Star Crossed, chapter 5


And so Yasopp found himself up bright and early the next morning, waiting outside the cottage. A good night's sleep in a real bed had felt wonderful, and as he washed his face with cool water at the well, he sighed happily.

"This is a pretty nice place," he thought aloud, "Pretty trees... pretty flowers... pretty..."

Just then, Bankiina stepped outside, carrying a basket. She was wearing a lovely green dress, with a white apron. Her dark wavy hair had been tied up into a knot at the nape of her neck, but the ends were already tumbling out, in little tendrils. They framed her pale face perfectly. He swallowed.

Pretty... girl.

"What did you say?" she asked, her hair falling softly around her face.

"Um..." Yasopp stuttered. "I said, uh, the view is pretty, here on the hill."

"Oh." She turned around, looking across the rolling hills, down to the ocean. "I've always thought so, too."

He watched her blue eyes become faraway and dreamy, as she gazed out to sea. The breeze stirred her hair slightly.

"Do you like the sea?" He asked, feeling a little shy, in spite of the fact that he was the future world famous pirate gunner, Yasopp the Great.

Kiina nodded, her face distant. "Mm-hmm."

"I do too," he agreed.

The two stood there for quite a while, watching the endless blue.

Yasopp finally found his voice again. "Well, shall we go? Miss Bankiina?"

She nodded, and smiled softly. "You can call me Kiina. Everyone else does."

They walked along a wooded path, and the trees became thicker and thicker as they went. To Yasopp's relief, Kiina seemed more carefree than she had been before. She swung her basket lightly with the pace of her steps.

"You know," she said suddenly, "You never told me your name."

"It's Yasopp." he replied, shaking his head. "I know, I know, it's weird."

"No..." her tone was soft, as she shook her head. "I think it's lovely. Yasopp-san."

Yasopp felt his nineteen-year-old face grow very warm all of a sudden. His name had never sounded so sweet before. "I like yours too," he admitted, his voice hoarse.

He saw her pale cheeks flush happily. "Thank you," she smiled, shyly.

Birds flew by overhead, twittering. Yasopp looked around, enjoying all of the nature. Lately he had only seen dirty port town after port town, and the expanse of the sea. All of the trees and leaves and plants felt very nice. He let out a happy sigh.

"It must be nice, living here," he commented.

"It is," she agreed. "But I wish sometimes, I could travel just a little bit."

"Hmm..." Yasopp stared off into the distance. "Where would you go?"

Kiina laughed lightly. "You know, I have no idea! But I would go somewhere very exciting."

"Exciting usually means, dangerous." He eyed the young lady's slight frame and pallid complexion.

She sighed, looking down at her hands. "I know. That's the problem. I'm not exactly cut out for travel, am I? But..." Kiina smiled to herself. "There's always books."

"Sometimes stories are better than the real thing," Yasopp laughed. "And much less messy."

Kiina giggled. "That's probably true. I love a good story."

He found himself grinning. "Me, too."



They had begun climbing a steep upward slope, and out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of his frail companion struggling for breath. He stopped. "Miss... Kiina? Are you all right?"

She waved him away, embarrassed. "I-I'm fine... I just... well..."

"We can stop."

"No... I..."

"Let's stop." Yasopp guided her off of the path, over to a fallen log. He helped her sit, then sat down beside her.

Kiina tried to catch her breath. Yasopp watched, wondering what to do.

Finally her labored breathing eased. "I'm sorry," she murmured, sounding timid.

"It's all right," he assured her. "You look kind of pale. Can I get you anything?"

Kiina shook her head sadly. "I'm always that way." Her shoulders sagged. "I've always been kind of weak."

Yasopp grinned. "Oh yeah? Tell that one to my head!" He pointed to the bump from the day before. "Call that weak?"

The girl laughed. "Wow... I got you pretty good, didn't I?" She patted the bump gently. "I'm sorry, Yasopp-san. I really wish I was more ladylike sometimes."

He chuckled. "I think you're perfect."

Kiina blinked. "What?"

Yasopp caught himself. "Um, what I mean to say is, I think your aim, is perfect."

She smiled sheepishly. "Thanks."

"Ready to go on?"

Kiina nodded. "I think so."

"We'll take it nice and slow." Yasopp offered her his arm. "You can lean on me a little bit if you need to."

"Oh, no!" she sounded very embarrassed. "I couldn't."

"I'd rather you did. I don't want you to get tired out too early." He smiled, placing her hand on his arm for her, since she was obviously too shy to do so herself. Suddenly he felt very gallant. "Your Papa will be very angry with me if any harm came to you, I'm sure."

"Oh, Papa." Kiina shook her head. "Not him. He just can't wait to see me leave."

"Hold on-- Are we talking about the same man?" Yasopp joked. "I mean the guy who lives in that little house at the top of the hill, the one who obviously adores you."

Kiina blushed. "Papa?"

"He seems to really want you to be happy," Yasopp observed, looking up into the sky. "You're a lucky girl."

She pouted. "If that's true, then he needn't act like he's trying to auction me off to the highest bidder." Her voice had a tinge of bitterness.

Yasopp smirked. "Well, with such a cute daughter, who wouldn't?"

Kiina stumbled over her own feet. "What did you say?!"

"Huh?" Yasopp turned bright red. "I mean... um... with the well full of water... he couldn't."

She stared at the boy holding her arm. "......."

Yasopp gulped hard. She continued to stare at him. He felt like she could see right through him. He was about to apologize and beg for her mercy, realizing that there was no way she could have misheard what he had said.

"Miss Kiina..."

"Yasopp-san..." Her poor, pale features were terrified. Suddenly he felt like the biggest jerk in the world, for the second day in a row.

But she pointed. "Behind you...!"

Yasopp turned slowly and realized the source of the terror. For behind him... was... a pack of bears! One of the bears let out a terrifying roar, and Bankiina screamed, frightened.

"Miss Kiina! Run! I'll handle this!" Yasopp drew his gun.

But the frail girl seemed unable to move. She cowered behind him, her knees shaking.

The largest of the bears reared back on it hind legs, and lunged forward. Yasopp aimed his gun...

BANG!

He heard her scream again, from behind him.

The bear looked up at its left ear, where the bullet had taken a nick out of the edge. It touched its paw to the ear, and suddenly began to cry, running away in fear. Yasopp reloaded and fired another shot into the air, scaring off the rest of the bears.

The pack turned tail and ran away, crashing through the underbrush.

Yasopp blew the smoke from the barrel, the way he had always wanted to, and put the gun away, feeling incredibly cool. He turned around to see his dark-haired companion crouched on the ground. "Miss Kiina? Are you all right?"

Kiina's lower lip trembled. "I-I think so." A single tear slipped down her ivory cheek.

Yasopp knelt down next to her. "It's okay now. They're gone."

Another tear. And another.

"Hey, hey..." Yasopp waved his hands, "Aw... come on now... I can't stand to see a pretty girl cry."

Kiina blinked sadly, her dark lashes making her tears splash across her cheeks.

"I meant you!" he confessed. "Don't cry."

She looked back at the boy's tanned face. He looked so honest. That was the worst, the scariest part. He wasn't lying, and she could tell. She swallowed hard.

Yasopp reached up slowly and wiped the tears from her eyes. "There now. Just take a deep breath..."

She obeyed.

"Feel better?"

She nodded.

"Good..." His voice had softened to almost a whisper.

"Why?" She dared to ask.

"Because..." Yasopp's face was suddenly very, very close to hers. "I want you to be smiling when I kiss you."



Kiina's gasp of surprise was cut off by his lips pressing against hers. Her eyes shot wide open, and she felt her face flush from her neck all the way to the very tips of her ears. At first she thought she should pull away, but his hand at the back of her head prevented that.

After a few more seconds, she found she didn't mind at all.

And after even a few more seconds, she was returning his kiss eagerly.



When they finally came up for air, they both felt extremely shy.

"Yasopp-san..." Bankiina whispered.

"I should get you home," Yasopp looked away, rubbing the back of his neck. "It's late. Your father will be worried."

"Um, Yasopp-san? It's not even noon yet." She pointed to the sky.

"I-I know!" Yasopp nodded. "He said we should be back by noon, I thought."

"He said suppertime." Kiina sweatdropped. "And we were supposed to get berries, remember?"

"Oh, right!" Yasopp took Kiina's basket and headed over to the berry bushes. "Allow me."

"Wait, you don't know how to pick good pie berries..."

"Well, come show me, then," he grinned, playful.

"Wait up.....!" She skipped along after him.



******


Paolo was waiting outside for them when they returned. Bankiina caught the twinkle in her father's eye, and immediately felt bashful. She couldn't bear to look at him. She and Papa could practically read each other's minds.

Could he read this? This... weird, fluttery feeling? Did Papas know about that kind of thing?

No, surely he wouldn't. He couldn't. It must be all her imagination anyway. Surely, it had nothing to do with the tall, tanned, incredibly nice young man with the roguish grin beside her. Or his eyes...

Which she dreamt of that night as she slept...

Warm and soft like cinnamon and honey... and his kiss... sweet like brown sugar...