Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger: Normal Circumstances
Disclaimer: I don't own Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger… I pirated it ;D
Yessss, I know, I should update the three fics I have right now, but I'm stuck, so I had to write this D: I'm pretty much making this up as I go along, so excuse the slight OOC-ness of character. I tried :P And thus, without further ado, please enjoy my third JoexAhim!
If these were normal circumstances, this would have never had happened.
Joe Gibken had walked around the galleon at least five times by now, a million thoughts going through his mind every waking moment.
I shouldn't have done that, he repeatedly said in his mind. What was I thinking?
Joe climbed up to the crow's nest, the only place where he felt that he could get some escape from his thoughts, but to his surprise, he found Luka there.
"Is that you, Joe?" she asked while she continued to stare into the distance.
"Luka," Joe breathed, expecting someone else to be up here. "I didn't know you'd be up here."
"But I knew that you'd come up," Luka replied with a mischievous grin on her face. "You just missed Ahim, you know."
"Did I?" Joe's tone faltered a little bit, and his face visibly tightened.
"Yeah, she was just up here," Luka looked over at him.
"Hm," Joe zipped up his jacket to prevent the cold wind from attacking him.
"She was talking about you, Joe," Luka told him, while paying close attention to his face.
"Talking about what?"
"You should know full well," Luka told him. "You've been avoiding her since yesterday."
"I haven't! We've just… haven't had the time to relax lately!" Joe retorted.
"That's true, but you usually team up with her whenever we're fighting," Luka told him. "But this morning, you ignored her request and deliberately teamed up with Gai."
"I didn't ignore her," Joe tried to rationalize his actions. "I didn't hear her call."
"She seems a bit hurt by it, you know," Luka pointed out. "Don't you remember how she was after we rescued her from planet Famille?"
Joe reddened a bit, "Of course," he replied stoically.
"Ahim is still a bit like that," Luka told him, walking towards the stairs, "But ever since she kissed you, she doesn't know what to do when she's with you."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning that she's thinking of you as more than a shipmate," Luka sighed. "Men. You and Marvelous are the same…"
Luka sighed again, "You know, Joe, she learned reverse-grip style just to get your attention."
With that, Luka left the crow's nest, leaving Joe alone with his thoughts.
Ahim de Famille lay awake in her bed, feeling the galleon swing gently with the wind. She was covered underneath the heavy blankets, while her head replayed her earlier conversation with Luka up in the crow's nest, but every now and then, it would drift back to her painful past.
Ahim closed her eyes in pain; she didn't want to relive the pain.
A knock was heard from the door, "Ahim-sama," a voice called.
Beneath her sheets, Ahim cheered up. Only one person on the ship would call her that anymore, but only when they were alone.
"Come in, Joe-san," she answered.
Joe walked into the room, and closed the door silently behind him. "Is there anywhere to sit?" he said in way of greeting.
"Anou…" Ahim gestured at her bed, "You could use the bed..."
Joe sat down on the edge of her bed, "Did I disturb you?" he asked her.
"No, I was wide awake," she replied.
"Good," Joe looked down as his hands, unsure of how to say what was on his mind.
"Ahim," he said suddenly. "I'm sorry."
"For what, Joe-san?" Ahim looked perplexed. "You have nothing to be sorry for."
"I'm sorry for ignoring you during this morning's battle," Joe explained. "I didn't know what to think of you, after," Joe blushed a bit, "you know… yesterday."
Ahim blushed as well, turning a brighter shade of red than Joe.
"I understand, Joe-san," Ahim replied in a delicate tone. "And I am sorry if I have caused you to doubt your actions."
Joe smiled sadly to the former princess, "You haven't done anything wrong," he told her. "It's just that I need some time to figure this all out."
"I see…" Ahim bowed her head, and started tracing patterns on her bed sheets. "Did you know… that night when you came down from the skies to planet Famille, I was really happy?"
"Why?"
"Because," Ahim looked at him, "I thought it was the end for me, there was no one around and everywhere I went, I was met with rubble and destruction.
"Do you remember?"
Joe descended from the Gokai Galleon onto planet Famille, his sword drawn and his helmet worn. A small crunching noise was heard as his boots reached the ground.
"Marvelous," he spoke into the helmets built in communicator. "I can't see any survivors, just damaged buildings."
"Keep on looking," came the terse reply. "There has to be something here that made Zangyack attack."
"Understood," Joe flicked his sword, ridding it of its dusty coating. He raised it to chest-level and proceeded slowly.
This was the twentieth planet, that the pirates had come across, that had been ransacked and burned by Zangyack. All of those twenty planets had had the same circumstances when they touched down. Except for that one planet where they had found Don "Doc" Dogoier, all of the planets' inhabitants were extinct and wiped out mercilessly. How Doc had survived was beyond them, and the rescued himself didn't know how he did it.
"I don't know what Marvelous is thinking," Joe muttered to himself, "Sending me down to a pacifist planet, as if there would be any survivors here."
However, one day ago, as the galleon traveled through space, a distress signal had been received coming from the planet.
'Please… Help us… The Zangyack empire… They are attacking us… We promise a large reward to all those who can help…"
At this, Luka was wide awake and had somehow gotten Marvelous to turn the ship towards planet Famille. However, because of the destruction that had awaited them below, Luka had been forced to babysit the new recruit while Marvelous stood at the wheel.
"I'm counting on you, Joe," Luka had said with a smile. "Find that reward."
For his part, Joe had remained stoic and acknowledged the 'order' with a nod, and now he was starting to regret it.
How could anyone survive this? he thought in his mind. It's impossible.
But he continued on, until he reached the ruins of the once famous Castle Famille.
"This is the last place," he mumbled to himself, eager to leave the devastated planet. He pushed opened the once-grand gates and strode into the welcome hall. He looked around quickly, dismissing the sight of dead servants around him, and proceeded towards the stairwell. A small light was shining at the end of the west wing, and quickly, Joe ran towards the light, his footsteps loud.
As his footsteps were loud, they were easily heard from across the hall and in haste; the door was closed, shutting out the light.
"Well, at least I know it's not Zangyack," Joe told himself in a light tone. He stopped in front of the room and knocked twice.
A small squeak of terror was heard, followed by the rustling of bedcovers.
"Whoever is in there," Joe said, "I am not from Zangyack! I am part of the Gokaigers!"
Quiet footsteps were heard as the door cracked slightly open, as a thin sliver of light illuminated the heavy scratches on the door, "You are a pirate?" the person asked.
"I am," Joe replied without hesitation, "I was told to come to your planet and rescue whoever I could through a transmission."
"That would have been my father then," the door was pulled aside, revealing a petite girl wearing a stained white dress. In her hand, she was holding onto slip of paper and her eyes looked as though she had been crying for a long time.
Joe deactivated his transformation, returning to his normal attire with a flash of blue light, while still carrying his GokaiSabre.
"My name is Joe Gibken," he announced to the girl. "First mate of the GokaiGalleon. I've come to rescue any survivors."
"I think I count then," the girl sorrowfully admitted. "I am the last survivor of planet Famille.
"My name is Ahim de Famille, former princess of planet Famille," she announced in a regal tone. "Can you take me with you?"
Ahim sighed, "Not a day goes by that I do not miss my family and my planet," she told Joe, who was now silent. "And not a day goes by that I am not grateful that you rescued me, Joe-san."
"I know," was Joe's reply.
"Thank you, Joe-san," Ahim slid her slim hand under Joe's rough hand. "Thank you for rescuing me back then, for taking care of me when I first came onto the Galleon.
"And thank you for teaching me what love is."
Joe gave a start and looked at the former princess, "I'm sorry?"
"I said, 'thank you for teaching me what love is,' Joe-san," Ahim smiled shyly at him. "Recently… I think I have been falling for you."
"How recently?" asked a wary Joe.
"Since the time I lent you my GokaiSabre," Ahim admitted. "I even learned the reverse-grip style just to get your attention."
Ahim wrung her hands in helplessness, pouring out her feelings in one go, "I do not know what to do now, Joe-san! I know I should not have kissed you yesterday, but I still did it!"
"Ahim-sama," Joe's voice cut smoothly into her confession. "I know."
At this, Ahim looked up, revealing the small tears in her eyes. "You know?"
"I know what you're feeling, Ahim," Joe said, and then he hesitated. "Truth be told… I'm feeling like that too."
He smiled, "I didn't know that you felt like that too, Ahim."
Ahim smiled, "So where do we go from here, Joe-san?'
Joe intertwined his fingers through Ahim's, "You're the princess," he said. "You tell me."
Ahim giggled, "Well, firstly there's the kiss," she told him, closing her eyes.
"Does it go like this?" Joe asked, as he pressed his lips onto hers, sharing their first kiss.
The two walked along the brightly lit sidewalk, feeling the ocean breeze splash at them. The night air was calm and quiet, and no one was around them, making them feel at ease with each other. They walked side by side, presenting a girl wearing a white lacey dress, and a young man, wearing casual clothing. Above them, the galleon drifted lazily about, while a certain thief and captain watched the couple below.
"Ahim," Joe said as they walked down the path, "Thank you for today."
"For what, Joe-san?" Ahim looked up at the swordsman, not understanding his thanks.
"Thank you for trusting me," Joe looked at her, "Thank you for giving me your sword and trusting me to fight Barizorg by myself."
"There's no need to thank me, Joe-san," Ahim told him. "Just promise me you'll come back to me after each fight."
"Of course," Joe took Ahim's hand and lifted it to his lips, kissing her hand. At this, Ahim smiled and once more, she felt like Princess Ahim de Famille.
"Shall we return up, Joe-kun?" Ahim asked him.
"As you wish," Joe slipped his hand down to where Ahim's hand was and felt Ahim's fingers slip through his. He smiled in the darkness, and walked alongside her. He breathed in deeply.
Under normal circumstances, this would have never happened, but when was being a pirate normal?
YEEEESSSS, it's finished! My first update in a while! Once more, I'm really sorry about the lack of updates, I've been really busy with school work and cadets, going into my final year with both, so I'm currently working on updating A Bond of Heaven and Fire, A Precious That is Theirs and A Due: For Two all together by Christmas. Think of it as a Christmas present :P I want to thank you for reading this LOL and I have to thank LittleGooseGirl for sparking that drive in me to write another JoexAhim, and I must thank SirKoji as you do love JoexAhim, so here's some thanks for all the encouragement. Only God knows how many times this story went through a plot change. Originally, it was only going to be a drabble, but… eh, it became an oneshot. No big deal :D It hasn't gone through any editing at all, and I felt really rushed to upload this sooo… forgive me :P
Hope to see you by Christmas!
Review please :D
PS: if you reaaalllyyy must know how i'm doing with those fics, check out my twitter (it's on my author page). It'll tell you sooomee details about my fanfiction updates. But not a lot :P once in a while xD