iv. Another Ring
The two repeated their evening stroll the next night, and each night that they were on an island. On board the ship, the evening promenade was popular with far too many people in Gerald's opinion, and what he saw some of them doing! They were dokan, so perhaps the culture was a little different (and truth be told ,he'd gladly do some of that with Mary - if he dared), but, well some things ought to be done in private. Which was why he started getting up at the ungodly hour of six in the morning when Mary discovered that no one was on deck at that time. "Of course not, - they have better sense," Gerald muttered - although not where she could hear. He would have gotten up even earlier had she asked, but willingness to do so didn't quite translate into enjoyment of same. However, the sight of her in the dawn light somehow dispelled both sleepiness and resentment. They talked about a lot of things on the strolls. At first, Gerald kept finding himself overcome with random bouts of shyness, which was both embarrassing and frustrating; but every time he found himself tongue-tied, Mary switched to technical discussions of the rings, or their work at Kauai, and he could answer those. After his control of his voice returned, the conversation drifted back to other topics, including a certain amount of teasing about his speechlessness. But in general, the conversation ranged widely.
"Did you see the engagement ring that Rafe gave Jenny?" Mary asked him one breezy morning. "Or did you notice it, rather, she's worn it the whole time, so you must have seen it."
Gerald frowned, trying to remember; he'd been thinking more about the mysterious "magic" rings than engag- Was this supposed to be a hint? Or Mary's way if letting him know her answer if he'd ask? He gave himself a mental shake. Jenny's hand... "She has a blue stone, doesn't she? I thought engagement rings were supposed to be diamond for unbreakable love or something.."
"Yes and sort of. Humans traditionally give diamonds , the dokan give favored stones. Jenny's favorite happens to be sapphire. Rafe picked the silver setting because he thought it would go well with both the stone and Jenny's coloring. The idea seems to be that you not only love someone but that you're interested enough to find out what they like and care enough to act on the preference. Which I think is a rather sweet idea." This time she was the one who suddenly seemed embarrassed. Gerald realized that she hadn't started the topic meaning to suggest anything, but had suddenly realized what she seemed to be implying.
"So, what sort of gems DO you like?" Gerald asked. "I 've always heard that diamonds were a girl's best friend, but I prefer the tiger's eye with its refractive stripes."
They walked half the length of the ship in silence before Mary answered. "I...have always loved opals." It occurred to Gerald he'd never heard her sound shy before. "They're my birthstone, but I think they're so beautiful, with the 'fractured rainbows in their heart'. That's a quote from a poem I wrote in middle school, actually. Horrible poem, but that particular phrase stuck in my mind. I was horribly disappointed when I learned that you couldn't have one in an engagement ring."
"I think it's a lovely phrase," replied Gerald. "Why can't you put an opal in an engagement ring?"
"It's supposed to be too soft and fragile. Although I sometimes think that makes it a better symbol than the diamond - it has all the colors within it to be revealed, but requires care - if you let it dry out, the colors fade, and if you hit it too sharply it can break. Just like marriages, which have to be tended to prevent their fading or being broken. I've seen too many of my friends being all starry-eyed - or diamond-eyed perhaps - with eternal, unbreakable love only to find that things gets in the way or they or their spouses just lose interest and neither will or can work to restore it. And of course there are those that are destroyed by violence. The diamonds don't reflect that." She gave him a slightly embarrassed smile. "Sorry, I got a bit carried away."
"Not at all," Gerald smiled back at her. "You make a good argument.
"Speaking of colors, look at the reds in that sunrise. Do you think we'll really get rained on?" Not the most graceful topic change perhaps, but Mary accepted it gladly. They discussed the weather, and the Bible quote that mentioned red skies in the morning foretelling storms, and the likelihood of a typhoon hitting Kauai now that hurricane season was upon them. At that point they had to run for the cabin because it started to pour. Later that day, the quintet of humans, hedgehogs and panda were the only ones to venture off the ship at North Reef Island. There were fewer rings than on South Island, or their last stop on Westside Island, but the ones that were there gleamed dully in the rain. Bertha and Mary each added two to their collection of "bracelets", tagging them to identify their origin. After consulting their itinerary with Rafe, Gerald made a private call to their last stop, Emerald Island. It had actually been named for the profuse greenery but a number of jewelers had been attracted by the name to the point that it truly became a good place to buy quality jewelry. When the ship arrived, he managed to slip away long enough to run a private errand while the others investigated the local rings.
On their last day on Emerald Island, during their evening stroll, Gerald offered Mary a different sort of ring, traditional gold set with an untraditional opal, between two small diamonds. A compromise, he said, between the enduring love of two people and the care needed and spectrum of life to be found in a marriage between them. Mary laughed and conceded that she found it an acceptable compromise. And an acceptable proposal.
From Emerald Island the ship returned to it's home port and the quintet made the two-hour trip from there to Spring Grove. There, the hedgehogs threw an engagement party for the pair. The Flying Fox made a appearance, playing up the daredevil pilot role much to Mary's amusement. Misty and Arance were both there, as well as Bertha and several other dokan that Gerald knew. Misty brought perhaps the most important present. She had located the ancient stone tablet and obtained permission to return it to Alternate Research on Kauai and also she had obtained copies of an assortment of references about the tablet and the language on it. There was much jesting from people who knew Gerald too well about him taking the stone on his honeymoon and forgetting to take Mary. He and Rafe retaliated with the suggestion that Mary might take the rings and forget him. All in all, the human couple headed back north in good spirits and eager to return to their respective research.
A/N Thanks for the comments, I'm glad you're enjoying it so far and hope you continue to do so. Due to a move my internet access may be a bit erratic, but I'll try to keep up with the posting at least one a week.
