just close your eyes…" He said. I wouldn't hurt? Uhhh…

"I… ok?" I said, feeling my eyes flutter closed. But of course as a cheating child, I still had them barely open… open enough to where my lashes hid my eyes. But Ness could easily see through this tactic, and lightly giggled.

"Jeff, you're peeking," He teased. "Close them, or else I won't do anything." I flushed at that thought. But curiosity immediately K.O.'d the cat…

"Fine…" My voice ultimately shook, as I sealed my eyes shut.

"Now stay still…" He asked. I could only grunt softly in response. A small pause. And that was when I could feel shifting on the bed, it almost felt as if Ness's knees were completely on the bed now, as I could get the sensation that he was leaning up to me. Smelling his warm vanilla scent, his fingers slipped my glasses off, as I would have expected. The movement still made me flinch slightly, but I ultimately obeyed his request.

Yet again… I could feel his forehead lightly planting itself onto my own… but this time, it was completely different than the previous moments.

There was a spark of energy that time… not the kind of spark that would shock you, but it drew you in. Hard for me to describe, but Ness had created a link then, between our minds… Strange, and random thoughts, images, and sounds… tastes and scents circled around into my conscience, both mine, and both things that I had never seen, believing that they had belonged to him. It was almost as if everything present around us was gone, and it was just that moment that existed… nothing more and nothing less.

These were memories, I thought. Our memories… no, there was more. This was something completely different. What was it…? I had the sensation of everything… what did everything look like? Networks and networks of different things- all happening through the world… possibly the universe. Something spiritual? I wasn't very sure…

Voices far off… so many voices that you couldn't focus on one conversation… they were all jumbled. And I could see the stars… telepathically at least. No… we were the stars… weren't we? Even so… I'm asking these questions afterwards… my mind was completely absorbed into that moment, so much that I couldn't ask or answer questions, like I usually could. And… pretty soon those voices were so quiet… so distant that they became white noise, compared to the bond that the two of us shared. …That was it, I thought. It was only us then. Nothing else… Ness's energy was all that was there, besides my own. All of my mind was focused solely on him. And only him.

When I felt his lips barely brushed against my own, I let that barely noticeable feeling linger on my lips a little longer, before touching them with my own, softly. It was forever, as well as no time, that our soft lips exchanged kisses, and small secrets that we weren't really fully aware of. It didn't really matter in the long run… His scent filled my nostrils again, reminding me of the sensation of vanilla ice cream and sweets, melting delicately against my lips.

Our kiss took over the moment, as we pressed harder against each other… but not faster. When Ness finally did take me by surprise again, I could feel the tips of his top teeth nibble softly on my lower lip. Letting him, my tongue darted out slightly, to taste those pearly white teeth of his. Without thinking, my hands snuck around his waist, pulling him in. Ness's soft, smooth exhale tingled my lips, feeling his mouth open against mine. We were so sloppy and nervous… our lips were more than juicy then.

Ness managed to sneak his hands delicately around my jaw, ultimately guiding me to follow him down onto the bed. Before I knew it, I hovered above him, eyes still closed, as I felt my jaw touch the side of his. Pausing for a moment, without opening my eyes, I leaned down to touch it with my lips. A soft mewl escaped his lips, his loose grip trailing around my head, feeling his fingers run slightly through my now messy hair. I let him guide me, as I left a trail of kisses all the way down his neck to the top of his collar bone, and back up, slowly, until I met his soft moist lips again. With my chest against his now, both of our hearts rushed in harmony with the other. I could feel hands sneak behind my head to guide me back around to the other side of his neck. Delicately darting my tongue out, I softly nibbled his more than soft skin… it was almost as if this very spot had never been touched before, and I was the first. I nibbled again, preventing my teeth from marking such delicate skin. Ness's voice seemed to hitch.

"Jeff…" He groaned slightly. Oh god… Feeling the blood rush to my cheeks and the tips of my fingers tingling around his waist still, Ness guided me up to his right ear, as I gained permission… or was physically told to do the same thing that I did for his neck, letting my tongue run up and down his cartilage. Ness took the deepest breath he could in that moment, letting it off in a shaky nervous sigh, as I felt my face geared towards his lips again. This time around, nibbling at his top lip, I planted my forehead against his again, as I let my tongue-

Ringringring! … Ringringring!...

The abrupt familiar phone ring snapped us back into the hotel room, startling the both of us slightly. I opened my eyes finally, arms propping myself up so I hovered over Ness's body just enough to where he was still visible without the aid of lenses. Ness's face then was completely red, eyes half-open as he gazed up at me, almost disappointingly. I probably looked very similar…

Ringringring! Ringringring!

I exhaled nervously again, Ness doing the same. Just for that second, I let my eyes scan him up and down. What were we just…

Ringringring! Ringringring!

"I-I'll get that…" I spoke, voice not sounding like myself at all, as a shaky hand searched the bed for my glasses before ultimately separating myself from Ness. I almost fell, knees wobbling, as if I had forgotten how to walk just from that small intimacy.

The receiver phone, I thought. Who could have been calling the receiver phone now… and why?

Hearing the phone, I heard it near Ness's belongings- I must have given it back last night. Finding the device, I pressed the talk button.

"Hello?"

"H-hi, is Jeff there? This is his friend, Tony…" Oh… it's Tony, I thought to myself. I frowned, feeling my heart sink down into another level. I paused.

"Hello? Is anyone there…?" I acted for a second.

"Ah, hey, Tony… I dropped the phone, sorry…" My eyes drifted over to Ness on the bed. Ness was now sitting up with this uncomfortable, almost sad expression on his face. I bit my lip, when Ness looked up at me. Ness cocked his head slightly. He didn't really know what was going on, I thought.

"Hi Jeff… I would have hung up if no one answered pretty soon," He spoke. Tony sounded slightly sad too… I thought.

"Hey, I know this is rude of me, but could you hang on for a second?" I asked him, covering the speaker part of the phone.

"Hey Ness…? Ummm… I don't know how my friend from school got this number but… I'm going to have to take this call, is that ok? In… private, I mean," I felt utterly horrible right then. Ness however, tossed me a soft smile, cheeks still rosy… he looked darling, despite his sad demeanor.

"It's fine… I don't mind," Ness replied. I smiled, almost leaning in to hover over his forehead to give him a peck on the head, but… instead took my hand to ruffle his hair. I chuckled.

"Aight… sorry 'bout that… so, how have you been?" I asked him, walking towards the bathroom turning on the light switch, before taking one last sympathetic glance towards Ness on the bed.

"I'm… doing alright, I guess," Tony replied. I closed the door behind me.

"You guess?" Tony made an uncomfortable sound on the other line.

"Yeah… just alright," He replied. Oh… I frowned.

"I'm sorry, Tony…" Tony sighed.

"So I called to see how you were doing…" He asked. I put my hand on my forehead.

"Ahh… yes, I'm doing fine, thanks," I replied. A moment of silence.

"Really? You sound… I don't know, you don't sound like yourself again," He replied. Pausing, I couldn't think of anything to really say back.

"Well Tony… I'll be honest, I'm a little different period now…" I sunk down to the floor against the door to lean my chin on my knees.

"Is that so?" Tony sounded disappointed, I thought. "So what have you been doing all this time, buddy?" He asked. I breathed deep out of my nose. Oh Tony, you know, the usual… saving the world, making enemies enough to kill me… oh did I mention that my biggest enemy knows about you and that he could track you down any moment and do god-unnamable horrible things to you? Oh, and I just made out with this really hot psychic boy I'm helping out on the way that I still have mixed, confused and uncontrollable feelings for… you know, the usual. I looked around the bathroom. My heart fluttered slightly, realizing that I had been sitting in the exact spot Ness sat… where I kissed him…

"Jeff?" I shook my head.

"Ah… I…" My fingers squeezed the phone.

"Jeff… you really have changed. What happened to the Jeff that could tell me anything?" He asked. That hurt me. Horribly.

"I… I can't tell you, Tony…" I confessed. Tony grunted.

"And why not? I haven't seen you in… months now, it feels more like years has passed… very miserable years… and you don't even have the decency to tell me why you just suddenly bail out of our lives?" I could hear Tony's voice being effected by tears… I knew that sound in his voice. I paused. Oh, because you know, if I did tell you why I couldn't tell you, then you'd worry, and then I'll worry because, well I don't know how many bad entities are stalking us and tapping into our phone line… But then I thought… well didn't Apple Kid's technology prevent that? Nonsense, I thought.

"Tony… I don't know when I can talk to you again," I responded. A long pause on the line.

"Do you not… want me to be your friend anymore?" He asked. I frowned.

"No… it's nothing like that," I responded. I can't tell you what I've been up to, and I can't tell you why I can't tell you… if that makes any sense… ok?" My voice hitched slightly. "I've been… going through some life-changing situations, ok? I can't… tell you what I've been through. I'm scared to tell you, is that a good enough answer?" I spoke, voice raising slightly.

"Why would you be scared? This is exactly what you pretty much said last time… when you were lost and alone in Summers… god, how did you get all the way down there? And why are you scared to tell me… That's really scary, Jeff… that my own best friend can't tell me anything…" I hugged my knees.

"Please… stop pushing the subject…" My voice sounded just like how it did when I wanted to cry… I ran my palm along the side of my face.

"Fine…" Tony spoke. "But don't expect me to tell you about myself if you won't do the same,"-

"I want to come back…" I spoke, thinking back at the strange man again… Pokey… Kato… Giygas… "I want to come back… I want to be ordinary again. I want to have detention again… I want to see and smell the pine trees of Winters… I want to see Maxwell again… to see you again… but I can't. I just…" I barely muttered, sobbing silently, so Ness couldn't hear.

"Then… I get it," Tony spoke. I was pretty sure he could hear me sob. There was a long pause between us.

"Well… I'm glad that you told me what you've been up to… good ol' buddy of mine…" He spoke slightly optimistically. "I understand… if I could hug you, I would, so let me send one through the phone, ok?" I nodded slowly, pretending a familiar pair of arms wrap around me.

"Thank you…" I responded. "That felt… really nice."

"Good…" He spoke softly. I bit my lip, flexing my toes.

"But… may I ask about you? If… you don't mind…" Tony paused for a moment.

"My grades aren't doing well… one of my teachers kind of hammered the idea in my head that if I couldn't get a higher GPA that I'd get kicked out soon… and… Nathan's been acting kind of weird around me too… I don't know," He spoke. I furrowed my eyebrows.

"If he does anything to you, let me know… I'll kick his ass if he does anything bad," I responded. Tony seemed to chuckle on the other side of the line.

"I thought you said we couldn't see each other again?" He spoke. Oh… I paused.

"Haha… Ah Jeff… at least that sounded like you," He said. I smiled slightly.

"Hah… believe me; I still have some fight in me…" I spoke. "But Tony…"

"What?"

"Maxwell wouldn't be very happy if he saw your report card," I told him. "I would help you with your homework, but… not there to help so… go to Maxwell. He pretty much taught me half of the things I know… if we're talking science." Tony hummed.

"I could try that… or I could just call you again," He responded. He seemed to give off the idea that, even though we might not see each other in a while, he could still call anytime… couldn't he? I smiled nostalgically… but it died down. That's right I thought… me talking to him like this would be bad…

"I don't think you should call me… if you do, only for emergencies… ok?" I told him. Tony paused.

"For emergencies huh…" I was silent.

"That's basically saying goodbye… isn't it?" He asked. Good…bye… the words slowly scanned through my mind… like a broken record. I didn't like the word goodbye…

"I wouldn't say goodbye, but rather… see you later…" I said. Tony grunted again.

"Yes so… I guess this is good… I mean see you later…"

"Yeah, Tony… see you…"

"So long…"

"Good night…"

"…Temporary farewell…"

"Mmmm… later…"

"…Jeff?"

"Yes?"

"… No matter what happens to you… I'll still love you… ok?" He spoke. The words sunk in for a moment. Tony… loved me?

"I… I'll…"

But before I knew it, he hung up on me. I didn't realize it then, but my head felt like it was sinking… into my knees. I let the annoying hang up beep ring out for a few moments… Once I hung up, I immediately hugged my knees to myself and curled into a ball.

And cried.

I cried… and I cried…

"Jeff…?" A small knock on the door. I had been unresponsive at first… but after a small pause between us, I forced myself on my feet to open the door.

And to my utter surprise, when I met Ness's face as well… he had been crying too.

"What… why are you crying?" I asked, reaching out to his arms. "I'm… I'm sorry if I did something wrong,"- Ness closed the space between us by quickly, embracing me tightly.

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry…" Ness apologized. What…?

"Why are you apologizing…? I don't… even…" Ness loosened his grip on me.

"I listened in… it's my fault… that you don't get to be back where you want to be,"- I quickly cut him off by hugging him again, securing him in my arms so he couldn't escape… until moments later, I separated ourselves, but kept us connected by griping his shoulders to look him into his eyes.

"No Ness… we have to do this… we have to keep going. I have no regret whatsoever…" I told him truthfully. Ness seemed to be at a loss of words then… I didn't really blame him.

"I…" I put my forehead against his.

"Now… don't cry, ok?" I asked. Ness bit his lip.

"You need to stop crying too…"

"I will… if you will… I promise," I told him. I ran the back of my fingers down around his ear. Ness exhaled.

"Ok…" He said. I smiled, removing my head.

"Let's go to sleep… and forget everything for the night," I told him. I noticed, in his hand, he still held that yo-yo, I thought. Ness silently complied, as we walked back to the bed.

Without another word, without any second thoughts, Ness and I huddled close under the single cover and on the single pillow… forehead to forehead. It was the only way we could think of that took us away from this place… away from the universe…

xxxxx

That cold night in the hotel room was almost unbearable. Emotions… emotions…

My mind had never raced like it had that night. It was so confusing… and at the same time, it hadn't been.

I had always been stuck in my own world. And it was the first night where I felt as if the world I had created was taking over my reality… which was real and which wasn't? I wasn't sure…

I hadn't been sure…

Until my memory recalled Ness's eyes again. I closed my eyes.

When I opened them again, there it was.

This strange, organic but hazy being… something that had been haunting me ever since the accident happened.

It was out of focus, but it was there, staring at me on the side of my bed, looking down. Tall, slender and almost blue…

It looked straight into me.

"Who… who are you?" I asked, believing it to be my imagination. Who knows… it could still be all of my imagination. I'm not quite sure if anything exists anymore… but this did. And so did Ness's eyes I thought…

The being stayed silent. I frowned.

"Well… if you can't tell me your name, can you be my friend?" I asked the being. The being still didn't speak… but rather words appeared into my thoughts.

I am the cosmic destroyer…