FicWad

When Valon stopped the his bike, Jackie looked around and saw they were at an amusement park. She looked back at Valon with a slightly surprised expression, but she couldn't hide the excitement written all over her face.

Valon got off the bike and took off his helmet, trying his hardest to hold back a smile.
"You like amusement parks, yea?"
Jackie chewed the side of her cheek for a minute.
"I don't know, I've never been to one before."
Valon put his helmet away, ruffled his hair to bring it back to life, then grabbed his keys and finally turned towards Jackie.
"Well, first time for everything. Let's make this first something to remember."
Valon held out his hand, and with an enthusiastic smile, Jackie took it and followed him into the park.

Jackie looked around in awe at all things inside the gates. She was so caught up in her surroundings that she didn't even register the woman trying to get her attention.
"Miss? Miss?"
Valon laughed lightly and lifted Jackie's arm. The lady smiled and fastened the bracelet pass around her wrist, then put one on Valon's.
"Enjoy your stay." She said kindly. Valon nodded and thanked her, then lead Jackie inside the gates.

"It's huge!" Jackie exclaimed. Valon smiled again.
"See anything you like?"
"I like it all! I wanna go on everything!"
Valon laughed heartily.
"Yea, well, sorry sheila, but that'll take more than one afternoon! How about we try a roller coaster?"
Jackie's face brightened.
"I always wanted to go on a roller coaster!" She said excitedly. Valon laughed again and lifted his free hand to point at one close by.
"Alright. How about that one?"
Jackie smiled and nodded and Valon lead the way.

"Wow... that's really high." Jackie said, looking up at the roller coaster once they reached it. Valon looked at her.
"We don't have to go it, we can go on something else."
Jackie looked at him and beamed.
"Are you kidding? No way! I've waited my whole life to go on one of these!"
Valon laughed and shook his head as he was dragged along in direction of the line-up.

"This is so disappointing." Jackie said with a sigh. Valon smiled wide.
"Easy daredevil, it's not started yet. We're just going up the first drop."
"Well it's boring." Jackie countered. Valon turned away from her.
"It won't be." He said with a grin.
Jackie sighed again and waited. It was taking forever to get to the top. When they finally reached it, she sat up in anticipation.
"Finally! Now i-"
The end of Jackie's sentence was replaced with a loud scream as the train finally dropped down the other side of the slope. She threw her arms around Valon and held on for dear life as she felt her stomach go up in her throat. This was not as fun as it looked!

Valon laughed heartily and wrapped his arm around Jackie.
When the train finally slowed again to go up another slope, Jackie finally turned to Valon with a pale face.
"That was notfunny!" She said shakily. Valon felt a wave of guilt wash over him and suddenly felt extremely protective over Jackie. She looked like she had just looked death in the eye and survived, and no doubt she felt that way too. Poor Jackie. After all, the ride had been his idea. Obviously, it hadn't been such a good idea for her very first ride.
Valon wrapped both arms around Jackie and pulled her tight to him.
"I'm sorry Jackie. This wasn't a good idea for your first ride."
Jackie snuggled closer to Valon, feeling suddenly safe. She looked up at him and gave him a small smile.
"It's OK. It's not like you held a knife to my throat."
Valon laughed lightly and Jackie turned forward again, frowning as she noticed they were at the top of the slope. She hugged Valon tight again and his grip around her tightened protectively. She closed her eyes and waited for the drop, but when they went over, she felt a rush of adrenaline this time -- it felt good! She opened her eyes and smiled as she enjoyed the feeling. Perhaps it was Valon's embrace, or maybe she'd gotten used to the ride, but whatever it was, she wasn't afraid anymore.
Jackie squeeled in delight as the train went up and down slope after slope and even did a few loops.
Valon smiled down at Jackie and released one of his arms around her so she could have more mobility. He laughed as she raised her arms in the air when they went over the drops. Apparently all she needed was some security.

When the ride was finally over, Valon helped Jackie off and took her hand again, looking at her with a smile.
"I can't believe that of all the things you're not scarred of, you almost had a heart attack from a bloody roller coaster."
"I wasn't scarred." Jackie argued. "I was just... startled."
Valon's smile widened and he gave her hand a light squeeze.
"Yea, right." He replied teasingly.
Jackie looked at him for a moment, then smiled and gave him a playful push
"Aw shut-up." She said with a laugh.
Valon released her hand and wrapped an arm around her instead.
"Hey, it's alright. It's nice to know I'm braver than you at something after all."
Jackie looked up at him with a grin.
"Yea, yea. Don't get used to it buddy."
Valon laughed and lead Jackie to another ride. Without really realizing it, he was starting to see the girl in a whole new light -- and that light was steadily getting brighter.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________

"Hey, that looks fun. Wanna play?"
Jackie smiled at Valon. Clearly he was having just as much fun as she was, though he was trying to hide it.
"Valon, if you win anything else, we're gonna have to rent a car to bring everything home!" Jackie replied, referring to the numerous stuffies and prizes Valon had already won for her. They each had an armful and after the last one, they had gone back out to Valon's motorcycle and put it all in the storage boxes before returning back inside.

Valon scratched behind his head.
"Yea, maybe you're right." He said with a laugh. Jackie laughed too and they were about to turn away from the games when something caught Jackie's eye.
"Aw! It's a Baby Dragon plushie!"
Valon turned back around and followed Jackie's gaze. He saw the plushie but the game it was for was a shooting game.
"Hm... My aim's not that great." Valon said with a lopsided smile. Jackie smiled back.
"Well I find that hard to believe considering you nailed everything else here dead on."
Valon laughed.
"Yea, but nobody's good at everything."
"No, but theres no harm in trying either." Jackie countered.
Valon smiled and shook his head.
"No, I suppose not."

The two made their way back to the games and Valon paid for the one in question. The object was to shoot down five moving kuriboh's, which by the looks of it wasn't an easy task. You were only permitted three misses.
Valon sighed and picked up the toy gun. He took aim and shot but missed the target completely. The second time was also a miss but the third time was a hit. Valon shot a fourth and fifth time and also hit a target, but upon his sixth shot, he missed again.
Valon tried a few more times but he just couldn't seem to get five hits. Eventually he put the gun down and looked at Jackie with a half smile.
"Sorry sheila. I warned ya."
Jackie looked at the dragon plushie longingly and then looked back at Valon with a smile.
"It's OK. Like you said, no one's good at everything."
Valon smiled at Jackie and once again wrapped his arm around her. They turned to walk away but a voice behind them stopped them.
"Now hang on there just one minute."
The two turned back around and saw the man in charge of the game smiling at them. He looked at Jackie and held out the gun.
"Seein' as how you seemed ta take a likin' ta that there toy, and how your boyfriend here spent so much money and tried so hard ta get it, why don't you have a go on the house. Never know unless you try, aint that right?"
Both Jackie and Valon flushed horribly.
"We're not - I mean, she's not my-my-"
"We're not together!" Jackie finished with a flourish.
The man smiled.
"Well that there don't matter none now do it? Seems that you two got a mighty fine likin' for each other just the same."
Jackie felt her flush deepen and she reached out to take the gun.
"I suppose I could try once." She said hurriedly, trying desperately to change the subject.

Jackie leaned down and placed her elbows on the booth. She took a deep, calming breath, then took aim and shot.
Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!
One right after the other, Jackie shot without hesitation. When she was finished, she put the gun down and straightened.
Valon's jaw was nearly to the ground. Jackie had nailed every shot dead on without a single miss. The man smiled and reached up to retrieve the Baby Dragon plushie.
"Well if you aint a natural then I don't know what is. There ya go princess." He said as he handed it to her. Jackie smiled proudly and thanked him, then turned and walked away with Valon following in a daze.
"Just come on back if ya ever wanna try again." The man called after them.

When they had gotten a nice ways away from the game booth, Valon finally got a hold of himself.
"Where the hell did you learn to shoot like that?" He asked in awe.
Jackie laughed and smiled.
"Hey, dueling isn't the only thing I practice."
Valon smiled and raised an eyebrow.
"Should I be scarred?" He asked playfully.
Jackie gave him a smirk.
"Not unless you get on my bad side again."
Valon laughed and took her hand again.
"How about we go get something to eat?" He suggested.
Jackie nodded.
"Sounds good."

After driving around domino city for a while, Jackie and Valon decided to stop at a simple stall on the side of the road to get something to eat. They both got what they wanted, then headed down to the beach.
The sun had already set and the stars were out and shinning with all their brilliance. The two duelists sat and made small talk while they ate, simply enjoying each others company.
After a while however, Valon got strangely quiet. Jackie paused with her chopsticks to her mouth and looked at him. She put the food down and starred at him questioningly for a moment, then finally spoke up.
"What's wrong?" She asked quietly. Valon looked up at her and gave her a convincing smile.
"Nothing." He replied.
Jackie starred at him for another moment, then spoke again.
"Valon, you're a terrible liar. Please, everything was going so good... don't ruin it by keeping secrets."
Valon sighed and laid down his food. He starred at it for a few minutes before he finally answered her.
"Jackie... you know all our background stories, but Dartz is the only one who knows yours. What happened for him to take you in?"
Jackie frowned and looked at her hands as the horrible memories flooded back into her mind.
Valon frowned too and immediately felt guilty.
"It's alright, you don't have to tell me. I'm sorry, it's none of my business, I shouldn't have asked."
Jackie shook her head.
"No, it's OK. I've already talked about it with Mai actually, so both her and Dartz know... I guess telling you won't make much of a difference. Maybe it'll even help me feel better."
Jackie took a deep breath and looked out over the ocean. Valon waited patiently for her to gather her thoughts, still feeling incredibly guilty. Eventually Jackie began her story.
________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Mommy, look! I made you a bracelet just like the one I made for daddy! Now we all have one to match!"
Jenelle smiled down at her little nine year old daughter.
"That's beautiful baby, thank you."
Jackie beamed and nodded.
"You're welcome!"
Jenelle smiled again and held out her wrist.
"Why don't you tie it on right now."
"OK!"
Jackie tied the bracelet around her mother's wrist and smiled.
"There, perfect!"
Jenelle lifted her wrist and examined the bracelet, then stood up and offered her hand to her daughter with another smile.
"That is perfect. Why don't we walk in the surf for a bit while we wait for daddy."
Jackie smiled and took her mother's hand. Together they walked down the beach they were on to the water, then walked along in the surf.

After a good ways, Jenelle's cell phone rang. Looking at the caller ID, she smiled when she recognised her husband's cell number. She stopped walking, causing her daughter to stop too.
"About time." She said, looking at her daughter with a smile. Jackie smiled excitedly and Jenelle answered the phone.
"Hello, love. Where are you? I thought you said you would be here this afternoon?"
Jackie listened hard, trying to hear what was being said but to no avail. She heard a deep, muffled response and cocked her head to the side in confusion. That didn't sound like her father's voice.
Upon hearing the voice, Jenelle's smile faded and her face paled considerably.
"Where's my husband?" She whispered in a shakey voice. The person on the other end, apparently not her husband, replied with the same, deep, rumble.
A look of horror crossed Jenelle's face and both her heart and breathing began to race.
The voice continued to speak and Jackie inched closer to her mother, trying to hear what was being said. She caught an odd word here and there but still couldn't piece together a sentence. After a minute or two however, Jackie finally heard something.
"... your precious daughter!" The voice hissed loudly.
Jenelle gasped in horror and lost all the remaining color in her face. Without hesitation or another word, she dropped the cell and scooped up her daughter in one swift motion, then dashed down the beach as fast as her legs could carry them.
"Mommy, what's wrong? Who was that? Where are we going?" Jackie asked in confusion.
Jenelle placed a hand on the back of her daughters head and pulled her close.
"Hush baby! Not now!"
Jackie hugged her mother tight but said nothing else. She watched in wonder while the scenery around them raced by as her mother flew down the beach.

They had almost reached the end when Jenelle suddenly halted her her tracks. Jackie turned in her mothers arms to see three men in front of them. The one in the middle was huge and looked like a brute with a smug smirk on his face.
"How considerate of you Jenelle, coming right to us instead of us having to come get you."
Jenelle took a few cautious steps backward, then whirled around to run back the way she came, but unfortunately her way was blocked that way too.
She turned around again to face the huge man with a look of sheer terror on her face.
"Kain, please! Please let us go!"
The man, apparently named Kain, smirked.
"No. No, we can't do that. See, you've got a debt to repay."
Jenelle furrowed her brows and her heart began to race faster.
"What debt?" She asked shakily.
"A debt from not so long ago." Kain then tutted tauntingly and took a few steps towards her.
"Jenelle, Jenelle, Jenelle. You should have listened to us at the tag-team tournament. We asked you both very nicely: 'Robert, Jenelle. Throw this match and we'll reward you handsomely.' But did you do it? No, of course not. We lost a lot of money because of you two."
Kain turned and looked over his shoulder at another man just behind him.
"What did that moron say again, Johnny-boy?"
Johnny smirked and spit out something he'd been chewing on before answering.
"Something about his daughter watching and not wanting to let her down wasn't it?"
Kain turned to face Jenelle again.
"Yes. His daughter, that's right."
He looked at Jackie and smirked again.
"Pretty little thing isn't she. Shame she's about to be an orphan. Whatever will happen to her then?"
Jenelle's eyes widened in horror and she pulled her daughter as close as possible.
"No! Please! She's just a child!!"
Kain snorted.
"What do you think I am? Human?" He asked tauntingly. "Sweetheart, I come from the very pits of hell itself. I wasn't cursed with a conscience."
With that said, Kain snapped his fingers and the men behind him moved forward. One grabbed Jackie and pryed her from her mother's death grip while the ones behind her grabbed Jenelle and held her tight.
Kain gestured to Jackie and the man holding her.
"Get rid of her." He said casually.
The man, appearing to be very young himself, nodded solemnly.
"Yes sir." He said grimly, then turned and walked away from the scene.

Jackie looked over her captors shoulder and watched Kain pull out a gun. He held it out and aimed it at Jenelle's head, who was now on her knees in the sand with a man on either side of her holding her arms. The gun had a big, silver barrel on the end of it and barely made a sound when he pulled the trigger. But Jenelle's frame fell lifelessly forward nonetheless.
"MOMMY!!"
Jackie screamed, reaching her arms out over her captor's shoulder. He wrapped his arms tighter around the girl.
"Hush, little one. It'll be alright."
Tears streamed down her cheeks as she watched the men walk over to a nearby car and open the trunk. When they did, an arm fell from it. They replaced the arm inside and unceremoniously threw Jenelle's lifeless body in with it. But not, however, before Jackie got a good look at the arm inside the trunk. It was wearing a bracelet identical to her own and the one she'd just given her mother. One she had made. One she had given to her father.
"Daddy!!" Jackie sobbed miserably. She starred at the car and the laughing men for a few moments, watching them get farther and farther away, then felt her body flood with more rage than any one child should have. She began kicking and flailing, making it very hard for the young man holding her to keep a grip. Eventually he shifted her in his arms to get a better hold, but this was his mistake.
Jackie drew back her foot and thrust it hard into the man's chest, knocking the wind out of him and causing them both the tumble to the ground. When they hit the sand, the grip around Jackie ceased and she jumped from the man's arms and bolted away from him. Away from her captor. Away from what she had just witnessed. Away from the men who had taken away everyone she had. Just away.

Jackie ran for what felt like forever, not really watching as tears streamed down her face and blurred her vision.
Eventually, Jackie banged into someone. She looked up to see a tall, refined looking man starring down at her.
"Get away from me! I'll kill you! I'll kill you!!" She screamed, raising her fists and taking up a rather weak fighting stance.
The smile the man had been giving her faded and he cocked his head to one side as he noticed the tears streaming steadily down the girl's face.
"Good heavens child. What ever is the matter with you?"
Jackie starred up at the man through glossy, tear-filled eyes. He looked so sincere and genuinely saddened. Immediately she threw her arms around his tall legs and cried heavily as she sobbed out her story.

"Oh dear." The man said with a frown once Jackie was finished. He crouched down to her level and wrapped her in his arms.
"Dear child. I'm terribly sorry for your loss."
"They-they're not coming back are they...?" Jackie sobbed miserably. The man shook his head.
"No child. They're not."
Jackie buried her face in his chest and sobbed harder.
He let her cry for a while until eventually he pulled away a little to look into her face.
"You know, there's a way to make those terrible men pay. I can help you find them."
Jackie sniffled and pulled back to look at the man.
"Really? How?"
The man smiled.
"Can you duel child?"
Jackie furrowed her brows in confusion.
"Y-yes... but.. but not very good. My parents were world class duelists and they taught me how... that's what got them killed..."
Jackie's bottom lip trembled as more tears flooded her eyes. A single one rolled down her cheek and the man before her reached out to wipe it away.
"Hush child, no more tears. I'll help you if you agree to duel for me."
Jackie starred at him.
"You'll help me find them and make them pay for what they did?"
The man nodded.
"And you'll let me do whatever I have to to make it happen?"
Again the man nodded.
Jackie sniffled again and straightened, forcing back her tears as rage and determination replaced her sorrow.
"Alright then, I'll duel for you!"
The man smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder, then stood up and offered her his hand.
Jackie hesitated for a moment, then took his hand and let herself be lead away.

Jackie looked out over the water and watched the abnormally red sun disappear below the horizon. The image was one she knew she'd never forget, one that would scar her memory as much as the scene she'd witnessed not long ago. Her world would forever be stained red until the day she finally got justice for what had happened to her family.
Jackie frowned and looked up at the man whose strange hand felt so huge holding her tiny one.
"Excuse me sir, but who are you?"
The man looked down at her with a warm smile.
"You don't have to call me 'sir', dear. You can call me Dartz."