Chapter 1:

"You're really enjoying this aren't you?" Jim Hawkins was sitting in a chair in the garden behind the Dopplers' house, an old sheet wrapped about his shoulders. His mom, Sarah Hawkins was standing in front of him, the scissors in her hand carefully cutting away at his long bangs. The boy was glaring in mock irritation at a girl sitting next to his mother, the girl returning his look with a pleased grin.

Zarabeth couldn't help but have some fun at Jim's expense. "Only a lot. You know, after I first met you, Silver was giving me a hard time, trying to find out whether I thought you were cute or not."

Sarah turned to look at Zara, her scissors halting their spree for a moment. "What did you say?"

Zara smiled as she recalled her exact words. "I said, 'I suppose. But I would like to lop that ponytail-braid thing off the back of his head.' And now, I get a front row seat!"

Jim's face looked anything but pleased as he watched his mom and Zara continue to giggle. "Ya, ya, laugh all you want. I didn't have to do this, you know."

Mrs. Hawkins tipped the boy's head up a little higher as she spoke. "No you didn't, but I'm glad you agreed to it. It's a good change before you leave for school next week. And who knows, maybe you'll like it better." With these last words, Sarah took a step back to admire her work. All she'd done was trim down the bangs in the front, keeping the hair a little longer near his ears, but still shorter than it used to be. "A good job, if I do say so myself. All that's left is the back."

Zara's eyes went wide in astonishment as Mrs. Hawkins offered the scissors to her. "Wait, me? Oh, I don't want to mess it up!"

Sarah's smile broadened as she continued to insist. "You cut it, and I'll clean it up around the edges."

Her face eager with determination, Zara walked behind the boy, opening and closing the scissors in her hand a few times as she watched Jim burry his face in his hands. "This is for you, Silver."

With a single snip, the braid at the base of the boy's neck was severed, lying limply in the girl's hand as she giggled in satisfaction. "Perfect."

Jim ran his hand through his newly cut hair, trying to get used to how short it now was while Sarah began to clean up, taking the sheet and scissors back toward the house.

Zara quietly came up behind the boy, leaning against his back, her head resting next to his as she dropped the braid in the boy's hand. Watching the boy look it over, Zarabeth's tone was one of mock sympathy, unable to resist making one more joke. "Should we burry it in the backyard?" Then, as she laughed quietly, she added in a mumbled observation. "We could mark it with a headstone."

Abruptly turning his head to face the girl, Jim's look was marked with mischief as he grabbed ahold of the girl's wrists. "That's it!"

Completely caught off guard, Zara suddenly found herself at the boy's mercy, her back to the ground, hands pinned on either side of her head, with Jim looming victoriously over her.

The boy's face wore a satisfied smirk as he adjusted his grip so that he could hold both of Zara's wrists in one of his hands. With his free hand, Jim moved some stray hair out of the girl's face. "Now, I think you owe me an apology, missy."

Zara couldn't keep a straight face as she tried to reply, Jim just looked so cute. "Says who?"

"Says me, that's who."

Zarabeth scrunched her nose, as if trying to decide before replying in mock defiance. "Never."

"Oh really? Never?" Jim leaned down, his face now only inches from the girl's. "I think you'll find my persuasion rather hard to resist."

Allowing Zara a moment to wonder at what he meant, Jim brought his free hand down near her side. "Last chance."

Her eyes suddenly wide with understanding, Zara tried to stop him. "Wait! Jim, no! Fine I'll-"

"Time's up!" Without another word of warning, the boy ruthlessly began poking and jabbing at Zara's sides and stomach, knowing full well how ticklish she was.

Zarabeth kicked and squirmed without any control over her actions as she laughed, trying without success to escape Jim's hand. "Ji-Jim! Please! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Zara managed to wriggle one of her trapped wrists from out of the boy's grasp, using her freed hand to try to hold back Jim's arm.

Pausing his attack, Jim easily caught the girl's hand as he tried to force it back over her head. "Now, now, Zara. Say you're sorry, and maybe I'll let you go."

Zara raised her head from the ground, closing the distance between the faces of the two teens as she laughed, trying to object. "I did though!"

That half-smile, Zara felt her heart melt into nothing as she desperately tried to hold onto her will to resist. She couldn't help but smile as she whispered, laying her head back on the ground as Jim only leaned down further. "Stop it. That's not fair."

Jim let his lips brush teasingly against Zara's as he whispered back to her. "I don't play fair."

Zarabeth felt her whole body go numb with the overwhelming feelings flowing through her mind at Jim's sweet kiss. Every time their lips met, Zara couldn't help but feel completely and incandescently happy. Even since their first kiss in the galley on the R.L.S. Legacy all those months ago, loving Jim had become the most natural thing in the world, like it was simply always meant to be. She loved their relationship, all the teasing and play fights made special by how romantic Jim could suddenly be at any moment.

Feeling him pull away slowly, Zara opened her eyes, a small sigh of contentment escaping her lips as she looked on lovingly at the boy above her.

Jim gave the girl a quizzical look as he smiled. "What is it?"

Zara shook her head slightly as she continued to stare into Jim's crystal blue eyes. "Nothing. I just love you."

Jim placed a small kiss on the end of the girl's nose before replying. "I love you too."

Jim moved to lay down in the grass beside Zara, letting her head rest against his chest as they watched the clouds drift lazily above them.

Zarabeth let her mind wander as she lay with Jim, listening to the steady beating of his heart. So much had changed in a single year. This time last year, Zara had been a slave, sailing across the galaxy with Amelia, without any hope for a future until she'd met Jim. Now, Amelia and Delbert Doppler had been married for four months, she had been freed, and she and Jim were leaving for college in less than a week. Life was so simple now, but perfect in its simplicity.