| Cell leaned against a counter and watched Lara cut a cucumber. Seru sat on the floor near Cell playing with action figures. He wanted to be near his father, but Cell didn’t pay much attention to him. Lara finished the cucumber and put it in the salad. “Seru,” she said, “go wash your hands for dinner.” “Okay.” Seru jumped up and ran to the bathroom down the hall. “Is he always that bouncy?” Asked Cell. “Most of the time. He always had a lot of energy. He’s pretty strong for his age too. He dropped one of his toys and it landed under the reclining chair. He could reach it so he just picked the chair up. I couldn’t believe it. He has your strength.” Cell smiled and walked over to her. He stood behind her, put his arms around her, and rested his chin on her shoulder. He gently blew on her neck and made her shiver. She giggled. “Cell,” she said playfully, “I’m trying to cut things here. You’ll make me chop my finger off.” “Well, hurry up and finish,” he said. She added the last ingredients to the salad and brought it over to the table. Seru ran into the kitchen just in time. He jumped onto his chair and held up his fork. “I’m starving!” He said. “I bet you are,” Lara said. She served Seru his large portion, then offered Cell to sit down. “Don’t be shy. You don’t have to eat, but at least sit down.” “I’m not shy,” Cell said and sat backwards on a chair. He couldn’t sit the right way on it properly because of his wings. He rested his arms and then his head on the back of the chair and watched his family eat. Lara tasted her salad. “Mmm… this is good dressing. Try it.” She picked up lettuce with her fork and put it in front of Cell. “You’re not going to give up until I eat it, huh?” He said remembering the last time. “Nope,” she replied. Cell opened his mouth and she stuck the lettuce in. “Well?” She waited for an answer. “Good,” was all Cell said. Seru felt left out. He picked up a big chunk of tomato and put it in front of Cell. “Mine’s good too!” Cell looked over at Lara who nodded yes to him. He looked back at his son who had pleading eyes. Cell opened his mouth and Seru shoved the tomato in. The tomato wasn’t cut small enough for anybody to eat, so Cell struggled trying to start chewing it. “Well?” Seru asked. With his mouth still full, Cell said, “It’s just as good.” After dinner, Lara cleaned up the kitchen quickly, and Seru resumed his battle with the action figures. Cell leaned against the counter again, watching Lara clean. Then there was a tap on his leg. He looked down to see Seru holding up an action figure. “This is Mondo Man. He’s my favorite. See?” Seru tried to get Cell to take the action figure so he could see it. Cell got the hint and took the action figure, observed it and handed it back to his son. “Do you want to see the others?” “Maybe some other time,” said Cell. “Oh.” Seru looked down and walked away. Lara gave Cell a look reminding him to spend time with Seru. Cell knelt down next to the young boy and picked up another action figure. “Who’s this?” Seru looked up, “That’s Combat Boy. He’s Mondo Man’s sidekick.” “How about this one.” Cell picked up another one.” “Oh, that’s the villain who wants to destroy the world. I don’t like him too much because he’s a bad guy.” Cell looked at the action figure. Seru’s words repeated in his head. He’s the villain who wants to destroy the world. I don’t like him too much because he’s a bad guy. Cell felt depressed. I was a villain that wanted to destroy the world…that means he wouldn’t like me too much, he thought. Lara heard what Seru said and looked at Cell’s depressed expression. “Seru, why don’t you pick up your toys and get ready for bed. Would you mind Mrs. Thomson coming over to take care of you?” “No.” Seru gathered his toys and went to his room. Lara walked over to Cell and put her hand in his. “He doesn’t know.” “I know. But if he ever found out, what would he think of me then?” “He would still love you. The boy looks up to you, Cell. Every boy thinks his father is the best. I’m going to call Mrs. Thomson; she’ll be willing to come over to watch him and then we can go out for the night.” Cell nodded and Lara made her phone call. Mrs. Thomson arrived soon after. She was a little uneasy with Cell’s presence as she talked to Lara. She kept her eye on his every move; she still didn’t trust him. “I don’t know when we’ll get back,” said Lara. “Oh don’t worry about it. Stay out all night if you want. Just have fun.” “Thanks Mrs. Thomson.” Lara started walking down the hall to Seru’s room. “Cell, can you come here for a second?” Cell followed her. “I still can’t believe it,” said Mrs. Thomson under her breath. Lara and Cell entered Seru’s room. He was sitting on the bed coloring. Lara sat down next to him. “Now, your father and I are going out for a bit. Mrs. Thomson is here, so if you need anything call her. Okay?” Seru nodded. Lara gave him a kiss on his forehead and got up. “Say bye,” she whispered to Cell. “Bye kiddo,” he said. “Bye Daddy!” Lara and Cell left the house; Cell picked Lara up and she put her arms around his neck. They flew around for quite a while taking in all the time they had. Cell didn’t fly to fast, but not that slow either. Lara looked at the rising moon ahead. She tightened her arms around Cell’s neck pulling herself closer to his chest. Cell looked down to see Lara smiling with her eyes closed. “Do you want to go for a real ride,” he asked. “Anything. As long as I’m with you.” Cell picked up speed and flew through a forest below. He was inches away from each tree he dodged. He flew straight up through the treetops and hovered in the air for a minute. Then he flew backwards, with his back towards the ground, and Lara lay on top of him. He did a summersault then returned to his normal way of flying. He saw the ocean ahead and dived down to the water, his stomach almost skimming the water’s surface. A wall of water surrounded them on both sides spraying them in the face. Lara laughed as a big splash hit her. Cell decided to try something different, so he flew about fifty feet above the water, and then dove straight back down into the water. He almost went to the ocean floor, but remembered that Lara was only human and couldn’t hold her breath as long as he could. He came out of the water going about one hundred feet in the air this time, and dove back down again. As Cell headed for the surface, he let go of Lara. In turn, Lara released him from her grasp and floated to the surface. Cell, however, didn’t return to the surface with Lara. She looked around and saw nothing but water. She couldn’t see if he was in the water or not. “Cell?” She called. No answer. She swam in place, still looking around for him. He was nowhere to be found. Then she felt a great force coming towards her. Before she knew it, Cell came up from under her lifting her into the air. He held her above just above his head then threw her into the air. Lara started falling to the ocean below; and right before she hit the water, Cell gently caught her in his arms. “Anywhere you want to go?” Lara rubbed the water out of her eyes. “Well, how about that cliff…” Cell knew where she meant. He went back to their cliff with the tree stump. He landed next to the stump and placed her on top of it. She still had her arms around his neck. Both of them were soaked from the short swim they had. Lara rung out her hair and shook her head back and forth throwing water into Cell’s face. She took a deep breath and put her arms around him. “I’m so happy, Cell.” “So am I.” He rubbed his hands up and down her back. In turn she did the same. Then she rubbed her hands around what little tail he had left. The two continued for a while and Lara was the one to stop. “Cell,” she said, “kiss me…” Cell put his hands on the side of her head and tilted it up. He leaned down, touching his lips with hers. They kissed for what seemed like hours. Cell eventually picked her up and held her in his arms while he kissed her. Then a rumble came from the sky. Lara didn’t break the kiss, but she opened her eyes and saw a streak of lightning in the distance behind Cell. The sky lighting up followed by a loud crack of thunder caused the two to finally stop kissing. It started to rain down on top of them. “Great,” said Lara. “What’s great?” “The stupid thunder storm. We shouldn’t be out in it. But now that ruins our night.” “We can just go somewhere else if you don’t want to stay out here.” “Do you mind?” “No. We can go back to your house or even go to another part of the world if you wish it.” It started raining harder, and the lightning and thunder continued. “I would prefer to leave,” Lara said. “But I feel bad. You came all this way to be with me, and now this storm ruins this perfect night.” “Just because we can’t be here doesn’t mean we still can’t enjoy ourselves.” “You’re right. We’ll find some other place. But first, I’d like to change into something a little dryer.” Cell laughed. “Very well. Let’s go then.” Cell picked her up and they flew back to her house. |