Chapter 2
Moka was in the palace, facing the music with her adoptive father, while Orihime was listening elsewhere. "...I just don't know what we're going to do with you, young lady?" Yamamoto sighed.
"Daddy, I'm sorry I just forgot..." Moka tried to explain.
"As a result of your careless behavior..."
"Careless and reckless behavior!" Kurodo said, upset.
"The entire celebration was...uh."
"Well, it was ruined!" Kurodo finished for the king. "That's all. Completely destroyed! This concert was to be the pinnacle of my distinguished career. Now thanks to you, I am the laughingstock of the entire kingdom!" he said, now getting in Moka's face. Orihime hearing this and watching the scene swam in and got in Kurodo's face, angrily.
"But it wasn't her fault!" Orihime said, angrily to Kurodo, who just moved back astonished. Orihime slightly moved back when she saw the look, the king was giving her. "Ah...well...first...um...this shark chased us...yeah...yeah! And we tried to...but we couldn't...and...GRRRRRRRRR...and...and we...whoooaaaaaa...oh, and then we were safe. But then this seagull came, and it was this is this, and that is that, and..."
"Seagull?" King Yamamoto repeated, finally realizing. Orihime quickly covered her mouth, realizing what she just said and hid behind Moka, with her giving her a small glare. "Oh...you went up to the surface again, didn't you...didn't you?" Yamamoto asked, getting up from his throne and getting closer to Moka, causing her to back away a bit.
"Well, nothing...happened." Moka said, shrugging.
"Moka, how many times must we go through this? You could have been seen by one of those barbarians...by...by one of those humans!"
"There are not barbarians as you think they are! They're different!" defended Moka.
"Different, you say? They are dangerous. Do you think I want my youngest daughter snared by some fish-eater's hook?" Yamamoto said, holding up Moka's chin slightly.
Moka pulled her chin away, angrily. "I'm seventeen years old and you're not my dad!" Moka said.
"Don't you take that tone of voice with me, young lady!"
"But..."
"As long as you live under my ocean, you'll obey my rules!" King Yamamoto yelled, interrupting Moka, making her upset.
"But if you would just listen for once..." Moka tried to explain.
"Not another word! And I never, NEVER to hear of you going to the surface again. Is that clear?" Yamamoto told her. Moka just stood there lip trembling, unable to say anything else before swimming away, followed by Orihime.
"Hpmh! Teenagers...They think they know everything. You give them an inch, they swim all over you." Kurodo scowled.
"Do you...er...think I...I was too hard on her?" Yamamoto asked Kurodo, guilty tearing through him.
"Definitely no. Why, if Moka was my daughter, I'd show her who was boss. None of this 'flipping to the surface' and other such nonsense. Not sir, I'd keep her under tight control." Kurodo said, as Yamamoto started to get an idea.
"You're absolutely right, Kurodo." Yamamoto said as he smile.
"Of course."
"Moka needs constant supervision."
"Constant."
"And someone to watch over her, to keep her out of trouble."
"All the time."
"And YOU, Kurodo are just the one to do it!" Yamamoto said, poking him as Kurodo looked at him shocked, then crawled away from the king and the throne room.
"How do I get myself into these situations? I should be writing symphonies, not tagging along after some headstrong teenager!" Kurodo sulked to himself. He then saw Orihime hand Moka her small bag, then swim off. Kurodo, then got suspicious of where they were going and decided to go off after them. "What is that girl up to, now?"
As Moka and Orihime were swimming to where they were going, Kurodo was hot on their heels until he had to stop and take a breather. Kurodo then saw them stop in front of a boulder. Moka moved it as her and Orihime both entered the secret cave. Kurodo quickly followed them in, unnoticed before the rock closed in on him. Kurodo tried and tried to free himself from the heavy boulder. Once again he tried, pulling on a leaf, only to be met with an hour glass. When Kurodo was in the cave, he gasped in shock and surprise to see all different kinds of things from the humans that live on land.
"Moka, are you okay?" Orihime asked her, as Moka was leaned over a boulder, looking at the fork in her hand.
"If only I can make him understand. I just don't see things the way he does. I don't see how a world that makes such wonderful things could be bad." Moka said to Orihime.
Look at this stuff, isn't it neat?
Wouldn't you think my collection's complete?
Wouldn't you think I m the girl
The girl who has everything?
Look at this trove, treasures untold
How many wonders can one cavern hold?
Looking around here, you'd think
Sure, she s got everything
I ve got gadgets and gizmos a-plenty
I ve got who s-its and what s-its galore
You want thing-a-mabobs? I've got twenty
But who cares?
No big deal
I want more
I wanna be where the people are
I wanna see, wanna see 'em dancin'
Walkin' around on those
Whaddya call 'em? Oh, feet
Flippin' your fins, you don't get too far
Legs are required for jumpin', dancin'
Strollin' along down the
What's that word again? Street
Up where they walk
Up where they run
Up where they stay all day in the sun
Wanderin' free
Wish I could be
Part of that world
What would I give
If I could live
Outta these waters?
What would I pay
To spend a day
Warm on the sand?
Betcha on land
They understand
Bet they don't reprimand their daughters
Bright young women
Sick of swimmin'
Ready to stand
And ready to know what the people know
Ask 'em my questions and get some answers
What's a fire? And why does it
What's the word? Burn
When's it my turn?
Wouldn't I love
Love to explore that shore up above
Out of the sea
Wish I could be
Part of that world
She finished looking sadly at the top of the cavern. All was quiet, until they suddenly heard a couple of things crash down, causing Orihime to hide somewhere. Moka turned her head to the noise and saw Kurodo tangled in some of her things. "Kurodo!"
Kurodo was able to get untangled from some of her things before getting up. "Moka, what, are you mad? How could you...what is all this?"
"It's err...it's just my collection." Moka said, a bit nervously.
"Oh, I see your collection." Kurodo smiled, twirling a hook with a bobbing on his right foot. "IF YOUR FATHER KNEW ABOUT THIS PLACE HE'D-!" He freaked out, throwing off the objects the laid on top of him.
"Your not going to tell him, are you, Kurodo?" Orihime said, going up to Kurodo worriedly.
"Oh, please, Kurodo, he would never understand." Moka pleaded.
"Moka, you're under a lot of pressure down here." He said, smiling, taking her hand and pulled her with him. "Come with me, I'll take you home and get you something warm to drink." While he was trying to pull Moka along with him, a big shadow was casting over the top of the cavern hole.
"What do you suppose?" Moka wondered as she swam out of the cavern and to the top of the surface with Kurodo calling out to her. When Moka got to the top, she saw some fireworks in the sky and a big ship. Moka stared at it, in complete awe. Orihime and Kurodo then came up to the surface to see what the excitment was about.
"Moka, what...what are you...jumpin' jellyfish..." said Kurodo, then turned to see the big ship and gasped in astonishment. Moka then swam away from them so she could get a closer look at it. "Moka...Moka! Please come back!" Kurodo pleaded out to her.
When Moka got closer to the ship, she used some of the wood to climb up against the ship and looked on the balcony from one of the rails. Moka saw that a bunch of sailors were on the ship happy and having fun, playing instruments and just having a fun time. She also saw a shaggy-looking dog, jumping around with some of the sailors to the music and very happy as well. The dog then stopped and started to sniff the floor. When Moka finally realized that the dog was coming towards her way, she quickly hid away from it against the side of the ship. When she thought it was safe to look back onto the ship, she saw the shaggy dog in her face and then gave her a big lick to the face.
"Gin! Here boy!" a voice said, causing the dog to go near the sound of the voice. Once the dog left, Moka went back to peering on the ship and touched her cheek where the dog had licked it. "Hey mutt, whatcha doing?" The voice said, as the dog came to a man that had spiky, orange hair and had the most gorgeous, chocolate eyes she had ever seen. The dog had repeated his attempt to jump on him to give him a lick to his face every now and then, causing him to laugh. Moka stared at him in awe as she thought of how handsome he was.
"Hey there, sweetie!" Moka's head shot back to the voice and saw Kon flying towards her. "Quite a show, eh?" Kon yelled, coming towards Moka.
"Kon, be quiet, they'll hear you!" Moka whispered, swatting at Kon before turning back to the people on the ship,.
"Ohhhh I gotcha, I gotcha." Kon said, as he came next to Moka on the side ship. "We're being intrepidatious. WERE OUT TO DISCOVER..." Kon started, but had his mouth snapped closed by Moka's hand, so he would not give them away.
"I never saw a human this close before." Moka said, as she watched the man play a flute as the dog was moving to the music. Moka sighed, dreamily. "He's very handsome, isn't he?" Moka said dreamily, laying her head on her arms.
"I don't know, he looks kind of hairy and slobbering to me." Kon said, arching his head, referring to the dog.
Moka giggled, slightly "Not that one." Moka said, directing his gaze to the man. "The one playing the snorfblast." she finished, taking Kon's head and putting it against the side of her's.
"Silence! Silence! It is now my honor and privilege to present our esteemed Prince Ichigo with a very special, very expensive, very large birthday present." Jurshiro said, standing next to a huge object, being covered by a large sheet with the sailors on the ship were clapping for it.
"Ah, Jurshiro...y'old beanpole, you shouldn't have." Ichigo said, giving him a slap on the shoulder.
"I know." Jurshiro said, with no emotion. "Happy birthday, Ichigo." He announced as a sailor removed the sheet to see that the present was a statue of Ichigo, standing on top of a stone, holding a sword in one hand and wearing a piece of armor almost like a knight, with a cape. Ichigo arched an eyebrow, not knowing whether to be impressed or not, while Gin growled at the statue, obviously not liking it.
"Gee, Jurshiro." Ichigo started, going up to get a better view of it. "it's, err...it's really something. . . ."
"Yes, I commissioned it myself. Of course, I had hoped it would be a wedding present, but . . ." Jurshiro said, but was interrupted by Ichigo's laugh of amusement
"Come on, Jurshiro, don't start." Ichigo laughed, snatching telescope from Jurshiro's hand as he started to walk to the place where Moka and Kon were and hid from his view. "Look, you're not still sore because I didn't fall for the princess of Las Noches, are you?" Ichigo asked, looking through it before throwing it back to Jurshiro.
"Oh, Ichigo, it isn't me alone. The entire Kingdom wants to see you happily settled down with the right girl." Jurshiro said as Ichigo sat down on the balcony of the ship.
"Well, she's out there somewhere, I just...I just haven't found her yet." Ichigo said. Little did he know, that from the bottom of the ship Moka was looking up from the side, sitting on one of the wooden parts of the ship.
"Well, perhaps you haven't been looking hard enough."
"Believe me, Jurshiro, when I find her I'll know...without a doubt. It'll just...bam! Hit me...like lightning." Ichigo replied, and they then turned their heads to hear a clap of thunder and lightening flash across the sky. Another flash of lightening flashed across the sky, as the ship started to rock along with the violent waves of the sea, as it also started to rain lightly, but not to heavy as the skies became darker than before.
"Hurricane a'commin'! Stand fast! Secure the riggin'!" One of the sailors yelled from top of the look out. The sailors on the ship then started to rush across the ship in a hurry and tried to secure the ship better as it started to rain harder and the wind started to pick up that anyone could barely see through it, while the dog started to bark, panicking. The ship rocked even faster against the hard waves of the strong, angry sea. As the wind blew harder, Kon stared to blow away with the wind until he grabbed onto the rope from the sails.
"Whoa! The wind's all of a sudden on the move here!" Kon yelled through the rain to Moka. However the wind grew too strong for him, that he lost his grip on the rope and to be blown away.
The storm started to get really serious, with the waves splashing up against and onto the ship. Ichigo ran up to the wheel and tried to steer the ship, but was having some difficultly from the fierce rain and the forceful wind, rocking hard against the angry waves. Just like Kon was doing earlier, Moka was holding on to one of the ropes, but lost her grip due to the pressure of the wind, falling back into the ocean. She swam back up to the surface and saw just how badly the ship was rocking back and forth along the ocean waves, and how the thunder was rolling madly across the sky. When the thunder and lightning was dancing with one another, one of the lightning bolts hit the mass, causing it to catch on fire. Everyone on the ship seeing this, jumped over board and into the ship. While trying to see clearly, they saw a huge rock coming closer to their view. Ichigo quickly telling to abandon ship before any harm was came to them. The ship then crashes into the rock, causing everyone to fall off. In the water, Jurshiro is trying to stay afloat, but found it difficult, due to the extreme force of the waves.
"Hang on, Jurshiro!" As Ichigo helped Jurshiro into the boat, he heard his dog barking panically. He looked up and saw Gin surrounded by a wall of flames.
"Gin." He then dove into the water. Ichigo swam torwards the ship and climbed up the side. He heard a cracking noise and saw the a huge, wooden pole falling torwards him. He got out of the way quickly. The pole then fell into the deck below where there were fireworks, gunpowder, dynamite, and many other things. Not knowing this, Ichigo sighed in relief and ran to where Gin was with his arms opened wide.
"Jump, Gin! C'mon, boy! Jump! You can do it, Gin!" Gin finally jumped into Ichigo's arms and he ran off with the dog in his arms, only to have his leg get stuck. He also managed to throw the dog into the water. Gin swam torwards the row boat and got in it. As Jurshiro helped Gin onto the boat, he saw Ichigo was still on the burning ship, trying to free himself. Ichigo looked behind him and saw the fire only an inch away from a barrel full of gun powder. The ship's deck then exploded, causing everyone to gasp in horror.
Moka seeing this, gasped as well, then started looking for Ichigo. She looked to her left and saw an unconscious Ichigo floating on a wooden raft. He then fell over into the sea and started sinking. Moka took a deep breath and dived in after him. She grabbed Ichigo before he could sink any lower and swam to the surface, and to shore.
The next morning, Moka was sitting next to Ichigo's unconscious body on a shoreline, with Kon on the other side of his body. "Is he...dead?" Moka asked him, worriedly as Kon opened one of his eyelids, seeing if he was indeed alive.
"It's hard to say." Kon said, as he walked to his foot, and put it up to his ear. "I...I can't hear a heart beat."
"No, look! He's breathing. He's so, beautiful." Moka said, as she saw Ichigo start to breathe a bit heavily, but not open his eyes. She touched the side of his face, and then started to sing.
What would I give
To live where you are?
What would I pay
To stay here beside you?
What would I do to see you
Smiling at me?
When Orihime and Kurodo saw Moka beside Ichigo's body, Kurodo's mouth dropped open in shock. Orihime came over to him and closed it as she smiled.
Where would we walk?
Where would we run?
If we could stay all day in the sun?
Just you and me
And I could be
As she was singing, Ichigo started to come to and felt someone touching his face, so he puts one of his hands over that person's. He also opens his eyes a little bit to see a beautiful girl with long, pink hair and beautiful green eyes, with the sun behind her, giving her almost a beautiful glow. "And then I could be part of your world." Moka finished.
There was then a bark, making Moka turning her head to see a dog coming closer to them, so she removed her hand from his face and jumped back into the sea before the dog could reach her. "Oh, Ichigo. You really delight in these sadistic strains on my blood pressure, don't you?" Jurshiro said, coming towards him and helping him up.
"A girl...rescued me...she was...singing...she had the most...beautiful voice." described Ichigo as Jurshiro looked at him confused of what he was talking about.
"Ah, Ichigo, I think you've swallowed a bit too much seawater. Off we go. Come on, Gin."
Behind a big rock Moka was hiding there watching them leave, along with Orihime and Kurodo.
"We just gotta forget this whole thing ever happened. The sea king will never know. You won't tell him, I won't tell him. I will stay in one piece." Kurodo finished.
I don't know when
I don't know how
But I know something's starting right now
Watch and you'll see
Some day I'll be
Part of your world
Moka sang, as she looked at them leave. And while she was watching Ichigo leave, someone else was watching her.
"Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no. I can't stand it...it's too easy. The child is in love with a human. And not just any human...a prince! Her daddy'll LOVE that." The evil woman smirked, chuckling her evil laugh at the scene in her little water bubble. King Yamamoto's headstrong, lovesick girl would make a charming addition to my little garden."