Unspoken
Part I

He looked cross. It was the first thing she thought when he'd asked to speak with her. She'd arrived, he'd opened the door, let her in, and the moment they were alone without the potential of prying eyes, he gave her that expression. It was the one that told her she had crossed the line somewhere and he didn't appreciate it. In fact, most of the time when he grew annoyed, it was because she was stupidly trying to be to him what he didn't need. To be worried and concerned was one thing, but Zelda had a tendency to carry it too far.

And perhaps Jak was guilty of the same thing.

"You… wanted to speak with me, right?" she asked with a reassuring upturn of the lips. It was vague, of course, but present all the same. Although he had a tendency to be a little too thick-skulled to truly understand or pay attention.

He didn't respond immediately and the silence that sat between them began to gnaw on Zelda's nerves. It was like she had been caught doing wrong and she was just waiting for the punishment to be administered to her. She wasn't a child anymore, however, and the thought of being chided or scorned didn't seem to float well with her. She was so often lectured or reprimanded for things she did. It wasn't as though she was attempting to hurt anyone, of course. It just happened to be that Zelda often grew too passionate, and invested her feelings into things that ordinarily didn't need to involve her.

"Why?"

His question was so direct and his tone so firm that her ears instantly lowered. How was it that he had the ability to instantly shatter her like that? At times, it drove her into bouts of contemplation that made her question exactly what it was he always sought from her—for surely it was more than just her innocent companionship.

"…What do you mean? I don't know what you're talking about," she hesitantly admitted.

Jak sighed and stiffly drew up his arms and folded them over his chest. Zelda was lucky. His training had left him weary, and he wasn't going to play the 'around the bush' game with her. Straight and to the point was the best way to handle the situation and he made that very apparent for her.

"Carnival," he replied. "I told you not to go. You said you wouldn't."

She cringed. He was right. She had told him she wouldn't. Well, more like they'd agreed upon it. What had possessed her to in the first place? Zelda wanted answers, the kinds of answers Kage wouldn't give her; the kinds of answers Meth refused to extend in her direction. Perhaps it was idle curiosity. Perhaps it was something more.

What had she been thinking when she told Greed she wanted to go…? Was… she upset about something? Zelda always seemed to do either the obvious and hole herself up when she grew that way or she reacted brashly. The latter didn't seem to occur too terribly much, but it wasn't improbable.

"It wasn't… I didn't…" There she went, stumbling over her words. "I… didn't go alone. I had Kevas and Sir Greed with me."

"But you still went," Jak protested. "Don't you know what's in there? Why do you think I told you not to go? I told you already."

"I died in there once. I don't want you going in there."

She drew her lower lip between her teeth and nibbled anxiously. He was annoyed, if not angry, and while she adored Jak in any mood, she really didn't care for it when he became anything negative. Besides, wasn't he always off doing things like that? He knew she wasn't completely powerless. He knew she could hold her own if she really needed to. And he knew that if it absolutely came down to it, she would ask Sheik to help her—even if she didn't really want to.

"…I'm sorry," she managed to push through her lips, still feeling as though it wasn't really fair for him to scold her. "I'll be more careful in the future."

When he moved away from the door and toward his couch to sit, she began to inch toward it. It was the only reason he'd called her to see him, right?

"I didn't mean to dishonor you or to spite you, if that's how you're taking it." Zelda peered over her right shoulder to him, her expression wholly serious, "I just can't stand aside and let everyone else do these things. I want to have control over my life. I don't want it in the hands of the crew and the captain. I suppose… you could say I've had enough. No more of this."

"Wait a—Where are you going?"

She paused at the handle and inclined her head, "…I… That was the reason you called me up here, right?"

He sighed with exasperation and stirred to get up, but managed to fall short. Lifting an arm, he draped it over the back of his couch, "Don't go, Zelda."

The princess turned and pressed her back up against the door as she looked him over. She loathed feeling as if she'd disappointed him. She never wanted him to feel that way, especially when it came to her. Her hands laced together, a clear indication of what she was experiencing. It was always like this with Jak, though.

From the moment she realized she felt something for him, the torment had begun. She questioned herself constantly and wondered if she was really allowed to feel anything of that nature. Honestly, if it hadn't been for Daxter and Kevas, Zelda likely would have given up long ago, assumed Jak was pulling an Erol, simply stringing her along as though she was a darling little toy, and not at all a person. Both the ottsel and the troll, however, had managed to convince her otherwise in their own respective ways.

"I don't know what you want me to say. I don't know what you want me to do," she confessed softly, sheepishly.

Jak shook his head, nearly in disbelief, and released a grunt of irritation, "I just want you to be you. And to be safe." Then he leaned forward and brought a hand into his green-blond hair, "You said we could spend more time together. You know, talking and stuff. Don't be so quick to go."

Zelda found that she was incapable of holding back her smile. Once again, he was right. She did tell him they could spend more time together. She wanted to spend more time with him, because honestly, for being whatever they were, they really didn't spend much time with one another. From an outside perspective, it probably looked fleeting and Zelda couldn't deny that at times she believed that was how Jak viewed it as well. Her own thoughts and feelings had a tendency to be stubborn and she wasn't easily coerced into thinking otherwise.

"Well…" She tried to sound as though she was giving it great contemplation. Then she rewarded him with a soft smile and a nod before making her way to him. "You're right. I did say that. I suppose there's really no other place requiring my attention. I'll stay if you'll have me."

As he had so many times before, his hand reached up and he took her by the wrist, before pulling him onto the couch with him, "Don't worry so much." Then he gave her the most charming smile he could manage.

What he may not have known was how much he precisely held control over her heart. He could sway it back and forth with simply a look—and he did it well. She was only too pleased to sit with him, to be near him, and to bathe in his company. He was capable of keeping her optimistic, even when he wasn't.

"I'm trying," she protested. "I swear… I really am…"

He'd heard enough. The woman worried frequently. She worried always. Jak might have been oblivious at times, but it was something he picked out about her easily. He did the only thing he could even think of. With a hand at her chin, he drew her in and planted a kiss upon her lips.

For Zelda, this was the best way to persuade her, to otherwise soothe her nerves. Whenever he did it, she felt like she was falling all over again. Not in the sense that she was falling at a rapid rate. It was more like standing over a beautiful waterfall and willingly forcing herself over the edge and into a greater oblivion. And when she did fall? It was so slow that she could take in each moment and remember just how beautiful the world was.

Storybooks liked referring to that as being 'in love'. Zelda, however, far too afraid of even thinking those words just called it 'something' or 'whatever they were'. She didn't truly know how Jak felt about her. She knew he wanted to care for her and that he wanted to protect her, and that apparently he had a fondness for her lips, but beyond that…? Well, it was part of the reason she questioned him and herself so much. It wasn't so much by request as it was by… necessity.

He never had a conflict garnering a response from her. Sometimes her hands rested against his chest, on the rare occasion they reached for his ears, and every now and then she took him by the goatee. This time, her arms lifted and she drew her delicate fingertips over his shoulders and down his back, so they could meet together. It was bold, and it was something Jak eagerly sought to drown himself in.

Times aboard the M.S. Elegante were not easy ones, so when they could afford the expense to spend time with one another and in such an intimate manner, they were times to be savored and considered precious. Of course, that was assuming the other involved could be considered the same. To some degree, Zelda was precious to him—not that he could ever say it, but he at least felt something like that.

He welcomed her, and tugged her frame into his as he enveloped her against him. If he could hold her like this always, he would never need to worry about something happening to her. He could watch her. He could care for her. He could see everything that was going on. And he didn't have to worry about her other half getting bent out of shape with anything that happened between them.

His lips retracted from hers and he rested a kiss against her cheek, "Don't do that again." It wasn't a request.

Her blue eyes, a much lighter blue than his, were placed upon his and for a moment she said nothing. What could she say? To some extent, Zelda would do almost anything he asked, unless for whatever reason it began to oppose her morals and personal values. The moment that began to happen where she had to compromise herself, she'd have to push him away and throw the wall back up. Then Jak would have to work harder to get her to open up to him.

You know, Jak. If I just reached up and played with your ears you wouldn't say that. I could just ask you if I could go again while doing that and you'd just give that goofy grin and say something like, "Hn… Okay, Zelda."

She didn't say it, though. It all remained in her thoughts. Just her personal… private… thoughts. It was where she kept all of her secrets, the ones that she thought would make her come across as somehow unbecoming.

She heard him sigh and he brought her face to his, resting his forehead against hers. "You heard me, right?"

"Y-yes…" Zelda uttered softly as a shade of pink fell over her ears.

It must have been seen as an invitation. His hand lifted, grazed over her shoulder, and carefully traced the outer of her ear. He was always so tender, so ginger, so caring, and so gentle, as though he knew exactly what he was doing. That wasn't the case, however.

Jak was probably just as concerned about crossing any such threshold with Zelda as she was even to think about it. After all, if he wound up hurting her, he wouldn't handle it well. And… what if he lost her? What if she saw to that Dark Eco? What if she fell victim to Erol's lies? No. He would never let that man come close to her again. She didn't seem intent on seeing him anyway, and it spelled some great relief to him. Perhaps a part of him was just as much attached to her as she was to him.

"Then don't go again."

She tilted her head into his hand and she nodded faintly, "Verily then… Jak." Then she lifted a hand and rested it against his, as though to stop him. It was that sort of gesture that held too much sway. She enjoyed it, no doubt, but…

"Hm? What is it?" he asked as he caught her expression, somewhere between a blissful blush and tints of agony.

"…I… should be going…"

He almost let her go without a fight. He could have. He would have found an excuse to see her later and he knew that. Yet it didn't happen. His hand twisted beneath hers and held it carefully. So easily he thought she could snap within his grasp. There was so much more to her, though, and he was learning more as each moment passed. She wasn't as delicate as he'd assumed. But then, he knew she had that inner strength most people didn't have.

Then he lowered his voice and for a moment, averted his gaze, "Would you stay the night here?"

"…!" Zelda grew rigid against him and it took his hand to her ear to calm her again before she could muster up any speech. "…Stay the night… with you?" She had also said she'd stay with him whenever he wanted. He didn't often really make that request, though. The closest it had ever come was when he said he wanted her to stay there.

"You… …All… the time?"

"Why not?"

"…Uhm… I… suppose I could. I am not— If that is what you would like, Jak, then that is what I will do."

"I'd like that."

"Then I will always do whatever you'd like."

In a way, it was like backing herself into a corner. With Erol, it had frightened her because she didn't know what he would do to her. With Jak, it simply made her nervous. She was so attached to him. She cared for him so much that she was concerned how he would perceive her. She cared so much for her reputation, that she worried how Hyrule would view a princess who gave that sacred part of herself away.

Wait. What was she…?

"I… suppose I can. I suppose that I will," she finally replied, lovingly coerced by his affection.

She lowered her hands to his face with care and drew her fingertips over his jaw line before pressing her lips to his in a brief kiss. Then she softened her voice with words meant for only him, "I… do not mind what we do, as long as this road I traverse, I traverse with you."

"…Zelda—"

She quieted him with a smile and took one of his hands and pressed it to where her heart laid, "Jak… Can you feel that? It is as though it is music in the distance calling me to the frontlines. Never… have I ever felt more alive than I do when we are together like this."

He wasn't sure what he should have paid attention to first, her words, the eager gaze she was feeding him, or the fact that his hand was pressed against bare flesh. Just… how far did the cut in her gown go…? For a moment, he dared himself to look down and before he gave into that, he succumbed to that desire he'd restrained before. His hand adjusted, took her by the wrist and he pulled her harshly against him, adorning her with a passionate kiss.

Jak could never say the words. He could never think them, although surely they lied in the back of his mind somewhere, waiting to either be filed away or burnt to ashes. What he could do, however, what he wanted to do, was to express exactly how he felt about Zelda, and this moment was not one he could pass up. They would never need to use words. They could always rely upon their actions.

And if the ship had anything to say about it, it could rot in Hell, with its crew, and with its damnable captain.