A/N: Sorry, I know I take a freaking long time to update, but school just let out for me, I will try to make things more speedy. Thank you, Priest, for reviewing me again, I will try my best to not disappoint you.

~* = Flashback thoughts

~” = Flashback dialogue

“*” = Thoughts

Gift of the Rose

~Chapter 2: Old Wounds~

6 months…

6 months since I had met her. God, I missed her so much. I wish I knew what had happened to her. I mean, I only knew her for one day, but there was this weird feeling I got every time I was around her that day, like an invisible force that kept making me want to come back to her. God knows I tried. But she never showed up the second time…and it has been bothering me to this day…

Sorry, you must think I am nuts, huh? My name is Jim Hawking; Co-pilot of the Outlaw Star and the other half of Starwind and Hawking enterprises, the intelligent half. You think I am kidding? Take a look at my partner, Gene Starwind. Ah, but I love him though, despite the fact that he is a lecherous moron. He is still my aniki.

What I am talking about, however, is the day I met her, Hanmyo. That day was exhausting, especially for me. We had gotten into a space battle with a Kei Pirate ship the previous evening, almost right outside of Symka 5. This ship was unusual and the pilot was an excellent fighter and gave us a lot of trouble, as if we didn’t make enough of our own! Anyhow, we tried sending out several missiles to blow them out of our way, but they had a decoy missile, which rendered us in deep crap. The grappler fighters were good too. The ship was built kind of like three-in-one. The grappler arms could separate from the main body of the ship and fight individually! I had never seen anything like it, so it comes as a small wonder that I was impressed, but now was not the time. If we didn’t think of something quick, we would all be dead. So we did the only thing we could do: fire off all of our missiles to create a sort of smoke screen and disappear. Yeah, I know it sounds like we chickened out, but hey! At least we are alive. We docked in a repair shop and I had to talk the owner into repairing our ship for nothing. But I also had to stay up all night tapping away at my laptop. I was exhausted and it seems that Gilliam is the only one who gives a care around here just how hard I bust my ass. He suggested that I go outside to get some fresh air, so I did. I really didn’t plan on staying out long, and I was about to head back inside, until I felt something nuzzling my ankle. It was a cat. Naturally, I bent down to give it a scratch, and another one came up. I was surprised because there are not many cats seen on space stations and there I found two. They suddenly took off, and like a 4 year-old, I ran off after them.

That’s when it happened. I stumbled upon one of the most beautiful scenes I had ever seen in my life. There she was, just standing, at first, on the fountain. Then, the little angel took flight. She looked happy, as if she were dancing to the sound of the water as it fell, but I noticed that this girl was actually practicing a type of martial arts of some kind. But she looked so graceful, I almost had thought that she was dancing. Like a goober, I tried making small talk when she had finished, just to break the odd silence when she noticed that I had been watching her.

I remember it like it was yesterday.

~“Hi…are those your kitty cats?”~

“Just wondering…?”

I gulped, nervous that I had said something wrong, and I don’t think I had been able to hide the blush that was creeping across my face…well, she was waiting for an answer…

~“Maybe…I was just tryin’ to talk to you…is that alright?”~

~*Oh God, she can see right through me…*~ my neck had begun to sweat a little…

~”Uh…no, I didn’t mean it like that…well, maybe I do…”~

I had been trying to be nonchalant and not reveal too much, but I just couldn’t seem to lie to her, I just couldn’t do it! We made plans to meet up later that day. I was kinda nervous, so I made the mistake of asking Aniki what he would bring on a first date. I wish I had thought that one through…he was no help, just a source of agitation…well, I guess that’s not entirely true, Gilliam overheard my problem while we were fighting and suggested the simplest thing: flowers.

I was really jumpy when I got to the park, hoping that she would show up. And then someone covered my eyes from behind.

~“Guess who?”~

~“Hanmyo…”~ I breathed in relief that she had arrived.

~“That’s right!”~ She giggled. Here had been the moment of truth; I prepared to give her the flowers.

~“Um…here…”~

Ok. So I’m not one for elegant speeches…what do you expect, look who I live with!

~“You brought me flowers? Wow!”~ She had squealed in delight, then she made her way towards me…*gulp*

~“That is so…nice…”~ She smiled as a faint blush settled over her ivory cheeks.

Needless to say, I acted like a baka for a while, giggling like a dummy.

We had spent the next few hours just playing around, tossing water at each other from the fountain, sometimes getting Kemi or Mata wet when they weren’t paying attention. She even stole a peck on my cheek as she was hiding on the other side of the fountain, which, of course, caused me to burn a deep red in my face. I prayed silently that she wasn’t just a flirt. She had started to giggle at me, being the goober that I am, I had zoned out for a few minutes. If it had been anyone else, I might have been insulted, but she just wasn’t anyone else…she was Hanmyo. Another person like me, a kid like me who just needed a few hours of fun.

We played like that until the sun went down, but before we parted ways, I had asked for another date…

~“That was fun, huh?”~

~“Oh yes. We can meet right here at the same time we met today!”~

~“Ok then. I’ll be here”~

I remember saying that as if I were in a trance, the sunlight that got caught in her hair gave off some beautiful effects to her already beautiful face.

~”Me too. Jim…”~

~“Thanks for the flowers, I’ve never gotten any before!”~

That kind of had me surprised. I still don’t think I could have been the only one after her…either way, seemed like better luck for me

~“Your welcome…see ya…”~

~“Bye-bye!”~

That was the last time I ever saw her. I couldn’t understand what I did wrong. Did she think I was too desperate? Why didn’t she show up like she promised? Did something come up? I keep asking myself these questions everyday since then, and every day, I still can’t come up with any answers…When I got back to the XGP, they told me that it had been fully repaired and we were about to blast off for the Galactic Leyline again. I felt my stomach drop to my feet…

“*Oh man, Hanmyo, I’m so sorry…*” I had thought regretfully, almost in tears. But I couldn’t let Aniki and Aisha see me crying like a baby, I would have never heard the end of it. So I kept it all inside…

And then that other ship came after us again! How did they manage to do that?! I was in a bad enough mood for breaking my promised date with Hanmyo and now these pirates show up! Well, I came up with a plan this time. I quickly gave instructions and we were able to beat that other ship, piece-by-piece. Eventually it blew up and that was the end, but we had suffered major damage. All of the sudden, things were starting to look up, getting repairs meant that we would have to go back to Symka 5, and I would be able to keep my date with Hanmyo after all.

Or so I thought…

I don’t really want to go into details about how I felt at that moment, so let’s just move on ahead to where I am now. It has been six months since then. We found the Galactic Leyline, destroyed Hazanko and the rest of the Anten Seven, which soon became popular news among the other Outlaws like us. I suppose this happened as soon as Aniki was able to get back to a bar after our long journey. At this point in time, we are on Sentinel 3 again, waiting for some parts to come in to repair the XGP. We were on our way to another system, but our ship broke down in the middle of space. We called a repairman to come fix us up, but we found that no matter how many times we repaired it, there was something wrong with one of the engines. Gene finally agreed to head back to Sentinel 3 with the repairman about the fifth time the ship broke down… We really have to stop cutting corners when restoring this ship…

Hmm, too bad we aren’t anywhere near Symka 5…I still want to know what happened to her and why she didn’t show up…I don’t think I will ever understand what happened…

In my mind, I can already see myself waiting for her at the park…just waiting…

Chapter #3