Initial Completion: November 1, 2020

Revised: November 6, 2020

The evening was fading away as nighttime began to fall upon the Academy, covering the land with darkness as well as silence. Most students as well as faculty had finished for the day and left the grounds mostly barren save for the few who had night classes.

Jim had just gotten out of his last class for the day and was going up the South Academic building to get to the sky bridge that connected it and the Student Services building. The bridge had been built for convenience because the two buildings were so tall, but since most people had left school grounds by that hour there was basically no traffic.

Oddly enough, Jim didn't pass by anyone on his way there, not even Morph. But that was fine since that allowed him to think about what he was going to say. "Okay, just be honest, alright?" he whispered to himself, remembering Delbert's advice, "C'mon, it's Kate. You know her, it'll be fine."

As he looked up to open the doors that led to the bridge, Jim saw Kate through the glass. She was resting her arms on the railing, facing out into the distance. That funny feeling in his gut returned.

The doors swung open and he quietly walked over to join Kate, mirroring her stance. "Hey," he quietly greeted. She hardly glanced over at him. "Hello, Jim," she greeted in return.

Neither of the two spoke another word as they stared out into the night.

It wasn't long before Jim realized that he would have to speak first if a conversation was to take place. He nervously rubbed the back of his neck as he spoke. "Listen, um… sorry for… earlier," he tried to explain, "I didn't mean to just run off, I was just fed up with Morph, y'know?"

Kate nodded, still refusing to meet his gaze. Jim mentally slapped himself for being so uneasy. "It's just that… Morph keeps teasing me and won't leave me alone," he continued, but Kate remained unresponsive.

'C'mon, Hawkins. You can't pin it all on Morph,' he mentally argued with himself. He knew Kate was upset with him to some degree, so surely she was waiting for him to take some responsibility, even if Morph was mostly to blame.

Jim's gaze rested on his unresting hands as they nervously wrung together. "I didn't mean to… kiss you," he hesitated as the memory flashed in his mind. He shook his head and continued, red face and all, "And I especially didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. I would never, ever try to make you or anyone else do something like that.

"I can understand if you already reported me for misconduct, but I want you to know that I'm sorry and I hope we can somehow still be friends."

He glanced at Kate, finding that she still remained in her stiff position. Jim turned back to match her posture, albeit a bit more slouched. A moment of silence passed between the two as he gazed at the sky. The horizon still had a dusting of orange and pink from the now gone sun and the stars became more visible. Jim recalled the time when he was sailing past those stars on the voyage to Treasure Planet. It was no walk in the park, but he didn't have to worry about keeping relationships, at least.

"Jim," Kate's no longer robotic voice finally broke the silence, "I did not file a report against you." She turned her head to face him as she continued, "I know Morph pushed you forward and that resulted in us sharing a quick peck."

Jim looked back down at his hands, still in disbelief that such a thing happened. Kate placed her hand on his arm and he turned his head to meet her gaze.

"I know you are a good person, Jim," she said, "I know you would not try and force yourself onto a girl, no matter the circumstances."

Jim hung his head as he let out a sigh of relief. At least she didn't hate him.

"But what I don't know is why Morph would make you so furious," she added. Jim looked up at Kate. Her face was mostly stoic, but Jim swore he saw a hint of mischief in her eyes. "Morph?" he asked, "He just likes to constantly tease me."

Kate pressed further, moving her hand from his arm to her hip, "Enough to make you chase him like a madman?"

He chuckled a bit, turning his attention back to the railing. "Yeah. He's not always with me, but when he is he wastes no time," Jim explained, "It's like he never leaves me alone."

Kate let her finger trace the railing before asking, "What does he tease you about that drives you so crazy?"

Jim froze and instantly remembered the way Morph mocked him earlier.

"Crazy! Crazy!"

He wasn't sure if he should tell Kate that Morph thought he liked her. Then again, maybe it wouldn't be too bad because it wasn't true, right?

"Jim?"

He snapped out of his thoughts and looked over at Kate.

At that moment, it was as if the two moons had shed a spotlight onto her face, accentuating every detail and making her features glow in the night. Jim had always thought she was beautiful, even if he would never admit it.

However, he knew that alone wasn't enough to mean he liked her. "Uh, sorry," he finally said, looking back at his hands again, "I was just, uh… remembering something."

Idiot.

Kate's face immediately fell. "Ironbeard?" she quietly asked. Jim's eyes widened at the name.

It was almost funny how quickly time had passed since that ordeal with Ironbeard and The Centurion, but it was no laughing matter. Those pirates showed no mercy and were willing to do anything to get what they wanted.

"I still can't believe we made it out of that," Jim sighed. The academy lost some good cadets during that nightmare. Kate slumped her shoulders, turning back to the sky. "I still have that dream," she whispered.

Jim gave her a look of concern. He knew exactly what she was talking about.

"That pirate with the ax?" he cautiously asked. Kate shut her eyes and hung her head, not wanting to remember.

Back on the Centurion, Jim had gotten into a scuffle with a couple of Ironbeard's crew members and one of them had him cornered with an enormous ax. Kate saw what was happening and acted quickly, untying some rope from a cargo load and causing it to swing right at the pirate. It hit him and Jim got away, but the impact of the cargo caused the pirate to fall overboard, his ax falling with him.

"Kate, don't think like that," Jim said, gently placing a hand on her shoulder. He could remember himself feeling the same way about Scroop not too long ago. It plagued him to think that he had practically killed someone.

But in the end, it was either Scroop's life or his own.

"If you hadn't done what you did I would've been toast," he reassured, "You acted courageously and it saved my life." Just the fact that Kate was willing to infiltrate the ship and take down Ironbeard made her a brave hero in his book.

But that still wasn't enough to make him like her, right?

Kate shook her head, "It doesn't change the fact that I killed him."

Jim sighed. He recalled a heartfelt conversation about how she feared breaking the rules of the academy, the rules Admiral Blake enforced so much. And one very important rule, according to her father, was to let justice decide one's fate, not you.

And that was eating at Kate.

She felt bad about breaking various rules during that ordeal but Jim had helped her realize how that didn't make someone a disgrace if they were doing the right thing. She had even admitted to her father how ashamed she felt about it all afterward, but he was just so proud of her it didn't matter that she broke a few silly rules.

Yet, even after all of that, Kate started having a recurring nightmare that replayed that pirate falling to his death.

"It's going to take some time to get over it," Jim said, attempting to console her, "Believe me, I know."

Kate glanced at him with a downhearted expression. He countered with a look of determination. "But I'm still here, and that's thanks to you," he declared, "You saved my life and I'll never forget that."

Jim suddenly realized how strangely poetic he was being. He inwardly barfed at himself before offering a playful taunt, "I mean, would you rather he still be around instead of me?"

Kate let out a scoff at him, deciding to go along with it. "Oh Jim, didn't you know?" she asked in a sarcastically feminine voice, "I meant to hit you, not him." She pressed her hands daintily to her chest and lifted her foot in a distressed manner. "Why, he and I were in a secret relationship and we were supposed to elope the following weekend," she said wearily before pressing her hand against her forehead as if she would faint, "But now, I've been riddled with nothing but heartbreak for him!"

Jim knew she was joking, her exaggerated tone and movements of despair did elicit a chuckle out of him. But just the thought of her being with that pirate gave him a twinge of jealousy that he certainly did not expect.

As Kate began laughing at herself, Morph flashed in his mind again.

"Crazy! Crazy!"

No, he couldn't be.

Not just because she was pretty and brave and clever.

And also humble and strong-willed.

Funny, caring, and kind.

Oh.