The Way it Goes

Wrong Destination

We had just left the airport for Los Angeles, California heading to Wayne's "secret" lab in hopes that Speedy would be hidden there. Jade was sitting in a chair next to me, silent. I always remember hating when she was silent. It never meant anything good. At least she was there with me, unlike now.

"Nice weather today. Right Jade?" Roy comments, trying to lighten the mood.
"Yeah. Great." Jade mumbles.
"What was that? I can't hear you." Roy teases.
"I said great!" Jade blurts.
"Ok.ok. Calm down. Sheesh. I was just saying." Roy proceeds, trying to pick on her.

Jade just looks over with a frown, staring at Roy with his goofy grin.

"Come on, Jade. Look. I'm sorry. I don't want to fight with you. Can we please just move forward." Roy softly requests.
"I'm trying Roy. It just..."
"Just what?" Roy asks.
"It Hurts!!!! It really Hurts!!!" Jade stands up and yells.

Immediately everyone in the plane turns and looks at them. Roy's face masks a bright red while Jade's looks distraught.

"Jade. I...I'm sorry." Roy gently replies.

Jade just looks at Roy with tears slowly forming in her eyes. Roy grabs ahold of her hand, pulling her back to her seat.

"Jade, look at me." Roy says, turning her face towards him.
"If I could change, I would. I do care about you, deeply. But I can't say I love you when I don't really know what love is. Give me time, Jade. It's just hard to focus on our relationship and my feelings while trying to find Roy." Roy continues.
"If you don't have time for our relationship then why did you bother marrying me at all?" Jade replies.
"Because I felt like you understood me and my problems. After everyone gave up on Speedy, I felt all alone, but you kept coming around and I guess I grew to enjoy your company. I guess I was afraid you would leave eventually so..."
"So you thought you could tie me down." Jade interrupts.
"Well...ok. Stupid. I know." Roy admits.
"Roy, if you continue to let this obsession destroy you, I'll have no choice but to leave. If you can't love me right now, fine. But I refuse to live our life together consumed around Speedy." Jade continues.
"Sigh. I understand Jade." Roy says, lowering his head.

I wish I could go back in time and smack my lowered head really HARD!  It's taken a lot of time to accept how stupid I use to be. She wanted us and I pushed her away. I shouldn't be surprised. Sure, we did eventually find Speedy, and I won't say I regret everything, but there are a lot of things that I wish I could go back and change. If Jade were here, what would she say? Oh, right. She'd probably say, "Stop feeling sorry for yourself and move forward. You can't change the past, so leave it be." Good idea Jade.

Roy and Jade's plane landed and they eventually found a cheap motel to stay in for the night. Jade was laying on her stomach on the bed, watching tv while Roy was getting ready for bed.

"Hey Jade?" Roy asks.
"Hmm?" Jade responds, clearly distracted.
"Did you remember to bring my bow?" Roy continues.
Jade looks over at him, confused by his question.
"Well?" Roy anxiously says.
"Roy, I thought you had it. Besides, we always get our own stuff." Jade replies.
"Are you telling me that we flew all this way without my gear?!"
"I guess so." Jade snickers.
"Jade! This isn't funny! What am I supposed to do?" Roy blurts.
"We can go buy a new one tomorrow." Jade answers.
"We can't go buy a new bow! One. They are super expensive. Two! I need time to break it in!" Roy irritably says.
"Roy, I'm sorry. I didn't know you expected me to get it. Here." Suddenly Jade jumps of the bed and rummages through their bags. Roy just observes with confusion. Eventually Jade pulls out a long, sharp sai, handing it to Roy.
"There. You can borrow one of my sais. I can manage without the other."
"Uhh...thaaanks. This is gonna be strange." Roy says, thoroughly examining the sai.
"It's really not that hard. Want me to show you?" Jade suggests, leaning against the wall, arms crossed with a mischievous grin.
"Hehe. Sure." Roy replies.
"Ok. So first, you need to learn how to swing it back and forth so you can block properly."