It was one of those lazy summer days when you feel like life isn't expecting a whole lot from you. My husband Qrrog and his second-in-command Jihl had spent the morning inspecting our fleet of ships, and while I usually liked to tag along with them, just the thought of spending several hours walking around rocking decks was enough to make me queasy.

Oh, by the way, I live in an island fortress in the world of Ivalice and my husband is a pirate king. Hey, we all have our quirks.

On more exciting days you might find us, and the rest of our mercenary clan, doing cooler things like battling monsters, apprehending criminals, and riding in giant robots.

But this was not one of those days, so instead I did laundry.

Yes, even pirate queens have housekeeping to attend to. But it helps when you know a bit of magick to speed the process along. While I have yet to be able to enspell the clothes to wash themselves, my mentor Hesketh knows some great potion recipes for getting out tough stains.

I have, however, explained the concept of washing machines and dryers to our resident head engineer Winn, and she's put the idea on her extensive list of future projects. It gives her something to do, trying to emulate all of the fantastic technology I tell her about.

Oh, that's another thing. I'm from Earth. I don't miss it at all.

Anyway. Now laundry was done, lunch was over, and I was hanging out on the shady side of the battlements, shielded from the midday sun. I leaned my arms on the thick stone wall and watched the waves crash against the rocks far below, sending cool salty spray into the wind that teased my long mane of tawny hair. Sunlight glittered on the deep waters of the fortress harbor, enclosed nearly completely by a tall and forbidding ring of rock. It made the perfect natural defense, in case we were ever attacked.

Well, maybe "natural" defense is a misnomer. Hesketh and I determined that the whole of Worgen Island was actually shaped by magickal forces, so long ago that no one remembers who did it. All we know is that it's the perfect place for the seat of a pirate kingdom.

I should set the record straight, though—we're pretty much "pirates" in name only. We don't do anything illegal, we spend our time helping neighboring coastal villages, and we're actually allied with the Archadian Empire, a powerful and benevolent nation to the northwest of our Jylland.

It's just that my husband used to be an actual pirate and he thinks it makes him sound cool. It was too adorable to contest.

One thing that's always fascinated me about the sea is that it's never the same. Depending on the season, the time of day, the weather, or maybe even just because it feels like it, I've never seen it with exactly the same color and temperament.

Today it was boisterous without being violent, with rollicking swells that smacked against stone and ship as though issuing a challenge, or maybe giving high-fives. The water was a deep shade of blue-gray, like the first faint light before dawn. Something about it mesmerized me.

"See anythin' out there, Brighteyes?"

I grinned. "Water," I said, turning to the battlement.

My husband laughed as he lumbered leisurely toward me. His hooves clopped on the ancient stonework, and his tufted tail swung behind him. "I'd be worried if ye didn't see water!" His snout twitched as he smelled the sea air. "Someone mighta pulled the drain on the ocean!"

I guess I should mention that Qrrog is a seeq, a race of porcine ogres here in Ivalice. While most of them are not known for being very smart or very nice, Qrrog more than makes up for it. He's also the most enormous seeq I've ever seen—nearly as tall as our clan leader Saskia, and the viera woman stands at seven feet, not counting her rabbit ears.

While this means that most people are smart enough not to mess with me when he's around, it also means he gives the best hugs.

I snickered as I headbutted him affectionately and he mussed my hair with his claws. "I'll let you know when that happens," I said.

Qrrog looked out at the bay and smiled. "I just thought maybe you might be rememberin'."

"Remembering what?" I pulled away and blinked in confusion. "Your birthday's already past, my birthday's not for another few months, our anniversary's in winter…" I counted the occasions worth remembering on my fingers. "Vasily's birthday is coming up, but… I have no idea what that has to do with anything."

My blue-skinned husband watched my face like someone making a child guess at a gift. "Today's the anniversary o' the day we met."

My eyes widened. "Oh… man, is it? I totally forgot, I'm so sorry…" I scratched the back of my neck in embarrassment. "I didn't know you were keeping track. We've never observed that date before."

"I never thought it was particularly worth mentionin'," Qrrog said, leaning against the parapet. "But I noticed the sea today's the same color."

"Sheesh, your memory's way better than mine," I said.

He pulled me into a one-armed hug. "Don't sell yerself short. You got a great brain, Brighteyes—the color o' this water just brings me back, is all."

I smirked. "Back to when you held an axe to my neck and got blasted with holy magick?" Yep. Real great way to meet your future spouse.

Qrrog grimaced. "You ain't still put out about that, are ye?"

"Nah." I patted his shoulder. "That's all water under the bridge." Kind of. As my thoughts turned again to that fateful day, I began to think about what a nasty piece of work I'd thought Qrrog was at first. Considering he was using me as a hostage to get my clan to surrender, that assumption was well-founded. My smile faded and I looked up at him. "Qrrog… would you really have thrown me to the sharks?"

His golden eyes widened. "No! O' course not, love!" He held my face in his claws. "I woulda let ye go, cross me heart. I was a pirate, but I wouldn't never hurt a lady." A roguish grin crept past his tusks and he poked my nose. "'Specially one as cute as you."

I blushed. "Thanks. I was… actually kind of worried about that. No offense."

"No need to apologize." My husband shook his head. "How was you to know whether or not I'd carry out that threat? We'd only known each other for near about five minutes."

"Hmm, true," I said. I knew I shouldn't have doubted him – after all, that kind of deception is his specialty – but a part of me still wondered. Now I could finally put that question to rest. It was comforting to know that even when Qrrog was a bad guy, he wasn't really that bad of a guy.

Far below us, a ship set out to sea, pulling away from the dock. Its sails swelled with wind as it veered toward the tunnel leading to the outside world. I recognized its crew as a clan from the port city of Graszton. Where Qrrog and I had our first date.

I turned around and leaned my back against the parapet, folding my arms. "So why did it take you so long to ask me out, anyway? You joined our clan on this day three years ago… and we had our first date in Skyfrost. That's eight months, bub."

Now it was my husband's turn to look embarrassed. He turned away with a sheepish grin, tugging at one of his long floppy ears. "Well, er… Don't get the wrong idea, love, I was sweet on ye since the day we met. It wasn't anythin' you did wrong. It's just… ehh…"

He stuck out his tongue and ruffled the tuft of hair on his head, taking in a deep breath and holding it for a moment before letting it out in a bellowing sigh. "I was worried I'd scare ye off," he confessed, looking back at me like a guilty puppy. "We was such good friends… I was scared I'd ruin that if I asked ye out. Took me a long time to work up the gumption."

My stance shifted from accusatory to sympathetic. "Oh…" I wrapped my arms as far around him as I could and gave him a squeeze. "I'm sorry. I didn't know you worried about that. You didn't scare me off at all—I've always thought you were really sweet. Tons better than every other guy I knew on Earth."

Qrrog patted my head. "Aye, maybe it is a silly thing to worry about in hindsight, but I was terrified. I thought, 'Who in her right mind would wanna be courted by a big ol' troll who smells like fish?' Ain't nothin' like that in yer world, from yer reports of it."

"I rather like nearly all the ways Ivalice is different from Earth," I said. "Including creatures who don't look like supermodels and have hearts of gold." I wrinkled my nose. "Supermodels always creeped me out anyway."

My husband laughed. Leaning over, he perched his elbow on the parapet and rested his snout in his hand. "Come to think of it… Brighteyes, you've told me a lot about yer world—about the culture, the science, the technology." He glanced over at me. "How come you never talk about yer family? D'you ever miss 'em?"

My mirth faded. "Um…" I rubbed at my arm. "No… not really." Casting my eyes about, I tried to compose my thoughts. "They weren't really…" I looked up at him. "I like you a lot better."

He smiled. "Glad to be o' service to ye, lass." Reaching over, he started to comb his claws through my hair, separating it into strands and weaving it into a braid.

I watched the sea while he worked. He had the tact not to pry, the sensitivity to be aware of when I was uncomfortable about something, and I appreciated that about him. My family life had not been pleasant, and based on what Qrrog had told me, neither was his. We were each other's sanctuary.

He finished braiding my hair and tucked it over my shoulder, and we stood gazing over the bay for a while, silently enjoying being together.

"Why do you remember the color of the water on the day we met, anyway?" I murmured.

My husband pulled me close. "It's the color o' yer eyes. I love those blue eyes o' yers, Brighteyes. Lookin' into 'em… makes me feel like I belong somewhere that can't ever get taken away."

I smiled up at him. "It won't ever be. I promise."

He ducked down and pressed his snout to my forehead in the seeq equivalent of a kiss. "I love you."

"I love you too. You're the best husband in the world."

I didn't know if I would ever feel like venting to him all of my frustrations, my hurt, my loneliness before being thrown into Ivalice and meeting my clan members. It was the reason why I'd destroyed my Grimoire and never looked back. Whatever awaited me in this world, I'd reasoned, was bound to be better than what I was stuck with before.

And it was.