A/N: yay! 7 reveiws! (is happy) ok, there's a couple things I wanted to say befor the next cappie, so here they are!

M-python-girl: Oh, don't worry. she won't fall for Erol THAT easily. I've got something up my sleeve for later, though, so don't worry!

Every Heart Bleeds: I know I answered a chapter too late... but that because I upload several chapters a day, and by the time I caught your question... well, you get the picture. Sorry about that...

Ok, now for chapter 14!

Chapter 14

After a long night of fitful sleep, the sun was coming up. The only one awake was Uncle Torn, as always. Doesn't he EVER sleep more than four hours? I was still thinking about that kiss. And that's what prevented me from sleeping. I finally just gave up and decided to go to the lake for a while. If I can get past Uncle Torn, that is. I quietly pulled my boots on, grabbed my sword and my gun, and left the room.

To my surprise, Uncle Torn was asleep at his desk. Oh brother…Well, at least I could make a clean get away now. I snuck outside and walked a little while before I finally grabbed a parked zoomer and sped off towards the forest. My driving skills hadn't improved much since last night. I guess it was because I was still distracted with the events of last night. After he'd kissed me, he said something about the forest. What I was looking for would be there. But… what was I looking for? Besides a way to get back to Spargus- hold it. He knows, doesn't he? But I've never told anyone about getting home, except maybe Dawn and dad… this makes no sense.

Finally I reached my secret spot again. I put my sword and gun down, along with everything else (not including my clothes, of course) and dove in. The cool water was refreshing. I stayed under the water for a minute, and then surfaced, exhaling, and inhaling deeply. I just floated on my back like I normally did for a few hours, watching the sun come up slowly in the smoggy sky. The entire time I just thought about last night…. And then my communicator went off.

I reluctantly swam back to shore to respond to the call, who ever it was. I sighed and pushed the talk button.

"Yes?" I said.

"Jakie, it's me! Dawn," the voice on the other side, answered. I swiched my communicator into hover mode so it was just float above me and kicked back out towards the center of the lake.

"What's up, Dawn?" I asked.

"Jakie…" there was a brief silence, "You're not acting right. I want to know what's up with you." I yawned.

"I don't think you want to know, Dawn…"

"Yes, I do, Jakie. We're pals, remember?" I sighed. "Come on, Jakie, what happened last night?"

"Are you alone?" I asked.

"Yeah. Everyone else is still asleep. I'm on Jak's communicator right now," she answered. I sighed again. She really wanted to know. And she WAS my best friend in the universe, after all… so I told her. I told her everything there was to tell, except for the kiss. I made sure to leave that part out. She didn't seem all too stunned about it, and that was a good thing, I guess.

"But… why would Erol be helping you? I though the hated you," Dawn said. I shrugged.

"I don't know. But it's really our only lead right now." There was a brief silence.

"Jakie, you're hiding something, aren't you?" she demanded. Uh oh… she was on to me. Curse her knowing me so damn well…

"No…" I lied.

"Jakie…" she replied threateningly.

"Alright, alright…" I admitted.

"So… out with it!" I sighed again. Well… here goes nothing.

"Erol kissed me last night," I said as clearly as I could. There was nothing but silence for a long time before Dawn finally decided to speak up again.

"Are you serious, Jak?" I nodded.

"Dead serious. The guy is either in love with me, or he's trying to seduce me into trusting him. I hope that's not what he's doing. After all, he is handsome, at least in my opinion. And to be completely honest about the kiss… I liked it." More silence.

"So what are you going to do now?" Dawn asked quietly. Good question… that's kind of why I'm here in the first place. I needed a quiet place to think this whole thing out…

"I'm not sure. But I think I'm going to look for whatever he was talking about," was my brief reply.

"Alrighty then. I guess I'll see you when I see you, Jakie." I smiled.

"Ok. See you later, Dawn. And one more thing… don't tell anyone about any of this. I really don't want to explain myself to the family. And… I don't want Uncle Torn to jump down my throat about it."

"You can count on me, Jakie." Then we both turned off our communicators. There was something I hadn't told her. I hadn't told her how I was planning to see if Erol was serious about me, or if her was just trying to probe my mind. I was going to sneak into the palace and find out for myself. It was a suicide mission, but you know what they say: Curiosity killed the cat. The whole thing was going to drive me crazy until I found out what Erol was up to… And weather anyone else liked it or not, I intended to find out tonight.