Chapter Sixty-Eight: Candyland

Yuki's POV

"Where are you going?" Tamaki asked as I walked to the door with a suitcase and my computer bag, "Why do you have a suitcase?"

"I'm going to be gone for a few weeks." I told him slowly, "I'm going to go on vacation with a few friends. I'll see you in a month."

I left and got in the limo. I told the driver the directions to Sumi's house and we left. Sumi thought it would be easier if it were the two of us driving to Karuizawa with Hana. It was a nine and a half hour drive. I'd rather not be stuck in a limo alone for that long, I'd go out of my mind.

Kimi's POV

"You girls ready to go?" Mr. Fujioka asked us.

"Yeah, dad." Haruhi sighed. He'd been asking us that all morning and Haruhi was starting to get tired of it. I thought it was kind of sweet, but I really never had parents who cared that much about me.

"We're all set to go." I smiled.

The doorbell rang.

"That's Reiko, I'll get it." I volunteered. I went to get the door and let Reiko in. She was driving us down to Karuizawa, she and Hunny thought it'd be a good idea for her to leave town so she could have a chance to plan the wedding the way she wanted to. We invited her to join us and she volunteered to drive. "Hey Reiko."

"Hey Kimi." She smiled, "Hey Haruhi. Hi Mr. Fujioka."

"Hey Reiko-Senpai." Haruhi greeted her.

"Hi Reiko, how's the wedding planning going?" Mr. Fujioka asked her.

"It's not, I've got a little under two months to plan a huge upscale wedding and I've got the venue, the invitations, the flowers, thank you for helping me choose those by the way, the alstroemerias, gladiolas, peonies, and the sweet peas were the way to go, I wanted something sweeter than the ones that were being picked out, they're absolute perfect and exactly what I wanted."

"I'm glad, you looked like you were having trouble, if you need anymore help, just call and we can talk about ideas." Mr. Fujioka offered.

"Okay." Reiko nodded, "Thank you."

We all said goodbye to Mr. Fujioka and left for Karuizawa.

Sumi's POV

We got there about a little after five; we got dinner and then reported to Mr. Sonoda, who was a friend of Haruhi's dad. Yuki and I were going to work for part of the summer with Kimi, Haruhi, and Reiko. Hana was along for the ride. The next day we started to work, well Haruhi, Reiko, and Kimi were volunteering, Yuki was babysitting, and I was working for money. Ouran had a thing about having a job on break, it was against some weird policy the school had, so they couldn't work.

"Worst babysitter ever." I said to Yuki when I saw that Hana had been eating more sugar than she had had in her life after I got off work. She was so hyped up on sugar and candy that it would be impossible to put her to bed.

"I fed her more than sugar and candy." She replied, "I fed her chocolates and brownies too."

"Fantastic." I replied shortly, "What did you guys do? Watch TV and eat sugar all day?"

"No, I taught her to cheat at poker, hustle people at pool, we played violent video games, and then capped it all off with an R rated horror film." She said dryly.

"That's not funny."

"Oh my god, Sumi, we played Candyland for hours, we played Life, and Monopoly, and Mancala, and every one of those games led back to Candyland. If I never have to play Candyland again, it'll be too soon, but I know I'll be playing all summer and again when I eventually have kids. I did teach her how to play Five Card Draw, but we played for candy and stuck to the basics. We watched Thumbelina, Swan Princess, Cats Don't Dance, Beauty & the Beast, Little Mermaid, Oliver & Company, A Goofy Movie, Jungle 2 Jungle, and Flubber."

"Do you have a way to put her to bed cause with her this wound up, I've got nothing. I'm still relatively new at this."

"And you think I've got experience?" She asked.

"You got her wound up, figure out a way to wind her down, so I can put her to bed."

"In Mary Poppins, she used reverse psychology, why don't I tell her a story and you sing her Stay Awake."

"Alright." I nodded.

"Hey Hana, wanna hear a narrative poem?" Yuki asked her.

"What's that?" Hana asked.

"A story that's a poem." I told her simply.

"Okay." She smiled and sat down.

"Awesome, cut me a little slack, I'm kinda new at this." She told her, "This is called The Pirate Princess." She said before starting the poem. I sat down next to Hana, who was sitting in her bed, curiously. "The life of a princess

Has never been

All that exciting,

At least mine isn't.

I don't know about others.

Stuck in a tower,

Since before I can remember.

No way in,

No safe way down,

At least not one

I've so far been able

To figure out.

Out my window

Again I looked down,

It was the only way

I could leave

And live a life.

I don't care

What kind of life,

I just want one that's mine.

I turned away

From the window

And looked around

For anything I could use

Something that would

Get me down

Without killing myself.

I spot a butter knife

On the table

By the oven

And a dagger

On the shelf

Above my bed.

"Those'll do."

I smiled

And gathered items.

Sitting on the window ceil,

I take a deep breath,

'No turning back now.'

Clutching the dagger and knife

Tighter,

I take another breath

And scale down the tower.

"And to think,

I thought that

Tower was empty."

A voice said

Pulling me out of my thoughts,

Away from my concentration,

Causing me to let go

Of the knife and dagger,

Sending me plummeting

To the ground

Screaming.

I had stopped screaming,

When I realized

That I somehow

Missed the ground.

The man who had caused me

To almost fall to my death

Caught me

And was now holding me

In his arms.

Looking up at my savior

All of my anger

Was washed away.

Looking back at me,

Beautiful ocean blue eyes.

Took me a couple of seconds

To realize they belonged

To a pirate.

Looking into his captivating eyes,

Knowing he was a pirate,

And knowing he chose

To save me,

When he could have

Let me fall

To my death,

Sparked questions,

Many of them.

The most prominent:

'Pirates were supposed to be

Awful human beings,

Barely even human.

If he was so bad,

Why did he save me?'

He put me down

And I thanked him.

I introduced myself,

"I'm Isla."

And so did he,

"Kaleb."

"Why are you here?"

I asked confused.

He had happened

Across the tower

On a scouting mission

While the crew

Restocked the ship.

"Take me with you."

With a lot of convincing,

He let me come with him,

But like everything in life,

His agreement

Came with strings.

Pirates were superstitious

About women on their ships.

To be a pirate,

First I had to pretend

To be a man.

I loved being a pirate.

Loved the ports,

Loved the sea,

Loved the freedom,

But Kaleb…

Sometimes I wanted

To ring

That blasted man's neck.

My pirate name,

My male name,

The name I was stuck with,

That Kaleb happily

Bestowed upon me was laughable.

What kind of idiot

Would name a pirate Bernard?

That Irish git named me Bernard!

I'm English, not French.

Bernard was insulting,

But he was a pirate,

And if he is who I have to be

To be who I want to be,

I'll be him till I can be

At least my own gender again.

The crew was interesting

And all of them were very different,

Ranging from Leopold,

A lively, funny, charismatic dwarf,

To Tiny,

A gentle giant.

I stay in the galley most days,

Trying to cook something edible

For the crew to eat

Really only hoping

That no one gets poisoned.

I spend my nights with Kaleb,

We would talk

Till the sun would rise.

The more time I spent with him,

The less I wanted to kill him.

The more time I spent around him,

The more I liked him.

I could talk to him

As Isla

And not Bernard.

October 31, 1713,

That was the night

Everything changed between us.

The English were holding a masque ball

And we so kindly

Took it upon ourselves

To crash their party.

Following captain's orders,

Kaleb and I

Slipped into town

To find disguises

So we could walk

Right into the castle

Without any problems.

I found a dress

And a mask

In west London.

The mask was pretty,

Ivory with a lacey floral design.

The dress was beautiful,

A Quarter sleeve ivory ball gown

With exquisite detailing

In the skirt and bodice.

It would have given

Cinderella's ball gown

And glass slippers

A run for their money.

I looked in the mirror

A touch of make-up

And having my hair

For the first time

In a long time

In a women's hair style,

Wearing the dress

And the mask,

There was a difference

From the way I normally looked.

The woman looking back at me,

She was beautiful,

Stunning,

I could hardly believe

That she was my reflection.

When I found Kaleb,

He was in all black.

He was easy to find;

No one had eyes like his,

Eyes that reflected the sea.

Kaleb and I danced,

And as we danced,

I felt more for him

In that moment

Than in all of the moments

We had spent together.

This was not good,

Especially if he didn't know

I was one

He was dancing with.

To many feelings,

Too many thoughts,

Running through my mind.

I ran from him

And left the ball,

Before I completely lost myself.

"Isla!"

I heard an Irish brogue

Calling my name

When I reached

The outskirts if the castle.

I froze,

Took a deep breath,

And turned around.

I took in Kaleb's appearance

As he walked over to me,

Mask was off

And he was out of breath.

"Why are you panting?"

"Because I was running."

"Why?"

"I need to say something,

It will only take a second."

He stated.

I looked at him confused.

"When I first agreed

To let you come

I thought you were

The most hardheaded

Woman in the world."

"That's nice."

I scoffed,

Offended.

"Not finished."

He replied vexed,

"More time we spent together,

Things changed.

I didn't realize this

Until I was standing

In the middle of the ball

By myself.

So, marry me, Isla.

Because I would like you to stay

With me as you,

Not Bernard,

You

On the ship."

"It would be easier

If we didn't-"

I started.

He cut me off,

Knowing where

I was headed, "It would be."

"I'm scared."

I confided.

Kaleb was the only one

I had ever gotten close to.

"Me too."

Kaleb closed the gap between us,

Kissing me firmly,

Full of emotion,

And desire.

When I realized

I wasn't dreaming,

I kissed him back.

I pulled away lightly,

"I thought people got down

On one knee

When they proposed."

"I'll take that as a yes."

He kissed me again.

As we headed back to the ship

I told him

I was unaware

Pirates got married.

"Pirates do as they wish,

It is a benefit

Of being a pirate. "

He smiled,

"I also didn't think

You would be with someone

Without marrying them."

"I would have stayed

If you hadn't proposed."

He laughed lightly,

"Is breá liom tú"

He shook his head

And smiled brightly,

"That isn't what I meant, darlin'."

"Oh."

I realized his meaning.

"'Is breá liom tú'?

What does that mean?"

He shook his head,

Looking down at me,

"It's something

I should have said

A long time ago."

'Is breá liom tú'

I learned later

It was irish

For 'I love you'."

When she finished the poem, she left.

"Okay Hana, it's time to go to bed." I told her.

"I don't want to go to sleep." She replied, "I'm too excited."

"Very well, suit yourself." I shrugged, "You wanna hear a song?"

"Yeah!"

I sang Stay Awake from Mary Poppins, by the time I was done, she was fast asleep. I walked out of the room and turned out the light. "I think I have a new trick up my sleeve." I went to my room, which was next door to hers, and read while the rest of the girls went out to explore the town.