Well, here's another one… This story ain't all that complex, all right, so I'm not going to make it more than I planned it to be… Hope you enjoy it some…
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Oh, and in this chapter I KNOW I mix up the movie and the series. You know why? Cuz I feel like it, and it fits! So there! Don't bug me about it, alright?
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Chapter 4: Better Not
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After another unpleasant chasing experience in the market that morning, Gaddes determined that it would be safest to travel through the forest, at least until they got to less-populated towns that were not so volatile in their justice towards the former-Dilandau. He received directions from a pleasant peasant along the major road while Celena stayed in the shadows, basically a short cut past the long curve of the road through the woods, which was exactly what he needed.
Traipsing along the forest with his charge, he hummed an old pirate song to himself in the ever-present silence. After a few minutes, he felt eyes on him, and turned to find Celena's eyebrows upraised with obvious question.
"It's just an old song my dad used to sing to me," he explained. "When he was teaching me to do all that manly-man stuff, you know. Sorry for the singing, I know I ain't got the best voice… my sister's told me that more times than I can remember."
She shrugged as if to say, 'it wasn't so bad,' and brushed hair back from her forehead. It didn't stay for long; it was too short. But the stray bang looked kind of cute on her young face.
"I can't remember all the words, but it isn't that complicated, if I remember right."
Her face questioned him again.
"The words? Let's see… something like…" As his face creased slightly in concentration, he began to sing, " 'We're rascals, scoundrels, villains, and knaves… Drink up, me hearties, yo ho… We're devils and black sheep, really bad eggs… Drink up, me hearties, yo ho… A pirate's life for me…' "
Glancing down at her face, he grimaced at the laughter evident in her blue-green eyes. "Not another word about my singing," he reprimanded gruffly. Her mouth stretched in an even wider grin, and he corrected, "Or expression. Whatever. No more."
She crossed her arms in a sarcastic 'whatever you say' motion.
Their 'conversation' ceased for the moment, and Gaddes tried his hardest to refrain from humming any more, so as to avoid any sort of amusement on her behalf. Once noon hit, he suggested they pause for a moment to rest. Easily, she agreed.
He pulled out the bread and wine he'd hastily purchased that morning and split it between them. Unsurprisingly, they ate in silence.
Gaddes leaned back for a moment, basking in the sun. "Let's not go just yet," he grunted. "I dunno about you, but I'm not used to walking for so long… and it's not like we have to be back by a certain time. No rush."
He closed his eyes for a moment, until a rapid tapping on his shoulder made him look up into Celena's eager face. She was motioning somewhere to his left with energetic movements, wanting him to follow her. Sighing to himself, he followed the girl for a few minutes as she led them to a sparkling river, glistening blue in the bright sunlight.
"You want to swim?" he asked dumbly.
Nodding her head happily, she kicked off her shoes and began wading into the water.
"Wait… what about your dress?"
She turned back towards him, her dress already soaked halfway up her thighs, shrugging carelessly. She smiled coquettishly, and again motioned for him to join her.
He crossed his arms slightly. "I don't know about that," he said dubiously. "Aren't there rules against swimming right after eating?"
She pleaded childishly with him to join her in the water.
Ruing the day he lost his ability to resist the girl, he took off the chest armor and removed his vest and shirt. Pulling off his boots, he glanced back up to find Celena had already totally submerged under the water. She looked like some kind of water nymph, frolicking in the river as if she had been born there.
Hesitantly, he approached the water, walking in to mid-thigh before stopping abruptly. "I don't know what you're thinking, woman, but this water is bloody freezing!" His hope that the water would warm as it got deeper would obviously remain unfulfilled.
She laughed, a crystalline sound that drifted across the water and embraced his ears. Standing dumb at the sound, he barely noticed when Celena once again dipped below the surface. Still hearing her laugh echo in his mind, he was brought back to reality as slender arms abruptly yanked his feet from beneath him, sending him crashing full-bodied into the frigid water. He burst to the surface almost immediately with a yelp, blinking the water away to find a gleeful Celena standing a few feet from him.
"Oh, now you've done it," he growled vengefully at her, a predatory look entering his eyes.
She dove back under the water again, swimming away from him.
Following her in hot pursuit, Gaddes was brought up short by a vicious splash that she sent his way. He wiped at his eyes, looking under his lashes at her. She approached him again, thinking he was still blinded from the spray, when he leaped out toward her with a roar. Squealing, she tried her best to get away, but found she was too sluggish in the water to avoid his capture. They both went under the water, Gaddes wrestling to pin her in place, Celena still wriggling in an attempt to get out. Absently, his mind noticed that he could feel the silky softness of her skin. She pushed at his chest under the water, turning to try and kick herself away. He readjusted his hold on her, and could've sworn his hand brushed against her breast just for a hazy moment. He pulled them both to the surface, gasping for air, not relinquishing his hold on her. Celena turned halfway in his grasp, her laughing face tilted up towards him.
Gaddes looked down at her, and felt a strange twinge in his gut. That porcelain face… those adorable lips…
A sudden burst of water to his eyes again stalled his ardor, and he abruptly released Celena in reflex.
She quickly moved away from him, still grinning in triumph.
All he could do was look at her for one long moment. Too much, too fast, too soon. What in the world was he doing, thinking of making out with Allen's little sister?
Although looking at her standing in the water, cheeks flushed and eyes bright, with a dark concealing dress clinging to every curve, Gaddes couldn't help but think of her as anything but little.
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After a few more minutes of tamer playing in the water, Gaddes could take the cold no longer. They both trudged up a small hill and lay in the sunshine, drying off.
"This is much better," Gaddes said, still reeling inside from the weird moment in the stream. "Warmth…"
She laughed lightly next to him.
"I don't know what you find so appealing about swimming around in ice, little one, but as for me, I'd just as soon not freeze my butt off."
He offered his shirt to her as a pillow for her head, and she accepted graciously. He contented himself with propping his head on his hands.
A soft humming voice came from his side, and he listened to the song it sang for a minute or so, feeling somehow calmed by the pure sound. It faded away into the breeze, but Gaddes was still captivated by the melody.
"What's that from?" he asked, turning on his side to look at her.
She lay a healthy distance from him, close enough to talk to, far enough to avoid physical contact. Her lashes lay on her now-pink cheeks, and she shrugged.
"You don't remember at all?"
"I don't remember where," she said quietly. "Only that I heard it once, not so long ago, from someone named Sora…"
He raised his eyebrows. That was the longest sentence he'd ever heard her utter. In fact, he thought it was the only full sentence he'd ever heard her utter. "So, you can speak."
"So can you, I've noticed."
The corner of his mouth raised in his lop-sided grin. "Touché. You certainly know how to put me in my place, little one."
She turned her head towards him, a curling blonde lock falling over her eyebrow. "Someone has to." Celena smiled impishly at him.
He chuckled. "You should speak more often. Why don't you?"
Her face grew serious again. Turning away from him, she looked upwards at the clouds that danced across the sky. "Why do I need to?"
"Everyone's worried about you, for one thing."
She didn't respond.
"They think that you might become Dilandau again, or that you're not… entirely yourself."
"I'm not."
He frowned. "What do you mean? Dilandau is still in your mind?"
She shook her head.
"Well then, what is it? Do you feel sort of… psychopathic… sometimes?"
Celena shook her head again.
"Then what's wrong?"
Yet again, she was hiding within the silent shell she had painstakingly erected between herself and everything else.
He let out a breath of mild irritation. "So what, you have the skills Dilandau had, but not the personality?"
She hesitated for a moment, and then said, "I guess you could put it that way."
"Really?" he said, surprised. "You mean I got it?"
His reaction made her smile again. "You're more perceptive than you realize, you know."
"Nah. It only seems that way 'cause I made a lucky guess."
She winked at him. "I highly doubt that."
"You doubting my luck?"
Her eyes said it all.
"I suppose you're right," he conceded. "After all, your problems only began once you joined me, and they certainly haven't improved all that much."
She clearly agreed with that assertion.
"But don't get all high and mighty on me, sweetheart," he reprimanded jokingly. "If you weren't so damn noticeable in a crowd, maybe we would've had an easier time hiding from those guys."
The twinkle in her gaze made him think back over what he said. Holy crap, did I just admit she was 'noticeable'? Out loud? Since when had he stopped thinking of her as the gawky younger sister of Allen and started seeing her as some mysterious, desirable creature? I didn't say how she was noticeable, he reassured himself weakly. Maybe she didn't take it that way...
Although with the way she continued to smile, he highly doubted that.
"Well, I don't know about you, but I feel dry enough to keep going," he said quickly, wincing from the brief vertigo that assaulted his head from the haste in which he stood.
Looking curiously up at him, but not offering argument, she followed him to where they had left their packs and dutifully walked beside him further through the forest.
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"Look just ahead," Gaddes said, pointing towards the road that they could see through the forest. "It's an inn." He turned to her with a wry smile. "It's getting dark, and I don't know about you, little one, but I really would rather sleep in a bed tonight."
She nodded enthusiastically, smiling up at him.
"We'll just have to find a way to disguise your face somewhat… or at least, keep your head down. Try to remain inconspicuous."
A slender eyebrow lifted. Duh.
He'd since gotten used to her silent replies again. In fact, she was right in a little way… she didn't always have to speak to let her intentions be known. "Here." He handed her his pinkish-shaded shirt. "Why don't you wear this over your dress? Maybe that'll be enough for tonight, so long as you're not within people's sight for long."
Pulling it on, she rolled the sleeves up so that they didn't hang five inches past her fingertips.
He put his vest on without the shirt, and turned to gauge her opinion. "Does it look okay?"
The look in her eyes said it all. You look ridiculous.
"Well, would you rather I walk around without anything on?"
Her cheeks turned a faint pink color, similar to the shirt she was now wearing, and she shook her head. "Better not," she said with amusement.
Smiling to himself at the sound of her voice, they walked for the few more minutes until they arrived at the inn. "Now, remember, I'll do the talking."
She bit her lip, obviously holding in a chuckle.
He rolled his eyes slightly, belatedly remembering just how often she spoke. "Just… keep your head down."
She nodded easily, still silently laughing at him. Despite her mirth, her eyes seemed somewhat dull to him.
The inn was clean, neat, and empty of extraneous visitors, which Gaddes found to be relieving. The less people around to see Celena, the better. A pleasantly plump woman bustled about, sweeping the floor (which looked immaculately clean). She glanced up to see who had entered.
"Oh, hello, sir!" she said cheerfully. "How may I help you?"
"I'd like a room for myself and my – ah – sister. We've been traveling all day, and she's not feeling all that well." He glanced to Celena, finding her with her head down and arms wrapped around herself. She certainly looked tired.
"No problem at all, sir. Business has been slow today – it's not really a travel day, you know – so we most certainly have a room for you and the little dear. Let me talk to my husband."
Gaddes nodded. "Thanks, ma'am."
In no time the proprietor of the establishment, a stocky man named Reimann, appeared to negotiate a price with Gaddes. He was very fair, and in no time an agreement was reached.
"I'll just take my sister to her room now, so she can rest," Gaddes said, leading Celena to the room pointed out to them.
The room had, as requested, two separate beds and a window. Night had fully cast it's concealing blanket on Gaea, and little stars twinkled brightly in the vast expanse. Celena sat on one of the beds with a quiet sigh. Obviously she hadn't been faking the tiredness, and he wondered how he had missed it before.
"You want me to get you some food or something?" he asked her gently.
She nodded a little.
"Any preference?"
A small shake of the head.
"Alright then…"
Exiting the room, he found the lady of the establishment – Marabelle. "Excuse me, ma'am, but would you happen to have soup or anything I could bring to my sister?"
"Certainly!" she chirped. "I have some beef stew over the fire right now."
"Thanks," he said gratefully. "Oh, and… this may seem like an odd request…"
Marabelle raised her eyebrows much the way Celena always did when she wanted him to continue with what he was saying.
"My sister's things were taken from her along the trip, and she doesn't have much to wear…so would you know of anywhere I could purchase some things for her?"
"Purchase? You don't need to do that! Why, my daughter left some of her things here last time she stayed, and I know she wouldn't mind at all if your sister were to make use of them. Must be about the same size, too, I'd wager. Poor little thing, that one with you. She looked nearly dead on her feet."
Gaddes shifted from one foot to another. "Honestly, ma'am, I don't mind paying for the clothes." He felt guilty about accepting charity, especially when he didn't particularly need it.
"Nonsense!" She dragged him over to the kitchen. "She reminds me far too much of my own daughter to charge. Here, let me give you a bowl of soup for your sister, and I'll bring the clothes first thing in the morning."
He was taken aback by her generosity, but could find no other protest against the persuasive woman.
After a quick warm meal and a cheery 'Goodnight' from Marabelle, he brought the soup into their room, only to find Celena had already passed out on her bed, without even covering herself or removing his shirt. Smiling slightly to himself, he set the soup beside her on the table, and gently pulled the covers from beneath her body. She didn't appear to have woken from his attentions. Covering her snugly with the warm blankets, he planted a brief, chaste kiss on her forehead and said jokingly, "Dream of me."
Being tired himself, he quickly blew out the candle and lay in his own bed to drift asleep, but not before he heard a faint voice answer him…
"Better not."
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Yeah, so, hope you liked it some… And yes, again, I know Sora was in the movie and not necessarily the series… but technically, she could've been in the series in some form and we just never heard of her, right? There's nothing to say she wasn't… so therefore… since it suits my purpose… there it is.
The ideas continue to flow, but still no sure time of the next update… though no one's reviewing… so either everyone's on vacation, or no one wants to read this, or all the people who love VH pairings don't pull this up or something…
But oh well. I do this for my own pleasure, really. The reviews just give me encouragement. Feel free to drop me a line.
Anyway, til I next write again.
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