Chapter 14

Crazy

I feel the table shake, and when I look over at Marlin, his face is flushed red with anger.

'What?!' His lips force out, and Celia looks around the room nervously.

'What could he want from us?' She asks. I couldn't turn my head fast enough, so all I catch Vesta say is,

'Vegetables.' I look around at my three fellow farmers. They all had various forms anger, distress, and just plain sadness on their faces.

'Why does Skye do this to people?' I think to myself. 'How is he able to cause so much pain?' I think about the time I'd spent with Marlin and Celia today, and how many farming tips they'd freely given me. They worked so hard on their crops, and to have someone come and take all that work away seemed cruel. Insane even.

'I'll help catch him.' I sign. Both Celia and Marlin look at me inquisitively, so I sign it again.

'What?' Marlin signs back.

'Really?' Asks Celia's hands. I nod, and she smiles brightly and turns to Vesta. 'Jill said she'd help us catch him.' She tells her. Vesta nods, and I look at Marlin. He had a sour expression on his face, and when I ask him what's wrong, he sighs.

'I don't,' he pauses. 'I don't know if I want you around this guy Jill. He could be dangerous.' I'm so surprised I sit there with my mouth wide open for a second. Why was he worried about me? After a moment, I roll my eyes.

'I'm not weak Marlin. I'll be fine.' I sign to him, and after a moments hesitation, he nods back to me.

'You're right. If there's anything you're not in this world, it's weak.' He gives me a slight smile and I hesitantly smile back at him, confused.

We agreed to meet up at ten that night, so I left their farm and went back to my own. Once I'm there, I look out over my fields. The last crops of the season are growing, and I really didn't need the last few bags of seeds Skye owed me. My chicken's eggs helped me out a lot, and once I started leaving the farm at night, I was able to pick up various grasses I saw on my way to the goddess pond. I was even thinking about buying a barn soon. Why did I feel the need to go get seeds tonight then?

'Probably because you're not really there for the seeds.' I tell myself. I sighed, walked over to the very center of the field, and lied down. There was a chill in the air, but the sun was out and the atmosphere was pleasant.

"Why do I care about you so much?" I whisper to the bright blue sky. I close my eyes and feel the breeze blow over me. "Why?" I lie there and repeat that question over and over until I can't stand the uncertainty anymore.

'Long time no see Jill!' Vesta's lips move enthusiastically. It's our meeting time, and I've come back to their farm. I nod at her and walk into their house. Marlin and Celia are there, looking extremely nervous. I smile at them, and they try to smile back.

'What's with these gloomy faces!' Vesta says. 'We'll catch that thief before he even knows what's coming.' She walks over to us and throws her arms over mine and Celia's shoulders. 'Okay?' I see her ask. We all nod and put more genuine smiles on our faces.

We decide that it would be best if we split up, so Vesta and I went down to the south field while Celia and Marlin went to the north.

'Stay close to me Jill.' Vesta says. 'This thief could be dangerous.' I suppress a smile and laugh a little in my head. Skye was a skilled thief and a smooth talker, but something tells me he doesn't like to get his hands too dirty. I tell Vesta okay though, and we continue to walk along the path. We've just about reached the end when I catch a glimpse of silver hair. Skye.

'Stop thief!' Vesta says, and Skye turns around and smiles at us.

'Hehe, you shouldn't let such anger steal away your beauty.' He lips purr skillfully, but Vesta is too smart for his charms.

'Why I ought to,' she says, then starts moving towards him. Skye smirks, not looking threatened at all.

'Chick-Beam fire!' I think he says, and the same sensation I felt with him in the bar was back. I couldn't move anything but my mouth, and although I couldn't see Vesta to read her lips, I was sure she was saying some choice words. Skye winks at me and takes off to the north path. I have no idea what's happening, and I start to panic.

'It's okay Jill.' I tell myself. 'You're okay.' I close my eyes and wait for Skye's charm to pass. 'You're okay.' I try not to think of how restricted I am. Last time at the bar, I had my anger and Skye to distract me from truly feeling the effect of the charm. Now, with nothing but rows and rows of crops before me, it was harder to ignore the pounding in my chest and the panic of not being able to move at all.

I don't know how long I'm frozen, but I know the sensation is over when I feel Vesta's hand on my shoulder.

'You okay Jill?' her lips ask, and I nod solemnly. We walk up towards the north path, and see Celia and Marlin standing in the middle of it.
'You two okay?' Vesta asks them, and Celia looks tearfully up at her.

'He froze me and then...'

'He got away.' Marlin's lips finish for her. They both look shaken up, and once again I feel a pang in my stomach. Skye did this to them. I talk regularly to the person that did this to them, and that felt like I was betraying them. Vesta must have noticed our solemn expressions, because she rolled her eyes and patted us on the back.

'Why the long faces! We're all okay, and he didn't steal anything. That's all that matters, right?' She says expressively. Celia and Marlin look at each other before giving Vesta a small smile. 'That's what I like to see!' she says, then turns to look directly at me. 'Thanks for coming tonight Jill. The fact you wanted to help means a lot to us.' I nod at her, still feeling a little guilty, then turn to sign to Celia and Marlin.

'It been long night. Going home.' I quickly sign. They smile at me and say their goodbyes, and I go on my way.

The entire way home, I think about my relationship with Skye. Over the last season, I'd grown more attached to the thief than I'd ever thought I would. Although he was a flirt, a little pompous, and of course, a thief, I'd grown to like the way he'd talk to me. He automatically slowed his speech down for me, and he'd look me straight in the eye when we talked. I was drawn to him, and they way he made me fight for my seeds. He didn't give them back to me because I was deaf and he felt sorry for me. I had to earn them back, and crazy as it was, I was glad someone thought I could.

My thoughts absorbed my entire walk, and I didn't even notice when I was at my house. I opened the door on autopilot, and when I looked in my house, there was a sliver- headed thief sitting at my little table.

'Hello Jill.' Skye's lips form smoothly. I'm shocked, but after a second I roll my eyes.

'You can't be here Skye.' I sign to him. He cocks an eyebrow at me.

'Oh really? Are you going to try and make me leave darling?'

'No, but I can have half the village here pretty quickly. Do you want to go to jail Skye?' I'm writing notes by now, highly doubting Skye could keep up with my signing.

'Feeling sassy tonight, aren't you beautiful?' He asks me.

'Like I said, you can't be here. As a matter of fact, we shouldn't talk at all anymore.' I was growing irritated now. I felt as if he was mocking me, and I didn't enjoy that one bit. Skye's eyebrows rose after he read that note.

'Hehe, have you forgot our arrangement dear Jill? We don't talk, you don't get the rest of your seeds.'

'You being here is not part of that arrangement! Besides,I don't need those damn seeds anymore!' I furiously write. Now he was holding the very thing I admired about him over my head. 'If starving to death means I don't have to talk to a thief anymore, at least I'll die happy.' Skye's face loses it's confidence after he read that one. He stands up and walks over to me.

'What if I told you this wasn't about the seeds?' I roll my eyes at him.

'Don't try to save yourself now Skye. It's always been about the seeds for you. Something tells me you have better things to do than play games with the random deaf girl.' Skye's face grows serious.

'And something tells me your morals are too high to allow you to be friends with a thief. So why are we here Jill?' he says. I start to write another note, but realize I don't want to know the answer to his question. Why are we here? Why didn't I just turn him in? Why couldn't I just accept the fact that he was a thief, and move him out of my life for good? Skye looks me straight in the eye, his expression unwavering. 'Do you really think that's all you are to me Jill? That I only talk to you because of those seeds? That you're just some random deaf girl to me?' He steps closer.

'I don't know what I am Skye.' I sign, taking a step back. Skye steps forward again.

'You're beautiful, sassy, hesitant, and confident at the same time.' he starts without hesitation. I step back, and he comes closer. 'You seem so scared of the world, yet you run a farm all by yourself.' I step back and he comes closer. 'And even when I, a lowly thief, come in and steal your seeds, your life source, you don't give up.' I'm up against a wall of the house. Skye is right in front of me, his emerald eyes focused and determined. 'I'm intrigued by you Jill.' his lips barely form. 'And I wish you'd hurry up and fall in love with me.' I don't even have time to process his words, when he leans down and connects his lips to mine.

A.N. Well...umm...yeah. This happened. I was not planning that kiss at all and it just sort of came out of nowhere. So uhh...hope you liked it! Thanks for reading and all that jazz, and thanks for the reviews. I'm going to go figure out why the heck I just did that and I'll try to update soon. Review I guess, but I'm kind of scared of what you have to say.( Just kidding, but seriously)

-Goldengirl

If you couldn't tell, I'm a little sleep deprived. Just a little.