Chapter 3: Getting Caught

Gau had just arrived to his house just outside of Thamasa. Setzer had just dropped him off and was getting ready to go again. He had a lot of mail to deliver. Gau ran into his house just long enough to throw his belongings on the floor or wherever they landed. He then ran out again and onto Thamasa to see Relm. "Lady love, um, lovely lady, um, Relm, here I come like I said," Gau called out. Fortunately no one was around to hear him.

The entire trip took him all of three minutes. A whole lot less than the ten minutes it usually took. He wasn't even breathless when he got there. Guess the training did pay off, Gau thought to himself as he stopped in front of Relm's and Strago's house.

Gau knocked like a perfect gentleman and waited for an answer. Strago was the one to open the door. He put on a smile, but Gau knew he wasn't exactly happy to see him. "Hello, Gau. I see you made it home safely. Would you like to come in for a few minutes?"

"Sure," Gau said, not sure what Strago said by few minutes. He walked into the house behind Strago. As usual, his house was super clean. Gau didn't know how an man that old could keep the entire house clean.

At that moment, Gau was suddenly thirsty. Before going to see Relm, he went into the kitchen to get a glass of water. After gulping it down and then another, he felt satisfied. He then went upstairs.

Gau knocked on Relm's door. He heard some shuffling around and then an annoyed voice. "Come in."

He opened the door to see Relm with a frown. When she realized who was there, she immediately smiled. "GAU! You're back! Finally! What took you so long? And why did you knock? You know you never have to knock on my door," Relm said so quickly that Gau almost didn't understand.

"I'm sorry for taking so long. I was thirsty when I got here so I had to get a drink. As for why I knocked, I don't know. I just felt like I should. It's weird," Gau explained.

"Well, I'm glad that you're here. Do you know how boring this place is without you?" Relm asked.

"Well, no. No, I don't. Guess it's because I'm never here when I leave so, I can't," Gau joked.

"You jerk!" Relm said as she hit his shoulder.

Gau just laughed at her remark and they hugged, the first one for what seemed like years. After they came apart, Relm lid down on her bed and Gau sat beside her.

"So, anything much happen while I was gone?" Gau asked, remembering they had not mentioned Thamasa during the party.

"Just a whole lot of yelling and stuff. Nothing of any importance. Just ignore what I said," Relm said, seeming to regret what she said.

"Huh? Really? Who is it? Want me to do something about it? Teach them a lesson? Anything, you name it," Gau said, getting angry at whoever yelled at the lovely lady on the bed.

"No need to worry about it. It's only Strago. Just Strago and his disapproval of our friendship."

"Strago yelled at you again?" Gau asked with concern.

"You know about him yelling at me?" Relm asked, surprised.

"Um, yeah. I overheard an argument you had with him," Gau admitted.

"You did? That was a private conversa -" Relm yelled at Gau.

Gau cut her off by hugging into her then he explained himself. "I'm sorry for eavesdropping, but I was going downstairs and then I heard my name. I thought I should listen and I still think I should know."

"Lately, hs has been wanting to argue with me. But, you don't have to worry about that. Let's just do something else," Relm said, trying to avoid discussing the arguments.

"If it has something to do with me, I want to know," Gau said. "Please explain what it's all about."

"Well, Strago thinks we are spending too much time together. Just because you're nineteen and I'm fifteen, he thinks that we are closer than just friends. He thinks that we'll make love or something," Relm said as she laughed at that last thought. "Of course, we're just friends, right?"

"Yeah," Gau laughed. He wanted to admit it to her, but it seemed like she didn't feel the same way. She may not hate him for it, but she may feel uncomfortable around him, knowing what is in his mind.

"Is there anything wrong?" Relm asked Gau, noticing a slight frown on his face.

"Uh ... no. Not at all. Just thinking," Gau said, putting on a smile.

"Are you sure? I think I see a fake smile" Relm said.

"No you don't. I'm happy. Really," Gau said with a laugh, trying to shake away the gloom.

"If you say so. I'm there if you ever -" Relm said, but was interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Relm?" Strago called out.

"Yes?" Relm said, annoyed by the interruption.

"I have to go out. I'll be back in a couple of hours. OK? And Gau, you have to leave soon. Don't forget."

"Sure, Gramps."

"I guess," Gau said.

They listened to Strago go downstairs, open the door, and shut it before continuing the conversation.

"As I was saying, I'm here if you ever need me. You can tell me whatever you want," Relm said.

"I know. I appreciate it," Gau said, smiling. Suddenly, he noticed his throat was dry. "Um, I'm a little thirsty. I need another drink. See you in a minute."

"Gau, you're the guest. I'll go get you a drink," Relm smiled, making Gau smile too.

"OK," Gau said as she went out the door.

Gau sat on the bed waiting for Relm to come back with a drink. He started looking around at the walls with several of her best paintings on it. He got up to study some of them closely. "Relm, you do such a good job on your work," Gau said, even though he knew Relm wasn't in the room.

As he turned towards the bed, he caught a glimpse of something under Relm's pillow. It appeared to be a sketchbook. He wondered if she had some other works in the process. He took the slightly worn sketchbook from under the pillow. It was already opened to an unfinished picture of ... Me? Gau thought. The picture itself was half-finished. It had Gau's head and body. Apparently, he was shirtless in the picture. He wondered what the picture was gonna look like when it was finished.

Gau decided to look at the other pictures in the book. He turned to the first picture of maybe about twenty pictures. It was a scenery of an ocean. There were a variety of birds flying around and a pod of whales in the distance. Off to the side were two people sitting on a cliff overlooking the view. He couldn't pick out who they were though.

Gau turned the page and got a surprise. It was a picture of both of them. They were holding each other, kissing. He checked the date that Relm put on most of works. Over a year ago?! Gau thought to himself confused. It was drawn about a month after they had stopped kissing. Does she still want to? Does she fantasize about it? Gau was confused.

Gau turned the next page for another shock. It was a sketch of both of them holding each other. He was kissing Relm's neck while their hands were up the other's shirt. The date was only a few months ago. Can she really feel this way? Maybe it's just inspiration for something else. Maybe it's not even really them, just two people who happen to look like them.

Confused, Gau turned to the next page. This one was more of a shocker than the other two. He was looking at both of them, or the two who seem to look like them, in bed cuddled into each other. They were both covered by blankets so there was no details of their bodies. It seemed they were both nude, or at least shirtless, as he could see bare shoulders. The date on this one was just over a month before he left to go to the Veldt. This is getting weird. Maybe I should ask her. Yeah, that'd be best.

"Gau, I'm back," Relm said as she came into the room. She noticed that Gau had her sketchbook in his hands. Her smile quickly disappeared. "What are you doing?"