Sorry it took so long for an update, but work took over my life and then after the New Year started school took over, so I have not had a chance to update any of my stories until this week. I hope it was well worth the wait for everyone though. So, enjoy!
Disclaimer: Disney still owns everything to do with Treasure Planet, except maybe the writing in this chapter.
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Silver sat outside on the ground, smoking his pipe and looking up at the stars. He had been contemplating everything he had seen that night, and all of the thoughts eased their ways into his mind. "It's a funny t'ing..." he said, thinking he was alone.
"What is?" asked Sarah, who stood in the doorway, looking out at him.
Sitting up, quickly, because of the shock, Silver turned around and smiled at Sarah, as she walked over, then turned his attention back to the night sky. " How everyt'ing looks so diff'rent from where ye stand. From here, the stars are so tiny, ye could grab them in yer hand. But out there… ye can truly see them for what they are." He let out a puff of smoke, before continuing. "Sometimes ye have to travel the galaxy before ye find just what yer looking fer… and sometimes it's right in front of yer very nose, but the time spent looking for it makes it all the more worthwhile."
Sarah walked over to Silver, understanding what he was saying, but not fully wanting to believe it. "Do you think Miss Dames is what Jim needs to be happy the rest of his life?"
Silver let out a small laugh and smiled. "I'm most certain of that, Miss. Hawkins. I'm most certain of that."
"Right this way," said the maître d', and he slithered ahead of the two lovebirds over to a table out on the balcony. "Will this be up to your satisfaction, Captain?"
Jim turned to ask Jen on her thoughts, but he could see in her eyes, that he did not need to ask her. "It's perfect," he responded with a smile and then helped Jen into her seat.
The maître d', passed out the menus to the young couple with his tentacle arms and bowed to them, which caused his toupee to slip a bit, and he fixed it. "You're waiter will be over shortly, and if you need anything else, be sure to let me know immediately. I hope that you both will enjoy your dinner," he said, then slithered back to the front of the fancy restaurant.
The captain then looked over his menu, when his eyes glanced up and he grinned. He peered over his menu to see Jen looking around the place and how her expression was just in awe of their surroundings. This led to his grin getting bigger than it was, and he then put down his menu and spoke up. "You know, I've heard that it's easier to order if you look over a menu."
Jen laughed a bit at his comment and picked up her menu. "I'm sorry, Jim, it's just that this place… this evening… everything just looks wonderful."
"Especially you," chimed in Jim, before she could get another word in. She then put her hand up to her face to cover up her blush that was coming out. He then reached across to take her hand and kiss it. "Don't. I like the blush on you," he added in, grinning more.
"Oh, Jim… you really are too much," Jen said and then pulled up her menu to look it over.
Jim leaned back in his chair, with his elbow on the table and resting his chin in his hand, he looked over his girlfriend, just smiling. He could not believe they had known each other just a year and a half, yet it had felt like he had been with her all of his life. Slowly he moved his free hand in his pocket, to play around with the little box that he kept hidden. Was tonight the night? Should he wait any longer? Is this really, what he wanted right now? No, he wanted it long ago. Tonight was just a procrastination of what he should have done back when they first met. He just wanted to be a gentleman, with enough courtesy and thoughtfulness, to wait this long and not to pressure her into something that she might not have been ready for back then. However, the real question was, is she ready for this now?
The thought crossed his mind as he played with the little box in his pocket. They were both still fairly young. In fact, they were just shy of twenty years and even though Jim had a good idea as to what he was going to do for the rest of his life, Jen was still troubled with the question. He had trained to be a spacer and a captain in the finest academy, while she was trying to pull her life together. A decision like this could mess up their entire lives and might even ruin their relationship. That was the last thing that Jim wanted to happen.
"Jim…"
The spacer looked up, the sound bringing him out of his deep thoughts, and back into the present. He quickly withdrew his hand from his pocket and looked up at Jen, who had a worried expression over her face.
"Are you alright?" she asked him.
Jim looked around for a moment, to re-affirm his co-ordinates and what he was doing at the current moment, before nodding his head a bit. "Yeah, I'm fine."
"Oh, good. You had me worried there for a moment," Jen started, as she took his hand in her own. "It seemed as if you had something on your mind that was troubling you."
"No… nothing was troubling me, but I did…" started Jim.
"Are you ready to order?" interrupted a man, similar to the structure of the maître d', but with slightly dirtier clothes, a pad and pen, and real hair.
"Uh… yeah," answered Jim, after a moment of getting his bearings straight.
Now was not the best time to even think about this. If he were going to do it, it would have to wait until later… at a time when they had a little more privacy and less interruptions. Maybe then, she would be a little more open to the idea. She would not feel as pressured to give an answer that affected both of their futures and maybe she would feel more comfortable with her answer. Timing was everything.
"So what will it be for the lovely couple?" asked the waiter, with pen in one tentacle and his notepad in the other, ready to jot down the notes.
"I think we'll have a bottle of Brandybine and two squalisters, right Jen?" Jim ordered then looked over at Jen to make sure, and she nodded. "Then I guess that's it for now."
The waiter bowed his head, gathered up the menus and then went on his way.
"So, what were you thinking about?"
Jim looked over at Jen for a moment, after she had asked him the question, debating on telling her or not. Should he do it now, or should he wait a little longer? "Oh, nothing," popped out of his mouth before he could think on the subject any longer. "It was nothing of importance," and he gave her a reassuring smile.
Liar! How could he lie to Jen like that? To the one that he loved more than anything. He battled with his conscience over if it was the right thing to do. Was it? For the time being it was. He did not want to do it just yet. He had to time it perfectly or he may not get the right answer. Nevertheless, he was still lying to her.
Then again, for almost a year, she had lied to him about who she was. It would be just as fair for him to lie to her, since she had done to him. The only difference was the situation that they were in.
"I'll be right back," said Jen, once again breaking his thoughts.
"All right," said Jim, standing up with her. "Take your time," and he kissed her forehead, before sitting back down and watching her leave.
He took a deep breath. Was she onto him about his little secret? No, she could not be. He just had to keep a calm composure and the time would come for him to bring it up. "Now, how do I pull this off?" he asked himself and looked around. There was the front, the kitchen, an outside balcony with… that was it! As soon as dinner was over, he would take her out there.
All of a sudden, a pair of hands covered Jim's eyes, and he jumped. "Who's there?"
A voice then whispered in his ear, "Someone from your dreams," and then he felt a gentle kiss on his cheek. "Happy Valentine's Day, spacer."
Jim then opened up his eyes and Jen placed a small package, which was wrapped up in a bow, in front of him. He looked up at her for a moment, and seeing her smile, figured it was all right to open it up then. So, he carefully un-wrapped the gift and pulled out an old-fashioned compass. "Look on the back," he heard in his ear and then turned it over to read "To my loving captain. May this always lead you home," engraved into the bronze coating.
He closed his eyes for a moment, to keep from letting tears form and then whispered, "Thank you, Jen. I love it," and he turned around and kissed her.
Jen smiled and then took her seat. "When I was going through my father's things, I saw this and instantly thought of you. So, I had it cleaned up and took it over to get it inscribed just for you," she explained.
The young man smiled, as he ran his fingertips over the inscription. "I'll keep this on me forever," he said, and then thought to himself for a few moments. He could not wait any longer, especially after receiving this gift. She had to have wanted this as much as she had. If she did not, she would not have given him something as meaningful. "Jen, I need to tell you something…" he began.
"Bon apatite," said the waiter as he set the plates down with two of his tentacles and with another two, he opened up the bottle of Champaign and poured the liquid into the two glasses for them.
"Enjoy," said Jim, smiling.
Back to the original plan. He could wait until after dinner to talk to her. All that there was to do now was to enjoy his meal and the company.
"So, have you heard any news of your next adventure?" asked Jen, breaking the silence.
"Nothing yet," replied Jim, as he took a sip of his drink. "Everything has seemed pretty quiet since our last adventure. I think they're just scared to send me out again after everything that happened."
Jen could not help but laugh a bit. "That's ridiculous. It's been several months since that happened. They should let you go out again."
"Yeah, it would be nice to set sail again, but I'd be lying if I said I haven't enjoyed these past few months without the sailing," he said with a broad grin on his face.
Jen smiled and jumped into her next comment before she could blush. "Well, then, I guess I'm just going to have to buy you a ship next Valentine's Day to go along with your new compass."
At the moment, Jim knew he could not wait any longer, and slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out enough money to cover for the meal and service then stood up and offered his hand. "Come with me."
The young woman raised an eyebrow at him, then slowly took his hand and stood up. She was wondering what was going through his head and why he wanted to take her somewhere else in such a hurry.
Jim then led her over to the balcony, where it was secluded from the rest of the guests at the restaurant. "You know, when I was little, I'd lie out on the roof of the Benbow and look up at the sky. All of those stars would be up there, and some of them formed pictures in my mind, so I would name them," he began, the pointed up to a little constellation that he had put together. "That one right there was Chara, because every time I saw her in the sky, she'd bring me some kind of happiness, which was pretty rare. You see those five stars forming a "V" with the center one being the brightest, formed her necklace. It reminded me of my mom's necklace, because every time she would open the locket, she would smile. I figured that the lady in the stars must also have a locket that would make her smile, and every time I could see her necklace, I knew that she was happy." He then turned to face Jen and looked into her eyes. "I hope tonight is worth her coming out for."
A smile escaped her lips, and before she could say anything, he picked her up and placed her on the railing. "All of my life I dreamed of being a spacer and finding the greatest treasure known to the galaxies. Up until the journey to Golden Sun, I thought that the greatest treasure was in Treasure Planet, but then I realized it was no more valuable than the rocks outside my house," Jim started, then closed his eyes and smiled. "I heard someone say once, 'Not all treasure is silver and gold, mate' and never fully understood it until back on Golden Sun." He then looked up into her eyes before continuing. "Jen, you were the greatest treasure all along. You were the treasure I dreamed of finding all those years." Reaching into his pocket, he grabbed her hand with his other hand and kneeled on the ground. "Gweneth Jennifer Dames, would you make my dreams come true and marry me?" he asked as he held the open jewelry box with the engagement ring sparkling from the inside.
Tears of happiness threatened to fall, as Jen put her free hand to her mouth, all chocked up. She found it hard to speak and after a few moments found enough of her voice to muster up one word… "Yes."
Jim looked up smiling. "Yes? You said 'Yes'?"
Jen, looked at him with a smile beaming and tears rolling down her cheeks, nodding. "Yes…"
For a moment, Jim could feel his heart fly, as he jumped up, took her in his arms and twirled her around. He then slid the ring onto her finger and whispered to her, "I love you…" And at the moment he leaned in to kiss her, and knife went flying in between the two, to cause each of them to jerk their heads back and Jen to fall to the ground. "Are you alright?" Jim asked, rushing over to her.
"Ye… Yes, I'm fine," said Jen, starting to get up, and Jim then flew to the railing, to try to see if he could find the creature that threw the knife at them.
Nothing. It was empty, except for the black of night that covered the ground. "Damnit! They're gone," he mustered, angry at what should have been the perfect moment, turned into a complete disaster.
"Jim, come look at this," said Jen standing near the knife.
Jim turned around and walked over to her, and saw that a letter was attached to the knife. He then pulled the letter off and read it, "The Solar Flares Will Intervene".
"What could it mean?" asked Jen, and Jim shook his head. He did not know, and did not want to know.
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What could this note hold in store for our newly engaged couple? Stay tuned to find out.
A/N: The quote Jim used was obviously taken from Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.
Please do not forget to leave a review.
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Muriel Candytuft- Thanks for your input. The description of the dress in the previous chapter was very out of character for me, I usually don't do long descriptions like that, but I thought I'd try something new. I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought it was a bit out of place. As for the landscape, I figured that there would probably be at least one place on the planet that was a bit "foresty" away from the machinery. After all, the whole place can't be completely desolate. Once again, I thank you for your criticism, and I hope you are enjoying the story.
Fallow of the forest- I'm glad you enjoyed the first one and are enjoying the second one.
Kira Clyne- Like I said in my prologue, "appearances can be deceiving". And that is all I'll say to the comment concerning Jim, so as not to give away anything. As far as this becoming an emotional story, it will be a little more emotional than the previous one, but I'll do my best to keep the action in there. I hope you enjoy the rest.
