Neko Kurai: "Well, here's Chapter 2! Read on!

Disclaimer: "The same..."

Tracing the Past: Chapter 2

When Jak entered the Bloody Hook, everyone had already started without him; they sat around the bar like yesterday, laughing at one of Daxter's stupid stories (or the fact that he was drunk and slurring the story made it even more funnier). Keira looked over her shoulder and her face brightened when she caught sight of Jak.

"Hey! There you are! We thought maybe you weren't gonna show…"

"Actually, Keira was about ready to go looking for ya," Torn added with a low chuckle. "She thought maybe some of Mizo's goons might've gone after ya…" Keira shot Torn a nasty look as Ashlin nudged Torn in the gut; Torn only grinned, rubbing his wounded spot.

"Sorry guys… I was," he sat besides Keira as Sig poured a glass of beer and set it before Jak. "Sidetracked…Did I miss much?"

"Only one of 'Orange Lightning's' tall tales." Sig replied.

"Then I didn't miss anything." Jak replied, chuckling into his beer. Daxtar, who was already piss drunk, had laid himself down on table and was ready to pass out when he heard Jak's comment.

"'ey! Snot funny, Jak…I wuz…tellinem…'bout the time I zaved ya frum…that one yakow…'member…there w're 'bout," he looked down at his hands and held up four furry fingers. "five of zem…bad-boys…"

"Okay, how much did he have before I got here?" Jak asked exasperatedly.

"'Bout…" Daxtar looked down at his hands again and held up four furry fingers. "Three…(you have to understand that those mugs aren't exactly 'Ottsel sized'; one mug equals to two for an Ottsel, so that would mean…he drank about six 'Ottsel pints')" and with a loud belch, he fell back and went to sleep. Everyone laughed again and continued their talking. Keira looked over at Jak, but frowned slightly; he looked so lost and pensive; he wasn't even paying attention as Sig recounted one of his Wastelanders' stories (and Jak loved to hear those stories). As the others listened on intently, Keira placed her hand over Jak's own; startled, Jak looked up from his beer only to meet with Keira's soft green eyes.

"Hey… what's wrong?" she whispered, hoping not to catch the other's attention.

"Nothing…well…" Jak looked back at his mug; Keira squeezed his hand reassuringly. Jak looked back at her and saw that confident smile across her face, he couldn't help but feel his love for her swell within him; he couldn't believe how stupid he was before, he and Keira were made for each other; he always knew that…

"Hey you two love-birds!" Sig exclaimed loudly; Jak and Keira jumped in surprise to see everyone was looking at them, smug grins plastered on their faces. "If you're not gonna listen to one of my stories, I suggest you get your asses outta here; watchin you two makin' lovey-dovey at each other is makin' me sick." he said with a laugh.

"Central Parkway is not too far from here; it's a really nice place; go and take a stroll, Torn and I did…" Ashlin said, not hiding a smirk as she looked up at Torn suggestively. "Except it wasn't exactly a 'stroll' but it was still a workout none the less…"

"Ashe'!" Torn face turned a bright red; Sig guffawed loudly and smacked Torn on the back. Jak and Keira laughed as well as they got up from the bar and made to leave.

"Hey!" Sig called. Jak and Keira looked back at them. "If you run into any trouble, you just call us okay?"

"C'mon Sig," Jak smirked. "We can take care of ourselves." and with a wave, they left the bar. Daxtar opened his eyes blearily as he looked around.

"'ey…where'd JakanKeria go?"

"No where. You're dreaming. Go back to sleep." Torn growled.

"Yeah…dreamin…" Daxtar looked up at Torn. "Man, you sure're uglier ina dream then yo're in real life…" and with that, he fell asleep. Torn glared down at the Ottsel but soon grinned evilly.

"Hey Sig…pass me those peanuts…I wanna see how many an Ottsel can hold in his mouth before choking on 'em…"

Neko Kurai: "And here is where I stop. I hope you enjoyed it so far... it goes oh so deeper... Until then!" X3