Playing for Keeps (a PIL fanfic)

Chapter 22

She steps up, drawing a dagger from her belt, studying the target a moment before she aims, cocking her arm back, then flings the dagger forward with the flick of her wrist, her arm swinging down. I watch in awe, as it hits the target dead center. Shit.

She turns around facing me, beaming, clearly excited she hit bulls eye on the first throw. "Wow Luna, that's amazing." I say, looking from the target to her, and back again in amazement.

"Yea well, I've been doing this a long time. I taught myself." She adds smiling, and I can't help returning her smile, the excitement contagious.

"You taught yourself? That makes it even more amazing Luna." I say, meeting her gaze, and a light pink tint spreads across her cheeks at my words. Damn, she's adorable when she blushes.

"Yea well let's see it Chris, your turn." she adds, motioning for me to step up, and I instantly feel nervous, even more so as she hands me a dagger, and I look at the target.

I quickly rub my hand against my pant leg, trying to wipe the sweat off of my shaking hands. I take a deep breath, trying to aim at the target, as I attempt to imitate her movements, cocking my arm back, then letting it fly with the flick of my wrist. I watch in horror, as it completely misses the target. Yea, I knew this was a bad idea. I wince at the sight, before turning around to face Luna.

I face her, amusement in her brown eyes, as she stifles a laugh. "Wow Chris, that's... that's some very impressive hand eye coordination." She teases me, laughing. I feel my face heat up in embarrassment, and I wish the ground would open up and swallow me, right now. "Wow.. who knew doctors had such horrible aim." She adds, amusement in her eyes, as she teases me more, my blush deepening at her words. "I hope your aim isn't that bad when you give shots." she teases me yet again, with mischief in her eyes, as she elbows me playfully.

"Yea well..." I trail off in response, not knowing quite what to say. She stops laughing at this point, and looks at me.

"Hey, it's okay, I'm only teasin' Chris. I'll help you with the next round okay?" She offers, giving me a kind smile, and I nod. She steps up to take her turn once again, and hits almost right next to the center of the target. She motions me to come up next to her, as she stands beside me, guiding my arm through the movements with her hands.

She shows me a few times, before I try once again. This time, I hit the target, close to the outside edge, but at least it's the target this time. "That's better." she comments, before stepping up once again. My eyes roam the crowd as she aims, and I notice a young man watching Luna pretty intently. He's tall, slightly taller than Luna, built, with slightly darker skin than Luna's but not as dark as mine, with dark brown, almost black hair, and fierce dark blue eyes.

I tense as he moves closer to where we are, making his way through the crowd, not taking his eyes off of her. Luna taps my shoulder, letting me know it's my last turn, which I quickly take, hitting a little farther in on the target, but still nowhere near where she did. She takes her last turn, and I spot the man, closer to us once again, and I notice a tattoo on his shoulder, two slim dragons curling above a ying yang symbol, their tails intertwined, one a sleek black dragon, the other a textured feathered white dragon. The ying yang symbol in the middle of the two dragons, below their heads, and above the intertwined tails.

We won the event, much to Luna's excitement, and we start to head back towards the ship. "I can't believe we won!" She exclaims happily, as we walk towards the ship, navigating our way through the crowds.

I laugh."Yea well, it was your skill that saved us, that's for sure." I say, still laughing. Before she can respond, she gets spun around from behind, and pulled into a hug, by the same man that I saw eyeing her at the dagger throwing event. What the hell? I tense up, and am about to step in, when she smiles at him hugging him back, my chest tightening at the sight. Who is he to her?

He picks her up, spinning her around, her dark black, blue tinted hair spinning with her, as it gets in her face. She shouts "Talon!" happily, as she laughs, before he finally puts her down, her eyes brimming with tears. "I- I thought you were dead!" she exclaims, holding the young man's hands tightly, as she looks at him. My chest tightens even more, and I think my heart might fall out, at the sight of them, as he gently wipes her tears away, smiling at her.

"No, Luna, I was never dead, but I ran away, and I know now that I should have taken you with me... I'm so sorry Luna." he says gently, as he takes her chin in his hand, making her look at him. That's it, I can't watch anymore. I can't watch him kiss her, I can't. I turn around to walk away, when suddenly Luna calls out to me.

"Chris where are you going? Come here!" she calls out, and I feel a hand pulling my arm, leading me back towards the young man named Talon.

I narrow my eyes at him, not quite sure why she dragged me back to meet her boyfriend. I notice he even has daggers with the same handles that Luna has. "Chris what's wrong?" She asks, her brows furrowing in confusion.

"I... I was giving you and your boyfriend space Luna." I answer simply trying not to reveal how much it hurts knowing she already has someone.

She shakes her head and starts laughing. What the hell? "No... no, Christopher, this is my brother, Talon. My parents told me he was dead, and I had no idea he was still alive." she says, still laughing.

Her Brother? "Oh well nice to meet you Talon." I say, shaking his hand, and smiling at him.. it was her brother all along..

We start walking back to the Sirius, Talon following behind us, as Luna explains. "I've been on my own for a long time Chris." she starts, getting a far off look in her eyes like she's remembering something, and something that's not very pleasant. "I had a family, but my parents... were very cruel...One day Talon disappeared... and they wouldn't tell me what happened, but they said he was dead, and that it was all my fault." tears brim her eyes once more, as she continues her story. "I wasn't sure how it could be my fault, but they told me that everyday, and eventually, i believed them. One day, when I was still very young, they abandoned me, leaving me all by myself." she takes a deep breath, before continuing once more. "I was on my own ever since, learning to fend for myself, and defend myself... eventually I became sort of a thief and pirate, just trying to survive. and I did, but i was always alone." she finishes, not saying anything else.

My heart breaks for her, and for all that's she's been through. Though I'm touched she finally told me about it. I gently grab her shoulders, turning her towards me. I look down at her, meeting her gaze, before carefully wiping her tears away. "I'm so sorry you had to go through that alone Luna. But you have all of us now, and we'll never let you be alone again... I'll never let you be alone again." i tell her quietly, as i pull her into and embrace, stroking her hair, outside the ship.

She pulls away, giving me a gentle smile, as we head onto the ship to introduce her brother to the crew.

A/N: And there's Christopher's!!! hopes i did okay... anyway.. yea.. next one will be up tomorrow. *Throws everyone oreos before ducking back behind my computer* lol.. anyway.. The pirate king is up next, then Penelope after that..:) I don't mean to make you wait so long Penelope! >-< but your event kinda ties in with the next part of the story, so that's why... and I'm sorry! I feel bad.. like I wish i could have done everyone first. >-< but your event does tie in with some of the treasure stuff later.. so yea...But thank you all for being so patient. ^_^ *throws more cookies for everyone* anyway.. thanks for reading!!

-Jinx