Disclaimer: And thus, it has been copied/pasted. And thus, I have disclaimed.

Maxi licked his palm and smoothed back his shiny black hair into the sort of hairstyle that people would find strange. One question that would run through the minds of most people he'd meet was how on earth could he keep his hair standing up like that, all glossy and neat, even after, say, a particularly vicious brawl?

Stock reply: "I'm so cool, even my hair is frozen to perfection." Wink.

Kilik would've laughed and punched him on the arm (and Maxi winced here). Xianghua would've shaken her pretty little head and said something along the lines of "You're hopeless." And Kyam would've told him, big, stupid grin and all, to shut the hell up and fix the ship's goddamned rigging. Kyam would've told him to kindly jump off a plank and spare them from another taste of his ego. It's like getting scurvy and shitting my guts out, listening to you brag.

But he hadn't seen the Chinese lover birds in a while. And Kyam was… Kyam had been gone a long time ago.

A sharp pain in his chest, the image of the marred and lifeless body of his sworn brother surfacing again from his subconscious, and hate, brighter and more searing than the palest of stars, building up inside of him. And he was standing here, of all the places in the whole wide world. The Indian port where his comrades – where Kyam – had left him.

This wouldn't do. He thought. Sitting here and moping, watching the waves crash against the carved stones on the base of the seaport. Kyam wouldn't want him to waste his life away with the guilt. Kyam wouldn't want him to bury himself into a sand pile of self-loathing. No. What he wanted for Maxi to do was to get out there and live his life to the fullest. What he wanted for Maxi to do was to reciprocate the strange look that woman's been giving him for the past seventeen minutes with his best and most irresistible jackassian grin. And that's exactly what he was going to do right now.

A familiar face. Finally, after how many weeks in this foreign country, she's found someone she actually recognized.

She's seen the guy before. Once or twice. They've crossed paths a few years back, but he was still with that monk she sparred with a couple of months ago and that Chinese girl she couldn't help but dislike a little. Nothing personal, but when they met all these years ago, it left a rather bad taste in her mouth and she knew she'd much prefer looking for that stupid Yun-seong and dragging him home than seeing her again.

Dumb hair. Dumb, proud look on his face. It was his him, alright.

"You're Maxi." Seong Mi-na said in a straightforward tone. Better get down to business, otherwise he'd think she was actually interested in him. Blah.

Smirk. "So my fame precedes me." Mi-na couldn't help but gag a little inside.

"You don't remember me, do you?"

"With that face, I'd remember you 'till I stopped breathing." Maxi threw his well-practiced pick-up line number 312.

Egad, she thought, but that was so painful to hear.

There was a silence between them, only broken by the occasional shrill shriek of a seagull and the sound of the rolling waves of the Arabian Sea. The sun at high noon cast a glow on Maxi's egotistical, chiseled face that Mi-na had to admit… he looked kinda cute under the light.

Which, of course, was totally wrong in itself. First off, as far as she could remember, he was an ass. He tried to hit on her the very first time they met and now he didn't even remember her, for god's sake! Secondly, the hair! The pick-up lines! The super-sized ego and the nunchuck exhibitions he used to hold "for the ladies"! Wasn't she happy when she parted from their group to continue alone?

Swallowing whatever thoughts she had on his sun-kissed countenance and reinforcing again her mental image of him in her mind (repeating "godawful hair" in her head like a mantra against demonic possession), she gave him her most convincing 'cynical' look and said "Well?"

"Pardon?"

"We've met before and you said I had a face you couldn't ever forget. So then, what's my name?" Mi-na asked, the tone of her voice challenging and playful at the same time.

For the second time she's seen him again, he actually looked thoughtful, finally realizing that the girl was probably telling the truth about meeting up with him before. Second time, because right before he saw her looking at him, his face had an expression of sadness and bitterness that told her he was thinking too much at the moment.

"Definitely not the ninja." She heard him mutter to himself. "Nor that half-naked English woman. They had a lot more going on for them…" and she scowled and kicked him hard in the shin to remind him that she was just there in front of him. He spewed curses in a multitude of languages he picked up from years of sailing and piracy and that's when it all came back to him.

"You! You're that zanbatou-wielding Korean!" Recognition in his dark brown eyes. "Mi-na, right? Seong Mi-na?"

"That didn't take long for you to finally remember. Not long at all." Sarcasm dripping from her voice as she placed her hands on her hips. She should've just kicked him an hour ago if that was all it took to refresh his memory.

"But what are you doing here?" He asked, serious at last, a concerned lilt in the tone of his voice.

"I'm looking for someone." She admitted. Heck, that statement wasn't even complete. I'm looking for someone. And when I finally catch him I swear on the graves of my father's ancestors I'll skin his filthy hide with the sword he stole from us.

"Well you've come to the right place." His smile insinuating something else entirely. Oh dear god, but not this again.

"Look, if you've seen a pigheaded Korean boy running around with a shiny blade lately that would be absolutely wonderful. What would be even more wonderful is if you had any idea which direction he went off to. Because I seriously need to bring him back home intact, even though I'd rather stab him the first chance I see him."

"See? The right place indeed! I've seen the boy you speak of. Red hair. Killer sword. Insufferable, arrogant snot. The boy's name is Yun-seong?"

"YES! EXACTLY!" She practically shouted that some of the people around them presented them an odd look. Whatever, she didn't care. At last. At long last. Another lead! She was getting closer and closer to the brat and she could finally get White Storm back.

"I've fought him before. He's strong." Rubbing his jaw to put emphasis on the strong part. He didn't need to; it was an exaggerating touch but it made her snort out in amusement anyway. "He was here until two days ago and then he was gone. He went north."

"And then?" Waiting still patiently for that final clue to his whereabouts.

"He said something about a waterside coliseum and earning money there."

Coliseum. Earning money. Oh god, that brat. She thought. Joining gladiator wars in Italy it is.

But Maxi did mention that he left two days ago, right? That meant she still had time! But she had to go now.

Sensing that as well, Maxi wished her all the best of luck and Godspeed. "I'm guessing he's made a stopover near Mumbai up north. It's only been two days."

"Thanks a lot." She said, smiling, genuinely thankful for the information. A thought suddenly came to her mind and it made her smile even wider. Why the hell not?

"Hey, no problem." Not noticing how wicked her smile grew into. "You know me. Always happy to hel-"

But she cut him off by abruptly placing her mouth on his, sliding her sweet tongue into his mouth, and for all he knew the high noon sun could be making his hair wilt right now and he wouldn't even care.

But just as fast as the kiss started, the kiss ended as quickly as well, with both parties looking a lot more pleased than they'd admit.

"Thank you." She said quietly, a low grin on her face, and turned her heels northward, passing the crowd of curious onlookers, to catch Yun-seong.

Maxi, training his eyes carefully on the slowly disappearing figure, his tongue still tasting the lingering sweetness of her kiss, could only chuckle.

"No." He mouthed. "Thank you."

A/N: Oooh, I can hear the Yun-seong/Mi-na fans crying for my blood already. But anyway, I ask the SC section: Where are all the Maxi fics? Seriously, where have they all gone? Oh yeah, constructive criticism of how I portrayed the characters and how I wrote this? Mucho welcomed.