Two

It was only 7am and already the heat was overpowering the spacers docking at Jedadye's port. Abigail had arrived a little over five hours prior, had caught a little more shut-eye, and was now standing head down in the middle of the bustling square. Colorful shops stood everywhere, catching her eye while the noise of the crowd's roar deafened her ears. Each lobe was adorned in gold circlets. In fact, gold seemed to be everywhere you looked on her body. Little gold bells adorned her feet, bangles shot up her arms, a belt hung off her purple skirts, and even a little ball could be seen in her nose. Each piece was paid in blood and sweat. Even inside her tan-hide boots a little dagger was clipped, gold coloring on the handle. It had cut a small gash into her heel during her travel.

She stayed like that, head down, arms crossed in front of her, feet stuck in a plie-type state, until a travelling man dark in complexion and hair started a tune on his sitar. Then she burst to life, jumping in expert time just to land and dance away. Arms invited the gathering audience in, rejecting and pleading for them at the same time. The bells jingled, sweat beading at her brow until finally, exhausted, the music slowed and her movements stopped. A roar of cheers threw up into the air and Abigail turned to thank the Gypsy man who had recognized and helped her though her facial features had been marred by dirt.

He smiled knowingly and outstretched his arms to her, setting down his instrument as he sat on some boxes with one foot up. The girl went running into his bare chest. It was very true that she would eagerly accept any man like that, but this one was special. They stayed together, breathing hard and covered in sweat, until smoothly Abigail was maneuvered to be held at arm's length. "My darling…." The man addressed her, a slight lilt to his voice. He looked no more than 26 and wore blue-and-white striped pants that billowed out only to hug tight to his ankles. His shoes were of a lighter blue, curling into little genie-style points. "So you didn't make it then?" he guessed, letting the girl fall back into his chest and patting her hair fondly. This was the one she'd miss the most.

"No, Ricardo, you know that." She laughed, pinching his shoulder blade. She was genuinely glad to see him. Ricardo went to pinch her back but Abigail pranced out of his reach in no time at all. He chuckled a little. For as long as she could remember, he had always been by her side like this, and she was always causing him trouble.
"How? I don't see a hole in you anywhere. You know, where there isn't supposed to be one," he winked but she just rolled her eyes.

Dusting off and re-situating her clothes from where they moved during her dancing, Abigail unclipped the noisy bells from her ankles and sat beside her life-long friend. "You knew enough to come see me off." She noted pointedly. It wouldn't be right if he hadn't showed. Ricardo lived almost as far as she, and he was aware that the Dossen family never came to this side of the planet. Now Ricardo burst out into uncontrollable laughter. He was simply howling with it and Abigail wanted nothing more than to push him over.

"Oh, honey, I didn't have to know," he slapped his knee, "all the knowledge I needed was you + work equals not happening." Abigail growled at his assumption. Mostly because it wasn't wrong.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Her urge to push him finally won out but the strong lad stood in time for her to be the one falling over empty air instead. Thankfully he helped her up, ruffling her hair a bit. It barely reached her collar bone and was full of knots. "I missed you. Ricardo, I'm… scared." She told him quietly, standing up so their height difference wouldn't be terribly noticeable.

His big brown eyes looked over her worriedly and completely serious. When he was younger, he was the best sitar player on the planet. He wasn't made to leave. But plenty of his friends and brothers hadn't been as lucky. Now he lived on his own and was just as adamant about changing the system as Abigail.

"You can stay with me." He murmured, completely serious now. He wanted nothing more than for it to be true, but she just shook her head, willing him not to say his next words. "I could love you, and you'd never go hungry, Abigail, I don't know how I'll survive without your laughter and dancing-"

"Ricardo, no." she cut him off. Hearing him say that was like hearing the 'just friends' speech, only opposite. Her skin was crawling without her wanting it to as she continued. "I can't stay here. They'd find us. The whole purpose of finding myself elsewhere would fall flat. My life would waste… and… and I'm ready to go." Her eyes begged him to believe, even if she wasn't fully convinced yet herself.

Their parting wasn't supposed to be a walk in the park. She was glad to see someone care, but she needed him to let her go. Why did she need that so badly? "Here," she made a decision and handed him the bells from before. "Keep these and the sound will remind you of me… and, and remember that I'm somewhere happy, with great new people and a shining future."

Ricardo's eyes softened at her pained expression and he brought Abigail into another embrace, this time as a farewell instead of a greeting. When they broke apart he handed her the tips she earned from her performance. As she thought, they weren't enough to buy a ticket to anywhere. "You're going to rattle the stars, girl. I'd love to see their reflection in your eyes when you get where you're going." And then he turned and disappeared into the crowd, just like that. Abigail took a deep breath to steady her emotions. And she smiled wanly.

{A/N}: Remember, I didn't initially intend this to be a work of fanfiction. But don't worry, Jim will show up... soon. Relax, Read, Review, and here's to a non-pirate OC XD