That night, as the ship was sailing, I felt a sudden jolt. The intercom came on. "This is Captain Conway speaking. The ship has stalled. Mechanics are taking a look now. Please stay calm, the ship is not sinking. We're just stuck. I repeat, please stay calm, we're not sinking." I hear a scream down the hall. Then I hear footsteps. Within seconds, the door opens. "Janine!" I hear a voice. It turned out to be Falkner's. "Are you OK?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

Falkner grabs my arm. "Come with me."

Dragged by my arm, Falkner brings me to the hallway. "Janine, there's something I need to tell you. I love you. That's why I ran into your room when Captain Conway announced the ship stalled. I really truly love you."

I knew it, I knew it, I knew it. Falkner loves me. I didn't know what to say. Should I say I love him? I guess so. There's no harm to it. "I love you too."

Falkner leaned in close to me, his arms around my neck. I wrap my arms around him too, leaning toward him. We were so close that our lips touched, and we began to kiss. Only about a second passed by when I heard a voice coming from around the corner. Falkner and I pulled away from each other, and the instant after we did so, I saw my father Koga standing over me.

"Janine, what did you do?"

"Go away." I didn't want him to know.

"I already know what you did. You kissed Falkner."

"He kissed me, and I just kissed back."

"You shouldn't have. You are not to kiss anyone ever again until you're fourteen. Clear?"

"NO! I love Falkner, and I'm not following your stupid rule!"

"Fine. Next time I catch you kissing Falkner or anyone, you will be punished."

I just storm back into my room. Falkner ran, and Koga headed back to his room. What had I done? My father was mad at me. I lay down on the bed and started to cry.

A few seconds later, I heard a voice. "What's wrong?"

I looked up and saw that it was Misty. I told her the entire story. "When Falkner dragged me out of the room, he told me he loved me. I told him I loved him, and we kissed for about a second, before… before… before my father came and yelled at me. He told me I wasn't supposed to be kissing anyone else until I was fourteen or else…" I continued to cry. "What do I doooooooooooooooooooooo?

"Calm down. You might want to follow his rule. Who knows what'll happen if you don't."

"So you want me to follow the rule? Well, I won't. You just don't get it."

"Yes, I do get it. You do know Brock is my boyfriend?"

"No…" I was surprised. I thought that Misty didn't have a boyfriend. "But you still don't get it. This is one of those relationships where nobody likes it except the people in the relationship. Your relationship is normal."

Misty sighs and walks away. As I was crying, I seemed to attract everyone else in the Kanto and Johto leagues who hadn't heard, even Lance. Lance seemed to be the only one who got it, along with Clair. "I'm secretly in a relationship with my cousin Clair. The rest of the Dragon Clan disapproves. My family. My situation is very similar to yours. Just keep it a secret the best you can. That's what I'm doing. Don't tell anyone else, OK?" Clair told the exact same story from her point of view. "Lance is secretly my boyfriend. We're cousins, so people get mad. Keep your relationship with Falkner a secret."

I followed Lance and Clair's instructions and told Falkner to do the same. He agreed to keep it a secret, for both of our sakes. We told everyone except Lance and Clair that we'd broken up. Everyone believed us. We were mad at each other for all they knew.

About an hour after the boat stalled, Captain Conway made an announcement. "The ship is out of oil. We're probably going to be stuck here until a rescue boat arrives with more. During this time, all passengers should stay out of areas such as the pool and arcade and stay near the rooms. Access to the first aid center is permitted. Room service will also be providing food."

I was scared. We'd be stuck at sea for a while. Well, maybe not a while, more like an hour. We were about two hours' worth of sailing off shore, and rescue boats can go twice as fast as cruise ships. Everyone on the ship tried as hard as they could to stay up until the ship was fixed. When everyone was in their rooms (Misty was visiting Brock), Falkner snuck into my room. "Shhh."

"What?"

"Just here to visit. Stay quiet."

Falkner then walks up to me and sits down on my bed. "Bugsy is in the shower, so I was able to sneak out. Everyone was in a room, so I was the only one in the hall. Man, think of what could have happened if Koga saw me."

"Uh oh." I snicker quietly.

The next thing I knew, we were kissing again. I held onto Falkner and he held onto me as the kiss continued. It lasted about ten seconds and we kissed about three times. It felt so good that I lost track of time. Finally letting go, I smile and tell him I love him. I walk over to the couch and sit down. Falkner sits down beside me. I turn and rest my head on his lap, and he ran his fingers through my violet hair. We were startled when Whitney runs into the room. "Guys… whoa! What are you doing? I thought you were mad at each other!"

"Shhh. Don't tell anyone." I try to get Whitney to stay quiet.

"OK… But here's some big news. I saw Lance kissing Clair out on the deck! They weren't supposed to be there!"

I sit up. "Seriously? I knew they were a couple, but I didn't know they kissed!"

"Yeah! I caught them going out to the deck, and I stalked them. I hid behind a pole, and I caught them!"

Falkner starts talking. "Shhh. Don't go telling everyone. They're not supposed to be together."
Whitney spoke in a quieter tone. "Okay."

After Whitney left, Falkner and I laid down and watched some TV until I heard footsteps. "Falkner! Hide!" Falkner runs and hides under the bed. It turned out that it was Clair. Even though Clair knew, Falkner stayed hidden. Clair spoke. "Have you seen a pink-haired girl running around? She was snooping around on the deck."

I decided to stay quiet since Whitney was keeping the secret. "Nope, haven't seen her."

"OK. Thanks anyway."

Clair left the room and Falkner came out of hiding. Before Falkner could hide again, Koga came in. "What is HE doing in here?"

"I… don't… know…" I replied awkwardly.

"Get out, you idiot, Falkner." My father was angry. "And you, missy, I need to talk to you."

Falkner ran out of the room as my father sat down. "You apparently still love him. Why did you disobey me?"

"Because you can't penetrate love when it's this strong."

"So what? Stay away from him. I'm going to let you off easy this time since you didn't kiss him, but next time, stay away."

My father left the room. I couldn't believe that he had actually just appeared out of nowhere. He and I are both ninjas, but we're not supposed to be stalking people. He knew that. I sighed and began to cry.