Uncharted Waters

Gigi rolled out of bed with a slight groan, almost regretting the amount of champagne and cake she had had the night before. Almost. She wriggled into a cream colored lace dress with silk bows for sleeves ad cinched her corset over it before half heartedly running a brush through her wild curls. She bounded down the stairs to find her father talking to Simon out on the patio.

"Morning, Daddy!" she chirped, kissing his cheek and stealing a bite of the crepe on his plate.

"Remarkably, it is still morning, barely." Ben smiled. "I was sure you wouldn't be down until after noon. Madi is still in bed."

"Of course she is," Gigi laughed. "She got into a champagne chugging contest with Benji."

"Who won?" Simon asked, amused, as he sipped his coffee.

"Madi, naturally. Although I'm not sure if it's technically winning with the headache she's going to have when she wakes up."

Ben rolled his eyes. "You girls take parties as a personal challenge to be as wild as you can, don't you?"

"Don't be a stick in the mud." Gigi poked his nose. "It was Madi and Benji's birthday. Wildness was called for."

"Where are you off to now?" Ben frowned as Gigi headed back inside.

"Just out for a walk." She shrugged. "We haven't been here for a while and I've missed it."

"Do you have your knives?"

"One in each boot."

"And your pistol?"

"Yes, Daddy." Gigi rolled her eyes, exasperated. "I know to never go out on my own without them. I even have the special boots Aunt Emily got me with the razors in the heels."

"What about the ring she made you that shoots the electrified pins?"

Gigi waved her hand in the air to display the silver ring.

"Can I go now?" she asked. Simon chuckled as Gigi bounced impatiently on the soles of her feet.

"Ben let the girl go. She knows this town like the back of her hand and you and Scarlett taught her how to take care of herself. You all have quite a reputation; it's not likely that anyone would mess with her anyway."

"Yeah, Daddy. Don't worry so much. Nothing is going to happen."

"All right, go on and stay out of trouble."

"Love you!" Gigi waved and hurried through the foyer and out the front door before her father could cluck over her like a worrisome mother hen some more. She sauntered along the cobbled streets of Port Aris at a leisurely pace, taking in the colorful houses and enjoying the feel of the salty sea breeze tangling her hair. Even though she had spent her entire life at sea she never got tired of it. The tides felt as much like family to her as Madi and Benji and her own parents did.

Gigi perused the local open air market and bought herself a mango to munch on as she walked. She was eyeing a small silver hair comb when she heard a commotion at the tavern behind her, and four men engaged in a drunken brawl came staggering out the door; still cursing a blue streak and throwing punches at each other. She narrowed her eyes and watched as two more men poured out with the small crowd that followed the fighters and slunk over to some of the now abandoned shops and market stalls as people went to see the fight or tried to stay out of its path.

Gigi shook her head in disgust at the ruse; while the rough housing quartet was distracting everyone with their yelling and threatening, their quieter cohorts snatched a few small trinkets from the stalls. Gigi casually followed them as the tavern owner came out with a broom and started whacking the rowdy fighters with it, hollering at them to quiet down or else. Gigi tailed the thieves to the other end of the crowded market, dodging around a stall to plant herself in front of them.

"You boys not be regulars here," she remarked, taking another bite of her mango and planting her free hand on her hip. "Port Aris people aren't the sort of people you wan to steal from. We're kind of a close knit community here, you see. Clearly you don't understand the rules, so I'll consider this a first time offense and let you leave quietly, if you return the items you stole."

The men laughed. "And just how does a pretty little wench like you expect to make us give it back?" one of them asked, looking her up and down. Gigi pursed her lips.

"I have my ways, but I don't think you really want to know what they are."

"Actually I'd love to know," the man smirked. Gigi shrugged and took a last bite of her mango.

"Suit yourself," she said. She licked the mango juice off of her fingers, twisted her ring to turn up the setting on the electric pins, and aimed it at the man who'd ogled her. He let out a yelp and stumbled backwards, twitching comically. His partner stared at him in bewilderment for a few seconds before making a run for it. Sighing, Gigi upped the setting on her ring as he tried to race back toward the crowded section of the market. She was about to take aim when someone rammed into her.

Gigi squeaked in surprise as she tumbled to the ground in a confusion of limbs and loose papers. She landed on top of her mystery klutz and struggled to sit up. She found herself staring into a pair of hazel eyes behind glasses that had been knocked askew. She blinked, suddenly forgetting she'd been in the middle of a persuit just moments before as her heart did a strange little somersault inside her chest.

"Well, fancy running into you here," she said with a breathless giggle. He started stammering what sounded like an apology and Gigi finally realized she was still sprawled on top of him and his papers were starting to fly away in the wind. She climbed to her feet and hauled him up with her. He set about trying to gather his lost pages, his face flushed.

"I'm terribly sorry," he muttered anxiously. He kept fumbling and dropping the pages every time he tried to pick more up. Gigi watched him with a smile, politely gathering all the ones he dropped. His glasses were still crooked and Gigi plucked them off his face and adjusted them.

"You might be able to see better that way," she laughed. His face turned an even brighter shade of red.

"I...yes...I need to see," he said. He stared at the papers clutched tightly in his hand. "I could have sworn I had more of these."

Gigi handed him the stack in her hands and he nearly dropped the whole pile again.

"Maybe you should think about having those bound," Gigi suggested. She noticed the man she had electrocuted come walking dizzily up the street and remembered what she had been doing when the clumsy, hazel-eyed stranger had run into her.

"Oh!" she exclaimed. Catching petty thieves didn't hold the same level of importance that it had a moment ago, but Gigi supposed she should finish the job.

"Come with me," she said, grabbing the stranger's hand and towing him along up the street.

"I...where are we doing and what are we going? Uh, I mean, what are we doing and where-"

"Ah, there he is!" Gigi had spotted the escaped thief back near the tavern, talking and gesturing animatedly to his friends. She turned to her handsome stranger.

"This will just take a moment," she said, giving him a dazzling smile.

She made her way toward the thieves, and the man talking paled when he saw Gigi approach. She held up her ring menacingly and he tossed the stolen trinkets at her feet.

"Christ, just take them!" he said, backing away. Gigi scooped them up.

"Thank you. That wasn't so hard was it?" she asked cheerfully. When the electrocuted man finally shuffled into view, he looked ready to collapse again. He too turned over what he stole without much fuss and Gigi returned the goods to their proper owners, continuing to tug her stranger along with her.

"Well now that that's all settled, I suppose a proper introduction is in order." She beamed eagerly at him and he blinked several times, his mouth opening but no sound coming out.

"I'm Gemma," she said, amused. "But everyone calls me Gigi. Now you tell me your name."

"Uh, Link. My name is Link...Lincoln."

"Well Link Lincoln it's nice to meet you," Gigi said. She grabbed his hand so she could shake it, feeling her heart do that little somersault again. She kept smiling at him, her handshake lingering far longer than it needed to. This day had just gotten way more interesting.