Now it's finally the conclusion of the story, this one is a little lengthy so get ready for a bit of a ride!

Chapter 9: Epilogue, Resolution

Jimmy woke up with a smile on his face, he finally had a reason to smile again. He still had to call NASA and tell them he changed his mind about their offer but that could wait a few minutes, he had to use the bathroom first. He walked down the hall and went in, then he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror and almost screamed in shock. He quickly rubbed his eyes and splashed cold water on his face to make sure he wasn't dreaming, but when he looked again he was still seeing the same image; he was looking at his 12 year old self.

Thinking quick he called Goddard in "Goddard come here boy!" the mechanical dog came trotting in "Goddard run static shock protocol on me stat!" Goddard looked at him in concern but complied and gave his master the shock he asked for.

After he had been given the shock he took a deep breath and looked in the mirror one more time, he was still 12 years old "Holy Heisenberg! Everything I just saw must have been one giant and very elaborate manifestation of my subconscious, a dream!" He ran back to his room and sat on his bed to ponder what it had all meant, it had been too life like to not mean anything. Finally after about 20 minutes of pondering he came up with an answer; his subconscious was trying to show him everything that was about to happen, it was a warning. He checked his watch and his hypothesis was confirmed; it was an hour before he was supposed to be on his bus for the space program, that absolutely confirmed the dream was warning him not to go. Luckily he could still get out of going, since he had yet to sign that binding contract he could still back out. Then another thought crossed his mind and he smiled wide to himself, this meant he still had a chance with Cindy! He knew he was only 12 but he had finally realized how deep his feelings were for the girl across the street, and unlike his dream self he wasn't about to throw away his chances to leave for space until he turned 18. Everything he had witnessed in that dream had been absolutely awful; everything fell apart after he had left and worst of all was Cindy, it was as if he could actually feel all the pain and suffering his dream self went through with both being apart and losing her to someone else. He realized there was only thing to do; he had to go find her and not lose that chance in real life, he was going to be smarter than he had been in that dream.

He smiled wide again and excitedly ran out of his bedroom, however when he was halfway down the stairs he looked down and realized he forgot he was only wearing his boxers "Clothes Neutron, if you want to win the girl you have to wear clothes!" he continued mumbling to himself as he went back upstairs to his room.

He was soon dressed and walking out his front door, he had settled on wearing something nicer than his typical red shirt and blue jeans combo since this was a special occasion. He walked across the street to her house and rang the doorbell.

After a few seconds her mother answered, she looked at him with her usual sneer "hello James" then she eyed him suspiciously "aren't you finally supposed to be gone?"

He rubbed the back of his neck nervously "um there's been a change of plans, is Cindy home?"

Her sneer returned "she's out with Liberty"

"Thank you!" and with that he ran off the doorstep and down the street before she could even reply, she just rolled her eyes and closed the door again.

He decided to check the Candy Bar first, he figured if anything she'd be there and if not someone could probably tell him where to find her.

Cindy was sitting with Libby at the Candy Bar, they had milkshakes in front of them but she wasn't even touching hers.

Libby sighed and reached across the table to place a comforting hand on top of hers "hey it's gonna be okay Cin, he hasn't even gone into space yet so you can still send him letters"

She looked down "I just miss him so much already, we were so close and now he's leaving. I don't even know when I'll see him again!"

She had her back against the window while Libby was on the other side facing the street view, suddenly Libby was looking wide eyed "um how about right now?"

She looked at her questioningly, but Libby simply pointed. She followed her finger and her eyes widened as well and her jaw dropped in shock, walking in was the topic of conversation himself.

She stood up "Neutron? What are you doing here?"

He looked over at her and smiled wide "Cindy! Thank goodness I found you!" and before she could figure out what was going on he had run over to her and wrapped her in a hug so enthusiastic she was lifted off the ground slightly. He must have realized what he was doing because he quickly put her down, blushing furiously.

She was also blushing, she wasn't sure what had come over him but she had very much enjoyed being hugged like that. After a moment of silence and blushing from both parties she finally found her voice "well um not that I'm not really happy to see you, but what are you doing here? You're supposed to be on a bus to space right now!"

"Well technically I would be on a bus to the space station" she had her hands on her hips and he thought it wiser to perhaps just continue with his actual explanation "um maybe we should go sit" they found an empty booth in the corner in the hopes of having some privacy. It was a futile effort however, everyone was curious after that particular display of affection from everyone's favorite 'will they?' 'won't they?' couple.

They sat side by side in the booth and he took a deep breath before beginning "right so explanations. Let me start with this; do you know that movie 'It's a Wonderful Life?'" she nodded "well I had a similar experience to that last night, basically I had an extremely elaborate dream that showed me everything that will happen if I go through with this space program. It was absolutely awful, I can't explain it but it's like I could actually see and feel everything my dream self was going through. The worst part of this dream? The parts with you, the program turned out to be nothing like I planned but that was nothing compared to what happened where you were concerned. The short version; we exchanged letters for the first few months but after I actually left for space I was cut off completely from the outside world for the next 6 years, the only people allowed to contact or see me were my parents. But you didn't know that, you truly thought I had forgotten you and got tired of waiting for me. I came back once I turned 18 and could break that stupid contract, only to find out you had moved on and were dating someone else. It was absolutely awful Cindy, not only being separated from you all that time but the pain of coming back and seeing you with someone else. But that's why I'm here, to stop any of that from happening"

She had tears in her eyes and hardly knew what to say to all of that, was he really saying what she thought he was? Finally she found her voice, but it was quiet "what are you saying?"

"I'm saying screw that program! Dream or not I know it was trying to warn me, doing that damn program isn't worth losing you over" he took a deep breath for what he was going to say next "Cindy, you and I have had this back and forth of a relationship for a while now and this dream made me realize I don't want to do that anymore. We go from having moments like last night where we're close and on the verge of becoming more than friends and then the next minute we're fighting like we're enemies again, I don't know about you but I'm tired of that. Unlike my dream self I don't want to mess this up and lose my chance, I'm risking a lot here but I think it's time to finally stop the charade and be up front" he took another deep breath and slowly moved his hand closer to hers, it was close enough so that it was touching it ever so slightly and when she didn't pull away he took a chance and grasped it in his own lacing their fingers together. She held his hand back just as tight and with newfound confidence he turned to look directly in her beautiful emerald eyes, then squeezed her hand and continued "I don't like you as a enemy, I don't like you as a friend, I like you as so much more than that. We're starting middle school in a few months, the very bane of prepubescent existence, the thought honestly terrifies me. But when I think about the fact that you'll be there to, that we'll be able to suffer through it together? It doesn't seem so terrifying anymore. I don't know what will happen but what I do know is that there isn't anyone else I'd rather attend social events with (school or otherwise) or participate in any other adolescent activity one would deem 'romantic'"

She was smiling and had tears of joy in her eyes, she knew where he was going with this "oh my gosh Jimmy, does this mean what I think it does?"

He smiled back at her "I really hope so. Cindy, do you want to finally put an end to this back and forth for good and face the horrors of middle school together? Like as an official couple?"

She thought she would faint from happiness, he finally spoke the words she'd been waiting so long to hear "yes! Yes I would love to Jimmy!"

He smiled even wider and not even caring that other people were watching he kissed her full on the mouth, it wasn't very long but both kids were blushing and smiling after. After a moment he spoke again "do you maybe want to get out of here and go see a movie or something?"

She nodded and the two left still hand in hand.

Libby, like everyone else, had witnessed the entire exchange and couldn't help but smile, she quietly voiced her thoughts as she watched them leave "it's about damn time you two" then she grew more serious, she turned towards the spectators watching and spoke louder "alright so all ya'll who bet me saying it wouldn't happen when we got to middle school pay up!" one by one kids grumpily walked up to her with money "that's it keep it comin"

As they walked out the door Jimmy was happy as could be, of course he would still have to deal with his parents and the people at the program but that could wait; at the moment nothing else mattered, he was in the beginning of something wonderful.

Unbeknownst to them, concealed by a nearby tree, another young couple was watching them as they walked away, both were smiling.

The girl spoke first "think they'll be okay? I mean they're only 12, anything could happen"

"Of course they will, they're us so they have to be. We went through hell and still ended up together, I have confidence in them"

The boy was tall and very good looking with chestnut colored hair and piercing blue eyes. The girl with him was shorter and beautiful with blonde hair and sparkling emerald eyes.

"Jimmy, do you think we did the right thing? I feel like we manipulated him"

He stood in front of her and wrapped his arms around her waist while she wrapped hers around his neck, he smiled and looked directly in her eyes "the only thing we did was show him what would happen if he went to space, anything that happened after he woke up was his choice. I was just crossing my fingers that he made the correct one"

She raised an eyebrow "'correct' choice huh? And what 'choice' would that be?"

He cocked an eyebrow while smiling and there was a mischievous glint in his eyes "Oh I think you know"

She got the glint in her eyes as well and leaned in to kiss him. She broke the kiss after a few moments and her face grew more serious again "but seriously we just messed with time and fate, that basically goes against every rule about the space time continuum!"

His face also grew more serious and he answered quietly "I know, but don't you think it's worth it? We just saved them from 6 years of heartache and pain, don't you think that's worth any repercussions?"

"Repercussions? Like what?"

He was about to respond but he saw someone else from this time approaching, he motioned her to be quiet and they hid behind the tree further.

When they got closer the couple looked at each other questioningly and mouthed something at the same time, "Betty and Nick?"

Betty spoke first "so looks like those two finally got a clue huh?"

"Yeah looks like it. 'Bout time too, we were all starting to get a headache watching"

She chuckled "tell me about it, I swear I thought we would have to wait until high graduation or something" he chuckled in return and the older couple looked at each other sheepishly and blushed, then looked back at the young couple as Betty spoke again "so listen, what do you say you and I go grab a milkshake at the Candy Bar my treat?" she was smiling at him.

He smiled in return and shrugged his shoulders "sure sounds good to me" and with that he offered his hand and she took it then they walked off towards the Candy Bar.

The other couple stared in shock at what they had just witnessed, then he rubbed the back of his neck and spoke "well that certainly explains some things"

"Yeah it does, who knew she actually liked him this whole time?" they both chuckled but then she remembered what they had been talking about before and her face grew more serious again "so what did you mean before? What repercussions?"

He sighed "well the simplest way to put it without sugar coating it; since we changed the outcome of the future, this version of us, as in you and I right here, will um cease to exist"

"And you didn't feel this was important information to share with me before?"

"Um excuse me but you're the one that snuck onto this mission in the first place, remember?"

It was midnight and Jimmy was still in the lab, he was currently at his computer finalizing the plan he had come up with.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead "there, finally finished" he then walked over to his chrono arch to begin step one of his plan, he spent the next few minutes typing in specific coordinates.

Goddard trotted over to him and gave a small bark in concern, he turned to face him then knelt on the ground so he was at his level "I know it seems drastic buddy but this is the only solution, it has to be done" he turned back to the arch.

He finished with the arch then closed his eyes and sighed, there was only one thing left to do before his mission and it was going to be the most difficult part. He turned to look at the love seat, Cindy was still there but she had fallen asleep about an hour ago and was currently curled up. He smiled, somehow she looked even more adorable and beautiful than before. Then his smile faded as he thought of what he was about to do, with a heavy heart he slowly made his way over to her. He carefully laid a blanket over her, bright red with a yellow atom symbol, and she stirred slightly but otherwise didn't wake. With tears in his eyes he leaned down and gently placed a kiss on her forehead and whispered "no matter what happens never forget that I love you more than anything, goodbye beautiful" he took a moment to look at her one last time then shook his head in order to focus on the task at hand, with determination he walked across the room.

He looked at Goddard "alright boy activate the arch, remember it will only stay open for 60 seconds and after that the portal will close trapping me inside. If I'm successful in my mission this will all disappear in a matter of hours. Goodbye buddy, thank you for everything" the two locked eyes and nodded in understanding, and then Jimmy walked through the arch.

He walked through and smiled as he ended up exactly where he had meant to, his lab. He checked the time on the wall clock, it was 12:30 which meant everything had gone according to plan and the coast should be clear. Ever so quietly he exited the lab and snuck across the backyard, he then hid behind a tree that gave him a view and earshot of the street in front but still left him unseen. It was quiet for a few minutes.

"So mind telling me what you were leaving me behind to do Nerdtron?"

He nearly jumped out of his skin, he turned around to find Cindy giving him a hard look with hands on her hips. He closed his eyes and held a hand to his chest in order to calm his breathing and fast beating heart. He calmed down some and whispered a reply, but he was still agitated "Dammit Vortex! Are you trying to give me a heart attack? What the hell are you doing here anyways? When I left you were sound asleep!"

She smirked at him "my mom is slightly pyshco and my dad is a workaholic who barely even realizes I exist, I learned how to fake sleep and sneak out years ago" then her face grew serious again " so what are you doing anyways? What could be so dangerous you didn't want me coming?"

He continued whispering "look we can argue about this later, but for now would you just be quiet? Unless you want them knowing we're here!"

She looked at him questioningly "them?" he pointed towards the street and she followed his finger, she had to squint at first but then she got a good look and her eyes widened in recognition "oh my God! Is that...?"

He nodded "the night before I left. That's why I'm here, I can't let him go through with this decision"

She raised an eyebrow "and exactly what are you proposing to do?"

"I'll explain everything in the lab, but look we're about to go inside"

She looked; indeed they were about to part ways for the night, she watched as her younger self kissed him then ran inside. The younger Jimmy stood there stunned for a moment just watching her leave then he got a dreamy look on his face, he grinned like an idiot then punched the air in triumph and ran inside himself.

The older couple looked at each other and turned slightly red as they smiled shyly at each other, then her smile turned into a smirk and she raised an eyebrow "it meant that much to you huh?"

He rubbed the back of his neck nervously "well um yeah" he gave a nervous chuckle.

She laughed "you are literally such a dork Neutron" then her laugh turned into a more serious yet gentle expression, she grasped his hand and laced their fingers together and squeezed lightly "but it's one of the reasons I fell for you in the first place, and you're absolutely adorable when you smile like that you know"

He turned to face her then looked directly in her eyes "and you my dear are beautiful" he paused for a moment then continued more serious "you know, that was the last kiss I ever got for the next 6 years. I was serious when I said I had no interest in dating while I was gone, that doesn't however mean I wasn't still gawked at like some specimen. As you can obviously see, over the years my physical appearance changed and therefor I became more appealing to the opposite gender. There were a few girls who, in the beginning, attempted to engage in conversation and basic courting with me , but I assure you I had no interest whatsoever. I didn't give a damn about any of them, my heart already belonged here on Earth, to you. That kiss you had given me before I left is what helped get me through the long 6 years, the hope that I still had your heart and could return to you"

She had a few tears in her eyes and answered him in a whisper "last kiss? Let's change that" then she kissed him, it was gentle but all the love she felt for him was poured into it. She pulled away after a moment and placed a hand on his cheek as she looked into his eyes "you have my heart, you always have"

He closed his eyes then placed his hand on top of hers and leaned into her touch, they stayed that way for a moment before both taking their hands away, then he spoke "come on, he should be almost asleep by now, it's time to start this mission" they kept their hands linked as they carefully made their way back to the lab.

Once they were safely inside she spoke "so what exactly is your plan here?"

He was currently standing at one of his machines typing things in and playing around with the wires "simple; I'm going to use the Dream Injector 5000" he gestured towards the machine "and show him everything negative that happened to me both in space and once I returned last month"

She looked at him seriously "everything? Even...?"

He nodded in understanding "especially that, you were the one thing on my mind while I was there; I couldn't think of anything except coming back to you and picking up where we left off, I'm hoping that by showing him what happens it will be enough to make him realize this would be a mistake" he paused then continued "but here's the tricky part; I know myself and I wouldn't make a life changing decision simply based on a dream, I need to make sure he wakes up thinking he's me . My hope is that it will seem so realistic that he won't realize it was only a dream right away, but once he does he will no doubt analyze it and make the connection that this was all a warning"

"And how are you going project specific memories? If I remember correctly from what you told me when you used it on Carl, you physically walked inside Carl's nightmare to help him while he was having it. Call me a pessimist, but how will he have a dream about something he has no knowledge of?"

He nodded his head "you would be correct, typically this machine is only able to display a dream during its progression. However I'm attempting to modify it; I'm rewiring the circuits and calibrating them to his and I's brainwaves, then I'm going to attach a wire to each of our heads and that will hopefully enable me to transfer my memories into his head" he worked for a bit longer then finally finished. Satisfied with that part he walked over to the area of the lab where the chemicals were kept, he set down the hypercube he had brought with him and pulled out a few items; a lab coat, goggles, and gloves.

She looked at him questioningly "now what are you doing?"

He began inspecting various chemicals and mixing them as he answered her "I'm creating a chemical compound similar to what doctors might use in the hospital on someone going into surgery, I need to make sure he stays knocked out during this or the whole plan is for naught"

She nodded "I suppose that makes sense, can't very well have him waking up since it pretty much defeats the purpose of the whole 'it was a dream' thing"

He was still mixing chemicals as he answered "precisely" after a few minutes he finished "there that should knock him out for a good 6 hours, plenty of time for the memory transference and sleeping afterwards. And I also made it into a mist so it would be easier to administer" he paused for a moment "well I suppose there's only one thing left to do, I'll sneak up to his room using the express route tunnel from here" and with that he opened the passageway and went in.

He snuck into the room and listened for any sound, he breathed a sigh of relief when he heard his younger self snoring. He was about to walk over to him but found his path blocked by Goddard, who was growling softly.

He whispered to him "Goddard it's Jimmy, from the future. Here check for yourself" he held his hand out and Goddard scanned it, once confirmed that it was indeed him Goddard calmed down.

He opened his front panel "Jimmy? What are you doing here? I assume you have a logical reason for coming back and sneaking to your younger self's room in the middle of the night?"

He nodded "yes, I need to stop your Jimmy from making an absolutely horrible mistake. I really don't have time to go over all the details, do you trust me?"

Goddard nodded "Of course master"

He carefully walked over to the bed and sprayed the chemical he had made, once he was sure younger Jimmy was completely knocked out he carefully lifted him out of bed and carried him down to the lab.

He got back to the lab and set to work; he laid younger Jimmy down on a small fold out bed he had set up for this and attached the wire to his head, then he went to the other bed and did the same to himself. Soon both boys had wires attached to their heads and now the only thing left was turning on the machine.

He walked over to the machine and turned it on, soon the lab was buzzing with sound and he walked back over to his bed, he then turned to Cindy "you may want to take a catnap on the love seat or something, this is going to take at least a couple hours"

She nodded and soon both of them had their eyes closed.

2 hours later the alarm he had set went off and they both woke up, though he didn't get much sleep himself since the bed he was on wasn't very comfortable. He unattached the wires from both their heads and turned off the machine.

Cindy was currently yawning and stretching as she walked over to him "so did it work?"

He sighed "unfortunately that's something we won't know until he wakes up, but we'll know if it worked because I guarantee I know where he's going to immediately go if I was successful"

She raised an eyebrow "oh yeah? Where exactly?"

He gave her sly grin "to find you, that was basically the whole point of this wasn't it? So if this was successful he'll realize he didn't actually lose his chance with you and it will be the first place he'll go"

She rolled her eyes but smiled nonetheless "you are still one cocky son of a bitch, aren't you?"

He smiled back "hey it comes from the territory of being a certified genius, now if you'll excuse me I need to get him back to his bed" and with that he lifted young Jimmy and carried him back up the tunnel.

He gently placed him back in his bed and whispered softly "there ya go buddy, hopefully when you wake up this nightmare will be over" then he turned to talk to Goddard and knelt down "alright boy I have one last part of this mission, I can't have you remembering I was here"

Goddard opened his front panel "I understand. Thank you for doing whatever it is you came here to do, I can sense how important it must be and I hope you are successful"

"Me too buddy, me too" he walked over to the tunnel entrance then turned around to look at Goddard again "alright, Goddard erase all memory of everything that happend from the moment I came in up until right now" then he disappeared back down the tunnel.

He spent the next half hour putting the lab and chrono arch back to normal as well as erasing any lab surveillance footage to ensure there was no evidence of them being there, then he was finally able to get some sleep.

He walked back over to the makeshift bed but her voice stopped him halfway "um where are you going?"

He gave her a quizzical look "to sleep? I may be a genius but I still need sleep to function like a normal human being Vortex"

She shook her head "no I meant why over there? I know that bed isn't comfortable and you didn't actually get any sleep during those couple hours, why don't you just sleep on the love seat?"

He continued giving her a strange look "aren't you sleeping there?"

She raised an eyebrow then smirked at him "what? Too afraid to share with your girlfriend Neutron?"

His look went from confusion to slight panic "I..um...well we never actually established... "

She laughed "just get over here Nerdtron"

He gulped then walked over to her. Soon they were both curled up on the love seat with a blanket over them, he was behind her with his arms around her waist. It didn't take long for them to fall asleep.

"Why did you do that anyways? You know I very well could have handled this on my own"

"Did you really think I'd let you do this risky mission on your own? Plus when you were leaving the goodbye you gave me was more than a simple 'I'm going to the store and I'll be back soon, I could tell it was a 'I'm literally leaving you again' goodbye! I told you I'm not letting you go this time, whatever you go through I'll go through too because that's how love works! Don't you get it? I love you Jimmy, and I'll always be by your side no matter what" at this point she had tears forming in her eyes.

Instinctively he wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace, tears beginning in his eyes as well. She buried her head in his chest as she spoke again "I can't believe I just got you but I'm already losing you"

He kissed her forehead "I know, but I think it's worth it for the happier future we created. And I'm really glad you snuck here with me, I can't imagine you not being here with me when it ends"

She nodded and nothing was said for a minute before she spoke again, quietly "is it going to hurt at all?"

He replied just as quiet "not at all, we won't feel a thing. We'll simply fade away like the wind"

"Jimmy before we go I just want you to know that whatever happens I love you so much, will you just hold me until it's over?"

"I love you too Cindy, I always have and I always will no matter what" he held her as tight as he could and she held on just as tight.

After a while they looked at each other and shared one final kiss. Then as a gentle breeze blew, there was no longer anything there.

The End.

Wow what an ending huh? Did you expect that twist? The end was both sad and happy depending on how you look at it; happy for young Jindy but sad for the older one, either way you look at it at least they were together in the end! Thank you so much for reading this story and I hope you enjoyed it!