Earthbound: Right at Home [Complete]

Chapter 11: Lost and Found

Your eyes were glued to the bat, observing every detail it had.

It had a deep crack on its side, almost like an open wound. On the end was Ness's name written in black crayon.

You just... stared at it. Not even paying attention to the mess you had created.

Though you should since, Ness was probably fuming at this point.

You looked up slowly, and to your surpised he didn't look mad or angered. You probably scared him to death, but now it looked like he had gotten over the shock.

"Ness..." you mumbled, but he heard it regardless.

"Hmn?"

"Er... sorry about that."

Ness seemed to relax a bit after realizing what was going on. He then smirked a little.

"It's okay."

It was silence for as he picked up his belongings that were all over the ground. You would've helped... but your legs were practically frozen in place, and your mouth went dry as your heart skipped three beats over.

"You're... your that... boy I used to play with..." you said slowly, catching Ness's attention.

"I'd... I'd play at this park... every day. Usually by myself."

"Yeah?" Ness questioned, suddenly speaking which made you jump a little.

"Then... you'd come over... with that bat in hand."

You pointed to the cracked bat.

"You'd always play with me."

Ness looked at the cracked bat for quiet a while, picked it up and then put it inside his back pack.

"I remember." He said with a smile. "Much like today, you weren't really good at baseball... you tried all day and you just couldn't hit the ball. Though the one time you did hit it, despite it being foul, you got really... excited. Even back then I thought it was... cute."

You look down at the ground, trying to hide the blush that was slowly making your skin turn a deep rose color.

"I was disappointed earlier. When you hit the ball the first time, I was hoping to get a stronger reaction out of you. One that would hopefully trigger a memory."

You purposely avoided eye contact with Ness, staring at the ground, rocking back and fourth on your feat.

"You planned this?" You question, meekly.

"You looked really familiar to me from the start, and... I wanted to figure out why. It wasn't untill a forgotten memory of my own was triggered a few days ago... and it stuck with me." He explained, getting quieter along the line.

"So I tried to reenact it. Hoping that it would help, and well it did."

You honestly, couldn't figure out what to say. You were speechless... almost close to crying.

He did all of that...for you?

You couldn't contain the amount of happiness you felt. You suddenly throw out your arms and pulled Ness close to you, giving him a tight hug.

Ness yelped at the sudden embrace, locking up in response. Standing frozen in place, face probably beat red.

You were so much smaller than him, both in with and in height. Just inches below his chin.

This had to the be the most awkward thing in the world... half of you wanted to back away and apologize for invading personal space, while the other half didn't seem to care all that much.

You felt... safe. Warm almost. That... strange electric feeling surging through your soul.

It happened every time you two... touched.

What was that?

By the time you deiced to back away, Ness had already relaxed and draped the both of his arms around your waste. Hugging you back.

Now you were blushing.

That feeling in your soul blossomed.

At this point your heart was racing a mile a minute.  Ness's grip instinctively eased as you pushed yourself away.

You refused make eye contact with Ness. You glanced upward for a few seconds and his eyss were glued on to you. His face still had a shade of pink and he still looked to be a bit frozen in place.

Almost...shocked.

About what though?

"Aya..." he mumbled, grabbing your attention, forcing you to look up.

"S-sorry..." you stumbled. Your mouth going dry again.

Ness blinked, as if in disbelief.

"Its fine... just...." he said slowly, obviously distracted by something.

"Just... what?" You said, really confused.

"You..." Ness began, but then looked around. As if people could be listening.

"Come with me." He said, grabbing your wrist and pulling you along.

What was going on...?