For The First Time

FOR THE FIRST TIME

Part Two-- Jon and Jess have a long-delayed heart-to-heart.

Characters and associated details are property and copyright Hanna-Barbera. This work is intended for the enjoyment of other fans and not for profit.

Once again, I don't own the Quest team, and no money will be exchanged over this. Pies, however, might be another matter.

The Future (Real?) Adventures of Jonny Quest

"For The First Time"
a sequel to "Where Do You Start"
by Winnie Lim

The jukebox switched to a Beach Boys medley.

Jessica blinked, and the spell was broken. Reflexively she pulled back, both emotionally and physically. And was immediately sorry.

But it was too late. Jon had let her go.

"Jon, I..."

He shook his head slightly. "Later. We'll talk about it later. We have to finish packing."

*You chose a fine time to start being responsible,* she almost yelled at him, but bit the retort back. It wouldn't be fair. "You're right," she conceded. "Let's finish this packing, and then we'll talk."

Both feeling a little unsettled and more than a little breathless, they retreated to their stations, she by the video bank, he by the bookshelves. Safe in their opposite corners.

Jessica tried to turn her mind to cataloguing the video collection, but her mind was still on that moment. Her hands trembled as she wrote down a label's contents. She suddenly realized that her heart was pounding.

Across the room, she heard a soft thud and a quiet sound of exasperation. Glancing over, she saw Jon bending to pick up a book he had dropped. His eyes flicked up to meet hers, and she quickly looked away, embarrassed at getting caught.

She smiled to herself.

After the moment had passed, they had returned to packing with a passion. There had fewer pauses or light moments; even when they'd worked together to disconnect the jukebox and note its contents, they hadn't spoken much beyond what was absolutely necessary.

The packing was finished, the trailer loaded to the brim. The jukebox had been the last thing to go into the U-Haul, carefully secured in a well-padded corner. In the morning, Jon was going to drive the trailer to Virginia, where he'd leased a warehouse. Everything was to be put in storage until they could decide what to do with it.

Jon and Jessica stood in the middle of the living-room. There was nothing left to do. Except for the furniture, the room was now bare of all the personal possessions that had made it a home. The only piece of furniture that they were taking was Rachel Quest's rocking-chair, which had stood in a corner of the living-room for the past 24 years. Jon was going to put it in his Virginia apartment, where he figured that it was "going to sit in a corner of the living-room for the next 124 years."

They looked at each other.

"Talk?" Jon asked.

"Talk." Jessica nodded.

The waves lapped against the beach, breaking over their feet as they walked along the shoreline.

Jon picked up a smooth pebble and lobbed it towards the sea. It skipped once, and sank.

Although the sky had been threatening rain all day, they had decided to talk on the beach. There was no telling when they would be able to walk on the beach again, and by then the property might belong to someone else. Feeling reckless, they had discarded their shoes and socks and rolled up their jeans to wade in the incoming tide. The cool water and rough sand massaged their feet, soothing away the soreness accumulated during the
day.

The sun was settling into the ocean, turning the clouds and water all shades of red and gold, and setting the sky on fire. The world was bathed in a warm orange glow.

Feeling both comfortable and awkward in each other's presence, they walked in silence. Close, but not touching.

A breeze blew in from the sea, ruffling their hair. Jessica shivered involuntarily as the cool air touched her skin. Jon put an arm around her shoulders. She looked up at him. Their eyes met, and locked.

"Wasn't this where we left off?" she smiled at last, slipping her arm around his waist.

"I think so." Jon returned her smile.

"Okay." Jessica said. "So where were we?"

Jon pretended to ponder, although the moment was engraved in his mind. "Let's see... first I said 'Jessie,' and then you said 'Jonny,' ... and then the Beach Boys started singing 'Surfing USA.'"

Jessica laughed quietly. "No distractions now," she said.

"None," Jon agreed. "So...Jessie..." He looked at her. "What color are your eyes?"

"What?" She was caught off-guard.

"Your eyes," he repeated. "They've been on my mind for years. I could never figure out what color they are."

She raised an eyebrow. "Well...I always thought they were green," she said slowly, still trying to figure out where this was going.

"No... not green exactly," he mused. "Sometimes they're blue. And sometimes, like now..." he gazed into her eyes, "...they're blue and green at the same time. Aquamarine, almost. Like the ocean."

Something occurred to Jessica then. "Let me get this straight," she said. "You've been wondering about the color of my eyes for -- *years?*"

"Ever since we were kids," Jon replied.

"Oh," she said. And then, "OH." as realization finally dawned on her.

He nodded.

"Well, as it happens..." she glanced at her feet, and then back up at him, "I've been wondering about your eyes for years too."

"*My* eyes?" he smiled. "They're just plain blue."

"Not *just plain* blue," she informed him. "A steady blue. A dependable blue." Her voice dipped a notch. "A... *very* nice blue."

"I'm glad you approve," he said huskily. "*Do* you approve...?"

"Oh, yes. Very much," she assured him. "I just never realized how ... *blue* they were ...before."

They looked at each other for a long moment.

Then he bent and pressed his lips to hers, tentatively, almost shyly. The awkwardness quickly faded as she slid her free arm around his neck. His other arm wrapped about her, enclosing her in a warm circle.

At last, breathless, they parted reluctantly.

Although her heart was pounding madly, Jessica couldn't help but giggle at the look of astonishment on Jon's face. She reached up and traced his jawline lightly. "You look so surprised."

"I *am* surprised," he replied. "I didn't plan for any of this. And I never thought that you..."

"I do," she assured him. "I just can't believe I never realized it till today."

"I've been crazy about you since I can remember," he confessed.

"Why didn't you ever say anything?"

"You kidding? Your dad would have killed me," Jon replied, grinning. Then he sobered. "And I was afraid... that you wouldn't feel the same way. And that you wouldn't want to be around me anymore. Discretion seemed the better part of valor."

She tightened her arms around his waist. "All these years...?"

"All these years." Jon stroked her hair and dropped a kiss on top of her head, breathing in her scent. She smelled of spring flowers.

Jessica turned her face up to his, her eyes sparkling. "It was worth the wait."

He smiled fondly at her. "So what do we do now?"

Probably to be continued...