Chapter 4

My eyes opened just as the truck's breaks squealed to an ear-splitting stop. I looked at Vincent and saw him swing himself over the side of the bed and land, now standing in the sand. I didn't stare at him for long, though, because the scenery caught my eye.

The Costa del Sol was the most beautiful place I had ever set eyes on up to this moment. The sun was still high in the blue sky. I smelled the ocean on the air, and I nearly gasped when I saw the real thing. Those Japanese guys really knew what they were doing when they made this place.

"Enjoy what you can in the next five seconds. Our boat leaves in fifteen minutes," Vincent said, grabbing his bag from the truck.

I pouted. "That's no fair, especially because you probably have something planned for the next thirteen and a half."

Vincent nodded. "We need more food and ammo."

I hopped out of the truck with my bag in my hand and looked up at him with a mock scolding face. "You wasted all your ammo on that tree, didn't you?"

Vincent turned and walked toward a busier part of the town, and my stomach randomly started to hurt. I nearly doubled over from the pain, but decided that now would not be a good time to be sick, so I stood up straight, did my best not to grimace, and followed Vincent, trying to distract myself from my gut with thoughts of what I would buy as a new outfit. It didn't help much, considering I'm not much of a shopper, but it was the best I could do.

Vincent and I entered what appeared to be the marketplace. There were people everywhere, and I could barely see the wares people were selling, and most of the things I did see were things I didn't recognize.

I tailed Vincent past shop after shop until he looked over his shoulder. When he saw me he stopped walking and turned around, giving me a look, though I couldn't tell you what that look was because his face is so darn blank all the time!

I folded my arms, scowling at him. "What?" I asked in an accusatory tone.

"You're supposed to be getting food," Vincent said.

"I wasn't informed of this," I said, slightly ornery from how sick I was feeling. Vincent raised an eyebrow at me, as if I was supposed to read his mind. "But I don't know where to go. I've never been here before. I-"

Vincent interrupted me by pointing over my head. I looked over my shoulder and saw a booth with a sign that had a loaf of bread on it. I looked back up at Vincent to argue that I didn't know what to get and I didn't have the Gil to get anything in the first place, but Vincent dropped a smallish bag of Gil into my palm and walked off. I had the urge to chuck the bag at the back of his head, but instead I sighed and walked to my assigned booth.

When I finished I paid the shopkeeper, hefted the bag over my shoulder, and turned to look for Vincent. He was nowhere in sight, and I suddenly had no time whatsoever to look for him. My stomach nearly sent me sprawling to the ground in agony at that moment. I looked around for something to sit on, and I found a bench near the end of the marketplace. I walked as quickly as I could to get there.

What could I have done to make my stomach hurt so much? I hadn't eaten anything all day and… hey, maybe that was it! I was just hungry! But I'd never been in this much pain because of hunger before. Then why…? My head started hurting then, too. I felt like I was dying. So much for getting a new outfit.

After a few minutes of just sitting there with my eyes closed, I heard footsteps approach. I opened my eyes and looked up at Vincent before squinting them shut. Had the sun gotten brighter since I sat down?

"Vincent. I don't feel so good," I said, wrapping an arm around my stomach.

Vincent sat down next to me, and I felt two of his fingers touch my forehead. They were cold as ice, made colder by the fact that I felt hot all over. "I have one more stop to make," he said, withdrawing his hand. "Wait here, I'll be back in a few minutes." He then stood and left me to die.

Vincent was gone less than five minutes, which seemed like a lifetime to me, the sickie. When I heard his footsteps again, I opened my eyes slightly. I would have asked him where he'd gone, but I was too busy trying to convince my head to stop hurting so badly.

Vincent looked at me to make sure I was awake, then said, "Come on. The ship leaves in two minutes," before he started to walk away, and it looked to me as though he was going at a slower pace. It was probably my imagination, but I was able to keep up with him and stood right behind him when we boarded the ship. I became Vincent's shadow in a way, following him everywhere he went so I wouldn't get lost or stuck in the sun or end up having to puke without knowing where to go. We walked to the middle of the deck before Vincent stopped, told me to stay where I was, and left me. Again. What a jerk.

Not having any other place to go, I stumbled toward the railing of the ship and looked out over the water. As I hung onto the bar, my head stopped pounding so much and my stomach calmed down a bit. Not having all that pain to think about anymore, I got excited about this trip. It was my first time ever being on a ship, and my imagination of what this experience would be like went wild. What would this be like? Would I get seasick? Would I hate being seasick? Who really cared, anyway? This was going to be awesome. I had the sudden urge to spread my arms out and yell "I'm the king of the world!" to the sky--and that's when I heaved my guts out over the side of the ship. Embarrassed? Yes. Nearly unconscious afterward? Also yes.

Vincent came back a few minutes later and told me that he'd been able to rent two rooms for us, side-by-side and connected so he could get to me in record time if I couldn't take care of myself on a ship. After telling me which number my door would be marked with and giving me the key to it, he left, yet again, to do whatever-the-crap he felt like until the cruise was over.

Muttering about how inconsiderate Vincent was, I went below deck and started looking for my room. I was feeling sicker by the second. I walked like a drunkard down the halls until I finally found the room I was supposed to be in. I opened the door, crashed on the bed, and fell asleep within the next thirty seconds.

I heard a knock on my door about an hour later.

"Who is it?" I said, my words slurring a bit from how horribly I was feeling.

"Room service," a voice answered.

I told the person to come in, and an extremely attractive guy walked in with a cup full of tea. I remembered wondering why I couldn't have had room service when I was more sexy and less sick? He set the glass down on my bedside table, gave me a reason for the tea that didn't register in my head, told me to drink it to make me feel better, and left. What a sweet guy. I smiled as I picked up the cup and drank the tea down. I fell asleep again a little while later.

Yenny: That... took... forever to upload. o.o

Lacher: That's because you had a freaking job! . But I still luff you to death, especially because you're not working anymore. We have more hang out time!! WOOT!

Yenny: You better luff me, or else.

Lacher: Meep.

Yenny: Anyways, R&R then eat cheetos.

Lacher: Do you even have cheetos?

Yenny: That's not the point.

Lacher: ...(rolls eyes) riiiiiight...

...

Anywho, sorry we took so long, we shall be a little more fastlish in the future. Faves and reviews and such are much appreciated, and would be a great motivator for us... but we're not saying that we won't upload stuff if you don't...

Yenny: Cause then our story would be deleted. And we don't want that to happen. It's just that Faves and reviews make the world go round... in a... circle... type motion... Yesss... ANYWAY! Thanks for reading everybody. And for those of you who actually took the time to read this Author's note... Yes we are just a little bit crazy.

Lacher: ...A little?

Yenny: Shhh! Their on to us!

Lacher: (wide eyes) NUUUU!! (runs)

Yenny: THE END! (poof)