Feather on the Water - Part 4 Feather on the Water
By Chustang Sundust

~Part 4~
Repeat

Sleep was like Mission Impossible 3 for Aisha. The vacant halls seemed to resound with the dragging noise of silence. Lying limply in the cockpit, with a blanket wrapped around her for warmth, she had her eyes drowsily half closed, purring to herself as she lightly ran her fingers along the various screens and gauges. It was impossible to sleep, impossible to go back home, impossible to go back to the apartment. So, the Outlaw Star had become a sort of safe haven. Aisha had, while lying awake for hours, figured a plan. She'd hide in the ship, then once they stopped at a planet near Ctarl, she'd hitchhike a ride home from there. The only problem would be actually pulling it off.
She sighed weakly, settling back deeper into the cockpit and fluttering her eyes closed. The Ctarl-Ctarl teen shivered through the thin blanket and looked around the dark ship. Through the windows surrounding the main bridge, she could see stars peeking shyly from around misty gray clouds in patches of cotton candy.
Aisha was falling asleep when the sun's glow warmed the cold horizon. Suddenly, there was the slight noise of a door sliding open that even she didn't notice. It didn't hit her that the shadow she'd passed off for nothing in the bridge might be a person until it moved. She blinked in terror, sensing movement behind her, and then yelped in surprise as the lights were flicked on.
She blinked. He blinked. And Aisha suddenly pulled her gaze away, realizing she'd been staring numbly. The Ctarl-Ctarl drew the blanket up higher around her shoulders, flashing low and nervous glances at him. "Go away," she grumbled, feeling tears burning along her cheeks again. Her vision blurred with tears, and she felt Gene's eyes burn the back of her neck, and she said, hearing no movement from the redhead, "What are you doing here so early, anyway?" There was a sullen, snarling tone to her voice.
"Couldn't sleep," he said simply, with the same cool nonchalance that made her melt in her seat. Gene had his dark gold cloak slung over his shoulder, and he shrugged Aisha's tension off. The outlaw turned and tossed the coat into the corner. "Besides, I got to thinking. I just came to get some peace and quiet, so they couldn't strangle me in my sleep." He was walking down the hallway as Aisha flickered considering blue eyes, and then tentatively twisted around in the cockpit.
"Why would they strangle you?" was the soft-spoken, almost shy question from the Ctarl-Ctarl, and she folded her arms, resting her chin on them. "Is it because… of what happened?"
Gene stopped and his dark blue eyes came to a painful rest on her, searching her face. Through his tangled and unbrushed red hair, she saw a sad, tired smile on his face. "Naw, its okay," he reassured her, scratching his head. "Don't worry about it." His steel blue eyes seemed to be cleared of all hostile emotions, and a warm feeling rippled through Aisha.
"Well, goodnight Gene," Aisha said softly, casting her eyes down and sliding back into the cockpit. The Ctarl-Ctarl fluffed the thin blanket back around her to warm up, and blinking as the light turned off, with a smile coming to her face as she heard his footsteps echo into the halls. Once the sounds stopped, she twisted her crystal blue eye back to the hall, and the grin widened. For some reason, she felt better. But, still, her heart was still sore from the pain, and Aisha suddenly slipped from her makeshift bed, with the blanket wrapped around her, and trotted silently over to where Gene had tossed his cloak. The teen glanced around once or twice, then took the blue velvet case and slipped it into one of the pockets.
Aisha Clanclan was undeniably in love, but… perhaps, she had the definition of love wrong. Maybe she didn't have to be the name on Gene's lips, the sole subjects of his thoughts, or the girl at his side to love him, or for him to love her. In the steely darkness, no one saw the tears of happiness that, for the first time in ten years, had found themselves on Aisha's face. She slipped back into the cockpit, inhaled deeply, and then slipped off finally to sleep.

Gene still hadn't found away to forget everything. In the pale light of five in the morning, he staggered drunkenly from his room, with only a few hours of sleep to run on. The redhead stretched, walked to the kitchen and took a drink from the milk carton, before getting dressed. He might as well get to work on the ship repairs, if he wasn't going to fall asleep. There were simply too many things on his mind. Work, surviving, pirates, Melfina, and of course, the heartbroken Aisha.
He'd left hundreds of broken hearts behind him, and for the young and reckless Gene Starwind, one more shouldn't have bothered him. But it did. Seeing some one as strong and carefree as Aisha breaking down into a pool of pitiful on the floor was not the most pleasant. He just didn't know how to handle it.
The outlaw was passing the bridge, when he saw the pale, pastel colored sunrise light streaming across the metal floor and remembered Aisha. A painful twist in his throat came up, and he remembered his cloak was out there. Gene paused, glancing back at the door out, before he walked quietly in. He saw her lying, doubled up with her tail wrapped around her shivering body, and the twisted tightened. It felt like everything bad that had happened to her was his fault. Gene sighed, then picked up his cloak, and feeling a sudden lump in the pocket, pulled out its contents in curiosity.
The velvet case struck another string deep within him, and he looked back up to Aisha with pensive blue eyes. Gene took the coat, seeing her shiver, and laid it over Aisha. Instantly, she subconsciously curled up with it, and a smile came across her cold face. With that, Gene decided dinner would be on him tomorrow.


End