Keira was whistling happily- if not nervously- as she cruised by all of the people in the streets on her hover board. Actually, it was Jak's hover board that she had made and 'borrowed' for the day. He couldn't have minded too much, after all, Torn had given him a zoomer to thrash; although Keira knew it wouldn't last long at all.
But thinking of Jak made a lump form in Keira's throat, thinking about what she had to tell her father. She was on her way to find him right now. Her best bet was Haven Forest, where he would most likely being sucking information from rocks like a leech.
Running the words she would say to her father through her mind over and over again, Keira finally spotted Haven Forest not 200 yards away from where she now raced by. What would she tell her father? What could she tell him? Her and Jak had been together for a long time, and had had feelings for each other for even longer. It was obvious too; it wasn't like they had ever tried to deny it or anything.
"Daddy?" Keira called, her voice resounding through the trees and valleys, strapping the hover board to her back after she had dismounted rather disgracefully for having designed and made the thing. For a long moment, the only sounds were those of startled birds and other animals that lurked in the forest. Keira felt a wave of relief wash over her, realizing that maybe her father wasn't here. It was a possible excuse to tell Jak later about why she didn't tell her father: she couldn't find him anywhere.
Thinking of Jak, a warm shudder ran through Keira. How much easier would this be if he were here next to her? A lot… she thought to herself when she finally heard a grunt from her father in return to her call. With a deep breath, Keira started forward to find her father. It was strange how alone she felt after having thought about Jak. Where was he when she needed him the most, when she needed his confidence and his support?
He's out saving the world. He's the hero of Haven after all… Keira thought resentfully, but she immediately felt guilty for it. She knew that Jak didn't deserve that- he worked hard to save his hometown, to save her. She couldn't even believe how petty she was being.
"Keira," her father greeted, startling her out of her thoughts. "Is there something you'd like to say?"
Or course, the sage always knew everything. She didn't even bother asking about it anymore. She was way over being surprised by how much her father knew.
"Daddy, I did want to talk to you," Keira said, running a hand nervously through her green hair.
"I could figure as much…." came his gruff reply. Keira smiled slightly.
"Yeah, it's about Jak."
Her father immediately seemed interested in hearing what she had to say.
"Yes? Please, go on," he urged, a tint of worry threading its way into his rough voice.
"Well… He's… I'm… we're…" What was wrong with her? Was it that hard to say? Getting frustrated with her own failed attempts, Keira spat out, "Jak and I are together and I thought I should tell you."
For a moment, Keira thought he would be mad. His brow furrowed and he frowned slightly. Keira smacked herself mentally. What have I done? I should have just kept it to myself. Well, it's too late now…
"That's great!" her father finally boomed happily, beaming like a mad man with a lollypop. "It's about time you've grown up. I've been waiting for you to find a man for the past five years!" Her father chuckled. Keira was in disbelief, but was also slightly angry.
"Glad you're happy about it," Keira said before stomping away, leaving her father there to just smile to himself… or a rock of some type…
"You talked to him, right?" Jak asked, coming into the workshop and seeing Keira's perturbed expression. She was working on something that was making a lot of noise, so he had to speak loudly to be heard, but either way, whether she had heard him or not, Keira didn't answer.
Instead, when he crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, nearly tipping over his racing trophy, Keira chucked a thin, light piece of metal at him.
"What's this?" he asked, examining the metal carefully.
"Scraps. Throw it out for me." It was a demand, not a request. Grudgingly, Jak took the piece of metal to the discard pile, muttering to himself, "I'll take that as a yes." Then, more loudly, "What'd your dad say?" Jak was now just plain curious. What could he have possibly said o put Keira in such a mood?
"What did he say? 'That's great! It's about time you've grown up!'" Keira said, imitating her father's booming voice as best as she could in her anger.
Jak was forced to put away a smile. It was too bad that Keira didn't know that that's what Jak had told him to say when he'd visited him earlier that same morning. He'd told the sage about him and Keira and explained how they both felt about the whole situation. The sage hadn't seemed to have a problem, but obviously Keira did.
Breaking Jak's train of thought, Keira threw him yet another piece of thin metal at him, but Jak realized right away that this was not a scrap. It almost looked like…
"Is this my hover board?" he asked Keira, who still looked pissed off, but satisfied.
"Yeah. I borrowed it."
Jak was amazed as he ran his hand over the thin metal. It was nearly weightless and he couldn't believe how nifty it looked. So sleek… so powerful…
"Do you like it?"
"Yeah…" Jak said, running his fingers over it as if it were more fragile than a piece of glassware. It was perfect.
"Well, you sound really enthused," Keira said, meaning it to be a joke, but it didn't come out that way through her irritation.
"I love you," Jak said, walking up to the mechanic and pressing his slightly dry- though not unpleasantly so- lips against her plump ones.
The only thing that Keira thought about was how much she loved Jak in return as he carefully dropped the hover board onto a table and pushed her up against a wall…
