A/N: for the entirety of Jim's voyage with Rayn and Silver (which will be brief; I'm not good at action stuff) I'm going to put it into BREAKS. That way, no one will consider this part of the actual story; it's just a side thing I thought would be fun. I've missed Silver :c

Interstellar Academy

15: BREAK 1

Jim packed his belongings, or at least the ones he knew he'd needed, and they set out for another treasure hunt. Though initially Jim was apprehensive about bringing Rayn along, after hearing him tear Roger to shreds, he'd grown to respect him.

"She healed him," Rayn had said when they started to discuss the incident. "I was in for the KILL, Jim. And she healed him."

"I know," Jim said solemnly.

"Ladies work strangely like that, boys." Silver maneuvered the tiny ship he'd stolen, the deck below large enough for only he to sleep in. The boys didn't mind; Jim preferred to sleep under the stars anyway, though they reminded him of only one thing.

Or rather, one person.

"Is that why you don't deal with 'em, Silver?" Jim inquired, focusing on their conversation so as to not get distracted.

"No, lad! It's cuz I'm ugly as a tug-butt!" the old pirate laughed.

"Can't argue with that logic," Rayn said, rolling his eyes. The men laughed briefly before turning back to the map.

"Where to now?"

"We head west, one-seven-six-seven," Jim instructed, pointing in the direction they should go.

"Right-o." Silver turned the hunk-o-junk accordingly, then pressed a few buttons and started heading down below. "If you two need me, don't; I need a rest from you young folk." With that, the man was gone.

"He's a pretty neat dude, if not a little…" Rayn twirled a finger beside his temple.

"Yeah, but he really does know what he's doing."

They were quiet awhile, watching space travel around them. Then Rayn said, "So, Leslie Paris. That's an awful random girl to be interested in."

"A lot of people said that, actually. I don't find it so random, though. I'm quite happy, actually."

"Hey, I'm glad to hear it!" Rayn smiled widely at him. "Everyone deserves all the happiness they could get. It's just, no offense against Leslie, I couldn't imagine you with anyone but Nova."

Jim sighed, closing his eyes and learning his head back. "Yeah. Me neither." They were silent for a moment, then Jim continued. "It was just too complicated. I didn't like feeling so…"

"… in love?" Rayn tried, getting a glare from the younger boy. "That's what it feels like. I've only experienced it once before, but I know when a boy's in love. And you're not in love with Leslie by any means." Rayn added as an after-thought, "Jim, do you even LIKE Leslie like that?"

Jim looked away, huffing. "Is that any of your business?"

"Thought so." Rayn sighed. "Look, I'm not going to tell you how to run your life; whatever works for Jim Hawkins, OK? But I feel like you shouldn't be with Leslie unless you felt something real toward her. I think you're confusing her obvious affections for her as your own; if it worked that way, love would be even MORE complicated."

Jim stayed silent through Rayn's rant, though the boy knew he was right.

"If you're happy, that's fine. But really think about what you're doing." Rayn stretched, standing up slowly and heading over to his hammock. "I'm going to sleep. Coming with?"

"Nah," Jim said softly. "Think I'm gonna just stick around here awhile."

Rayn shrugged, hoping his message hit home, and went to sleep.

Jim stared at the stars, and he could only see one thing- sunmaids. Sunmaids with long hair that sometimes fell into their faces, which made them frustrated. Sunmaids with bright, big eyes that could outshine the stars they created. Sunmaids with smiles large enough to stop traffic. Sunmaids with tails, sunmaids with fins. He pressed his hands into his eyes, trying to unsee the images, but they weren't going anywhere.

Of course he was still in love with Nova; the girl had taken his heart and soul, keeping it tight in her arms. When he'd tried to say good-bye to her before summer started, she looked so haggard and tired he was afraid to approach her. He didn't think she'd allowed him to anyway; when she caught sight of him, she ran off like a scared rabbit.

Jim sighed, blowing his brown bangs from his eyes, wiping them uselessly.

Heartbreak was a horrible, terrible witch.

But he was with Leslie now. Leslie was a simple, comfortable relationship. He needed that right now. He hadn't told her that he was going on a treasure hunt; in fact, everything inside him told him to keep it a secret. She was an adventurer herself, that he had no doubt, but he couldn't bring himself to reveal his plans to traverse the dark edges of space for hidden treasure.

Jim pulled himself to his feet and flopped into his hammock, closing his eyes slowly and shoving the images of a black haired beauty who consistently haunted his dreams- and starred in his nightmares.

A/N: Yeah, these won't be long. The next one will be A LOT more exciting! I think I'll do three or four BREAKS before Jim heads back to school. If you don't like them, then you can go ahead and skip over them!