Read at your own risk. I'm not liable for nothing. Na-da. This takes place at a non-specific time on Piers' ship. Also, nothing here belongs to me, except for this fic.

"Derp"

A Piers and Nowell fic based on Aquashipping.

It had been weeks since she had seen Kraden and Rief – or dry land for the matter. And even longer since she had seen her own mother! The young blue haired lass sighed. She would have to ask Piers about visiting her mother.

Then she sighed again, for a completely different reason. Piers.

With her elbows on the railings of the ship, she stared out into the ever changing, yet ever unchanging ocean. His hair, the colour of the pristine ocean... His eyes, the gild of the sun reflected in the seas... Oh, and how he could match Uncle Garet's strength, while sharing her own mother's gentleness... She sighed again.

He was definitely the perfect man.

Nevermind that he was probably several times her age. Age is just a number, anyways.

"I agree."

Nowell nearly jumped out of her skin. "P-p-piers!" She stammered in surprise. "I... I said that aloud? Oh, of course I did, if you heard!" She mentally bashed herself on the head, struggling desperately to pulled together the remaining, sane pieces of her mind to form coherent speech.

"You seem unhappy," the Lemurian Captain commented, as he leaned on his ship's railings right next to her. "Does it have anything to do with what you just said... about age?"

"A little," the girl replied truthfully, her heart pounding abnormally loud. She swore that Piers probably heard it, and ignored it due to its everyday occurrence. "Piers... You... What do you think about age? About ageing, and... Well..." Awkwardly, the word came out as a squeak. "Love."

Piers regarded her with a raised brow, then turned back to face the ocean, looking thoughtful if anything. "Lemurians... We don't live for hundreds of years naturally. But Kraden probably already told you that. Hmm. I'm ageing at the same rate as Isaac, Felix, and your mother, and the others because of that incident. But that's not what you wanted to ask me, is it?"

Nowell was staring more at her fiddling fingers than the ocean, now. She was sure that if she looked at him, she wouldn't have been able to hide the rosy glow that contrasted so starkly with her pale face. "Um... Ah... My mother, she seemed so... sad about it. How Rief and I, we are slowly catching up to her age in appearances..."

"Because she loves you," Piers replied with a sigh. "It is hard to think about, the knowledge that I will outlive you, and perhaps even your grandchildren. It is... painful to know that I will outlive many of the ones that I love."

Wait – what? Her furiously beating heart definitely skipped a beat. Piers just said – he said that he loved her? Her mind drew a blank, as evident by her inability to form words. She only knew him for this brief period of time, and... could it be that he was actually feeling the same way? No way!

She was definitely freaking out inside. And perhaps on the outside too, considering how her 'perfect man' stared at her with golden eyes filled with concern.

"Nowell, are you feeling... un-well?" Piers asked, mentally wincing at the pun. He made a note of her brother's name too; Rief... reef... Honestly, Mia shouldn't have let her husband name the children. And that fool out of all fools should have realized what ridiculous puns would come from such names. Piers momentarily considered his own name, and drew another mental wince. "Nowell?" He asked again, waving a hand in front of her... eerily shining eyes.

"B-b-but... P-piers... are you sure?" Nowell stammered, looking at him while fully aware that her blushing was quite noticeable.

"Sure about what?" Piers asked in concern, placing the back of his hand against her forehead. "Are you sure you're alright? You look-"

That was it. His touch sent her over the edge, and she passed out... with a smile.

"She seemed fine earlier... and she didn't seem sick at all. She didn't even have a fever. I don't understand why she would have passed out so suddenly..." Piers could be heard talking outside.

Nowell woke to find that she was not in her usual, small cabin. It wasn't big, by any standards, but it was at least thrice the size of her own. By the scent alone, she knew at once who the bed belonged to. She sat up, drawing the covers up to her still rosy cheeks. It was early evening, and adequate light filtered in from the small windows. Staring at the opposite cabin walls, she widened her eyes in surprise.

Some of the sailors always snickered and grinned when they saw her and the Captain together... was this why?

The wall was filled with paintings... of her. There was one of her as a baby, and several images of her as a small child. There was one, obviously a new one, of her not two years ago. Hmm, she remembered her mother's insistence of her sitting as still as possible for that portrait. Oh, and there were similar paintings of her brother, but they weren't as important. But that picture – did her mother send it to him? And the rest of them?

Oh my lord. The pieces of a seemingly ridiculous puzzle came together. But it made sense.

Before she even met Piers... her mother was already planning to marry her daughter off to her long time friend? Now this explained a lot more than it didn't. It explained why Piers seemed so eager to let her accompany him onboard his ship. It explained Kraden's secretive grin when the old man left. It even explained her mother's reluctance to speak about him! Like any mother, she probably hadn't been looking forward to marry her daughter off, let alone to any man.

There were three short raps on the wooden door. "Nowell, I'm coming in!" The Lemurian seemed surprised that she was awake, given the look on his face. It quickly turned into a sheepish look, as he caught her staring at the portraits. "Ah... Nowell, I'm sorry. I'm not cut out to being a father, and your mother would-"

"But do you love me?" Nowell asked, impatiently interrupting him. She had to know! "You said it earlier. You love me, don't you?"

"Of-of course!" Piers exclaimed. "I always have, and always will. Is that what's been bothering you? You silly girl..." His smile was warm as he sat on the edge of his bed. "All has been said and done – I love you and Ri-"

"Piers, will you... hug me?"

Unable to go against her puppy dog eyes of glimmering hope, he complied.

Now, she felt ready to die at anytime, to simply drown in bliss... He even reassuringly patted her on the shoulder as he parted to sit beside her, leaning against the backboard. She closed her eyes, her face absolutely radiant. "Piers... I love you too. I think mother will be happy, no matter what happened, or will happen in the future."

Now, even Piers face seemed to be infected by her own dreamy look. "I hope so... Then maybe she'll pose with me for another painting. This one is over ten years old!" Piers gestured meaningfully to the large painting hanging above the backboard.

In confusion, Nowell craned her neck to get a better view of the painting behind her.

Then, the pieces really began to fit together.

"Wait a second... Piers..."

"And here Mia was saying how bad of a father I was! It's a shame that Rief isn't here as well," He gushed, and all but crushed her in another hug. "My dear, lovely daughter loves me! This is a call for celebration!"

A/N: I hope you all saw that coming, from the moments I said aquashipping, heh. Truth to be told, if in the next game, Nowell and Piers become a canon couple... I will be sick for a bit. Very sick. I facepalmed through Kraden's short quote... And most of the game, sooo...

Yay for fanfiction? And I can't surpress it any longer: "TROLOLOLOLOL"