About an hour had passed since setting off from the estate. As the sky darkened, the full moon baptized the earth in its gleaming light. The waves from the sea crashed gently onto the sand, as if not to wake anyone. Its time for roars and battle cries was over, replaced instead by the wind’s endless howl.
Despite that, it was neither too cold nor too hot for those still wandering about. On weekends such as these, it wasn’t uncommon to see working men and women exploring the very limited nightlife Flarenorice had to offer.
Being a girl of little worldly interest, this was Yuna’s first time exploring this unique side of the city. As her heels clicked against the stone road, her gaze slid in all directions, taking in the distinct atmosphere of the archipelago at rest.
Having properly finished her reconnaissance mission, she felt like she deserved a bit of fun before heading back to her estate.
There were local outdoor plays, fire tricks, and bar entertainment. Food stalls that were usually closed by this time were now booming with business, as countless children and adults walked through the small city. Drawing in a breath, she couldn’t help but feel a bit overwhelmed.
“Ooooh, you seem like you need a bit of a break, your highness.” Tan poked his head from behind her, snapping her out of her short trance.
“I’ll be fine,” she said, looking over her shoulder. “I simply never experienced this sight as a child.”
“Why not? You grew up here, right?” Tan asked, walking slightly faster to match her pace.
“I did, but also did not.”
“Even though I was born in the Velion Capital, I had to move here when I was a young girl after the Fall of Cavos.”
“Ahh, that’s when the last Emperor was overthrown, right?” Tan raised his head, rubbing his chin.
“Correct.”
“Our home was nearly leveled, so I had to move to the estate.”
“I was afraid as a little girl, so I never left my home. There were countless tutors and instructors who lived on-site with our family, which allowed me to catch up in education and social cues. So by the time I grew up, I never truly found a reason to come out to the city.”
“I suppose I wasn’t truly alone, since E-CAT provided me with all the companionship I needed.”
“E-CAT?”
“Oh, my apologies. I forgot you haven’t met.”
To his unbelievable luck, or perhaps misfortune, they had managed to completely avoid each other. The only time they would have met would have been at the house around an hour ago, but E-CAT was nowhere to be seen.
Yuna couldn’t help but wonder if the first mate and the annoying cat would get along. It would make sense if they did, since both the cat and Tan seemed to share a somewhat similar personality. The biggest surprise to her however, was the fact that she wasn’t willing to immediately incinerate Tan, similar to how she would with E-CAT.
“Well, isn’t it nice to finally have some friends to hang out with, then?” Tan asked with a sweet smile.
“I practically met you the other day, but it’s been an absolute blast talking to you.”
“I never once thought of you as a friend.” Yuna commented so bluntly it nearly stopped Tan dead in his tracks.
However, he was less offended and simply flabbergasted. Staring at her judgingly, he said, “That’s not a good look, Miss Yuzu.”
“My, and here I thought you would be a man with such little tolerance for verbal violence. Or maybe it is I who was mistaken, and Miss Lemonia is simply a bad apple from the bunch.” A snarky grin curled around her face.
“Maria’s Maria. I’m me.”
“Though, I can still get hurt, so please keep that verbal violence to a minimum.”
Yuna chuckled. “I’ll see. It all depends on your behavior.”
“Behavior? What are we in, grade school? Who even says that anymore?”
“Who knows, maybe I’ll just walk back over to the bar and tell the drunk navymen that the very, very infamous Tan J. Rene is actually present here on the island. I have been running a bit low on funds, so the bounty reward might be nice.”
“You think you’re real smart, don’t you?” Tan leaned forward, staring at her dead in the eye with a mischievous smile.
“I wonder how they’ll react to a noblewoman shielding such a pirate?”
“Sure, maybe you’ll be able to pay them off, but just think about what that would do to your high-status reputation. You might never be able to step foot in a ballroom ever again, your highness.”
Yuna raised her head with confidence, unfazed by his comments. “You’d be doing me a grand favor. There’s nothing more repulsive than having to force a smile for people you don’t even see as humans.”
“Does that include us too?” Tan asked.
“Hmph, perhaps it does.”
He then put a hand on her right shoulder, forcing her to turn her head to face him. When she did, Tan’s right pointer finger was pointed directly at her mouth.
“Then I guess that smile’s fake too.”
Rather than retaliating, Yuna played into his advances. “You’re quite bold. Is this a common trait for most pirates?”
“As if!” Tan giggled. “You’ve seen Fin, right? Oh, wait, I guess you could say he’s kinda bold too. But he’s not really doing it on purpose, so I guess it doesn’t count?”
“Finny’s advances are much less intentional, yes. You, on the other hand, seem to be extremely quick to the draw.”
“Well, the First Mate has to be ready for anything.”
“Surprising,” Yuna went on. “I completely assumed you were nothing but a bumbling fool. But it seems like you have some value and substance, not only as a pirate, but as a person as well. Color me surprised.”
“I have that first impression on most people. But I think you’ve only seen that aspect of me because I’ve been by the Captain’s side the whole time. Whenever he’s not present, I tend to be a bit more calm.”
“And why’s that?”
Tan scratched his chin. “Well, he’s a bit slow on the uptake. Maybe that’s not quite right, actually. He’s a bit too honest about how he feels, and takes people’s words quite literally. Because of that, someone has to be the one to keep him focused at all times.”
“If he takes everything I say at face value, then the Clementine Pirates would have fallen apart long before we could have accrued even a single gold coin bounty.”
“So, as long as I can help him be great, then that’s all that matters. People looking down on me doesn’t concern me as much. I’m a pirate, but I was also from the slums before that, so I’ve gotten quite used to being looked down on.”
“Which is why it surprised me when you weren’t insulting me as much as you were Captain Lemonia.”
As if linked in mind, the two stopped at a food stall selling squid balls. It was the same vendor Maria and Fin had bought from just a day ago. After placing their orders, they stood in front of the wooden stall, the sizzling heat drowning out their low voices.
While they waited, there wasn’t a single word exchanged. Tan assumed she simply didn’t want to continue the conversation, leaving him in an awkward spot, swaying back and forth mindlessly.
However, his assumptions couldn’t have been further from the truth, as she simply wanted to step away from the surrounding noise that could interfere with their conversation. After a few minutes, they received their squid balls, freshly fried in batter.
Yuna was the first to lift the wooden pick and take a small bite. Steam burst out from within, nearly burning her lips. Despite the small bite, her face lit up from the rich taste and texture.
Making way for the other guests standing behind them, the two began walking back along their path. Finishing her first squid ball, she handed the paper plate to Tan, gesturing for him to try one as well.
In contrast, Tan took a large bite, immediately scalding the inside of his mouth. “OW! OW! OW!” he huffed and puffed rapidly, trying to ease the pain. Yuna couldn’t help but laugh at his complete lack of elegance or composure.
“Perhaps that’s why I don’t treat you so harshly,” she said, steadying her breath as she tried to stop laughing.
“hM?!” Tan squealed, a tear forming in his eye as he struggled through the heat.
“Miss Lemonia hides her true feelings and personality behind violence and overreaction. However, both you and your captain don’t possess that trait. You’re not afraid of being yourselves, which is something I can respect.”
Tan’s chewing slowed significantly, as he couldn’t help but notice a new side of Yuna that she hadn’t displayed even in their limited time together. For some reason, his heart felt uneasy. Its speed didn’t increase, but it certainly felt like something was washing over it.
It was a stabbing pain, as if the knife were made of rubber. His nose felt more sensitive around the bridge, which was often a signal people got just before they started shedding tears.
What was this feeling? Surely it couldn’t have been love. He wasn’t the type to fall in love over something so insignificant or baseless as her comment. No, this was something else.
Moments ago, Tan claimed that he put on a front for the sake of Fin, which was only half true. Growing up with nearly absent parents, and never having friendships that truly mattered, Tan had grown distrustful of the world around him.
Everyone lied, and in turn, it would be okay if he lied as well. He robbed, scammed, committed every crime no kid should ever have committed. And yet, there was a lingering yearning in his chest that begged for something real, something to cling to.
When he met Fin, he was already in his late teenage years. The world had seemingly lost all its color, unable to pull him back to the nostalgic blue skies he once loved so dearly. Their first interaction was one he could never forget.
Approaching the broken teen, Fin B. Orangg extended his hand with an offer.
“You look quite strong. I was planning on becoming a pirate captain. Would you like to join?” he asked so nonchalantly that Tan assumed he was being played. But upon looking into his eyes, it was all too clear that he was being serious.
“If you’re looking for someone strong, just go somewhere else! Better yet, just leave this place. The only people here are the hungry and the weak,” he exclaimed. Half of it was out of worry for the young man, and the other half was out of genuine anger that someone was capable of carrying such a smile, when he couldn’t.
Every fiber of his being wanted to oppose the man. Then, the newly debuted pirate calmly replied, “I don’t need someone who’s physically strong. I called out to you because you seem like someone who’s strong enough to be a gentle person.”
“To be honest with you, I don’t really care about the gold or fame. I’m becoming a pirate to find someone I ████ . If that sounds like something you’re interested in, then I’d like you to join me as well. Who knows, maybe you’ll find someone you ████ too.”
“I can’t promise you anything like fame, but I can promise you this.”
“I’ll always have your back.”
Though his tone was bland, his words were anything but that.
From that moment, he realized that what he was craving and yearning all along wasn’t to live a good life, or to have a certain numerical amount of friends. It was all too simple, something he never even thought of.
He yearned for trust that came from true love.
The feeling of being able to tell anyone anything, the feeling of knowing that you’re being loved unconditionally by others around you. The feeling you get once you realize that no matter what kind of trouble you’d get into, someone will always be there to lift you back up. That was the kind of experience he had been craving for his entire life. To be able to trust someone enough to entrust your own life, that’s what he wanted. To be loved. To be seen.
It was love that he felt for his captain, and what kept him around through thick and thin. No matter how frustrated he got, or how hard they fought, the promise of a trust that could never be broken was what kept him chained to his side.
So, upon hearing Yuna’s sorrowful words, it wasn’t puppy love that tugged at his heart, but rather an emotion far harsher, reserved for someone who understood her feelings and desires all too well.
What he felt… was pity.
Pity that she didn’t have what he had eventually gained throughout his life. It all made sense now why she claimed to never truly leave the mansion. She kept herself cooped inside that large, empty stone box because, simply put, she never had a reason to leave. There was nobody who pulled at her heart strongly enough to encourage her to do so.
As the world resumed its normal pace, Tan swallowed the rest of his food, before stopping dead in his tracks. Seeing his abnormal reaction, Yuna stopped as well, twisting her body to face the first mate.
His head hung low, and his shoulders were deflated. Worried, Yuna walked back to him, bending down to check his face.
“I promise to make sure you’re loved,” he said quietly, as if to let her know those words were meant only for her, and nobody else in the world.
Taken aback by his words, Yuna couldn’t help but feel confused, and admittedly a bit flustered. It had come out of nowhere, and she was barely prepared with a response.
“I’ll make sure you have a reason to leave the mansion every day. I’ll make sure that when you wake up in the morning, you do so with a smile. I want you to cherish every second of your life, because if you don’t, then who will?”
“But most importantly…” As he spoke his next words, his mind echoed his captain’s phrase, one that had lit him up all those years ago, “I’ll always have your back.”
That’s when Yuna knew he wasn’t making any romantic advances. He had simply read her like an open book.
“I see,” she murmured, her gaze lowering in quiet contempt of herself and her past.
She had always used the loss of her family as an excuse to keep herself hidden from the world. The world of politics and nobility was venomous and unforgiving, which was why she chose to stay away as much as possible.
Because if she didn’t keep herself safe, then who would? Every time people visited her, her hopes and expectations were immediately squandered the moment they tried to make business offers or tried to cut political deals. It was a world she hated to live in and wanted nothing more than to escape from.
A final gift from her mother was a small familiar in the shape of a paper cat. It was said to be immortal, and though it often pestered her and insulted her, it was one companion she truly felt like she could trust.
She appreciated Fin’s blunt personality because it didn’t leave her wondering or overthinking. If he were to say something, it most likely meant it was true. Her annoyance towards Maria was one that was rooted in self-hatred.
While Maria masked her emotions with violence and shouts, Yuna did so with her flamboyant and spoiled personality. She saw herself in Maria, which annoyed her the most. However, she could never truly bring herself to hate the pirate captain.
And here was Tan J. Rene, making claims she had yearned for her entire life. Could he truly live up to his words, or was it simply fluff to get her to trust him easier? No, she knew the truth. She said it herself, that he wasn’t the type to put up a front for the sake of others.
His words, as sudden as it may have been, were genuine through and through. And Yuna knew that. If someone is willing to brighten her world, who was she to say no? It was all she ever wanted and was no longer limited to one, paper cat.
It would mean leaving the cat behind, but it also meant that she would finally be flapping her wings into the open air, leaving the embrace of her mother for the first time in her life.
“In that case…” she raised her head high, pivoting her heels and walking away from Tan.
Realizing he had made such a big promise to someone he barely knew, his breath hitched in anxiety.
However, those emotions were immediately dissolved by the noble’s next words.
“I look forward to it.”
She now understood why she was able to communicate and be her truest self around Tan. At first, she thought it was because he bore a similar personality to E-CAT, then pivoting to the realization that it must be because he had no mask to hide behind.
But the answer was far more simple than that. They were the same. Simply raised in the opposite social circles.
“I cannot believe you managed to read me so easily.” she said while smiling from ear to ear, Tan trotting quickly from behind. Barely having heard her, he shot back with a smile of his own, shrugging his shoulders and shooting out the first words he could think of.
“What can I say? Real eyes realize real lies.”
Yuna snorted, bursting into a real, hearty laughter for the first time in a long time.