Other Fan Fiction ❯ Hard To Come By ❯ Chapter One: The Journey? ( Chapter 1 )

“Just a peek—“
“NO!!”
“But I need to—“
“Ask Sharon!”
“But can't you just—“
“For-GET it, Loverboy; you cannot have this stone!”
The door slammed in Lang's face and he literally had to clench his hands into his hair to stop himself from ramming down the door. Why are you so desperate...? came a benevolent, but obviously amused voice from within his head. It was his fire Origin, Galea and from the sounds of it he was trying not to laugh. I need that Heaven's Stone to make that Thousand Saga katana…and some protector YOU are, Lang shot back venomously, if you are just going to stand there and let her rip into me. Galea sobered down a little. The matter of getting into Sharon's room is hardly any job for me to do, replied Galea smugly. You are going to have to flatter the guardian of that room if you wish to gain entry and get that jewel. Lang raised his eyebrows. And just how will I do that? Lang asked his Origin. Two words for you, Lang…sweet tooth. He scoffed. I highly doubt that confectionaries would let me in there. Dynamite, maybe.
Just ASK her, Galea breathed exasperatedly.
“What would it take for me to get that stone?” Lang yelled at the closed door. Silence ensued for a moment's time until the door opened enough to let one piercing green eye inspect him. “A lot of Tanza tea cakes,” she replied before slamming the door; Lang foresaw this and put his hand against it bracingly. “Are you being sarcastic?” he asked tentatively. “Nope,” she said. “I want every single tea cake in stock.” Lang's mouth dropped open. “And if you return with them, I will let you have the Heaven's Stone.” She closed the door with less force and Lang leaned against it. Damn it, he cursed. So it's settled then? Galea said in his smuggest, I-told-you-so voice. YES, Galea, Lang seethed as he descended the stairs. And stop laughing!!!!
**********
Jane swept all of the wood shavings that Sharon had produced from sharpening her katana into a pile and wiped her brow. It was hard work cleaning after somebody that obviously had no wish in living tidily. Earlier Jane was going to help herself to some of Sharon's chocolates until she checked the date. They were six months old and the wrinkled appearance did nothing to help her appetite. Well, Jane thought sourly, other than that stone, nothing in here is worth much in value. His face popped into her head and she grinned despite herself. She looked around the extravagant room with both distaste and familiarity and sighed. “Some people have it all,” Jane said with a sigh, continuing to clean. And her sister definitely did—the looks, the moves, the life, and the smarts. No one would ever doubt that she was the daughter of a pirate lord. But me…? Jane thought. Always pushed to the side. Never paid attention to. And the worst thing was that she was all but used to it. It had shaped her into who she was. But did she even like the person she had become? Why WAS she so forbidding? Why did she never let anyone in…? She found that the last question she had asked herself applied to more than Sharon's room. Jane shook her head and got back to work, softly humming the Pirates' tune under her breath.
**********

Lang ventured over to Tanza, which was famed for its fabulous tea cakes and epicurean tastes overall. Stepping over the threshold of the Miyawaki sauna, he didn't see the little boy that normally was the vendor for the cakes. Now what, Galea? he thought with a cluck of his tongue as he walked over to the receptionist and asked her where the tea cake boy was. “Oh, him?” she replied rather absentmindedly as she straightened up. “He's the son of the baker and their family went on a vacation to Phorcoon.” Vacation? In Phorcoon? THERE'S an oxymoron. Galea snickered at this and replied, Well, let's get packing. Phorcoon's a ways from here.
**********
Maya sat with Sharon and played Gin with her, not quite knowing how to play very well but having fun all the same. Kazan stood behind them studying Sharon's father's portrait. Jane descended the stairs to take a break, her worries having been suspended at the moment since the Mystic boy wasn't bugging her. She took a seat at the bar and asked the chef for some barbequed skewers. “Comin' right up, Miss Jane!” the chef said as he went to dicing his vegetables and preparing a sauce. Sharon looked up at the sound of her sister's name and smiled. “Janey!” she exclaimed as she momentarily paused the game to greet her. Jane smiled genuinely at Sharon; thought she did envy her, she loved her more than anything. “Hey, sis. Where's Mystic Boy?” she asked her, nodding at the chef as he slid her the platter of skewers and looking back attentively at Sharon. Her sister straightened up and closed her eyes in her attempt to rack her brain. “AH! He went to Tanza.” Jane took a bite of her food and assented quietly. She was hoping to put him off the whole room thing for good, but now she had a feeling that she would have an angry Mystic Boy to deal with when he did return. Maya laid down her cards and walked over to the two. “Don't worry,” she said in her soft, timid voice as she smiled at Jane. “He said he wouldn't be long.” She pouted apologetically at Sharon. “Sorry, but I think I'm done with Gin.”
“Awww,” Sharon said sadly, “but it was really getting fun.” Only because you kept winning, Jane thought with a smile, realizing only at Sharon's indignant face that she had thought out loud.
**********

Knowing that packing meant going back at Darek's Haunt, Lang prepared himself for a flood of questions upon his arrival. But right then, he had no intention of going anywhere. The hot waters of Miyawaki Sauna bubbled around him as he thought out his plan. If I'm doing all of this for her, she better repay me with more than getting into that room.
You want to bed her, Lang? “With that bitch!?” he yelled at Galea, not caring if the neighboring hot spring or the entire town of Tanza heard him. “No FUCKING way!” He sank into the tub, dipping his head back into the water and letting it seep into his dark hair. Galea waited until it was halfway safe to laugh. I don't see what's so repulsive about her, Galea said calmly, trying to break the silence. Lang would never let Galea get the satisfaction of knowing, but as he found himself thinking about that pirate girl with green eyes and sepia hair, neither could he.
**********
Dusk was blooming on the horizon as Kazan and Ayne sat atop the Blood Hawk, the boat calmly bobbing up and down over the cerulean waters of the cove. “The outside world is so magnificent,” said Ayne as he marveled over the places he had been. The snowy village of Yuno…the hot desert oasis of Kravia…the mysterious, forbidding ruins of Kabel. Every place had shown him that beauty was truly in the eye of the beholder. Kazan smiled at Ayne's forever-existent innocence. “You still don't know the deviant ways of common humans like us, or perhaps you do, considering you got a littlun on the way.” Ayne's eyes widened and he whispered hoarsely, “How do you know about that?” Kazan waved his hand dismissively. “Don't worry; your secret is perfectly safe with me.” Ayne nodded and looked down at his folded hands. Kazan found himself humming the Pirates' tune as he took another swig of Kravian liquor. Ayne sighed. “I don't even know if I should call it love…it was more like her climbing on top of me and me just you know…going at it.” Kazan spit out all of his liquor, not surprisingly into the very person that he was sitting by. Ayne smiled sadly and wiped off the mess from his face with the cloth that he had given him. “You mean you don't even know why you're marrying her?” Kazan exclaimed, waving his arms about and creating quite a scene. Ayne shrugged and looked up at the high roof of the hidden cove. “It's tradition, Kazan,” he said in a resigned voice, wanting to be anywhere but there at that moment. “I've never been in love, nor seen it or heard of it. When we marry in Jinga, it's almost always for downy or arranged.” Kazan shook his head in pity, placing his hand on Ayne's shoulder. “You want to know what love is, son?” Ayne looked at him and smiled an approving smile. “Yes.” Kazan sat on the rail of the ship and looked down at Ayne, who looked like a child waiting for his bedtime story. He put the rum by his side and crossed his arms in that sagely way. “Love is when you have feelings for someone. When you feel that you cannot go on without them.” Ayne nodded and looked up at him expectantly. If an outsider was to look at the two: a giant learning about love and a drunkard schooling him on the subject, he would've probably died from laugher. But Kazan knew that Ayne had to know. And understand it completely. So he went on. “Love does not always have to exist between a woman and a man, you know. It can exist between a man and another man.” Ayne's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “You can do that…?” he asked slowly. Kazan smiled and nodded affirmatively. “There are never rules when it comes to love, Ayne. Know that and live by it.” Ayne bowed his head in understanding and waited to hear more. “But there are different types of love…brotherly love, family love, friendly love…what kind of love do you think exists between you and…what's-her-name?” Ayne laughed at Kazan's forgetfulness and replied, “Friendly. We've been friends for as long as I can remember. I was completely blind to her feelings for me though.” Kazan chuckled and slapped his knee. “So many people are blind to love. Like Lang. He has no idea…that Maya and Nancy are in love with him.” Ayne stood up and sighed. “But how do you know when YOU'RE in love?” Kazan's eyebrows raised at his sudden outburst of impatience and he smiled. “When you look at them and they look at you, do you feel like you two are the only ones standing there?” Ayne looked confused. “Who's them?” he asked curiously. “THE PERSON THAT YOU LOVE!” came the heated reply. “Why do you need to know who it is?” Ayne asked with his eyebrows raised. “Oh, for-GET it!” yelled Kazan, a slur working its way into his voice as he reached for his liquor bottle. “You weren't listening, were you?” he snapped as he reached even further; the bottle had rolled out of his reach. Ayne nodded to his question and held a precautionary finger up. “Kazan, I don't think that what you're doing is a very good idea.” Kazan grunted in determination as he balanced wobbly on the rail. “Kaza--!”
“WHAAAAAA…,” yelled Kazan as he overreached and fell into the water, sputtering and coughing. Sharon had ran outside to inspect the noise, only to double over in laughter as Kazan waved wildly, trying not to sink. Ayne gaped at her in shock and looked back at Kazan. “How is this remotely funny?” he asked her, wide-eyed. She stopped mid-giggle and whispered in his ear. “It's only seven feet deep?” Ayne said, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. “And he's six feet six, so there's only almost four inches for him to drown in. But let's let him figure that out on his own.” Her blue eyes peered up into his and he almost forgot all about the splashing Kazan. A few tendrils of honey-blonde unfurled from her tightly wound hair and he extended a finger to place them back. Sharon almost forgot about everyone but Ayne as they both stood there, the sapphire waters lapping up near their feet. “You…wanna play Gin with me? Everyone else is turning in and I need someone to keep me company,” Sharon said with an irresistible smile. “Where does your crew sleep?” Ayne asked with genuine interest. “Below deck. Wanna go play now?” she said, looking at him hopefully. “You bet,” he said, not once looking back at Kazan. “Hey, this water's only seven feet deep!!!”
“Good observation,” they both yelled at the old man, who slowly sank down into the water to hide his fuming red face.
**********

It was almost midnight as Lang strode up the path to Darek's Haunt, putting Galea on watch at the entrance. With Galea gone, perhaps I can rest easier, Lang thought snidely as he opened the door to the hide-out. Maya, Sharon, Ayne and Kazan were nowhere to be found, but there was Jane. She slept with her cheek in her palm and her elbow in her hand. He was slightly transfixed at the sight of her asleep but walked over to wake her up. She woke up on contact, green eyes fluttering open and beholding him in worry. “You look angry,” she said nervously as she wrung her hands and avoided his gaze. He glared at her coldly before saying, “You weren't serious at all, were you?” Jane bit her lip and fidgeted on the spot. “…I'm sorry,” she squeaked fearfully. “Thanks to you, I wasted my entire day,” he said, turning on his heel and leaving. “I'm sorry!” she said as loud as she could without waking everyone. “My ASS, you're sorry,” he seethed, pushing chairs outside and advancing on her. “I was a MINUTE away from heading to Phorcoon for those goddamned things and wasting my time like that…is a really…” Lang stopped as he saw that she had begun to cry. “Oh—see—.” He sighed and took her hand, leading her to the couch and motioning for her to sit down. “Don't…don't cry…” Jane dabbed at her eyes with the handkerchief around her waist and shook her head. “No, you're right, you're right…I wasted really valuable time; I just didn't think you'd go!” She couldn't help a smile at the thought of him carrying bags full of Tanza cakes to the Haunt. A last tear rolled down her cheek and she froze as Lang tenderly wiped it away with his thumb. She looked into his eyes, his beautiful shocking blue eyes, seeing an apology in them which she accepted. She gazed at him with her berylline-eyed apology, and he accepted it thankfully. Their faces were hauntingly close together. Closer…closer…Lang leaned forward and kissed her.

I'll come up with the next chapter in a lil' bit; working out the lumps to make the story run smooth.