AN: So, this concludes our current chapter. Soon, we shall head back to ARS for a bit of grinding and all that jazz. You know, the stuff that happens between all the emotions and such. :)

Chapter 4.3: Earth Daze

Three little words, a small collection of syllables spoken with finality; that was all that Scott needed to say. He tasted those words on his tongue, felt them on his lips. Yet, he could not bring himself to speak them. He could not simply say, "Sarah, fuck off."

No, he stood there phone in hand for far longer than he needed to continue the conversation. In the end, he said, "You want to ask me for a favor, after everything that happened?"

"Scott... I know things ended bad and all, but can't we be civil?" asked Sarah.

What she had said was one thing. What Scott had actually heard was, "I never really loved you. But can't you just give me what I want despite the fact that I threw you away like a well-used tampon?"

He took a moment to collect his thoughts. When he spoke again he said, "Do either of you even know what the project is about?"

"Well, no..." said Sarah slowly.

Scott shook his head. "The people who get taken on for this project have to be exemplary, better men than me. They will have access to high level security clearances and have to engage in a great deal of fighting among other things."

He took a breath then continued. "Those men will become both incredibly powerful, and be seen as ambassadors of this country. They need to have a sense of morality and dedication that is well beyond the average person."

"Are you saying Jake isn't like that?" asked Sarah angrily.

Scott blinked. "Seriously? Are you seriously going to ask me that?"

"I didn't think you were this petty..." she said in a frosty tone.

"I'm petty?" asked Scott softly. "It's petty to believe that a man who would impregnate my drunk fiancé on the same night that she accepted my proposal is not good enough to be an ambassador?"

"Whatever! You just want to lord your new position over him!" snapped Sarah.

"No. I just see no reason to trust a man to have my back in battle when he has already stabbed it once." said Scott. He was rather proud of himself for phrasing it in such a manner. It perfectly encapsulated his thoughts on the matter.

"So, you're saying no?" pressed Sarah.

"Yes. I am saying no. More to the point, if that baby daddy of yours was worth a damn he would have contacted me directly instead of trying to use you to manipulate me." said Scott.

Sarah remained silent for a moment then huffed loudly and ended the call without speaking further. Scott pulled his cell away from his ear then snorted at it. "Somehow, I doubt that's the end of that."

Scott took a shower then changed clothes while Herbert ran around the house like he had lost his furry little mind. "Man,

I wish I could bring stuff here. It would be so much easier to wash clothes or shower."

Life was not fair in that regard. He had thought about it often enough. While, he was certain that he could coax Rhea into allowing such a thing, it might cause problems. "Would definitely save on the cost of housing, though."

For now, at least, his Earth house would just have to be for business and occasional vacations.

Once he had rounded up his furry brother-in-arms, Scott headed out to see if he could meet up with Captain Johnson. While driving to base, he received a message from Shara of all people. "Scott can we talk some time?" he asked aloud as he drove down the street.

He shrugged then ignored proper traffic protocols and texted her back. "Sure, any time."

Scott pulled to a stop at the next light then continued on as it changed. Just as he got up to speed on a long stretch of highway a sound reminiscent of a loud Poof! exploded in the air above his lap. His eyes widened comically as he tried to retain control of the vehicle. His lap had suddenly been occupied by a busty red haired ninja girl. "Shara? The hell!"

Shara snuggled close to him then giggled. "It's been forever, Original Scott!"

The car screeched to a halt on the side of the road just shy of sliding into the ditch. "Shara!"

She laughed happily then kissed him on the cheek. "Original Scott!" she cried, playing along.

His heart pounded in his chest while he tried to regain his proper bearings. That had been close. Served him right for telling her that she could talk to him anytime.

"Oh, how I've missed you original Scott." She hugged him tightly once more then sighed.

Her cheek pressed hotly to his, Scott was forced to speak through slightly compressed lips. "Why do you keep calling me Original Scott?"

Shara giggled sweetly then pulled back. She lightly tapped him on the nose then said, "Well, you're with my sister Origin and your name is Scott."

"Ah." It made sense. Rather it made sense as far as anything Shara might cook up. "So... What did you want to talk about?"

Shara wiggled her ass a little in his lap then smiled. Her smile slowly turned into a blush as her confidence began to wane. "I... I know it's weird, but..."

"Yeah?"

She took a deep breath then clasped his shoulders tight and exclaimed, "Can you teach me how to seduce you?"

Scott's eyes widened comically once again. There were no words that came to mind to explain his thoughts on that matter.

"Uh, well... I mean, not you specifically I guess. You know..." said Shara. She began to babble a little while trying to explain herself.

It took him a moment to translate her ninja babble-speak, but he eventually discerned what it was that she had wanted to discuss. She wanted his input on how to move her relationship forward with his counterpart.

"Are you even sure that you want that?" asked Scott softly after a moment.

"Do you really want to talk to me about that? I mean, this version of you is with my sister and she isn't interested in sharing..." said Shara. She then added with a muttered sigh, "At least not with me."

"Hey, what's a blue haired weirdo for if not having emotional conversations with ninja goddesses on the side of the road?" asked Scott in an attempt to lighten the mood once more.

Shara smiled warmly at him then reached up and grabbed her ponytail. She looked to the side and played with it idly for a moment. "You always know how to cheer me up."

"Let's go home, Shara." said Scott. He had not been on the road for long. It would not take long to make it back to the house.

Her eyes widened slightly then closed a little while her nostrils flared briefly. The bridge of her nose turned bright red.

"Ok..." she said softly.

Herbert reached into his little travel bag of popcorn, something that had been made for the road trip, and pulled out another snack to munch on. He eyed Scott and Shara for a moment while he chewed. This was bound to be entertaining.

A short while later they were back at Scott's house. Shara, dressed her typical Mai Shiranui style ninja cosplay walked up to the door at Scott's side. Her eyes remained downcast most of the way, though she occasionally glanced over at his closest hand. Her fingers wiggled slightly and occasionally reached toward his swaying digits but she stopped herself.

It was difficult for her to be around him. She both loved and hated it. Original Scott could never be with her. He loved Origin and Ero. There was no room for her in their love triangle.

Shara's cheeks reddened a little as Scott turned to smile at her. "Welcome home."

"Thanks..." she said softly, the red of her cheeks deepened in the process of saying it.

Scott asked if she wanted anything to drink. She took a little juice then they both sat down at the kitchen table.

Shara sipped at her apple juice for a moment. Scott was the one who had to carry the conversation forward. "So, you want to seduce me?"

Shara's eyes widened and apple juice flew from her lips amidst the echoing sounds of a rude noise. Scott blinked then got a paper towel and wet it down before cleaning his face off.

"Sorry." said Shara, her face bright red. She bit her lower lip a little then looked away.

"It's fine." said Scott with a laugh. "I forget how you can be sometimes."

"How I can be?" she asked curiously.

"Yeah." said Scott without expanding on his point.

"What do you mean?" pressed Shara. She tilted her head to the side and offered him a curious look.

Scott granted her a warm boyish smile. "You're a sweet girl, Shara. You don't even realize what an outfit like that can do to a man, not really. Yet, you wear that sort of thing anyway because it's something you like."

"My outfit...? Something wrong with it?" she asked softly. She leaned back a little and crossed her arms over her chest in a strangely modest pose. Modesty was not something she was known for, especially when it came to physical attributes and showmanship.

"No. Not at all. I'm just pointing out the fact, that for all your sex appeal you're actually a sweet and innocent sort of person."

Scott's statement did nothing to calm down the now ever-present blush that had arisen on Shara's cheeks. She giggled oddly then muttered something about enjoying the presence of waffles.

"Focus Shara. Stay with me." said Scott with a gentle laugh.

She blinked twice then said, "Huh? What?"

Scott laughed once more then said, "Exactly. You can dish it out, but you can't take it."

"Well... Yeah. That's the reason why I came here." she mumbled.

"You wanted to know how to seduce me, meaning that other version of me?"

"Yeah, I guess." she said softly.

"You guess?" he asked her slowly. He tilted his head to the side a little to match her. "Shara, are you really the sort of girl who seduces people without being sure it's something you want?"

"I dunno. Only tried it once and it didn't work." she said.

Scott looked askance at her and she mentioned a certain ice cream incident from a while back. Scott keenly recalled her clumsy attempt at using ice cream as a means of dragging him around town back when they first met.

"You certainly had my attention, but by then I had been starting to work things through with your sister. Had I been completely single, it would have probably worked well enough to keep my attention."

Shara smiled shyly then looked up at him. Her expression became one of confusion, of doubt. "What's wrong with me, Scott?"

"Nothing that I know of." he said. "I like you well enough."

"Well enough?" she giggled weakly then nodded. "That's probably sweet, I guess."

"I'm not allowed to be too sweet. We're going to be brother and sister, you know."

Shara flinched slightly. "I know. Feels like that's the problem."

"You don't want to be family?" asked Scott curiously.

"Of course I do... Though, you know exactly what sort of family I'd like to be with you." She huffed at him a little then shook her head. "No, the problem is that it feels almost like that over there, too."

"Like you and the other me are siblings?"

"Not even that... It's like, well..." Her eyebrows pressed together lightly and she looked away. "It's like we're nothing."

"Nothing? Really?" asked Scott, surprised by the revelation.

"At first it was different. You know about most of the situation there?"

"Yeah, assholes ruining the world." said Scott.

"True, but I meant how I was childhood friends with you in that world. We did everything together. It was wonderful." She smiled warmly as the memories flowed through her mind. The smile faded after a moment. "Then everything turned wrong."

Scott listened as Shara outlined everything that had gone wrong. The life story of Dragon Scott, as she called him, was terrible. Only his little sister had it worse.

"Now, every time he looks at me it's like he can't really see me." she said tears trailing down her cheeks. "I've never done anything but try to help him, but because of the situation I know some part of him refuses to accept me, to trust me."

Shara began to sob a little, her body bucked and heaved as she started to babble all of her fears and insecurities. Scott stood up and moved to join her. He wrapped his arms around his sister to be, and held her tight as she put words to her emotional torment.

After a while, she no longer spoke. Instead she sniffled and occasionally sobbed while gently clutching at his shirt.

"I went into it with the best of intentions. I really wanted things to work, you know." she said softly, in a tiny little voice.

Scott stroked her hair then nodded. "You were so excited."

"I still am, but I don't think he really wants to be with me like that..." she said in that same tiny little voice. She hiccupped a little after saying it.

"What makes you think that?"

She snuggled her head against Scott's chest. "We talk, and occasionally share a joke, but he just doesn't look at me the same way he looks at Ashton or Sonja." Strangely, she unleashed a sad smile. "Though, he doesn't look at anyone the way he looks at Sonja."

"How does he look at you?"

Shara bit her lower lip then sighed. "He doesn't. He looks through me."

"Shara, why so cryptic?" asked Scott.

She shook her head. "I don't mean to be. I... I dunno. It's like when he looks at me, all he sees is the past and his past hurts him."

"I know it's going to sound like a copout. But if you actually want to be more than a child hood friend or a reminder of the past, you're going to have to decide what he really means to you." said Scott.

"I love Scott." she said gently, stubbornly. Her lower lip poked out a little in a petulant pout.

He stroked her hair softly then kissed on the top of her head. "Yes. But do you love him."

Shara slowly nodded. "I do."

Scott stroked her hair a little, unsure what else he should do to calm her down. He had never really been that good with dealing with crying women. He suspected that he was doing alright at the moment. But as far as things went when dealing with Shara, any attention from him made her feel better.

"Is it romantic love?"

"I'm not sure what that is... not really." she sighed softly. "I just want him to be happy again. I hate what's happened to him. He deserves so much better."

"Sounds like love." said Scott gently. "Also, sounds like you need to figure out what kind of love you feel for him."

Shara actually laughed after a moment. "When did you get so good at this?"

Scott shrugged. "I've had to do a lot of soul searching in recent months when it came to figuring out the love thing."

"Me too." she said warmly, while unleashing another sweet laugh.

"Had to find the right Scott?" he asked with a laugh of his own.

Shara's laugh returned, much brighter this time. "Of course! Who do you think I am?"

He pulled on her ponytail a little then started to say something, but the sound of liquid being spurted caught his attention. Both he and Shara looked toward the far side of the table and saw Herbert pumping butter onto his bowl of popcorn.

Herbert looked at them. They looked at him. Soon, all three fell into a world of silly giggles.