Even though he never outright thanked her, she could see the gratitude in his eyes for reminding him that even though he was the most powerful being in the galaxy, he was still just human. She could see the old traces of Ben now from the way he smiled, the way he talked to her, and the way he stayed in her presence longer. He was finally healing after so many years of keeping the pain bottled up and for that she was utterly relieved. She was finally going to have her Ben back, her best friend, her love—even though she knew that there was a chance that he wouldn’t feel the same about her. If that was the case, then she’d be content with just being his friend and staying by his side.
She could tell that their Grandpa had been the most ecstatic. He loved his grandchildren to death since they were all he had left and to finally regain Ben, his heart was overjoyed. Gwendolyn hadn’t seen their grandpa this happy in years.
With its purpose fulfilled, there was not much need left for the time portal. Gwendolyn flicked her wrist absentmindedly and watched as a small colorful hole came into existence, only to spread wider until it was enough for a person to fit through. She debated with herself for whether she should go revisit the past. She had succeeded in her mission to turn Ben 10,000 back to Ben Tennyson, so what was there left for her to do? She smiled sadly to herself and stepped through the portal, against her better judgment. It was not a good thing to live in the past, yet here she was, sitting in a tree watching her life flash before her.
“So that’s where you’ve gone,” a voice said behind her, startling her so much that she nearly lost her balance and fell off the branch.
Gwendolyn whirled around to face the mischievous eyes of Ben Tennyson—eyes that she hadn’t seen in ages. “How’d you get here?” she asked, more surprised than angry.
“I saw you open some kind of portal so I followed you in,” he explained casually, as if it was an everyday occurrence. Then again, with what they had been through in life, it might have well just been an everyday occurrence.
“And you never stopped to think of what kind of portal I opened?” she asked with a hint of irritation in her voice.
“Nah,” he dismissed, taking a seat by her, causing the branch to sink slightly with the added weight. “I’m pretty sure it’s nothing bad. Even if it was, I’ll be here to protect you.”
She crossed her arms and huffed at him, “I can take care of myself. I don’t need you to protect me.”
“You can kick my butt with that magic of yours, but it doesn’t mean that I still won’t try to protect you.”
She was surprised at his words and to her horror, her cheeks started warming up.
He chuckled and threw an arm casually around her shoulders, an action he had not done in years. The nostalgia crept up on Gwendolyn and she found herself leaning into him. Ben pulled her closer in response. “So, where are we?”
She merely pointed a finger at the grassy field somewhere off in the distance.
Ben raised an eyebrow as the voices of the crowd in the small soccer field drifted to his ears. One voice in particular stood out amongst the rest. “Go Ben!”
A young brown haired teen jumped toward the right of the net and successfully blocked the incoming ball. He grinned and showed a thumbs-up toward the cheering girl.
Ben chuckled softly. “My soccer try-outs? You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Gwendolyn shook her head. “Nope. Look at how scrawny you used to be,” she said teasingly.
“I was not scrawny, I was thin and muscular,” Ben defended, puffing his chest out.
She rolled her eyes and swatted at his chest playfully. “Keep telling yourself that.”
They watched as a red-haired boy stepped in place of where the teenage Ben had previously occupied. With the sound of a whistle, balls were flying toward the goal and the boy blocked each one of them expertly.
“That kid was good,” Ben mused aloud.
Gwendolyn smirked beside him and raised a hand, a blue glow forming around it. With a small incantation, the next few balls were knocked in directions that made it difficult for the red-haired boy to block.
Aghast, Ben turned to the woman beside him. “That was you? That had bugged me forever since you, well the you there, had told me that you hadn’t done a thing.”
She merely shrugged.
“You cheater,” he accused playfully.
She shrugged again. “Hey, I got you the position didn’t I?”
“You cheated.”
She rolled her eyes and shrugged his arm off her shoulders. “Whatever. Thanks to me, you were the star player of the team.”
He hummed in agreement, replacing his arm around her shoulders. This time she didn’t shrug him off. They remained in a comfortable silence as they watched the events of the past unfold before them. But one thing continued to gnaw at Gwendolyn until she could stand it no longer and said, “Ben?”
“Hm?” He shifted his gaze toward her, giving her his full attention.
“Why-how did the younger you manage to convince you to… you know…?” she trailed off, averting her gaze to the soccer field.
“Be me?” he finished.
She nodded.
Ben rested his chin on top of her head and let out a small sigh. “I don’t know… I guess just seeing the old me wish to be like that again, without a worry in the world. When I compared myself to him… I can clearly see the differences between us. He was young and naïve. He didn’t know better, but at the same time, he risked his life to protect those close to him without needing to push them away.”
She stayed silent as she listened to him pour his heart out. She could hear the guilt lacing his voice as he talked about protecting his loved ones and her heart broke, because she knew that it must’ve hurt him just as much as it hurt her to push his loved ones away.
“I was reminded that I can still protect those important to me without pushing them away and that… all work and no play is just not fun,” he added the last part with a small goofy grin.
It was a grin that Gwendolyn had missed dearly. Looking at the position of the sun, she pushed herself up from the branch. “Come on, Mr. All Work and No Play, we’ve got to get home or else Grandpa’s going to start cooking dinner.”
Ben shuddered at the thought.
-------
“What are we watching this time?”
This time, his voice had managed to scare her enough that she actually fell out of the tree, only gaining a grip on herself at the last moment by hovering herself in the air before she hit the ground. She flew back up to her previously occupied branch at glared at him.
“That’s not funny, you know.”
He merely grinned and threw an arm around her shoulders.
“I can’t believe you followed me again,” she grumbled, arms crossed.
“Oh come on, can’t I spend some quality time with my favorite person in the world every once in a while?” he said with a chuckle.
“No, dweeb.”
He brought a hand to his chest, feigning hurt. “I’m very hurt, Gwendolyn.”
“Good,” she said smugly.
He let out a chuckle and pulled her closer to him, causing a small blush to form on her cheeks. She was embarrassed to be of that age and still act like a school girl around him, but there was nothing she could do about it. It wasn’t as if she could tell her body “stop blushing this instant.” If she had that control, she would’ve instilled it a long time ago.
“This…” she heard him say, “this is the day before Kevin…”
“Escaped from the Null Void,” she finished softly. She didn’t know why she chose this particular day to visit. Perhaps it was because it was one of the happiest moments in their lives. Ben’s team had just won the championship and his teammates were all holding him up on their shoulders. As soon as they put Ben down, he raced to Gwen and embraced her in a hug which she readily returned. Grandpa Max had appeared behind the two and wrapped them both up in a gigantic hug as laughter escaped from the teens’ mouths.
Ben pulled her closer to him, his fingers absently grazing the scar on her arm.
She seemed to realize what he was doing and placed her hand over his, stopping his movements.
He turned to look at her questioningly.
“It wasn’t your fault,” she told him softly, though she knew deep down that he still blamed himself. She could see it reflected in his eyes: the pain, the guilt, the anguish. It was all there. “Ben…”
He shook his head roughly, his head bowed and eyes facing away from her concerned gaze. “You’re wrong… it was. If only I had been stronger…”
“You couldn’t have known,” she said, trying to reassure him.
“The thing was, I knew that it was going to happen someday. Kevin would escape from the Null Void and exact revenge on me and Vilgax waiting for his own turn to turn me into shish kebab,” he said heavily. “I just never expected him to target you first to get to me…” He turned to look at her left arm, fingering the rough scar that he was able to feel through the fabric of her shirt. “He almost ripped it off…”
She placed her hand over his again, halting his movements. “But he didn’t. You came and saved me.”
“You could’ve died… you were so injured… covered in blood everywhere… if I had come even a second later… oh God,” he said with a trembling voice and pulled her flush against him in a full embrace.
She wrapped her arms around him and returned the hug. She could feel his desperation to feel that she was real and living. He had almost lost her on multiple occasions so she could understand his need to keep her close by his side. “I’m okay, Ben… I’m right here… I’m alive. That’s all that matters.”
He held onto her for a long time and her back was starting to get sore from the way she had to twist her body to hug him, but she didn’t mind. Comforting Ben came before her own personal comfort. After a while, Ben had loosened his grip on her and he whispered to her, “You know that I will never allow anything to happen to you, right?”
Gwendolyn smiled and rested her head against his shoulder. “I know.”
-------
Gwendolyn had never in her life imagined that she would be sitting in trees re-watching her life with her cousin—the same cousin she used to make fun of—her best friend and love. She had considered on multiple occasions taking the plunge and just confessing to him, but she had chickened out every time. What if he didn’t feel the same? She’d still love him, but it’d ruin their whole relationship as it was. Would he look at her in disgust and back away? She just couldn’t bear losing him that way, so she kept her mouth shut. She was a coward and she hated it.
Ben peered at her through the corner of his eyes and raised an eyebrow. He didn’t understand why she had been acting so strange lately. It was as if she was constantly debating with herself and he couldn’t for the life of him figure out over what. “Gwendolyn? You okay?”
Her glazed eyes suddenly snapped to attention and she turned to him, noticing his worried gaze. She shook her head to clear her mind and forced a smile on her face, “Yeah, I’m okay.”
He didn’t buy it, but left her alone anyway. If only she knew how much he cared about her. She was the most important person in his life and he couldn’t bear to think what his life would be like without her. She was his cousin, his best friend, and ironically, love. He wasn’t sure when his views of her had changed, but he just knew that he had learned to accept the fact that he saw her as something more than friends. He wanted to confess to her on several occasions, but had reminded himself that it was too risky. Not only could it potentially destroy whatever relationship they had together, but if an enemy had managed to learn of their relation… he shook his head to clear his thoughts. He didn’t want to think about what could happen. If there was anything he had learned from seeing his young self again, it was to never let go of his loved ones.
Ben held her closer to him as they watched their younger selves enjoying a water fight amongst themselves.
--------
“Ben? Don’t you think that you should be settling down soon?” asked Gwendolyn one day as they lounged around at a large comfy sofa in their apartment.
“Why would I need to do that?” he returned, straightening from his reclining position on the length of the couch.
She rolled her eyes and said, “Because you’re thirty. You’re not getting any younger you know.”
“Well, neither are you,” he shot back, a smug look on his face.
It was true that they shared the same birthday, but she had not expected him to retort like that. Flustered, she said, “It hardly matters for me. Besides, I’m waiting for someone I love before I settle down.”
He raised an eyebrow questioningly at her and promptly threw a throw pillow at her, hitting her square in the face.
She glowered at him and raised a glowed hand, bringing him down onto the floor with a dull ‘thump.’
He scowled at her and rubbed his head, where he was sure a bruise was forming. “Now that wasn’t nice.”
“Neither was what you did,” she returned, sticking her tongue out at him.
Ben continued to scowl at her as he returned to his reclining position on the couch.
She heaved a sigh at his childish behavior. “But I’m serious, Ben… haven’t you ever thought of settling down, starting a family?” she said, hugging the throw pillow to her chest.
He shrugged and stared blankly at the ceiling. “A few times… but I don’t think I’m ready to settle down. I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready to.” At her questioning look, he continue, “I don’t think my future wife would prefer me risking my life day in and day out for others so much that I’m hardly there for her or any children we might have.”
“If she really loves you, then she’d understand,” Gwendolyn said softly after a short pause.
“Yeah…” he agreed, “but I haven’t found someone I love yet. Or rather there’s someone I have in mind, but it’s a one-sided thing, so that future is very distant or non-existant.”
Her ears couldn’t help but pick up on the words “one-sided.” Did that mean that Ben was in the same shoes as she was? Forever to love someone quietly that he could never have? She felt sick at the prospect of Ben liking someone else. Then again, who was she to him? Just his cousin, his best friend. Suddenly, she couldn’t stand to be in the same room as him anymore and she bolted straight up from the sofa and made a beeline for the door.
Noticing her sudden mood change, Ben bolted from the couch and caught up to her, catching her wrist in his hand. “What’s wrong?” he asked, brows furrowing. “Was it something I said?”
A strangled sob escaped her throat despite her efforts to keep her tears to herself. His eyes widened in realization that she was crying and placed his other hand on her shoulder, turning her to face him. “Gwen?” he called, reverting to her childhood nickname. “What’s wrong?” he asked worriedly, desperately.
“Nothing,” she choked out, trying to break herself free from his grasp, but he wouldn’t let go. His grip was strong, as if he had no intention of ever letting her go. “Let me go, Ben.”
“No,” he said firmly. “I’m not letting go until you tell me what’s wrong.”
She looked at him through a tear-blurred vision and shook her head desperately. “No, just let me go!” she cried, curling her hand in a fist and aiming a small weak blast at his chest.
He didn’t flinch, nor did he let go. A dark spot was visible on his black and silver shirt where the blast had struck, but other than that, he seemed unfazed.
“Gwen…” he said, his voice cracking. “Tell me what’s wrong… please,” he pleaded. It was not often that Ben Tennyson pleaded for anything, but for her, he’d do anything.
“You won’t understand.” How could he when he wasn’t the one in love with one’s own cousin? She tried to wriggle out of his grip again, but found it impossible for he was that much stronger than her. He even dodged whatever kicks she tried to land at him.
“Try me.”
She stopped struggling and chose to bow her head instead, her eyes out of his line of vision. She stayed silent for a while, hoping that he’d just give up, but instead, he waited patiently for her. His eyes softened at her tear-filled gaze and she relented. It was now or never. “I’m in love with you,” she said in a strained whisper.
Instead of backing away from her in disgust, his eyes merely widened in shock before his hands released her wrists and fell limp by his side. His mouth was slightly open, in a mix of opening and closing, as if he couldn’t decide whether to speak or not.
Gwendolyn waited for him to gather himself before she would take off. She herself was surprised that she had admitted to him what she had considered her biggest secret. It wasn’t long before he fully closed his mouth and his eyes softened. She took a step back in preparation to leave, but was utterly surprised when he reached out and pulled her into a tight embrace, burying his face in her hair. “I do understand,” he said softly, “because you… you are the one I love.”
She was at a lost for words. Every time she even thought of confessing, she had imagined his rejection, full or revulsion and disgust. Never had she imagined him reciprocating her feelings. Now that he was here, returning her love, she felt suddenly lighter, as if a huge burden had been lifted from her shoulders. Her heart felt lighter too and she felt joy surge throughout her body. She pulled away slightly to gaze into his eyes, full of love, and she knew right then that he was telling the truth. She leaned forward and kissed him.
As she kissed him, one thought went through his head: the time portal she created was the best thing she had ever done and he could never thank her enough for healing him, body, mind, and soul. Perhaps his distant future was not so distant after all.