Darker by the Day
By JakAndTornSweetheart
Disclaimer: I own no rights to either Jak and Daxer: The Precursor Legacy or Jak II: Renegade. I am merely an avid and obsessed fan.
Music Inspiration: Ryan Cabrera – "True"
Chapter II
Sunset, Starlight
That evening, Jak paced back and forth in the main part of Sandover Village awaiting his date. It had taken a week to get everything ready for this night, and he wanted it all to be perfect. Everything should go according to plan, but first his date had to show up on time, and the sun was only getting closer and closer to the horizon. He looked up the path to Kiera's lab once again. Lights were on, but the only sounds came from the wildlife and the ocean splashing against the cliff ahead.
"Don't worry Jak; women always take forever to get ready. She'll be here soon enough. She's probably still trying to decide what to wear. Typical woman… ," Daxter said from where he was sitting on Jak's deck. "Just relax!" The mute grunted at his companion and thrust his hands into his pockets, his right thumbing the bunched up cloth that he planned to give her when she arrived. His hands couldn't stay in his pockets long though, and he began to straighten his shirt and smooth his hand through his hair. "Relax, I said," Daxter started again. "You look fine… Spiffy duds," he added in a joking tone and gave a wink.
Jak's duds were indeed spiffy. He wore his same blue sleeveless tunic without his shoulder pack and wrist guards, along with white pants in place of his white shorts. The hem of his pants bunched around his sandals to give him a clean yet casual look. He had left his belt as well as his goggles behind for this special occasion. And while Jak might have been wearing less gear, the simple look made him appear strangely formal.
With all his pacing, Jak had nearly made a rut in the ground in his wake. Daxter noticed this and was about to make a witty remark when he saw out of the corner of his eye that the lights to Keira's lab had just been switched off. Though it wasn't needed, Daxter alerted Jak to the event. "Look! Here she comes… finally."
Jak's stomach was one huge knot as he waited for her to emerge from the darkness. And when she finally did, all other thoughts seemed to drift away. She was absolutely breathtaking.
Keira's appearance was also simple, yet she was still stunningly beautiful. Her aquamarine locks were swept up off of her neck in a messy-but-appealing up-do, accenting the angular shape of her face and her slender neckline. She still wore her violet choker, but was without her goggles or wrist guards. What Jak could not take his eyes off, however, was the dress that she wore. The dress, held by thin straps and brushing her knees as she walked, was such a color of green that her hair and eyes shone brighter than they ever had before. The neck was v-line and came to a point at her chest, much like her white halter top, and the waist flowed outward at her hips to give way to the wavy skirt. She also wore simple sandals, but Jak didn't really seem to notice them, his eyes fixed in appreciation on her form-fitting dress. He should have known that Keira would go all out when he asked her to dress nicely; she always did work everything to perfection. And this was perfection.
She blushed slightly because of his obvious appreciation of her hard work. She had lost track of time in perfecting the Rift Rider and making last-minute checks, and was pressed for time to get ready before sunset. But she had made it in time, she hoped. She supposed she looked okay, since both Jak and Daxter had their mouths ajar. And no sooner had she seen Daxter's open-mouthed stare did he say, "Dang, Keira… lookin' good doll face!" His grin was as wide as his entire face.
Keira brushed off his comment and smiled at Jak, who immediately closed his mouth and tried to look normal. "Well, I'm not the only one," she replied. "You don't look so bad yourself, Jak. I like the new look."
He smiled, relieved and glad that she liked his choice of dress, and held out his hand for her to take, bowing and kissing her hand when she did. With a grin, he removed the black strip of cloth from his pocket and slowly pulled it over Keira's eyes so as not to startle her too much. A smile stretched her mouth and she bit her lip slightly as he tied the knot to the blindfold. "Oooh," she said when he had finished and had placed her hand on his arm for guidance, "I didn't know it was this kind of surprise." She giggled, a sound that made Jak's heart go soaring, before attempting to sound serious. "Now Jak, if you trip me and make me ruin my dress, so help me I will have to seriously kick your butt." She couldn't help but smile.
"Try not to be out too late, Jak… if you know what I mean!" Daxter called as Jak began to lead her to their destination and made some rather vulgar gestures to emphasize his meaning. Jak made a slicing motion at his throat to tell Daxter to stop with his antics before Keira would catch on. But it was too late.
She didn't remove her blindfold, but pointed her accusing finger directly at Daxter and proclaimed, "I know he's doing something crude and or obnoxious, now what is it?"
Daxter only laughed and replied, "Oh, don't mind me. It was nothing really. Just some, uh… encouraging sign language and wishes of good luck. For the date, you know? Well, I'll be off now. Don't have too much fun!" And with that, he leapt off the deck in the direction of the yakow pen. Pestering those brainless animals would surely entertain him until he could find someone with a nice set of legs and a halter top. It had taken Daxter a while to accept the fact that his two best friends were growing closer to each other and father away from him, but with time and the realization that Jak was beginning to spend less time being with him and more time trying to find ways to be alone with Keira, he had accepted the inevitable. He was beginning to see the bright side out of all this; at least now he had more freedom to flirt with the girls using his "cute, furry animal" routine. Who ever said being fuzzy was all bad?
Keira only fumed all the more at Daxter's hasty getaway. Jak could see the feral expression on her face and she nearly reached up to remove her blindfold and go after the naughty ottsel, but Jak caught her hand and brought it to his mouth once again. He wasn't about to let even the slightest thing ruin this night for them. He made a shushing noise and with suave he didn't know he possessed, he cradled her neck and kissed her softly.
Kissing Jak was always amazing for Keira, but now with the blindfold heightening her senses, the soft breeze ruffling the dress around her knees, and the setting sun warming her face, it was inexplicably romantic. Jak released her lips and placed her hand back in his arm and led her to their left, toward Sentinel Beach. After a few clumsy stumbles in the sand and laughs the whole way, Keira could begin to hear the platform wheel churning in the distance. "Jak? Are we… at the beach?" she asked as they paused before the wheel. And while he couldn't answer her with words, she could swear that somewhere inside of her, she felt his smile. She could now smell the delicious scent of good food and her mouth began to water like a crocadog. Her ears twitched at the sound of the clunk of his feet atop the moving platform, and before she could protest, he had gently lifted her to his side.
A scream, of fright or anger she didn't know, rose up in her throat, but vanished as the blindfold fell from her eyes. The sight before her took her breath away.
As the platform lifted her higher, she saw a blanket placed at the edge of the bluff that was to the left of the platform wheel. Atop the blanket sat a covered platter and a bottle that was chilled by ice she knew had to have been fresh from the ice vender in Snowy Mountain. Her eyes took in the scene even as Jak helped her off the platform and carefully around the surrounding rocks, which she noticed held the many candles that had recently been lit. It was a sight of absolute perfection and serenity.
"Oh Jak…" she started, touched by his thoughtfulness and preparation, "this is all so… so… wonderful. Thank you." She smiled a smile that brightened her entire face before pecking him on the lips and sitting gracefully on the blanket. Jak helped her sit and then joined her on the blanket at her right. The grin on his face wouldn't seem to go away; he was so glad that she liked his surprise.
Keira inhaled deeply the smell of food and licked her lips. "So… what's to eat? I'm starving. I think I took your request to come hungry a little too far," she giggled and waited anxiously for him to uncover the large platter of food. Yet, instead of reaching for the dish cover, he retrieved two glasses from behind the pail of ice and filled them with the chilled liquid, a deep red substance with blue streaks and swirls. Keira gasped in awe when she saw it. "Jak… that's not… it can't be… Is that Tropics Juice!"
Jak only smiled back at her and handed her a glass. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to get this stuff? Even the Mayor doesn't have those kind of connections!" she exclaimed. With a knowing smirk on his face and a casual shrug, Jak took his own glass and raised it to toast. Their glasses clinked in "cheers" and they slowly sipped their juice. Keira pressed her lips together to savor the taste and smiled in thanks to her hero. "It's just as sweet and smooth as everyone says it is," she mentioned and Jak nodded accordingly. After another sip, Jak took both their glasses and placed them on the blanket before reaching for the dish cover. He looked at her expectantly and she nodded her head, anxious to see what he had planned for her. Teasingly, he raised his eyebrows as if to say "Are you sure?"
"Oh come on, Jak! I'm starving," she cried. Jak complied and lifted the lid from the platter to reveal an extravagant display of delicious-looking food; seafood to be exact. Shrimp lined the outside of the plate, surrounding a beautifully-colored sea shell that had been split in two and filled with a mixture made up of lobster, crab, and various fish topped with select spices. The entire dish was served with a delectable red sauce that had been drizzled over it in a zigzag pattern. It was all absolutely amazing… and it was all because of him. Jak. Her own hero. It wasn't like he had made everything from scratch and set it up himself. But he had planned it all, wanting to do something nice for her, and that touched her heart deeply and beyond words. She thought of the food, the drinks, the candles, the secluded spot, the awesome scenery, and the ever-present smile on his face. It was all so incredible. She didn't know what to say.
Keira hadn't said anything, but her expression was sufficient enough for Jak. So far, everything had gone smoothly for him; all his arrangements had gone perfectly. He couldn't have been happier at this moment, and he couldn't help but be proud of his effort and success. Keira had the amazing ability to make him feel… different. And to give her this special night, to be here with her, as the sun was setting, the candles and sunset brightening her face, was heaven for him. He was absolutely overjoyed. It was in this moment that he realized that all these feelings rushing his senses, the way he felt about Keira, could only be love. He loved Keira.
The smell of delicious food attempted to bring Keira from her thoughts, but she staved off her hunger for just a bit longer and looked at Jak. "This is all so incredible, Jak. You are incredible, to me." The butterflies began to flutter furiously in her stomach as she finally realized something that should have been so obvious to her before now. "I love you," she added quietly, but managed to hold his gaze. Before she could blink, Jak had quickly gathered her face in both his hands and kissed her in the most eager yet loving manner.
As their kiss ended, Keira said, "So… is it time to eat yet?" and as if on cue, her stomach let out a starving growl. She meant the comment to be a joking change of subject, but the Precursors and her appetite had obviously made other plans, and her cheeks heated in humiliation. Thinking nothing of Keira's embarrassment or the blush in her cheeks, Jak reached for the only fork and scooped out a bite of the seafood mixture. Her slight irritation quickly changed to surprise when he held the fork to her mouth to eat instead of taking a bite himself. The notion of him feeding her seemed precious and sensual at the same time. Slowly, she took the food from the fork and began to chew, and a groan of pleasure soon escaped her throat. The food was absolutely divine. Without exaggeration, she could have described it as so good that it almost hurt her mouth to chew it. This was without question the most perfect night of her life.
Day turned into night as they ate, watching the sun descend into the horizon. The stars now brightened the sky as the lanterns and candles only burned lower and lower. Keira sat in between Jak's legs, her back against his chest, and he had a blanket wrapped around the both of them. Their eyes were fixed on the vast night sky above, content with a comfortable silence; a silence that would soon have to be broken.
A star streaked across the sky and he expected her to jump up and become excited about the rare occasion as she always had. Instead, she just calmly said, "Jak, did you see it?" He could hear the smile in her voice, and hummed an affirmative in response and hugged her closer with the increasing chill of the night. "Every time I see a shooting star, it reminds me of something my father told me long ago. 'There's a superstition,' he said, 'that when a star falls something very important is going to happen and that you wish upon the star in hopes that the event will end in good fortune. But you should always beware when a star falls at sunset. Something terrible always happens if a star falls at sunset.' I…" She trailed off with a small sigh and a long silence ensued. Jak could tell she was struggling with trying to say what she wanted to say, and he held her patiently waiting, fearing that something was troubling his Keira. Dread and uncertainty festered and made an ache deep in her stomach.
"Jak… I'm so scared," she confessed as she shifted and leaned her head back onto his shoulder. If he had the ability to use words, none would have come to him at that moment. He and Keira had shared many special moments. They talked, or rather, she talked with him about many things; things she loved, things she hated, and a lot of things that had to do with other people that she knew. But never once had it gotten this personal. Never once had she confided in him for anything. He didn't know at all how to react. "Ever since my father told me that, for whatever reason, it seems like something bad always happens after I see a shooting star. It may just be in my mind, but with the launch tomorrow, I can't help but think that… that it's all going to go horribly wrong. Maybe we should just let well enough alone and forget about tomorrow."
He wanted to reassure her with words, tell her she was crazy for throwing all her hard work away, tell her she was a genius, and tell her everything was going to be just fine. But that one small catch in his psyche wouldn't allow him and the words he struggled so hard to release were trapped inside him. All his life he had been able to communicate efficiently without words, and now he never wished harder that he could speak to Keira. Fighting down the frustration that rose up in him, he replied with a discouraging grunt and wrapped one arm around her waist to bring her closer to him. Perhaps if he could give her comfort, her mind would ease. He didn't exactly understand why she was so hung up on such a superstition, but realized at the same time, it wasn't all about the superstition itself. The shooting star was only a scapegoat for her deep-ridden fears.
It was somewhat of a relief to him when she chuckled and said, "You think I'm being silly. I guess I am. It's just… I don't know how I'd be able to deal with the guilt if something wrong happened tomorrow." With a shrug, she added, "But you never know. Maybe something extremely good will happen. Who knows what we'll find?" Her bubbly, positive attitude returned and she smiled that radiant smile at him again. This was his Keira. Not only glad to have the same Keira back, but also touched that she trusted him to the degree that she could share what would otherwise have been left unsaid, he kissed the hair just above her ear and brought the blanket closer around them. He inhaled the scent of her hair mixed with the breezy scent of the ocean, and it was absolutely intoxicating. Without thought, his lips moved lower and behind her ear, beginning to trail kisses down her soft neck. "Jak…" she breathed, but he didn't seem to hear, or took it for encouragement. Her head instinctively tilted back and away to open her neck to him, and immediately she cursed herself for it. As he mouth traveled back up to her jaw, the ocean breeze caught the wetness on her skin and made her chill.
His mouth finally met hers and all her protest dissolved only to return as he broke away. In a voice so throaty that she no longer sounded as herself, she simply said, "I can't do this. Please take me home." She deliberately avoided his gaze, knowing all too well the look of disappointment on his face. Slowly, she stood and gathered her half of the shell that they had decided to keep as a memento. Jak surprised her as he wrapped the blanket around her from behind and kissed her cheek before he gathered up the rest of the dirty dishes and leftovers in a basket and blew out the low candles over the rocks. Keira watched him and noticed that he was actually very calm where she would expect him to be frustrated or irritated. As if she hadn't blatantly rejected him, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and led her the short distance home. The silence was slightly awkward for Jak, but Keira only smiled the entire way back to her lab.
Upon arrival, Keira flicked on the light in her lab and squinted at its brightness. She turned to Jak, as if to bid him goodnight and said, "Jak, I can't thank you enough for giving me such a perfect evening. No one has ever done something so special for me." She closed the distance between them and wrapped her arms around him. "Thank you for being so wonderful to me." He kissed the top of her head and held her in his embrace. They stood there for a while in each others arms, swaying side to side to the music of Sandover's glorious nature. "Will you stay with me tonight?" she suddenly asked and he nearly gasped. He looked at her with great uncertainty and glanced at her ceiling in worry. "Don't worry," she answered his unspoken question, "Daddy won't be back until tomorrow morning. He and the Blue Sage had some things to discuss and knowing him, he'll be out so late that he'll need to stay in Rock Village. Please, Jak. No conditions, no rules… just me and you… just this once."
Daxter had awakened from his hammock in Jak's room to the sound of footsteps passing. Throwing the covers off of him and being as quite as he possible could, he stepped to the doorway to watch them walk together to her laboratory. When Jak had stayed out later than usual, Daxter knew that the date had gone well, but that hadn't stopped his curiosity and the need to see so for himself. He watched the couple as they embraced just inside her lab and realized in that moment how perfect for each other they really were. This in no way meant that his fun keeping them apart would end. Not with his kind of determination. Amused at himself, he chuckled and kept his eyes on his friends. Their embrace broke and Keira took Jak's hand, and then they disappeared into the darkness as the light was flicked off. Daxter smirked and returned to Jak's room, this time curling up in his best friend's bed and taking advantage of the extra warmth. And why shouldn't he? It wasn't like Jak was going to be needing it.
To be continued…
- Author's Note –
Well… that's it! What'd you think? Hope it wasn't too mushy, but I'm going for that stark contrast between Sandover and Haven. The rest should be pretty dark if it comes out like I want it. Please read and review:D Sorry about the unreasonably long time it took me to update a chapter that was nearly finished when I posted the first chapter. I lose motivation from time to time, and last week was one of those times. Hope you all enjoyed it! - JATS
- Review Responses –
Kat: Thanks! I try to make everything I write pretty original, and the fact that you noticed that from just the first chapter really means something to me.
Red Mage 04: Well I hope you like all the detail because I'm one of those writers where everything has to fit perfectly, and that includes the details. Some writers just give you a basic idea of what's going on and I think it's important to try to make the reader actually see what's going on, so I give as much detail as possible. Please let me know if I ever go into too much detail.
Sull89: Glad to think someone thinks it's cool! Hope I didn't scare you away with how long it took me to update. I try… I really do, but sometimes it just doesn't happen.
Gohan11: Again, hope you don't think it took me too long to update. And I hope you liked the second chapter.
Jes: Great! I hope that I don't disappoint you in future chapters. Hope you keep reading.
Shadows-of-flame: Oh my gosh! Big fan of your writing. Thanks so much for reviewing:D I like JK too, and I hope my recent obsession with TK doesn't bring it down. Love your TK stuff, by the way.
Light-Eco-Sage: I hope you liked Jak's plans. Sorry if it was a bit corny. Hope you keep reading and reviewing!
Rockergurl13: Hope you enjoyed the last chapter and thanks for reviewing!
Odoru: Wow! Thanks for the compliments. I pride myself on trying to bring the thoughts of the characters to the readers since we're given so little insight to that during the game. Glad it's paid off and someone noticed:D
All: A big thanks to all those that stopped and reviewed! I'm open to suggestions and criticism if you have any. You guys are great! v
