Okay, yeah, i'm too lazy to put the colors in right now. i'll do it later tomorrow maybe if i'm up for it. I've been so tired lately, that's why it's taking forever for me to get chapters out. jeez, i thought the summer would let me get them out faster, but here i am, cranking em out at the speed of molasses. *shrugs* anyway, here you go. chapter nine.
Jiro: Mum?
The captor took a look at his “mistress,” then another at the girl whose arm was tightly in his grip.
Jiro: Oh my god…
He quickly let go of the girl’s arm and took a step away as if he had just learned she was radioactive.
The five other teens looked from Yume to the older woman, seeing hardly any differences between the two. If they were the same age, they could have easily been mistaken as identical twins. Actually, it would even be hard to tell them apart anyway, because of how young Nami looked for a woman in her late thirties.
Yume: I thought…you…you…
But before Yume could finish her sentence, Nami had taken her into a warm, comforting hug.
Nami: I know, I know.
Yume: But…but then… What happened?
She pulled out of her mother’s arms and stared at her questionably, her eyes trying to hold back the tears that desperately wished to escape.
Takara: Did I miss something…?
She whispered into Keiji’s ear, hoping that he knew more than she did about this mysterious woman. To her luck, he did.
Keiji: That’s Yume’s mom…but…but she told me that her mom died when she was eight. I think…I think she’s just now realizing that she’s still alive.
Takara: Oh…wow…
Yume: During…during that storm, were you saved by pirates? Was that it? But then why didn’t you ever try to contact me again!?
Nami: Yume, that wasn’t…
Yume: Then what was it!?!
She stood up straight, her hands in fists and her eyes burning as the tears had begun to break free.
Nami: There was no storm.
The eighteen-year old girl froze.
Yume: Then what…?
Nami: I sent you that letter so that you’d stop dreaming of running away with me to the sea!
Yume: Wh…what?
Nami: I knew that’s what you were thinking when you were younger, Yume. You always wanted to go with me, to break free of your real home and live on the ocean with your mum! Your father always told me that’s how you acted with his letters. He was sad, Yume. I sent that letter so that you wouldn’t run off and leave him heartbroken, after losing another loved one to the sea.
Yume just stared, the tears pouring down the sides of her face.
Nami: Though I guess it’s too late for that, now… What are you doing here, Yume?
Yume: How long have you been a pirate?
Nami: Yume, this is serious, you can’t just leave your…
Yume: How long!
Nami sighed as she looked at her daughter's pleading, distraught face.
Nami: Since I was born.
Yume: But how…?
Nami: My mother died when she had me, and my father was the captain of the most notorious pirate ship in all of the eastern seas. I was raised on that ship. It’s where I fell in love with the sea.
Yume: So, all those times you told me you were the first mate of a merchant ship, you were actually…?
Nami: The captain of a pirate ship.
Yume: Why…why did you lie?
Nami: I couldn’t tell anyone in the palace that I was once a pirate! They would’ve locked me up for sure!
Yume: So…so not even Father knows?
Nami: Yes, actually. He’s the one person I trusted with my secret.
Yume: And does he know you’re still alive?
Nami hung her head.
Nami: No.
Yume: How could you do that to him?
The older woman just turned away from her daughter and made her way back towards the staircase.
Nami: How could you just up and leave him there all by his lonesome!?
Yume: I was about to ask the same question.
Nami froze as well, her eyes glassy and her lip quivering. Finally she just turned back towards the stairs, and spoke softly and slowly.
Nami: It was better that way.
Yume: Better that way!?! He loved you so much! He still does! And you loved him back, enough to fake your own death so that his daughter wouldn’t leave his side! But yet…but yet you didn’t love him enough to stay with him on Hitomi…
Nami stepped foot on the first stair, then turned back momentarily to the teens and their escorts.
Nami: Let them go. They’re welcome to stay for as long as they like.
With that, she ascended the staircase and retired back into her apartment, leaving her daughter standing in the square, staring blankly to the ground beneath her.
Jiro: Ehem.
He coughed, as if to break the awkward silence hovering in the air after the mother and daughter’s conflict.
Jiro: Um, if you kids’ll follow me, I can show you to the inn.
The captors let go of their prisoners’ arms and dispersed with the rest of the crowd. Even with the bustling of men finding their ways back to their homes, silence was heard by everyone.
Amaya: Yume, I’m so sorry…
The three of them were all sitting on one bed in the Tsurro Inn, Takara and Amaya doing their best to console their friend. It was a quaint little room with two beds, a small table and two chairs, a wooden armoire, and a tall cloudy mirror. It was nothing special, but it was just fine for the three girls.
Yume: I’m fine. Really.
She took a tissue and dried her eyes as she spoke with a tone that was anything but reassuring and tears continued to flow.
Takara: You don’t look fine.
Takara handed the girl another tissue and gave her a pat on the back.
Yume: It’s just…after all these years of thinking that my mother had died; it’s so strange to realize that she had been lying to me…to me and my dad…
Amaya: I suppose you can understand her reasoning, though.
The two turned to Amaya with looks of surprise. She was the last person they’d expect to be listening to others’ reasoning.
Amaya: She wanted you to stay by your father so he wouldn’t be upset about losing all three of his girls to the sea. I mean, one drowned, one ran off to apparently continue with her piracy, and you…well…you pretty much did the exact thing she was trying to prevent.
Yume: Well…well that doesn’t give her a right to do what she did to us! My father…he…he changed after she had supposedly died. He used to be so happy all of the time. Making jokes, playing with me and my brother, telling us stories… I don’t remember a single time where he didn’t have a smile on his face. Even after she had gone off sailing again, he raised us well and kept a positive attitude all of the time. But then the minute he got that letter…he…he was always quiet. So serious. Rarely laughing or smiling. She was the only person that gave him joy in life. Without her, he just wasn’t…
Amaya: The same?
Yume: Mm.
She took another tissue.
Takara: Well, you need to tell her that! She thought she was helping him, not hurting him!
Amaya: For once, I agree with Blondie, here.
Yume: I guess I should, shouldn’t I? But I’m worried if she’ll listen…
Takara: It’s worth a try, don’t you think? I mean, you’re her daughter! She has to listen to you.
Amaya: We’ll go with you. Tomorrow morning, we’re going to clear everything up between you two, okay?
Yume sniffled as she dabbed her eyes again.
Yume: Thanks you guys. What would I do without you?
Takara: Um, be miserable?
Akio: Okay, did anyone else notice the rapid change in attitude towards us “intruders” earlier today?
He was laying down on the bed closest to the door and table in the boys’ room at the inn. Mokoto was seated in one of the chairs, leaning back on two of its legs while his legs were propped up on the table. Keiji was sitting on the other bed, his back against the wall and his head tilted at an awkward angle so that his ear was pressed against the wall.
Akio: I mean, one minute they want our heads on stakes, and the next minute, they’re letting us stay in their inn…
Mokoto: That’s because Yume’s mother practically runs the place.
Akio: Well couldn’t they have realized that earlier? I mean my god! They’re practically identical!
Mokoto: It’s nighttime, you moron. It was dark in that cell. They couldn’t see.
Akio: Well they could see with the light from their torches when we were practically on display in their square!
Keiji: She’s crying…
Mokoto: Huh?
Keiji: Yume. I can hear her through the wall. She’s really upset…
Akio: You would be too if your mum tried to fake her death to keep you away from her.
Keiji: I need to go talk to her.
He got up off the bed and headed towards the door.
Mokoto: Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Akio: Enough with the knight-in-shining-armor act.
Keiji stopped in his path to eye his friends with an awkward look.
Keiji: What are you talking about?
Akio: Please. "Wow, she’s so sad. I guess I’ll need to make out with her to cheer her up."
Keiji’s eyes grew wide at Akio’s over-the-top sarcastic statement.
Keiji: Whoa, now. That definately didn't happen like...
Akio: "Oh look, Yume’s unconscious. I guess I’ll just hafta sit right next to her until she wakes up to make sure she’s okay."
Keiji: Well you guys were just gonna leave her…!
Akio: "Oh, now she’s crying. I need to go talk to her and make her feel better."
Keiji: What’s wrong with trying to make her feel better?
Mokoto: Leave her alone! She’s a big girl, Keiji. She can handle this stuff.
Keiji: But I…
Mokoto: Okay, cut the crap, Keiji. We know you’re doing all this stuff for her so that you can get her attention, so that she’ll fall madly in love with you and run off with you to sail the seas and live happily ever after.
Akio batted his eyelashes girlishly and let out a roaring laugh.
Keiji: What are you talking…!?
Mokoto: Shh. Me talking. You hafta understand, Keiji that she is a princess, and you are the man that kidnapped her. No matter how much you try to win her over, you’re not going to get her.
Keiji: But I’m not trying to…!
Akio: BS.
Keiji: Oh, look who’s talking, Akio. God, you just can’t stop staring at little miss Soot-For-Brains.
Akio: Oh come on, Keiji. She’s not that dumb…
Keiji: Akio, earlier today she asked where you were, so I told her that you were in the crows’ nest, and she thought you were bird watching.
Akio: She wanted to know where I was?!
His face lit up like a Christmas tree.
Mokoto: Ugh. You’re so infatuated. Get a hold of yourself, man.
Akio: ‘Tis better to be infatuated than in denial.
Mokoto: What?
Akio: Oh brother. “You’re foot’s touching me.” “Then move it.” “Well why don’t you move?” “Well I was here first.” “Were not. Jeez, just scoot over.” “No. I’m perfectly comfortable, thank you.” “Just move over a little!” “If it’s bothering you so much than why don’t you just move!?”
Akio did a lousy job of impersonating Mokoto’s and Amaya’s voices and his imitations easily got Keiji laughing. Mokoto just crossed his arms and looked at him irately.
Mokoto: Your point?
Akio: You two were flirting.
Mokoto: Sounds like an argument to me.
Akio: Sounds like a love/hate relationship to me.
Keiji: Sounds to me like you two are completely mental.
Mokoto: Well we already knew that.
Keiji chuckled.
Keiji: I think I’m gonna be getting to bed.
Akio: Me too, I’m beat.
The three of them began walking over to the two queen-sized beds, until their predicament hit them like a bolt of lightning. They all seemed to stop at the same time, the three of them speechless and still.
Mokoto: Wait. Two beds, three guys…?
Keiji: DIBS!
He jumped back to the bed on which he’d been laying earlier and quickly got under the covers.
Akio: Aye, aye, captain.
He rolled his eyes and got under the covers in his bed. Mokoto groaned as he joined the blonde.
Mokoto: Tell any of the girls about this, and I’ll kill the both of you.
Keiji: And I believe that. Good night.
Mokoto: Night.
There was silence for a few minutes, then Akio snuggled up next to Mokoto, put his head on his shoulder and his hand on his chest, and spoke in a high, sexy female voice:
Akio: Bet you wish I was Amaya, huh?
Mokoto: AGH!
And with a wave of the dark haired man’s fist, Akio landed on the wood floors with a lump on his head.
Mokoto: FOR THAT, YOU’RE SLEEPING ON THE FLOOR!
Akio rubbed his head and got back up to his feet.
Akio: You can’t make me sleep on…!
He took a look at Mokoto’s glaring face and simply grabbed his pillow.
Akio: Actually you can.
The sun had risen over Tsurro, the soft light of the morning seeping through the translucent pale curtains of the teens’ rooms. The three girls had woken, Yume taking a bath in the small washroom, her flawless singing voice clearly heard, though not commented, by the other teens. Takara had pulled her wavy blonde locks out of her pigtails so that they would be easier to brush as she smiled in the mirror. Amaya had washed her face and combed her hair neatly, giving her a fresh appearance, for once. She however was getting irritated by how long it was taking her companions to get ready.
Mokoto slept still and comfortably on his own bed, jostling every few moments to get comfortable again. Akio was sprawled out on the floor, his head not even on the pillow anymore and his blanket only draped across half his body. His mouth was wide open as he snored as loud as an elephant. Keiji however had never fallen asleep. His mind was racing with thoughts carried over from last night’s conversation.
Keiji: (“Enough with the knight-in-shining-armor act.” “We know you’re doing all this stuff for her so that you can get her attention.” “She is a princess, and you are the man that kidnapped her. No matter how much you try to win her over, you’re not going to get her.” But…but I’m not trying to win her over! I just… I don’t like her like that. She’s…she’s a princess. It’s my fault she’s gotten into this, and I feel that it’s my responsibility for her to stay safe.)
He pictured her face, her beautiful, smiling, laughing face as they held hands, running as fast as their feet would allow as they dashed to the ship and to their safety. His heart skipped a beat.
Keiji: (No. No, no.)
He just shook his head.
Keiji: (I can’t do this to myself. As soon as we get back with that treasure, she’s going back home to her dad. She’ll probably wind up marrying some stuck up prince. Some prince that doesn’t deserve her… What am I saying!? It’s not like I deserve her!)
He repositioned his body so that he was lying on his side, his ear pressed against the wall. He could hear that voice again, that wonderful, pure, perfect voice as it sang out again, the same song from the morning before. That hypnotizing, tantalizing, alluring song…
Keiji: (What am I doing to myself?)
He slammed his head into his pillow, trying to rid his head of these newfound thoughts.
Keiji: (She is just a friend. A friend I have sworn to protect, need she be protected. Nothing more than that.)
Keiji felt contempt with his new statement, feeling that it would surely keep his mind, and even more so, his heart, from coming up with new ideas of its own about this girl.
Amaya: Oi, hurry up, Yume! How long does it take to put your dress back on!
Keiji’s heart skipped a beat again and his mind went to the gutter for a split second, before he smacked himself out of it, literally.
Keiji: (Gah! Stop it!)
He smacked himself in the head again, as if to teach his brain a lesson. Then he
He jumped out of bed and made his way to the door and looked outside to see the three girls, their faces and clothing free of the dirt from the cell.
Keiji: Oi! Where are you guys off to?
They noticed his voice and turned around, Takara and Amaya with shocked faces, and Yume with a sweet smile.
Takara: Um…eh…
Amaya: Nowhere…?
Yume gave a weak chuckle.
Yume: I’m going to talk to my mum. I’m going to…erm…clear things up.
Keiji: Oh! Well, good. Good.
He smiled and nodded.
Keiji: I think I should come too. Y’know, just to make sure. I still don’t exactly trust all of these pirate guys.
Amaya: If you’re talking about being protection, that’s not necessary. I can take on anyone that comes at us.
Keiji: You don’t even have a weapon.
The girl with the black hair just glared as her eye twitched angrily.
Yume: We’d be glad to have you come, Keiji.
Keiji: Oh, thanks.
He knew his face was blushing, and he just chuckled to hopefully cover it up.
Yume: Though…you might want to put some pants on first.
The three girls all giggled at the same time as Keiji looked down to see that he was only wearing a t-shirt and a pair of boxer shorts. He blushed even redder now, laughing only to mask his embarrassment in front of the three most beautiful women in the world, including the one he was starting to fall for.
