Chapter 14: A Special Day

After a few more miserable days at sea (at least for Denise, anyway), the group returned to the Syndicate only a little worse for wear. Rocinante always seemed to come back from missions covered in wounds, so no one thought much of it. Denise stepped off the boat as coiffed and pristine as she'd boarded it, though that wasn't a huge surprise considering the amount of luggage she'd brought along for such a short trip.

The sabotage of the Society meeting was disclosed to Syndicate superiors, but after a brief investigation it was written off as an unfortunate incident due to the likely infiltration of a rival's spy. Luckily, nobody was the least bit suspicious that the one behind the chaos that had ensued was actually a Syndicate member.

Despite the abrupt breakup of the party, followed by the marines being called in, Denise assured the Syndicate's Inner circle that she'd still been able to meet with her contacts within the Society and rub elbows with even more people of influence. They seemed placated at this fact and life went back to normal for a while.

Rocinante couldn't help but continue to wonder about the people they'd freed. He sincerely hoped that they'd all been returned safely to their homes. It was times like those that made him feel he could make a real difference in his work with the marines. Those moments made all the hiding and the lies worthwhile. He knew his ultimate mission—to stop his psychotic brother and all the madness he was creating—was a huge and dangerous risk. There was no way of knowing what would happen once he confronted Doflamingo. Hell, there was no way of knowing if he'd ever make it out of the Blackburn Syndicate alive. His life undercover was not an easy one, but it was a life he had chosen for himself. And when he remembered the faces of those children who hugged him and thanked the 'Magic Man', Rocinante couldn't help but smile and believe that he was doing the right thing.

Aylin, on the other hand, had been acting a bit off since they'd returned. She seemed distracted whenever they spoke, but Rocinante reasoned that it had been an extremely stressful mission and perhaps she just hadn't bounced back from it just yet. He made sure to give her enough space, and he tried not to fill the silences that fell between them with too much babbling as he liked to think that he'd gotten quite good at reading her over the past few months and knew better than most that silence is golden.

oOo

A few weeks after the Society mission, Rocinante was sent off on a simple retrieval assignment with the ever-cantankerous Maynard. It was dull as nails, made even worse by the fact that Aylin wasn't with him this time. He reasoned that it was likely because he was more expendable than her. Even with the name of a great team they'd made for themselves, Aylin was definitely of a higher rank, and rightly so, he thought.

He made it back to headquarters the night before a very important day. Honestly he was relieved; he'd done so much planning for this day that he would have been devastated for this mission to cause him to miss it.

He giggled with glee as he folded a piece of paper in half, scrawling a heart and Aylin's name on the outside. She probably thought that there was no way he'd remember, but oh, he did—and he wasn't going to let this day pass by unacknowledged.

In fact, Rocinante was so excited that he could hardly sleep. He was out of the house at an ungodly hour in the morning to make sure he arrived at work before her, carefully placing the paper on her desk before slipping away to the warehouse after thoroughly bashing his head against the door frame.

oOo

The note she'd found on her desk that morning requested that Aylin meet up with Rocinante at his apartment that evening. Likely for a trip to their usual coffee house, she surmised. She thought it was a bit late for coffee, but the stacks of folders piled high on her desk foretold a long night ahead, so she supposed a nice cup of caffeine could only be beneficial to her situation.

It had been several days since she had seen Rocinante, actually; he'd been away with Maynard on what Aylin had been told was a simple retrieval trip. It made her a little nervous, given what had occurred the last time he'd been part of a mission involving cargo pick-up, but he was a grown man and fully capable of taking care of things on his own...as she well remembered from their last mission together.

She quietly entered the apartment building that he'd made his home, ascending the cramped stairwell until she reached his floor. Even after he'd moved up a few ranks, he still insisted on residing within such a modest environment...and that was putting it lightly. The yellowed, peeling wallpaper failed to cover up long cracks in the drywall and there was a dank smell that seemed to persist no matter where one went in the building.

The place was a dump, quite frankly, though since Aylin herself barely spent any time at all in her own humble abode, she supposed she wasn't one to judge where he slept.

Reaching his door, she was slightly surprised to find it cracked open. She grimaced; did he never lock his door? Or had something happened? Aylin quietly pushed the worn door open, slipping inside without a sound. Her hand reflexively touched the pouch on her thigh, ready to draw a knife at a moment's notice. She peered around the room, seeing nothing out of the ordinary save for a few extra holes in the wall.

After a short pause, Aylin relaxed a bit when she heard running water coming from his bathroom. She sighed. "Roci?"

There wasn't a reply, although she supposed her voice was simply drowned out by the noise in the next room. She made her way through the room, stepping over several garments that had been strewn carelessly onto the floor. The bathroom door was halfway open and as Aylin drew closer, she could see him standing at the sink in front of the mirror.

A towel that was draped around his broad shoulders looked more like a dishcloth for a man of his stature. He was currently involved in splashing his face with some water, and Aylin couldn't help but notice the way it trickled off his chin and down his neck, creating rivulets along the musculature of his chest and abdomen. Her breath hitched as she suddenly became entranced by the way his back rippled while he reached up to towel off his shaggy hair. Her eyes followed every curve and angle, every jagged scar carved into his flesh, unaware of the way her mouth had fallen slightly agape until she had to swallow thickly.

Aylin blinked just then, a hot flush rising to her cheeks as she realized how wildly inappropriate this must be. She shouldn't be staring at him like this! Besides, it wasn't as though she hadn't seen him shirtless plenty of times before. It hadn't mattered then, so what was it that made this time any different?

She took a hesitant step backward. There was a loud 'crunch' beneath the heel of her boot, and her eyes snapped downward to see that she'd stepped on a bag of half-full potato chips. She cursed inwardly and glanced up just in time to see Rocinante's head hit the ceiling as he straightened up.

"Ow!" His surprise was replaced by a grin almost immediately when he turned and recognized her. "Lin, hey!"

Aylin felt her heart clench in her chest, still slightly flustered as she replied, "Hey..."

Mindful of the ceiling, Rocinante ambled over to her and then bent until he was at her level, quirking an eyebrow. "Are you okay?"

She cursed the fact that he knew her well enough now to notice even a slight change in her demeanor, and she nodded. "I'm fine. I just had something in my throat." She coughed as if to illustrate the statement.

Whether he bought her flimsy excuse or not, he didn't show it. Instead he just smiled again. "Alright. You ready to go get some coffee? Let me just go get a shirt real quick."

Aylin opened her mouth and then closed it, finally just giving a simple nod. "Yeah. Okay."

She watched him disappear into his cramped bedroom, slightly horrified when she found herself having to wrench her eyes away from his backside. She dragged a hand down her face, willing the improper thoughts away. What was wrong with her today? They were friends. Partners. No matter how persistent he was in his pursuit of her, that was all they could ever be.

He bounded back into the room a moment later, buttoning up the top he'd chosen. "Lin, check out my new shirt! It's got hearts on it. Cute, right?" He laughed and jigged his eyebrows a bit as Aylin rolled her eyes.

"That's so gaudy!" She shook her head, taking stock of the fabric and inadvertently noticing how well she could still make out the outline of his chest. She hurriedly continued, "At least it's better than that yellow thing."

"Hey, I really liked the yellow one! Maynard did too," he added with a wink. "No, look, it's pink and red. The colors of love! Right? Right? Haha, I don't know, really..." He chuckled as they headed out, locking his apartment door upon Aylin's insistence.

They walked in comfortable silence for a few minutes as they made their way toward their usual coffee place, passing a couple of stalls full of seasonal merchandise. Rocinante suddenly halted in his footsteps and disappeared into one of them, leaving Aylin standing outside in bewilderment. Was he in need of cigarettes again?

However, he emerged a minute later carrying not a carton of his usual smokes, but a tiny bouquet of flowers. He flashed her a grin as he held them out to her. "I forgot to get these on the way to work this morning, so here you go!"

Aylin felt a warmth spread through her chest as her eyes fell upon the small array of wildflowers, and she almost doesn't realize the little smile on her lips. Not this again... What had gotten into her? He did this very same thing practically every day, it was nothing new. She cleared her throat as she gently took the flowers from him.

"Oh...thank you." She nearly laughed in spite of herself; she felt ridiculous.

Rocinante beamed down at her. "You look happy today. I'm so glad! You're often so stressed out. It's the little things that are important, you know." He patted her shoulder and gazed down at her.

"Do I...?" Aylin felt more flustered than happy in that moment, but she wasn't going to admit that to him. She shrugged. "Ah...well, I guess there hasn't been as much drama lately..."

He nodded as they continued on their way toward the coffee shop. The discussion evolved into brief synopses of what the other had been up to over the past few days. Aylin had nothing of interest to report, other than having witnessed Priscilla hilariously lose her mind over a large spider that another associate had placed on her desk as a prank. She felt relieved to hear Rocinante recount a rather tedious, uneventful retrieval mission during which Maynard relentlessly complained and barked orders at mercenaries out of sheer frustration at having been chosen for such a dull task.

Before long, they had arrived at their destination.

"My treat today as well," Rocinante announced as they approached the door. "I just have to yell inside and they already know what we want. It's so convenient!"

Aylin scoffed lightly. "Well, aren't you Mr. Moneybags lately," she commented absently. In truth, her mind had already wandered, and she found herself wondering if Rocinante had been working out lately. He spent most of his free time either with her or asleep, so that didn't leave much extra time, but still something was different. She was so distracted that she tripped over a stick in her path just then, having not been watching where she was going.

"Whoa, hey!" Rocinante reached out to catch her arm before answering her question. "Nah, I just like to treat the woman I like right, you know..." He held onto her arm a moment longer than necessary, glancing down to give her a cheeky grin.

"Damn boots," Aylin cursed, pretending that the blush heating up her face was because of nearly falling down and certainly not because she had been thinking about how strong his hands felt around her arm. She coughed and cleared her throat before turning her back to him to push the door open.

The atmosphere was much the same as it usually was on a weeknight; a couple of people seated at tables here and there, some in groups of two while others sat alone with an open book or two on the table in front of them. Aylin made her way over to a table in the corner of the room by the window and Rocinante followed, though his foot caught a chair leg and knocked it over in the process. He wavered on his feet and would have fallen onto a vacant table had Aylin not doubled back to grab his arms and steady him as he spouted apologies.

A moment later they were seated, politely acknowledging Joann when she smiled at them from behind the counter and signaled that she would be right with them.

Aylin crossed her arms on the table before her, glancing up at her partner. "So...what's with the late coffee run? Got a long night ahead of you?"

Rocinante folded his hands in front of him, leaning forward. "You might say that…" His grin widened more and more until he burst into a small fit of giggles then, pushed his hair back from his face and looked away, coughing.

"Hmm, I think I need a haircut, what do you think?" He pushed the hair back down, now so long that it covered his eyes. "I feel like a kid again! You know, I used to be really shy and always clinging tightly to my mom or dad, sometimes even my brother, and my hair was always like this. I felt like I could just hide under it."

Aylin smiled at that, trying to imagine him as a small, sweet-natured child with a mop of blonde hair. It wasn't particularly difficult. "You must've been a cute kid," she remarked, recalling how she used to wish her daughter was more like that. Instead, her child had always been a strong-willed, independent sort who could not be tamed. Aylin supposed the apple hadn't fallen far from the tree in that case.

She watched Rocinante as he smoothed back his hair, revealing more of his facial structures that were normally concealed. She had to admit, a haircut would probably add some maturity to his appearance, although she'd become fond of his shaggy look.

He chuckled lightly at her comment. "I guess I was! I just think all kids are cute, really. There's just something about little humans. Makes you want to just pinch their cheeks and hug them." He lowered his voice and hands at the same time. "I really hope you can see your daughter again someday…I know you must miss her." He broke eye contact for a few moments. "And if you don't mind me being selfish, I'd like to go along and meet her, too…"

He was about to continue when Joann approached their table dropping off a basket of croissants and their regular drinks.

Joann winked at Rocinante. "Ah, the lov—" she stopped short with a look from Rocinante who widened his eyes and shook his head, making a horizontal slashing motion with his hand.

Joann coughed. "Anyway, good evening, you two! Are you staying long enough for a bite to eat?"

Rocinante gave her a knowing look. "We just want to finish up these coffees, but don't forget the to-go order I put in earlier. There's a nice tip in it for you!"

"Well, well, Rocinante, you sure know how to sweet-talk a girl. No problem, sugar."
She walked off leaving the two of them alone again.

Rocinante was grinning so widely that he felt like his face was about to break. He looked over at Aylin with stark anticipation. She didn't have even the slightest CLUE of what he had planned, and he was fairly bouncing in his seat with excitement as he stuffed a croissant into his mouth.

Aylin's eyes followed Joann's retreating form and then moved to settle on Rocinante's face, one eyebrow raised in question. "Roci, what's going on? You're acting strange...even for you."

She wondered briefly if he'd be leaving again for another mission. He'd been getting a lot more notice ever since the Society meeting and she suspected that Denise had much to do with that; he'd clearly made an impression on her during the last major assignment.

Rocinante nearly spit out his drink. "N-nothing! Nothing…YET!" He grinned at her and stuffed another croissant into his mouth. "Man, these are so good! Lin, you better eat one before they all disappear!"

She gave him a LOOK that said they would most certainly be continuing this conversation, but he just grinned and acted goofy and excited.

About twenty minutes later, Joann showed up with a bag that had some containers inside, and Rocinante paid her with the promised tip.

He pushed back from his seat and stood up to stretch, immediately banging his head on a low-hanging beam and then nearly setting himself aflame as his latest cigarette fell from his mouth.

He stomped it out quickly as soon as it hit the floor. "Sorry, Joann!"

She waved her hand in dismissal. "No big deal, Rocinante. I'd be worried if you DIDN'T almost burn the place down for once. You kids enjoy the rest of the night." She smiled and walked over to check on one of the other tables.

Rocinante quickly gathered himself up and carefully handled the bag that Joann had brought. He lit another cigarette and gave Aylin a cheeky grin. "Let's go…I've got somewhere else to take you."

Aylin's eyes narrowed in suspicion for a moment, wondering if they would need to have yet another discussion regarding the limitations of their professional relationship. True to his word, Rocinante had not given up on his pursuit of her and it seemed that nothing she said could convince him that it was a pointless endeavor. Still, if he had intended to take her on a date, past experiences assured her that he would have made those intentions abundantly clear. Furthermore, he'd have asked for her consent beforehand.

Curiosity tugged at her and she stood, eyeing him in a scrutinizing manner. "Okay, seriously, what the hell are you up to?"

Rocinante reached down and tugged on her wrist. "Come on, come on…OKAY I'M TOO EXCITED, LET'S GO!" He gently pulled her along with him as he jogged toward their destination.

The sun was dipping below the horizon, sending shades of red, pink, and orange cascading across the sky. They went past the docks to what they all referred to as the 'good' side of town where there was a strip of white, sandy beach.

Rocinante stopped at the edge and grinned at her as he kicked his shoes off and then jumped into the sand. "Come on, Lin!"

She hesitated a moment, then shrugged and pulled off her boots, joining him. The breeze felt nice. Balmy, not warm but not too cool either. When they had walked closer to the water, she saw that he'd set up a little campfire site surrounded by smooth stones. Something about the scenario was familiar. There was a large log for them to sit on and as she drew nearer, she felt a distinct tug of nostalgia.

Rocinante stopped beside it and gestured for her to sit on the log as he began digging through the containers he'd brought from the coffeehouse. She sat, but still appeared confused, her eyes darting around the scene before her in somewhat disbelief.

"Roci...what is this...?"

"You didn't REALLY think I'd let this day pass by without doing something special, did you?!" His grin got even wider if that was possible and he pulled out a small cake with one candle atop of it, then sat next to her. "Happy Birthday, Lin!"

Her jaw went slack. Birthday? That couldn't be right...her mind scrambled to recall the month and the day, thinking that he was surely mistaken. Today couldn't be...

Her eyes widened. "Oh. Today's...the eleventh..."

Frozen in her spot, her hands still raised in a counting gesture, Aylin's eyes traveled around the scenery once more. She'd only mentioned it once, and she barely remembered telling him at all. It was an off-handed remark she'd made while recounting a tradition that she and her daughter had created together many years ago. A trip to the beach and a campfire...there was even a bag of marshmallows sitting beside the log, right below two long sticks with freshly pointed ends.

He'd had no reason to commit the date to memory. Aylin herself probably would have forgotten about it altogether, only realizing it a few days afterward and chalking it up to one more year spent away from home.

But Rocinante hadn't forgotten. Her gaze moved away from the pile of small logs and sticks awaiting a flame and up his tall figure, fixating on his face, which was absolutely brimming with excitement.

Her mouth moved silently as she struggled for words, finally squeaking out, "You...you remembered this...?" A wave of emotion cut her off and she swallowed it back down, feeling a sudden warmth blossom in her chest. He really never ceased to amaze her.

Rocinante knelt next to her, his smile ever present. "Of course I did, Lin. You're my best friend, I care about you so much…and…I know I'm a poor stand-in for your daughter, but I hope you have fun anyway."

She could only smile back, still dumbfounded, and he stared at her a moment longer; she looked utterly flustered, and he found it completely adorable. He really did love her. A flush bloomed over his face, and he carefully placed the cake down somewhere it wouldn't get messed up.

He locked eyes with her, then impulsively reached over and pulled her into a hug.

Aylin's posture stiffened, surprised by the gesture, and although she didn't immediately respond, she didn't pull away either.

Rocinante had wanted to do this for so long. It was just a simple hug, but…it was a level of intimacy their friendship hadn't really breached yet.

"I like to think that she remembers, too," he whispered.

She allowed her eyes to slide shut, lulled by the scent of his clean shirt and the warmth of his arms around her, and she wondered if he was right. It had been so many years...to a child, it had to feel more like a lifetime. She sighed softly, somewhat unaware of her own movements as her head came to rest against the crook of his neck.

"Thank you," she replied in a low tone. Her hands twitched at her sides, finally reaching up to rest on his shoulders as she carefully pulled back, though not without some unforeseen reluctance on her part. She averted her eyes momentarily while she regained her composure.

Rocinante grinned at her again. He couldn't seem to stop, she seemed happy with his gesture and that made him happy too.

"You're welcome. Let's have some cake, then!" He pulled out his lighter in an attempt to light the solitary candle on top of the small cake, but he quickly lost control of it and nearly set himself on fire in the process. With a decidedly unmanly shriek, he tumbled over into the sand, legs sticking up in the air. "Ahhh, dammit..."

The lighter had gone flying up into the air as well, and as if by some sort of miracle or sheer dumb luck, happened to land on top of the neat pile of sticks that was to be their campfire. There was a 'WHOOSH' as the site caught flame right away.

Aylin snorted in amusement as she watched the spectacle, seating herself on the log nearby. "I don't think you could manage that again if you tried a thousand times. Then again, you've surprised me before."

Rocinante sat up, shaking the sand from his hair, still smiling bashfully at her. "Sorry…oh, thank goodness the cake was spared!" He cut it in half and gave her the bigger piece. "You can still make a wish, though. We'll…just wish on the stars instead, how about that?"

"It's fine," she insisted with a slight smile as she took the offered plate from him.

He plopped down beside her, the log groaning a bit beneath his weight. A moment later, he sat straight up and then leaned closer to her, pointing with his free hand toward the horizon while the sky became increasingly darker.

"There it is! The first star!" He exclaimed excitedly. "Go ahead, let's make our wishes!"

Aylin didn't believe in such things. No amount of wishing on birthday candles or stars could grant her what she truly desired. Frankly, she was quite sure that only children did this sort of thing. But Rocinante looked so eager that she found herself relenting, closing her eyes and allowing a silent request to pass through her mind. One single hope that she held close to her heart. It wouldn't change things either way, but she supposed it was nice to pretend for one moment that it could.

She opened her eyes and glanced up at him, a wry smile on her lips. "So what'd you wish for?"

Rocinante looked down at her with sincere eyes. "Well, you're not supposed to tell your wish, Lin. But you should already know what my wish is…"

A long moment passed with their eyes locked together, his shining with the reflected light of the campfire. She studied his face, illuminated in oranges and reds, reminding her of their last mission together when he'd emerged from the explosion largely unscathed. Something had changed that night, that moment. Aylin had felt their dynamic shift. He'd gone rogue and risked everything to help those people and in the process, had somehow altered the way she looked at him.

He made a slight movement as though he were going to reach for her hand, but then moved to grab the sharpened sticks he'd prepared for the marshmallow roasting instead. Aylin sighed almost imperceptibly, feeling both relief and disappointment competing within her jumbled thoughts.

Rocinante grabbed up the bag of jumbo-sized marshmallows. "Time to keep up that tradition! More stars will be coming out soon, too, so we can try to identify constellations."

Aylin chuckled as she reached for the second stick. "I can just see this ending in disaster for you. Better be careful not to toast yourself instead."

She reached into the bag he'd just ripped open, plucking out a marshmallow and impaling its soft center onto the sharpened end of the stick. She watched him from the corner of her eye as he followed suit, accidentally jabbing his finger with the stick before managing to secure his marshmallow onto it, and then continued to eye him as he swung the stick directly into the fire. She sniggered when the fluffy white confection immediately went up in flames, causing him to swear and fling the charred, blazing ball of sugar into the ocean nearby.

Several more marshmallows shared the fate of the first before Aylin finally stopped laughing long enough to instruct him on the correct method for toasting them just right.

She wiped stray tears off her cheeks, still grinning as she worked on lightly toasting her second marshmallow. "You know, actually, my kid likes them burnt to a crisp. She would've eaten those ones that you just threw in the water for the fish." Her eyes traveled up to the night sky, which was slowly beginning to display more and more of the twinkling stars above, and she sighed in equal parts contentment and nostalgia. "The campfire tradition was one of the last good memories I had back home. Just a few weeks before I left... My daughter set it up by herself. I was busy with work, but she was determined that we would do it. Couldn't believe she even remembered it, she was just a little thing. We always did this for her birthday, but I guess she thought we should do it for mine, too..."

"Really?" Rocinante smiled widely, happy as he always was whenever she felt the urge to talk about her old life with him. He knew it couldn't be easy for her, and he was touched by the fact that she trusted him with those precious memories. "That's sweet, Lin. I'm glad I can share this with you. Maybe I should've given those burnt ones a try…hmmm." He eyed the ocean as if he were going to try and fish them out, but then turned back and grinned at her. "I'll just burn THIS ONE!"

Aylin's eyes went wide, her arm outstretched. "Roci, don't-"

But it was too late; he shoved his latest marshmallow directly into the fire. In doing so, he must have thrust the roasting stick a little too far, because the majority of it caught fire as well.

Roci's eyes widened as the flames crept closer to his hand, then he let out a yell, running closer to the ocean where he threw the stick in like a javelin. He immediately lost his footing in the sand and fell forward.

Aylin simply shook her head from her spot on the log, watching as he stood up and brushed himself off before slinking back to the campfire.

"Man I sure hope the fish like marshmallows…" He pouted a bit, holding his head on his chin. "Sorry, ehehehe…if you're having fun, though, it's okay."

She glanced at him, a small smile tugging at her lips. "I am."

Rocinante slid down off the log so that only his head was resting on it and stared up at the sky as it grew darker by the second. Many more stars became visible and it reminded him of one of the last peaceful times that he'd spent together with his family after his father's declaration that the family should live as normal human beings away from Mariejois and the rest of the Celestial Dragons.

Aylin nudged him gently with her knee after a while. When he turned his attention toward her, she handed him a perfectly golden marshmallow on one of the plates they'd eaten the cake off of.

Rocinante took the marshmallow from her. "Awww, thank you, Lin!" Without ceremony, he shoved the entire thing in his mouth.

She set the toasting stick aside and leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. "So what about you? Ever have any silly traditions? If you're going to keep track of all mine, I should probably learn a few of yours," she added with a slight smirk.

Rocinante chewed the marshmallow thoughtfully. "Well…not really, I lost most of my family when I was very young. We didn't have that much time for fun due to…the circumstances...and then my mother took ill and died. It was honestly more about survival at that point."

Roci's eyes widened suddenly and he coughed, trying to sit up abruptly but knocking his head on the log instead. "Ack! I'm sorry Lin, I didn't mean to bring up such depressing things during your birthday celebration."

Aylin shook her head, having to stop herself from reaching out to pat his head to make sure he was alright. "You can talk about whatever you want. I don't care what day it is." She leaned a little further forward, wanting to somehow encourage him, but not to push him at the same time. "Really, Roci, you can tell me anything."

He was silent for another minute then cleared his throat. "Thanks Lin…but not today. I'd like to tell you more, but…maybe some other time."

She nodded in understanding and after a few seconds, turned her attention toward the sky. "Well...it's dark enough now. Let's see how many constellations we can find."