Steal My Heart

I found myself wanting to spill everything that had happened to Lumina. I knew that she had a rather bad crush on Skye herself, but nonetheless, she was my best friend, and really the only person I wanted to tell. But I decided against it, and headed towards the Blue Bar instead the next day.

I told Muffy the whole story, and she tittered with excitement. “Goddess, I’m so jealous of my little Jilly!” She sighed, clasping one hand to her heart. “If only I could find a man to be that romantic to me! Oh!” I smiled, wishing that she could find a man, too. She’d been pining after Mr. Right since she babysat me all those years ago, but was yet to find anyone who met up to her ideal.

Her eyes glittered, and she leaned over the bar at me. “So…what happens next?”

I stared at her blankly. “I…I don’t know.” Muffy pouted, and I threw my hands up. “I mean, what am I supposed to do? He’s a phantom thief or whatever, and he comes and goes like the wind. I just have to kind of go along with whatever he decides to do.”

Muffy nodded pointedly. “And that, young lady, is exactly what I recommend you do.” I gave her a quizzical look, and she cooed, “Do whatever he wants you to do.” I blushed, and she continued quickly. “Don’t you dare turn him down or push him away. Chances at a fairytale romance like that don’t come around very often, and you should take yours and milk it for all it’s worth!”

I sighed, leaning my head on my hand. “Wow, Muffy, you make it sound so romantic. ‘Milk it for all it’s worth’… geez…”

Later that day, I went to visit Lumina, but stayed quiet on the topic of Skye. She was still mooning over him, but decidedly less so than she had been. She toyed with the edge of her bedspread. “Rock’s been acting better lately…” she mused. “He doesn’t flirt with other girls as much, and he’s been paying a lot more attention to me.”

As if on cue, the blond himself walked through her bedroom door, clutching a rather sad looking bouquet of flowers. He glanced at me, then stuck a defiant hand out. “No, don’t even try to tempt me, Jilly. I’m a one woman man now.” I stared at him like he was crazy, and he advanced to Lumina, who was sticking her tongue out and blushing happily. “There’s my hot babe.” He thrust the flowers into her hands. “These flowers reminded me of you, babe. They were like, all hot and stuff.”

I groaned internally at the pathetic attempt at romantic dialogue. It especially seemed lame compared to what I had been hearing lately…I blushed at the thought of that. Lumina just squealed happily. Well, at least her crush on Skye had made Rock wake up and realize a lot of things. I noticed something, and raised an eyebrow. “Hey, aren’t those the flowers that Sebastian just planted around the fountain?”

Rock stammered, but Lumina cooed, obviously not caring. “I don’t care where they came from. All I care is that my Rocky-poo thought about me!” He beamed, and I gagged.

“Yeah, I’m outta here,” I grumbled, and made my exit. I walked back to my farm, running into Celia on the way there.

“Oh, there you are, Jill,” she panted. “Vesta just got a letter from the Phantom! He says that he’s going to steal all our vegetables!” She urged me to follow her back to their farm, and I complied.

When we got in the house, Vesta was pacing back and forth. She was grimacing in anger, and it was rather frightening. “That danged varmit! He thinks that he can just come here and ravage our fields? Well, he’s got another thing coming!” She continued to seethe, and Marlin rolled his eyes.

“Vesta,” he began in his low voice, “How can we stop him? The fields are so large, and we have no idea where he’ll hit.”

“Then, by the Goddess, we’ll spread out! There is no way I’m letting that dirty good for nothing corn snatcher get away with this!” she bellowed, and I stifled a laugh. She turned her angry face on me, and I covered the laugh with a cough. “You gonna help, missy?!” she snarled, I just nodded mutely, frightened to answer otherwise.

So that’s how I ended up in the cornfield with Vesta in the middle of the night. I sighed heavily as she outlined how she was going to tackle and pulverize Skye when she saw him. I hoped for Skye’s sake that we wouldn’t encounter him tonight.

Suddenly, I heard a rustling between the stalks, and the aroma of curry wafted over to me. Vesta sniffed the air like an angry bull. “What’s that smell?” Skye appeared suddenly, and she roared. “Oh, there you are, you lily livered robber! I’ll teach you a thing or two about a thing or two!!” I paused for a moment, puzzled as to what that even meant, but Skye just smiled lazily.

“Oh, my…what a shame that you let raw anger spoil your natural beauty.” He clucked his tongue. “Such a waste…”

Vesta’s face was a mixed bag of emotions, but she finally held her ground. “D-don’t try to sweet talk me, you…you….stealer of stuff!” Skye chuckled softly, then pouted.

“Now, now…it’s just that I heard that you have the finest vegetables in the entire world growing on this farm, and I was dying for just a little taste. Would you deny me even that simple pleasure?” He enunciated each word carefully, and the effect was almost hypnotizing.

Vesta wavered for a moment, then seemed frozen as Skye began to pluck ears of corn and place them in his bag. She looked confused, but didn’t protest as he stole her vegetables. I just gaped at the scene. Skye winked at me as he finished filling up his bag, and then stepped closer to me. “Meet me at the pond,” he whispered, and I nodded mutely. He spoke up louder as he retreated. “Well, then, my work here is done. Goodbye, lovely ladies…” The darkness swallowed him up, and Vesta shook herself free from her trance.

“What came over me there?” she bellowed. “I let that silver haired pillager take my veggies!”

“He just has that affect on women,” I murmured, as Celia and Marlin hurried up.

“We heard Vesta yelling,” Marlin panted. “What happened?”

Vesta shook her head. “It’s all over. He took some corn.” Marlin started to say something, but Vesta talked over him. “Well, what’s done is done, and it can’t be helped. At least no one got hurt. Come on you two, let’s go to bed.” They headed off for home, thanking me for coming out as they left. I shook my head. Even a big strong woman like Vesta wasn’t immune to Skye’s charms.

I suddenly remembered that I had agreed to meet him, and I hurried off for the pond. I didn’t see him there, and I sighed in disappointment. I heard rustling behind me, and Skye stepped out from behind a thick clump of trees. “Oh, angel, were you missing me?”

I blushed and squirmed, looking down at the ground. “Oh! I’ve embarrassed you!” he lamented, and approached me. “Smile for me, angel. I’ve brought you a gift.” My heart fluttered and I looked up. He was holding a single pink rose. He ran one fingertip over the petals. “It made me think of you…as pink as your lips, as silky as your skin…” He stretched the rose out to me, stroking my face gently with it. I shuddered, and took it from his hands.

He sighed. “Oh, angel…you’ve totally bewitched me…I was roused from sleep last night with your name on my lips, and I longed to feel your presence near me…”

I trembled, feeling my whole body flush with excitement, then I realized something. “You…you don’t even know my real name…” I murmured.

He smiled lazily at me. “Yes, I do…Jill.” It sent a thrill through me to hear him utter my name. “Jill…Jill…” he repeated my name, giving me goosebumps. He leaned into my face, and my heart pounded desperately in my chest. He gave a soft sigh as he ever so slightly brushed his lips against mine. I suddenly felt so wobbly that I almost fell over. I began to breathe hard, and Skye stroked the side of my face.

“There’s nothing to be afraid of, angel…” he whispered. His lips met mine again, and my body began to tingle. He sighed again, and leaned further in to whisper in my ear. “Oh, Jill, you’re intoxicating…the things you do to me…” My face flushed, realizing what he meant.

Suddenly, the sound of voices and footsteps approaching made him pull away, much to my regret. “It seems that my time here tonight is up,” he said, sounding disappointed. He brushed his knuckle down the side of my neck. “Until we meet again, angel…” He stepped between the trees lightly, leaving no trace of his presence.

The voices, it turned out, belonged to Rock and Lumina. I could hear him talking as he got closer. “…nothing else, babe. You’re my everything.” Lumina sighed in response, and I stepped out of the shadows, clearing my throat. They looked at me, startled.

“Jill?” Lumina said incredulously. “What are you doing here at this hour?”

I shrugged. “What are you guys doing here at this hour?” Lumina blushed, and Rock grinned. Lumina quickly changed the subject when she spotted the rose in my hands.

“And what is that?” she asked, raising her eyebrows.

I had forgotten that I was holding it, and I blushed and stammered, trying to think of an explanation. Rock blurted out cheerfully, “She must be here to confess her love to someone!” I gave him an annoyed look, and he tilted his head and waggled his finger at me. “It better not be me, babe. I’m all about Lumina now. So, you can look, but you can’t love.”

I gritted my teeth. “I’m not here to confess my love for you, you idiot!” I just huffed and stomped away, deciding that I didn’t have to explain myself to them. I made my way back to my farm. I undressed for bed, thinking about Skye, and I could feel myself getting very warm as I slipped under the covers. I glanced at the rose one last time, and then shut my eyes and tried to fall asleep.