Disclaimer: Don't own, blah blah.

It was a lazy summer midnight. A huge percentage of the residents in Forget-Me-Not valley were in a deep slumber, relieving the immense pile of stress that their everyday lifestyle had brought upon them. Though, there was one exception—he was a lone silver-haired man casually sitting at his usual spot in front of that familiar rippling pond; his emerald eyes mesmerized by the stars that had enveloped the night sky.

Patience was the key. It came with his current occupation. Robberies, heists, or whatever he wanted to call them, took time to plan carefully and precisely. The letters he sent his victims ahead of time always had to be delivered at the right moment. For a magnificent phantom such as he, time had never been an issue...

...Until now. It was the usual time, usual place, usual setting, usual dimly-lit sky, usual rippling pond... and the unusually absent presence of the rancher girl whose company he had grown rather fond of.

Skye couldn't remember the last time he took quick glances at his (probably stolen) wrist-watch with every passing minute. He felt very much restless, even if it wasn't obvious from the way he was acting. Anxiety—It was an unfamiliar concept to the young rogue.

Of course, if tonight had been like any other night; then he was obliged to leave at any time he wanted, as it would have been a secret rendezvous neither party had arranged.

But not tonight. Not when he wanted to have a serious discussion with her. The soles of his shoes were glued onto the ground, patience growing unsteady. Every now and then, his eyes wandered through every nook and cranny wanting and hoping to catch a glimpse of her.

As the seasons passed by, their nightly encounters slowly turned into a scheduled routine. Every moment they shared was precious, and something he'd hate to forget. She was the only person in town he could really consider as a companion, a friend. At times, Skye would even find himself questioning the nature of their... relationship. He sometimes wondered if he was content with being just a friend. Even now, Skye still wonders why he had never questioned her motives the first time she approached him. Just... what was it about her? Never before had a beautiful maiden made him feel this way.

So he sent her a note. Left it at a place where he knew she would find it. Yet... she was still late.

He stole another anxious glance at his watch. Fourty-five minutes. So very late, that a lot of... frightening possibilities came to mind.

Thankfully, he didn't have to ponder any longer—Skye smiled pleasantly, sensing that company had arrived; his supernatural ears (which also came with his current occupation) detected the sound of footsteps crunching heavily against the ground, along with a familiar voice of a maiden who was completely out of breath.

"Hello, beautiful." He automatically greeted her with a charming smile. "I'm so happy that you came."

The pony-tailed brunette lifted her head from her knees and huffed, "...Hah... How many times... Hah... have I told you... to stop calling me... that!"

Skye grinned mischievously. He couldn't help but enjoy how lovely she looked when she was feisty.

"Hehe. But it almost seems like a crime for me not to appreciate such beauty!"

The girl narrowed her amethyst eyes sceptically; Who was he, a thief, to start using the word crime as an excuse?

Before she could counter his argument, he silenced her lips with a finger. "I know you may not agree with me. But I don't jest. I know beauty when I see it. My eyes have never once deceived me, beautiful," he explained, stressing the importance of that last word.

Jill bit the insides of her cheek, and suppressed a childish scowl. He had it all wrong. In fact, she was about to tell him that she didn't like being patronised. Normally, his ego-inflated assumptions would have slightly offended her. Especially when he implied that she was insecure about her looks.

However... she was too tired and too out of breath to yell at him. So instead, Jill just rolled her eyes in response, and pried his finger away from her lips.

Skye tapped the vacant space next to him, motioning for her to sit. Jill breathlessly complied with a small nod, letting her anger subside. Skye quietly regarded her for a moment, giving her some time to compose herself; Her clothes were completely covered in mud, her usually neat pony-tail tangled in disarray, and her face glistened with sweat. His instincts were telling him that tardiness wasn't the sole cause of her dishevelled appearance. So, he came to one conclusion...

"I see you've had a busy day."

"...Yeah," she replied with a soft sigh, finally catching her breath. "Sorry if I kept you waiting. It was pretty rough. Sammy... one of my sheep... escaped from the animal barn, Kendall... that's my horse... got sick, I ran out of chicken feed, my fishing rod broke, Astro... my dog... was being so disobedient and absolutely refused to let me give him a bath and the harvest sprites are—" Jill paused with sudden realisation, hovering a hand over her lips with embarrassment. "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to rant," she added to disguise her mistake.

Skye cocked an eyebrow and let out a light chuckle. "Harvest sprites?"

"U-Umm..." Jill stuttered. "They're like uhh... you know, spirits. I pray to them for... good luck!" she added with nervous laughter.

Skye didn't bother to verbalise his thoughts. Though, he didn't need to, as the naughty smirk on his face had said it all. Jill speculated that he didn't even listen to her feeble explanation; and had instead spent more time focusing on how rattled she was, using it as a form of entertainment. Her accurate guess to his thoughts would be, 'Hehe. My, she looks so cute when she's nervous.' Though, it was hardly surprising—When it came to women, this guy was always so easily distracted. If it were any other night, she would have literally smacked some sense into him for having such a one-track mind. Though, she decided to let it slide this time; a little thankful that she didn't have to explain the concept of harvest sprites to him.

"So anyway..." Jill lightly tapped him on the shoulder, bringing him out of his thoughts. "What was this urgent matter that you wanted to speak to me about, Skye?"

A few moments passed. Jill felt unnerved at how quiet and serious he suddenly seemed. Skye could feel his heart racing at a thousand miles per hour. It didn't make matters easy for him when those beautiful purple eyes were intently focused onto him. The questions he had wanted to ask were engraved clearly in his mind, yet he couldn't seem to gather the courage and ask her. Which was odd, considering that courage was no issue for a despicable thief like him, who enjoyed the thrill of getting caught. He could find a thousand reasons for her to say 'no' and reject his feelings... yet it seemed important—crucial—for him to say what he really felt out loud.

It was rude of him to keep a lady waiting. So, he decided to ask a question that didn't seem too forward.

"Jill," he began. "Do you... enjoy being with me?"

Jill quirked an eyebrow as if to say 'That's it? That's all you wanted to ask?', but then it quickly altered into a genuine smile. "Well... I wouldn't keep coming here if I didn't," she responded politely.

Skye couldn't help but notice that there was something different about her.

"You're... smiling. It's a beautiful smile... but why?"

"It's just... It's the first time I've heard you properly say my name. It actually felt kinda nice hearing it from you."

Skye remembered the way she scowled disapprovingly every time he called her beautiful, lovely, darling... At first, he thought she was only playing hard-to-get and pretending to dislike his compliments; though now, he was beginning to reconsider his thoughts on the matter...

"I see..." Skye felt a little ashamed of himself. For a smooth talking thief, it would appear that he didn't really understand women too well. "So you really meant it when you said you didn't like being referred to as 'beautiful'?"

"I didn't like being treated that way," she said. "It seemed so shallow... like you were saying that beauty was the only good thing about me. It felt like I was just another woman you could toy with. Almost as if you only saw me as one of your prized possessions that you could just sell or give away once you got bored."

In response, Skye flashed her his trademark million-dollar smile. "But you are a prized posession of mine."

Her expression darkened with lips forming into a thin, unimpressed line. Jill then sat up and avoided directly looking at him. "You know what? Just forget it," she said with an impatient sigh.

Was she actually such a fool to think that he could change? Hmph. She puffed her cheeks and gritted her teeth with irritation. Once a shallow womanising thief, always a shallow womanising thief.

Jill was still very much annoyed with him. Yet it proved to be difficult for her to leave without saying a word to him. "I'm going home now. Goodnight."

All of a sudden, she felt a strong forceful tug on her wrist. Then, Jill fell on top of Skye... who had pulled her close into a dizzying kiss. Being the person on top, she could have easily pulled away, or even pushed him away. Yet what surprised her most, was that she didn't even try to resist it, nor could she remember why she was even mad at him in the first place. She felt his hands run through her back and her hair as he took control of the kiss. His lips were soft, gentle... and it seemed to go on for a long time. In fact, it felt so long that the concept of time, or anything else for that matter, was already lost in their world.

After a while, Skye pulled back, leaving her dazed and red in the face from both shock and elation. "You didn't let me finish," he breathlessly said with a small prominent blush, astounded at how easy the words suddenly came to him. "What I was going to say... was that not even all of the jewels in the world could compare with how much you're worth to me, Jill. You're my priceless prized possession."