The clock had just struck eleven in the morning.
Maria and Fin slowly walked through the only city in Flarenorice wearing their casual outfits. Since they were somewhat infamous pirates, they wouldn’t want to risk having their identities pinpointed and the local authorities hunting them down.
Both captains knew they could easily fend them off, but they’d rather not deal with the hassle. For now, they simply looked like any other tourists visiting the beautiful archipelago.
Fin wore his usual white shirt with long light brown pants. Maria, on the other hand, wore a white open jacket over a black sports bra, paired with short black shorts. Though she liked skirts, the breezy nature of the island deterred her from wearing them.
The scent of sweet and salty aromas filled the air as various food vendors had already set up shop for the day.
“I wonder if it’s too early to be wandering around like this,” Maria commented, drawn in by the explosion of spice blends invading her nose. She had just eaten, but since her brain automatically discounted Fin’s cooking as “not food,” her stomach pretended it wasn’t full.
“No, I think we’re here at a good time,” Fin replied.
“Though so far, it doesn’t seem like there’s much work around here.”
Maria nodded as they both naturally walked over to a squid ball stand. “Yeah… It seems like most businesses here are family owned. We could try applying everywhere, but I doubt there’ll be any employment for us.”
She then signaled the food vendor for two orders.
“Worst comes to worst, we can just do the bounty board we saw earlier for some kill quests. Apparently there are a lot of dangerous sea creatures that pop up here every now and then.”
“The only problem is that our covers will probably be blown if the city-folk see us in action.”
Maria took a bite of the squid balls covered in wheat flour-based batter. Steam rushed inward, quickly burning her tongue. Despite that, she kept chewing, unable to resist the exquisite taste.
After swallowing, her eyes lit up. “I’ve never had something this good!”
Right across from her, the vendor laughed. He was a six-foot man with bulging muscles and long black hair. His most standout feature was the fox ears on top of his head. No matter how one looked at it, he was clearly a demi-human.
“That’s a specialty from my hometown in Aimafina.”
Poking one of the balls with her wooden stick, she lifted it near Fin’s lips. “Have one!”
Without hesitation, Fin accepted her offer and opened his mouth. Maria smiled as she fed him the burning squid ball. His reaction mirrored hers, wincing at first before enjoying the taste as it cooled.
“Ooh, it’s really good.” His eyes widened in surprise.
Giggling, Maria waved the vendor goodbye as the two captains resumed their walk through the city. There were so many food vendors and entertainment venues that they didn’t know where to start.
Countless children were playing sports or indulging in other forms of physical activity, while the adults tended to their homes or shops. As Maria shoved the last of the squid balls into her mouth, Fin broke the silence between them.
“It’s a shame that Yuna had to stay back. It would have been nice to have hung out with her too.”
After swallowing, Maria responded, “Oh please. She lives on this island. I don’t doubt she’s eaten squid balls and seen the scenery over a million times by now.”
“You think so?”
“I know so.”
“I don’t know. It didn’t seem like that to me.” His expression sullied.
“What do you mean? Did she say something to you?”
Fin shook his head, then looked back up with sincerity. “I mean, the cat said that it was the one that told Yuna about our battle, right? We were fighting for nearly two hours. Don’t you think she would have noticed our battle herself?”
“Oh, now that you mention it, yeah,” Maria replied as she scratched her chin.
“But I don’t think you should make a big deal out of it. The more you pry into that girl’s life, the more you’ll have to deal with her nonsense. If I had to give you one piece of advice, just think of her as a temporary host, not our friend.”
“But you think of her as a friend, right?”
Maria stopped in her tracks. “M-Me?! Why would I be friends with that sadist?!”
“Why, you ask? Isn’t that obvious? You always seem so happy when you’re talking to her.”
Even the thought of being friendly with Yuna made Maria’s eye twitch in pure annoyance. She didn’t know how Fin could even come to that conclusion, when all they ever did in each interaction was get into verbal battles.
“You’re wrong!” she shouted, her voice rising a pitch. “I only stayed with her because I hate bugs more than I hate her. If there was a random cabin nearby, I would have much rather stayed there instead!”
Fin smiled, not believing a single word she said. Then, as if it had just occurred to him, he asked a question.
“Oh, I’ve been curious ever since we got to Yuna’s house.”
“Hm?”
“What did you steal from her? She seemed pretty upset at you for it. She was even debating kicking you out in the middle of the night when she was talking to me last night.”
Maria closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and asked for clarification on how Yuna was planning to kick her out.
“Well, she said that the paper cat, erm… E-CAT? Well, she said that she was gonna get E-CAT to cast a spell on you and move you from your room to the forest.”
Her body shook with anger, barely managing to contain herself. The food she had just eaten acted as fuel, as her body itched to sprint back to the estate and blow a hole in the wall. Even now, she could hear Yuna’s screeching laughter all the way from the city.
“The treasure I stole wasn’t even that big of a deal…” she mumbled to herself while glaring daggers at the ground. “She knows I hate bugs. She did that on purpose, I just freaking know it!”
“And that stupid cat… I’ll make sure to burn it to a crisp myself next time I see it.”
They sure are close.
Fin thought to himself.
Not wanting to waste any more time standing around, Fin took a step forward, leading the charge to find suitable work for both of them. Upon realizing she had let her thoughts drift for too long, Maria followed closely behind him.
“Idiot…” she murmured under her breath. Finally having a chance to spend some quality one-on-one time with Fin, she had psyched herself up to gain enough courage to wear something daring.
There was a bit of contemplation in her mind, wondering if she should have instead gone for more traditionally “cute” clothes. Despite her outward appearance seeming tame and normal, she was completely on edge.
Every breath she took had to be measured so she wouldn’t show her nervousness. Even feeding the squid ball to Fin took immense courage. However, from her perspective, Fin wasn’t even a bit phased. Every advance she had made so far only resulted in his usual, same reaction.
She couldn’t help but wonder if she was the only one still harboring feelings for him, or if he had feelings for her at all. Upon recalling the conversation when they first washed ashore, all he had to say was an apology for leaving her.
Compared to her, who had ugly-cried over the fact that he left without saying anything, it felt like an overreaction. She didn’t doubt that Fin felt bad about what he did, but she wondered if he had the same passion for her as she did for him.
His hand swayed freely by his side. Maria wanted nothing more than to reach out and grab it. It would be a way to tell the rest of the world that he belonged to her, but the question of whether it was a good idea lingered in her mind.
What if he didn’t feel the same way? What if he took it the wrong way?
Beating in an unsteady rhythm, her heart urged her to take the leap, but her mind held her back. It was like two conflicting forces at war, just like she had been with him for nearly two years.
The pace of her steps quickened slightly, just enough to stay right behind him. Her eyes were fixed on his right hand. She gulped as quietly as she could, and her breathing grew more labored.
Just go for it
she told herself, repeating those words over and over in her head.
“…”
As she reached out, Fin’s hand suddenly swung up into the air. Startled, she followed its movement and saw that he was waving at someone. Before Maria could see who he was greeting, a loud plea brutally invaded her eardrums.
“PLEASEEEE!!! I NEED THIS!!!”
“I’M KINDA HOMELESS RIGHT NOW!! PLEASE GIVE ME A JOB!”
This voice was all too familiar to both captains. Upon hearing Fin’s call, the tanned man with short black hair on his knees, stood up and sprinted toward them.
“WOAH! Captain! You survived!” he shouted. Maria peeked her head out to see an ever-familiar silhouette. He was still wearing his pirate uniform, albeit a bit damp, indicating it hadn’t been long since he was washed ashore.
His smile and personality were as vibrant as ever. Tan J. Rene, the First Mate of the Clementine Pirates, was alive and well.
Then, his eyes locked onto Maria. He inched closer to her face, inspecting her with one eye wide open, as if looking through a spyglass. Fin couldn’t help but chuckle at the fact that Yuna had done the exact same to him when they first met.
“Hm? Hmhmhmmhmmm???”
“Mmmmmmmmmm?????”
“Have I seen you before?”
“Wait, no. Don’t tell me.”
“Maria Lemonia?!” he pointed in shock.
Fin nodded. “Yeah. We’re stranded on this island right now, so we’re working together until we can build our ships back.”
“Captain, you're as genius as ever.”
He then turned to Maria. “I actually didn’t recognize you for a hot minute. When you’re not slinging your pistols at people you’re somewhat cute.”
That’s right. She tried to kill him. Maria had completely forgotten.
“I don’t wanna hear those words from a bird brain like you.” There wasn’t a hint of embarrassment in Maria’s voice, treating him like any other enemy. She glared at Fin, giving him a silent signal to reel in his subordinate. But he simply stood still.
“Yeah, she’s pretty cute.” Fin confirmed with a sweet grin.
Heat spread all across Maria’s face, her lips quivering in disbelief.
WHAT IS HE SAYING???
“H-H-H-HOW CAN YOU SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT SO CASUALLY?!” Her loud shouts drew the attention of everyone nearby, slowly attracting a crowd.
“What do you mean? I’m just saying how it is. You’re cute.”
“Woo, woo! It must be nice to be in love!” a random passerby whistled.
“Good for you lass!” another cheered.
Tan slid in closer, whispering in her ear, “Heh. Heh. Heh. You’re very much welcome, enemy captain Lemonia.”
“While I was begging for a job earlier, I saw the way you tried to grab his hand. Now, you have no choice but to thank me. I mean, I didn’t do it on purpose, but some appreciation would be nice.”
Something finally snapped inside Maria. In a blink of an eye, a fist flew fast and hard through the air, knocking Tan out with a single punch. Just like that, she had lost her cool and given in to the built-up outburst.
The world screeched to a halt as everyone around them froze in disbelief at what she had done to Tan. Fuming, she stomped away from the scene, disregarding their purpose for coming to the city in the first place.
“Who does he think he is, making stupid comments like that,” she murmured to herself. But as she walked, she couldn’t help but ask herself why she was so upset.
Was it because he said it so effortlessly? Or perhaps it was the fact that he had given her no attention throughout the day. His first mate, who she had only interacted with for a few minutes, had a better grasp of the situation than Fin did.
She cursed the boy endlessly in her mind. “I’m so dumb to think I could start something.” It was a mix of self-hatred and heartbreak. Being called cute was one of her goals, that much was true, but she wanted it to come from the heart.
There was an entire scenario she had planned out in her mind. She would ask about her outfit or something else, and he would get shy and slightly uncomfortable. That’s all she wanted.
Instead, he spewed out the word “cute” like any other. Was she not cute? Or did he just simply not LIKE like her?
Too drowned in her frustration, she failed to notice the second set of footsteps following closely behind her. Then suddenly, the empty air around her left hand was replaced by a warm, soft sensation.
Noticing the change instantly, she snapped her head to the left, only to see Fin walking beside her. He held her hand, interlocking his fingers with hers.
“Uh…” she was at a loss for words. Even this, something she had been pondering so deeply, came so easily to him. Maria couldn’t help but stare at Fin’s side profile, flabbergasted at what had just happened. Was this a dream, or had he reached out by accident?
But right now, she didn’t want to say anything. Knowing herself too well, she would simply ruin the moment with her words alone. Still, one burning question lingered in the back of her mind.
“Why?” she said it without thinking. Upon realizing her blunder, Maria tightened her grip on his hand just slightly, enough to keep him from pulling away in one swift motion.
But he just continued walking forward, without a hint of discomfort on his face. Maria let out a quiet sigh of relief, assuming he hadn’t heard her question. However, he had. He simply chose to ignore it.
They matched each other’s pace, walking side by side toward no particular destination, and for once, Maria wished it would never end.
You looked like you really wanted to… And I did too.
Fin answered in his head. He debated saying it out loud, but he knew all too well that his words might ruin the moment. So for now, he stayed silent and continued walking.