Disclaimer: See previous chapter

Chap. 4

The light glare of the sun beamed into the room when Ky awoke from his slumber. His head was nursing a mild throbbing headache and his body seemed to hurt more so than yesterday. 'What happened?' All he could remember was resting in bed, idly wondering about his sword. Then things became a jumbled mess of images, nightmares by the looks of some of them. But through it all, there was always the one image of a young woman taking care of him.

"You're awake. How are you feeling?"

Ky's thoughts were interrupted when June entered into the room. The young woman smiled as she sat down and removed the cloth in order to feel his forehead.

"I... I'm fine, I think." Ky replied.

June nodded and removed her hand. "Well, your fever's gone down. That's a good start."

"Fever?"

June blinked, first in question, then in realization. "Oh. I guess you were a bit out of it. You caught a bad fever six days ago and have been sick since. Like I said, its gone down now, but you'll be stuck in bed for quite a while because of it as well as your injuries."

'Six...days...?' "Oh... I'm sorry for the inconvenience."

"No need to apologize. You're okay and that is what matters. Besides, we don't get many guests up here." The young woman smiled again. "Especially handsome-looking ones."

Ky blinked and lowered his head sheepishly at her comment and June couldn't help but giggle a bit. "Anyway, get some rest."

"Okay. Thank you."

"Hello?"

Later on in the afternoon, Dizzy came in to visit Ky in his room. Once again, she had a table tray with a bowl of soup and cup of tea. She was hoping things wouldn't happen the same way as before and was a bit hesitant at entering. But she found Ky laying in bed, looking toward the window. His face turned toward her upon her entry.

"Miss Dizzy. Hello."

"Are you feeling better?" she smiled, moving toward him.

Taking a deep breath for a moment, Ky answered. "I believe so."

"That's good to hear." Coming close to the bed and patient, the cyan-haired girl placed the table and tray on his lap. "I brought you some food."

"Ah. Thank you."

Nodding her head, Dizzy turned around to leave as Ky began eating. She was still thinking about what Ky had said the night before, but as curious as she was, she knew that it probably was better to just let Ky recover from his injuries and sickness. And she knew how her curiosity could get her in trouble sometimes.

"May I ask something?"

Pausing, Dizzy turned back around. "Sure."

"Do you...have my sword?"

"Yes." the young gear answered, her hands unconsciously clasping together in front of her. "Johnny found it with you and is holding it for safekeeping."

"Ah. I see."

"Are you upset?" Dizzy asked meekly.

"No, no." Ky quickly replied, shaking his head. "Relieved actually. I didn't want to think that I lost it." Taking a spoonful of the soup to his lips, he lightly added. "It is very special to me."

"It is?" At this point, Dizzy had taken a seat in the chair beside the bed; her curiosity now aroused as he went on to explain.

"Yes. When I was with the Order, Sir Kliff gave it to me when I completed my training. He told me to take very special care of it, since it was a rare weapon. In fact, I think there are only five or six others like it in the entire world. To lose it..." He paused; a distant look coming over his eyes in memory. "It is irreplaceable."

"Johnny will take care of it until you get better." she assured him. "Don't you worry."

Ky gave her a curious look when she said those words. It seemed odd to him that she would have shown such an interest. After all, he was speaking about a weapon that had been used to eliminate gears; her kind, at least in part. A part of him felt guilty for bringing it up at all to her, but Dizzy showed no signs of offense. Nodding a 'thank you' to her, he then picked up the cup of tea, but stopped and looked at it.

"Is something wrong?"

Again, blond-haired young man shook his head, but his eyes remained fixed to the cup. "This is an exquisite cup. May I ask, where did you get this?"

"I don't know. May says that Johnny got it a while ago."

Ky tried not to think about how he got it, as that would be ungracious of him (even if it may be true). "This is a rare style. The one who made this must have been a master craftsman."

Vermillion eyes flashed with curiosity once again. "How can you tell?"

"Here." He held the cup up into her line of sight, careful not to spill the content or drop it entirely. "The way it curves at this angle. This shows that the craftsman had to work around the base in order..."

Realization soon dawned on him and he lowered the cup, his face beginning to flush with embarrassment. He didn't mean to go on like that about his favorite hobby, but he found that he couldn't help it.

"...I-It is a little hobby of mine, collecting teacups."

"Oh, how nice."

He lifted his head, once again regarding her. Despite her mature looks, she was only three to four years of age. That didn't mean that she wasn't capable of mature thoughts and actions. But for the most part, her initial reactions to things were childlike. That didn't help dispel much of his embarrassment, but it was enough to return his face back to its normal color. Finishing his meal and tea, Ky lifted the tray up and handed it back to the girl

"Thank you for the meal, Miss Dizzy." His eye on the cup, he then added. "You should take real good care of that."

Dizzy nodded and answered. "I will." Backing away, she then made her way toward the door, but not before she said. "Maybe we could talk again."

"That...would be nice." Ky replied, a smile lightening his features.

"So how is our guest?"

Out on the deck of the ship, Johnny and May were leaning on the railing. It was the afternoon and the sun was just beginning to descend into the horizon. The pirate captain was leaning with his back on the railing while May was looking outward at the sky.

"June says that he got over his fever, so all that's left is for his injuries to heal." May answered.

"Okay."

Looking up at him, she took notice of the contemplative look on his face, despite the fact that it was partly concealed by his hat and shades. "Is something wrong?"

"Nah. Just thinking that I'm going to have to drop by and visit him."

"Me too." she chuckled mischievously as she turned back to the clouds.

Now it was Johnny's turn to look down at her. "Did I miss something?"

"Oh, nothing." she grinned. She then went on. "Dizzy is helping to take care of him and I figured I should go see him."

"Dizzy, huh? Becoming quite the nurse, is she?"

Her grin returned. "We'll see..."

Evening soon fell and May made her way to her room to go to bed. As her usual routine, she bid everyone goodnight, starting with the night shift and moving on to those who were just heading to bed like herself. Soon enough, she made her way to Dizzy's room and opened the door.

"Dizzy?"

But the young gear was already sound asleep in her bed; her face pressed cutely upon the pillow as she slumbered. May sighed and began leave, whispering a goodnight to the sleeping Dizzy and reaching to turn out the lights, vaguely noticing something new in the room just before she did.

A teacup on the counter next to her bed...