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-YOUCAN'TTAKEMEALIVE!

KN: This is actually the first Skies of Arcadia fic I wrote, but I didn't finish it before I had done the Days of Christmas project because it just got so long. Two years later, and I decided I might as well finish it even if it turns out to be not that good. It's still about my weird pairing thing, though. I dare you find a 16 page oneshot about a weirder pairing in the SoA archive (I'm not being serious, but if you're up for it, would love to see what you found).

Warnings: Weird pairing, mentions of implied attempts at rape in the italics, a page of italics, clichéd love at first sight, this oneshot turned out so long, like what the actual whoa. Yeah…

KN: As of this story's publication, my DoC oneshot is still on the front page of this fandom's archive. –cackles madly- And, in a sense, this could be considered a prequel to the aforementioned oneshot since I not only wrote this first, but it corresponds well with the other story too. What makes this even weirder is that I definitely did not plan it this way.

-BUTYOUCAN'TKILLMEANDTAKEMEEITHER!

Luke sighed.

There just wasn't any excitement today at all.

He pulled on his gloves without being conscious of it as he usually did and stared across the base to the opened treasure chest he hid on the cliff opposite the one he was standing on. It seemed so long ago that he was telling Vyse to look for the two chests he hid in the base. Ha, it took that kid forever to figure out where that one was. Well, he had to admit that Vyse was faster at finding things than Captain Dyne…

Luke pulled out his pocketknife and twirled it in his hand, stopping abruptly when he saw the long scratch on the side of the blade. He remembered all too well how that scratch got there…

"For a thief, you've got a real pretty face. Why would you want to continue associating yourself with these dirty Air Pirates, anyway? We could probably make you a spy or something with your skills." Ugh…it was this damned man again… Why was it only Luke that this man kept 'visiting'? He wanted nothing more than to bury the point of his concealed knife into this creep's chest. Of course, that wouldn't solve anything, and he knew that. The guy was wearing heavy armor, taller, and he had a sheathed sword that the thief would prefer stay sheathed.

"I don't see why a Valuan soldier like you would give a 'dirty Air Pirate' like me a job." He replied. 'Besides, I only serve Captain Dyne. Not some Valuan that thinks I have a pretty face.' He told himself mentally.

"I can see why you'd be suspicious, but I'm sure I can persuade my superior to save you from execution. After all, you're mostly harmless and defenseless as it is, unarmed('Ha! That's what you think.' Luke thought), without your scheming captain, and your body's too lean to have any strength behind it. Perhaps if you take an oath of loyalty," the man walked closer to Luke, and the thief backed away unconsciously, "prove your worth," he leaned in closer, and Luke had backed away so much that his back was against the wall, "and maybe sell out the rest of your dirty Air Pirate friends…" he almost whispered, positioning a hand under Luke's chin to keep him from turning away and to get a better look at that 'pretty face' of his.

"Get. Away. From me." Luke all but growled through his teeth. Creep was never this bold before... It was so tempting to drive a knife through this bastard's eye, but he knew he shouldn't. The Valuan would only lose an eye, and if Luke was lucky then he might get raped and killed on the spot instead of raped, tortured, and killed in front of children…

"It's a proposal worth thinking about, isn't it?" he tried leaning in closer (if that was possible) but Luke had his hands in front of him, pushing the taller man away as much as he could. "Well, you'd be forever in my debt, of course, but that isn't anything to fear. I'm a pro at this; it wouldn't hurt a bit." Pinning one of Luke's wrists against the wall above his head, his gaze drifted down the thief's body, his other hand placed on the red-haired pirate's waist, making it all too clear what the man's intentions were. Luke had taken just about all he could take at this point and kicked the man right between the legs.

The Valuan fell to the ground writhing.

'Guess there was one place that wasn't protected…besides his face.' He couldn't help thinking as he slipped a hand to the hilt of his concealed knife. 'I was half expecting to hit something metallic.'

"YOU LITTLE WHORE!"

Luke gasped as he quickly took his knife out to stop the other man's blade from impaling him. There was a loud, screeching, scrape of sharpened moonstone against the steel of his knife, but no blood was lost, no scream escaped him.

"You're lucky you were fast and had a durable knife." The soldier backhanded him hard enough to knock him against the floor. "But that won't save you a second time!" Luke was pinned against the floor this time, the sword raised above him, its point only a foot away from his throat. He looked away and closed his eyes.

'I'm sorry, Captain Dyne!' he thought as he waited for the blade to stab his throat.

"Sir! It is time for the public execution of the Air Pirates!" a guard announced, keeping his attention on the other soldier instead of the thief underneath him.

"What?" the soldier looked up to see the guard. Luke took this chance to hide his knife again where he took it out without either Valuan noticing.

"Not to question your actions and offend you, but what are you doing, sir?"

"The damned pirate tried to stab me with his knife! I'm teaching him a lesson."

"Impossible, sir; we made sure to disarm the prisoners. In any case, it is time for him, his captain, and the rest of his crewmates to die. What better way than a public execution? Dyne of the Blue Storm, second on Empress Teodora's 'Most Wanted' list, will finally meet his end."

"Very well." The soldier smirked as he tied Luke's hands behind him. "I suppose this will be more fitting." The guard left as the soldier took out a sacri crystal. "I gave you many chances, but you refused them all. You could have prevented this." He used the sacri crystal to heal the bruise on Luke's face where he struck him. "Now I can just watch you beg the executioner for mercy before he separates your head from your body, that pretty face of yours untouched." He mocked as he led Luke out of the cell for his execution.

'At least if I die, I'll die with my captain and my friends…' he thought to himself.

He all but laughed out loud as he put his knife away. He could still remember the look on his captain's face when Vyse had seemingly appeared from nowhere and hit that guard, ordering everyone to escape underground with Aika. Then again, Luke was so surprised that he almost forgot to cut himself free with the scratched knife he kept.

That kid…

"I wonder what he's doing right now…" he said out loud. He had heard news that Vyse had landed himself in the Valuan Grand Fortress a second time, but he had a hard time convincing himself that was believable. Vyse was always getting into trouble, but he couldn't get into that much trouble…right? Well, he had also heard that Vyse not only became a prisoner of the Valuan Grand Fortress, but he escaped, stole a developing Valuan warship, AND he kidnapped the prince of Valua.

But no one was that adventurous…or crazy, so it couldn't be true.

"Hey, Luke!" He looked down to see Mabel waving at him with a bottle of loqua in her other hand. Looks like someone decided to come out of the tavern for once… "You're not going to believe who decided to visit!" He looked at her questionably. How did she get news of someone's visit before he did? Perhaps he had been daydreaming too much… He turned around and left the base. 'I wonder if it's one of Captain Dyne's old friends…'

-l-l-l-

…

"I don't think I've ever seen you at such a loss for words, Luke." Aika laughed. The thief stayed quiet as he stared at the huge Valuan warship that decided to dock at the base he currently lived in. "It's called the Delphinus. It's really Enrique's ship, but he gave it to Vyse. Oh, and that's Enrique over there," she pointed to the tall blond person wearing regal clothes that looked very airsick at the moment, "he's the prince of Valua." She beamed.

Luke looked at the Valuan warship. Luke looked at the airsick prince of Valua. He looked at the warship. He looked at the prince who had Fina rubbing his back at this point. He looked at the warship which had Vyse coming out of it now, beaming as though he were the captain…and he was…

"Vyse, you know Blue Rogues don't take hostages, right?" the thief questioned the seventeen year old captain. Aforementioned seventeen year old glanced at the airsick prince of Valua who still had Fina rubbing his back.

"He's not a hostage, Luke. He decided to come with us."

"You're a hundred years too early to think you can lie to a thief, Vyse."

"He's not…lying…" Enrique managed to say. "I wasn't…kidnapped… I wanted…to…" he put his hand over his mouth, unable to finish his statement.

"Enrique, don't worry about defending me. You're sick, you know. Anyway," Vyse returned his attention to Luke "is my dad still in his office or something? I can't wait to tell him about everything!"

'I think you mean rub it in his face.' The raider thought.

"Yeah, he should be in a good mood right about now too. I'll bet he can't wait to hear what trouble you've been getting into either. Escaping from the Valuan Grand Fortress a second time, stealing a warship, and kidnapping the Valuan prince…" ("I wasn't kidnapped…!" Enrique protested weakly.) Luke smiled. "I don't know if you're brave or just plain crazy, Vyse!"

"I guess it just runs in the family." Vyse grinned before running off.

'Yeah, I think you're right about that.' the red-haired thief thought. "So, Aika, what else have you been up to that you haven't told us yet?"

-l-l-l-

(Luke) "So…on your search for the moon crystals with Fina, you guys ended up in the Nasr town of Maramba."

(Aika) "Yeah, and Captain Drachma just left us there!"

(Luke) "You stayed the night there at an inn."

(Fina) "We also watched a dancer perform before we stayed the night."

(Aika) "And Vyse couldn't stop staring at her."

(Fina) "But she lent us a ship, so that we could go to Temple Pyrynn. We ended up getting the Red moon crystal with her help."

(Aika) "Yeah, but she turned out to be the Valuan general, Belleza, in disguise. She even took the moon crystal we got and summoned the Red Gigas, Recumen, to try and kill us!"

(Luke) "Well, you guys don't look like ghosts, so how did you manage to survive?"

(Aika) "Luke, don't mention ghosts…please… Anyway, Captain Drachma came back to help us out by knocking Recumen off balance. That old man really did care about us after all! Of course, we couldn't defeat him, so we attacked Belleza's flagship instead."

(Luke) "Fighting a gigas and then a flagship under the command of a Valuan admiral?"

(Aika) "Yeah, I know. Brave or crazy? We won in the end, though, and we took her engine to cross the Southern Ocean."

(Luke) "You just left her there in the desert? That's pretty cold." Then again, one couldn't be too careful with powerful enemies like that.

(Fina) "Aika made her walk."

(Aika) "Well, she lied to us, so she deserved it!"

(Luke) "What happened next?"

(Aika) "Then we made it across Southern Ocean, and it took forever!"

(Fina) "We landed in the village of Horteka, in the continent of Ixa'taka."

(Luke) "There's land on the other side of Southern Ocean? A whole continent and a village too?"

(Fina) "Yes. It's very lush and fertile from living under the green moon."

(Aika) "We ran out of fuel from the trip, so we had to stop. The villagers of Ixa'taka didn't take too kindly to us because they thought we were like the Valuans… They thought Fina was their god, though."

(Luke) "Well, Fina is pretty otherworldly, so I can see why they might think of her as a god."

(Fina) "They thought I was Quetya because the Silvites from long ago had sealed the gigas, and I do resemble them. Of course, when they found out I was not their god, they treated us pretty coldly."

(Aika) "Luckily for us, we met Hans, a fellow Blue Rogue. His father's ship, the Ironclad, crashed in Horteka."

(Luke) "Did you say the Ironclad? That's Centime the Tinkerer's ship, isn't it? I didn't know he actually had a son; I always thought he just adopted orphans."

(Aika) "Well, yeah. Hans was adopted too…"

(Fina) "He was a very polite boy. Centime raised him well."

(Aika) "Yeah, he actually gave us some of his moonstones for our ship."

(Luke) "So you guys met Centime the Tinkerer, huh?"

(Aika) "We did…only, not at the same time we met Hans…"

(Luke) "Why? What happened to his father?"

(Fina) "He was captured by the Valuans and imprisoned in the Moonstone Mines. It was sad to see the look on Hans' face when he wondered if his father was still alive or not."

(Aika) "Good thing for him that we'd break in there and save his dad! But that's later on in the story…"

-l-l-l-

"So, you've got your own crew and your own ship now? And you've already established your own base on top of that! That's pretty impressive, Vyse." Dyne commented on his son's success.

"Just 'pretty' impressive?" His son smirked. "I think you can give me more credit than that."

"Well, I'm willing to bet that most of it was just your dumb luck." Vyse laughed at that. "You always were strangely lucky," His dad said out loud more to himself than Vyse, "but you shouldn't push it." He warned.

"Yeah, whatever you say, Dad…" (Dyne was sorely tempted to tell his son to call him 'captain', but he remembered that he had no right to say that now since Vyse was a captain of his own crew) "I kind of wanted my crew to meet your crew," Vyse said out loud more to himself than Dyne before he walked out of his father's office, opening the door enough to see his father's crew working on his father's ship, the Albatross, "but it seems that you're busy." Dyne joined his son outside his office and beamed at his crew's efforts.

"I dubbed it the Albatross II, you know. It looks the same on the outside, but it's got quite a few surprises underneath that exterior. I thought Luke had already bragged to you about it. Didn't he say anything to you?"

"Oh, he was just gawking at the huge prototype Valuan battleship and at the airsick Valuan prince, so it probably slipped his mind heh heh…"

"You don't expect me to believe Luke was gawking, right? I don't think he ever changes expression; he always looks amused with something. Always."

-l-l-l-

It wasn't long before other residents of Pirate Isle had joined Luke in listening to Aika and Fina's story, offering their bits of commentary and awe every now and again. To think, Vyse would actually travel to Valua (of all places!) again to get the yellow moon crystal. Then, they had picked a fight with an arcwhale named Rhaknam because the seal couldn't be broken before being attacked by the flagship of Valua's newest (and possibly even strongest) admiral, Ramirez. And that Vyse would end up getting separated from the two girls. From the point where Vyse met the famed Gilder the Unfettered to the point where they had traveled to the distant and exotic-sounding Yafutoma, there was no doubt that any of it had happened.

At least until the two said that the world was round. No one would believe them about that. Luke would only take their word for it, but that was as far as he went.

"Luke, you should meet our crew!" Aika all but shouted before she paused. "They're not exactly normal, though…" she thought about it for a second. "They're probably weirder than you and your crew if I think about it, and you guys aren't even that weird…"

"Well, I don't think I or my crewmates have the time for that." the older pirate tried to let her down lightly. "We're kind of rebuilding our ship right now. I mean, it looks the same as the old one now, but we're planning on modifying it with these new cannons and-!"

"Oh, come on! You certainly didn't look like you were working on anything now. Otherwise you wouldn't have been listening to our story all this time. And I'll bet they want to see the town their captain grew up in too. It won't take that long; let's do it!"

"Okay, fine…" Luke yielded. Although, he did want to see what kind of crew Vyse was commanding. He wondered just how weird they could be, but then again…if they're all gathered in a prototype Valuan warship sailing under the command of a seventeen year old who probably topped Empress Teodora's Most Wanted List by now, then they must definitely not be normal…

Aika and Fina had already gone into the ship, the former with her usual enthusiasm and the latter hesitant, but also curiously excited. Only moments later did Vyse's crew exit the ship, some smiling and some nervously, before they had entered Pirate Isle. Before the crew had settled in, Aika and Fina had caught up with them, the orange-haired girl still bragging.

"This is just the active crew too. You won't find another bunch like this, that's for sure!"

"Well, I'll hand it to you, Aika. Vyse's crew is definitely interesting."

There was this girl that looked about Aika's age who would've definitely passed as a normal pirate if she didn't wear so much pink. Also, she was way too cute (as a button!) for Luke to consider her as a pirate. Too clumsy as well. It was a shock when he found out she was a Blue Rogue, and a gunner that worked under Calamity Clara to boot! Though that would explain all the pink…

Then there was this older guy who tied his black hair back and wore goggles above his eyes. He also wore an orange coat and carried a telescope at his side (was he the lookout?). That guy couldn't keep his eyes off Aika or Fina, so Luke was sure that the guy was a womanizer type, but he also seemed…chivalrous in a way…

There was also a little red-haired boy from Valua. Of course, he was from Lower Valua, and Luke remembered what Lower Valua looked like…the bleakness of its citizens and the city itself never quite disappeared from his mind. But the boy seemed happier now; he was talking with another boy, who Luke recognized as the boy from the weapons shop in Sailor's Isle. What were their positions in the crew? Though, if Vyse had recruited them, Luke hoped Dyne's son knew what he was doing.

And those were the normal ones…

There was a woman from Maramba who wore these big, round glasses and a clear purple veil over her mouth. Luke couldn't help but wonder what her eye color was; she seemed a little mysterious. She carried a crystal-like prism with her (what was her position in the crew?).

There were two girls from Yafutoma with black hair who wore these strange clothes which was no doubt a representation of their culture from far away lands. They also happened to be sisters (how did he overlook the family resemblance?), the older carried a hammer with her and the younger blushed a lot, usually staying beside her sister. There was definitely something charming about the girl with a hammer, and the younger sister was cute like a button too.

There was another girl with gray hair who was from Horteka, the village on the other side of the Southern Sea. Despite her gray hair, she looked pretty young and probably was. Her clothing was also a clear representation of her exotic culture, but with that long green skirt-like thing that didn't really cover her legs and the green cloth that only wrapped around and covered her breasts; she looked more like a dancer than a pirate…. (Then again, you know what they say about judging a book by its cover) She was pretty too.

Luke couldn't help but smile at the fact that most of the strange ones had been pretty women so far.

"Fina, do you think we should try to get our Helmsman to come out again or not?" Aika looked like she was going to try whether Fina said yes or not. "I mean, I still can't get over his attitude." Aika narrowed her eyes and deepened her voice to impersonate someone who was most likely an older male (and probably antisocial at that as well). "I'm paid to steer, not to socialize. Don't bother bringing this up again." Her expression changed back to that of her natural irritation "Hmph! Who does he think he is? That Lawrence! We still don't know a thing about him too…."

So this helmsman was a mysterious man who doesn't like socializing? Luke probably would've visualized him as this tall, cool person who might actually pass as a pirate if said person didn't have a name like "Lawrence". Well, at least his name wasn't "Wally" or something to that effect because then Luke would never be able to take him seriously.

And then there was….

Well…

Damn.

Once this boy caught Luke's eye, the red-haired pirate would be damned if he looked away. He was definitely dressed as a Blue Rogue Air Pirate, but he was way too cute for Luke to consider him to actually be a pirate. No, it wasn't that the kid didn't have the muscular physique of a man, he was still a kid after all. And besides, most pirates are built lean, so that they can sneak around and steal treasure anyway. All that mattered was being strong enough to use a weapon when in a tight spot, but that kid didn't really look like the type that can fight much less use a weapon…

And it wasn't the fact that the kid wasn't terrifying in the least or had the face of a little angel that practically screamed "I'm so damn innocent" that made it difficult for Luke to think of him as a pirate either. That cute girl with all the pink also looked like an angel, but any pirate that worked under Calamity Clara was a fierce, scary little thing on the inside. Anything with a cute face could not be trusted to be just as cute on the inside…except for Pow…and maybe Cupil.

It was his eyes; those huge, beautiful, blue eyes that were more intense than any sky or lake that Luke ever saw in his life and shimmered brighter than any moonstone. What pirate had eyes like those and was regarded as a pirate? Moons, Luke felt disappointed every time the boy blinked! Of course, the disappointment was always brief because then he'd see them again when the boy reopened his eyes. And then it returned whenever those eyelids covered them. And after Luke had finally been able to stop staring at the boy's eyes, he realized he had no idea what the boy's name was, but he was pretty sure he could figure it out without asking.

He was from Horteka, but he certainly wasn't a native if Merida was any indication. He had short brown hair with bangs that kept getting in his eyes ('maybe his hair loved his eyes too?' Luke wondered), so he had to push them away when he noticed they were too close. He introduced himself politely and confidently to everyone. Luke wasn't sure if he was supposed to be disappointed that the boy wasn't shy because he did strike him as the type to be shy, but it made it easier to remember that the boy was indeed a pirate. Pirates didn't blush all shyly and act hesitant; they had to be tough. He carried a cloth bag with him, and he was holding onto a wrench at the moment. He must've been the crew's engineer.

"I'm Hans, the crew's active engineer. It's nice to meet you." the boy extended a hand to him. Luke blinked in surprise, not noticing when the boy had gotten in front of him and not expecting his voice to sound as nice as his face looked. Luckily, Hans didn't seem to notice that Luke had been staring at him all this time. The older pirate shook hands with him easily masking his earlier (and barely shown) surprise.

"The feeling's mutual. I'm Luke; just another one of the raiders in Captain Dyne's crew, but I'm pretty dangerous with a knife." Hans' eyes widened slightly at the knife comment. "Heh, don't worry. I never use knives on children." Hans frowned at the word 'children'. Luke smiled at the fact that Hans looked cute even when he was upset.

"I'm fifteen and an engineer, so I hardly think I'm just a child." He said matter-of-factly.

"I suppose you've got a point there, but in any case, I wouldn't use knives on someone like you." Luke smirked. 'And damn anyone who dares to cut you.' he thought to himself. "You're Centime the Tinkerer's son, right?"

"Oh, you've heard of my father?" Hans asked. Centime was fairly famous, even if his claim to fame was his habit of adopting orphans… Luke wondered how Hans wasn't aware of that.

"Well, mostly about how he adopts orphans." He replied honestly. "And you're one of them, hm? How appropriate that you're an engineer as well. You're so polite for your age too; he must be a great father." Hans actually blushed pink at the praise.

"Yeah, he is." Hans smiled. Luke was disappointed that Hans had closed his eyes at the time, and it looked like they would remain closed longer than when he blinked, but his smile and blush lessened his disappointment.

"So, leaving the nest at your age and all; have you gotten used to sailing the world in a huge warship with these people? Oh, and has Vyse been a good captain so far?"

"Oh! The Delphinus is just absolutely spectacular!" Luke stared at the sudden change in the boy. For one thing, his eyes suddenly got ten times more sparkly, and he wouldn't stop talking about the Delphinus. "The metallic exterior and reinforcement to the hull make it both beautiful and strong. Its defense is very nearly impregnable! Oh, and the engines are so strong and powerful that it practically glides through sky rifts and blasts through reefs! It's such a work of art! And the sailing is so smooth that you forget you're in the air…. And the cannons! They're so tough that they rip other ships to shreds!" He talked on dreamily.

"I think it'd have trouble making a dent in our ship…" Luke thought out loud more to himself. He didn't want the boy to hear unless he wanted Hans to defend that floating air tank even more vigorously. And then suddenly, the boy's eyes stop sparkling so much (Luke was almost disappointed. Even if the subject was boring, a person never looked more beautiful than when they talked passionately about something they love) before he looked down at his feet blushing.

"S-sorry, I must have been boring you…"

"Not at all." Luke said before he could stop himself. That was a lie. "But it'd be nice if you could answer my other questions. Is your crew as crazy as they look, and has Vyse been a good captain?"

"My crewmates are great people!" Hans finally looked up from his feet, blush gone and happy. "Everyone's so nice, and they're all so interesting too. I never would've dreamed that I'd meet people from a place I never knew existed. And I'm learning so much from our other engineer, Brabham! He's a great teacher with all these strange methods and way of reading blueprints." Hans' eyes suddenly got sparkly again. "And to think, I still have so much to learn! We're still going over that scroll we got from Yafutoma and building an engine that will let us sail everywhere!" His eyes abruptly stopped sparkling again (Luke was disappointed this time). "S-sorry. I did it again…"

"Don't worry about it. You're not as bad as…well, I can't say her name or she'd get upset with me." Luke assured him. While Mabel could put away the loqua like a freak of nature, she was capable of getting drunk. After maybe about twenty to fifty bottles, she would start ranting drunkenly, and nobody could shut her up. Not even Captain Dyne…

"Okay. And you don't have to worry about Mr. Vyse. He's a great captain! The best!" Luke raised an eyebrow at 'Mr.' and mentally disagreed that Vyse was the best captain. It was only instinct for him to deny that any captain was better than his own. And Vyse was two years too short to be competing for a title like that.

"All right, who let my home get invaded by weirdoes?" a voice demanded. Luke and Hans turned to see Captain Dyne standing with his arms crossed while his son caught up with him.

"Weirdoes…? Oh, Dad, this is my crew! You'll never find a motlier group, that's for sure!" Vyse beamed. Luke expected his captain to admonish Vyse for calling him 'dad' when he should be calling him 'captain', but then he had remembered that Vyse was a captain of his own crew now.

"Well, I guess I can see why you were distracted, Luke, but you should probably come back and help work on the Albatross II now." His captain chided. Luke looked down in embarrassment, socializing when he should have been working…

"My apologies, Captain Dyne. I'll get to work right away."

"Hey wait!" Vyse suddenly yelled out. "Dad, I finally get to visit home with my own crew and ship, and you're just going to work the whole visit? My crew already left the ship, so why don't we let my crew meet your crew? I'm sure they'd love to see what our base looks like too."

Luke didn't look back as he walked to the base. Only Vyse would talk to his captain like that, but being the captain's son didn't mean the captain would make any exceptions. Captain Dyne sighed.

"Fine." He said.

'Wait…what?!' Luke looked back at his captain. This was the man who convinced him to leave his old life? This man who so easily folded to some kid, his only son or not?

"I guess we're long overdue for a break anyway. Let's break out the loqua while we're at it." His captain smiled. That meant he was being serious. Luke just stared as Vyse high-fived Aika as the seventeen year old's crew chattered excitedly. He looked at his captain sighing again, but the smile hadn't disappeared.

'Well, Vyse, I've got to hand it to you. You're not only brave and crazy, but you're pretty damn lucky too.'

-l-l-l-

It had started out innocently enough. Luke's crewmates were gawking at Vyse's crew, and those with similar jobs on the ship had easily bonded and started conversations. And yeah, that meant that Hans got all sparkly-eyed again and was talking about engines with the engineer on the Albatross II. Luke frowned at this, but he knew it would've happened sooner or later. Luke was a thief, and while he was good at running quickly and quietly while raiding treasure and knew his way around a knife, he had near to no experience with engines. What did he have in common with Hans (besides their both being pirates) that they could get passionate about?

It certainly didn't stop him from jealously glaring at the engineer. It was ridiculous, of course. The engineer on the Albatross II was straight, had a girlfriend and everything. On top of that, Hans was…probably not interested in men either… Luke frowned even more, his eyes narrowing. How did he forget that Hans would most likely prefer the company of women or the fact that he was clearly older than the boy? It would never work out…

Of all the foolish things Luke had ever done in life…falling in love with a boy he had only just seen, only talked with for a few minutes, must have been the most foolish.

"Hey, Luke." A voice inquired. Luke turned to see Mabel holding a bottle full of loqua. "Are you okay? Your eyes are throwing daggers." He almost blushed at that. Was his sudden angst really so obvious? "You can always tell me if something's bugging you." Moons, even if they had their share of disagreements, he was glad that Mabel was one of his closest friends. She was one of the only people who listened, but he didn't want to dampen her mood with his story of most likely unrequited crush-like love on a boy he had just met. She would either laugh or be very angry…

"Oh, it's nothing, Mabel." She wasn't buying it, so he just smiled more. "Shouldn't you be shaming the men and shocking the women by draining bottles of loqua right now?" She smiled at that.

"Hey, they don't call me 'Mabel the Bottomless' for nothing. Got to defend my title, you know." She bragged, but looked at him seriously for a moment. "But hey, you should probably drink a shot too. It'd make you happier."

"No, and don't bother trying to convince me otherwise. You know I can't drink a sip without getting insanely drunk…" he reminded her. While Mabel had a weird talent of putting the loqua away, Luke had a weird curse of getting drunk after only taking a sip of the stuff. And after a certain incident, he had made sure to stay a good distance away from anything loqua related with the exception of Mabel and his other loqua-addicted friends.

"But you're so entertaining when you're under the influence." She smiled mischievously which prompted Luke to throw eye daggers at her, cheeks slightly dusted red.

And what started innocently certainly did not end up innocently… Loqua certainly had a way of not mixing properly with children. Luke didn't drink any, opting to stay sober in order to monitor everyone else. Prince Enrique, who was finally able to recover from his motion sickness, had joined him in this as well. Perhaps it was fortunate that the Valuan prince was a decent conversationalist. Luke had no idea that the prince liked playing the violin, and he still wasn't sure how or why he started talking to the prince about the strangest places he had hidden treasures. Unlike Luke, Enrique actually had the time and resources to read a wide collection of books, and the prince was telling him all about an adventure novel, 'The Valkyria of the Battlefield.' And that was probably unfortunate in a way as well because the two were so focused on the conversation that they had forgotten to monitor how much everyone had been drinking.

Mabel had started ranting drunkenly about how she wanted a boyfriend (which was always a bad sign) while Aika was turning into a mini Mabel the Bottomless by draining the loqua. Vyse started flirting with Belle, and then started stripping. Captain Dyne had yelled at him, but Captain Dyne was drunk as well and only yelled at Vyse because he wasn't 'stripping properly'…and was now showing him how to strip the correct way. Belle was watching them, but judging from how red her face was and how much she was giggling; she probably didn't understand what was going on. Kirala sipped some loqua, and then decided that everyone was getting too rowdy, so she took her younger sister, and they left the base opting to stay in the ship until they settle down. If they ever settled down.

Merida was doing a Hortekan dance, and some of Luke's crewmates had joined her. Some of Luke's male crewmates… It was funny and also unsettling for a sober, attractive dancer to teach that kind of dance to drunk, muscular pirates. Marco had never tried loqua before, but there was probably a good reason for that. Loqua made Marco hyper, so the red-haired kid was literally running around all over the base attempting to jump off high places every now and again. Luckily for him, Pinta had tried loqua before and didn't see the need for drinking any, so that kid was the one who saved the other boy from trying to fall to his death a number of times.

Domingo had been hitting on Aika for a while, but Aika only laughed it off. He was drunk, and she being sober took advantage of that. Let's just say that Domingo was willing to answer any questions Aika asked him… Fina was also the type who was cursed with getting drunk from a sip of loqua. She was giggling like Belle before she climbed up onto a table saying "I am Quetya! Fear me! Hic!" Strangely, Merida dived and bowed before her. Then she realized what she was doing and went back to teaching her dance. Cupil had tried some loqua too. Gosh, shouldn't there be a limit to how many different shapes a silver animal can change into every minute? And nobody was sure where Kalifa had disappeared to…or maybe it was more that they hadn't noticed.

Luke and Prince Enrique had been unaware of their surroundings, so preoccupied with the tales of Europa. By the time Enrique had finished telling Luke about the dark secrets of Lanseal, Hans had walked up to them, his face red as Luke's hair, and he was giggling like Belle and Fina.

"Hans, do you have a fever or something?" Enrique asked, about to put his palm over the younger boy's forehead and check his temperature. Hans lightly grabbed the prince's hand to stop him.

"Nah, Ah'm faine Mista Vaise!" Hans said before giggling. He let go of Enrique's hand and almost fell over. Before he could hit the floor, Luke managed to catch him.

"Hans…are you drunk?" Luke had both hands around Hans' upper body to keep him from falling on his face. He shouldn't have been since he was underage, but then again, they had given Vyse that stuff when he was fourteen, so that wasn't really the problem. The boy looked up at him, his face still red, still smiling and giggling.

"Nah, Ah'm naht drunk! Tha's silly. Hic."

"You're most certainly are drunk, Hans." Enrique confirmed before he sighed. "For one thing, I don't look anything like our captain… How did you even make that mistake? I don't even wear an eye patch goggle accessory."

"Luke…" Hans said. Luke looked down mostly because he realized that his hands were around the boy's upper body and also in surprise because Hans didn't slur his name. In fact, the boy was looking into his eyes pretty intently. "You're really pretty…" Luke almost blushed at that. The boy was clearly intoxicated and probably thought Luke was a girl, though, so Luke stopped trying to get his hopes up. It would never work out…

"Hans, how much did you dri-?!" Enrique was interrupted when Hans put his hand on the back of Luke's head and pulled him down to crash their lips together. "Hans!" Enrique's face had reddened both quickly and brightly while Luke's eyes had widened impossibly, his face also reddening both quickly and brightly. Luke pulled away because Enrique was still watching, and Hans was under the influence, so that was creepy.

Then he noticed just how bad loqua mixed in with the party…

For one thing, Mabel had now passed out, and Aika was the one drunkenly ranting about how she wanted a boyfriend. This was a sign that all Moons broke loose.

"Captain Dyne! Put some clothes on!" Luke ordered. It felt weird to order his captain - the man he respected the most - around; especially since his captain was almost completely naked now, but he swallowed it, his captain had actually started to sober up at the time. "Vyse, you too! Clothes on now!" Yeah, maybe the phrase "Like father like son" was true for Dyne and Vyse, but that was freaking ridiculous.

"Nu wai!" the boy slurred defiantly.

"Don't get rebellious with me!" the raider chucked a pair of pants at his captain's son, not really caring whether it was Dyne's or Vyse's.

"Okai pa…" Luke's eye twitched at that. How drunk did Vyse have to be to start confusing him for Captain Dyne? Luke wasn't even a smoker! And he wasn't even that old. No offense to his captain, of course.

"Ah! Marco, don't jump!" Enrique yelled at the red-haired Valuan boy who was currently at the top of the base where Luke usually hung out. "Or at the very least use the pole to slide down instead!"

"Fina, please stop saying that you are Quetya. You are not Quetya." Merida tried to explain to Fina who was still standing on the table.

"Hic! Ah am Kyupal!" she declared.

"Fina, you are not Cupil either." The dancer told her.

"Yesh ah am!" Fina argued before passing out.

"Domingo, there's no treasure in the cannon." Pinta told the lookout who had his upper body down the old cannon they stole from Valua ages ago. Domingo then suddenly shoved himself back out of the cannon with this strange and somewhat scary expression.

"Then wheah is tha treasha?!" he demanded.

"I-I don't know, but it's not in the cannon!" Pinta answered in terror.

"Could you all please stop dancing like that?!" Enrique yelled at Luke's crewmates who were still drunk and dancing inappropriately. "There are children present!"

"Hai Belle!" Hans greeted the pirate dressed in pink. It was funny how cute two pirates could look when they both had the same shade of red on their faces and were giggling too much. Of course, they were drunk…

"Hic! Guess wha ah learned!" Belle yelled out before taking her shirt off…or trying to because Luke had stopped her before she could pull it off.

"Keep your clothes on, girlie…" he told her, but she started flailing and shook him off.

"Suppose tah do it propaly! Hic!" she said before she grabbed the hem of Hans' shirt and tried pulling that off. Luke blushed at the now exposed skin (Just as he thought, Hans was built pretty lean), but shook his head and stopped her before she got it off completely. Hans then started undoing his belt and tried taking his pants off. Belle just kept giggling, and Luke's face was now impossibly crimson. He pulled Hans' hands away and redid the boy's belt.

"I don't even want to know why my captain teaches people to strip when he's drunk… I thought he hated that particular part of his memory too. He's never revisted that part of his life before either, so it's beyond me." Luke says with his face still as red as his hair. Hans looked up at him before putting his hand behind Luke's head and pulled him down to crash their lips together for a second time. This time it was Enrique who grabbed the boy's shoulders and pulled him away. Luke appreciated that.

"I'm sorry he did that again, Luke…" Enrique apologized, his face also crimson. "Ah! Belle, please stop trying to undress!" Enrique ordered her as she tried to follow Hans' example. She looked at him in a daze before she moved her hands away from her belt and tried to take the prince's shirt off. "Belle! What are you-?! Stop!"

"Q!" Cupil squeaked out. He had turned into something resembling a looper and was now floating about the room. Luke couldn't help but stare at the creature in fascination.

"Luke!" a voice yelled out demandingly. Luke turned to see Kalifa holding her crystal prism. She was standing straight, but her face was all red, the hidden eyes behind those huge glasses looking at him so attentively. "I am your father!"

"That's nice, Kalifa. I think you need to calm down now." Luke told her. How drunk did one have to be to start saying that they were your father when they were clearly not of the right anatomy and a bit young to be having kids that were Luke's age?

"That was a joke. Why are you not laughing?" It was strange how she could talk straight and not slur her words, so maybe she wasn't that drunk?

"Um…I didn't get the joke."

"Very well, son. You will understand it soon. Anyway, I know you're in love in Hans, so I will tell you how to capture his heart." She was about to continue talking, but Luke cut her off before he could stop himself.

"Kalifa, you must be really drunk. How much did you drink?" A moment later he wondered why in the world he said that, but how could Kalifa know he liked Hans? The only people who saw Hans kiss him were Enrique and Belle, and Hans was intoxicated at the time as was Belle. Did he not pull away fast enough? Or maybe Kalifa had been watching him for longer than he thought…

"Don't you mock me, boy! I am an all-powerful fortune-teller! Heed my words! Heed them!" She ordered as she waved her crystal prism about. Luke wondered why they needed a fortune-teller in their crew. Enrique walked over to her after managing to defend his dressed status from Belle to calm the Maramban woman's flailing.

"We heed your words, Kalifa. Please calm down now."

"Why I never! Can't you see I'm giving Luke advice on love?!"

"Luke, could you help get Kalifa to the ship? I doubt Vyse is going to fly around at night under the influence, and I'd rather not make Lawrence steer around while our captain is still inebriated; we might have to stay the night here. We have some rooms in the ship, so I think we should just get everyone there. Your crewmates have already settled down…well, they passed out, actually…"

"Okay, they're just going to wake up with hangovers in the morning. Let me grab her other arm."

-l-l-l-

The inside of the Delphinus was a lot bigger than Luke had imagined. They had walked only a few steps before they saw a little purple huskra running around.

"Pow?" Luke wondered out loud when the animal walked over.

"Pow!" the huskra barked happily. "Pow!"

"What are you doing in here, little guy?" Luke kept one arm on Kalifa and used the other to scratch Pow behind the ears.

"Oh, I had forgotten all about him…" Enrique said. "Some of the kids in the village were asking Aika if we'd take Pow with us as part of our crew. They say he's a lucky charm, so they wanted us to take him aboard. To protect us, I suppose."

"And you agreed?" Luke looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Could you say 'no' to three cute little kids?" Enrique challenged him. Luke thought about that for a second.

"Point taken." He conceded. "Well, I think Pow would definitely protect you guys." He said as he continued petting Pow and scratching him behind the ears.

"Yeah, but I can't just leave him all by himself while we put my crewmates on our ship…." Then Enrique saw this tall man with long black hair in a purple coat. "Oh, Lawrence! Would you mind keeping an eye on Pow?"

So this was that mysterious anti-social helmsman! Well, Luke was right about the guy actually looking like a pirate unlike some of the man's crewmates. Luke also noticed that he had a facial scar and wondered why a helmsman would sport an injury like that. Lawrence looked like he had been anything other than leaning against the wall, but Luke would bet good money that Lawrence had already been keeping an eye on Pow. Sure, Lawrence certainly didn't look like someone who smiled and probably had a concealed sheath in his coat, and Luke was sure that there was a sword in that sheath, but he was also sure that Lawrence probably liked animals.

"All right." Lawrence said. Enrique looked surprised, but thanked him anyway. The two left Pow with Lawrence as they carried Kalifa out.

"He likes animals, you know." Kalifa muttered.

"That's nice, Kalifa." Enrique told her. Luke could honestly not tell if Kalifa was really drunk or not. As they walked deeper into the Delphinus, Luke realized just how huge the place really was. They even had a kitchen in here?! With a red carpet, a stairway, paintings, and chandeliers… They had finally reached a room for Kalifa and deposited her on one of the beds there. Luke wasn't surprised that they actually had guest bedrooms here too.

"Prince Enrique?" a voice asked. The two men turned around to see Kirala in the doorway. "Is everything all right?"

"Oh, well, I suppose so. It's just that everyone's had a little too much loqua, so Luke and I are trying to get everyone on the ship. I think we'll have to stay the night here." He explained.

"Hmph. I figured you crazy westerners were getting too rowdy. Can't say you aren't lively, though. I will help you get them here as well."

"Thank you very much, Kirala."

"Um…" a voice said behind Kirala. Urala shyly got into view, but continued looking down at her feet. "I could help…um…make something for hangovers..." she offered.

"That's fine, isn't it Prince Enrique? I'd rather my sister work in the kitchen than see what kind of trouble our crew's gotten in when they were under the influence."

"Yes, I suppose that's fine. Thank you both." He smiled. Enrique left with Kirala while Urala followed a few seconds after. Luke was about to leave as well, but Kalifa grabbed his wrist. He turned to look at her, those huge glasses looking at him strangely attentively for someone who's supposed to be drunk.

"Son," she said, (Luke concluded that she was indeed drunk) "you are a thief. Stealing things is your specialty…but to steal a heart, you'll need to be more creative. Don't give up before you try. Heed those words." Luke looked at her for a few seconds longer before she let go of his wrist and lay down. "And never forget that I am your father."

Luke left her room as he exited the ship. His only thought was: 'I still don't get that joke.'

-l-l-l-

Vyse had sobered up and carried Aika to the ship since she had passed out. Enrique followed Vyse as he carried Fina to the ship since she had also passed out. Belle had taken some of her clothes off, so Kirala and Merida were trying to get her redressed before taking her back to the ship. Cupil had turned into a puddle, so no one was sure what to do besides avoid stepping on him. Pinta told Domingo there was treasure on the ship, so the lookout ran to the ship and passed out in front of Lawrence. Urala promised to take Pow to the kitchen and watch him while she made the food that helps cure hangovers, so Lawrence picked up Domingo and carried him to a guest bedroom. Marco was the surprising one, though, for he had actually run all the way to the ship without once trying to jump off somewhere impossibly high.

And then there was Hans…

No one was sure where he went, so Luke went out to see if he had left the base. The moment he stepped out of the base he heard someone laughing. And it was definitely the little engineer's laugh; he'd know that voice anywhere.

"Bet ya can't find me!" a voice said. Luke frowned slightly. Was the boy playing hide-and-seek with him? What was with…well, everyone acting so strange when they were intoxicated? Did people normally play games when they were drunk? Oh wait, this is Vyse's crew we're talking about. Next to nothing about them is normal by an average Blue Rogue's standards. Luke sighed, and then smiled. Well, he had always been as good at hiding treasures as he was at finding things, and there weren't exactly a lot of good places to hide a kid here.

"Oh? I think I can." He declared.

"Nah-uh! Hic!" the voice definitely sounded like it was coming from the turnip garden. He walked over to the gate in front of the turnip garden. He clicked it open and carefully tiptoed around the vegetables making sure not to accidentally crush anything. He walked behind the house to see Hans sitting down in front of an opened treasure chest (Looks like Vyse found this one too, hm? Better at finding treasure than Luke thought) as he hugged his knees to his chest.

'Looks like this game's over.' Luke thought. Hans looked up and frowned, his face still as red as the older pirate's hair.

"Ya found me already?" he asked as he stood up, shakily.

"I guess I did." Luke grinned. "Time to head back to that ship you love so much."

"Oh!" Hans' eyes got about five times more sparkly. "The Delphinas! It's hic a grayt ship!"

'The Albatross II will be better, though.' Luke couldn't help but think as he threw Hans over his shoulder. He figured carrying the kid would work more efficiently than holding hands or something. Hans didn't look like he could walk right even if he wanted to anyway.

"And de cannons! They're sho powahful!" Hans continued singing their floating air tank's praises, and Luke couldn't help but smile amusedly at that. Kid really had a one track mind when it came to being an engineer. His passion showed even when he couldn't actually think straight.

-l-l-l-

"Oh, Luke! You can just put Hans in the same room as Kalifa." Enrique told him as soon as he had entered the hallway. "Hm…we have fewer rooms on the ship than I thought… Well, I guess I could I spend the night in the kitchen if that's the case."

"Are you sure it's smart for a boy that's drunk to be in the same room as a woman that's drunk?" Luke asked him skeptically.

"I happen to be completely sober." Kalifa's voice could be heard from the room behind Enrique. To her credit, she did sound sober.

"I don't believe it will be a problem." The prince smiled. "Anyway, we'll probably set sail when morning comes. I'm going to make sure our crewmates have all their belongings for now." He exited the hallway as Luke entered the room where Kalifa was.

"Duh Delphinas is shooo pretty…" Hans continued on. He sounded a bit sleepy, though. Luke wondered if that meant he'd fall asleep talking about the ship.

"I guess it is." Luke couldn't argue that the ship was a beauty, and maybe agreeing with Hans would help him fall asleep quicker. Talking about something the kid liked was an added bonus.

"But yer even prettier, Luke…" Hans said almost insistently before passing out on the raider's back It was weird being complimented like that since the only other person who called him pretty was that creepy soldier back in the Valuan Grand Fortress, but Luke still blushed lightly at the slurred praise before gently laying the kid down on a separate bed from Kalifa.

'I'm no fool, and I'm not getting my hopes up. I only met him this one time, and it's not like we were ever going to cross paths again with the Albatross II rebuilding. Not to mention he was drunk all the times he kissed me, I'm a lot older than him, I know nothing about engines, and the only thing he's probably stolen is my heart. We've got nothing in common, and it would never work out.' He sighed.

Kalifa was sitting upright on her bed, looking like she was in the same position the whole time before looking at Luke intently. The flush on her face was more pink than red now. A grin formed under her face veil.

"Maybe you should've had a shot of loqua too." She suggested. "Getting inebriated makes you more truthful. In fact, Hans has been truthful the whole time." Luke kept quiet as he studied her. He couldn't tell if she was drunk or lying for the woman never slurred her words. Then again, she had dropped the whole 'I am your father' thing, but that could've just been a weird joke instead of drunken rambling.

"Truthful about the ship maybe." Was all Luke would agree to. "I don't know why you're trying to convince me otherwise. Is match-making another aspect of your fortune-telling? If so, I'd say you'd need more practice." He said those last couple of sentences with a bit more venom than he had intended, but he supposed those years before he had agreed to join Captain Dyne hadn't left him as well as he thought after all.

"I'm no matchmaker." She denied. "But I know red strings when I see them." Kalifa pulled out some red string, as if making a visual gag punchline to her own joke or something. Then she moved her fingers fluidly and made a Cat's Cradle the way no woman that was drunk should've been able to do.

"Red strings have no place with Blue Rogues." Luke replied, walking over to her. He took his thumb and forefinger and pinched the X's of the Cat's Cradle, pulling the string taut. Easily, fluidly, he had ended up with the Cat's Cradle on his own hands.

"Ah, such talented fingers, I see." She complimented him as she pinched the X's of the Cat's Cradle at the top and bottom rather than the ones at the side. She pulled them apart and pushed her fingers through the middle, ending up with a Candles formation on her hands.

"I'm a thief." Luke stated, pulling the top string over to the right with his pinky finger. "Talent has nothing to do with it. If you don't have good fingers, you don't succeed at this job." As if proving his point, he pulled a few more strings before he got the Manger formation on his hands.

"Ah, that's right." Kalifa smirked as she pinched the X's of the Manger with her thumb and forefinger. "And you don't want Hans' heart?" She pulled the strings up and out. "I thought thieves didn't think twice about taking what they covet." She finished by getting the Diamonds formation on her hands.

"I'm a Blue Rogue before I'm anything else." He pulled out his pocketknife and cut the string from her hands. She pouted at that somewhat. "And Blue Rogues follow a code in case you haven't noticed." He put the knife away, and she pocketed the mess of strings. "For example, Blue Rogues don't try to convince other Blue Rogues to hook up with underage kids. Unless you've got a fetish for that kind of thing, I guess."

"Age is but a number." Kalifa chuckled, and leaned back comfortably in her bed.

"Numbers are important." Luke replied, pulling on his gloves without really being conscious of it. The number of things you can carry without weighing yourself down, the number of your crewmates that got out alive, the number of knives he'd left buried in his enemies' corpses, the number of times Captain Dyne had saved his life before he joined the man's crew. Yes, numbers were very important to pirates.

"So's love." She countered, pulling out her crystal prism thing.

"All right…" Luke sighed, getting irritable. "Say you're right, then. Say we both kind of like each other." He crossed his arms. "It wouldn't change the fact that we barely know each other and the fact that we have nothing in common other than being Blue Rogues. Even if this twisted relationship had come to surface, we probably wouldn't stay together for long."

"It's a big risk, I understand. But isn't being a Blue Rogue an even bigger risk than that?" Kalifa challenged. "Now, allow me to tell you this. Vyse sails a stolen Valuan prototype battleship with the prince of Valua who stole it and a Silvite who went on this quest with him in the first place. There's hardly an inch of land he hasn't touched, and he's defeated monsters a hundred times his size. He has a huskra as a crew member, and he discovered the world was round."

She made a few quick gestures with her hands, and the crystal prism floated up in the air. Luke didn't have time to be surprised as it flew to him, moving around in a heart-shaped path from his waist to above his head before it flew over to Hans making that same heart-shaped path before it traveled back to settle in Kalifa's hands.

"Now then," she looked up from the prism and gave him a smug smile, "wouldn't you say that anything is a possibility?"

"Tch." Luke looked away and crossed his arms. "I'm not…Hans isn't…" He pushed off the wall he was leaning on. "I'm heading back to my base."

"I'll tell you this." Kalifa's voice made him stop in the doorway. "You two will certainly meet again. And if you recall correctly, being inebriated makes you more truthful, and Hans said that you were even prettier than the ship he's so passionate about."

Luke remained silent as he left the room.

-l-l-l-

As Luke left the ship he saw a silver thing shaped like a cloud floating towards him.

"Kyu! Q!" the poor, lost thing squeaked helplessly. So, Fina's pet still hadn't changed back to his original form… Cupil floated towards Luke. "Kyu?" Cupil looked like he intended to cock his head slightly in confusion, but he ended up turning his whole body all the way around in a full circle; like a dial.

"Looking for Fina, right? Don't worry; your owner's in one of those rooms in the ship." Luke told him as he pointed to the Delphinus behind him. Cupil changed into something that looked like Kalifa's crystal prism. The pirate wasn't sure if that meant he understood or not.

"Kiyu." Cupil squeaked before floating off to the Delphinus, flying passed Vyse in the process.

"Oh, hey Luke!" Dyne's kid waved to him.

"Nice to see you're sober now." Luke smirked, amused. Vyse shot him a smirk back, undeterred.

"It'll take more than loqua to keep me out of it." He placed his fists on either of his hips in pride. "Thanks for helping with my crew, by the way."

"Well, that's my obligation as the only one of your father's crew to not get drunk." The thief shook his head. "It's a shame you had to see us become so useless."

"Showing each of our crews our weakest spots helps us bond." The captain of the Delphinus grinned. "At least you and Enrique managed to stay unscathed."

"It'll take more than that for you to ever catch me off guard, Vyse." Luke also grinned. Well, all it took was Vyse's engineer and fortuneteller to see through his perpetual amusement, though he wouldn't tell Dyne's son that… "And hey, the sooner you kids leave, the sooner we can go back to working on the Albatross II."

"Oh, is that how it is?" Vyse chuckled. "We just need to make sure nobody lost anything before we make preparations to sail out in the morning. If you're not too busy, lend a hand?"

"Can't even keep track of your own crew and their things, Vyse?" Luke cocked his head, though his expression showed only amusement. "I guess you'd need my help. A good thief has to be a good finder before they can be a good hider."

"And you might want to work on those hiding skills of yours." Vyse said as he flashed the items he found in the chests Luke hid. The older thief only smiled wider.

"Noted." He said as one of Vyse's sleeves sagged lower. The kid turned to see that two of the belt buckles keeping his sleeves connected were missing. He looked back at Luke to see the older thief tossing them in the air and catching them in the same hand that threw them. "And you're a hundred years too early to even think of besting one of your father's crew members."

-l-l-l-

Morning came, and Vyse and Aika were giving their last farewells to Captain Dyne and his wife. Luke watched the Delphinus rise up into the air, still thinking about what happened last night.

Captain Dyne had gotten down on his knees and begged Luke not to divulge any information about when and where he had learned strip dancing. It was a wasted effort because it wasn't like Luke had any incentive to tell Vyse any of that anyway. That particular memory made him suffer a lot of secondhand embarrassment too… His captain was so safe with that secret, it was ridiculous.

But even that was overshadowed by his game with Kalifa, and what she had told him.

'Wouldn't you say that anything's a possibility?'

"Hey, Luke." Mabel got his attention. "That look you were sporting just now doesn't suit you." She took a sip of that loqua she loved so much. How she could even think of touching the stuff so soon after getting the killer hangovers she got, Luke didn't know. "Might ruin your unsung reputation as 'Luke the Unshakeable,' you know."

"All the better." He answered. "I never agreed to such a silly title anyway." It wasn't that he didn't get surprised. The whole of yesterday proved that hanging around Captain Dyne's crew led to ridiculously unexpected events. He just found most things more hilarious and amusing than surprising most of the time. Life was funny that way.

"Heh, you used to have a sense of pride." She chuckled. "And now look at you." She gestured to the gloves that Captain Dyne had given him as a gift once. "My, your past self would've hated you."

"The feeling would have been mutual if I ever met him." Luke pulled on his gloves habitually.

"Hmn…" Mabel hummed. "Oh yeah, you know that little engineer in Vyse's crew?"

"Yeah?" Luke asked. "What about him?"

"I think he left this wrench in the base." Mabel pulled out the aforementioned tool from her pocket. "Or it could belong to one of our engineers… I don't know why it was in my pocket." Luke took the wrench from her and turned it in his hands. There was a label on the back that read, 'Property of Hans.'

"I'm going to guess this," he pointed to the label, "means it doesn't belong to our engineer."

"Well, shoot!" Mabel sighed. "I hope this wasn't important to their ship."

"And after all the effort Vyse, Enrique, and I went to make sure no one lost anything too…" Luke shook his head. He turned the wrench in his hands again, recognizing the shape of it was similar to a wrench their engineer used. "I don't think he'll miss it. Our engineer doesn't use a wrench like this very often. Even so, we should probably take care of it in case they come back here."

"Sounds like a plan." Mable stretched her arms out.

Luke idly wondered if this was what Kalifa meant when she said they'd meet again. He looked skyward and smiled resignedly.

Well, in a crazy world like this…

…he supposed anything was possible.

-THISISABORDERINCASEYOUWERECONFUSEDORSOMETHING…SOMEHOW…

KN: -whistles- I don't even remember the last time I wrote a oneshot that broke fifteen pages. I used to be really descriptive back then too. What the frick happened…? You can even see the line where I stopped the story and where I picked up, like whoa… Well, I guess it's only natural to write a lot more when you're not limited by an hour to do it.

KN: There's also a bunch of stuff I had never even planned to put in like the loqua scene, the hide-and-seek scene, and the Cat's Cradle game between Luke and Kalifa. I particularly liked the Cat's Cradle bit out of all the unplanned additions. I had to cut out a lot of stuff too, though… I tried to keep the characters in character, but at some point along the way I think I stopped trying. Well, I guess that's what it means to be a writer having fun.

KN: Well, hey! At least I finished it even if it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. I hope no one's looking for an explanation as to why I seemingly insist on this pairing and give a really minor NPC enough hints to merit a backstory. There is none. No real point or explanation. I just can, and I refuse to be discouraged.