A/N: Wow, it's been a while, hasn't it? This hasn't been proofread. It was done really quickly. If you have any comments, suggestions, ideas, or anything else inspiring please do drop a review. I missed you guys.
002. Love
Everyone has a capacity to love. In some, that capacity seems slight or even nonexistent. They are hard pressed to show any emotion or attachment to anything. In others, the ability to love is quite apparent, and the issue tends more to taming the wild passion that can sometimes put self in danger for a mere whim of emotionalism. But everyone loves. It's in the very fiber of being.
James Hawkins has led a rough life. After the harsh and caustic abandonment of he and his mother by a man he called 'Dad', Jim told himself he would never do that to anyone. The pain he had felt on that morning and forever afterward was so acute, so deep, so utterly devastating. He would never do that to another person. He wouldn't even get close.
Yes, Jim had his mother. But a mother's love and kisses and hugs and bedtime stories can only do so much. And she became so busy trying to keep food on the table and shoes on their feet that she neglected to see the tears that streaked his dirty face at night.
But she loved him. And she would never leave him.
But Jim left her.
It was hard for him to do.
Of course, he longed for thrill, for adventure, for seeking the unknown, for pioneering uncharted territories. He wanted to see treasure, riches, and taste of wealth. But he wanted to bring that life to her. So that they would no longer have to wear themselves thin trying to keep an old inn running.
But that meant he had to leave her.
The tears in her eyes as they said goodbye-for who knows how long?-cracked his broken heart a little more.
He was leaving her alone.
Then along came Silver. He had filled the void that Jim's father should have filled. He taught Jim things that most boys learned on Saturdays with their dads in their backyard. He taught him how to chase after impossible goals. And Silver came to love Jim akin to a father loving his wayward but promising teenage son.
And perhaps Silver loved Jim more than some fathers loved their own sons.
And Jim learned to love Silver. He learned to look up to a man that had experienced much of life's trials and treasures. He learned to look past some flaws, some baggage, some scars, and instead see the heart that yearned to be able to give Jim a life of happiness.
A love that wants to see the other's success-more than his own.
And now, Jim is looking down at a newborn child. A tiny little boy. His little boy. And Jim knows more than anything that he loves this child. He wants to him to have the best. He wants him to be able to soar to heights greater than Jim has. He wants him to succeed-even if it means Jim will have to work hard and sacrifice.
He wants him to know what love is.