Okay standard disclaimer. I don't own 'Umi no Misaki' or any of it's characters. I only use this story as a way to exercise my writing skills (or lack thereof). I began writing this as I read the first chapter of the manga so as to not allow me any foresight into the plot. Criticism welcome, reviews appreciated.

She said that we people are born of the Sea. She once told me this, whether dozens of years, hundreds of years, whether thousands of years, we found love. Eventually the Gods come to inhabit the bodies of those of us on the earth. And those myriads of Gods who walked upon the earth, those Gods are over flowing with Love.

"We will be arriving at Okitsushima shortly." The PA system announced in Japanese.

Struggling with consciousness, Daniel stretched and yawned loudly as he picked himself up off the floor.

"Please be sure not to forget anything on board."

Grabbing his backpack off the deck he made his way to the ramp of the ocean ferry. He took a brief moment to look down at his watch as he attempted to shrug the kinks from his back. "Wow, fifteen hours on a ferry. I think next time I'll swim."

The young man pulled a black ball cap from the pocket of his cargo pants and fitted it to his head as he moved out onto the observation deck. He could see the tiny green island in the distance surrounded by clear blue ocean. The cool sea breeze touched his face. He sighed with relief, the air inside had been stuffy. A low whistle escaped his lips as he took in the sight. "What do you think Taiga? Think this is what Matt was talkin' about?" With no reply he glanced quizzically down at his shirt pocket. "Taiga?" He poked his pocket and instantly regretted it as he was assaulted with a barrage of angry chittering. "Geeze, sorry sorry. Not used to the time difference yet huh?"

In short time the ferry made port and Daniel walked onto the pier with the few other passengers as several dock workers began unloading the cargo. It didn't take long for the raise in temperature to get his attention. "Well that should definitely please Taiga."

As he made his way down the walk he spotted an information board with a map on it. He moved closer to examine it, retrieving a piece of paper from his pocket and reading it before consulting the map. 'Now let's see, Umi no Misaki, Umi no Misaki, there's gotta be some kinda path or something going..."

His view of the map was obscured as a strong breeze blew something onto his face. With a start he removed the offending item from his face and, after a quick examination, found it to be a large straw hat.

"Umm." The nervous sound came from his left. It's owner, a teenage girl in a white sundress with waist long blue hair stood awkwardly. "Yours?" he offered helpfully. At her nod he handed it over. "Thank you." She smiled cutely. Daniel nodded distractedly and went back to searching the map.

'I've never seen him before, is he a tourist?' She thought. "You're not from around here?" it was as much a question as it was a statement.

Daniel turned to face her completely now and chuckled to himself. "I think that goes without saying." He was seventy-two inches tall and of obvious European decent causing him to stand out easily against the local Japanese populace.

She fixed the straw hat back on her head. "Where are you from?"

"Alaska." At her confused look he added, "Um, it's in North America… Way North"

"American? Wow your Japanese is good."

"Thanks, I lived in Iwakuni for a while so I've had lots of practice."

"Were you looking for something?" she asked, gesturing to the board he had been focused on.

Embarrassed he reached to scratch the back of his head, chuckling. "Yeah, um actually. Could you point me in the direction of, um…" He glanced down at the paper in his hand again. "Umi no Misaki?"

She stared at him with a confused expression. "Umi no Misaki? There really isn't anything there. You came all the way from America just to see the ocean bluff?"

His smile dropped slightly "Yeah, something like that."

There was an awkward pause as the American looked away until the girl spoke up seeing his unease. "Well," she began with a smile. "If you'd like, I can take you there."

Stepping back Daniel waved his arms in front of himself. "Ah thanks but I think I would be fine if you could just point me in the general direction. I really would hate to make waste your time playing tour guide for me."

"There are no fences, so if you aren't familiar with the area, it is pretty dangerous." She paused and bit her lip in consideration. "And it would really be no trouble taking you there; there isn't anywhere I need to be now anyways."

Looking around nervously he couldn't think of a polite reason to not accept the offer. Admitting to himself that the company wouldn't be bad, he looked at her and smiled, bowing slightly. "Thank you."

She beamed returning the bow "I'm Shizuku, Narumi Shizuku."

"Uh, Hansen Daniel. A Pleasure to meet you."

A short while later the two are walking on a small street as it leads away from the town. Town, Daniel thought to himself. 'I think Village would be a more accurate description.' The buildings were small most never reaching more than two stories. There were only a few paved roads that he could tell, most were simply packed dirt. It's nice, he decided, peaceful.

"How old are you Daniel-kun?"

He responded without thinking. "Twenty-one. You?"

"Seventeen!" She stated happily, smiling brightly she added "I was born in May."

'Seventeen?' Daniel took a moment to look at his companion a little closer. 'She seems really mature for just a teenager.'

Narumi noticed his attention and blushed as they continued out of town and onto a smaller dirt path. Daniel didn't notice as he had already gone back to admiring the scenery. Outside the town there was dense vegetation on all sides. Lush and green he found it very enjoyable.

Time moved on, they walked at a respectable pace for about half an hour before the next time she turned to speak to him. "How are you doing?" She asked, all smiles "I hope I am not going too fast."

Daniel couldn't help laughing at the absurdity of the question, 'This? This is easy.' "Perfectly fine thank you. Though I must say you're doing rather well with this pace. Do you hike often?"

She beamed at the compliment. "I come up here almost every day." In front of her, Daniel could see that the trail was leveling out and he was sure that he could again hear the crashing of the waves.

With a sudden burst of energy she spun "Come on were close!" she called as she ran the rest of the up the trail arms spread wide. Her sudden energy caused him to smile as he followed at a more sedate pace to the top. Upon reaching the top of the trail the vegetation thinned out and he could once again feel the cool ocean breeze.

When he finally caught up he stood in awe next to the girl. Before him was the ocean, clear and blue with only a few rocks sticking out here and there. The cliff he was on was easily 100 feet above the water's surface. From here he could see all the way down to the far end of the beach on the western side of the island. It was beautiful.

The girl turned bubbling with excitement and pride, her long blue hair catching in the breeze. "Even the locals don't come here. Do you like it?"

"Yeah, I love it! OH!" He quickly reached into his breast pocket and retrieved its contents holding it out in front of himself. "Look Taiga we're here!"

Narumi became overcome with curiosity and moved to look into the foreigner's hand. In his palm was what appeared to be a small ball of light brown fur. Almost unconsciously she moved closer and reached her hand out to touch the ball of fur. Almost as an afterthought she looked up to Daniel's face as if for permission.

Daniel hesistated, "Uh, I dunno she's not really social to new people…" he paused worry on his face "Especially aft-" His warning was cut off as the ball of brown in his hand suddenly opened up, expanding into what looked like a small squirrel. With little beady eyes it looked around at its surroundings, stretching out its limbs. Daniel leaned in, speaking in English, "Mornin' Taiga, good sleep?" Taigas response was an excited bark, then with amazing speed she launched herself onto his head electing a laugh from the man. The small creature now perched on the bill of his hat faced into the breeze, barking in delight it stood on its rear legs and opened its front paws to the wind.

"Do you think this is the place Taiga?" Daniel asked. Taking off his pack he reached inside it for a moment before he produced an almond from a pouch and displaying it in his palm. Taiga quickly scampered down the side of his head and down his outstretched arm. Her quest for the treat thwarted when his hand clamped down on the almond. She sat on his wrist and shot him a glare, which coming from such a cute critter was in of itself an accomplishment. "Say please, be a goo- YOUCH!" Daniel's hand opened for an instant and it was all Taiga required to snatch the almond from its spot and run back to his shoulder to begin eating it. Daniel's promises of retribution were mumbled as he sucked on his finger.

The sound of giggling drew his attention back to the local, now standing a few feet in front of him, staring starry-eyed at the animal eating silently on his shoulder. "What is it?"

Daniel began to answer, then removed his finger on the second attempt for better results, eliciting more giggles from the cute girl. "Taiga? She's a marsupial, a sugar glider to be specific."

"Sugar glider?"

As if finally noticing the attention Taiga looked up from her snack to the stranger and sniffed the air. She gave no warning when she suddenly sprang from her perch in the direction of Narumi and… flew? Indeed the small glider had spread its limbs, stretching the thin membrane on its side allowing it to ride the breeze it was provided to its target, Narumi.

Narumi gave a start and stumbled backward as the glider landed and quickly ran circles around the girl. Daniel started forward. "I'm sorry, try not to panic I'll get her off you, just hold…still?"

Daniel was shocked at not only what had just happened but what he was now seeing, Taiga was rather…. Fickle for a sugar glider. She was moody and didn't like strangers often ending attempts to pet her with hard nips and warning noises but… Taiga had not only just went to a complete stranger, she was now nuzzling the crook of the girl's neck wrapping her long tail around the girl's shoulder.

Narumi was at the mercy of the small creature, giggling with spurts of full blown laughter as the actions of Taiga tickled her. "It's, haha, okay, giggle. She's, hehe, so cute."

Daniel looked closer, disbelief on his face and in his voice. "Taiga?" Said critter answered with a quick bark, which sounded cute but Daniel knew it was snide, before returning to her nuzzling. He shrugged in defeat. "Well it would appear that she likes you Shizuku-san."

Narumi looked up as the sugar glider jumped onto the side of her straw hat and climbed up to the top. "You sound surprised."

"Well, she normally…" A sudden and strong breeze caused him to stumble when he looked up again he panicked. The straw hat that Taiga was perched upon had blown off the girl and was moving away on the wind. Moving quickly he reached out and snatched the hat only to find himself overcome with inverdigo. He noticed two things, one, someone was calling his name, two, he was falling. There wasn't enough time to turn in the air as he impacted the water's surface with enough force to make him black out.

He awoke with a jerk and he rolled onto his side to expel the water from his lungs onto the beach. Narumi was beside him, crying his name her cloths soaked. He sat up only to be tackled back to the ground by Narumi's hug. She managed a sobbing "Thank God you're okay!"

His head was spinning and he felt sick but had pieced together enough to figure out what had happened. She must have dove in, pulled him to shore, and revived him. "Thank you, I." he began before a nip at his ear alerted him to the presence of Taiga. He turned his head to glare at the small animal, all the while aware of the sobbing girl holding onto him. Instinctively he patted her back. "I'm alright, thanks to you."

"I-I was sure that you were dead!" squeezing him even harder.

He managed a chuckle, admittedly enjoying her proximity. "Nah, I've lived through much worse. See?" he began as he managed to stand. "Good as new. Thanks to you."

She looked up at him through teary eyes and managed another smile before finally relaxing and allowing herself to lay sideways in the sand. "Yeah. But my energy's really drained."

Looking over his shoulder he could see the cliff from which he had fallen. "You must be one heck of a swimmer for you to pull me to shore. But you shouldn't have done that, not for me, you…" He was stopped as Nagumi appeared before him and silenced him with a poke to the forehead.

"Would you have jumped after me?"

"Of course!" he replied with more force than he had intended.

"Then why shouldn't I jump to save you?" she asked with a smile.

He face darkened, "Cuz someone like me ain't worth someone like you. If you had died, I.."

She interrupted, "If I'd died, then that would be my fate."

Daniel looked confused, "Your fate?"

She turned and began walking up the beach. "Besides," she continued "We are both still alive. The Dragon God told us to keep on living."

The American followed. "Dragon God?"

"The Dragon God is the God who lives on this island. It's a local legend on this island. It says that the Dragon God came to this cape with the wind. And they say he fell in love with a girl on this island. At first we were unable to get to the tip of the cape. But the Dragon God made a path so now we can get out there." She turned to face him as he bent to pick up her straw hat that had washed ashore. "Shall we go?"

"Where?"

"Well we left our stuff up on the cape."

He scratched the base of his neck with a hand. "Oh, yeah sure."

They walked down the beach for a time before Daniel spoke again. "Hey can I ask you something?"

She smiled at him and he grinned back.

"Should I start calling you my Goddess now? Or Shizuku-Sama I mean, you did save my life and all." He was taken aback by the dark look that passed over her face. "I'm sorry I..."

"You can just call me Shizuku. That's what I would prefer."

"Ah, ok. Anything you say, Shizuku." He said nervously. As his experience had taught him, the Japanese were very traditional when it can to using honorifics and really didn't want to appear to be too familiar and upset her if it was just a joke.

She blushed deep and smiled wryly. "You actually said it."

"I'm sorry." He rushed, "you said to."

"Mmmm, I guess I did." She said as she turned and continued again down the beach towards the cliff.

"So, uh" he began clumsily. "Do you swim in the ocean a lot? Like I said before, you must be a great swimmer."

"Yeah, every once in a while. The ocean is our livelihood here."

-Talk of other places-

They exchange small talk for the duration of their walk back to town after collecting their things, Taiga having decided that she much more enjoyed riding on Shizumi than Daniel.

"So Daniel-Kun comes from such an amazing and vast place and yet you like our island?"

Daniel was lost in thought. "Wha, yeah I like it here, it so quiet and peaceful… and warm."

"Is it cold where you come from?" she inquired?

"HA you can say that again."

They were on the road leading back into town when an elderly man stopped and bowed "Hello Shizuku-Sama"

"H-He-Hello."

The elder turned towards Daniel who, remembering manners, bowed slightly and mumbled a greeting. After an awkward moment the elder left and Shizuku offered a farewell.

Before they re-entered town Shizuku stopped, "Sorry Daniel-kun but we must part ways here. I had a lot of fun today."

Daniel for his part felt a sudden surge of sadness; he hadn't realized that they would have to part so soon. "Aww, but I still must thank you for saving my life, maybe I could, uh, buy you diner or something?"

She blushed a deep crimson and smiled sadly. "I'm sorry but I must go now."

"Um, will I see you again?"

"I hope so. Bye." She turned and walked off down a side street not looking back.

"Wait!" Daniel ran crossed to short distance between them quickly. She turned, startled.

"Yes?"

"Um, uh," he said lamely, giving up he just pointed at Taiga still sleeping in the crook of her neck. Daniel reached forward and lifted the sleeping glider and deposited her into his pocket.

"405, 407, 409… 501 there it is." Daniel unslung his pack and stared at the small house. It was of a decent size, as far as the town was concerned in a residential section just up a small hill from the beach.

Walking in the gate he strode up to the door and, pulling a key from his bag, opened it before stepping inside.

The front room contained a number of moving boxes neatly stacked against the wall. Walking up to them he examined the box on top 'Sgt Daniel Hansen, 501 Takeshi Lane, Okitsushima' "Wow, TMO actually got my stuff here already? Sweet now I won't have to sleep on the floor."

Extracting a picture frame from his pack he turned around and examined his new kitchen. Bare though it was, he smiled as he place the frame on the bare counter. "Well bro." He started sadly, "We're home. Let's take a look around shall we?" He turned and began to inspect his new place of residency. "Okay so it's a nice kitchen, all the appliances, front room, hallway to the bedroom Bow-chicka-bow-bow, toilet or water-closet, whatever they call 'em here, big windows, lotsa light, cute teenage girl half dressed staring back disbelievingly, entry way…Wha WHAT?!" He glanced back out the window, and directly into his neighbor's window, and the girl stock still staring back. "I am soo dead."

"KYAA! Peeper! Ecchi! Hentai!"

Some time and much frantic explaining later. Daniel finds himself sitting across a table from an older woman and the teenage girl, now fully dressed, that he had inadvertently 'peeped' on.

He was nervous to say the least, his first day here and his neighbors might already think him to be a peeping tom. "Good evening Ma'am, my name is Hansen Daniel, I just moved in next door, a pleasure to meet you. Sorry about this" He said, bowing and attempting to be as formal and unintimidating as possible.

"I am Nagumo Yae." Began the older woman with a kind smile. "Feel free to call me Obaa(Grandma)."

"Obaa? Of course you must be joking with your looks Nagumo-san, but if you insist how about 'auntie'?"

She laughed warmly. "You are quite the charmer aren't you young man? It is a pleasure to welcome you to the neighborhood. If you need anything at all please feel free to ask… Karin.

"WHY ME!?" the previously silent girl exploded from her seat next to Yae who continued to smile unaffected by the outburst. "Obaa! This guy peeped on me! Why should I…"

"Young Miss!" he stated loud enough to gain her attention before bowing "I do apologize but I assure you that it was not intentional and my eyes did not linger were they should not. I just looked out my window and… I was not trying to peek."

"Did you see?" she growled.

Well honesty the best policy and all that. "Yes" "GET OUT!"

-After Daniel's hasty departure from the Nagumo household-

"What are you talking about Obaa?" Karin was sitting at the table still agitated at her own embarrassment, nursing a glass of tea. "First of all, nobody told me that a boy was moving in next door."

Yae chuckled as she worked at the kitchen counter "Well now, I wouldn't exactly call him a boy after having gotten a look at him."

"I'm Home!"

At the announcement Karin got up and raced to the entryway. "Welcome back Rinnie. Hey listen to this!"

Rinnie looked up, she didn't often see her older sister so worked up. "What?"

"Somebody moved in next door!"

Rinnie was now interested, there wasn't too many people who moved onto the island. "What are they like?"

"That's the thing…"

-A rather one sided explanation later-

"Because I'm irresistible."

Rinnie looked at her sister nonplused. "That's awful NeeNee(Short for sister)"

"Isn't it? And we were living in such peace too."

Rinnie sighed and removed her glasses to clean them. "But NeeNee, when you were changing, did you close the curtains?"

"Uh…"She flushed red at the realization. "But but…"

"NeeNee!"

-Back at castle de Hansen-

Daniel moved swiftly and with a purpose, moving boxes around and unpacking their contents as Taiga watched from the kitchen counter. "Man not even a day and already the girl next door is convinced that I'm a pervert. So much for getting away from it all eh?" he looked up from his current box to Taiga who gave him an uninterested noise before returning to her grooming. Daniel continued on not minding the dismissal. "I sure hope not everyone on this island is like that." He paused a moment as he thought of the girl from the beach earlier that day and smiled. "Well I guess not huh?" "I wonder if I'll ever see that one again?"

DoorBell

"Just a minute!" Daniel quickly stacked the pile of plates into the cubbard before making his way to the door. He absently pulled off some packing tape that had found its way to his shirt as he opened the door. "Yes?"

At the door stood a girl in her early teens, with large glasses and her hair done in braids, her cheeks flared as she saw him. He smiled kindly down at her, at which point she turned and ran for the gate, stopping just feet from the exit.

"Uh.." He began intelligently. "If this is doorbell ditch, I really think you need to work on your technique."

Just as suddenly as she had bolted she turned around and marched all the way up to the young man in the doorway with such determination that he was taken aback. She reached out for his hand and attempted to pull him in the direction of the neighbor's house only to find that she could not budge him.

"Um," He tried again, she was now using both hands and pulling with all her might with no results. The overall picture was obnoxiously cute. She made a squeak of surprise when Daniel easily lifted his arm dangling her in the air. "Now," He smiled "not that I mind having cute girls hanging all over me." Causing her previous blush to return with a vengeance. "But where is it you want me to go?" She fixed him with the most powerful glare she could muster, which resulted in nothing more than an equally adorable pout, but said nothing. "So you're mad at me for not doing what you want to, when I have no idea what it is, and you won't tell me. Well," he said lowering her back to the ground and allowing himself to be pulled along behind her. "You're gonna make someone a great wife someday you know that."

- enter the Nagumo residence…. Again-

"Oh, so you live here too?" Daniel asked but got no reply from the girl pushing with all her might against his back. "Auntie, I'm back!" he called out.

"Oh there you are. I see that Rinnie was successful in convincing you to come over for dinner then?" Yae smiled, brining a pot of steamed rice to the table.

"She's quite the negotiator." He laughed. "But seriously Auntie I appreciate the offer but I could have managed on my own tonight, I really don't wish to wear out my welcome as soon as I arrive."

"Nonsense." Yae smiled "everyone here would love to have you over for dinner."

"WAH! What are you doing here!?" Karin stood in the kitchen wearing an apron and wielding a ladle, embarrassed and angry.

Daniel was saved from replying by Rinnie who had finally manage to 'push' him to a seat at the dinner table. "NiiNii sits here."

Daniel chuckled uncomfortably. "She talks?"

"NIINII? Rinnie, why are you being so familiar?"

"NiiNii is a special." She stated simply before seating herself next to across from him.

-Later-

"Wow, this is all really good Auntie, honestly." He didn't need to lie, the food before him was prepared very well.

"Thank you but Karin made the meal tonight."

"Oh? Well then, my complements to the chef."

For her part Karin stared down into her plate blushing, without much enthusiasm she replied "T-Thank you."

-After dinner-

"Thank you again for the wonderful meal, I will have to return the favor once I finish unpacking. Huh what's this?" A plate of wrapped food was thrust into his hands by Karin.

"It's onigiri and rice. You're probably not used to the heat here yet so you probably sweat a lot, Obaa told me to give them to you."

"Thank you but…" His reply was cut off as Karin closed the door in front of him.

On the short walk back to his place he noticed for the first time the stairwell leading up to his terrace on his roof. "Oh yeah, forgot about that." Deciding to check it out he climbed the stairs to the roof.

The view was amazing. From the terrace he could see the ocean, the moon glowing bright in its reflection. Few lights could be seen in the village and he could even hear the crashing of the waves. He smiled to himself as he placed the plate on the edge and leaned against the railing. "I think you actually knew what you were talking about this time bro." He stared off into the scenery for an unknown time before deciding that he should return downstairs to complete his unpacking. As he turned to leave a sudden illumination to his side caught his attention. He glanced in the direction and instantly regretted it. There was his neighbor, Karin, standing stock still with one hand still on the light switch and the other on her towel, her unsecure towel, having just come from the bath. Realization struck Daniel and he sighed with defeat, raising his clenched fist upwards to the sky. "Laugh it up Fucker, laugh it up!" Ignoring his obviously now upset neighbor, he turned to his side, his body rigid in the position of attention, rendered a quick salute to the vast beyond before punching himself full force in his face.

Karin could only stare in stunned silence as she watched her neighbor render himself unconscious.