Shattered

Chapter Two: Stronger

Keira sat on her couch in misery. She didn't know the first thing about how to become stronger, but she did know she had to be. She wondered what Jak was doing, she wondered if he missed her half as badly as she missed him. Images of him filled her mind, his big blue eyes, shiny blonde hair. She couldn't even dream of a more handsome hero. But he wasn't only handsome, no, not at all, he had many other qualities. He had his integrity, always going at the impossible prepared and with confidence, getting the job done; perseverance, how he never gave up, he always persisted; and his indomitable spirit, how strong he was, always rising to the challenge and defeating his obstacles. Oh yes, he possessed so many qualities that Keira only wished could be hers. But once she thought about it, they were hers also, they just needed to be tamed and put to use. But how did you tame such things, and how could you use them? Keira decided to ask her father.

Samos was in a reasonably good mood when Keira approached him with her questions in Haven Forest. Her father had suggested they meet there.

"You've been thinking a lot lately, haven't you?" he asked once he had heard all of Keira's questions. Of course, that was a rhetorical question, so Keira did not answer. "You want to tame these things, and that is a great journey. You must travel deep within yourself. Everything that you could ever want lies here," Samos laid a finger where Keira's heart was, "waiting to be called on."

"How do I call on it?" asked Keira eagerly. She wanted to get to work, but the sage was taking so long to get to the point! He took his time, listening to the sounds of the outside world. The innocent birds chirping, the stream trickling by, the whispers of the wind dancing through the canopy.

"Stop asking so many questions. Just listen, feel nature's course and meditate on it for a moment," Samos instructed. It seemed so difficult. Meditate, he said. Listen, be calm. Keira took a few deep breaths, hoping to relax herself. She found it difficult to clear her mind, but once she did it swam with all the different sounds and colors. The red birds singing happily, the yellow butterfly fluttering silently. And a memory came. No, not a memory, something else… A daydream, maybe, a memory… possibly…

The old beach. The waves lapped at the sand, the crabs fidgeted nervously, the sun was hanging low in the sky. The gulls cried their harmonies and settled in their nests, awaiting darkness. Keira sat on the beach, looking off over the broad expanse of sea, its vastness overwhelming. She watched the retreating clouds tumble across the sky, the light continuously dimming in the consuming darkness. It was so peaceful… yet so lonely. What was the point of such beauty if no one was there to share it?

But she wasn't alone. As she focused on herself, sitting there, knees pulled to her chest, she noticed the blonde sitting beside her. Jak. Jak was there. They held hands, watching the evaporating light. And then something happened… Jak spoke!

"It reminds me of home…" he said. His voice was not the deep one he had now. Instead, it was high, almost shrill. But the way he said it, the longing in his voice… it didn't change anything.

"Where's home?" asked Keira. It was obvious neither of them were speaking of their dinky village. They were speaking of somewhere much better, but they didn't know where…

"I don't remember where. But it was better than this there. Everything was beautiful… just like you," he said. Keira blushed… And the memory faded as Keira slunk into the strong arms of Jak.

Keira didn't know what that was all about, but after the "vision" had faded, she could still smell the salty air riding on the breeze. How she missed her old village, with its huts, and the beach, with its surrounding warmth.

She didn't know why, but Keira felt herself grow stronger, suddenly realizing that that was her past. It was a memory. She had opened her mind and allowed herself to recall that moment. And it was at that instant that she felt she had to make things right. She and Jak belonged together, how could she have been so foolish?

Because I was scared, thought Keira. I thought that something would happen to us, and so I tore us apart.

Keira looked around. The sun had long since set and Samos was nowhere to be seen. Keira scrabbled to her feet and ran back to the city. She ran and ran, trying to get to Jak's apartment before it was too dark to see.

How she made it there, it will always remain a mystery- just like how Daxter managed to eat so much food in one meal and stilldigest itthe next day-, but Keira finally made it to Jak's front door. Exhausted and gasping for air, her chest heaving, Keira pounded on the door for all she was worth. She heard stumbling and the cock of a gun. Good ol' Jak, always on alert.

The door flew open and Keira was greeted with the barrel of a long-range rifle in her face. She pushed it out of the way with the palm of her hand and stepped forward. Jak and Keira stared at each other for a long moment. They were both tense and Keira was still panting- she had run halfway across the city for goodness sakes!

Jak broke the silence: "Keira-"

Before he could continue, Keira embraced him fiercely. It was the boldest move she had ever made towards any man beside her father. Jak felt awkward, never having really been hugged before. But, in spite of himself, he smiled. It felt good to be cared about.

"Jak! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean it. I talked to daddy and- and… well, I had a memory-" Keira tried to say everything at once. Jak placed his fingers on her lips to shush her. She had started crying by this point, her pants for air turning to heaving sobs.

"Keira, it's okay. I thought about what you said…" Jak said gently, looking away with shame on his face. Was Jak admitting he was wrong? Could he bare it, to tell someone he was mistaken, let alone Keira? Or would he disappoint her again, making her run away in a fury of anger and tears? "You were right…" he said, just as Keira had hoped.

"I guess I'll leave you two to it then, 'cause this ottsel's got to get some beauty sleep," said Daxter, who had watched the whole reunion. Both Jak and Keira ignored him as he stalked off silently to the next room.

A few minutes later, however they got there, Jak and Keira were cuddled on Jak's balcony, looking at the stars.

"Do you remember the beach?" Keira asked him.

"Yes," Jak said, becoming lost in memories of his past.

"Do you remember when we used to watch the sunset together? We would curl up on the sand and… and you talked. You told me that the sunset reminded you of home. Do you remember?" Keira asked. She looked into Jak's eyes. The stars reflected off of them… and she saw that his eyes were watering. He was a tough warrior, and it was strange to see his tears. But she also had tears of her own. She felt them sliding down her cheeks.

"I remember where home was. We said it was far away, on an island. I said that everything was beautiful.…just like you." Was Jak still the same warrior? Was he the one that had fought and killed so many metal heads? Was he the one that had saved her village from the lurkers? It seemed impossible as the two sat there with each other. He was so sensitive and his pride wasn't showing. Keira thought she was hallucinating until she felt Jak's hand grasp her own.

"I do have a sensitive side. That boy from the past, the one that used to sit with you on the beach until you fell asleep, then carry you home… I'm still him," Jak said. Keira wanted to faint, or melt, or be blown away with the gently tugging wind.

"Do you smell it?" asked Keira after a long while of peaceful silence.

"No," Jak said, inhaling deeply.

"Don't try to smell it, just sense it," Keira said gently. She knew these instructions weren't very clear, but she also knew that they were true. The aroma was there for those that wanted to smell it and knew it existed, not for those that only attempted.

Jak smiled as a new scent filled his nostrils. It was the natural perfume of the great sea. A salty tint rode on the breeze, enveloping the two elves.

Jak had never been this open to anyone since he had been a boy. That seemed so long ago. He did remember the scene on the beach, and he remembered it vividly. He thought of home. His home before the village. It had been covered with a variety of flowers- red, orange, blue, purple- - there were poppies and other types of flowersthat he couldn't even name. The buildings they used to live in were much warmer than the huts, and much smaller than some. They were made of bricksor mud, depending on how wealthy your family was,and they had real roofs, not thatch ones that needed repaired constantly, or wooden ones that rotted and needed replaced. But, for the life of him, Jak couldn't recall the name of his old home.

He remembered before he had gone mute. He had laughed and sang with the other children at this distant place. But instead of his voice growing deeper, it became shrill and he eventually just stopped talking, his voice so high it was unable to be heard anyway.

Then, after he was told of his parents' deaths, he had been sent to live in the village with his uncle. The people had been somewhat friendly, although they found it strange and disturbing that he did not speak. All but two of the villagers turned him away. Daxter, who was now Jak's best friend, and Keira, who was sitting in a ball next to him, hugging her knees to her chest.

"You know Keira, home was a real place," Jak said. He had always led her to think that it was just a fantasy place to escape reality, he had never told her it was real. Maybe it was because he knew that Keira would love to go there, but he could never go back. It was the place where his parents had been slaughtered, where everything was perfect- too perfect. But then again, sitting under the starlight, Jak felt a slightly familiar feeling, as if, at one point before this time, he had lived here before.

But Keira had fallen asleep. It had been a long day and she was exhausted. And, just like old times, Jak carried her into his warm apartment.

"We're home," he whispered to her, "we're home..."