"Hey, Paula?"
Paula looked up. "Hey, what?" she replied, marking her place in her book. It was the last day of August, and although it was usually unbearably hot and sticky this time of year, it seemed as though fall had come early. The day was clear and bright, with a soft breeze and a hazy kind of autumn glow, and Paula and Ness were sitting over by the cliffs at Beak Point, enjoying the last lazy hours of summer vacation.
Ness swallowed. "I've been meaning to ask you..." For months, to no avail. He'd wanted to do it the week after they'd come back from defeating Giygas, but then a week turned into two, and three and four and more until it had all run away from him and he'd lost count.
"Ask me what?" Paula had been lying on her stomach, reading, but now she pulled herself into a sitting position, hands resting on her knees. "Something important?"
"Important? Uh, well..." Ness hesitated. "I dunno. Maybe it'll just sound silly, but anyway... what were you going to tell me, Paula, that day we came back and I walked you home?"
"Going to tell you?" Paula shifted her weight uncomfortably, sliding her legs forward.
"Yeah, you know," Ness continued, "we got back to Saturn Valley, and you asked me to walk you home, and when we got to your house you said you wanted to --"
"Oh! Oh, that," Paula cut in, nodding unconsciously. "That I was going to tell you something, but that I forgot."
Ness felt better that she knew what he was talking about, at least. "Yeah, that's it! So, I was kind of wondering, what it was, exactly, I mean." He noticed he was rambling, and made a mental note not to do it anymore.
Paula sighed. "Oh, all it was, well..." She averted her eyes from Ness, her gaze adrift everywhere, on the grass, the trees, the brilliant blue sky. "I... can't remember, Ness," she said finally, barely glancing at him. "I don't know."
"You don't?" Ness was a little surprised. He'd been sure Paula would remember, especially since she seemed to remember everything else about that afternoon. "Not at all?"
A pause, then she shook her head. "Nope. I'm sorry, Ness..." Another pause, longer this time. "Maybe it wasn't anything important, anyway."
Ness's eyes ran along the blades of grass in front of him. "Maybe," he repeated, feeling disappointed. After trying to get up the courage all summer, he had finally asked and Paula didn't remember. She probably thought he was crazy for asking. "Do you think I'm crazy for asking?" He had to know.
"Oh, no, not at all, Ness," Paula said quickly, almost running the words together. "I just don't remember, that's all." It was safe to look at him now, since he was looking at the ground and there was no risk of eye contact.
Silence.
"Was it something bad?"
"Bad?" Paula's eyes met his for a second. "Of course not, why would it be anything bad? I mean," she added quickly, "I don't know, I told you I didn't remember, Ness." She changed positions again, sitting cross-legged this time.
"Oh... yeah. I just thought, maybe if something jogged your mind, then you'd remember..." Ness frowned slightly. "Well, wait, was it something good then?"
"Ness!"
"Sorry," Ness said, beginning to tug at blades of grass with strangely anxious hands. "I guess I just can't help wondering, that's all. You can't blame me, can you, Paula?"
This took her a second. "Well, no, I guess not," she answered, "I guess I would feel the same way as you. Like it was some kind of moment, and I had missed it, or something..." She trailed off. "I mean, it was probably nothing like that, I was probably gonna tell you that your shoe was untied or something."
Ness laughed. "Aww, but you said it so serious-like, Paula!"
Paula blinked, thinking back to that day. "Yeah, I... guess I did, didn't I?" She seemed to be questioning herself, like she was as curious about it as Ness.
"Yeah, you definitely did," Ness agreed, "that's why I've been wondering all these months --"
"You've been wondering about it for months?"
"Well, yeah," Ness nodded, "I mean, c'mon, if someone said that to you and it was all mysterious and stuff, and you never found out what it was, you'd be wondering too!"
"Then you've been waiting all summer," Paula said, "to ask me about it."
Again, he swallowed. "Sort of."
Silence. Longer this time.
"It couldn't have been something bad," Paula decided finally. "I remember that afternoon, and I just felt so happy that the world was going to be safe again, and no more weirdos would be trying to kidnap me, and that I could finally just go home and be a normal kid again..." She smiled. "Well, I never was a normal kid, the reporters still call my house now and then, or sometimes they just show up."
"Do you talk to them?"
"Nah, my dad throws 'em out," Paula giggled. "Once, this guy was really getting on his nerves, refused to leave without getting his scoop or whatever, so my dad told him that if he didn't get off our property immediately, his psychic daughter was going to figure out his address and send over a little bit of friendly psychokinetic energy, and would he prefer it in the form of blazing fireballs, a blistering ice storm or roaring thunder?"
Ness burst out laughing. "Oh man, that's totally something your dad would say, he's a funny guy! Hey, what'd the reporter say?"
"Nothing," Paula replied, "he just jumped in his car and got the heck outta there fast!" She shook her head, letting her laughter taper off. "Yep, that's my dad, all right."
"Sure is," Ness said. "Now, what were you saying again, before?"
"Huh?" Paula thought for a moment. "Oh, that I didn't think it could have been anything bad, because I was in such a good mood that day, after we came back from the past, that is." She closed her eyes, so lightly her eyelids practically fluttered with the breeze. "All I'd been praying for, for so many long days and nights, was to get home again, Ness. I was so, so happy to be back... well, I guess that wasn't all I'd been praying for, but most of the time I was..."
"Wait," Ness interrupted, and she opened her eyes. "What else were you praying for?"
"What else?" Paula paused. "Oh... it was... nothing really, Ness. Just little, everyday things, you know?" She straightened her legs again, then drew them up towards her, bending her knees.
"What kind of little, everyday things, Paula?" He had long finished toying with blades of grass and was now focused more on Paula, practically leaning forward, more curious than ever.
"Oh, you know," Paula said casually, "that we would all make it through our journey safe and sound, that my mom would do okay with the preschool while I was gone, that my dad wouldn't worry too much. That I'd live to see another Runaway Five concert." She grinned, and so did Ness. "And you know, other stuff."
"And... other stuff?"
A breeze whipped past, and as Paula pushed her hair out of her face, her eyes met Ness's. "There was something I wanted to tell you, but I've forgotten it."
Ness blinked quickly, not wanting to close his eyes. "But you were sure you'd remember by the time you saw me again..." The words had never left his mind, not for a day since then.
Paula started to open her mouth, but she stopped herself.
"Paula?" Ness asked.
"Ness... that's what I wanted to tell you." She started to smile. "That I... wanted to see you again." Ness tried to speak but she didn't let him. "That I felt... close to you, is how I would put it, I guess, and I hoped that you wanted to..."
"Paula..." He didn't know what he'd been expecting, but this wasn't it. Or maybe it was, and it just sounded different coming from her. "Paula, I --"
"Looks like you did though," Paula continued, "you must've wanted to... see me again, because you've been hanging around with me all summer, and I'm guessing it wasn't just because you wanted to... ask me that..."
"It wasn't just because I wanted to ask you that," Ness said, repeating her nearly word for word. "It was a great summer... wasn't it?"
The wind whistled again, and Paula shivered. "Feels like it's going to be a great fall too." She looked at him. "Do you think it will be?"
He thought for a moment. "Do you still want to... see me again?"
She nodded slowly. "Yes..."
"Then I know it will be, Paula." Ness smiled. "No question about that."