Author's Notes:

Just a little warning that this particular tale contains some references to sexual matters. It's nothing M-rated, but if you're uncomfortable with the notion that the cast of Nostalgia have gender-specific body parts, you should skip this one.

- Tale Number Six: At the Beach -

"Because you're a creep, that's why!"

Melody slapped him immediately after saying this; though the two of them weren't in Fiona's line of sight yet, she could recognize the sound. "You're always trying to dig up dirt on me so that you can make fun!" the rant went on. "Why don't you just leave me alone?!"

It was here that Fiona "walked in", as it were; the argument was taking place above decks, on the starboard side. She turned the corner just in time to see Melody running off, leaving Pad standing alone, rubbing a sore cheek. Fiona approached him with the vague notion of offering some comfort.

Pad didn't even glance in her direction, but he obviously knew she was there, because he said at a normal conversational volume, "All I did was ask why she was so upset when she found out how 'er mom died."

"She just killed the man who murdered her," Fiona offered. "Maybe now wasn't the best time."

"But she was upset again! I hadda talk to her now... she needed someone ta talk to."

"It's... it's nice that you're so considerate to her. But I think she can take care of herself, really."

"Yeah," he said, but his tone revealed that he didn't believe it. He folded his arms and stared at the deck. "Yeah, that's the ticket. That crazy hag doesn't need me, and I ain't gonna bother tryin' ta help her like that again. From now on, I'll let her sort it out herself."

This was hardly the first time Pad had made that vow, but Fiona just nodded, took what she'd come up for, and headed back belowdecks. This time, she decided, she'd just have to admit that she'd been wrong: Melody didn't have the sort of feelings for Pad that he had for her. No one who felt that way could repeatedly spurn Pad's heartfelt gestures of concern.

She thought nothing further of the matter until that night, when she was heading up on deck to take her watch. Along the way, her attention was caught by the sound of moaning. Remembering that she was passing rather near where Melody was sleeping, she decided to check in on her and unravel the mystery.

She found her sleeping in her usual spot, laid out on a storage chest. She was making a considerable snore, but her moaning was louder. It wasn't a pained moan, though. After setting her lantern down on the deck so that its light wouldn't disturb the dreamer, Fiona bent down to her slumbering face so that she could hear what she was saying.

"Nnnnnn... yyyyyyyunnnhhh... errrrr..." There was a break for some grinding of her teeth. Fiona winced, but kept listening for something intelligible. "Nrrrrrahhh... Mmmmmm... Ohhhhhh... Pad..."

"Ah - HA!" Fiona exclaimed.

She was still squatting next to Melody's face, so when this victorious declaration burst out of her, Melody snapped her eyes open, leapt to an upright position, and blindly struck with her right arm, catching Fiona on the side of the head and sending her sprawling to the deck. By good luck, she fell a couple inches to the left of her lantern, and it remained upright.

"Who's there? Huh? Who's there?" Melody said in a rush, her eyes still blinking in half-sleep. "I'll fry you! I'll yank your damn testicles off and make you -"

"Melody! Melody, it's me!"

"Fiona?" There was a somewhat uncomfortable silence as Melody's eyes adjusted to the dim light. "What the heck didja wake me up for?"

"...You love him!"

"Huh?"

"Pad! You were moaning his name in your sleep."

Melody arched an eyebrow at her, then shook her head. "Even if you're telling the truth, I was probably having a nightmare about him, like maybe him winning an argument for once."

"Even if I'm telling the truth?" Fiona repeated, astonished that there could be doubt about that point.

"Well, I've never seen someone talking in their sleep. How do I know it isn't just a myth?"

"Well..." That was a bit suspect. It was true that Melody liked to see things with her own eyes, but she was no skeptic. Still, Fiona knew well how poorly Melody tended to react to people contradicting her. "Look, I know that you care about Pad. Why won't you admit it? He's obviously in love with you, so -"

"In love with me? Ha! Are you pretending not to notice he's dating other girls?"

"But he never goes out with the same one twice," Fiona pointed out. "And he always asks you out first. Remember, he only asked that girl in Lima to have lunch with him after asking you if you were interested in looking for beetles." She sighed wistfully. "Can't you see how romantic it is? You're always his first choice."

"Looking for beetles is hardly what I'd call a date," Melody huffed.

"Well, if you didn't rebuff him all the time, maybe he'd get the guts to ask you on a real date."

"Guts, schmutz. He doesn't want me, period! He wants a girl with a pretty face and a great figure - don't believe me, just take a look at his dates. He doesn't even think of me as a girl. That's why he asks to go looking for beetles with me; as far as he's concerned, I'm just one of the guys."

Fiona gave up there. She was getting nowhere, and it was apparent from the bloodshot look in Melody's eyes that she was entering her "very tired and cranky" mood, thanks to being woken up from an obviously very happy dream in the middle of the night. Besides, she couldn't help but feel that Melody had a good point in there, somewhere.

As Fiona was standing her watch, one good point that Melody might have occurred to her. While it was true that Melody was making it very difficult for Pad, and that she gave him almost every possible reason to give up on her, it was also true that Pad wasn't making as obvious an effort as he could. It was quite arguable, from Melody's standpoint, that he didn't care about her in that way. So perhaps the best course of action was to coax Pad into a more aggressive courtship. That just might kick-start things, Fiona reasoned.

The only question was how to do it, and that, she was certain, would come to her with time.

"I've got it!" Eddie declared, face lit up with enthusiasm. "Why don't we all go to the beach?"

"The beach?" Melody echoed, feeling considerably less enthusiastic.

"I've never been," Fiona said. "At least, not that I can remember."

"Me neither," Pad shook his head.

"Well, it strikes me as a capital idea," Evans voted. "I haven't had a good swim in ages."

"I can't believe the rest of you have never gone," Eddie said. "Now we have to go there!"

Pad shrugged. "Sounds good ta me. But I ain't got the clothes for it."

"We'll all go shopping," Fiona suggested, a little too helpfully for Melody's comfort. "Eddie can go with Pad to get some swim trunks, and I can help Melody pick out a bathing suit. We might need an extra towel or two, as well..."

"Hey!" Melody put in. "You haven't ever worn one either, so how come you're helping me pick out a bathing suit?"

"I feel like I know what I'm looking for, though."

"And besides, what if I don't feel like going at all?!"

"Whatsamatter?" Pad smirked. "Are ya scared of jellyfish?"

"I am not!" Melody turned on him, her face burning. "You're just afraid of going without me to protect you! You're not so tough without your gun, are you?"

He folded his arms. "Well, maybe we'll both go, and then we can see who's more scared!"

She did her best to out-smirk him. "Yes! Let's see!"

"Ah, I think this one would look perfect," Fiona said, pulling out a white one-piece and holding it up against her front. "What do you think, Melody?"

"Um... You do realize we're not going to wear these suits underneath our usual clothes?" she replied, flustered and a bit regretting her earlier bravado already.

"Of course. It's a bathing suit; you wear it and nothing else."

"Well... I mean... Look at how thin and tight the material is! Everyone will be able to tell the exact shape of my body!"

"Your body?" Fiona looked momentarily perplexed. "Oh no, I meant this bathing suit for me. We want something not nearly so modest for you to wear."

Melody wasn't sure which part of that statement to repeat back in the form of an incredulous question: "You're going to wear THAT?" or "Something less modest than THAT?" For the sake of getting in at least one of the two, she blurted out the latter.

"Of course. This is one of the most modest suits they'll have; that's why I picked it. I want something comfortable, but I don't want to show off my body too much."

"And you think I do?" She flung her arms up in the air. "Look, I don't know what you've heard, but I was raised a proper girl, and I take modesty very seriously! I can't wear stuff like this!"

"Look," Fiona sighed, "Do you want Pad to start seeing you as a girl or not?"

"Huh?" That was really out of nowhere.

"You said that Pad doesn't even think of you as a girl. Maybe that's because you wear dumpy clothes like that all of the time."

Okay, she has lost it. "What the hell are you talking about? This dress is perfectly feminine!"

"Well, yes." She gave her a sympathetic look. "But it's not eye-catching. If that's the sort of thing you like to wear, then you should keep on dressing like that most of the time. But if you want to catch a man's attention, you have to wear something special every now and then. Now, I think you already have Pad's attention. But you can always get a little more attention from a man. Believe me, I know these things." She turned and headed for another rack of swimsuits.

Melody followed. "How can you know? I thought you don't remember anything!"

"I don't remember learning to speak English, or how to play piano, but I still know those things." She sifted through the racks for a minute, then pulled out a dainty pink two-piece. "How about this one?"

"You have got to be kidding." She waited for a "ha ha", then when none came, elaborated, "For starters, that thing on top - is that a bra? - is going to just slide right off me. My boobs aren't even half that size."

"Well, it is pretty hard for me to tell how big they are. You always wear very loose-fitting dresses." She put the suit back on the rack. "Why don't you pick one out with a 'bra' your size."

Melody didn't like the bemused grin Fiona made when she said that. "What, you mean another bathing suit like that? No way! They'd be able to see my whole legs and stomach, even my..." She blushed, and lowered her eyes. "...my navel..."

"Oh, for goodness sakes." Fiona slapped a palm over her face. "If you're going to hide yourself in the most bashful swimsuit you can find, you might as well not go at all. Your problem isn't just modesty; it's self-confidence. You're so afraid that you won't be able to get Pad's attention that you won't even try."

"I don't want Pad's attention." She folded her arms and turned her back on Fiona.

"Melody? Melody, look..."

Fiona went on talking, but Melody had closed down, very deliberately not hearing a word she said. She was in the habit of doing this whenever someone was being a Grade A jerk and she was in a situation where blasting them into the stratosphere with a few spells wouldn't be a good idea. It was a nice skill to have. It allowed her to spend some time with her own thoughts while the jerk in question wasted their breath.

Stupid. This is all so stupid. Women actually wear these things out in public? That's disgusting. Although... I guess guys go to the beach with nothing but those trunks, don't they. Heh. It would be cool to see Pad dressed like that. Heh heh.

Anyway! It's not like I'm afraid to wear one of those, anyway. I could do it; I just don't want to parade my body around like that. I can't believe Fiona is being so low as to say I'm afraid. Is she using reverse psychology, or what? Besides, why would I put one of those things on? I was lying when I said Pad can't see me as a girl. I mean, he made out with me. So why would I want him to see me dressed like that? Just to see how he'd react when I'm half-naked? Heh.

Heh heh.

With Fiona still blabbing away, she began sifting through the rack herself. "Fine," she said. "But I'm not doing this to prove anything, got it? I just figure, you've got to try everything once, right?"

"Of course," Fiona smiled, as if to reassure Melody that no judgments were being cast.

"...Here," Melody announced after a few more moments of searching, and pulled out a dark purple two-piece which looked as though it would at least give more coverage for her butt than most of the outfits the shop had in stock. She liked the color, too; nowhere near as loud as the pink, light blue, and lime offerings, and it had the advantage over black in that it didn't make her look evil. "I think I'll go with this one."

Fiona just stared at the top half of the suit. "Really? They're that small?"

She gritted her teeth. "Fiona, you are this close to me sending you halfway to the moon." With that warning, she headed towards the shopkeeper so she could pay for the damn thing.

"Woah!" Pad threw his arms out to the sides, as though trying to regain his balance. "Talk about hot stuff!"

"Um... yes," Eddie managed, fiddling with the tie on his swim trunks.

"So soft and fine, too. Wow. I'm not staring too much, am I?"

"I don't think you can stare too much. Just so long as you look away before anyone else notices."

"Right. Damn, that'd be embarrassing." He laughed. "Man, am I really seeing this? I mean, am I really seeing this? They're totally glistening under the sun!"

There was the sound of the door to the beach house snapping open behind them, snapping shut an instant later. "Hello there, Masters Eddie and Pad!" Evans hailed them. "I gather from your conversation that the young ladies have arrived in their beach attire?"

"Huh?" Eddie said. "Oh no, Pad's just sticking his feet into sand for the first time."

"Check it out!" Pad exclaimed, digging his feet in further. "I'm sinking! I'm siiiiiiinkingggggg!" He performed some mock flailing of his arms.

Evans chuckled. "It is remarkable stuff, isn't it? It's been much too long since I - Ahhh!" He sighed as he dipped his own toes into the warm sand. "Oh, it's very nice today."

"It feels the same as always to me," Eddie remarked with a smile. "I'm glad that you two are enjoying it, though. I'm going to get in the water and cool off."

Pad knelt down and ran both his hands through the sand. It was like nothing he'd ever felt before. If the Browns could visit a place like this any time they wanted... Well, that was one more reason for him to think being in the upper class wasn't all stiffness and formality. Not that he wasn't glad to have been born into a more humble place, of course.

He just couldn't get enough of this sand, though! It was so soothing when it ran over his skin. And though he did feel a bit self-conscious about going around without a shirt - particularly with the thought that the girls were going to join them soon - it was nice to feel his body free and unburdened as the cool sea breeze brushed over him.

Over and over, he dug his hands into the sand and lifted them up, letting the grains flow out through the crevices between his fingers. He was starting to experiment with letting fistfuls of sand stream over his arms when Eddie called out, "Hey, it looks like Melody and Fiona are here!"

This announcement didn't interest Pad much, so he finished squeezing his current fistful of sand over his arm before he bothered with standing up to greet them. He dusted off the sand still clinging to his arms, then looked around.

And stared.

He was aware of Fiona in a sort of peripheral way - she was a pretty girl, and looked downright slyph-like in her swimsuit - but Melody had ensorcereled the whole of his attention. Her mousy brown hair fluttered messy and free in the breeze, wayward strands of it touching against the curves of her bare shoulders. Her skin was so pale and smooth and lovely, and the vast expanses of it that were exposed left Pad breathless.

It was a revelation, as well, that Melody had breasts - small ones, but breasts nonetheless. In an intellectual sort of way, Pad had been aware that she had to have them, but with her clothing always obscuring her figure, it was more than a little hard to imagine them, and he never gave the matter any thought. The notion of there being two little mounds there on her chest was more appealing than it had a right to be. Most of all, though, he was awestruck at being able to see every inch of her long legs. They were more gorgeous than he'd dreamed.

He was distracted from his gawking by an odd sensation in his swim trunks. Since he was still sensible enough to realize he shouldn't stare at Melody too long, he took a look down at his trunks... and saw, to his utter horror, that he was visibly aroused.

A frantic glance back at the two girls confirmed that they were too engaged in conversation with each other to have noticed. This gave him perhaps a split second to hide the potential source of endless, unendurable humiliation, so he dropped back to a sitting position, facing away from the girls, and began throwing sand on top of his crotch in a crude imitation of building a sandcastle.

He had just about built up a decent mound over the problem when someone cleared their throat and said, "So what'cha doing, Pad?"

Dammit.

He could see her foot out of the corner of his eye, soft white toes curling into the sand. He took care to avert his eyes from the rest of her; that mound of sand was fragile, and if - Don't think about it.

"Just playin' in the sand," he mumbled in reply.

"You don't have to be so shy." She said this in barely more than a mumble herself, but Pad wasn't one to talk. It felt like he was drowning in his own sweat. "Whatever it is you're making, it doesn't look too bad."

"Um, thanks." He'd been trying to make a decent design for a castle, just so that it wouldn't be obvious that all he was doing was hiding his loins beneath a pile of sand, but all he'd been able to pull off was a slightly irregular and shapeless mound. "I'm... making a mountain."

"Neat."

Dammit, why won't she go away? Why did she pick now, of all times, to latch onto me as her talk-to buddy? With her standing so close, all he could think about was her smooth, femine, and mostly bare body. The hot blood pounding through his veins made him wish he had a huge tub of ice water to jump into.

Without warning, she came around so that she was standing right in front of him. Oh man... those legs! He shot his gaze down on the crude pile of sand between his own legs and pretended to be caught up in his work. "So," she said, her voice louder now, but conspicuously nervous. "...what do you think of my bathing suit?"

"It's fine," he answered. Pad knew that the polite thing to do while commenting on any part of a girl's appearance was to look at her, but he didn't trust his mouth to not start drooling if he saw Melody in that swimsuit again, so he kept his eyes down.

"'Fine'?"

"Yeah, fine. Aren't ya gonna try out a swim with it?"

There was a foreboding silence. Then Melody exploded "Okay then, I will!" She turned and probably tried stomping off, but the sound of her footsteps was quite muffled in the sand. "By the way, that's the crummiest excuse for a sand sculpture I've ever seen! It looks like you were trying to build a sandcastle but someone kicked it over!"

Pad was so relieved that she was leaving that he didn't bother to point out that since she'd never been to the beach before, this would have to be the only excuse for a sand sculpture she'd ever seen.

Still, he couldn't resist one last look as she stormed away. A bad idea. Before that look, he only had her frontside flooding his thoughts; he now had the very fetching way her mussy brown hair flitted over her bare backside to think about.

That girl is entirely too sexy, he grumbled inwardly, and looked back down at the mound of sand he'd been building. This is clearly not going away anytime soon. Dammit.

He sat there in gloom for a few minutes, but he just couldn't get Melody off his mind. He wished he could just... reach out and touch her, even once. Fat chance. Any girl would scream and slap any guy who did that to her. And we're not talking just any girl here, either. If I did that to Melody, we're talking end of the world scenario here. Bam. Boom. Wouldn't be nothing left o' me but ash, if that.

He took a glance at her swimming, just a few hundred yards away, yet totally out of his reach...

"Well?" Fiona asked. She was lying on her back, doing a most placid performance of the dead man's float, her eyes closed in perfect peacefulness. She'd been doing this since she got in, and had even managed to keep her frontside completely dry so far, with the exception of her lower legs. In such serenity, it was impossible not to recognize Melody's unique strut as she splashed into the water.

"Real great advice you gave me!" the young witch said in her most caustic tone.

"Why, what went wrong?" A moment later she let out a high-pitched shriek as Melody splashed her with a chilly spray of salt water, making her completely lose her balance and tumble fully into the sea. Her formerly dry frontside was now thoroughly soaked and bedraggled, her long hair hanging in unsightly locks.

"He reacted like I had leprosy, that's what went wrong! Like he'd rather be looking at anything else but me!"

"I- I- I think..." Fiona stammered, still trying to get over the shock of cold water on her front.

"If Eddie needs me, tell him I'm swimming so that no one can see me wearing this ridiculous outfit anymore! And from now on, you keep your bright ideas to yourself!"

With that, she dove in the water and began making rapid strokes away from Fiona. Having at last collected herself, the healer girl sighed. Now, what could that be all about? Pad is attracted to her; I'm sure of it. Why would he - or why would she think he -

Her thoughts were interrupted by a stirring in the water. Looking down, she saw that another swimmer had entered the sea, a familiar dark-haired and lanky figure. As she watched, Pad swam past her, poked his head up for a breath of air, and went back under, moving slowly and staying well below the surface of the water. His eyes had aligned on Melody during his brief surfacing, and he was moving in her direction.

Fiona found this all rather a mystery, but saw no reason to interfere. Knowing Pad, his stealth was in some way a part of his courtship of Melody. She didn't really understand Pad's way of doing things, so it was no surprise to her that she didn't understand this either. Still, she was intrigued enough to watch.

Between the distortion of the water and his increasing distance, Fiona ultimately lost sight of Pad. It mattered little, however, as half a minute later Melody began flailing her arms and shrieking, "Iiiiiiiiieeeeee! Help! Help! Something's grabbed my legs!"

To Melody's consternation, Fiona only giggled in response, and a moment later Pad's head popped out of the water. He was panting for air a bit, but grinning broadly as he said, "Hah! Got ya!"

Melody's face went red. "You... you... Take this!" She swung an arm through the water, throwing up a terrific splash in Pad's direction. He dodged as best he could, still grinning, and began returning fire.

Fiona just stood back and shook her head. Whether he meant it that way or not, it looks like Pad found a legitimate excuse to touch Melody's legs.