CHAPTER 5

For The Greater Good Of Fina

The week had gone too fast for Daniel's liking. It had only seemed like yesterday that they had left Valua, when in fact they had only just departed from Nasrad and were making the final run to Crescent Isle.

The Captain was fidgety, relentlessly moving in his chair.

Fina was now constantly in his thoughts and mind. They had spoken very little to each other since their conversation at the start of the voyage, a good morning here, a hello there. In fact probably the longest sentence that either of them had managed to piece together was when the Captain insisted that a bodyguard go with her when she wanted to do a bit of window shopping in Nasrad.

To his surprise she actually bought him something. It was a small, wooden model of the Delphinus, complete with stand. She said that it had been hand carved and that she had been given it for free, seeing that she was one of the people who had saved Arcadia.

He finally gave up sitting down and walked over to the front of the Bridge, and glared out to the horizon.

Why couldn't he get her out of his head? It was true he liked her, but only as a friend, nothing more. He couldn't love again, he just couldn't. not after the way he felt after he thought he lost Piastol.

He suddenly lost control and pounded the wall next to him, as if it would make him feel better.

It didn't.

Suddenly he felt the ship shudder beneath him, before coming to a complete stop.

He looked up and stared back at the man at the helm, which happened to be Marco.

"Mr. Marco? Why have we stopped?"

"Because I don't know about you sir, But me and the rest of the crew are getting pretty hacked off about this thing between you and Fina."

"What happens between Fin...Miss Silvairian and myself is none of your business, Mr. Marco, Now resume our course before I have you removed from the bridge."

Marco glared at the captain with a glint in his eyes.

"No."

Daniel stared at his Helmsmen in disbelief. No one had ever disobeyed his orders, no one.

"Very well," he said calmly"Miss Navada, please have Mr. Marco escorted off the bridge."

Catherine Navada said nothing but folded her arms.

"Marco has a point sir. Ever since she's come aboard you and her have constantly been trying to avoid each other. every time one of us talks about one of you while the other is in earshot, you go red. We're all getting very tired of this Captain. If you don't go and find her RIGHT NOW, then this ship isn't going anywhere."

Daniel stared at her, then from one person to the other. Each one now had taken their hands off the console in front of them and was facing him, arms crossed.

"Are you crazy! You know this is the end of your careers!"
"Yeah we know" Said Marco quietly"But if you don't tell her how you feel about her, you'll regret it."

The Captain gawked at him.

"This Is Insane!" He yelled, "There's no way in the six moons that I love her! She doesn't love me! I know she doesn't! She can..."

At that moment, Catherine lost her rag.

She stormed up to the captain with daggers in her eyes, before promptly slapping him round the face...hard.

"NOW YOU LISTEN HERE DANIEL MACKENZIE!" she screamed, "WE ALL KNOW WHAT YOU WENT THROUGH AFTER THE RAINS FELL! BUT YOUR NOT THE ONLY PERSON TO HAVE LOST FRIENDS AND FAMILY! ALMOST EVERYONE ON THIS SHIP LOST SOMEONE, BUT DO YOU SEE ANYONE MOPING AROUND? NO! WE'VE ALL GOT ON WITH OUR LIVES! WE'VE COME TO TERMS WITH IT! YOUR PROBABLY THE ONLY INTELLIGENT BEING IN VALUA THAT'S ACTUALLY STILL MOURNING. THE WAR WAS OVER FIVE YEARS AGO DANIEL. THIS IS YOUR CHANCE TO START OVER. SHE LOVES YOU DANIEL, YES YOU! WHEN WE WERE IN NASRAD, SHE COULD OF GIVEN THAT MODEL OF THE DELPHINUS TO ANYONE, BUT SHE DIDN'T. SHE GAVE IT TO YOU! AND DO YOU KNOW WHY DANIEL? BECAUSE SHE THOUGHT YOU WOULD LIKE HER BETTER BECAUSE OF IT! SHE TOLD ME SO! AND DO YOU KNOW ANOTHER THING ABOUT THAT SAME MODEL? YOU DIDN'T THROW IT OUT, YOU'VE GOT IT ON YOUR DESK! AND ONE MORE THING, I KNOW FOR A FACT, THAT SHE'S THE ONLY PERSON WHOSE MADE YOU SMILE IN YEARS! YOU HAVEN'T SMILED ONCE SINCE THE CRYSTALLINE WAR AND THAT WAS FIVE YEARS AGO! WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT DANIEL, WHETHER IT GOES AGAINST ALL YOUR OWN RULES AND REGULATIONS, YOU LOVE HER AND SHE...LOVES...YOU!"

She finally paused for breath, allowing the captain to take in what she had just said. She glanced out the front window and noticed that Fina was on the front deck, gazing out in the direction of the speck that was Crescent Isle.

"Now Captain, I suggest you get your sorry ass down to the front deck and tell her how you feel 'cos God help you Daniel, your gonna have to deal with a lot more than just a ship full of fed up soldier, your gonna have deal with me...sir."

The Captain smirked at her last remark, before glancing down at Fina.

"Dammit Catherine when your right, your right," he sighed.

"Damm right I'm right sir" she said with a smile"she loves you captain, and you love her too, your both just too stubborn to admit it."

The captain raised an eyebrow and chuckled slightly as he headed for the door of the bridge.

He paused at the door and looked behind him at everyone.

"I guess we'll skip the Court Martial this time," he said mildly, the he laughed at the look his crew gave him, before heading out of the door to the front deck.

Fina felt the ship slow down and stop suddenly, Crescent Isle still a long way off.

She wondered what had happened and thought about going up to the bridge. Then she thought better about it.

'The captain would not want me to bother him if there was something wrong' she thought too herself

She gazed out at the spec that she used to call home. She wasn't sure if she could truly live there anymore. She knew that Vyse and Aika would both marry each other eventually, and she just couldn't bear to think about living with that. They would kiss and hug, in a way that she hoped Vyse would have done.

They would always be her friends, but maybe she would take Enrique up on his offer. She could live in Valua, and come visit them whenever she wanted. As Captain Mackenzie had told her,

"Should you decide to stay with them, then I will leave and you may never hear from me again. If you wish to leave, then my orders are to take you to Valua, or to any other place you want to go."

To any other place she wanted to go. So that meant she didn't have to stay in Valua, she could perhaps ask the Captain if she could take her to Yafutoma, and live with Daigo, or perhaps she could go to Esperanza, where she could find Don, and the New Esperanzan Navy...or perhaps...she could stay onboard the Delphinus...with Captain Daniel Mackenzie...No, he wouldn't allow it, besides, she would need a reason, and she didn't have one.

She had given him the model in the hope he would like it. All he had done was give a small thank you, before picking up the model and heading to his quarters.

From what seemed like a long distance away, she heard the sound of the door leading back into the ship open with a creak, before closing again

"Probably one of the crew, coming to either inform me of the problem or to clean the deck." she thought to herself.

She heard the sound of footsteps come up behind her, only to stop a few paces behind her.

She felt a familiar presence behind her. A strong presence.

"Greeting Miss...Hey, Fina."

She turned around and almost gasped in surprise.

Daniel closed the door lightly behind him and looked out to Fina, who stood on the opposite end of the deck. She gazed out towards Crescent Isle, a look of worry crossing over her face, her petite form frames by the dying light of the sunset, the wind brushing her blond hair underneath her blue bandana. Daniel stood there in awe, he realise he had never set eyes on a more prettier person.

The captain sighed and walked over to her, stopping to make sure there was a large space in-between them.

He closed his eyes, counted to tan, and finally spoke up.

"Greetings Miss...Hey, Fina."

He saw her tense and look around at him in wonder.

"You...you just called me by my first name?" she said, her eyes wide.

The Captain looked off to the side, taking off his hat as he did so.

"Yes I...um..." he looked up at the bridge as if to say 'I don't want to do this' but all he got was Catherine Navada staring back at him, hard, arms crossed.

He sighed and looked back at Fina, whose eyes were filled with curiosity.

The Captain seemed uncomfortable, which Fina noted, seemed very unlike him. He stood before her, figuring the brim of his hat, shifting from foot to foot.

"I um...erm...We'll be at Crescent Isle by tomorrow morning," he managed to get out, his eyes looking everywhere but directly into hers.

She looked at him blankly, why was he so nervous around her.

Then a thought suddenly dawned on her. Could he possibly...like her? Is that why he was so nervous? Did he possibly want to tell her, but just couldn't get the words out?

Her heart started to thud against her ribs as she thought about it, and suddenly felt the now familiar heat prick up on her cheeks.

She gazed at the captain, who was looking like a young love-sick man, just aching to tell that special someone how he felt, but couldn't get the words out.

She decided to give him a little push.

"Is there something else you wish to tell me...Captain?" she asked.

The captain looked up from his shoes, a look of alarm on his face and going a cute shade of red.

"No! well...yes. I mean No! no, no, no, no...yes. Yes I guess there is."

He sighed and looked directly into her aquatic green eyes.

She felt her heart skip about five beats as he did so. Was she finally going to bring down the walls around his heart?

"Fina, I...I...I don't know how to say this but...Don't go."

She blinked.

"Excuse me?"

Don't stay on Crescent Isle, please. Please come back to Valua, or at least let me take you to somewhere you want to go. Just please, please don't leave me. I beg you. Don't go."

She stared at him as he looked back down at his shoes.

"I didn't think I'd ever feel this way again," he said to his shoes, "Ever since the Aquila went down...I Swore to myself I would never fall in love again. I put on a brave face, kept smiling, and so the world moved on. Then the Rains hit Valua, killing my friends and family. Like I said, I was devastated. I hated the world...and all who lived in it. Then you came into my life."

He looked up at her, his eyes shining.

"I never did tell you how I found you. I found you...rather ironically I thought...near the wreckage of the Aquila. We took you aboard and I had you taken to my quarters.

Your wounds were superficial, nothing bad. The entire crew realised immediately who you were, so I thought it only prudent for you to use the best quarters in the ship: mine."

Fina looked on. So he had cared, he had cared enough to be brought into his own home. Okay, so it wasn't his actual home, more like his home away from home.

"I stayed by your bedside every night, making sure you were comfortable, hoping you would wake up. When I heard you had woken up I found I didn't want to see you...because I was afraid you wouldn't like me."

She looked at him with wonder, watching the sadness play across his face.

He swallowed and looked into her eyes again.

"Fina...I've never admitted that to anyone. I used to not care how people thought of me, I was just their superior officer, it didn't matter to me. But then you came into my life, and I found myself thinking of you, and what you thought of me."

"What are you trying to say?" she asked, puzzled.

The captain said nothing for a moment, he just took a step forward, closing the gap between them.

"I...I guess what I'm trying to...to say is...I...I...love you."

She felt she could have died of happiness as he said those words. She just wanted to hug him tight and whisper those same three words in his ear, but her mind had other plans.

Without hesitation, as soon as he finished his sentence, she grabbed the lapels of his tunic and bridged the gap between their lips, kissing him passionately.

At first Daniel Didn't know what was happening to him, and he tensed up almost immediately, but as soon as he realised what she was doing, he began to return the kiss, circling his arms around her waist as she moved her hands from his tunic to around his neck.

After about a minute, the two new lovers almost reluctantly broke apart, gazing into each others eyes.

Fina hugged him tightly, not even Vyse had made her feel this way.

"I love you Daniel," she whispered quietly in his ear.

"love you too Fina," Daniel muttered, before planting a line of kisses along her neck.

She closed her eyes in pleasure, before once more forcing his lips against hers.

They continued to kiss each other fervently, each sifting through the others hair, each lost in their own thoughts about each other. Each none the wiser for the crowd that had gathered on the bridge.

Catherine smiled to herself as she watched the two lovers in their passionate embrace.

Marco stood next to her, gazing at the scene with a keen look in his eye.

Everyone had decided to watch the Captain in the end, but now they had to get this ship moving if they were going to reach Crescent Isle.

She slowly sidled up to the engineering console and pressed a small button.

Almost immediately the pressure shutters can down in front of the windows, followed by an audible groan from the front of the ship.

"Come on people, give them some privacy," Catherine said with a grin as the crew reluctantly returned to their stations.

She sat down in the Captain's chair as the pressure shutters once more ascended and the Delphinus continued on her way. She felt happy for the Captain, and for Fina. They both deserved each other, she only hoped, that Vyse would see it that way.