Fate's Mistake

20 - Decisions

DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own any of the characters, All rights goes to Voltage Inc. They make Otome games which inspired me to write this. Of course I do own 2 characters here ^_^ which is Clarisse and Rei and Jeffrey.




*Rei's POV*


Yesterday, Eduardo and I finally settled things and everything was back to normal. i even bought myself some clothes and PANTS! finally! You know how hard it is to wear a dress on a ship? it's windy! it's difficult to move freely!
We were going to leave the Island today and I am currently waiting for the others while I'm sitting on a bench near the ship.

"Give me your money." Someone suddenly whispered to my ear which made jump in surprise.

"What the-!" I turned around and saw Jeffrey. Ugh, great, now he's laughing so hard.

"Hey Jeffrey." I greeted, though he's still laughing

"Oh god... your face...!" He said as he laugh.

"I'm leaving today." I said a bit sad.

"Haha, I came here to say bye." he said as he stop laughing. Thank God.

"I'll miss you, be careful when you go sailing, you hear?" I said.

"You too, and... are those pirates nice to you?" he asked a bit worried.

"Yeah, they're really kind." I grinned

"That's great, you better enjoy your trip while it lasts!" he said and hugged me.

"Sure thing." I hugged back.

"I have to go now, I'm also boarding a ship and it's gonna leave soon." He said as he let go of me.

"Okay, I hope i see you someday again. Visit me in Dres Van if you can..." I said sadly.

"I'll go whenever i can." Jeffrey smiled as he walked away. i sighed.

I sat back on the bench before hearing Jeffrey yelling something.

"Take care, Rei!" he said from afar. I waved my hand at him as a response.

Not long after, Eduardo came, I smiled at him as he walked up to me.

"Is that your friend?" he asked without emotion.

"Yeah, Jeffrey. My childhood friend." I replied with a small smile.

"How long have you been friends?"

"I guess we were friends when i was 4 and he moved 8 years later..." I replied.

We talked a little bit until Chris came, followed by Russell, Thomas, Nathan... Captain was taking a little long.

"Where's Captain?" i asked impatiently.

"Hitting on women!" Russell answered while annoyed. I just laughed. Soon after, Captain came.

"Finally!" Russell shouted. Captain just shrugged and laughed.

"Sirius, Listen up! we're heading to Bloody Triangle!" Captain Morgan shouted. "Bloody Triangle is where all the pirates hang out!" he added.

"We gotta go through it get the treasure." Russell commented

"That's right so prepare yourselves for the rest of the voyage!" Captain Morgan answered back with a grin.

"Alright, let's go back to the ship!" Thomas shouted. Aww, he looks so cute. how old is he again?

"Wait... where's the fat woman?" Russell looked around

"Awww... Russell misses Fuzzy." I teased him and everyone started laughing.

"No way!" Russell glared

Just then, Fuzzy came running to us.

"Wait for me!!" she yelled.

"What took you so long!? we're leaving now!" Russell shouted at Fuzzy.

"Russell was worried sick..." I muttered with a grin.

"Shut up, Rei! I who says I'm worried!?" Russell glared at me.

"He was worried." I whispered to the person next to me, which is Thomas. Russell didn't hear me, hahaha! I want to annoy him more!

As I told Thomas, we started giggling and soon enough, we we're laughing as loud as hell at Russell. All of the sudden, I felt someone hit the back of my head, it was Russell. I saw a faint glow of pink on his cheeks which made me laugh harder.

"Russell.. is... hahaha... blushing!" I said between laughs, damn he looks funny.

"You're so immature." Russell said to me as everyone in the Sirius was laughing.

"You too!" I replied.

"Hey, Fuzzy, what took you so long?" I said as I tried to stop laughing.

"I was looking for dresses that I didn't notice the time." Fuzzy chuckled.

"Dress!? do they even have dresses that fit you!?" Russell yelled, looking genuinely surprised.

"Watch your mouth, you dirty loincloth!" Fuzzy snapped back.

Thomas suddenly started laughing beside me, so did I, I never heard 'dirty loincloth' used as an insult before! Fuzzy is really interesting!

"I don't even know what to say to that! you ELEPHANT!" Russell retorted.

Fuzzy yelled, yes, she yelled so loud it surprised us all.

"Ahahaha! did she just whine!?" Russell laughed.

"I didn't whine, I screamed, moron!" Fuzzy replied.

"Stop arguing, let's go back to the ship." Nathan said without any emotion at all.

We were all about to climb back the ship. Out of the blue, Captain stopped us

"Wait." he said seriously. "Woman, you can stay here if you want."

Captain said while looking at me, did I hear that right? maybe I'm going deaf....
I stared at him blankly as I waited for him to continue.

"You worked really hard... I'll let you go to respect your hard work!" he smiled.

Let me go? I think I can board a ship from here to go back to Dres Van since Captain gave me some money, i mean coins. But... To be honest, I don't wanna get separated from this crew...

I looked at the Sirius' faces for some opinions or something to help me make a decision. I stopped and looked at Eduardo, his facial expression was the same as everyone. They all just stare at me and waiting for my answer.

"...Only if you want to! You can also stay with us!" Captain Morgan grinned.

"Yeah... it's kinda sad if you leave." Thomas added, smiling like a kid.

"And coupled with the plump woman, you're entertaining too!" Morgan added.

"I'm not plump! I'm glamorous!" Fuzzy yelled back at him.

We all started laughing, how can I possibly leave? This crew treats me like family, I know i have to go back some time but... Not now.
And Eduardo... I couldn't leave him for some reason, i feel attached to him. It makes me sad just imagining myself be apart from him.

"Rei?" Christopher asked. Oh, I zoned out for a moment... Time to make a decision. Ugh, everyones' faces are so serious! Come on!

"I want to stay with you guys for a little longer." I smiled nervously.

As I gave my answer. Everyone suddenly had a relived look on their faces. What?

"You got it!" Captain chuckled.

"Hooray! we're still traveling together!" Thomas cheered.

"This elephant will miss you so much if you leave now!" Russell laughed hysterically as he pointed to Fuzzy, who is now glaring at him.

Nathan just smiled at me. Eduardo stared at me as he patted my shoulder and said....

You're an out-and-out idiot." He says mean things but he's smiling so kindly at me. What a tsundere...

We climbed back onto the Sirius and prepared our stuff, soon, we were already sailing. Huh, it's dinner time, better hurry up. I took a quick shower at the ship's fancy shmansy bathroom and wore a pair of pants and a green shirt, coupled with a black jacket which I bought from the island. I went to the dining room which is near the kitchen and sat down at my usual spot.
Nathan started serving expensive looking dishes.

"We're gonna have a party tonight in honor of Rei, staying on board!" Captain yelled happily. A party for me? awesome!

"These food are delicious, Nathan!" Russell greeted.

"It seems like these food are famous from Dres Van." I said as I examined the food.

"Well, it's your party, after all." Thomas replied.

"Wow, thanks Nathan!" I grinned happily as I ate.

As i was eating between Eduardo and Russell, Eduardo surprised me by reaching out on Russell's plate and taking some of his food, while Russell is busy arguing with Fuzzy, which made me stifle a laugh.
Russell looked back on his plate.

"Eduardo!" He yelled. I couldn't help it, I burst into a fit of laughter.

"What? it's the law of the jungle, isn't it?" he smirked at him.

Everyone joined in and started laughing. It feels good to be on board with the Sirius, Did I make the right decision? Besides, Joshua is looking for the Sirius.. what if he finds this ship and saw I'm not here? then, the search will be pointless, I think I made a good decision by staying here, right?

-Night time-

I went to the navigation room and took the map out of the safe to check on it, I've got nothing to do again so I studied the map, it looks so strange...

Someone came in and I turned around to see Fuzzy.

"Found ya." she smiled at me so I smiled back.

Umm.. One of the dresses I bought doesn't fit me, so I'll give it to ya!" Her smile got bigger as she said so.

She took out a velvety red dress. It was beautiful, the dress was short and simple yet elegant. The lining was black, the top of the dress was a little complicated, instead of a zipper, its using criss-cross strings which will show my bare back if i wear it, and there's a small ribbon on the side of the dress. All throughout, the dress was amazing.

"I think it would fit you and you'd look good in red." she nodded to herself as I stare at the dress

"Thank you so much." I said as i almost cry, Fuzzy is so nice.

"Don't cry! you're gonna make me cry too!" she replied. "I'm kinda glad you're staying with us." she added.

"Really?"

"Not cause I'd be lonely or anything! i won't know how to handle all the guys if I'm the only woman on board!" she replied, rather quickly.

I laughed and hugged her.

"I love ya, Fuzzy. Thank you." I sincerely said.

"You're strange. I took you as an enemy at first but now... you're like my little sister!" she yelled that last part as she hugged me back.

"I have no family to go back to but you.... you have someone you love so much yet you decided to stay here..." Fuzzy added, for some reason I thought of BOTH Joshua and Eduardo. My brain cells must be dying, no biggie.

Fuzzy let go of me, said 'goodnight' and left. I kept the map and walked out and I saw the view. Pretty.
I decided to stay out on the deck and admire the Full moon as I started thinking about Dres Van... and Joshua.
I miss him... his warm touch and his kisses... I had a chance to leave this ship, I could even return to Dres van if I tried, yet.. I didn't. These people, they are like a family but... I also have a family looking for me, waiting for me. Am i really stupid for staying?
I sighed, as tears started to form on the corners of my eyes, I pinched my nose to stop my tears from falling. I chose this decision and I shouldn't regret it now.

"Hey" I heard Eduardo's voice from behind me so I turned and gave him a small smile.

"Why didn't you take Captain's offer?" He asked.

"I...." I couldnt tell him why...

"You're regretting it now?" Eduardo asked.

"No..."

"Then why is your nose red?"

"I-I s-sneezed?" My answer came out more as a question, What happened to my lying skills?

"Don't be alone on this ship, why do you think we're all here?" he said.

"Why are you so nice...?" i asked, I might fall for you... I thought, though I couldn't find the courage to tell him.

"Hell, i don't know what you're saying." He smiled. "You look cold, come inside." he added, i nodded in reply.

As we were walking back to 'our' room, he noticed the bag I was holding, and asked me what it is.

"Fuzzy gave me a new dress." I grinned happily.

"Really? she's nice."

"Yeah, I can't thank her enough!"

Eduardo went mute which confused me.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Just thinking..."

"About what?"

"Well, aren't you used to owning dresses? if so, then why get so happy about it?" he asked curiously.

"Well yeah but those dresses are just for show. They didn't even care if it looks good on me." I frowned. "They just want me to look eligible as Joshua's wife."

"That's stupid." He replied bluntly.

"Hey by the way, I was looking at the map. Moldor is to the east, isn't it? Aren't we stopping there?" I asked so I could change the subject, though I was a bit curious too. Eduardo was silent for a few seconds.

"...We probably aren't getting close to it 'cuz there's a Navy headquarters there." Eduardo replied emotionlessly

"Wow... hey, have you been there before?" I asked, I was suddenly interested in this topic.

"...Yeah." That's all he said and he just kept quiet. Huh.

He really doesn't like talking about himself, I wonder if Moldor is somehow connected with his past.. We just kept quiet as we walked to our room. As we got inside, I took the dress out of the bag and started admiring it. Fuzzy probably bought this especially for me because it's the right size for me. Tsk, I wanna try it on now...

"Hey, Patchy, I'm going to try it on in the bathroom." I said as I walked out and went to the bathroom.

I knocked FOUR times.

"I'm taking a shower!" Chris yelled from inside.

"Okay!" I replied, disappointed. I stomped lazily back to our room with a grumpy face. Eduardo who was sitting on the bed, looked at me.

"What?" Eduardo irritably asked.

"Doc is using the bathroom..."

Just then, Eduardo stood up and turned his back to me.

"Hurry up and wear it." he sternly said.

"Great"

I grinned and started undressing as I keep my eye on him. Well, whatevs, i know he isn't interested in 'a kid' like me. I was now wearing nothing but my bra and underwear as I took the dress and started undoing the complicated criss-crossed strings. Jesus christ, how the hell am i supposed to wear something like this!?

"I'll throw out of the room if you're not finished in 15 seconds." he said in an annoyed manner.

"It's difficult!" I shouted.

All of the sudden, he stands up in a hurry and walked to me... and HELD ME!?

"W-What!?" i panicked, I'm only wearing my undergarments!

The door opened and he pushed me behind him. Russell and Thomas entered, Russell was grinning but Thomas was a bit flustered.

"I knew it! you two had something going on between you!" Russell laughed in triumphant. WTF is he saying!?

"No way... Rei is engaged." Thomas defended me. awww

"I knew you two are going out!" Russell cheered, ignoring Thomas.

Eduardo and I just stay silent the whole time as I blushed like hell. So that's why he suddenly held me, so they won't see me. but I'm on my undergarments! It's embarrassing!

"You'll make Fuzzy cry." Russell teased Eduardo. Thomas' face turned into confusion as he looked at Russ.

"Why don't you date Fuzzy?" Thomas asked Russell, and he is NOT kidding at all.

"What the fu-"

Russell's words weren't finished because Eduardo shouted at them.

"Get out!!" He glared at them as Russell gave a quick laugh and left with Thomas who was grinning. Thomas gave us a 'goodnight' as he shuts the door.

"They never learn how to knock!" Wow, Eduardo is pissed.

"Sorry. I'm taking too long" I blushed harder as I remembered I'm still on my undergarments.

Eduardo calmed down and grabbed my dress roughly, and told me to turn around.

"Huh?!" i panicked

"I'm gonna tie the strings at the back or do you want to be undressed?" he said calmly

I did as he said and he put the dress on for me and tied the complicated strings at the back too.

"Sorry 'bout this.." I apologized

"You're really puny." He smirked.

He whispered closely at my ear which gave me goosebumps all over. Curse him for making me react this way! and did he really have to say that now!? I'm probably as res as a tomato

"Whatever, You like glamorous, sexy women!" I pretended to laugh at what I said though it's weird that I'm a bit grumpy 'bout it.

"Oh please, that's just what Thomas said." he replied sounding a little pissed.

"Well, you're used to dressing someone, which means you're used to undressing-"

"Shut up." he said blankly.

Hmmp, so he sleeps around with women too? for some reason i felt an annoying feeling... and that feeling made me a bit pissed off.

"You're done."

He stared at me as i turned around, well, the dress looks pretty! but it's a little short... No, it's VERY short, it's halfway above my knees!

"Hold on."

I said as I put my tight black pants on, I couldn't help but blush since Eduardo was just standing there as he looks at me.
Hmmm, this outfit looks good on me and the dress goes with the pans since its not a puffy kind of dress, cool.

"How do I look?" I grinned.

"You don't actually look bad." He said. "...In undies wasn't so bad either." he added with a teasing grin.

"Shut up!" I blushed furiously as I covered my face.

Out of the blue, Eduardo pushed me down the floor.

"W-What???" I asked, wide-eyed.

"Quiet!" his gaze turned serious as he covered my mouth with his hand. I tried to talk but i only make stupid little sounds.

"Don't you hear a strange sound." he said in a serious tone.

We stayed quiet, listening for unusual sound. just then,

*BOOM!*

Our ship rocked sideways from the shock.

"Shit! someone is shooting at us!" Eduardo abruptly stood up and helped me up.

"Rei, hold on to me!" He shouted as he held me.

"Who's attacking us!? other pirates?" I asked in panic.

"No, attacking at night is a total disgrace to pirates. This doesn't look good, the Sirius might sink." he said

"No!"

"Rei, stay here." he ordered as he tried to leave the room. he's going out alone!?

"No! I'm coming with you!" i yelled, trying to beat the sound coming from outside as the enemy keeps shooting cannonballs at us.

"Don't be selfish and do as I say!" Eduardo glared.

"I'm not selfish! you need a hand, right!?"

"Goddammit... don't ever leave my side." he said as he pulled me by the hand.

It's storming really hard on the deck and I couldn't hear anything properly because of it. We saw everyone at the deck, loading canons and firing back.

"Eduardo!" Captain called out

"Captain, I'm gonna turn this ship and get outta fire!" Eduardo shouted.

"I think the starboard is damage!" Nathan yelled. wow he's surprisingly loud

"I'm checkin for other damage!" Thomas also shouted. He looks so mature when he's serious

Russell yelled something which I didn't quite hear.

"Russell, stop complaining and give me the bullets!" Fuzzy screamed.

"Guys! be careful, you'll be dead if you're thrown to the sea at this temperature!" Christopher yelled. Yeah, it's really cold.

Eduardo and i ran up to the wheel and Eduardo gave all his strength to turn the wheel.

"Waves are too rough! i can't change course!" Eduardo shouted.

"Let me help!"

We both turned the wheel to the left. Damn, it's too hard to turn, but we have to do it!
We both gave it all we got and it finally turned!

"Good, we changed course!" Eduardo said

We helped everyone else as soon as we finished and the deck was a mess!
So this must be the Bloody Triangle,
All of the sudden, lightning hit the deck. Eduardo pushed me aside from a few falling wood pieces from the Crow's nest but he ended up loosing his balance and fall right off the ship, I didn't stop to think, I grabbed his hand as he dangerously hover from the deadly sea.

"Rei, Let go!" Eduardo shouted at me.

"What the- No way!" I said as i tried to pull him up. I can't loose him!

"You're gonna fall too, let go!"

"Shut up! I'm not letting you go!" I shouted really loud as tears started pouring out my eyes, though it isn't obvious because it was raining really hard.

The ship rocked violently which send us both flying right to the sea.

Shit, the water was freezing!

"Eduardo!" I held his hand tighter. but he didn't reply.

"Say something!"

His head is bleeding! I tried my hardest to get his body out of the water, since it's so cold. I found a piece of wood, large enough for us and quickly placed Eduardo on it so i wouldn't loose him.

I hugged his body so he won't fall off because i was slowly losing consciousness because of the freezing temperature. No... Eduardo...

I held the piece of wood as i hugged him tighter, acting as a support, I don't want him to fall off...

That was the last thing i did as I completely pass out.