Hey all!

I...can't believe I actually wrote this. I suppose it's good practice.

I've been having way too many ideas for Kizzy fics...

"Monsters?" Cecil repeated, looking dubious, "At sea,"

Kain nodded, trying to keep a neutral expression. His friend just frowned and glanced down at the paper on his desk.

"Monsters…at sea…and why am I just now hearing about it?"

Kain paused, "Good question…" he thought. Out loud he merely shrugged and said, "I…didn't think it was anything to bother you with."

Cecil glanced up him again, looking more confused than anything else, though he sounded a little annoyed, "But it's important enough for you to go on this boat,"

"You would think I'd be better at lying after all this time…" Kain thought, wincing inwardly. He averted his gaze, "I…would hate for anything to happen to the boat or crew, or the supplies on board, for that matter."

Cecil stared at him, "You want to go on the boat that's headed to Eblan."

There was an awkward pause as Kain tried to come up with a suitable answer since the king made a good point. Why would he want to go there of all places? And in fact, he didn't want too, save for one particular reason…

But since lying was obviously not an option, he decided to tell a half-truth; "I just…need to get out of the castle for a while."

At that, Cecil grinned slightly and nodded slowly, "I guess that makes since. Is it too boring for you here?"

Kain shrugged again, "I'm not sure that's the word I would use, but…"

"Go. Don't get eaten by a monster." Cecil said, waving him out of the room with a smile.

Naturally, since the story of monsters was completely made up, there was no trouble on the high seas and just when Kain thought he was regretting coming, they finally pulled into port.

Boat travel should be outlawed, in his opinion. It took forever, people often got sick while on board and there were more monsters in the water then in the air, even if sightings had decreased.

"I don't see why you had to come," the captain mentioned as they docked. He quickly caught himself and amended, "I mean…your welcome too, but it must be boring. Not that, I mean-"

Kain shot him a look, "I know what you mean."

The man nodded, "Okay, I'm going to stop talking."

Kain rolled his eyes, glad he stopped himself but thinking he probably shouldn't have lied to them as well and made them think his presence on board was some sort of evaluation.

Once they were ready to disembark, Kain made excuses to leave just as they started unloading about having things to do and whatnot. More fabrications, but he tried not to feel guilty.

Once free of the boat and crew, he paused and sighed, realizing the problem he now faced. Finding someone in this port wasn't an easy task, especially if said person was naturally difficult to find.

Still, he happened to know she'd be here and not in the main city, so at least he was on the right track. There was always the option of causing trouble to make her appear, but that was a last resort.

So, he started by just walking a few of the streets and trying not to get lost. Why the port was laid out in such a frustrating pattern, he had no idea, but then again, he'd been in the castle. Now there was a labyrinth.

It took a few hours, but finally Kain was successful in locating his objective, although much to his irritation, it was closer to where he started then where he ended up.

She was reading a bulletin attached to one of the larger buildings in the area, only a few turns and streets away from the actual docks, with her back turned to him.

Leave it to her to be annoying without even realizing it.

He took a wide berth around her and snuck in between some stacks of crates before reaching out to grab her arm and attempting to pull her away from her spot.

Her reaction was exactly what he'd been expecting and before the count of three, the edge of a blade was at his throat with the other pressed against her forearm.

Izayoi frowned at him once she realized who it was. "Kain, I could have killed you."

"So you'd like to think,"

She rolled her eyes and lowered her weapon, "What are you doing here?"

She always sounded so dissatisfied whatever they met; just once he'd like her to sound legitimately happy to see him.

"I should think that was obvious," Kain replied to her question. She probably would have sighed at that comment and thrown something semi-sarcastic back at him, but he kissed her instead.

Izayoi gave him a push with her free hand, "Kiss me like you mean it, Kain."

He made a face at her, exasperated, and finally she let a smirk slip.

"I come all the way here and this is all you say to me? Death threats and insults?" Kain said, mildly aggravated.

Izayoi rolled her eyes again, "Don't be such a baby," she complained, "Since you did come all the way here, I expected you to kiss me for real."

He frowned at her, and she just grinned back, "Are you mad at me now?"

"…A little annoyed." he replied.

That response made her expression turn even more amused, and she jammed her short sword into the crate behind him, at eye level, mentioning as she did so, "Kiss and make up?"

"Apparently you have a problem with that," he commented, eyeing the blade next to him.

Izayoi grinned again, "A demonstration, then?"

She kissed him this time, purposely pushing him back against the crate and trapping him in place. The kiss was far more frenzied then he had been expecting from her, and she refused to release him until they were both nearly suffocating.

"Are you happy to see me?" Kain asked as they caught their breath. It sounded rather pathetic to be asking such a thing, but he still wanted to hear her say it. Though he supposed the kiss should be proof enough.

Izayoi nodded, "I am."

He smiled and cupped her face with both his hands, relieved to hear her say that and kissing her once more. It was more forceful then the first kiss of the day, but not nearly as frantic as hers. He didn't want to seem that desperate.

"You should have told me you were coming," she mumbled against his lips.

"But then it wouldn't have been a surprise,"

He felt her frown even through the kiss, and when he pulled back she muttered, "I hate surprises."

Kain chuckled at that and she tipped her head to look up at him, "I really do."

"You are in some mood today," Kain commented, making her turn her head to kiss his wrist and mutter a quick; "Sorry."

"I missed you."

He winced, figuring she'd probably start mocking him again, but much to his surprise she smiled slowly, if not somewhat wickedly, and pressed her hand to the back of his that was still resting against her cheek.

Kain's other hand had gotten caught up in her long, dark hair, and was presently trying to free it from the bindings it was trapped in.

She smirked, "I would think the novelty of long hair would be minimal for you,"

He sighed and leaned forward, commenting as he did so, "You are so…"

She smiled and leaned back, toying with him, "You can say it,"

Kain gave the hair tie one last tag and pulled it free while Izayoi had run out of room to get away and just continued to grin when he kissed her again and settled on; "…Annoying."

What they were doing was dangerous for many different reasons. She was dangerous, in every sense of the word. The first thing any dragoon learn wasn't how to jump, but how to fall safely in case anything ever went wrong. Kain was thinking he still failed at that skill. They were a horrible match for a number of different reasons, and yet he couldn't stay away from her.

He always had such awful luck with love…

Izayoi pushed him slightly to gain his attention, still lip-locked, although the movement felt half-hearted.

"Sorry," Kain whispered breathlessly, realizing he did have her in a compromising position.

She shook her head, "No, no, it's not you," she assured him in a hurried fashion, pressing her lips to his for a second before finishing out her thought. "I have to go. We're not in the port for no reason. We're on assignment."

He tried not to feel too disappointed; after all, Izayoi's work ethic was one thing he liked about her. Though there were times when he wished she had a different job.

"I can't be late," she said, biting her lip as she unwound her arms from around his neck, "I'm never late."

Kain withheld a sigh and nodded, reluctantly pulling away from her while she pushed herself upright and away from the boxes they had been leaning against.

"Be careful," he mentioned, making her grin at him and comment, "What a funny thing to tell me,"

She slid past him and went to retrieve her weapon, while Kain to realize it would be months again before they saw each other. It always was. And every time they were separated he thought that maybe, this time, he would somehow get over his fascination with the woman. Deep down he knew that was impossible. Somewhere along the lines of their occasional meetings complaining about their work and sharing stories about mutual friends he'd fallen for her.

Izayoi turned back to him with an apologetic smile, "I'm sorry, I…"

Kain shook his head, "No, it's fine. Go."

She ran over and kissed him one last time before whispering, "I missed you too." She darted off before he had a chance to reply.

"I hate it when she does that." he thought, frowning.

As always, the situation and reality of what was going on between them made him groan and bang his head against the nearest solid surface.

"Kain, you are a fool."

Kain didn't go back to the ship right away and instead wandered around jumping between feeling sorry for himself and wanting to smack himself. When he did finally return to the docks, the sun was just starting to set and he found the crew of the boat in an uproar.

"What happened?" he asked the captain.

The man began a rushed story of how they'd just tried to start the engines to do their checks before departing, but found that the engines would not start.

"That's odd," Kain mumbled, glancing back at the ship.

The captain looked around the area furtively and then leaned forward to mutter, "I suspect sabotage!"

Kain raised an eyebrow and was about to comment on how ridiculous that sounded when a familiar voice called out his name. His full name, attached to a rank.

He made a face and glanced over his shoulder to see Izayoi standing not too far away with one hand on her hip.

She sauntered over and gestured to the ship behind them, "I'm going to have to impound your boat."

Kain frowned, "Why?"

She glanced between him and the captain and took a deep breath before answering, "Unauthorized use of a wharf."

The captain looked insulted, "But we-"

Kain and Izayoi just ignored him and he frowned at her, "You can't be serious,"

"I have a docking permit here," the woman replied, waving a piece of paper in her left hand,
"and it says that your vessel is only supposed to be docked in this spot until five o'clock in the evening."

Kain continued to frown and she glanced up him with a smirk on her face, "It's after five."

"The strangest thing just happened," he answered, sarcasm lacing his tone, "We tried to start our engines and they wouldn't work."

"No!" Izayoi said, feigning surprise.

"Yes," he replied, sharing her tone. "The captain believes its sabotage."

Izayoi shook her head, "Shocking."

"I know." he said.

Izayoi sighed, "That may be the case, but I still have to impound your vessel."

The captain stuttered, "But, but…for how long?"

She hummed for a second and glanced at Kain as if considering the answer and then settling on; "I'm not sure. At least a few days."

The captain moaned in despair and Izayoi shrugged, "There's nothing I can do. The law is the law. As for this sabotage bit,"

Here she looked at Kain again, "Someone might be trying to kill you,"

"Mm…" he said, glaring at her, although she continued as if he wasn't, "I think it's best if I make sure nothing bad happens to you."

The captain turned back to look at her, "What about us?"

She frowned at him and replied dryly, "I'm sure you'll be fine."

He seemed unsatisfied with that answer but she just turned her back to him and smirked at Kain again, "Come no, I'll buy you a drink."

"You're a bitch."

Izayoi grinned and downed her third shot of the evening, "You say this as if it's just now occurred to you."

Kain had spent the last half hour frowning at her and spinning his own glass of alcohol on the bar in front of him.

She glanced at him, "Are you mad at me again?"

"…A little annoyed." he repeated, sighing, "and the captain asked a valid question. How long are we impounding the boat for?"

Izayoi shrugged, "That is completely up to me. I could take my sweet time filing a report, and then I could have the port master stonewall you when you go to see him about trying to get it out. There could be more damage to the vessel than you realized that would need to be repaired. And then of course, I could always arrest you."

"For what?" he asked, sitting up straight.

She flashed him a smile, "For being suspicious."

Kain scowled and finally drank out of his glass while Izayoi spoke up again. "I'm sure it won't come to that, though."

"Mm."

She chuckled and spun in her stool so she could face him, "You seem extra sullen. Did you want to get back to Baron so soon?"

Kain considered her question and started playing with his drink again. "…No."

"Then cheer up!" she said, shrugging and spinning back only to pick up her drink and frown, disappointed to find it empty.

"Izayoi, what are we doing?" he asked, shaking his head slightly.

She raised her glass to the barkeep and commented, "We are getting another round of drinks, and you're paying for this one."

"No, no," he said, waving his hands in front of himself, "Not right now. I meant…what are the two of us doing?"

The bartender set down their next round and walked away, and once he was out of ear shot Izayoi glanced at him, "I'm not sure how to answer that."

"Exactly my point." Kain complained, glaring at the counter in front of him, "This is a disaster waiting to happen."

Izayoi sighed, "You don't know that,"

"We are horribly wrong for each other." he countered, shaking his head, "We're from different countries. We never see each other. Your cousin hates my guts. I'm…well, I'm me."

It was her turn to scowl, "Lots of people have those kinds of problems."

"We're hiding our relationship." Kain finished, glancing at her, "That should really be our first clue this isn't going to work."

"My, aren't we defeatist tonight." Izayoi snapped, rolling her eyes and taking another drink.

Kain hesitated, "I just…I don't think-"

She tipped her head back and groaned, slamming a fist on the bar. He was startled and even more so when she glared at her, dark eyes narrowed into a rather menacing glower. "You are not breaking up with me,"

"This can't work," he said, only to be interrupted by her as she spun around to look at him again, "No, that wasn't a question. We aren't breaking up Kain. The only way you're getting rid of me is if your blood is painting the walls of this tavern."

He shot her a look, "Never?"

"Till death do us part."

"We aren't married." he complained.

She grinned and took another drink, "Statement is still true."

Kain sighed in frustration, "Izayoi, I'm serious."

"So am I. If you want to have another existential crisis, do it on your own time."

They both sat in silence that was only made more awkward by the other uproarious patrons of the bar. Kain considered how to voice his worries but figured she'd probably ignore him anyway. It wasn't that he wanted to break this off, but it was bound to hurt the both of them in the end.

It was Izayoi who said something next, but she muttered it as if she didn't want him to hear. "You're just scared."

He wanted to instantly deny such a thing, but deep down he knew she was right. Just like, deep down, he knew he liked her far too much for his own good.

"And your being unreasonable." he argued, finishing off his first drink.

Izayoi turned to glare at him, "Why? Because I know what I want?"

"Because you are refusing to look at the obstacles in the way of what you want." Kain said, shaking his head, "How does all of this turn out? You and me and whatever this is that we're doing."

She pursed her lips as if trying not to snap something nasty and he didn't miss the way her hand tightened around her glass.

He frowned and looked away, "Whatever you want to say, go ahead."

He was fairly certain he knew, and he was fairly certain it was nothing he hadn't already heard in his life.

But he wasn't expecting it to sting as much coming from her.

"You are the most maddening person to deal with, Kain," she ranted. "Your entire identity is wrapped up in what other people say about you! No one really knows you because you don't even know yourself. What other people see is the persona you adopt, and then when everything goes to hell around you your suddenly shocked!"

She turned away and leaned her arms against the counter, "You're scared of actually living life because last time you tried it things didn't turn out well. So now, you don't even take a step without weighing your options because you're too worried something bad will happen!"

Her voice dropped as she finished, "What you don't realize is that you're losing everything anyway because you won't live your life."

There was another pause and Kain finally said, "Then why bother, Izayoi?"

She sighed and glared at him, "Because, Kain."

"Because why?"

Izayoi groaned and took another drink, "Never mind."

He considered what to say in his defense when she slid off her stool and tossed some Gil on the counter, commenting as she walked away, "I'll get your boat out of impound tomorrow."

He blinked, surprised by the suddenness of her departure, though she did have a flair for the dramatic.

It was a little chilly outside, but the port was bathed in silvery light from the full moon and Izayoi wasn't bothering to hide much. She sat on one of the docks, dangling her legs off until her feet barely skimmed the surface of the water below.

Kain wandered over and sighed before sitting down next to her. "You were right."

"I know." she said, sighing, "But I'm sorry."

He shrugged, "It's alright. That wasn't all meant for me, anyway, was it?"

Her lips twitched and she glanced at him, "Perceptive."

"You only could have spoken that intensely about something you understand." he told her. "What did you lose?" he asked quietly.

Izayoi looked out to sea and sighed, "Myself, I think."

Kain nodded, unsurprised by her answer, and then turned to give her a half smile, "Kindred spirits, you and I."

She grinned, "Is that what we are?"

"Mm."

He stared at the moon, still unsure about the situation he had found himself in, when he heard Izayoi sighed and felt her lean against his arm, resting her head on his shoulder. Kain stayed perfectly still, not quite sure what she was doing. It was unusual for Izayoi to do something so comforting.

She sighed again and spoke up, "I…don't know what's going to happen. But isn't that life for you?"

"True." he murmured.

Izayoi pulled her legs up and tucked them off to the side, settling into a more comfortable position before whispering, "I meant what I said. You can't break up with me."

Kain grinned and nodded slowly, shifting so he could lean down and kiss her again, knowing all the while he was just falling deeper into a pit he had dug himself.

"I won't. Not tonight anyway."

She smiled, resting her head back on his shoulder, "What's so special about tonight?"

"Well, it is rather romantic, even for you who hates that sort of thing. Kissing in moonlight?" he explained.

Izayoi wrinkled her nose, "There is nothing romantic about the moon. Do you have any idea how much trouble those damn things have been?"

Kain chuckled, agreeing with her, and was pleased when she giggled too, coiling her arms around his as if hugging it.

Knowing it was, by far, the worst thing to ever say, Kain still opened his mouth and whispered, "I love you."

Izayoi released him and slowly sat up, "I suppose you expect me to say it back to you,"

"That would be ideal, but I wasn't expecting it, no." he replied, nervously waiting for her to comment either way.

He hadn't actually ever said that word before. Not even before, when everything had really blown up in his face. He'd implied, and everyone else had figured it out and said it for him. But whether or not she felt the same, he needed to say it, for both their sakes. Tonight was one thing, but the future was another.

Izayoi's lips twitch to a smile and she gave a small chuckle before shaking her head and leaning forward to whisper, so quietly that even this close he barely heard it; "I love you too."

It felt nice to hear her say it, better then he'd expected, actually, and as she settled back at his side it suddenly seemed like all the worries they had discussed earlier were trivial. Kain exhaled a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding and dared to glance at her in time to catch her mocking little smirk.

Obviously she knew he'd been foolish for speaking those words and even more foolish for hoping she'd repeat them, but at least everything worked out in the end.

"We'll tell everyone," she whispered, brushing her fingers across the back of his hand, "but not tonight."

He nodded agreement. Tonight was simply tonight, and tomorrow would be simply tomorrow. Whatever happened after that, at least Kain knew that, although he had fallen once again, in the end he'd found a kindred spirit.

Ack, so much fluff and angst all in one fic...like I said, I can't believe I wrote this! Not much to say, this was a random idea (one of many I've been having with these two...)

Until next time!