"If you don't hurry up, we'll never make it to Wall on time!" shouted Lucas, the fallen star, behind her shoulder to the lagging Leone Thorn on the winding cobblestone road.
"It's not like I'm used to climbing hills everyday," huffed Leone, struggling to keep up with the brisk, agile pace of Lucas. "Shop boys, the most mountains they climb are the towering ladders, which are not quite as tormenting as this."
Lucas laughed lightly, a tinkling sound so dainty that it could be mistaken for sleigh bells. "How many times do I have to tell you? You're not a shop boy!"
"You're right, I'm just a dedicated romantic who captured a lovely young woman in return for marriage." Leone jogged to finally catch up to Lucas. She twinkled timidly even though it was broad daylight. The sun was streaming down in warm rays, making the bay behind them glitter and sparkle. Captain Makarov's lighting bolt ship could be seen breaking through the clouds like a dolphin at sea. He had just dropped them off on this path that was a couple miles from Wall. How many, they did not know.
"You're not a dedicated romantic," Lucas scolded, but smiling with those hearty, full, red lips all the while. Her platinum blond hair whipped across her face in the chilly wind. "You're just… desperate."
Leone almost stumbled over a stone at the sound of those words had it not been for Lucas catching him gently and setting him upright again. He seemed to have a problem with footwork; not even Captain Makarov could work all of the clumsiness out of him. "Desperate? Desperate for what?"
"Love."
Leone gaped at Lucas with an expression of shock on his face. "You… you can't be serious. Me? Desperate for love? Oh no, no, no, not desperate for love at all! If I was desperate, I would have begged to no end for Grace."
"Isn't that what you did?" Lucas put on a face flooded with admiration and mocked, "'I'd cross the wall and bring you back that star'? Isn't that quite desperate? I could have been a hunk of celestial rock five times the size of your thick head and you still would have carried me to her!"
Leone was running out of arguments in his defense. He hadn't been that desperate with Grace, had he? It was getting harder and harder to recall her pale gray eyes and soft touch everyday. "But… but… who's you to say that? You've probably had a couple of… rendezvous up there in the sky. You might have been a player enough!"
Lucas broke out into a fit of girlish giggles. Leone was stumped; what had he done wrong now? "A player, Leone? Are you serious?"
"You… you know… when you fall for many men, play them." Leone was feeling awfully stupid right now, even though he was the one from this planet.
"All stars are female . We're all sisters, no men!"
"Oh." Leone turned a deep shade of scarlet, avoiding Lucas's glances.
"No need to be embarrassed, everyone makes mistakes. I've seen it dozens of times, trust me," Lucas soothed, rubbing her hand on the soft cotton of the wispy shirt Captain Makarov gave him. "You've just got to learn to not take the first girl you have a chance at. There's many in this world, and you can't be selling your heart out to someone who doesn't love you back, or asks for silly demonstrations."
"I suppose you're right. But on the other hand, I wouldn't have met you if I didn't."
"Very true," Lucas grinned, stepping up onto a steep step. She lifted her dark blue velvet dress up to keep it from catching on her shoes. "I've seen true love come out of the blue, and it's been as beautiful and romantic as other relationships. What I'm just trying to say is just wait for that love."
"Okay," Leone replied, thinking of Captain Makarov's soft, whispered words in his ear just moments before, and looking to Lucas's deep, wide, inquiring brown eyes staring at him, "but I think I've waited just fine."
