94 replies to this topic

[Onionhead Attacks]

*smack upside the head* Dun put crazy ideas like dat into mah Lee-muimui's head, ya brat D:

<3~

LOL. Thanks, Sakura-jie!

Oh and the inner nerd in me (that feels weird to say) has discovered "The Big Bang Theory" tv show <3

P.S. No, it's not a documentary. It's a comedy sitcom!

[Onionhead Attacks]

It's kinda funny how the first thing I post about after neglecting my blog is... damn you people! Well, not you guys of course... but in this little game my friend introduced me to on Facebook. It's called "Mafia Wars" and you do all this underground crime jobs, attack and rob other mafias. Doesn't sound like much, but it's easy to get hooked. XD Anyways, some guys attacked and robbed me a lot so I put a bounty on them. I usually let people who do that get away with it because I don't care, but they attacked and robbed so much of my virtual stuff so that when I put a bounty on them they decided to be sore losers and have come back to exact revenge on poor me (who's also quite low on defense) DX. So now, all my stuff are robbed and I've been "beaten to death" several times by them. Other people I've put bounties on don't care either, but these two sore losers... sigh.

Aside from that. I need to get my nerdy groove on.

*Listens to Big Bang's 2nd album again* 8D

[Sakura Blossoms]

It's kinda funny how the first thing I post about after neglecting my blog is... damn you people! Well, not you guys of course... but in this little game my friend introduced me to on Facebook. It's called "Mafia Wars" and you do all this underground crime jobs, attack and rob other mafias. Doesn't sound like much, but it's easy to get hooked. XD Anyways, some guys attacked and robbed me a lot so I put a bounty on them. I usually let people who do that get away with it because I don't care, but they attacked and robbed so much of my virtual stuff so that when I put a bounty on them they decided to be sore losers and have come back to exact revenge on poor me (who's also quite low on defense) DX. So now, all my stuff are robbed and I've been "beaten to death" several times by them. Other people I've put bounties on don't care either, but these two sore losers... sigh.

Aside from that. I need to get my nerdy groove on.

*Listens to Big Bang's 2nd album again* 8D

This kinda reminds me of my Team Fortress 2 experiences. They're are such jerk a$$holes on the interweb everywhere. Dun let 'em get to you, Lee-muimui

[krisk]

LOL do you accept requests from peeps you barely know? XDXD though when i had mine i had people i had barely spoken to in my b-list too :teehee: HECK the people i asked for a pencil i added! And vice versa! WE HAS HISTORY TOGETHERRRR I COULD NOT DENY THEMMMM D:




well nevermind, thinking about it most of the time sometimes friends can be butts too XD



and DOOD.

THEM GUYS ARE CUUUUUUUUUTE :'''D i lub their style

i approve of this nerd-groovery

[Cloud]

I has not Lee-muimui's facebook DX

[Onionhead Attacks]

I has not Lee-muimui's facebook DX

It shall remain a secret

Aside from that... I need to learn Kage Bunshin like now. Either that or become a genius overnight.

[krisk]

LOOK AT THAT FREAKING SCARY-ASS SEAL ABOUT TO EAT THOSE HAPPY ASIAN PEOPLE.

NOW LOOK, THEY ARE ACTUALLY YOU AND YOUR FUTURE SON.

...




YOU TTLY WANT TO NOT LOOK AT THE SCREEN SO MUCH AND GET BACK TO STUDYING NOW, YES?

YES.





GAMBAROOOOOOOOOO LEECHWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN! :B

[Onionhead Attacks]

Way to scare a person, krisk...

Anywho... it's the weekend (that should've been spent studying, reading books, and writing essays). Somehow I ended up writing a fanfic instead. I don't know how or why that happened, but it did. I haven't decided if I will post this on ff.net yet, but I'll post it here for anyone who wants to take a look.

It's Ben 10 (not alien force). It takes place in the episode Ben 10,000 and I am a Ben x Gwen shipper. I ship Neji x Hinata too, so that cousin/cousin thing was sorta expected... I refuse to write for Alien Force right now because they totally slaughtered their characters and Kevin the "good" guy? Hardly, especially if that kid was bent on killing you and your family for the past four seasons. Don't know what the creators/producers were thinking, unless they were planning a betrayal in there somewhere... that I can see. Well, choice in shipping was because of the development in the original series before they threw it out the window in Alien Force. Jeez, if they were going to disapprove of Ben x Gwen with all their development, the least they could've done was made Ben and Gwen's parents good friends, so they grew up as childhood friends that don't like each other. Then that solves all that cousin couples/incest problem. -.-

Without further ado, the story: Time Portals
Summary: 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. (One liners ftw!)

Oh, and warnings: grammatical errors strewn across the place. It was not proof-read. Also might be some loopholes that my sleep deprived brain had not caught onto.

Split into parts because of post length limit.

Part 1 --Click here to view--

She knew there was a reason why such things as time portals were not only difficult to create, but stirred up many debates and controversies about disrupting the time continuity among many. But she couldn’t bring herself to care. Gwendolyn Tennyson hated to admit it, but she was selfish and it was something that she was not proud of. She had managed to successfully create a portal a few months back and was careful with its use so that its success was a secret to all but herself. Its use was limited and very few. She had originally used it to test her success but somehow it had morphed into at first a monthly, then weekly, and now daily occurrence.

Fighting evil aliens that threatened to take over the Earth and destroy the peaceful co-inhabitation of human-aliens was a very tiring job. Most times she found herself in hot pursuit of a particularly nasty alien when Ben 10,000—her dweeb cousin—now the hero of all heroes, had taken over and dismissed her. Not only was it infuriating how he looked down upon her without actually having to say a word, it was heartbreaking to see how he had resigned himself to put the safety of the galaxy all upon his own shoulders. She wanted him to know that he was not alone, that she was there to help if he ever needed her. But from how things had been running for the past decade, she’d have to say that Ben 10,000 requiring her help was definitely out of the question. After he had unlocked the master control of the omnitrix, fighting was a breeze. He could become any of ten thousand aliens at will with a mere thought process. No longer was there a limitation with the ten minute time limit, no more limitation with the recharge time period, and no more limitation of changing into aliens that were not of his intention. Ben 10,000 was invincible.

He wasn’t always like this: cold, cool, collected, not to mention distant. There was a time when he’d join her in her teasing, their little games of upping one another, and playing with kids their age. They had been close then, an after effect of that summer where they were forced to re-evaluate their relations with one another. They weren’t just two people who could barely stand each other, but was connected by blood nonetheless. They had somehow become best friends without even knowing it. They had never treated each other as family before and never viewed each other as such. When they had grown close, they had made a best friend rather than just becoming friendly with a relative. They confided in each other their secrets and there were times when they had sleepovers at each other’s houses. Their parents had been relieved and thrilled to see that they had finally gotten along. The progress was slow. In the beginning they were at each other’s throats. Then they became someone important to each other, though they still tried to cover it up with mean insults and pranks. Eventually all pretenses had fallen and they were friends with friendly jabber and the affectionate “dweeb” and “doofus” nicknames. Soon after that they were partners in defending the galaxy.

Gwendolyn sighed. They were partners in defending the galaxy until a few years ago. They had battled together as best friends all throughout their youth and partially through college. She had graduated with a Masters in English Literature six years ago. Ben had started on his engineering degree to follow in his father’s footsteps. Towards the middle, he had dropped out of school with the excuse of being a full time hero with no need for a degree. She suspected that it had something to do with the death of his parents and her parents at the hands of Vilgax one spring when they were both away at college. Ben had never forgiven himself for not being there and she could see it in the way he held himself. The ways his eyes hardened at the mere mention of Vilgax, the way his hands clenched so tight that his knuckles turned white and his fingernails left crescent indents into the palm of his hands. He’d zoom off before either she or their grandpa could say anything, leaving no room for argument. There were times that he came home late at night looking very bruised and beaten up. There were other times when he didn’t even come home at all. The omnitrix evolved as Ben grew. It grew bigger to accommodate him and the time limit started posing less and less problems with the way it allowed him to remained transformed longer until he managed to crack the master control. The most noticeable difference was how it started allowing battle wounds to show up on its wielder. Usually that posed little problem since Ben grew stronger and tougher as he learned to use the omnitrix more efficiently, but there were times that she was frightened for his life—that he would die from his injuries.

It was about ten years now that he had been officially Ben 10,000 instead of Ben Tennyson. At the mere age of twenty, Ben had sacrificed his youth and future to protect others. He created a headquarters where occasionally she and Grandpa Max would drop by to help, but those occasions had been become fewer and fewer. He worked more by himself and she could see it in his eyes that he wanted it that way for reasons he refused to admit. But she knew. She had known him all her life and he was her best friend. He didn’t want to lose anyone else precious to him. It was bad enough that the whole town of Bellwood had been destroyed. That day he had broken down and in a fit of rage chased after Vilgax. He hadn’t come home for a week and both she and Grandpa Max had been worried sick. Ben had showed up eventually, with clothes rumpled, hair in disarray, stubble on his chin, scratches everywhere, and the most haunting of all, his hollow eyes. She had known immediately that he had failed to find the evil alien. They spent the night sleeping by each other, just the three of them; they were all that was left of the Tennysons.

The following week, the government had approached Ben and offered to grant him a headquarters and funding to help defend from all the alien attacks. Bellwood had been a fatal loss and the government had finally decided to take a different route to combat the aliens. Ben had accepted and since then, she had rarely seen him. She had lost her best friend. It was the beginning of Ben 10,000 the hero of all heroes.

It was those depressing thoughts that had motivated Gwendolyn to try something, anything, to recover her best friend from destroying himself. He lived a bitter life, full of pain and sorrow. He was known by everyone, but he knew none of them. She suspected the only people who actually knew him were herself and their Grandpa Max. It was a depressing thought, that he’d live the rest of his life alone. She’d tried to reach him many times but he had always shut her out. After succeeding in recreating the Charms of Bezel, she had been researching some new spells in her spell book when she stumbled across a particular spell that caught her interest. It froze time. It had gotten her thinking about the past and then one thought led to another before she had decided to create a time portal. She had scoured through all her resources and had come up empty handed each and every time. And for good reason too. She couldn’t imagine what could happen if such a powerful spell had fallen into the wrong hands. But she didn’t have any intentions of changing the past; she liked it the way it was, after all, it was what made her, her.

That had been shortly after Ben became a full time hero. Years followed and eventually all her hard work paid off as she finally succeeded in creating the right balance and spell to create the portal. The first time she traveled to the past she had chosen a random day in her youth, she was astonished to arrive at a time when both she and Ben were roughly seven years old and most definitely not the least bit friendly to each other. It had brought a smile to her face as the waves of nostalgia washed over her. She had really missed those days.

It had first started out with her habit to visit her past when she felt particularly shut out by Ben, but eventually turned into a daily habit as her desire to relive the past got the best of her. There were times where she’d spend hours at a time just watching their younger counterparts. She couldn’t help but wish that both she and Ben had not drifted apart. It really hurt losing her best friend and love. She wasn’t sure where along the lines her feelings had changed from friends to something more. She was at first aghast with the prospect of being in love with her own cousin, but after careful consideration, she realized that they had never viewed each other as family. It had taken a while for her to fully accept the fact, but she had realized just how much he meant to her when he started distancing himself from everyone. It had hurt a lot. Not even meeting new people had subsided the pain.

Gwendolyn was snapped out of her musings one particular day as she watched her younger self scold Ben for being a selfish jerk for ignoring the importance of their Grandpa’s birthday. She remembered that day well. Grandpa Max had been thrilled with her surprise party, but was particularly put out at Ben’s indifference as the boy focused more on the next possible evil alien they were to battle. She could tell that their grandpa had been hurt, even though he tried to hide it from them. She had to admit, Ben could be selfish at times, but she knew that his heart was pure. He wanted to help others, but his ego got in the way of all logical thought most of the time.

She considered doing something many times, to tell Ben of what was to come in the future, but stopped herself every time. History was set in stone and it was not meant to change. Her present on the other hand, was not yet carved out. The idea was ludicrous, but the thought of Ben 10,000 meeting the younger Ben brought her hopes up. Perhaps seeing how they used to be might loosen up Ben 10,000 somewhat to the view that no matter how powerful he may be, he still needed others. He was not alone. She remembered a time when Ben had run off on his own because he thought he could protect them that way, but had ended up hurting not only himself but his loved ones as well. Gwendolyn just wished that Ben 10,000 could see that what he was doing now was the exact same thing he had done when he was younger, only now it hurt much more.

Standing up from her spot on the bough of the tree, Gwendolyn knew that her memory of that time her future self came to bring the two kids to the future was now. She was to create that moment right now, and hopefully, Ben 10,000—her Ben—would just be Ben, even if it was for a brief moment. She smiled bitterly to herself. She was selfish, but she didn’t care. She needed Ben, and he needed her too, even if he didn’t realize it for himself. With a flick of her wrist, Gwendolyn disappeared for the event that was soon to come.

---------

Ben knew she was there, watching him, waiting for him, but he just couldn’t bring himself to face her. He knew it was cold of him, but it was for the best that she didn’t get involved with him. His job was very dangerous and he knew for certain that she knew the consequences, but she joined him anyway. He had almost lost her on many occasions when this whole alien fighting business jumped into action. He could never forget the feeling of losing someone that close to him. It was heart wrenching. It felt as if his whole world had collapsed and that he was helpless, hopeless, and useless. He couldn’t do anything, couldn’t feel anything but the aching, gaping hole in his heart. Every time they went into battle, he would remind himself that he had to take charge, do everything so that they could remain safe. It was his job, his duty to protect those he cared about, even if he had kept them at a distance for the longest time. It was better that way. Enemies would be less likely to attack them if they didn’t know of their connection to each other.

Ben sighed. Sometimes, he wished that things were different. There were times that he dreamt of a normal life, growing up with his family, his best friend—his cousin—by his side. He cared more for her than she would ever know. It was true that they had initially not gotten along, but somehow a friendship had blossomed until they were the best of friends—not cousins—friends. He never saw her as family and he knew that he never would. He just couldn’t. To him, Gwendolyn and Benjamin were just two separate people, best friends, bound by the small little details of blood relation, thereby instilling them the title cousins. But he knew that those thoughts were just that, thoughts, dreams.

The reality was, as the sole user of the omnitrix, he was bestowed the responsibility of keeping not only the device safe, but the whole galaxy as well, to keep such a powerful device from the clutches of evil. It was a lot to expect out of a ten year old, but as he grew older, he learned that the omnitrix was not just fun and games. It was extremely dangerous and many lives would be at stake if not taken care of properly.

He hardened his eyes and turned the other direction away from her. He would not let an enemy catch him off guard or with her anywhere by him. She was too important.

[Onionhead Attacks]

Part 2 --Click here to view--

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.

[krisk]

CURSE YOU BEN 10^1!!! FOILING MY PLOT TO MAKE LEECHWAN STUDY!





but o lawd wtf roflrofl Ben 10? CN huh? You watch 6teen by chance? I CAN HAS -wtf are their names- JEN/JUDE FIX?! 8''''D

[Onionhead Attacks]

Nope. Ben 10 was one of the few shows that had caught my interest. That and the animation reminded me of Teen Titans... but Alien Force... eh... >.>

[Onionhead Attacks]

I did it again... I ignored hw for something else. This time it was the doujinshi contest! D8 I should really stop procrastinating.

Erm, before I really go, I just have to say that it's a really rough sketch. I know that I won't have time to pretty it up before the deadline... hehe probably not after the deadline either. I wasn't going to enter originally, but you saw how well that turned out. So yea. Enjoy. Now off I go to figure out how to use that gallery/upload feature before I leave.

[Sakura Blossoms]

I did it again... I ignored hw for something else. This time it was the doujinshi contest! D8 I should really stop procrastinating.

Erm, before I really go, I just have to say that it's a really rough sketch. I know that I won't have time to pretty it up before the deadline... hehe probably not after the deadline either. I wasn't going to enter originally, but you saw how well that turned out. So yea. Enjoy. Now off I go to figure out how to use that gallery/upload feature before I leave.

Yay, for you entering! Woot!

[Onionhead Attacks]

There was a fire in building I was in for class a little while ago... Luckily it wasn't on my floor, but there was a huge cloud of smoke coming from the top of the building, somewhere around the 7th or 8th floor x.x And then I heard a little later that there was a bomb threat in the dorms. =.= The whole campus had to be evacuated. Luckily I live at home and I parked close, so the moment I got out of class, I high tailed it out of there.

What a nice day... first rain, then fire + bomb threat... =.=

[Sakura Blossoms]

Holy crap! I'm *really* glad that you're okay, Lee-muimui

[BlackLightning]

Phew... sounds like you got 1 hell of an interesting day. Glad that you're safe though

[Onionhead Attacks]

Heh thanks Sakura-jie and BL... and I still haven't figured out what happened either!



But jeez... I hate myself. I should really learn to manage my time better.

I made another entry for the doujinshi contenst. I probably have the most entries I guess this little contest sparked my interest for drawing again since I haven't drawn in like forever... That and the most recent entry is done all in pencil, with shading and everything. I guess DownsEndRoad inspired that little artistic part of me to get drawing again. Strangely enough, this entry took a lot less time than my other two. I don't know why... but I'm not even going to try to figure it out.

I guess I'll just sit back for now and read the rest of the entries. That and suffer with the horrible book that I have to read for my philosophy class >.< And boo! I'm addicted to facebook games!

[krisk]

*SMACK*

you had a fire at your school and you didn't invite me!?





B[ just kidding. I'm relieved you weren't hurt. ;_;


also GAWD LEECHWAN XDDDDDD Y'know you should win an award for "Most Tenacious" or "Most Youthful" or "Most Entries" :teehee: You've got 3 and counting XDD

But I know watcha mean, after drawling 5+ pages I've really warmed up to the idea of starting to draw as a hobby again 8D


edit:
just saw your latest entry... LEECHWAN WAI SO SAD :<

that one was so melancholy D8


...though it's really refreshing among all the loveydovey and lulz submissions already up there I'm surprised you snuck one in it time too XD

[Onionhead Attacks]

*SMACK*

you had a fire at your school and you didn't invite me!?

Why would you want to be at school where the fire was??? Unless you wanna be the one that starts the fire... *suspicious*

B[ just kidding. I'm relieved you weren't hurt. ;_;

Haha, thanks krisk~~~ I high tailed it out the moment I got a chance while everybody stood there and stared. It was a chemistry building, where it was most likely a chemical incident which means... CHEMICAL FUMES! D8 No good... so of course run for the hills! It seems that people didn't really get that memo >.>

also GAWD LEECHWAN XDDDDDD Y'know you should win an award for "Most Tenacious" or "Most Youthful" or "Most Entries" :teehee: You've got 3 and counting XDD

But I know watcha mean, after drawling 5+ pages I've really warmed up to the idea of starting to draw as a hobby again 8D

"Most Youthful" :teehee: trying to play a pun on my name, eh krisk? But meh, I entered for fun and for drawing purposes! I haven't drawn in foreeeevvveeerrr. The last time I actually drew something was probably April of last year.

Duuuuudddeee it goes the same for you! I haven't seen your drawings in a looooooonnnnggg time. Except for that recent collab entry. XD I still can't believe that you guys went through with it and actually managed to pull it off!

edit:
just saw your latest entry... LEECHWAN WAI SO SAD :<

that one was so melancholy D8


...though it's really refreshing among all the loveydovey and lulz submissions already up there

I was not in a sad mood. I was like, I need a break from this stupid philosophy paper so I grabbed a blank sheet of paper and that was the first idea that popped in my head All the other entries are all sweet loveydovey or hilarious so when I got the idea of oooooo angst! I was like >D mwahhahah something different. And it turned out to be one page when it could've been longer... oh wellz. Also, I could add an extra page, but it would totally kill the angsty moment. It'd be like this:

Naruto: I miss you Sakura-chan...
Out of nowhere Sakura shows up behind Naruto: Boo!!
Naruto: AHHH!!! Sakura-chan! I thought you were dead!
Sakura: (raises eyebrow) I was on vacation, dummy! And it was only a week, not a year. Stop exaggerating!
Naruto: But... but... Kakashi-sensei told me...
Sakura: All Kakashi-sensei said was, Sakura is not coming back =.= He meant my vacation!
Naruto: But... but... Kakashi-sensei didn't correct me or anything...
Kakashi in background with Icha Icha Paradise book giggling.
Naruto and Sakura: =.=''

I'm surprised you snuck one in it time too XD

Mwhahaha It's cuz I'm cool like that

[krisk]

Why would you want to be at school where the fire was??? Unless you wanna be the one that starts the fire... *suspicious*

Haha, thanks krisk~~~ I high tailed it out the moment I got a chance while everybody stood there and stared. It was a chemistry building, where it was most likely a chemical incident which means... CHEMICAL FUMES! D8 No good... so of course run for the hills! It seems that people didn't really get that memo >.>

0:B *innocence is plentiful*

LOLLLL ooh man, part of me is super glad that you weren't a turkey caught in the rain and ended up jetting, but another part of me is thinking "dude, you could've gotten like, super super powers. Dude seriously. What if they were experimenting on finding the secret to flying? Or machine arm guns? Or telekenisissisi? Geez..."

XDD Eh well might as well have you alive and safe instead of being a nighttime loner vigilante :teehee: SO YEAH GOOD THING YOUR SAFE AND STUFF 8D Who's pants would I pull if not :<

I dont wanna think about stuff like that... ;3;

"Most Youthful" :teehee: trying to play a pun on my name, eh krisk? But meh, I entered for fun and for drawing purposes! I haven't drawn in foreeeevvveeerrr. The last time I actually drew something was probably April of last year.

Duuuuudddeee it goes the same for you! I haven't seen your drawings in a looooooonnnnggg time. Except for that recent collab entry. XD I still can't believe that you guys went through with it and actually managed to pull it off!

LOL if it was witty and charming then hell yeahs I wus. XD But yeah same here. I had an inkling that others were gonna enter the last minute and tip our chances on winning, so I ended up doing it for participation purposes and to have fun. I hadn't drawn in forever either AND JUST ME1? I haven't seen any of your avatar stuff in so long! Where the funk is an update, me want B| You update and I'll update!

and duuuuuuuuuuuude I'll copypasta from doujinshi thread XDD

I can't believe that you guys actually managed to pull off that joint entry! It must've taken a lot of work!

XD well yeah but it was easier since the workload was all spread out. I figured since I was the one that dragged them into it, it would be okay if they did less pages or ..something. >> Also I couldn't help adding more than one page to the mix. But then by the end of it, it... didn't make as much sense as I thought it would D8

AH WELL I digress-- it was fun and YOKOCHYAN EVEN INKED ALL THE PAGES ZOMG. 8D Didn't see that coming. She's full of win, that one :teehee:

LEECHYAN WE SHOULD COLLABO ONE DAY :B LEARN TO COLOR Y/Y? XD

MAN I SOUND SEXY WHEN QUOTED

so yeah, we all had to do one page but I kiiiinda went overboard.

I was not in a sad mood. I was like, I need a break from this stupid philosophy paper so I grabbed a blank sheet of paper and that was the first idea that popped in my head All the other entries are all sweet loveydovey or hilarious so when I got the idea of oooooo angst! I was like >D mwahhahah something different. And it turned out to be one page when it could've been longer... oh wellz. Also, I could add an extra page, but it would totally kill the angsty moment. It'd be like this:

Naruto: I miss you Sakura-chan...
Out of nowhere Sakura shows up behind Naruto: Boo!!
Naruto: AHHH!!! Sakura-chan! I thought you were dead!
Sakura: (raises eyebrow) I was on vacation, dummy! And it was only a week, not a year. Stop exaggerating!
Naruto: But... but... Kakashi-sensei told me...
Sakura: All Kakashi-sensei said was, Sakura is not coming back =.= He meant my vacation!
Naruto: But... but... Kakashi-sensei didn't correct me or anything...
Kakashi in background with Icha Icha Paradise book giggling.
Naruto and Sakura: =.=''



Mwhahaha It's cuz I'm cool like that

OHSNAP whew. I'm not all emo from your entry anymore D:

Mang, that is trufaxatory. You're the only one that added an emu entry! Speaking of different, I still gotta add my mecha battle in the ocean picture somewhere. I never drawled (<- OH SHEET THAT'S A WORD LOLOL) it with my portion of the doujinshi project. Freakin jipped, Leechwan. All my anatomy skills went kapoote by the time I got to the last pages ;____;

anyway I'm gonna submit it to the gallery, maybe. :teehee:


ps--
needs moar leechwan © avatar fanart