Chapter 1: Gone Fishing

"I'd say I'd miss you, but..." Their heads moved close to each other, and for a second they both believed a spark was forming between them.

"I wouldn't want to lie," the two shouted, with a smile that spoke competitive words. They both wanted the last word on the other, to let that person know they wouldn't be missed, but neither could get that last remark. So they settled on evening it out together.

Gwen climbed back into the run-down RV, nicknamed the Rust Bucket, with her grandfather Maxwell Tennyson. They had just finished spending the entire summer with him.

The diesel engine to the Rust Bucket fired up with a smooth huffing noise, which was very good for the age of it, and it soon began to cruise down the neighborhood road.

Ben watched with a forlorn expression as the, probably, most fun time and most life-changing experience he had ever gone through was whisking away in a now-familiar and welcomed mobile home.

He remembered how comforting the cramped space was, as he sat in front of Gwen. They were all together and could not wait for the next interesting thing to happen to them. The minute he had found the Omnitrix, his life took a turn for the better. Gwen had even discovered that she withheld a magical aura.

That was all over, and he had not been to happy about it. His life was going back into a dull and forced stage. But one thing gave him hope to go on, something that he had never thought he would lay his young eyes on.

In the back of the far-off Rust Bucket – appearing in the large window – a brightly-orange-haired girl moved the gray curtains away and looked back at her cousin. He never would have thought that she would do what happened next. A faint smile crept up her cheeks and her eyes looked drawn, almost sad that they were leaving each other's company.

. . .

"Ben! Are you sure you have everything you need?" Sandra, Ben Tennyson's mother, called from the top of the stairs as her son sat slouched over a blue couch in the living room watching commercials on the television.

"Of course I do mom, it's not like we're spending the whole summer with him this time. He's just taking us fishing. We'll be gone like a day."

Sandra sighed. Sometimes she believe that Ben just did not care if he would forget anything important, he never seemed to be prepared for anything. He always thought that taking any situation head on would suffice.

"Well, if you think you're ready, then just be listening for Max. I'll be in the shower, and probably won't see you when you leave. So bye, and I love you."

"Love you too, mom," Ben groaned as his twelve-year-old body adjusted to sprawl out over the couch. He heard his mother's footsteps as she headed toward her bedroom at the end of the upstairs hallway.

Ben eyed the seventy-inch flat-screen TV that was in front of him. A commercial on laundry detergent was hogging the air-time away from a series he had started watching not too long ago. It was a wild-life survival show were a guy would be put in the middle of a harsh climate and have to figure out ways to stay alive off of the natural anomalies in the area. It was interesting to see how he would fare, but Ben never actually took to memorizing any of the stuff the man actually tried to teach his viewers. Some things might have been placed at the back of his memory, but it was possible they were not there at all and he was just hallucinating.

Usually, he would have been watching Sumo Slammers but the series stopped producing anymore of its original episodes. A new team of writers and producers had come in and decided to make a sequel to the original, and it was just plain terrible. Kejing, one of the kings from the original series, had been replaced because he was kicked out of the town by angry protestors. It did not make sense, as he had been the kindest, and most generous, dynasty leader in the history of Sumo Slammers.

Ben shook his head at the bad memory. It was amazing at how well people could take a good TV show and drown it in useless drama.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the front door and the brunette preteen could guess exactly who it was. Max Tennyson, his grandfather.

He got up to go open the door and was glad to see his little prediction proved to be true. In the open doorway stood a jolly looking older man with white, short hair and a gleaming smile.

"Benjamin!" Max exclaimed as he opened his arms and squeezed Ben's body with a deadly embrace.

"Uh yeah," the boy wheezed, "it's great to see you too."

Releasing his grandson, Max stepped inside the house and stretched – his eyes wandering around.

"So, where's you mother and father?"

"Mom's in the shower and Dad is at work. He couldn't get today off because of a horrible leak in the city's drainage system."

"That doesn't sound too good, might be a job for an old plumber like me." The elderly man elbowed Ben on the shoulder and they both smiled. Max was not just the typical plumber, and had a much larger and more interesting background.

"Mom said that I could leave when you got here. I already said goodbye."

"Great, that's more time we can use to get a start on the boat ride and fishing. If you have never been deep-sea fishing then you're going to love this."

Ben picked up a small duffel bag that he packed a few essentials in. It contained simply a new change of clothes, his bathing suit in case he decided to jump in the ocean for a swim, and a life jacket. He had told his mother that the boat would probably have ten of the jackets, but she would not take no for an answer. Sometimes she could over-prepare for simple situations.

"I'm ready," the boy announced.

Max nodded and moved to the side, holding his arm out in a gesture for Ben to go first. As soon as they both exited the house, Max closed the front door with a soft click and turned to see Ben walking down the house sidewalk.

Ben's mind was reliving past memories from two years ago when he was ten years old. The first time his parents had decided that his whole summer was to be spent outdoors camping with his grandfather, Ben had felt as though his life was over.

It all got worse when he noticed someone else was coming with them, someone who he had disliked so much that he would not even speak to her when their families got together. Gwen Tennyson.

He had walked into the Rust Bucket and expected the whole trip to be just him and Max, but when he entered the RV he noticed that she was sitting at the table near the right-side window. Her face had then been a sign of despair and hopelessness. He had began to think that he would not be able to survive that summer.

But it all changed when he got the Omnitrix. He gained the power to protect, and save, other people. It was, at first, just for fun and he did not care much for being selfless. But one time, a weird clown by the name of Zombozo had kidnapped Gwen and realization struck him.

He had never believed that any of the bad guys would actually go for anyone but him, and when they did it put a lot more strain on his heroic statutes.

Of course, Ben began to start looking out for other people that were in danger, but he always felt like she was his top priority. She had to be safe before he would even think about saving anyone else. His attachment caused him to began to talk with her, to follow her around, but his teasing would only get worse.

Sometimes he felt bad about calling her names like "geek-face", because she was only being herself when she felt interested in a study-subject. But for some reason, he just could not be himself around any girl. Kai was probably the worst example.

Kai Greene was a Native American girl that he had met on an Indian reserve. She seemed very interested in heroes and ancient traditions, so Ben tried to play it as though he were an emotionless, but extremely selfless hero – which was definitely not in his character at all.

"Ben, you just gonna stand there and look like you're about to change your mind, or are you coming with?" Max asked as he stood by the Rust Bucket, holding the heavy metal door open.

Ben blinked a few times and then shook his head. "Sorry Grandpa, I was just...thinking about how great the ocean is going to look."

"Well, I'm sure it will look even better when we really get there."

Ben climbed up the metal stairs and felt the familiar sensation of the RV rocking in the direction of his weight. It even creaked and groaned as if it were one large metal bear.

He then turned his head to the right and spied yet another familiar spot. It was the table where he first saw Gwen on that summer day, but this time there was no one to fill the spot on the bench. It was empty and ghostly, like she had been a memory and never reality.

Ben sighed heavily, and continued his way into the Rust Bucket where he placed his bag on the floorboard just beside the bathroom door – at the edge of the way into the back bedroom where he and his cousin had slept. He just did not get that happy and free feeling like he had the summer they traveled the country together.

"Alright Grandpa, I'm all set to go," Ben said as he placed himself into the bench by the window on the right side.

"You might be, but someone else isn't," Max replied while fidgeting with the ignition.

"Oh, the RV's having some problems?"

"No no, she's fine, but I meant that we have to kill some time for your cousin to be ready."

"Gwen's coming too?" The brunette boy exclaimed with unreal joy.

Max continued to toy with the keyhole on the ignition panel until he finally seemed assured that whatever he had been doing did some actual good.

"Yep, sure is. I don't know why though, because the first time I called her she said she would pass on the offer. But a couple days earlier I got another call from her saying that she wanted to come. Whatever the reason, I'm just glad we all three get to spend a bit more time together after all these years."

Ben stopped listening during Max's little explanation and began to smile and look blankly in front of him. He was a bit nervous to see her after so long, but at the same time he was glad. Yet another little adventure that they would take on. Though, it was just fishing.

"So what do you think we should do until she's ready?" Ben was a bit eager to find something to kill the time he had to wait.

Max stood straight up and stared at him. He was a good six foot and had a muscular, but rounded, structure. Any many his age would be lucky to have such fitness.

"I was thinking you and I could go grab some ice cream or a smoothy. Your mom has told me how much you have began to like smoothies."

Smoothies, Ben thought, yeah I guess that would be the best thing for me to enjoy at the same time as waiting for time to go by. "Sure, that sounds good."

Max nodded and planted himself into the driver's seat, starting the engine with ease. Ben heard the familiar and smooth huffing noise coming from it - at least there was one thing that had not changed ever since the last time he had actually rode in the Rust Bucket.

. . .

The two of them sat in a brightly-colored and cold smoothy parlor. The floors were tiled a classic black and white and much of the metal on counters, tables, and chairs was covered with chrome plating. It all looked quite vintage, like an old 70s diner.

Ben sunk down in his seat and kept a hand on the cold glass which contained his orange-cream flavored ice beverage. He slurped in slow, but large gulps to savor the great feeling of such wondrous taste entering his mouth.

Max held up his smoothy as if it were an unknown piece of technology. "So uh...when did you actually start liking these...things?"

"I don't really know," Ben answered, "My family was just out and decided to get a cold drink and they offered me a smoothy. I think they're awesome."

"Yes..." his grandfather replied skeptically while eying the curved glass, "awesome."

The two sat in silence for a while and overlooked the rest of the small restaurant. There were a few other people, but they had ice cream bowls and nobody seemed to even want to try a smoothy. The slushy drink did not have the same effect on other people as it did Ben.

"So Grandpa, is Gwen ready yet?" Ben almost regretted asking the question. After all, it would seem awkward that he would continue to bring her name up.

"I'm not sure, I'll check my phone. Who knows, maybe she sent a message?" Max lifted himself up slightly and reached around to his back pocket, pulling out an outdated flip phone. "Hmm, it says she sent a text, but Gwen uses such small print I can't read it. Could you do it for me, Ben?"

"Sure no problem." Ben took the phone from his grandfathers hand and pressed a button to make the message on screen open so he could read its contents.

His eyes squinted to read the little words that were contained in the electronic box. They were quite small, but he could still make out what they were. Ben read them in a normal fashion and tone in his head.

Hey Grandpa, I just finished getting ready so you can come pick me up whenever you get Ben. Oh and could you please make sure that dweeb takes a shower first? I don't want to see him and have to smell BO the whole time we're out.

Ben's eyes scanned over the message once more just to make sure he got it all right. After reading, he looked up and handed the phone back to Max – quite irritated by what he had saw.

"So what did she say?" the older man asked while pocketing his phone.

"Nothing really, but she said she was ready to be picked up."

"Oh good, then we can just get her after you're done with-"

"No," Ben cut him off, pushing his smoothy away from his grip, "I'm done with it, we can just head over there now."

"Well...alright."

The two got up from the table and made their way out of the parlor. As soon as the double-glass doors opened, a wave of warm air and a cool breeze hit them. It felt refreshing and rejuvenating, like when someone sits in a chlorine pool for a while and then quickly jumps into a warm jacuzzi.

Of course she probably still thinks I'm a total loser who doesn't know my right from left, because I acted like that last time. He walked with a frustrated expression plastered over his face, following his grandfather through the parking lot.

Max opened the Rust Bucket's door and allowed Ben to head in first, he soon followed after. The brunette preteen headed back to the place where he had originally been sitting, at the table-bench setup.

Planting himself in the felted seat, he faced away from Max so that he would not see him cross his arms – or notice the aggravated face he was imitating.

"We should be there in under ten minutes. So don't get too comfortable, I'm sure you two will be comparing who grew the most, or changed the most."

Max gave a hearty laugh, something he did when he thought of something as truly funny or just plain humorous. His grandchildren always competing was one of those things.

Ben thought about the last time he had seen Gwen. Her hair had been just below her shoulders, probably by an inch, and it was an amazing bright orange color and very smooth. Her face was coated with a creamy smooth skin that any model would be jealous of, and her eyes were just a tad almond shaped – almost like she had a tinge of Asian somewhere in her heritage.

He then thought about himself. In the past two years he had grown taller, probably reaching about five foot and his hair had gotten a bit longer. The waves of intertwined locks that stranded from the top of his head passed just over his eyes before flaring up, as if he had used hair gel to form it. Although, he never put any sort of product in it and it was naturally styled.

The one feature that he and Gwen both shared were their alien-green eyes. Nobody that they had ever met had such bright and noticeable eye color, and he always felt like it connected them somehow. Maybe it was him hallucinating, or dreaming – again, but that was what he really wanted to believe. He wanted ever so badly to find some common thing that he shared with her.

However, now the one thing that was stuck on his mind – blinding and blocking out any other memory – was: How much has she changed? Ben tried to picture Gwen with her same short hair, but just a little taller, but he was sure that two years did more to her than that. At the same time he was also worried about what she might think of him. From his grandfather's text, he already knew she still thought of him as her disgusting moronic cousin.

The anxiety he was letting overcome him was unnatural for a boy his age, but then again, a lot of things were unnatural about Ben Tennyson. Not many twelve-year olds had an alien device stuck to their wrist that let them become an alien whenever they felt like it. At least, not many that he knew.

Then he thought about Gwen again, and her magicks. She also had powers that no one else her age had – no matter how much she did not like it, she was not normal either. Gwen's powers were awoken by Charmcaster, when the witch inhabited her body.

His feeble mind then snapped back to the question he had asked himself just moments ago. They did share something in common, and that was being different from anyone else. He and Gwen were both outcasts from their typical age group because of the things they could do. Gwen, of course, could suppress her abnormality better because there was nothing constantly visible about her magic. Ben, on the other hand, was stuck with a large wrist-device.

He stopped thinking about anything else when he felt the RV slow down and then come to a complete halt.

"Well, we're here. Come on Ben, let's go greet your cousin. And don't make her feel bad about the way she has done her hair now, because she is very sensitive about it."

"Wait...what's wrong with her hair?" Ben questioned, startled by the revelation.

"Nothing is wrong with it, but like I said earlier, I know you two will be teasing and competing about who changed the most – just leave her hair out of it all. Understand?"

Ben gave an unwilling nod. He was wondering what Gwen had done to herself that would make her feel so fragile about her own appearance. Maybe she had gotten a buzz cut, or maybe she put her hair in a mohawk?

Really Ben? His subconscious butted in on his outrageous thinking. Of course she didn't do any of those things, that's just not Gwen-like.

"Then what could she have done..." he wondered

Max had already exited the Rust Bucket, and Ben could hear happy voices greeting him outside. Ben stood up and walked over towards the door. He took a deep breath, a bit scared to see his cousin. His heart was pounding, and he knew that most people would never feel so worried just to meet their own family.

Opening the large, swinging, and heavy door, Ben walked out of the RV and onto soft green grass that looked like it had been cared and treated for every week.

The noises he had heard all stopped and he knew everyone's attention was on him. His eyes began to towards the people in front of him. They were all watching him, like he was some lost boy that had just come from a forest.

Ben went down the line of people before him. There was a tall, skinny man who he recognized as his Uncle Frank, and a woman who was quite short with a dirty-blond colored hair – that was Aunt Lili. And next to her was someone who seemed familiar, but there was also a difference that set his memories off. Was it Gwen?

The young girl he was eyeballing had bright orange, and silky hair, and her eyes were slightly almond shaped – but were still average enough to let people know she was Caucasian. As soon as his eyes locked with her, he was sure it was Gwen. Only one person had such bright green eyes, other than himself.

But there was something quite different about her. Of course, she was taller – much taller than he last remembered, but her hair had changed.

It was not just below her shoulders, it was much longer. It reached down to the middle of her back, and hugged her body slightly – giving a curling effect. And her bangs, which she had pushed over to one side and clipped with a beret, had grown so long that they reached passed the bottom of her face. She still kept them in a beret, but they were split this time. She had two berets clipping them apart from each other in a similar style she had done two years ago. They slid down the sides of her cheeks and passed her chin – making fantastic points.

He had never witnessed such change in anyone, and yet it was so amazing and welcomed. If anyone could come close to how Juliet's beauty in Romeo and Juliet was described, it was Gwen.

"Uh..." Ben made a stuttering noise as his eyes never left his cousin's.

"Ben!" his Aunt Lili shouted happily, breaking the awkward moment of silence and rushing over to give her nephew a tight hug. "You've grown so much!"

"Hey...Aunt...Lili, um...you have too." Ben grimaced at his words, as they were not the best to tell a person of age. Although, he kept his own gaze on Gwen as she began to turn red with embarrassment. She put one hand up to her mouth and laughed softly, her eyes, though, kept staring into his.

"So Dad," Frank started while walking up to Max and placing a hand on his shoulder, "you think this little fishing trip won't bring home anymore surprises?"

Max looked at him and laughed. "No no, I think it's safe to say that this will be just a normal day on a boat. Nothing bad or good happening. Just the three of us out enjoying a little fresh sea air."

"Well I hope it suits them, Gwen has been pestering us about when the day is going to come up."

"Oh she has? That doesn't sound much like her, you know, all organized and clean-up style."

Frank nodded and agreed with his testimony. "I know. Ever since you mentioned the trip she has been acting strange lately. But what can I say? She's becoming a teenager and probably taking on new interest. I'm just glad none of it involves dating."

"Can't wait for that day, can you?"

The look on Frank's face was grim. "Oh tell me about it."

Max leaned back and stretched himself a bit. "I would, but we need to get going. Only have a day with these guys, and I want to make the most of it."

The two exchanged a quick hug of goodbye and stood facing the rest of the crowd.

"Now Ben, you have to tell me all about those little girlfriends at school you must have. Being such a big hero, I'm sure the girls are just clinging to your feet!" Lili exclaimed with a parental curiousity.

"Come on now, hun, let the boy be. They have to leave soon or they'll miss their exciting fishing adventure, wouldn't want to keep them away from that now would we?" Frank added in, trying to save Ben from an odd conversation.

"Oh of course not, I guess I'll find out later. Goodbye Ben – and don't forget!"

Ben glanced at his uncle, nodding a slight thank you and then returning his gaze back to Lili.

"Bye Aunt Lilie...and um...I won't. Don't worry."

The short woman smiled a grin which seemed to be full of happiness. "And goodbye to you my grown-up Gwen. I love you."

Gwen, who had been quietly standing next to her grandfather, looked towards her mother. "Bye mom, I love you too."

"Well then," Max concluded, "Lets all get in and head out. I just can't wait to feel that salt-water air on my face. Oh how I miss it."

"You can dream later Grandpa," Ben barged in on his thoughts, "lets get there first."

The three travelers left with one last goodbye to Gwen's parents and finally settled inside the Rust Bucket. Gwen had not brought along any sort of bag to carry anything with, she simply came as she was.

Max sat in the drivers seat at the front and turned the ignition, allowing the vehicle to go through a sensation of rumbles and creaks.

Ben and Gwen sat across from the other at the table – their eyes averting each others gaze now. Ben's mind was in a whirl at how much his cousin had changed – he just could not believe anyone could become so much...more different in only two years.

Another thought also crossed his mind, that he had until now ignored and put off. It was his own cousin who he felt so drawn towards – but it was not just her pure beauty.

Of course, Gwen could be described with the best and most delightful poems and words, but something else about her kept Ben clinging on to the mere thought of her. It was simply her personality. No one he knew was simply so great at adapting to bad situations, and him finding the Omnitrix on that summer vacation two years ago was a great example. She had also shown him that, no matter how many times she said she could not stand him, Gwen always seemed to be the person to worry for him – even if he did not do so himself.

Maybe he liked her so much because he really had not got to know any other girls, but now that he knew so much about Gwen, he did not want to get to know anymore girls. His own head was set on thriving just for her, he yearned to see her all the time. It could be just a phase, and soon his mind would move on – because he knew that showing any real affection for someone such as his own cousin was just wrong.

He even clung to a picture of them at Camille's wedding, which had turned into a disaster after the bride's parents – who were aliens – tried to postpone the marriage by attempting to kill the groom. Of course, he and a few retired plumbers were there to stop the attacks.

The silence that was between them was fragile, like a prized vase that sits openly in a rich persons house, or that of a glass statue. Their breathing was audible, but muffled by the heavy sounds of the RV's engine.

"So Gwen, how's school been? You keeping up with your grades?"

Gwen breathed a sigh of relief. She was glad that her grandfather spoke – as neither her nor Ben felt ready enough to speak to the other.

"Yeah Grandpa, I'm doing great in school. My teachers might be a bit weird at times, especially when someone is trying to be funny in class, but it's all good. I've even been on the A Honor Roll this whole year." Her face was gleaming and showing how proud she was of her studies. Not even an elephant was strong enough to get her nose out of the books.

"That's great. I'm sure you'll be coming out as the brightest when you head off to college."

"Thanks. My mom thinks so too. I just hope you both are right." She then turned back around, twisting her body and swinging her arms a bit too openly. They brushed right across Ben's, which had been placed spread apart on the plastic-top table.

Gwen drew a quick breath at the feel of her skin touching his. It was sudden and seemed to break that fragile moment that they had been sitting in. It was like a whole lake of ice melting at once.

"Hey watch it!" Ben cried out, although the words were completely accidential. He was just so used to saying defensive things at or around her. After all, that's what he had done each time they were near each other on a non-essential occasion two years earlier.

Gwen sighed, a bit disappointed to hear him say something so...familiar. In her mind, he did not seem to of changed and was probably still that little annoying boy. Save for the fact that his hair made him look much more heroic...and stronger...and tougher...and more mature. She was just about to throw some insult at him when she really began to take in his new appearance.

Quickly, she shook her head in disbelief. "Ben!"

"What?" he replied with astonishment, why had she yelled?

"Stop staring at me."

"I wasn't the one staring, you were looking at me like I was some guy from a modeling magazine."

The young girl's cheeks began to turn red with embarrassment of being called out for what she had really been doing. "How would you know if I was looking at you if you weren't looking at me?"

"Uh...news flash, I'm a super hero remember?" Ben slid back in the soft bench seat and crossed his arms. "Besides, things like knowing when people are looking at you are natural for people like me."

"People like you?"

"Super heroes...Gwen."

Gwen rolled her eyes. She definitely remembered her cousin acting so childish. It was just hard to believe that he had not seemed to of matured at all. "More like super dweeb."

Meanwhile, Max was listening in on their conversation and bobbing his head side to side as if listening to a melody.

"Music to my ears," he remarked casually to himself, glad that they were all back together – even if it were just for a harmless fishing trip.

For the next hour or so, the Rust Bucket glided down crowded city streets and sat at traffic lights for ungodly amounts of time. Ben and Gwen continued to compare their lives with each other and brag about certain privileges they had gotten since they were almost teenagers. Gwen would talk about being able to cook dinner a few times with her family while Ben came back with his dad letting him drive the car in a parking lot – once. For everything one said, the other had a come-back.

Max toyed with the steering wheel, dodging lanes that were backed up and congested by people who would either drive too slow, or had driven too fast and got into a disruptive accident. And whenever there was some sort of crash or collision, everyone else that was driving always had to slow down and inspect it as if they were police officers themselves.

"It's really a beauty," the older man said to himself as he looked out the front windshield. Just past the tall, gray buildings of the city was a sea port full of docks and fishing boats. It sat on the edge of a seemingly-endless amount of water. The blue crystalline appearance it had sparkled as the bright sunshine from a nice June summer day reflected upon it as if it were merely glass.

Just then, Ben came up beside Max and threw himself into the large leather passenger seat.

"Grandpa!" he whined, "Gwen thinks that she's saved me more times then I've saved her!"

A brief moment later, Gwen came up and put her arm on the seat Ben was resting in – staring down at him with annoyance.

"Of course I have. You remember when Charmcaster took over our bodies and we got switched? Who was the one that used the Omnitrix to get us out?"

Ben huffed. "That was me! You barely knew what to do with it!"

"Even so, what about that time on Xenon when those two ships were about to come crashing down on you? Who saved you then, because it definitely wasn't the Omnitrix – which, by the way, was completely useless at the time."

Ben stopped to remember the little event back on the desolate planet. His Omnitrix had been set to self-destruct, and Azmuth had refused to give him help. Vilgax ended up attacking them, but even without the alien watch Ben still put up a fight with a blaster rifle.

He also remembered how he had watched Gwen get grabbed by one of the Wild Vine aliens in the compound under a mountain while on that planet. She had been taken and pulled down into a lair of them all – he tried his hardest to get her back, and even risked self-destructing himself and the Omnitrix to get her back. But it had been no use. He was sure he had watched her die.

But during the battle outside the compound, two ships were coming towards him ready to fire whatever fire power at him they had. Before they could, something destroyed them from a range – they had been encased in a transparent blue magick and crushed.

He knew the only person that had powers like that, but at the time he did not want to believe it. Through smoke and ash, it seemed, she had come back alive and was standing high up on a rock with her hand up in the air. If only she knew how seeing her face – alive and well – meant to him.

Quickly, Ben stepped back into the argument. "Oh yeah? What about the time when Kevin used my powers and turned into Heat Blast then tried to burn you completely alive? I was the one who went Diamond Head and shielded you!"

"So what," Gwen said, "I would have done...something."

"You were standing there with your arms around your head like you could block fire...with your shirt!"

"Guys guys!" Max called out. "It doesn't matter who saved who the most times. Look, I know you both want to be better than the other, but I don't think that's gonna happen. You two make a great team out there, but let's put that all aside for now. We're going to have a nice relaxing day on the fishing boat out in the sea. I don't really want to listen to you two compare yourself or argue. Understand?"

"But Grandpa she-"

"Understand?" he repeated once more with more authority in his tone.

"Yes, we do," both Ben and Gwen said with a defeated tone. Their little antics had been crushed by their grandfather – who was more interested in thinking about his day on a boat rather than hearing them brag about who was a better hero.

"Alright then, we're almost there. When we get to the docks, we'll grab some snacks for the boat ride and then get right to it. Isn't this exciting?"

Ben leaned to one side, resting his head on his hand which was supported by the chair's armrest. "Yeah, so exciting."

That earned him a flick on the ear by Gwen. She whispered to him very softly. "Could you be anymore rude? Grandpa is happy he finally gets to see us again, and you're acting like you don't care."

"Well, I'm sorry if I'm not too excited about fishing!" he whispered back to her. She shrugged hopelessly and backed away from him.

They drove for a about thirty more minutes before stopping at a very large dock which housed quite a few boats and shops. They would have made it sooner, but constant traffic jams were quite frequent in tightly-packed cities. The air there was cool and it smelt of salt water, almost as if they were actually under the ocean. The only thing missing was the water itself.

The three walked up onto the wooden platform and could hear the crashing noises of waves beneath them. The water looked very calm as they gazed outwards on the horizon, and they could see no land anywhere off of the coast.

Max breathed in a big breath of the salty air. "Mmm, I've missed this smell. Alright, I'll be in the deli just over there," he pointed to a small yellowish-white building about twenty feet away. "The boat I rented is at the end of this dock. I trust that you two can sit in it and wait for me. Gwen, keep a good eye on your cousin. I should be back in fifteen minutes."

"Don't worry Grandpa, Ben won't do anything stupid. Right Ben?" she glared down at him with a serious look, as if telling him: Don't mess this up.

The brunette boy simply crossed his arms and turned his head.

Max looked at them both once more and shook his head, then turned to walk off into the sandwich store to get food for them.

"Come on, let's go check out that boat," Gwen stated and started to walk along the wooden dock.

She had only taken a few steps before she learned that nobody was following her. Abruptly, she quit moving and turned around to see Ben still pouting, but staring at her.

"Are you coming, dweeb, or what?"

For a moment she was sure he would not respond, and he only looked angrily at her.

"Why do you always do that Gwen?" he finally spoke.

The orange-haired girl was slightly confused. "Do what?"

"What you did back there? You always talk to me like I'm a little kid or something. Well I've got news for you, I'm not."

"Now you're just acting stupid. Let's go before Grandpa thinks we can't handle this."

"And why do you always call me names? What have I really done to make you think that I hate you?"

Gwen allowed her body to fully turn around and she placed her hands on her hips – pushing one of her bereted bangs out of her green eyes.

"Well, let's see. You call me names, you pull pranks on me, you always say that my hobbies are stupid and geeky. Why wouldn't I think that you hate me?"

Ben's eyes looked pathetic, as the truth finally was placed in front of him for his simple mind to comprehend. He raced back through memories of each and everything Gwen had listed – and he had done them several, if not, hundreds of times.

"I've tried to like you, Ben," she continued – letting her hearts complex burden and inner anger come out in fury, "and I've even tried to make you feel better when you were sad. When Xylene came to take Grandpa away, I sat beside you under the stars – just so you wouldn't sit alone. When Kai rejected you, I defended you and even tried to tell you that there are lots of other people out in the world so you wouldn't think about what had happened so much. I even offered to let you hit me – to try and cheer you up – when Grandpa had gotten hurt! Really Ben, I don't know what else to do. You just hate me! Plain and simple!"

Gwen took a deep breath, she was glad to actually be able to say all of those things instead of keeping them bottled up inside. But something was happening to her that she did not realize would be an effect of her rants. She was crying.

Ben's jaw was slack and his eyes wide – looking at his cousin who was now letting her head hang down and quiet sobs were coming from her sulking figure. He suddenly felt guilty – he had only done such cruel things to her to get her attention. It is hard for people to jump and say that they actually like somebody – especially a girl, and even more so, his cousin.

Gwen was not the type of person that needed everyone's approval or attention. Sometimes she would like to be left alone, and she would never incriminate herself just to get noticed by anyone like a boy at her school. She was herself in more ways than one, and if that meant that some people would tease her for it then she was prepared for that. But she had never thought that it would make her feel so drowned and depressed.

"Gwen...I-"

"Just forget about it," she concluded and turned away from him, walking down the dark wooden dock towards the rented boat alone. Half hoping that Ben would not follow her.

The young boy, who had just been shoved with truth, stood planted in one spot for at least three minutes. He replayed her speech over and over in his mind and found it all to be true. She had never really done anything to actually hurt him, and everything he had done to Gwen he never thought would hurt her. But he never considered how fragile anyone's inner feelings could be. She had always seemed so confident and indestructible.

"I...I didn't mean those things though," he marveled to himself. "But she doesn't ever notice me if I'm just plain old me!"

Ben crashed his hands against his own forehead in anguish. It seemed that everything he would ever say to her would always come out wrong, and would always be some form of an insult.