As Nicholas loosened Victoria's harness, the exhausted horse trotted over to the nearby stream and flopped down on the grass.

Nicholas let out a laugh. "Never seen a horse do that before."

"That's because she's never had me at her reigns," Senjo said, smiling proudly.

"You've got that right," he laughed, sitting down at the edge of the stream.

She smiled and walked over to her friend, playfully plucking the feathered hat off his head and placing it atop her own.

"So, where are you going this time?" Nicholas asked.

"Huh?"

"You always leave on a boat when you go to port. Where are you bound to?"

Senjo shrugged and plopped down beside him. "I'm not sure yet. Hopefully I can find a ship headed toward the Caribbean or somewhere tropical like that," she said as the hat's brim fell over her eyes.

"Will you come back?" Nicholas asked, pulling up the hat so that he could look into her eyes.

"Of course. Then next time you can ship out with me! We'll have great adventures!" she exclaimed.

"Always looking for a new adventure, eh Sen?" he laughed.

Senjo smiled and nodded. "Of course."

He laughed and shook his head. "I'll miss you when you leave. But at least it'll be a lot quieter," she said jokingly as he took his hat back.

She laughed and playfully hit his shoulder.

Nicholas smiled. "But I'm serious." As he spoke, he pulled out a leather string necklace that had been tucked inside his shirt. A bit of wire wrapped around a cream shark's tooth hung on the end. Nicholas grinned as he pulled the necklaze off. "Do you remember that day at the beach? When we found this?"

Senjo laughed and nodded. "Yes. We were love sick teenagers then."

Nicholas smiled. "How old were we?"

"I was 14, so that made you... 16."

He nodded and ran his thumb over the smooth tooth. "Do you remember that vow we made?" he asked, a misty fondness of the past in his voice.

Senjo let out a small laugh, half hoping he was bringing this up as a joke. "We vowed that we would marry when we were older."

Nicholas smiled at her softly. "There's a few men in the village who have had their eye on you Sen."

She blushed a bright red. Memories of their childhood suddenly filled her head. They had fallen in love when they were young and Senjo had thought that they had both grown out of it. Could Nicholas still be harboring those fellings for her?

"Senjo, I don't want to forget that vow we made, but I want to make it stronger," he continued.

"Nicholas... You don't mean--" He put a finger to her lips to silence her. His touch sent shivers through Senjo's body. Whether they were good or bad, she couldn't tell.

He took her hand in his. "Senjo, you have been my best friend."

Senjo gulped. What did he mean by all this?

He took the necklace and placed it into her palm. "I give you this as a vow. I swear that we will be the closest of friends for the rest of our lives."

Senjo let out a sigh of relief. Good. He didn't still have those feelings. She smiled softly at him.

"We can make that offical." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small knife.

"Are you serious? You know it'll hurt," Nicholas laughed.

She nudged his arm. "You know I'm not like those little glass doll girls back at the village."

He nodded. "You're right. Let's do it."

As she held the knife close to her palm, Senjo smiled at Nicholas.

"You might not want ot get that bloody," he stated, nodding to the necklace in her hand. He took it from her and placed it about her neck.

Senjo smiled down at the shark tooth and then up at Nicholas. "Well, here goes nothing."

With one quick slash of the knife, a gash of red appeared on her palm.

Nicholas grinned at her as he took the knife. "Not in pain are you?" he teased.

"Just hush and cut yourself," she said as she playfully nudged his shin with her foot.

He laughed and ran the blade over his palm. Nicholas set down the knife and held up his hand. Senjo smiled and pressed her palm against his. Nicholas weaved his fingers between hers and gave her hand a light squeeze. Senjo winced slightly, but she was careful not to show any signs of weakness.

After about a minutes of keeping their hands together, Senjo pulled her hand away. She looked down at her palm. Both of their blood was smeared on her hand.

She jumped as she heard the sound of fabric ripping. She looked over at Nicholas as he pulled the last scrap of cloth from the hem of his shirt. He dipped the two pieces of fabric into the stream.

"Come here," he said softly, beckoning her toward him.

Senjo moved closer and held out her bloody hand. Nicholas wrapped the scrap about her palm and tied it tight. Senjo shivered at the coolness of the water, but it did feel wonderful on her skin.