Duke came home one day to the sound of Jennifer singing. It wasn't unpleasant; he just didn't recognize what she was singing. Once he went below deck, he had to fight to hold in his laughter; she was holding a broom in one hand and was alternating between using it as a microphone and a dance partner while an animated movie played from her laptop.
"I've got a dream! I've got a dream! I just want to see the floating lanterns gleam!" she was singing loudly as the blonde character on the screen sang the same lines.
As the chorus of men on the screen yelled "yeah," she pumped her fist in the air, pulling her denim jacket up on her jumper, and spun around. Her mouth was wide open as she was about to sing the next lines only to have the words die on her lips when she saw Duke.
Her mouth snapped shut and she pulled her broom-less hand back towards her. She fidgeted, pulling at her jumper, it was white with a skull done it to make it look as if it were a sketch and a sequence black color, as she let out a nervous, "Hi."
She tucked her hair behind her ear and made to start pretending to use the broom as Duke grinned at her, "Don't stop on my account. It's been awhile since I've taken in a show."
She rolled her eyes at him as she blushed, "I feel like I could ask about the other shows you've had preformed on this boat, but I also feel as if I want to make fun of you for the dated use of 'taken in a show.'"
He just chuckled as he walked to her and leaned down for a kiss, "Do you really think you're in a position to be making fun of anyone right now, Short Stack?"
"Hm." She replied, smiling into the kiss.
When he pulled back he greeted her properly, "Hi."
She grinned and kissed him again, "Hi."
He straightened up and gestured to the broom, "So do you want to explain what I've walked in on or do you and the broom need another few minutes?"
She scrunched her nose at him, "At least the broom doesn't sass me."
He chuckled, "Yeah, but I bet I'm a better kisser than it is."
She pushed the bristles at his feet, making him jump back, laughing, "Hey now!"
"Yeah, watch yourself, Crocker! This thing's a weapon in the right hands!" She laughed, doing the same movement a few more times at him as she chased him around. He ran, hitching his legs up exaggeratedly as he did to try to avoid the bristles hitting his feet. He finally collapsed onto the couch and as she went to stand over him to celebrate, he grabbed the lapels of her jacket and pulled her down on top of him. She squealed as she fell, letting the broom fall to the floor.
"You know, all those times people were telling me to clean up my act, I don't think they meant having a pretty brunette chasing me with a broom." He laughed, kissing her neck and settling his arms around her waist.
She laughed, "Oh, that was awful! That was such a bad joke!"
He laughed against her neck and moved to kiss her lips, "Then why are you laughing?"
Rather than answer, she kissed him back, enjoying the moment, when she heard the first few notes of her favorite song play from her laptop, the movie momentarily forgotten.
"Oh!" she said, climbing off of him. He tried to grab her again, to pull her back to him, and let out a soft disgruntled sound only to have his hands lightly batted away as she walked back to the breakfast nook to watch the scene play out.
He stayed on the couch a moment longer, staring at the ceiling, and sighed as he stood up. She was staring at her screen, eyes wide and shining, and she was quietly mouthing along the words to the song that was playing from the movie.
"And at last I see the light and it's like the sky is new."
Duke stood just behind her, looking at the screen with her, as the two characters sat in a small boat surrounded by floating lanterns and continued their duet. He glanced at her, and understood from how focused she was on the scene that this wasn't something to interrupt.
When the song finished and the plot picked back up, Jennifer said quietly, "I'd love to do that one day."
He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, "Do what?"
"The lantern thing." She replied, turning her face into his touch and looking up at him, "I'd love to set loose a sky lantern one day. I'd love to write quotes, tributes to the people I've lost, and promises to the future on it." She looked back at the screen for a moment but not really seeing the movie. She turned to him again, "I never did explain what this movie was or why I was watching it."
"Well I was distracted by fighting the broom for your affections," He grinned at her. She rolled her eyes as she stood up from her seat, let Duke sit down, and then sat on his lap. He wrapped his arms around her waist and perched his chin on her shoulder, looking at the screen with her, even as she turned the volume down.
"When I was growing up," she started to explain, "whenever a new Disney animated movie came out, we'd all go see it in the theater. In fact, my parents first date was to go see Robin Hood. We saw Hercules the year my dad died, and for a while, I thought Mom and I were going to stop going to see them, but if anything it only strengthened my mom's resolve for us to go see them." She smiled at the screen, no longer really watching the movie, and tilted her head so that it rested against his, "When she died, I wasn't sure if I could bring myself to go see a new one. But then…I don't know, I guess I missed her and Dad and the three of us going to the movies enough that I convinced myself to try one of the more recent movies. I think I dragged Holly along with me,"
"She must've loved that." Duke smirked, turning his head so that he could nuzzle her neck as she giggled.
"If she didn't, she never mentioned it," she quipped back, leaning into his movement, "Besides, who could say 'no' to this face?"
Duke laughed, "So this was the movie you saw together?"
She nodded, her hair tickling his cheek as her head bounced, "And it…I wasn't sure how I was going to feel while watching it, but I ended up being so into it that Holly had to drag me out of the theater. I think I may have forgotten to breathe when they first showed all the lanterns lighting up."
"Really?" He asked, grinning and kissing her neck.
"Yeah." She giggled back.
"I bet I know another way to take your breath away." He mumbled into her ear, earning a shiver out of her.
"I'll take that bet," she said, turning her head to try to catch his mouth with hers.
Some days had passed since Duke first found her singing with the broom, but he'd been working on a surprise for her, and it finally seemed like the right time to act on it.
He'd set the work schedule for the weekend at the gull, and had convinced Vince and Dave to give Jennifer the time off. Whether or not that convincing involved Duke's knowledge of the connection between Dave and Oprah Winfrey, remained to be seen. The difficult part was finding a sky lantern. It was the off-season for firework stands, and even his usual less than reputable connections (at least the ones he felt comfortable asking) were turning up empty. Thankfully, and rather surprisingly, Dwight was the one who finally managed to get him one. It was dark purple and was still in the packaging. When Duke had expressed his gratitude and asked what Dwight had wanted for it, he just shook his head and said, "Just make sure to write Lizzy's name on it."
Duke had paused, "Who told you what Jennifer wanted to do with it?"
Dwight had shrugged, smirking, "It's Haven. Word gets around."
Duke shook his head, but thanked him anyway, promising to tell Jennifer to write something for Elizabeth.
When he pulled up to the Rouge, he was surprised to see Jennifer's car already there. As he got of the car, he spotted her by the helm, letting her legs dangle from where he had once convinced her to hang upside-down to get her to clear her mind and connect to the Barn and Audrey. She had headphones in and was singing something rather loudly. She paused when she saw him, grinning and waving, and pulled one of her headphones out, "Ahoy, Sailor! I heard we were heading out!"
Duke shook his head and rubbed his face as he mumbled, "Word gets around, alright."
He smiled back at her, "Who narc'd?"
"Dave. Folded like a house of cards in a windstorm. Though, really, who could say 'no' to this face?" She grinned back, leaning into the railings and gesturing to her features. Her denim jacket was open, reveling a cream blouse with blue swallows detailed onto it. She swung her legs, displaying a pair of cream socks with light blue toes and with black writing on them, saying You're Not The Boss of Me, "A few other little birdies mentioned you picking something up from Dwight. Care to elaborate?"
"Is nothing sacred in this town?" He asked exasperatedly, grabbing a hold of the toe of her left foot and squeezing it, earning a giggle out of her.
"Well from this angle, I'd say no. What'cha got behind your back, there, Sailor?" She grinned, craning her neck to try to look behind him.
"Since you seem determined to ruin the surprise, Short Stack," he said, mockingly glaring at her, as he held the thin plastic package out for her, "It's a sky lantern."
Her eyes widened as she looked from his hand to him, "Duke…"
He grinned, "What do you say we send this baby off? If we leave now, we'll get beyond the light pollution right at sunset."
She brought a hand to her mouth and couldn't hide the tears that were threatening to fall, "Duke this is…"
He kissed her ankle, "Just say 'yes.'"
She nodded.
"Alright. You head below deck and start writing everything you want on this thing, and I'll get us to the spot." He smiled, handing it up to her. She took it carefully from him, holding it as if it would disintegrate if she moved it wrong. Just before she went all the way below deck he called after her, "There is one thing."
She paused, holding the lantern away from her, and looked at him.
He sighed, "Dwight asked us to write something for Elizabeth, Lizzy, his daughter, on the lantern."
She gave him a confused look.
"She died. It was before I knew him, but when he—,"
"Of course. I'll do something special for her." Jennifer said, turning back to head below deck.
"That's my girl." He said, smiling to himself.
Before long, they were pulling out of Haven Harbor and heading for open water. He didn't hear anything from her, which would make him nervous, but he also felt as if this was something she'd wanted to do on her own. He reached the spot with a little less than an hour to spare before sunset, and brought the ship around to face south, dropping anchor, and setting the safety light. With everything set, he decided he could risk interrupting whatever ritual she was in the middle of.
She was sitting in the breakfast nook, the lantern carefully unfolded and scrawled with her delicate handwriting, with a small paper notebook open next to her.
She looked up at him, her features heavy with the task she'd undertaken, and made as if she wanted to smile but she wasn't sure if she could or should.
He tried to smile at her, hoping to give her an opening to do the same, and nodded to the lantern, "You've been busy."
She nodded, "I guess I had more to say than I knew."
He slid on to the bench with her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and kissing her head, "Tell me about it."
She pointed to the side that was exposed, "This side is for me. I wrote every quote and thought that has ever meant anything to me, along with what I hope for in the future."
"Anything about a pirate on that side?" he asked, trying to get her to giggle.
She smiled, at least, "Why, did you have one in mind?"
"Talk like that'll get you keelhauled." He threatened, allowing a pirate accent to come out towards the end and aggressively kissing her neck.
At least that got a giggle out of her.
He smiled at her before looking back at the lantern, "What about the other sides?"
"Well, as I was going to say," she grinned at him, "On the opposite side of the side for me is where I wrote about us."
"Good things, I hope," he said, grinning back at her.
"Oh of course. Sappy love sonnets, lyrics from love songs, the whole nine yards." She replied, scrunching her nose at him near the end.
He mimicked the expression and she giggled.
"Alright, but what about the other sides?"
Her features turned nervous as she carefully adjusted the lantern to show him it's right side where, in large letters, was written, "Dear Lizzy, and Others Lost."
"I wrote a letter. I didn't know Lizzy, or anyone else you might've lost, but I knew I wanted to write something for my parents, and my birth parents, so I tried to keep it a little vague. On the opposite side of this there are quotes about forgiveness, hope, and love. " She shifted in her seat as she continued, "I wrote something for Wade and Jordan too."
She was biting her lip and glancing at him, trying to gauge his reaction to what she'd said.
"Like what?" he asked, trying to keep is tone light, but she could see the guarded undertone to his words in his expression.
"The Cliff Notes version is that I told them I forgive them." She said, fidgeting a bit, "I told them that I was sorry for what happened to them, and I told them that I hope that wherever they are, they're no longer in pain."
Duke studied the lantern before asking carefully, "Could I write something?"
She seemed surprised by his question, but immediately started shifting the lantern to the side that had the most space left as she answered, "Yeah. Yeah, of course."
She handed him her pen, and shifted nervously in her seat, "Do…do you want to be alone? 'Cause I can—,"
"No." he said, cutting her off, "Stay. Please."
She calmed her nervous fidgeting and nodded, settling in next to him.
It took him a moment to start writing, but once he did it wasn't long before he was wrapping his words around the pre-existing text that Jennifer had written. He wasn't sure to whom he was writing, but he clearly had a lot to say to them. The last thing he wrote was, "Fuck you. Thank you. And I'm sorry."
She carefully tried to make a joke, to ease some of the tension that had set itself in his shoulders and face, "That about sums it up, huh?"
He smiled, the warmth not quite reaching his eyes yet, "I guess so."
She nudged him with her shoulder, "You okay?"
He let out a breath through his nose, "I will be."
He glanced out the window behind them, "Looks like the sun's set. You ready to send this off?"
"Almost. Do you…do you mind if I change?" A light blush was creeping into her cheeks as she asked.
He arched an eyebrow at her, "Something wrong with what you have on?"
"Well no, it's just…" she shifted a bit, "I feel like this needs more…more ceremony you know? Like I'm being disrespectful by wearing jeans."
"Do you want me to change too?" He asked, trying to make this easier for her.
"Not if you don't want to. I just…it feels more…it will feel better to me if I change." More of a blush had made it's way across her face as she struggled to make herself understood.
He kissed her forehead, "You do what you need to, sweetheart. This is for you, remember?"
She smiled at him, still blushing, but nodded, "I'll just need fifteen, twenty minutes tops."
He just smiled, "However long you need."
She scooted out from the nook and started for her room on the upper deck where most of her clothes were stored. Duke stood shortly after, stretching as he did, only to hear a distant, "Oh!" come from the direction Jennifer had left in. When he looked after her, he saw her back tracking towards him quickly. Before he really registered what was happening, she sprung up, wrapping her arms around his neck, and kissed him deeply.
He wrapped his arms around her waist, as he initially bowed with her weight, only to stand back up straight, holding her so her feet dangled off the floor. When she broke the kiss, she pressed her forehead to his, "Thank you, Duke."
"For what?" he asked lamely, still reeling from the surprise of her jumping into his arms, and paying more attention to her lips than to what she was saying.
She nuzzled her nose against his, "For this. For the lantern. For letting me do this. For…hell, for everything."
He grinned at her, "Anything for you, Short Stack."
She giggled at him and closed her eyes for a moment, trying to memorize the feeling of his forehead against hers when he kissed her lips, "Go change. I'll meet you out there."
She nodded as he set her down. She let her hands trail down his arms so that their fingers entwined, and she held his hands in hers as she walked back until she couldn't anymore.
As she bounded up the stairs, Duke turned to his own room to see if maybe he could find a nicer shirt to wear at least, so that she wouldn't feel self-conscious. He settled on a gray blazer over a dark green button down, along with a pair of gray jeans. He wasn't sure what Jennifer had in mind, but he figured that he was always going to look a bit like a mess with a girl like her on his arm.
He opted to go barefoot as he walked back to the stateroom to grab the lantern and a lighter, and then above deck to wait for Jennifer. It was cool on the deck, but he figured that they'd be all right in the time it took to light and send off the lantern. He held it carefully in his hands, trying and failing to read some of what she'd written on it in the light of the stars.
"I've heard that's a good way to weaken your eyesight," he heard her say from in front of him. He was smiling before he saw her and when he did, it was replaced by a look of awe. She was wearing an emerald dress, though it looked more blue than green in the starlight, with a floral lace overlay, and a wide neckline. She was wearing dark gray tights under it and had also opted to go barefoot. She held her hands behind her, and bit her lip nervously, waiting for him to say something.
"You look…incredible." He stammered, feeling immediately lame for that being the only thing he could think to say.
She giggled and walked to him, "You clean up pretty well yourself there, Sailor."
He chuckled at her as she shivered, "You going to be alright?"
"Well the sooner we send it off, the sooner you can warm me up," She grinned at him.
"Well then let's get this show on the road!" He replied, holding the lantern out for her to hold. She held the lantern by the edges as Duke fished the lighter out of his pocket, "Do you want to light it?"
Her eyes lit up, "Yes!"
He laughed and traded her the lantern for the lighter, and held it in a similar way that she had so that she could light the fuel cell. Once it was lit, she placed her hands on the bottom of the lantern. As it filled with the hot air, he carefully moved his hands down to hers, keeping his grip loose.
When it started to pull out of his fingers, he looked at her, "You ready?"
She giggled nervously, "I'm not sure. Only one way to find out."
He smiled back at her, "On three?"
She nodded.
"One…two…" they began to raise their arms together, "Three."
Her hands were the first to slip away from the lantern, and he guided it as high as he could reach.
She kept her eyes on the lantern as he reached a hand out to pull her towards him. She complied, still looking up, and he wrapped his arms around her, placing his chin on top of her head.
After a moment, he started to sing to her, "All those days, watching from the windows. All those years, outside looking in."
She turned slightly to look up at him, eyes wide in surprise, "Did you learn the song from the movie?"
He grinned at her, ducking his head down and nuzzling her, "I wanted to surprise you."
She reached her arms around his neck, holding him there, and kissed him, "You are…you are so…"
"Just kiss me again," He laughed.