Parallel Worlds

[b]Title: Parallel Worlds

Characters: Naito Zivaku and Jasmine

Context/Situation: On the Gummi Ship Hrímfaxi after the fall of Team Galactic, Jasmine asks Naito about the mechanics of the time travel he came through, wanting to understand better. This takes place between "Gateway to Ruin" and "Up Close and Personable".[/b]

The lights were off. That much he knew as his eyes opened. He remembered going up to his ship...the impact with the save point face first kind of left that impression, especially since he was in his bed now, tucked in. The time traveler said but one word.

"...Jasmine?"

The door opened, light streaming in. He looked at her... the way the light glinted off of her antennae and snow white hair, he could have even thought she was divine...

"Are you okay, Naito?" She walked in, dropping to her knees as he sat up. "You were passed out."

"Um... I'm fine, thank you," Naito replied, remembering why he had acted that way. He hadn't been hurt. Rather, it had been due to shock.

Jasmine had kissed him. Sure, it was on the cheek, but he liked her, and was hoping she would like him back so...

She probably could tell his blush, and giggled at it, sitting on the side of the bed as he turned to sit over it. She put a hand around his shoulder, looking at him. "Nai-Nai liked it~" she sang, though he could see her own blush. Maybe she wasn't ready.

"D-did you mean it?" he asked. "I mean... I never..."

"M-maybe we can go to a nicer world..." she said quickly, her own blush increasing as she looked away. Sure, she was better at dealing with this than him, but that didn't mean she was completely good with it.

Naito sighed, nodding. He wanted to talk about this, but he didn't like to push her into anything. "You can pick our next one. I might... erm... go increase our potion supplies. I used a lot in the Distortion World." He had other things he wanted to get, too. Something that his mother had suggested for Jasmine.

Still, she looked back in his direction, the blush fading. "Nai... can I ask you something?" When he looked over in surprise, she decided to continue. "It's not about... us, don't worry," she said, just to clear things up.

He was shook his head a bit to clear it, then nodded. "Um... sure. You can ask me anything, Jasmine." His own blush faded. "What is it?"

Jasmine looked down, sighing. "I admit... when I heard you were from the future, I just tried to... kind of forget that part. I didn't want to try to wrap my head around it, I didn't want to get into something too complicated to understand." She could see his upset expression, and hugged him, with him reciprocating. "I'm sorry..." She stroked his hair, understanding what she had said meant to him. It sounded like she didn't care or didn't believe him, like what he said didn't matter. So she clarified.

"You... you risked everything for me in Sinnoh and the Distortion World, even though you didn't have to. You fought Cyrus and Saturn with me, helped talk down Giratina... if I had gone alone... I don't know if I could have made it back. So...thank you. I kept telling you that I was so horrible for what I am, for being a Pokémorph... but I ignored your identity, pretended it didn't exist. I'm sorry..." She hugged him closer then, before loosening as she spoke again. "I think I should ask this, now that we're clear from danger..." She let go, putting her hands on his shoulders, her red eyes looking into his blue-white ones. "Can you please explain it to me the best you can? The time travel."

Naito nodded, standing up. "Please wait here, okay?" At her nod, he walked out, going to get some paper. On the way back, he brought a pad of paper, a pencil, and even a [i]Kingdom Hearts World Map[/i]. "You can also look at this for--"

"That one, Atlantica, looks good," she said before he could even finish. "I've never been there before. What do you think?"

"Um... sure, hang on." He walked back, putting it away, and came back. "Okay, we'll go there when I finish this explanation. You ready?"

"Mhm," she agreed, and looked to the paper as he began to write some diagrams.





 [b]   ===================>A
    B<=======================|
    |=====================================>C
    --------D<===============================|


    A: Parents' Timeline

    B: Present Timeline

    C: Home Timeline

    D: Timeline Since Travel To Now[/b]



Naito pointed to it then. "For reference, let's call the timelines as I wrote here, okay? It'll help things somewhat." At her nod, he began, pointing to the first option.

"Timeline Point A, my parents' time, is where they traveled from. I hear it was horrible, but I don't go into why. They had their reasons, and it's why people know them here. It's about six years from the present day as of now."

Then to option two. "Timeline Point B is now. From about four years ago, when my mom and dad arrived here, until two years ago, when I arrived here. Still, their presence, though important in averting the horrible time of A, was not long, and things progressed more or less as standard for the most part, without temporal problems."

He pointed to the third option. "Timeline Point C is where I grew up and was born. I hear I was conceived in B, but I was born in C, and grew up then. It's an alternate version of about seventeen years in the future from A's year, about twenty-three years from now, but for our purposes it's a separate space, dimension as far as I can tell. Another possibility." He looked forward. "Are you understanding this?"

"I think so..." she said. "So they came back, they changed history... and they went back to the changed time instead of their own?"

A nod. "Good, you're doing well." He smiled at her, and she smiled back, then he pointed to the fourth one. "Timeline Point D is where we are now. Things were getting worse again when I came back here for... reason of...."

She put a hand on his shoulder at that. "I understand... you don't have to keep going if you don't want to."

He shook his head. "No... no, I had to face this for now. You deserve a full answer." And he looked at D again. "When I came back, my mom and dad had separated before I was born. They came together again, and I revived my dad, but it does constitute a new change in the timeline, and thereby a new timeline itself. So now we're in D. And when I go back..."

She finished for him. "It'll be a Point E." She looked down, seeming upset. "But... does that mean you can't ever go home again?" It seemed even worse than her. She could go home, she just hadn't known until now.

He shook his head. "I can. I just... will need a warp thing that'll get me through to the right timeline. Basically, I'll need to find a way to travel back to C... but would...?" He looked to her again.

She sighed. "I... I need to think about it, but... maybe, we'll see."

He nodded. "I won't force anything on you." He looked to a bag on a table. He knew it was his Etherspace pouch, with the Hand of Atropos within, amongst other things. "This is why I don't make too many changes when I go back in time. Too many variables. I risked a lot getting my dad back, yeah, but... he's my dad, you know?" He paused. "... no, you... I'm sorry."

She nodded, though a little hurt, and smiled sadly. "It's okay. I know you didn't mean it. And I sort of understand. A little." She decided to change the subject, not wanting to hurt him more. "It's sort of like Interfering, right? We go into worlds and change the way things usually would be without us, whether we want to or not at times."

He put a hand to his chin, thinking. "... I never really thought of it that way. That's really smart, Jazz." He patted her back, rubbing it. "You're a natura--" He cut himself off at the shiver, letting go. "Sorry again! Gods, I keep messing that up..." He blushed again.

"It's okay, Nai-Nai..." She looked to him, hugging him again. The nickname was not helping, but that was the point. It was part of the fun. "How about we go Interfering again ourselves? I'll guide us to Radiant Garden, and you can get supplies, then off to Atlantica."

He nodded, letting go. "Jasmine... thanks for talking to me. I never got to explain how hard things are before in this degree. It hurt, I won't lie, but... thanks for the honesty."

She smiled then. "I'm sorry I didn't ask before. It's just a little hard, you know."

He nodded, and they stood up, walking out the door hand in hand, on the way to the flight deck.

Some knowledge gained, it was time to move forward.