I'm all about fluffy romance stories. I tend to write dark, angsty things so this is a nice change. I dunno how long this will be but it's a short, easy and hopefully enjoyable read. Maybe like three chapters or so. I dunno yet! Short and sweet though!

Lost Opportunity

The heart always sees what the mind overlooks...

Sometimes it tells us what we missed…

Sometimes it makes us figure it out ourselves...

Sometimes we never figure it out until it's too late.

Puffy white clouds dotted the sky in various shapes over the port city Alberta. It was what Areina considered a perfect day. Mild temperature, a slight breeze and huge cumulus clouds floating lazily along the horizon. The knight lay on her back near the docks, watching the clouds and making shapes out of them. It was something she had done since she was little.

"Hey Shirley, that one looks like a lunatic!" She pointed at the sky slightly toward her left. The said cloud looked like it had the long floppy ears and a short fluffy tail. Shirley's gaze followed her finger but remained silent. "This is nice…" Areina sighed happily. There was nothing she liked better than relaxing under the warm rays of the sun. She was a pretty mellow person ,but anyone would find this relaxing.

"What're you doing?"

Areina looked up to see her ever-grumpy friend looming above her. The indigo haired blacksmith wore a prepetually annoyed expression that made the knight roll her eyes. "Just because you don't know how to have fun, Phineas, doesn't mean you can come and ruin mine."

"You and your bird-brained friend look ridiculous and please don't call me by my full name. You know I hate it."

"HEY! Shirley has feelings too!"

"Areina…Shirley's a peco peco." Said peco was lying on her back next to Areina with her legs sticking straight in the air. Okay, so she looked slightly silly, but that was no reason to call her names.

"Shut up, Phineas." She emphasized the latter half of his name. The emerald haired knight sat up and patted her very offended peco affectionately. Phin was sharp-tongued and rather mean much of the time but Areina knew better. He was always a good and kindhearted person, he just didn't show it. Ever…unless no one was looking.

"Anyway, I came looking for you to ask if you needed a new sword. It's been a while since I've made you one."

"Aww Phin! You spoil me but yeah, a new sword would be awesome!" she squeaked. "Claymore pretty please? Fire enchanted?"

"What have you got with you?" he asked, leaning down and taking the sword out of its sheath. He starred at it for a moment before a frown crossed his face and looked to Areina accusingly. "The hell? This isn't mine." He swung the sword a bit to test the weight and rolled his eyes. "This is all wrong." It wasn't that the sword wasn't of good quality, it just wasn't made for her.

"Um…I had a mastersmith make it for me…nice isn't it?" She smiled in satisfaction. One thing she loved was to parade an expensive sword. You just felt powerful when you were waving around a very sharp, very expensive sword. It was mostly an ego thing. Yes, she had a rather large ego.

"Can I melt this one down and make a new one?"

"Phin!" she gasped.

"Fine…at least I don't charge you for the equipment I make for you. I bet this cost a fortune."

"Actually…it was free," she grinned slyly.

"Damnit woman."

"Hey, blame my feminine wiles and irresistible charm. I think he's got a thing for me actually." The knight stood and dusted herself off, Shirley doing the same, but glaring at Phineas the entire time. The blacksmith glared right back. "In fact, I'm going to lunch with him today," she added smugly. Sometimes his crankiness got on her nerves so irritating him was the only way to get him back.

"What? Why?"

She rolled her eyes. "Well, I'm a girl and he's a guy. He's cute and gives me free stuff. I'm available and he's looking…should I go on?" she laughed. "I haven't had a date in a while anyway. You scare most of them off." Sometimes he was right in scaring them off and other times, it made her angry. He was just too overprotective for whatever reason. To make her miserable? Most likely.

"So it's a date? Good luck with Mr. oh-worship-me-I-make-crappy-weapons mastersmith then," he said with a miffed tone. He stared at the sword, a strong desire to throw it in the nearby ocean. He hated competition. Forging was his game around here. Especially for his friends. Wait—friend. He had acquaintances but only one person he considered a friend. Even if she did own a big stupid chicken.

Of course, when he was in such a "pleasant" mood, the aforementioned master smith had strolled down the path, waving to Areina. Pfft, typical brainless, all looks kind of guy. Wild blond hair, flawless features, muscular (any given smith would have muscles though, it was hard work!) and a smile that would turn any normal girls' legs to jelly. Stupid model boy...

"Areina! My favorite knight! You ready to go to lunch?" he asked, glancing only momentarily at the scowling blacksmith. She nodded and turned to Shirley, patting her head. The peco knew something was up in that moment and seemed to glare at her rider. The mastersmith nudged the knight as if silently telling her to relay something to Shirley.

"Don't look at me like that, missy. They don't allow pecos in the café. Stay here with Phin, okay?"

Phineas gawked at such a suggestion. "Wait, why do I have to baby-sit your giant chicken while you go out with airhead lover boy over there?" he groaned. He had things to do and it didn't include the chicken. "Eh, here, since you won't let me melt this down, I don't want to hang onto it."

The mastersmith decided to ignore the "airhead" comment. "Ahh, nice sword, isn't it? Only the best for her. I used a special ste--"

"It sucks beyond belief," Phin said bluntly, dropping the claymore to the ground. It clattered against the stone and both Areina and pretty boy stared at it for a minute. Mastersmith stared at blacksmith. Blacksmith glared death at the mastersmith. Mastersmith looked confused. Areina almost wanted to shout "fight, fight, fight!" but she refrained.

"Come again?" the mastersmith coughed.

He must not have been used to having someone, especially another blacksmith, insult his craft. It caught him off guard. Phineas didn't reply. He simply used his boot and scooted the blade in front of Areina's feet.

"What, not used to criticism? If you knew anything about Areina, you'd know that she puts too much weight on her right side in the middle of a swing so her blade should be heavier on the left side to balance her swing out. The sword'll be off balance, technically, but used only by her, you'd never know the difference. It doesn't matter how pretty it is. Only the weapons effectiveness."

"So that's why Eric said your claymore was terribly made!" Areina laughed until she became conscious of something. Phin was looking at her with a dark expression, one she very rarely saw directed at her. She knew she should have kept the sword, but she didn't realize that her friend would take it as an insult. She also didn't realize that he specialized it for her. She didn't always think before acting.

"Where's the one I made for you?"

"Um..." To put it bluntly, she was in deep shit. Very deep.

"You didn't..." Phineas gasped. If she had done what he thought she had done, he would kill her and then kill her new "friend". He'd like to mess up that pretty face of his.

"I used it in addition to my own steel to make that sword," Eric explained. He had a feeling that things were about to get ugly if he spoke more about the sword. "Maybe we should head off now. You can…bring Shirley. She could wait outside of the café." The peco appeared to consider it but instead of following her rider, she walked over behind Phineas and laid her head on his shoulder.

"Well that's a first. She likes me better that him," the indigo haired blacksmith smiled smugly. At least the chicken had some sense. Deep down, very deep down he felt little hurt. He had put a lot of work into that claymore for her. His outward façade was calm, but angry.

Areina stared in disbelief at her peco. Shirley had never preferred Phin to anyone else. Especially not her. "Let's go, Shirley," he said as he turned and began to walk back to his shop. The peco dutifully followed him.

Areina shook her head in disbelief again but pulled Eric along toward their lunch destination. Phineas and Shirley reached the shop and forge shortly after. He went to work, even allowing Shirley inside. She flopped down on the floor near a window and watched him silently. The blacksmith ran a hand through his shaggy indigo hair and sighed. He just stood for a moment, eyes falling on a desk drawer across the room.

The contents of that particular drawer could change a lot of things. Well, could have. Things were different now.

He thought back to the previous summer, just under a year ago. He had dragged Areina off to Umbala, grinning deviously the entire time. He wouldn't tell her why but he knew she would like it. He didn't care for the event himself but she was the sort of person who would.

"Phin! Why are we in Umbala?" she asked. She loved the place with it's tropical feel and rather interesting natives but she still wanted to know why he had brought her here. It was drawing close to evening as well. He simply stuck his tongue out and pulled her across the planked walkways toward the caves. She didn't even have time to look around!

They ran past the rather grumpy natives and huge enchanted wooden golems. It was a long way to their destination, but it didn't feel that way. Areina liked times like this. Phin only let himself have fun around her and it was nice to see this side of him. "Finally!" he exclaimed as he saw the entrance he was looking for.

"I've never been this far in," the knight remarked.

He simply grabbed her arm and led her into a dark, damp tunnel. They walked about twenty feet when she saw the end of the tunnel. As they emerged, she stopped dead in her tracks. At one time, this place must have been a cave but the ceiling had fallen out long ago it appeared. Waterfalls fell from above, giving life to the lush vegetation. There was a raised path that he nudged her along as she stared at their surroundings.

There were trees and flowers of all sorts but Phineas gave her no time to look at them. It would have been a little difficult anyway since night had fallen. Finally, he stopped and pushed her down to the soft grass of the path. "Now we wait," he said, sitting beside her. She stared at him suspiciously. "Don't look at me like that. I took the day off to bring you here so shut up and wait."

They waited in silence for a good half hour, watching the waterfall a short distance from them. Then, all at once thousands of tiny lights lights flared up near the misty base of the falls. The soft, slow blinking of the fireflies was quite relaxing. She leaned back and sent the blacksmith a lazy smile.

He simply glanced down at the small thing in his hands, hidden from Areina's view. He waited. He waited longer. Soon the emerald haired knight was fast asleep and his chance had disappeared.

Things were different now. It was simply too late.


A/N: I know next to nothing about swords, just so you know. Anyway, review!