Tropical

Chapter 1

{LME Flight 205 disappeared from radar and fell into radio silence at 3:07am Friday morning. We are being told that the flight was carrying the two LME stars, Ren Tsuruga and actress Kyoko, back to Tokyo from New Zealand where they were filming their new movie Dawn Princess. A search and rescue effort is underway.}

COUGH... COUGH... COUGH...

Green eyes gave the unconscious female a quick once-over look. He quickly checked her breathing and pulse and then for injuries. He sighed in relief and collapsed on the white sandy beach next to her in exhaustion in the warm tropical darkness.

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"What do you mean you think they went down?!" A worried eccentric male yelled into the phone.

"All we can tell at the moment sir is that the emergency beacon from the black box was activated. A search and rescue party has been sent to the location to retrieve it." The voice answered.

"You sound like there's more..." Lory commented in fear.

"Sir... The location it's in has a very strong current and there aren't any landmasses." The female on the other end quietly told him.

Lory stared blankly into his office and dropped the phone that was in his hand, then fell to his knees.

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She snuggled into the comfortable warm body next to her and took in the scent of skin, salt, nature and water. The terror of the plane going down, the falling to the Earth via parachute and clinging to her savior as they hit the water near the decently sized island, had washed away in his arms. Although they were in an unfamiliar place, she had never felt more contented and safe than she did at the moment. Something deep in her told her, he would take care of her.

She sat up and looked out at the vast ocean before them, a small reef enclosed the area surrounding the beach. She wondered if it circled the island and what little creatures inhabited it. She turned her head slightly behind her to spy the dense jungle and tropical flora, then back to the man sleeping soundly next to her on the sand. She brushed the hair from his face gently and smiled softly.

"Thank you Ren..." She whispered.

He murmured something in his sleep, rolled towards her, wrapped his sleeping arms around her and pulled her to him. She squeaked in surprise, blushed then giggled as he snuggled into her. She struggled a little at first and was a little stiff about the situation, but then something in her mind asked her "Who would actually care? Did anyone really know that they were missing yet?" Then the little voice told her, "He's the one holding her right now, he was the one who had pulled her to him and he was the one that saved her life." So, she threw caution to the wind and snuggled into him and watched the sky above them gradually go from the starry lit midnight blue-black, to the oranges and yellows of the morning. It was breathtaking.

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Kuon Hizuri slowly opened his green eyes to the napping pixie of his dreams in his arms. He realized in a slight panic that his contact lenses had been lost last night as they swam to the island. The dread and panic of her discovering what he had kept from her for so long filled him, but it wasn't like there was anything he could do to prevent the inevitable. What would she say of his deception? Well, it wasn't like she could run from him. He looked at their surroundings. Was it a good thing there were no signs of humanity or, a bad thing? They would need to find food, water and shelter soon.

He gently released her from his arms and slowly sat up. It was morning, probably mid-morning. Judging from the position of the sun, about 10am. He thanked his lucky stars that his father was big on camping and wilderness training when he was a kid.

He looked back down at the sleeping female next to him, brushed the lightly colored locks from her face and smiled softly. "God, you're beautiful." He whispered. He carefully stood and stretched out his sore muscles. He groaned. Wow, haven't been this sore in awhile. He looked around to get his bearings and sighed. They would have a lot to do before nightfall.

He walked to the nearby edge of the tropical forest and noticed the breadfruit and a few grapefruit trees. This will definitely come in handy. He picked a few of the fruits. He decided he would take Kyoko to look for fresh water later and perhaps devise a way to catch a few fish for meat.

He trotted back to where she was and picked up a sharp rock nearby to cut the grapefruits open that he had managed to pick, the breadfruit didn't look too appetizing or, edible so he had left them off to the side after seeing their starchy solid interior. After placing them on one of the large leaves he gently shook his companion awake. "Kyoko, Kyoko-chan..." He said softly pulling her out of her sleep. "I found us something to eat."

Kyoko rolled over and slowly sat up. "Where did you find grapefruit?"

He chuckled and pointed to the tree-line as he popped another section into his mouth and savored the tart flavor. "Eat up. We need to head out and find some fresh water soon."

Her eyes went wide when she looked into those familiar green eyes, but kept it to herself. The only thoughts in her mind was that he must have had a good reason for hiding it from her and she would not force him to tell her those reasons until he was ready. Another thought was that she was thankful that it was him and it made her feel even more safe than before. She smiled softly to herself and bit into the juicy fruit section he had offered. "Thank you Tsuruga-san."

He looked over at her a little surprised that she hadn't mentioned his eye color. He smiled. "Please call me Ren."

She smirked and looked back down at the meal before her. "Okay Ren... Um, you can call me Kyoko."

He chuckled and nodded. "Okay Kyoko." Then popped another grapefruit section into his mouth.

He felt like his heart had been ripped from his body when he received the news. They found the black box and the only bodies that had been recovered had been for the pilot, the co-pilot and the flight attendant. He was told they were fortunate to even find them considering the wildlife in the area where the plane went down.

What he had left to do at this point did not set well with him. He had to tell two sets of parents that their only offspring, were no longer with them due to a freak lightning storm that had struck the normally sturdy plane and sent it crashing into an ocean filled with sharks and other flesh eating wildlife. He wouldn't even be able to provide the bodies of their children to mourn over. Kuu and Julie Hizuri sat on the sofa in his office across from Saena Mogami and Susumu Todoh, whom now had known through confession that she shared her daughter with him. The regret and devastation was thick in the room as the women broke down in the arms of the men and the tears flowed freely.

All that was left to do now is announce to friends and the world, the sombre news of the loss of two of Japan's finest. The memorials would be held in the coming weeks.

It had been more than a full week since they had come to this little tropical paradise and where once Kuon and Kyoko had thought that they had been cursed, now realized that they must have been born under a lucky star. Fruits and tropical vegetables were abundant. The birds provided a few eggs here and there. They had found a source of fresh water in an very cliché little pond that pooled under a small waterfall. They had fish, clams and crabs from the beach nearby and they had even found a nicely sized little cave as shelter. They were fortunate that there were no snakes or, poisonous insects that they knew of and Kyoko had even found a way to fashion some crude garments from the leaves and bark of the breadfruit plants Kuon had found.

During these days of hunting and gathering, they would build up their stores of food and dry wood for any emergency that would come in the foreseeable future. In the evenings they would finally listen to each other's confessions and grant forgiveness where needed and though they had both discovered that they truly did love each other, they were still a bit nervous about the newness of their relationship.