The characters are mostly products of Naughty Dog. The ones that are not, can be used by them if they want to. Blaah blaah... Copyrights, licenses, rights and wrongs, blaah blaah...

Afeenaninganing, awww… Thanks! I thought there was a big plothole for Keira – I put Sig have a pedicure, so why shouldn't Keira have her nails done? I also feel this kind of little things evolve the character without making it a truly OC… I hope! –smile- Good you liked it!

LunarSquirrel, I had fun deciding where to hid the bottles. Unfortunately it turned out to be too heavy for the story telling so I had to shorten the story of the three last bottles. Not literally! –smile again-

Meowen, -gives the head back- I made you love suspense? Wow! You just made my week! Sipuli, Da, Lucius Hip and maestro Kynsilaukka ('maestro Garlic') are kind of alter egoes, parts of my personality. When the four are put together, the equation is me. And oh, Finnish is my native tongue. –blink-

jaklover123, I must say that you might have had an influence to this chapter… -a smiley blinking an eye-

Thank you all for the wonderful reviews! This means a lot to me (and stuff and stuff and periodperiod)!

Sipuli: "Happy birthday to us, happy birthday to us!"

maestro: "One year more."

Da: "EEEEEK! I have an wrinkle!"

maestro: "No, it is just the lighting."

Da: "Whew! I really felt like I was getting a heart attack!"

Lucius: "So say, maestro, if we all are the same age, who are you so ancient and fossilised?"

maestro: -wham-

Lucius: "AAAAAAK! –splat-"

maestro: "Make sure you keep your mouth shut or you will notlive as old as I am!"

Da: "Psst… He is already!"

Sipuli: "Actually no. Maestro is four years old, I'm three, you are two and that running chipmunk is only one year old."

Da: "Well that explains it. Did he beat you too, like he know beats Hip?"

Sipuli: "Of course not. You forget that I can zap him for that. Hip cannot."

maestro: "Ommm…"

6. Who Betrayed & Who?

Weeks had passed. Jak was having already green roots. Keira had been nowhere to be seen. Luda had been crowned as the "entertainer" of Haven. Sun had shined. The circadian within The Ottsel had been formed:

Jak is first one up, having slept a few hours. He goes to kitchen, drinks wumpa juice and eats rye bread with salted roe on it. Then Tess gets up unless she wakes Daxter up and they decide to have some 'upcoming-family time'. But if Tess got up, she'd eat fruit or perhaps wheat bread with cloudberry marmalade. Then she and Jak start cleaning places from the last night. Daxter is the next one, he rushes to kiss his girlfriend and then has his morning drink. Then he joins the cleaning operation with the brushes attached to his paws. When all the tours en l'airs and battement jetés are done and the three sit down to eat some fruit, Torn stumbles in wearing his underwear, drinks a cup of coffee and then limps along back to his room only to return fully clothed. Of course, if he wakes up without Tess screaming to him. Later Tess and Daxter start making food and Jak and Torn talk about things or go to ride around Haven. After having their stomachs filled, they start to make business, Daxter going around the town trying to find a bands or 'entertainers', or meeting people in a spirit of Daxess. Tess going to shopping or meeting her super-secret fashion spies. If Torn's left alone, he can be found from reading or then drawing. Jak's not a good drawer, he could hardly draw a map, but he enjoyed watching Torn make art. He was such talented in it. Sometimes Daxter or Tess bounced up, started screaming and then rushed to upstairs with the other ottsel telling Torn and Jak not to disturb them. Usually they returned with ideas of new clothes for Tester. Sometimes Tess took Torn with her out, so that Jak and Daxter had crazy time driving round the city or playing games or checking the old places et cetera.

However, this morning when the Haven News were opened and brought before Torn's eyes, he spat the first mouthful of his second coffee at the paper.

"Oh my fucking Mar!" he swore.

"What is there?" Jak asked quickly and stopped rolling his apple round the table.

"Apart from some newly formed coffee stains, shit", the redhair snorted.

"Tell me."

"Read yourself, if you really want", Torn handed the paper over to him.

Jak's eyes widened as he read the headline.

THIS IS WHY MAR CAME BACK

"Okay, how nice."

"Keep on reading", the ex-commander recommended, "it gets a lot worse!"

Jak gasped as he read the following lines.

EVERYONE KNOWS MAR is close to the rodent

following him around, but just how close is he to him?

Is the relationship between the heir and the animal

something more than clean friendship. "It is sexual

attraction, anyone can see it", our source, a very close

friend of them both told us, "they just can't keep their

hands – or should I say paws? – off from each other."

"This is ridiculous!" Jak shouted and threw the news paper back to Torn without reading the article to the end, "that's bullshit! They are lying!" he stood up so quickly that he fell his chair and the apple rolled over the edge and hit the floor.

"Of course they are", Torn said staying calm.

"That's… An insult!"

"What's happenin'?" Daxter shouted, "what?"

"Read!" Jak tugged the paper out of Torn's hands and threw it (literally) on Daxter.

"WHAT!" Daxter screamed from underneath the paper, "lady Vivinorahsiglieera has got a wrinkle!"

"Not that page!" Jak helped his friend free and searched the right sheet, "this!"

"WHAT!" Daxter screamed again, "this is ridiculous!" he cracked up in laughter, "they've surely had nothing else to write! Listen to this:

'The heir of the city realised that his relationship

to the daughter of the ex-baron was doomed from

the very beginning as his heart was with the one

with the fur. When homosexuality was made legal

by Sexual Committee some time ago, the heir came

back to continue his relationship with the rodent

– THE RODENT? Without me the city would not exist anymore! –

now Mar shall only hope that the sex with an animal

will not be illegalised or that the blonde girlfriend of the

rodent's won't bite him in a toe.'"

Tess burst on the counter and started coughing. "Daxy! Don't kill me! I can't laugh while eating an apple!"

Daxter rushed up on the counter and hugged her, "poor lil' baby, let uncle Daxy show ya how to breathe." They shared a passionate kiss.

"What should I do?" Jak asked Torn, "I want this crap out of the mags."

"I think…" Torn said, "that you should talk to Keira. She is the most press-friendly person of us. Tess is a bit too quirky and well we ones from the uglier sex, we ain't that good with handling journalists."

"Handling journalists?" Dark whispered, "sounds good."

"Well I don't expect Keira to walk in from that door –"

"Well, why don't you go visit her?"

"You expect her to let me in?"

"Well… no."

"Exactly."

"CHEEELEEEPEEEPPPAAAR!"

"Sig!" the four in the room hollered.

"I'll unlock!" Daxter jumped on one of his brushes and slid through the room, "come in buddy!"

"First o' all, here's for ya, cherrie", the big marauder said throwing a peace maker to Jak, "sorry it took so long. Me and Rayn had other things to think about", he threw an affectionate look over his shoulder.

"Come in, come in", chirped Tess and Sig and Rayn came in – followed by someone Jak had least to walk in to the room! Well… Not maybe least. His father, Erol, Baron or BirdLady could have been more farfetched options, but this one was close enough. The most farfetched living option.

"Hi, Tess!" Keira smiled, "Sig and Rayn came to pick me up. They're all mysterious, I was able to squeeze nothing out of them."

"N fo' sure she tried", Sig laughed making Rayn giggle. An affectionate look.

"So what's going on? Why you brought are quite abnormal family together?" Tess chirped.

"Well, me and Sig, we've got something to tell", Rayn said coyly.

"Oh my Mar!" Keira squeaked.

"We're getting married!" Rayn blurted out, and relieved by saying that, she gave Sig a deep kiss.

Because of two other females in the room, the air suddenly was full of "OH MY METAL HEAD NOT REALLY EEH AAH OH MY MAR AWOOHDEOOHDEOOH"s.

Daxter, Torn and Jak watched mouths opened how Tess and Keira bounced and giggled and smiled and freaked and hugged the to-be-wedded-couple and giggled and smiled and screamed along with Rayn.

"Whew…" Torn sighed, "crazy."

"Are they for sure okay?" Jak whispered.

"Perhaps it's just hormones", Daxter whispered back, "or other girl thingies. Maybe that time of the months…"

"So, peppers!" Sig said and came to them, "what would ya say if I asked ya three to be mah best men?"

"Your best men?" the three spat out.

"Wondaful! I knew ya'd consent!"

"Well, of course, we'll consent", Torn was the first one to recover from the shock.

"Yeah, surely", Daxter. recovered, too and started nodding with Jak, who continued:

"Eeeh… What does a best man do?"

"O nothin' too much", Sig laughed, "stands by mah side in da temple, keeps da ring, gives it to me n den has a nice lil' speech of me. Ya'll learn just in time, chilipepper", he then leaned closer to them three gathering their heads together and whispered, "I must admit, that I'm froze to death by this. It's freakin' me out. I need ya guys!"

"We'll keep your six!" Daxter hollered and the men changed high fives.

Jak showed Keira the magazine, and told Torn had advocated him to talk with her.

"Well, he's smart", she snorted, "you sleep there?"

"Yes." They were in Torn's apartment, Keira had led him here so that they could speak in peace while the downstairs was full of loveydovey-cutiedoodlie couples looking at each other over the table deep in eyes, drinking same liquid perhaps from same glass and being quiet for the whole time. Sane? Hell no! Romantic? For sure! Lovely? Is Daxter orange!

"Heh, pity you. Torn snores."

"I've noticed."

"I betcha have."

"…"

"Where are your stuff?" Keira went to peek in from bathroom's door, "not clothes, I mean some personal stuff."

I've never had any. Jak thought and twitched.

"Huh?"

"Didn't bring anything with me."

"Had to leave in a hurry, huh?" Keira giggled again with that honey-voice, which was kind and nice and cute and pleasing, but still let anyone know it was pure sarcasm. If the voice was an object, it was a sharp knife in a pink fluffy sheath.

"…"

Keira sat on Torn's bed and opened up the magazine, "so it was this what caused you stress. Please tell me they didn't find the truth by accident?"

"WHAT?" Jak yelled. How could Keira even think about that?

"Okay, I guess no."

"…"

"So, what do you wanna know?"

"What do I have to do!"

"Nothing."

"…But I want this yakowshit away! There´s not even a slightest bit of truth in that 'story'!"

"Jak", Keira sighed and laid back on the bed, "that's a stone pigeon."

"…" Jak stared at the exposed belly button. A sapphire. Keira had her belly button pierced?

"Press cannot stand your silence. Mar is back! They need articles out of Mar. People want to read about the Mar", she laid herself on the bed so that her feet were still on the floor and her torso made a curve. If Jak was already staring, now his eyes wanted to pop out of their sockets.

"…"

"You act like you don't care. You should not care, period. You see, if they see that you care about them, they start to haunt you. You'll control the press or it controls you. Let them write lies about you and then if someone asks, a good answer is 'what? Oh that! I noticed it but you know, I don't care about lies written about me.' And oh, that's a fake", she took the 'piercing' off and then clipped it back.

"…"

Keira rose up arching her back and then slowly ran her fingers through her hair.

Jak gulped and wished she didn't notice.

Of course she noticed, gave it an intentionally coy look, a one that made sure it was noticed and looked like it didn't try to be noticed. She giggled mischievously and rose up with a movement making Jak bite his teeth even more. Dark was laughing his ecoes out in the blonde faery's head. Light was deprecating.

"Funny, isn't it?" the honey-voice asked, "you never know what you've –"

"Shut up", Jak whispered quietly.

"Oh, shut up? Shut up? SHUT UP?" an outrage replaced the honey jar, "am I now the one to shut up! You might have thought that the fact that you kept everything inside for eternities means that I´m gonna be quiet on my turn, too! Jak, you should know that I no longer play with your rules!"

"With my rules? With my rules?" Jak snarled, "since when did I have my rules? Since when did I choose the path the events followed?"

"Yeah, since when, huh?" the aquahair girl spat sarcastically, "tell me!"

"If you're talking about the thing with me and Ashelin, then you can as well fuck off!"

"FUCK OFF!" Keira shrieked, "am I to fuck off, now? Me! Fuck you off and stop staring at my belly button or I'll clip this gem into a place I really wouldn't mind to touch!"

When Torn opened the soundproof door, the screaming of Keira pierced right through the pinkfluffydoodledoodle atmosphere of the downstairs. Half of the pairs turned their heads into the direction and the ex-commander could feel a few eyes burning his back. "Sorry", he murmured without meaning it and closed the door. He had watched to ickystickylicketylicky couples for half an hour and he was already filled to his neck. He wanted to throw up – Thursday nights weren't his faves. He had promised Jak and Keira that they could use his apartment, but now he needed to tell them that he really needed to read something depressing on his own bed or otherwise his emotional range might accidentally rise into minus twentyfour from minus twentyfive.

But Keira had blown up. And Jak had blown up. Not good! Torn was almost scared to step into the room! He could imagine them both spiting fire against each other ignoring "easily flammable!" –sings attached to their backs.

"From all the creatures in the world it turned out to be you who betrayed me", Keira exclaimed, "you who let me down. You who broke the promises."

"Keira, I never held a promise for you. And you never held one for me", the words of Jak didn't only hurt her, but they also hurt him, but he couldn't help his mouth from saying them, half-hearted thorns. He couldn't help himself not to ignore the purple sparks flying around in his head, it wouldn't take too long to crack them out.

"JAK!" Keira came close and took a hold of his collar, "some promises are unsaid. They are s'posed to be kept without a single word come out."

"Yeah", Jak snorted and forced himself to stare into Keira's moss green eyes, "you supported me so well when I had hard time."

"Eeh…" Keira let go and melodramatically acted thinking, "could it have been because perhaps, perhaps, perhaps, it's just a contingent possibility, that maybe, it was because suddenly someone I thought I had known had turned into a moody, dark and agony-driven demon of revenge?"

"I can't believe you use Dark Jak as an excuse –" Jak screamed. It was just a matter of time, but he didn't care…

"And let's not forget about that this renegade-like angel of vengeance was actually carrying a white skinned and quite psychopathic killing machine within himself", Keira interrupted, "I don't talk about Dark, I talk about Jak! Of course you wouldn't be confused at all, if I suddenly was a completely different persona. But unfortunately for me, I'm not the Great Mar who can shag any creature he sees!"

"You're bitter. You're bitter and jealous and… bitchy!" Jak screamed.

"Two out of three", Keira made an overhappy facial expression and screamed with an overhappy tone her cheek muscles curved so high as she could, "I am a bitter bitch, but jealous for you? No. Jealous for Ashlelin? Even less! I'm just totally outrageous that you let that evil ginger whore walk into your life and how you can use her to cure your pathetic self-pity! Does it make you feel a man that you drown your woes into booze and vagina?"

"I feel man enough to ignore you're pitiful attempts to make me jealous over you!" Jak yelled, "did you do anything to try and find me? Did you! Did you do anything to understand me!"

"I did ev'rything trying to find you! I did things I didn't want to do, but who was the one not to recognize me!"

"Neither did you!"

"Can you really suppose me to know your voice? You used to spoke so seldom and oops your voice had changed!"

"Well you supported me so well!"

"Who was the one not to support someone? You HUNG UP on me when I tried to tell you that my father was dead."

"He's not your father", Jak spat out, "he's just as much your father as he is my father. Think about it! I was almost three when sent back in past, you are two years younger than me, so –"

"Do NEVER say that he is not my father! He was!"

"Bitter from that, too? Is it your trauma that makes you act like a heartless whore?"

"A whore! A WHORE! Who is the heartless whore, I ask! It's not Ashelin, I say! It's you, Jak! You sell yourself for sporadic pleasure with a woman you hardly know – only because she happens to have a double-D! You sell yourself for a vulcan fury to shoot some civilians up! Your little ginger pussy might make you feel good, but it certainly doesn't help your mental health on a long scale, doesn't it!" – at this point Keira had pushed Jak against a wall and covered his face with her spit and Torn decided it would a good idea to held the decontrolled and struggling lady back – "And", she continued her sermon like she didn't notice Torn grabbing her from waist and herself trying to breakaway, "I'm not gonna tell you all the things wrong with you-plus-Ashelin as I don't want other persons to get involved in this, including someone hanging on my hips, but what I'm gonna say is that YOU BETRAYED ME! FROM ALL THE CREATURES IN THE WORLD YOU FUCKING BETRAYED ME! YOU BETRAYED ME WHEN I NEEDED YOU THE MOST! YOU BETRAYED ME TO CONTINUE YOU'RE SWEET PRE-HONEY MOON! YOU BETRAYED ME! YOU BETRAYED MEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Keira's voice rose into a pitch only to be portrayed as a very loud screech. It could have easily been written on lines of a staff, but writing it with letters would have needed the capital letters to be risen to the 10th power. The following events were quite difficult to write down, too. An onlooker could have said that the meaningless screaming ended with a loud SMACK and Jak was lying on the ground. If watched in slo mo we could see Keira first breaking free from Torn and then slamming her palm straight into Jak's left cheek.

"Hope you happy now", Keira snorted, turned as a blur of ocean green hair, and walked off. The silence stayed in the room until she had closed the street door 23 steps lower.

"Hurts?" Torn asked.

"Yep."

"Why don't cha get up?" he asked stretching out a helping hand.

"I'm fine here, thanks", Jak replied concentrating on nothing.

"I know you haven't asked my personal opinion", the ex-commander crouched in front of the fake-blonde faery and caught his eye, "but in my opinion she was entitled to her little assault. You deserved it."

After saying that he rose up, turned his back and walked off closing the door behind him, leaving the Great Mar lay on the floor.

Jak made a whirligig-like move in the midair, but still the landing was too hard for his left ankle. He didn't care. He ran/limped and when the first zoomer came into his sight, he went and jumped to it, throwing down the driver, a young man with brown hair. The light green vehicle accelerated swiftly when Jak gave it gas. The engine was roaring and it made Jak feel alive. He noticed tears rising into his eyes but he blamed wind for it. He avoided colliding with another zoomer, then switched levels to debar hitting a pedestrian, and then turned from a corner he had turned many times before.

…But lots of things can change in a year.

Jak had survived many zoomer explosions by jumping off the ride before the easily flammable liquids went to places they should have not gone. But this time he had no time to think, no time to react and the vehicle blew up under him throwing him backwards. For his luck he wasn't hit by the fireball as the blast of pressure wave threw him up in the air, but it was enough bad. He hit the street his head knocking against it and the faery slid on the pawing. First there was a huge needle in his head aching like hell, then a sudden pain in his back. But soon he felt nothing. The lights seemed to grow lighter and whiter, until he saw nothing else than white glimmer. Then it all went black.

Da: "Da! There it was! Jak died!"

Sipuli: "Shhh! You idiot! We´re not supposed to tell it yet!"

Lucius: "Wohoo-sy bruises, something I have common with him."

maestro: "Ommm…And the fact that you are dead, too, soon... Ommm..."

Lucius: "Kynsilaukka, you ain´t fair! You really ain´t!"

Sipuli: "A word of warning, the next chapter is going to be different…Reviews are cherished!"

maestro: "Ommm…"