Digimon Adventure 02 – Summer in Alaska
Day Nine
Skyy remembered three things the morning of their last day on the ship. She remembered someone coming into her cabin, someone carrying her, then the freezing sensation of water engulfing her entire body.
First Skyy woke up slightly when she heard the door of the girls' cabin slowly being opened. She also remembered hearing Sora get out of bed to greet the person at the door. They spoke in hushed voices and Skyy didn't remember what they were talking about because she didn't care and soon drifted back to sleep. She was so asleep that when she woke up again, she felt she wasn't in her bed anymore. Two sets of arms were carrying her somewhere. She knew she was dreaming so she allowed herself to fall asleep again. She had been up very late last night and it was causing her to have weird dreams.
Then, all of a sudden Skyy was shocked awake when the two sets of arms swung her and let go. She landed in the cold waters of a pool and she became instantly soaked. Skyy was immediately woken as the water surrounded her and she was plunged underwater. She instantly swam up to the surface for air. As soon as her head broke the surface she heard the sound of laughter filling the area. She whipped around to see Tai and Sora buckling over with laughter. She glared at them.
"What the fuck!" she snapped. The water was freezing and Skyy was shivering like there was no tomorrow. Also the wind blowing didn't help much either. Skyy could already feel the tips of her nose and fingers start to numb. Sora ceased her laughing for Tai was not going to be able to for a while.
"Sorry Skyy, but you were so out of it and it was just perfect entertainment!" Sora giggled. Skyy glared at them as her wet hair stuck to the sides of her face and her PJs stuck to her body. She waded closer to them, feeling that her feet could actually touch the bottom of the pool. She swatted a small wave of water at her two friends and they quickly scooted away from the splash whilst still laughing. Skyy scowled and climbed out of the pool. She looked around and saw only a few other passengers sitting around and laughing quietly. She glared at the ground. Tai finally stopped laughing and came over to help her up.
"Sorry again, but it was sooo funny!" Tai grinned. Skyy balled her fist and punched him hard in the shoulder. He didn't dodge it though she knew he could've.
"You jerk! I'm so getting you back for this!" she snapped, though her lips were staring to crack into a smile. Tai chuckled.
"I guess I deserved that. Anyway, here's a towel, let's get you dried off before you catch a cold," Tai smiled as he wrapped a towel around her shoulders. Skyy instantly clutched the towel closer to her.
"You have our permission to get back at us whenever you want," Sora smiled coming up to the two. Skyy rolled her eyes. You bet she was going to get them back for it. Tai and Sora led her back to the girls' cabin whilst still lightly giggling about it before Skyy mouthed off to them for it.
When they got back to their cabins Skyy headed for the shower right away. She had noticed though that Mimi wasn't there. Sora had told her she got up early to go the spa, because she hadn't gotten to go yet. Skyy quickly took off her wet PJs and set them aside to dry. She stayed in the shower a little longer than usual just so she could warm up the numb parts of her body. She slightly swayed in the shower because of the rocking of the boat.
Today was indeed their last full day on the boat and then they'd be getting off at Seattle early the next day. Their last port of call was Victoria, British Columbia. They were still presently at sea, and they'd arrive in Victoria at about 7:00 that evening. It would be more like a party port because many of the older teens would be out bar hopping because the legal drinking age was 19. Skyy and her friends were still too young so they probably wouldn't be doing that. Skyy didn't know if Jeremy wanted to though. As much as he liked drinking she figured he'd want to hang out with her and her friends more.
When Skyy finally left the warm shower and got out of the bathroom Sora was picking out clothes. Skyy lay down on her bed to cool off from the hot shower before drying her hair. It was quiet for a little while and Skyy almost thought she'd go back to sleep before Sora spoke up.
"So uh…did you get another note last night?" Sora asked. Skyy raised an eyebrow.
"Oh come on, I already know you guys read it before I got in," Skyy grinned. Sora laughed lightly.
"Are we that easy to read?" Sora joked.
"Yeah, also the fact that you folded the paper back the wrong way," Skyy replied.
"Oh really? Oops, our stealth skills aren't very good," Sora laughed, "but what I'm wondering is, since it's been confirmed that the notes are from Brayden, when are you going to talk to him about it?"
Skyy shrugged. "I don't know…I mean, are we sure it really is Brayden writing the notes?" Skyy said, not really liking the topic they were talking about. Sora sighed in annoyance.
"Yes! It's obviously Brayden, everything connects!" Sora said. Skyy raised her hands.
"Okay, okay! It's Brayden," she said quickly in defence.
"So, when are you going to talk to him about it?" Sora asked again. Skyy stalled as she thought about her answer.
"Well, I guess, tonight maybe. Since it the last night and all," Skyy said, "but, I don't really want to talk to him about it."
"Why not?"
"Because, then I'll have to turn him down, and by now he probably thinks I like him back or something...knowing a guys mind," Skyy said. Sora cocked her head.
"Why would he think that?" she asked. Skyy became uncomfortable.
"Well, because…" she stalled again. Suddenly Sora whipped around to face her.
"Wait! Did something happen whilst you two were dancing last night?" she asked. Her eyes got all sparkly and a sly smile curved her mouth. Skyy groaned and hid her face in her hands. Sora squealed and bounced over to her.
"Something did happen didn't it? What is it? What happened?" she asked. Skyy's face became red. Skyy bit her lip after hesitating. Sora pushed her arm lightly, encouraging her to speak.
"Well, Brayden kissed me last night," Skyy said quickly. Sora raised an eyebrow.
"Oh that? Yeah we all saw him do that," Sora said, slumping a little.
"No I mean, not the kiss on my cheek, I mean he kissed me," Skyy groaned. Sora's sly smile returned.
"Like, on the mouth?" she asked. Skyy nodded. Sora erupted into more squeals.
"Yaay Skyy! You had your first kiss!" Sora said hugging her. Skyy frowned.
"No Sora, that's not a good thing, I was saving that and he stole it from me without my permission!" Skyy snapped. Sora rolled her eyes.
"Well I know you would've wanted it to be with Izzy or something, but hey, life doesn't always go as planned Skyy, you have to take it as it comes," Sora said. Skyy stared at her.
"Well jeez when did you become so wise about the ways of life?" Skyy grinned. Sora shrugged.
"I've been with Matt since I was 15, I know some things," Sora grinned. Skyy rolled her eyes.
"But still, that kiss, it created an unpleasant situation," Skyy said, remembering Izzy's reaction and feeling sad. Sora watched her expression change.
"So that's why Izzy was stomping off, he saw you guys?" she asked. Skyy shook her head.
"No, he heard me and Tai talking about it because Tai saw it when he came to get me. Brayden did it just as we were saying goodbye," Skyy explained. Sora nodded.
"Yes well, he'll get around it soon," Sora concluded. Skyy frowned. Sora sighed.
"Anyway, lunch should be out soon at the buffet so let's get ready quickly before stuff starts running out," Sora said, hopping to her feet and heading over to the bathroom.
Sora got in the shower and Skyy started drying her hair. Instead of leaving her to meet the guys, Skyy decided to stay with Sora and wait until she finished getting ready. Skyy still wasn't keen on the idea of being around Izzy right now, especially if he was still going to ignore them all. Though she'd have to see him soon anyway. Tai had phoned them a little bit earlier to confirm that they were meeting at the buffet for lunch.
Skyy was still set on apologizing to Izzy and she had to do it as soon as possible to avoid a tense day. She decided to pull him away some time during lunch and do it then. Hopefully he wasn't as bitter today and they'd be able to make up.
Soon Sora was finished getting ready and they both headed upstairs for lunch. They were lucky because just as they got up to the buffet and found a table, the chefs were putting out all the freshly made lunch platters. The boys were surprisingly, and thankfully, not there yet. Skyy kept glancing at the doors waiting to see if the boys had come yet. She was getting a little nervous about seeing Izzy. Would he still be mad at her?
When she and Sora got food they found Mimi walking around with a plate of food and quickly led her to their table. She had just gotten back from the spa and was raving about the services there.
Soon the boys came. They quickly said hi and then left to get food though. Skyy didn't get to see if Izzy was still feeling the same because he was talking to Matt about something and didn't look at the girls before they left.
When they got back though her thoughts were confirmed. Izzy was still mad. He refused to look at her unless she was talking and he'd glance up at her sometimes. He seemed a little bitter towards Tai, which got Skyy thinking that maybe Tai had spoken to him this morning. As the conversation dwindled and everybody was finishing their food, Skyy finally got the courage to speak up.
"Um, Izzy could I talk to you outside for a minute?" she said, her face starting to feel warm. Izzy looked up at her from his food, a little surprised. He glanced at Tai before Tai gave him a warning look. Izzy scowled at him and sat up from his seat, setting down his fork.
"Yeah sure," he muttered. Skyy smiled lightly and sat up. Everybody watched them as they left and Skyy wished they wouldn't. She led Izzy just outside the doors of the buffet, right by the elevators. There wasn't that many people there so then the conversation would be less embarrassing. She turned to face him and he stopped in front of her.
"So…what's up?" he asked, avoiding eye contact with her directly. Skyy took a deep breath.
"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry," she said. Izzy`s eyes widened – looking taken aback.
"What?" he croaked. Skyy`s face became red.
"I said I'm sorry okay? For the kissing thing last night, he took me by surprise, otherwise I wouldn't have let him do that," she said. Izzy`s stared at her and a bunch of emotions seemed to flash across his face. Anger, hurt, sadness, and guilt. He was quiet for about half a minuet before he decided to speak. Skyy was glad because the lasting silence made her feel even more embarrassed and awkward.
"Yeah…I know," he mumbled. Skyy raised an eyebrow.
"You know?" she said. Izzy nodded.
"Yeah…Tai talked to me earlier, and, I really was out of line….and I should be the one apologizing," Izzy said looking at the ground. Skyy stared at him. Was he serious?
"Oh…okay," was all she was able to say. Izzy glanced to her and then to the ground, shifting his feet.
"I don't know why but, I just got really mad when I found out he kissed you," Izzy confessed. Skyy smiled lightly.
"Well, I was pretty pissed too, I mean he did it out of nowhere and I didn't think I showed him any signs that I was ever interested," Skyy huffed. Izzy cracked a tiny smile but it was gone as soon as it came. Izzy glanced at her from the floor again before looking back down.
"So uh, are you sure you don't like him?" he asked hesitantly. Skyy grinned.
"Nope, he's not my…type," Skyy said smiling. Izzy smiled lightly again. They stood in silence for a moment. Skyy turned her head so that she could see his eyes.
"So, have we made up now? We friends again?" Skyy asked. Izzy chuckled and looked at her straight in the eye which made her heart thump a little bit faster.
"Yes, we're still friends," he said. Skyy smiled widely and straightened up.
"Sooo, can I have a hug then?" she asked. He blushed, but smiled. He wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her.
"Always," he said. His breath tickled her ear and Skyy smiled widely, wrapping her arms around his neck. Her heart swelled with happiness. Her Izzy was back again! She breathed in his scent and recognized the smell of lemon. She leaned back to look at him.
"Did you change your soap?" she asked, knowing he didn't like cologne. He smiled.
"Yeah, I changed to a different one, lemon scented," he chuckled. She smiled and hugged him again, for his arms were till around her waist.
"Good, I like this better," she smiled and dug her face into his neck. He rested his chin on her shoulder and she felt him smile.
"I'll keep this one then," he said, laughing lightly. She smiled and they hugged for a little while. It was until Izzy finally broke away that they realized how long they'd actually been hugging for. They both blushed, embarrassed that they had embraced for so long.
"Well, we should probably head back now," Izzy said. Skyy nodded.
"Yeah, lets go," she said and they both walked back with blushes on their faces but light smiles on their mouths.
When they got back to the table Tai studied both of them before coming to a conclusion and flashing them both a satisfied grin. Skyy smiled at him, mentally thanking him for talking to Izzy earlier. Nobody asked what she and Izzy had talked about because they all kind of knew anyway. They quickly finished their lunches and the girls then decided to go back to their rooms to pack their suitcases. The suitcases all had to be packed and ready that night because the staff would then take them and organize them to be taken off the ship so passengers could get them when they got off the ship.
The girls said goodbye to the guys and headed down one floor to their cabin. Once they got there they each pulled out their suitcases and started putting in clothes. As Skyy put in her stuff she realized something.
"Hey…we never bought any souvenirs..." she said. Mimi looked over at her from the closet.
"Your right, but the souvenirs here are all kind of cheap tourist stuff, I was waiting to buy something in Seattle," Mimi said.
"We should pick up some postcards or something tonight for the others though," Sora said. Skyy nodded.
"Yeah, I'd feel bad if we didn't get them anything from any of the ports we went to," Skyy said. "But I don't know if I'll get something for myself…I'd have to really like it to buy it," she said. Sora and Mimi nodded.
They continued packing their clothes and shoes and other things away. Skyy was all too happy to pack her formal dresses away. Skyy only saved on outfit for the next day, her PJs, and an outfit for later that night for she assumed they'd be going to the teen center. She was done packing early because she hadn't brought as much as Sora and Mimi. Skyy lay down on her bed and flipped on the TV to pass time. Though soon she could feel her eye lids drooping down with sleep. She really had stayed up late the other night and her unpleasant wake up call didn't help. Skyy drifted to sleep before she even noticed she was.
She woke about four and a half hours later with the phone of their cabin ringing loudly. Skyy groaned and got up to answer. She noticed Mimi and Sora curled up on Sora's bed sleeping too. She grinned at them before picking up the receiver of the phone.
"Hello?" she answered. She was greeted by a light chuckle that was only Matt's.
"Fell asleep did you? Well hate to burst your bubble but we're arriving in Victoria now, thought I'd wake you guys up so you'd have enough time to collect yourselves and watch us coming into port," Matt said. Skyy smiled.
"Okay, I've been sleeping way too long anyway, are you guys up on the pool deck?" she asked, yawning in between.
"Yep."
"Okay, we'll meet you soon then," Skyy said then hung up the phone. She turned and woke up her two friends. They all quickly packed the last minute stuff into their suitcases, leaving out the toiletries and clothes they'd need to get ready in the morning, and zipped them up. They carried them out into the hall and Mimi told them they just needed to leave them outside the door. The girls noticed some other suitcases already outside the doors as well. The guys' were out also and Skyy figured they had come before to pack then left.
The girls headed upstairs and found the boys on the deck above the pool deck that looked out onto the water. They all leaned against the railing and watched the ship come into port. The sun was slowly starting to set, and the colors of pink, yellow and purple were starting to slightly stain the clouds. Skyy clicked pictures as the ship got closer and closer to the docks. They watched their ship slowly ease beside the port, then they watched the ship being tied up and the ramps connect to the side of the boat. As soon as the announcement came on from the brig saying it was okay for passengers to get off the ship the group of six teens headed down to the loading deck to get in line and get off. Luckily they met with Jeremy and his family in the line. Jeremy asked is family and they allowed him to stay with Skyy and her friends. She was happy that his family was okay with it. Jeremy was spending a lot of time with them and she was worried his family was unhappy that they weren't with him most of the time. But they were fine so Skyy was glad, and a little relieved, that Jeremy got to join them.
They all got off the ship and were greeted by a bunch of people handing out Canadian pins and flags and stamps. Skyy took pictures of them and happily took a pin. Jeremy took a pin too and a flag, and stuck the flag in his shirt. They looked around for taxis and compared prices. They figured it was easier and cheaper to just walk. They walked through a small neighbourhood of houses. Skyy kept stopping to take pictures of all the cute houses she liked.
In about 10 to 15 minutes they reached the main strip of the downtown and were surrounded by stores, buildings and taxis. The downtown was next to a bay so there were a lot of sailing boats out in the bay or docked at the marina. They reached the street with all of the clothing and food shops and tourist shops. They spotted and beauty shop and Sora and Mimi dragged them all in.
The shop was very interesting with many unique looking beauty products. Some of the soaps looked like blocks of fudge or candy. Some looked like jello or some weird mushy blob. Tai, Matt and Jeremy were busy making fun of the way the products looked. There was a guy who was trying to sell this hand cream thing. He coaxed Skyy over and gave her a free hand massage with the cream he was selling whilst talking to her about all of the other products and about the shop. She would just nod at him, not really listening. Sometimes he would crack a joke and Skyy would only laugh because his laugh was so funny sounding. Mimi was watching her and started asking questions about the cream, obviously more interested then Skyy was. After the massage Skyy didn't mind going through that whole ordeal because it made her hands really soft and made them smell nice.
She didn't buy the cream, but Mimi did. Skyy only bought a small box of vanilla scented soaps. They were also supposed to cleanse skin and get rid of scarring and make your skin really smooth. They all left with stuffy noses because of all the different scents floating around the store. Skyy sort of walked alone because Tai and Mimi were holding hands in front of her, and Matt and Sora were holding hands in front of Tai and Mimi. Jeremy was walking in between them and was whistling to himself, obviously in his own world. Skyy pouted. Jeez, talk about no fun. Both the couples were in their own little conversations as they walked.
Just then Izzy came up beside her and hesitantly took her free hand in his. Skyy jumped lightly in surprise and looked over to him. He had a blush on his face. He looked ahead of him though, too nervous to look right at Skyy's face.
"Well, it's just that your hands are really smooth now because of that cream thing, so It'd be a waste to not hold your hand right?" Izzy mumbled quickly. Skyy smiled. It sounded like he'd just made that up on the spot as an excuse. Skyy squeezed his hand.
"Of course," she said sarcastically. Izzy chuckled lightly. They all walked a little while more until they found the Rogers Chocolate store. They each bought some chocolates for their other friends back home before buying little bars for themselves. Skyy bought a vanilla bar whilst Izzy bought a lemon one. They shared their chocolate happily as they left the store and kept walking down the street.
They stopped off at a tourist store and bought some postcards too at Skyy's request. She felt bad for not getting their other friends anything so she persuaded the others to buy postcards for them. Jeremy got a post card for his girlfriend back home.
As they walked, the sun set was becoming more apparent and bright colors flashed across the sky. The street lights turned on and the sky started to slowly become darker.
As the teens kept walking down the main downtown street there were many street performers. Some were really good and Skyy took pictures of them, and even video taped some of them on her camera. As soon as one street performer's music began to drain away as you walked further, another performer's music became clearer.
As the teens had walked down the street and turned to walk back, they reached the Empress Hotel right by the bay. Skyy had heard that the hotel was really pretty so she dragged them all inside so she could take pictures. All of the furniture and decorations was that of an old vintage hotel. Part of the hotel was a big greenhouse type thing with a lot of colorful plants that Skyy kept gushing over. It was until her friends got tired of it that they finally dragged her out.
They walked some more and noticed horses pulling carriages. Skyy had never been on a horse carriage before and was happy when Mimi wanted to go on one. They found the area where people were paying to get the carriages and they all quickly paid to get a ride. They got a nice pretty black carriage with two pretty white horses pulling.
They rode all the way through the downtown area and the person driving the carriage talked about the town and its histories. Since it was getting dark and a little chilly, there were blankets provided for the passengers on the carriage. Skyy curled up in one and because she was beside Izzy, she slowly leaned against him. She felt him relax with her against him and he lightly rested his arm around her shoulders. She smiled into the blanket.
She was so happy she had made up with Izzy this morning. If she hadn't she might not be like this with him right now. Even though he hadn't been mad at her for a long time, she had missed his warmth and she was ecstatic to be able to be near him again. She never really thought about how affectionate Izzy was towards her until now. They way he always held her waist or hugged her, or let her cuddle up next to him. She also loved that he was like that. Though she noticed he never did that with any of their other female friends. Maybe she was special. Maybe she was the one girl Izzy was closest too, so he allowed that kind of contact. Skyy was glad it was that way. She'd be super jealous if he was closer with any other girl and treated her like he treated Skyy.
Skyy was mentally happy that Izzy wasn't friends with many girls his own age. Izzy was usually shy around girls, so he never approached them. Actually he never really approached anyone. He was always absorbed with his laptop or stuff with the Digital World that he never talked to anyone he didn't know unless they approached him first. And if you didn't know him, he was kind of a hard person to approach because he always seemed too secluded and in his own world. Skyy smiled to herself. Somehow she liked those aspects of Izzy. It made him more attractive to her. Maybe it was because he was that way, anyone he was really close too was his girlfriend would be able to approach him but it would be harder for anybody else too. She laughed lightly to herself. She had weird taste in guys.
Once the horse ride was over they all wanted to go back to the ship. There was only so much to see in Victoria and it was getting dark, and late. Considering they hadn't had dinner yet either they were all super hungry and didn't want to waste money eating in Victoria when they could have a free meal on the ship.
They all walked through the dark streets of the neighborhood they went though earlier. As they got to the ship they waited in the short line to board and soon they got their keycards and passports accepted before they walked up the ramp and back onto the ship. They all headed to the pool deck and to their surprise the big movie screen was up and working and was playing a movie Skyy, grudgingly, recognized as Twilight. Mimi and Sora wanted to stay and watch so they all found a group of empty pool chairs and curled up. The boys went to get some food for dinner whilst the girls saved the seats. When they got back the girls then left to get food. They ate their warm dinners happily and went back to the buffet for seconds.
They watched the movie, sort of, for a little while. Even though it was in English Sora had memorized the script in Japanese. The other guys didn't really watch the movie. Jeremy and Skyy had fun making fun of the acting and the lines in the movie. After a while though the movie was turned off halfway through and a person with a microphone camp up to the main bar and stage on the pool deck.
Okay passengers! Its 10:00 which means it's time for our farewell pool party! We've got our dance floor out and our bar fully stocked. We've got the latest and greatest music for you guys and lots of food set up! So come, lets get this party started!" the announcer said happily and the DJ at the stage started to blast some music.
The friends were all in a partying mood and decided to go down to their cabins and change into some better clothes. They said goodbye to Jeremy as he went back to his cabin to change.
When they got to their rooms Skyy was glad she saved an outfit from her suitcase and kept it in the drawers just in case. She'd have to stuff them into her carry-on bag tomorrow morning, but whatever. She found her olive green shirt with lacy patters near the breasts and light ruffles at the bottom and put it on. She also put on a black lacy skirt that stopped halfway down her thighs and poofed out a little bit. She put on a green armband that matched her shirt and put on blue high heels with matching blue clips in her hair, which she left down.
As soon as the girls finished getting ready they met up with the boys at their cabin and went back upstairs. As they reached the pool deck the party was in full swing. The music was blaring and a bunch of people, and many teenagers, were out dancing on the dance floor. Sparkly lights hung over top and lit the deck. Also, bright stage lights flashed and moved all over the dance floor, passing over the dancing people. Some people were hanging out in the pool and some were sitting and watching, maybe eating some food, on the pool chairs.
Skyy spotted Jeremy's blonde hair and flagged him over. He came over happily and the teens wandered around, looking for a table to sit at. They found one and got some drinks from the bar, courtesy of Jeremy. Once again Skyy got a drink that didn't have a lot of alcohol in it. This time Izzy even got a drink, though it was like Skyy's, there wasn't much alcohol in it. Soon after Skyy got her light buzz, she dragged Mimi and Sora out onto the dance floor with her. They made their way to the middle of the crowd. They even found Hailey, Sara and Naomi dancing and decided to join the other girls. They were dancing for a while and Skyy felt the night slipping away.
She was a little sad because this was their last night on the ship. She'd have to have as much fun as she could tonight. Take lots of pictures too. She had her camera in her pocket and took pictures of all the girls on the dance floor. They all posed and had goofy faces for some of the pictures. Just then Skyy saw Brayden squeezing through the dance floor past them. He didn't notice them but Skyy saw him. She remembered her conversation with Sora. She sighed and thought she may as well suck it up and ask Brayden about the notes now that she had the chance. She turned to the other girls and said she'd be right back.
She quickly caught up to Brayden just as he left the crowd of dancers. Skyy caught his arm with her hand and he turned around, surprised.
"Oh! Skyy!" He grinned widely, "I was just looking for you," he said and leaned in to kiss her. Skyy dodged and he looked at her with a puzzled look.
"First I need to ask you something," she said in English. Brayden raised and eyebrow.
"Oh, okay, sure" he said shrugging. Skyy took a deep breath and just went for it.
"Are you X?" she asked quickly. Her face was becoming warm. Brayden cocked his head and frowned.
"Huh?" he said. Skyy felt her stomach drop a little. Jeez, she didn't want to have to repeat it! She took another breath and repeated more slowly this time.
"Are you the one sending me those notes everyday by the name of X?" she asked. She was waiting for him to blush and say yes. But strangely…he didn't.
"X? What are you talking about? You've been getting notes?" he asked. Skyy stared at him. Her mouth almost fell open.
"You mean…you have no idea what I'm talking about?" she asked. He shook his head.
"Sorry, no," he said shrugging. Skyy was ready to throw her hands in the air and give up. If it wasn't Brayden, the most obvious choice, then who the hell was it! Skyy groaned.
"Oh god, that makes this way more confusing…" Skyy said rubbing her temples. Brayden looked at her with a confused expression.
"Uhh, okay?" Brayden said. Skyy sighed.
"It's just someone calling themselves X has been placing secret notes in my cabin every day. They say they like me and keep giving me hints to who they are. All the hints in the notes matched you so I thought for sure it was you sending them," Skyy explained. Brayden nodded.
"Ohhh, well it seems I have competition," Brayden laughed. Skyy frowned.
"Huh?"
"Never mind," Brayden smiled. Skyy sighed again.
"Yeah, you said you were looking for me, what did you want to talk about?" she asked. She immediately regretted saying that though thinking of what he might actually want to say.
"Oh! Haha, well I just wanted to say…" Brayden said, blushing lightly and scratching the back of this head shyly. Suddenly a hand touched her shoulder lightly. Brayden looked behind her and closed his mouth in a second. Skyy turned around and her eyes widened. Izzy stood there awkwardly looking at both of them, he seemed out of breath, like he'd just rushed over.
"Um, hey Skyy, can I talk to you for a minute?" he asked, blushing deeper. Skyy bit her lip.
"But I was talking to Brayden…" she said reverting to Japanese, though she sounded like she didn't really want to keep talking to Brayden.
"This'll only take a second," Izzy said quickly. Skyy turned to Brayden.
"Um, I'll be right back okay? I just have to talk to my friend for a second," she said in English. Brayden looked at Izzy suspiciously but nodded.
"Yeah, come back though okay? Cause it's important," he said. Skyy nodded and turned to face Izzy as Brayden walked away, looking back at them behind his shoulder.
"Hey Iz, what's up?" she asked. Izzy glanced around nervously.
"Um, can we actually go somewhere else to talk? This place is kind of…crowded, and loud," he said. Skyy cocked her head to the side.
"Oh, uh sure, okay," she said. Izzy took her hand and started leading her away from the party. She wasn't really paying attention to where he was taking her though. She was still confused about the notes. Everything and she meant everything pointed towards Brayden. If it wasn't her first choice then who was it? She suddenly got scared that it might be Aaron secretly still sending them to her. Was he stalking her without her knowing or something? Skyy tried to ignore that possibility and think of other people. She gave up shortly after though, there was absolutely no one else!
When she finally clued back into her surroundings she realized she was on the top deck above the pool deck, looking down on it. It was the same deck they always came up to when they were looking out to the ocean. The boat had already left Victoria and was sailing away into the darkness. Skyy looked around surprised. Since when did Izzy lead her up the stairs? She didn't remember going up the stairs. Also, why did they have to walk so far from everyone else?
"Hey Iz, where are we going?" she asked finally. Just then Izzy stopped and she lightly bumped into his back. She was about to ask what he wanted to talk about when he whipped around. His face was beat red and he leaned in quickly.
Before Skyy could collect her thoughts or utter any words, Izzy's lips connected with hers. Skyy's body literally froze and all of her muscles locked. A jolt of lightning coursed through her body. Her eyes were wide open but not really looking at anything. She felt her face get warmer and warmer and warmer.
Izzy was kissing her. Izzy was kissing her. Izzy was freaking KISSING her!
Skyy felt her body melt and her heart swell so much she thought it might burst. A hot warmth pooled in her stomach and she had to keep her knees from buckling. She had no idea what to do with herself so she just ended up standing their awkwardly.
His kiss was hesitant, and somewhat fearful. He was light and wasn't trying to force anything on her. It seemed much sweeter than Brayden's kiss had been, which had been more shy. The kiss lasted about 10 seconds before Izzy broke it and leaned back. His face was a red as a tomato and he bit his lip.
Skyy opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She was trying with all of her will power to speak, but her body wouldn't let her. They stood in silence before Izzy got the courage to look her straight in the eyes.
"Skyy, I…I love you…I have for a long time," he said boldly. He was a bit too loud but she assumed he was super nervous and wanted her to hear it so he wouldn't have to repeat his statement. Luckily no one was around to gawk at them.
Wait.
For a long time...? "I have for a long time."
Why did that sound so familiar?
Suddenly it all came rushing back to Skyy. Her eyes widened as she remembered where she'd heard it before.
As tomorrow is the last day. I don't want to be too forward in saying: I love you, I have for a long time. From X.
…..
Skyy's mouth almost fell open. Izzy stared at her hopefully as she collected all of her thoughts together.
"You're….you're X!" she said. Izzy blushed deeper but his mouth cracked a tiny smile.
"Yeah…" he mumbled.
"But! But you can't speak English!" Skyy said quickly. All the notes had been hand written in English. Izzy grinned.
"Who said I couldn't speak English? You're not very observant Skyy," Izzy said in perfect English. Skyy stared at him. Though now that she'd thought about it, Izzy had never gotten the opportunity to speak English on the ship, and before when they were with their American friends, he had probably just been pretending that he didn't understand. Also, because Skyy didn't think he knew English she had never seen what his writing would look like in English.
It all came flooding into Skyy's mind. All those notes, they pointed straight to Izzy as well! The first note: he did like her, but she never knew it so he liked her from afar, but was her friend so he was close. The second note: he was her opposite. She was outgoing and artistic; he was shy and a computer geek. The third note: he was with her at the teen center every night so he knew about her singing and her winning the foosball tournament. The fourth note: he was on the train tour with her so he saw her in the train car with her camera. The fifth note: before he got the chance, Jeremy had asked her to dance the Rumba with him. Izzy had just sat out to watch but he was watching her the whole time. The sixth note: well he'd said it himself; he loved her and had for a long time.
Skyy almost wanted to smack her forehead. Izzy was waiting for her to speak and watched her think about it all in her head with a nervous expression. He was about to say something when Skyy finally found her voice and spoke.
"Jeez, it all makes sense now…but, why didn't you do it sooner?" she asked. Izzy blushed again.
"Uh well, if I'd confessed at the beginning of the cruise, and you'd refused, it would've been awkward for the rest of the vacation, I didn't want to put that burden on you," he explained.
"Then, why'd you do it now?" she asked. Izzy frowned.
"Because that jerk Brayden stole your first kiss, it fired me up and made me want to confess to you before he did," Izzy huffed. She nodded in understanding. They were silent for a moment and Izzy's blush became deeper as he opened his mouth to speak.
"So uh…your answer…you never said it," Izzy mumbled. Skyy paused. Crap! She totally forgot to reply to him. But before she answered, she decided to play with him a little bit. She grinned.
"But I didn't hear you ask a question, what was the question?" she asked slyly. Izzy turned beat red.
"W-well! I mean I kissed you! And I said that stuff!" he fumbled, embarrassed. "I just…what I wanted to ask was….will you be my girlfriend..?" he asked, to nervous to look at her in the eye. Skyy's heart swelled again and she smiled widely. She took is face in her hands lightly and pressed her lips on top of his. He froze for a second before smiling against her lips and wrapping his arms around her waist. Skyy laughed against his mouth as he kissed her back and she wrapped her arms around his neck. His hand slowly came up to cradle the back of her head.
The kiss was a little less shy this time and more meaningful. Skyy didn't know if this was his first kiss, but Izzy sure was good at it. Skyy didn't know really what to do and hoped she was kissing him right. She pulled back so she could take a breath. She leaned her forehead against his. He laughed, relieved.
"Is that a yes then?" he asked, hopeful. Skyy rolled her eyes.
"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes!" she said, laughing. Izzy smiled.
"Seriously?" he asked. Skyy smiled and gave him a small kiss.
"Seriously, seriously…believe me I'm as high off the ground as you right now," she chuckled. He smiled wider.
"Really? That's…seriously amazing," he said, blushing. Skyy laughed lightly.
"Hey um, could you speak some more English for me?" Skyy said, blushing a little bit. Izzy raised an eyebrow.
"Huh? Why?" he questioned. Skyy smiled and shrugged.
"Just because it sounds kinda hot when you speak it," she mumbled. Izzy turned beat red and smiled, embarrassed.
"W-what do I say?" he asked nervously. Skyy shrugged again.
"Anything,"
"Okay…you're the most amazing person I've ever met and I'm so happy to be with you right now," Izzy whispered in English into her ear. His voice tickled her ear and sent shivers down her spine. Skyy smiled and leaned in to kiss him again. He leaned in and quickly closed the gap. The kiss was deeper this time, a tiny bit needy too. Skyy felt they both had parted from reality and were in their own world now. She couldn't hear the blasting party music anymore. Only Izzy. The two of them, together.
She seriously wanted to explode with happiness. Izzy was her boyfriend. Izzy was her boyfriend. Izzy honestly loved her. This was mind-blowingly the best night of her entire life. Bar none. All Skyy could think right now was, 'finally!'
Eventually though they had to come down from their high and return to the party. They decided not to tell anyone. The others could figure it out by themselves. Plus they weren't exactly the types to go around and parade their new relationship. Izzy led Skyy to the dance floor; they stayed a little bit away from the girls which were still dancing where Skyy left them.
Skyy and Izzy danced together for what seemed like the rest of the night. They were still in their own world and didn't want to be apart now that they had crossed the line that had been holding them back for so long and could finally be truly honest with each other. Skyy finally felt free and she could now express her feelings towards Izzy without thinking about consequences or being uncomfortable.
They danced a little bit more closely this time as well. Usually Izzy would just have his arms around her waist and Skyy would have her arms around his neck. Y'know, grade 8 style dancing. But this time they slightly were grinding. Skyy knew that Izzy was shy so she didn't want to dance too dramatically. But he was adjusting and slowly got used to this type of dancing.
Soon they got tired though and decided to head back to the table to get some more drinks. Tai saw them leaving the crowd of dancers and came up to say hi. He noticed their hands interlocked and gave Skyy a questioning look. Skyy glanced to Izzy before he just smiled and shrugged his shoulders. Skyy grinned and leaned closer to Tai. She whispered what had happened quickly in his ear before coming away from his face. Tai stood their in shock. Izzy and Skyy grinned at him proudly.
It took a couple seconds before Tai finally recomposed himself and a huge smile broke out on his face. He threw his hands into the air and whooped loudly. He wrapped his arms around Skyy and lifted her off the ground, making her grunt. He bounced her up and down yelling "Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay!" before finally putting her back down on her feet. She and Izzy laughed. Skyy quickly told him not to go spreading it around like gossip though, the others could figure out by themselves. He agreed before giving them both bone crushing hugs.
He soon though left them to go find Mimi. They said goodbye and Skyy and Izzy left to go to the table that Matt and Jeremy where still sitting at.
The rest of the night seemed to pass by much quicker than it had earlier. Skyy and Izzy had gotten a couple more light drinks whilst everyone else got stronger ones. Tai had a gotten a little drunk but Mimi made sure he didn't drink anymore. They all kept going back and forth from the dance floor to the sitting area. They would come back to the table when they were tired, then once they caught their breath they'd go back out on the dance floor again.
Everyone seemed to notice how close Izzy and Skyy were that night though. They were always holding hands or Izzy would have his arms around Skyy's waist. They'd always be physically touching in some way. Tai would only keep grinning at them whenever he saw them. Mimi and Sora seemed to catch on too and would always give them happy smiles. Matt and Jeremy didn't really seem to notice though.
As the night went on they all slowly got more tired. It was a round 2:00 before they all started getting too tired to even walk around or dance. They all just lounged at the table with half filled drinks and empty food plates. It was until Jeremy finally got up to go to bed that they all decided it was best to go back to the cabins. They said their goodbye's to Jeremy, Skyy giving him a big, long hug. They didn't know if they'd see him the next morning so they all exchanged phone numbers and e-mails as well.
As Jeremy parted ways, the group of six headed down one floor to their cabins. When they reached the staterooms Skyy was a little reluctant to let go of Izzy's hand. As the other couples said goodnight and headed into their rooms, Izzy quickly turned to face her. He smiled his goofy smile. He held the sides of her face lightly and kissed her on the lips. Skyy jumped, a little surprised, but smiled and kissed him back. She knew she'd definitely never get tired of kissing him. He pulled back slowly, leaving his hands on her face.
"Good night, Skyy" he said. Skyy smiled.
"Night," she mumbled. He smiled back and quickly kissed her again before letting go of her face and turning and going into his own cabin. Skyy stood there until his door clicked shut, not really wanting him to leave. She sighed and turned to go into her own cabin.
When she got in Sora and Mimi stood there with sly grins on their faces and sparkly eyes. Skyy saw them and stopped. She suddenly realized what was coming and groaned.
"Oh god, please no," she muttered. Mimi and Sora squealed and rushed up to her.
"We totally saw that! What happened with you and Izzy tonight huh?" Mimi squealed. Sora nodded fiercely. Skyy shrugged.
"Isn't it obvious?" she said. Sora rolled her eyes.
"Well yeah! But we want to hear how it went down!" Sora said excitedly. Skyy sighed.
"There's no getting out of this is there?" she said. Mimi and Sora shook their heads determinedly. Skyy groaned again.
"Well… I don't know…he just took me aside and confessed is all…" she said. Mimi and Sora frowned.
"Isn't there anything more?" Mimi said. Skyy blushed lightly.
"He was X too," she said. Mimi and Sora's eyes winded and their mouths dropped open.
"It was Izzy! You mean it wasn't Brayden?" Sora said. Skyy shook her head.
"I asked Brayden earlier and he said he had no idea what I was talking about," she said. Just then she suddenly remembered something. She totally left Brayden alone all night when she said she'd meet up with him again. Oops. She'd have to find him the next day and apologize.
"Really? But, Izzy can't speak English can he?" Mimi asked. Skyy shrugged.
"Apparently he can, he spoke some for me," Skyy said smiling. She now loved hearing him speak English…she'd have to ask him to do it more often. Mimi smiled.
"Really? That's so cute! But like, how did he confess, did he just tell you or what?" Sora asked, seeking more detailed information. Skyy blushed. Mimi leaned in closer with a grin on her face.
"Well, I mean he took me to that top deck thing, above the pool deck, and he just kissed me out of the blue," Skyy said, blushing as she remembered. Mimi squealed.
"Wow! That totally doesn't sound like Izzy! That's awesome!" she said. Sora nodded.
"And then what?" she urged.
"Then he just said that he loved me, and had for a long time, and that's when I figured out he was X," Skyy said.
"Man! This is too cute for words! I'm so happy for you Skyy! I mean, you said you've liked him for three years, it seems it's about time!" Mimi said hugging Skyy. Skyy smiled and hugged her back.
"Thanks Meems," she said. Sora smiled and hugged her too. Suddenly Mimi let go and straightened up.
"Okay! We all know Skyy doesn't like to be girly for too long so let's get to bed! I'm super tired and we need to get up early tomorrow!" she said dramatically. Sora and Skyy laughed. Though when Skyy thought about it, she felt more girly around Izzy now more than anything else and she definitely didn't mind it.
The girls got their PJs on and quickly got into bed. They needed to get up around 7:00 the next morning so they'd be able to get up, have breakfast, and get off the ship for 8:30. Because of the party the three girls practically passed out as soon as their heads hit the pillow. It still took Skyy a little while longer to fall asleep just because she was still excited and filled with pure happiness because of her newfound relationship. She couldn't help but be too excited for sleep.
But eventually, her sleep overcame her and she drifted off like everyone else. Dreams of Izzy and the party filled her mind.
Alas, their vacation had almost come to an end. This was their last night on the ship, and they'd be flying back to Japan around night time the next day. It was going to be a long day filled with traveling. Skyy was sort of looking forward to it, going home that is. But she knew she'd miss everyone she'd met on the cruise, and all the memories she'd created.
Alaska had been a dream for her. And that dream was soon ending and she'd be back home in her tiny apartment and starting her long days of preparing for college.
She had one more day left though of this vacation. One last day in Seattle tomorrow, so she'd have to make the best of it. Skyy just hoped that when she woke up the next morning her dream from tonight wouldn't have just been a dream.
Day Nine - End
