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Post by Jack on Jun 7, 2008 20:06:18 GMT -5
Jack walked out of the door and into the slightly cooler garden area, smiling as he looked around. "Is it odd for a pirate to enjoy gardens?" he asked, looking down at her. He had always loved the outdoors, it was where he escaped to. "Or would it be expected for a pirate to like the outdoors?"
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Post by Princess on Jun 7, 2008 20:13:15 GMT -5
The Princess, hand tucked against Jack's sleeve, thought about his question a moment before replying. "I suppose if a pirate must be on land, then it would be perfectly natural to crave the outdoors," she suggested. "And with months or even years at sea, the colors of a garden would be paradise, would they not?"
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Post by Jack on Jun 7, 2008 20:18:52 GMT -5
"Would that make a garden freedom, then?" Earlier in their conversation Jack had likened freedom to paradise, and now the Princess was calling a garden paradise. "They are beautiful, aren't they," he said, looking around at the flowers and the bushes, the walkways and the stone benches throughout the place.
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Post by Princess on Jun 7, 2008 20:24:35 GMT -5
"They are," the Princess sighed, her lashes lowering as she brought her gaze away, into the masses of red blossoms shivering in the light breeze. She was thinking of her own paradise, and the one she wished to share it with. "Freedom is a fickle thing, is it not?" she mused. "One gains so much, and yet must leave something behind in trade."
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Post by Jack on Jun 7, 2008 20:33:02 GMT -5
Jack was about to say that no, one didn't lose anything from gaining freedom. But he stopped when he had a minute to think about it. Yes, he had lost something from gaining the freedom. Protection, money, he had lost some things. "I suppose that's true. So what would you lose, or leave behind?" he asked, looking down at her.
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Post by Princess on Jun 7, 2008 20:40:15 GMT -5
The Princess's gaze rose, meeting Jack's. "Innocence," she answered. The most obvious, and perhaps least missed of the things she had left behind. "Certainty, of my safety, my direction, and my heart." Her fingers fluttered lightly against his sleeve a moment before they settled and her gaze moved out over the gardens once again. "And yet I cannot regret a single loss for all I have gained, all I might gain." Her gaze shifted once more, seeking Jack's from beneath the fringe of her lashes. She wondered again who he was, and why she found it so easy to speak to him of things which she held so dear, so secret. "Have you regrets?" she asked softly.
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Post by Jack on Jun 7, 2008 20:50:32 GMT -5
"Only that I did not find my courage sooner. Even though I have lost wealth and protection, I have gained so much more, it's worth it." Jack wondered what could have been different had he been braver earlier in life. Would he have went the same path? No, he would have been strong enough to stay away. Then he wouldn't be the same person, so perhaps he didn't regret it.
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Post by Princess on Jun 7, 2008 21:02:49 GMT -5
"I am unsure whether my gains will last," Adara amitted, hoping that Jack's patient support would continue. She had already told him so much that it only felt right to go on. She braced herself, her fingers tightening briefly against Jack's sleeve. "I have gained the possibility for a dream, for love far beyond those that one reads in fairy tales, but my courage fails me when I think of it." And yet she had said the word, confessed it to a stranger in a glowing night garden.
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Post by Jack on Jun 7, 2008 21:11:39 GMT -5
"Your gains will last, the most important ones. The ones that don't last you will still learn from." Jack looked out over the garden again, his eyes catching a bush of bleeding hearts, making him smile. "And if the love you have is as true as you say, then it will last, if it was meant to be." His smile faltered, he had thought before that he had found love, that he couldn't find someone better, but it always fell in ruins.
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Post by Princess on Jun 7, 2008 21:22:28 GMT -5
The Princess's lip found its way between her teeth, a motion of insecurity she could never quite break herself from. She had not meant that she had love, per se, only that she felt the potential. The idea of loving him terrified her. She willingly allowed herself to be distracted by the sudden fade of Jack's smile. "You speak of experience, do you not?" she asked him.
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Post by Jack on Jun 7, 2008 21:34:32 GMT -5
Jack's eyes darted down to her, but went back to the bushes around them the next second. "Yes," he said simply, nodding as he thought, remembering the ones he had loved and lost. And the ones he was just meeting. He didn't want to dwell on the thoughts, so he didn't mention them, instead focusing his gaze on the small group of red bleeding hearts.
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Post by Princess on Jun 7, 2008 21:40:25 GMT -5
The Princess was silent a moment, respectful of Jack's thoughts, wherever they may be. Her own remained elsewhere as well, and she came to realize that she needed the time to think again, to sort things out. Her gaze sought Jack's. "Will you think me cowardly if I leave you now?" she asked. "You have been wonderful company, and I hope that we might be friends." Her eyes searched his.
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Post by Jack on Jun 7, 2008 21:43:34 GMT -5
"I'll be sure to search out the Princess after the ball," Jack said, turning his eyes back to hers and smiling. "Enjoy your night." He took his arm from hers and gave a slight nod of his head, a small bow, before walking down the path, lost in his own thoughts.
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Post by Princess on Jun 7, 2008 21:46:51 GMT -5
"Search out Adara," the Princess said, her last words as Jack walked away. She watched him a moment, then turned away, back toward the castle, lost in her own thoughts.
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Post by Jack on Jun 7, 2008 22:01:49 GMT -5
Jack heard her, but, while the name triggered a slight recognition in his mind, it didn't click. He was too lost in his thoughts to focus on her name, but he made a mental note to make sure and search her out. He walked deeper into the garden, pausing every now and again to look into a bush.
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