Precious

Chapter 14 - Unrequited Love

It had been many hours since I opened my eyes. I wasn't able to move much throughout the whole day, given that every time I tried to move a muscle, my wounds would ache. I had Slippy bring me some of the movies found in the ship, and I was quite disappointed. The movie selections were terrible. I was not into music unless it was played a guitar, but sadly most of the stuff here were classical songs.

"How about a book?" he suggested.

"I would... if I could turn the page with my hands!" I answered back. Somehow, I managed to find myself amusing when I couldn't do a thing. "The monitor sucks as well - nothing interesting to watch. We're gonna reach Zoness space responsibility though, so we might be able to get better shows." He simply shook his head.

"We will arrive at Zoness space responsibility tomorrow though, so until then we'll be receiving general Cornerian signals," he replied. Well, that settled it. I would die of boredom. "You sure you don't want to watch any of the movies here?"

"Not interested in those things. They're quite pretentious." I looked at him and his toolkit on his belt. "You know, I really want to help maintain the ship..."

"Nope. You can't."

"Yeah. I know. I was just saying." He then left the room. Oh well, I might as well amuse myself with random thoughts. I looked around before glancing at myself. It took me a while to realize that I was naked save for a pair of white boxers and a blanket. Most of my body was covered in bandages.

The door opened. Krystal came in, carrying a bowl of soup - it smelled like... oh my, could it be! "Hello, Panther!" she greeted me with a warm smile. "I brought you your favorite soup - Corn Mackerel Soup." Indeed, the sweet aroma mixed with the sourness and the spiciness of the fish, bathing the essence of corn... How could I ever resist such first class dish? "Oh, Panther, don't give me that look! You look like a kid!"

"Who cooked it?" I asked. "You or Leon?" Back when she was at the team, she and Leon cooked for us. She learned some from the chameleon and developed her own style... especially to my favorite soup. While they both make the same dish, Krystal's cooking sided more to the easiness to swallow whereas Leon was more taste-oriented. Both were good though.

She giggled, "Actually, Leon and I cooked it for you. Although Wolf said he wanted to help so he was the one who poured this in the bowl." She sat down beside me while putting the bowl at the end table. "So... How're you feeling?"

"A bit hard to move - I dunno if it's because of the bandages or the wounds, but otherwise I'm fine," I smiled back. "I got nine lives, and I am one hell of a lucky black cat! Ouch!" I tried to move my arm but it looked like I got carried away - it stung for a bit. "Err... Spoon-feeding?"

"Well, yes." Her face told me how obvious it was. It was not like I wouldn't mind though. "Oh, don't tell me you don't like being spoon-fed!"

I grinned. "That depends. You? Sure. Leon? Nah. Wolf? I don't think so." She chuckled quite loudly, that I too laughed.

It wasn't long before she started to spoonfeed me. Of course, as a man, I was a bit of embarrassed, as it didn't look what a gentleman would allow, but I had no other choice. I soon enjoyed it however, especially after tasting the delicious soup with my tongue.

"So... umm... Panther," she suddenly asked. I looked at her face and wondered what she wanted to ask. "I was interested... How did you end up as a space drifter? I mean, weren't you taking care of your father?"

I looked down to my blanket for a bit. It took me a while to sum up my thoughts about what happened to my father and mother, particularly to my father, who died in front of me. "Well... As I said, he got sick when my mom died. He eventually passed away."

"Oh... sorry, I didn't know." She placed the spoon back into the bowl and looked at me keenly. "It must be so hard for you."

"It's okay... And yeah, it was hard for me," I replied. "Well... When he died, I figured that I wouldn't survive any longer alone in the workshop. I decided to bring important stuff - particularly my family's memento, and tools and supplies... Life after that was a dangerous but a thrilling life... I became a hired mercenary. At first I was picky on my missions, but then, as I learned, in order to survive, I had no choice but to risk on shady dealings."

"And you got that scar of yours from some dangerous missions right?"

Well, her interest seemed to pick up. "Yeah. Got an enemy knife nearly sliced off my eye. I was able to mend it, but the scar turned white. And well, as most mercenaries, I got labeled as a criminal in Corneria. Thankfully I was a low-profile type of criminal, so I could still go around in the city provided that I don't meet people who actually know that I was a wanted person. Soon, I was able to enjoy the finest foods in Corneria."

"But how did you end up in Star Wolf?" A nice question.

"Well, I was looking for some jobs when the two came in. They said that they had heard of my abilities, the ability to survive. They hired me as soon as they saw me move around Sargasso's rough and tough innards. I was able to fly a Wolfen, and well, I improved over the years." It was more than that though. Sargasso was really a rough place to be, and I had no idea why Wolf would want to stay there. It soon struck me though - he wanted a base, and he was one of the best space drifters around.

"You have an interesting story after all, Panther!" she again smiled back. "For someone who is labeled as a criminal though, you surely like to be a charismatic person."

"I guess it was because of my mother," I told her. I thought so too. "While I loved my father, I was really close to my mother. I guess that's why I like women... probably because I thought that I could express the love she showed to me to another female - someone who will share our love." I felt a bit nervous when saying that, especially in front of Krystal.

Krystal looked at me for a bit before standing up. She kissed me... to the cheek! I... I... I was quite... happy that... I was pretty sure I was getting hot. "I hope you'll find the person who you will share your love with." She took the bowl and walked off to the door.

I looked at her before she closed the door. I whispered to myself something that I couldn't admit to her the moment I had made a vow. "You're the woman I wanted to share this love with, Krystal," I told myself. I felt quite guilty for saying that. I had promised that I would not cry. I had promised that I would set her free.

The door opened again, and this time, Wolf came in. "So, how's the black cat?"

"Still kicking." I remembered earlier what Leon told me - what Wolf did when I was being operated. "By the way, I really wished Krystal would've recorded your face when you were operating me. I heard your face was priceless!"

I expected him to throw a pillow at my face. He did.