//------------------------------// // Lost Chapter '1': The Game // Story: The Princess and I (The Lost Chapters) // by Flanagan //------------------------------// I woke up a few hours later, my back aching because I’d landed funny on the couch but was too tired to adjust myself. After a couple minutes of stretching myself out in a vain attempt to make the pain go away I decided that the only thing that would actually make it feel better was time. I decided to turn my attention to the clock, I could probably get something productive done before I had to leave, but luck has kind of forgotten about me since Saturday. “Oh no…” I gasped, seeing what time it was. It may have been only eleven thirty, but that wasn’t the issue here, what was the issue was what was supposed to happen within the next four hours. Every year, (Well at least the years I could) I’d always made it a point to go see a Cardinals game and this was the first time I’d have a chance to see one after all of those pesky ‘getting out of the service’ workshops and check-ups were completed. I’d already bought my ticket about two weeks ago, a really nice spot in Left-center, a prime location for catching a home run if I got the chance. They were playing the Dodgers today, so I knew that even if I didn’t get to see a homer I’d at least get to see two good clubs playing one another. I practically threw myself in the shower, all I needed was a quick rinse anyway, but as I grabbed my towel a certain someone decided to pop into my head. “Son of a…” I said bringing my hand to my face for possibly the hundredth time this week. “I can’t let Luna stay here all by herself yet… She needs to come to the game too…” Practically sprinting from the bathroom to my couch I grabbed my computer along the way and flipped it open. Hopefully the Busch Stadium hadn’t been sold out yet, or else I’d have to sell my ticket to one of those people outside the stadium begging for tickets like a man in the desert would for water. Fortunately for me my computer started relatively quickly and I was on the Cardinals website within a minute. I went to the ticket sales, fingers crossed that I wasn’t too late. “Finally some good luck!” I shouted to myself, there were still a few tickets left, “Now to see if there the seats next to me are taken.” With several well timed scrolls I found the part of the stadium that I was supposed to be sitting in, just under the ‘Big Mac Land’ sign. Like I said, perfect for catching a home run if it happened, selecting the section I turned my gaze to where I would be sitting. Another bit of luck, no one was sitting next to me, that was good, but the price wasn’t something to be happy about. “One hundred thirty-seven dollars…” I whispered to myself in disbelief, it was half that price last week, but then again it was game day and they loved milking as much money as they could from the procrastinators. “I’d better get a game ball out of this…” I grunted as I typed my credit card number into the ‘purchase tickets’ box. After all was said and done and I pulled the new ticket from the printer I realized that the only article of clothing that I had been wearing for the past ten minutes was my towel. Normally this wouldn’t be a problem, but on account that there was someone else with me, namely a beautiful young woman, I needed to get decent and fast. However that was far easier said than done, my entire wardrobe was in my bedroom, where Luna was staying for the time being. I wondered why she wasn’t up and about; normally she’d be awake right now. Deciding to lean more to the cautious side I clinched my towel tightly and began to make my way into the bedroom. The door was already slightly open, that was good, no extra noise except for the obligatory creek that always seemed louder when you were trying to sneak around. I looked to the bed, Luna was in it sleeping like a rock, must’ve decided that waiting for me was taking too long and that a nap was the best way to pass the time. I liked the logic and the situation; I could easily sneak past her and throw on some clothes before I woke her up. (I’m so brilliant at times.) Doing everything in my power to remain as quiet as possible I slipped past the bed to my dresser to grab what I needed to throw on. Number six Cardinals shirt, check, jeans, check, undershirt, check, underwear, check and my shoes were still in the living room. (Perfect, now all I need is to-) “Aedan?” Luna asked wiping the sleep from her eyes, “You have finally…” At that moment our eyes met and the awkward feeling had washed over me yet again. It may have been better if she was still looked like a pony, but for some reason she was in human form with about the same amount of clothing on her as when she first turned. The only thing that was between me and her was a towel, several feet and some well-placed blankets. Silence filled the room, but even with the situation at hand I did notice something about Luna that I found odd. Her eyes were glued onto me and her face was getting so red that I swear if there was no sunlight in the room you may have mistaken her for a female version of Rudolph. (Finally an awkward moment for her) It was about time that I’d finally made her uncomfortable, but in truth it was still a tad bit awkward for me. This was really the first time she’d seen me practically naked after all. “I should get going.” I said with a dumb half smile plastered to my face. “You should put something on too.” “Uh… yes absolutely!” Luna replied finally looking away and throwing the covers over her eyes, “We both should make ourselves decent by this world’s standards; it would be highly uncivilized if we do not.” “Took the words right outta my mouth princess,” I said walking to the door, “Oh and Luna… don’t take too long.” “I’ll do my best.” Was the last thing I heard before I closed the door behind me. “Well, that was interesting…” I told myself, letting out a sigh of relief. “Now I’ve just got to-“ I looked down and realized why Luna may have been blushing so hard. Someone was trying to say hi to her in the bedroom. I was utterly speechless, sure it had a mind of its own sometimes but I usually knew what it was doing. “Down boy,” I said pointing to it, “You know the rules.” If it could ‘screw you’ it probably could, because it wasn’t listening to me to save my life. After taking a quick cold shower however it decided to finally head the call of its master and I was allowed to throw on everything I needed for the game. At that moment the second face palm of the day decided to grace me with its presence. “I forgot to tell Luna what we were doing today…” I grumbled, looking to the tickets on the counter, “I’ll tell her when I get completely dressed, any minute now she’ll be-“ “Aedan!” I heard from inside my bedroom, “I require assistance.” “Coming Luna.” I replied, throwing my pants and undershirt on at the same time. I opened the door and sure enough Luna was struggling to find the straps of her bra. (The things I put up with) Taking my place behind her I grabbed her hands and guided them to the dangling strands with ease. “You know if you keep making me do this I’ll start thinking you like it.” I joked. “Wha-what?!” Luna exclaimed spinning around before I could set the straps, “I only need help in this form! I do not ask for assistance because I need it… not because I enjoy your presence!” “Really?” I said with the same half smile as earlier. “So you don’t like me?” “What? NO!” Luna replied waving her hands frantically, “I was simply saying that I needed assistance, I… I DO like you, a great deal… you are one of the most true friends I’ve-“ “Calm down, sweetheart, I was just messing with you.” I interrupted failing to hold back a laugh, “Now turn around, I’ll get your bra done right.” Luna’s face went slightly red, but she followed my instructions and with a few quick flicks of the wrist and snaps of the clasp Luna was ‘decent’ by our standards. “Better?” I asked, her reply was just a simple nod. She turned to look at me, face still a tad red, I thought it was awkward and adorable all wrapped into one. I couldn’t dwell on that however, right now she was slowing us down. “Luna you need to throw on something that covers you up a bit more.” “Why?” she asked looking at her current state of dress, “Are we not staying here for the time being? “No.” I answered, much to her surprise, “We’re actually going to a baseball game.” “Both of us?” “Both of us…” I repeated, shaking my head. “Now I’m sure that every guy with a pulse wouldn’t mind you wearing what you’ve already got on, I’m sure mothers and their kids would appreciate it if you had something a bit less… revealing.” “It shall be done Aedan.” Luna replied with a nod, “Please allow me some time to ready myself for the upcoming event.” “I’ll be waiting.” I said excusing myself from the bedroom. I didn’t think that it would take too long, all she really had to do was put on something casual. But as an hour passed I realized that I had made the mortal mistake of giving a woman all the time in the world to pick her outfit. “Come on Luna!” I yelled opening the door while placing my cardinals hat firmly on my head, “We’re gonna be late!” “How?” She asked back from inside my bedroom, “According to you we still have nearly three hours before the competition actually begins.” “That’s not the point Luna.” I called back, “There’s a promotion event going on and if we’re one of the first twenty thousand to get in we’ll get some cool stuff.” “Cool stuff?” Luna asked popping her head out of the doorway, “As in a conciliation prize?” “Uh… yeah…” I answered, (I’d do just about anything to hurry her up right now) “And we won’t get one if you take all this time to get ready!” “Would you have me wear what I have on now?” she asked from inside the room. “I don’t even know what you’re wearing!” I replied, “If you look decent then let me see!” “Very well then…” she said as I saw a hand gently grip the door frame. What followed caught me slightly off guard. Luna was wearing a light blue Cardinals t-shirt that hugged every last one of her curves perfectly as well as a pair of jeans that did the same. All in all a drop dead gorgeous, yet casual look, she also sported those old shoes that I’d given her a few days earlier. “Well?” she asked, doing a little spin, “How do I look?” “Great.” Was all I could say, catching myself not exactly looking at her eyes. “Where did you get the shirt?” “Dawn picked it out for me.” Luna answered looking to it, “I know that the sporting event that we shall be spectating has this team, so I decided to show support as best as I could.” “Well you picked it right.” I said scratching the back of my head, “Any particular reason Dawn gave you one with the number twenty three?” “I believe she mentioned that the man it represented was a ‘hunk’ as she put it.” (Of course, Dawn’s had a crush on David Freese ever since they won it all in ’11) “Well that’s good and all,” I said walking up to her, “but you’re missing a few crucial articles of clothing.” “Such as what?” she asked surprised, “I put every item of clothing on that you showed me, socks, pants shirt and-“ I interrupted her little rant by slapping my extra Cardinals hat on her head. Her eyes initially were full of anger (More than likely a ‘how DARE you interrupt me’ look) but that soon subsided as she noticed that I was holding two gloves in either hand. “What are those strange items?” she asked, adjusting my hat so she could see better. (I’d forgotten to adjust the size; the cap was way too big for her.) “These are baseball gloves.” I explained, “We’re gonna be in a spot that may or may not be a place where we’d need them.” I tossed one of the gloves to her, and with one of the more awkward catches I had ever seen the glove was in her hands. She examined the glove for a while, but before I could explain how to put it on, Luna placed it on her head. “I don’t understand…” she said staring at me blankly, “Am I not already wearing a head piece?” My silence was only there to avoid showing the humiliating amount of laughter that was held up inside me, but after a few short breaths I thought I was finally able to explain how she was supposed to use it. “It… it goes on your hand Luna.” I explained with a stupid grin. “Like this…” After showing her the proper way to wear a glove Luna mimicked my action to a T. She inspected the glove for a second or two, not quite sure what to make of it before turning her attention back to me. “I still don’t understand…” she said, “the feeling is… odd to say the least, what material is this glove made of?” “Lea-“ I quickly covered my mouth, right now would be the worst time to explain where leather came from. “I’ll tell you later, now can we please go?” “This is the first time I think I have seen you act in such a way.” She said with a cute grin she passed me. “That’s because this is Cardinal baseball I’m talking about.” I replied closing the door behind us, “Now we’ve got a ways to go, Busch is on the other side of the city.” “If you insist.” Luna replied rolling her eyes, “If you say we must make haste then let us make haste.” And make haste we did. I less than twenty minutes we were close enough to the stadium to get a decent spot without having to pay too much. After giving the nice man a twenty I practically ran back to my car and threw Luna’s door open, causing her to let out an adorable squeak. “Come on Princess!” I said motioning her to come out frantically, “Let’s go, let’s go!” “You really enjoy these events don’t you?” She asked calmly stepping out while she looked around. “There doesn’t seem to be much here…” “That’s because you’re not looking the right way Luna.” I said turning her around, “The stadium’s that way.” “Oh…” Luna said shaking her head like an idiot, “That’s what was on your ‘T.V.’.” “That’s a fact Princess.” “It seems… larger… than what it appeared to be…” she replied with a hint of insecurity. “Well, it DOES hold nearly forty-seven thousand fans when it’s full.” I replied giving her a light pat on the back. “FORTY-SEVEN THOUSAND?!” Luna shrieked, “The largest city in all of Equestria isn’t even a forth of that size!” Suddenly, Luna decided the best way to react was to hide behind me, normally I wouldn’t find that odd. However, since we were out in the open and literally everyone from Clark Avenue to Eighth Street heard her and had turned their attention to us and I personally hated that. At first they were on me, but soon enough they trailed down to the woman that was doing her best to hide behind me. (She was failing in the most epic of proportions.) “Sorry folks…” I said waving my hands passively, “She’s not really the social type, never been to a big city.” I’d hoped my bluff would be enough to at least make most of them go away so that Luna and I could both be comfortable once again. Fortunately it worked and all but a few decided to think no more of it and go on with their lives. The only ones who stayed staring were the teens that had been skateboarding on the other side of the street and personally, I think they would’ve stopped and stared without her little outburst. After giving them a quick glare the skaters were on their way and I turned my attention back to Luna, who had started to stare at the ground while kicking at the dirt. “What was that all about?” I asked, “I thought you royal types love attention…” “I’m… I’m not very fond of large social gatherings…” she replied sheepishly. “Excuse me?” “I’m not very good with large crowds!” she yelled nearly as loud as she had earlier. “How is that even possible?!” I asked throwing my hands in the air in disbelief, “In the show it said that you went all ‘dark side’ because you wanted more attention!” “That was different…” she snapped, fury burning in her eyes. I had to step back for a second, yesterday I saw her as sad as she could be and now today it looked as if she was ready to melt me with heat vision. Then again thinking back on what I said it may have been a bit cruel bringing up such a painful memory like that in a casual conversation. “I’m sorry that I said that Luna…” I said shaking my head, “but you could understand where I’m coming from… right?” Luna just stared at me like she was trying to burn me from the inside out. Now normally I wouldn’t have a problem with it, I’ve been given death stares plenty of times before, whether it be an ex-girlfriend or an Afghan national I’ve seen it and looked right back with a vengeance. This time though, this time seemed different, maybe because of the personal nature of what caused it or the way she did it, but the silence was killing me and I didn’t want to bring her into the game on a bad note. “Look… I’m sorry about what I said Luna,” I said trying to sound as sincere as I could be, “Can we let the past stay in the past and try to have some fun for the rest of the time being… please?” Several moments passed until Luna finally rolled her eyes and put a small smile on her face, “Fine…” she said walking past me, “but only because I lack any better options at the moment.” Taking a deep sigh of relief I took my place next to her, thankful that she had somewhat forgiven me. We walked around the stadium for maybe a minute or two until I finally found what I was looking for. Gate 4 was the closest to our seats, and thankfully there were only a few dozen fans waiting in a line that was sure to increase in size twenty fold. “Here we are.” I said with a smile pointing to the small group of fans wearing cardinal red. “We just need to-“ “There aren’t many people here.” Luna interrupted looking to the pathetic excuse of a crowd, “Are you sure this event is as important as you claim?” “Well we are here early.” I said shrugging my shoulders, “And don’t you wanna fancy souvenir to bring back to the pony world?” “I guess it would be fitting to bring a small reminder of my time here.” She replied, “How much longer until we may enter?” “Well…” I said looking to my watch, “They really don’t let anyone in until about an hour before the game… so maybe two and a half hours.” “TWO AND A HALF-“ “Easy there Luna.” I interrupted covering her mouth with my hand, “Yeah we’ve got some time to wait, but that’s the price you pay for getting wanting a souvenir.” “If you say so…” Luna said practically ripping my hand away, “But I ask you not to do that without warning again.” “Will do Princess…” I said with a nod as I allowed her to step in front of me in the ‘line’ that was forming. The time actually flew by rather quickly. Mainly because Luna was asking all sorts of questions pertaining to the stadium and the way the game was played. (Granted she asked me how the game was played a day or two ago, but I answered it all the same) Soon enough, maybe a minute after the stadium had opened we were the ‘ticket master’. “Welcome to Busch Stadium.” He said with a deep sigh, knowing that his thankless job was far from over. “Tickets please.” “Right here.” I said wiping out our pair from my pocket and handing them to him. He took a quick glance at the tickets then back to me before his eyes set on Luna, at that moment I swear his mood did a complete one-eighty. A smile suddenly appeared as well as an extra bit of gusto and pride in the work he was doing. Handing both of the tickets to Luna instead of the guy that gave them to him he tipped his hat. “I hope you enjoy the game ma’am.” He said. “Thank you sir,” Luna replied with a regal bow, “I most assuredly will.” “Don’t forget to grab your mini-baseball bat.” He added as I walked by. “Thank you sir.” I said patting him on the shoulder, “I’m sure we wouldn’t forget.” He nodded with a smile and went back to his job with the same expression on his face he had before he saw Luna. “Tickets please…” he sighed. “Are you sure that I they know that I am not royalty?” Luna asked when I caught up with her. “He surly treated me in a much more appreciable manor than he has the others.” “I guess you just have that effect on people Luna.” I said looking back to him to see that he was giving me quick thumbs up before getting back to work again. “Come on, I’m sure that you want the reason that I drug you here so early.” “Absolutely.” Luna said with a slight sneer in her voice, “I’d better get something out of this whole ordeal.” “If you were anyone else I’d be thinking the same thing.” I replied with a small smirk. “What’s THAT supposed to mean?” “Nothing Luna…” I said shaking my hand taking two miniature bats from the dumbstruck part-time teen handing them out. “Here you go.” “Is… is THIS a baseball bat?” Luna asked in surprise. “Uh… yeah?” I answered, scratching my head, “What’s the matter?” “These athletes must be pigmies!” Luna exclaimed, “if this is any indication of their size compared to what I have seen on the-“ “Woah there Luna, slow down!” I said letting out an unusual amount of laughter. “These are just tiny bats, most the guys that play are about as tall as I am.” “Really?” Luna asked looking up and down, “then they must be considered giants.” “I’m only six three.” I said shrugging my shoulders, “I mean most of them weigh more than I do, but then again… most of them aren’t as… well… ‘Sculpted’ as I am.” “Ah… I see.” Luna said given me a quick scan up and down, “You do seem to have more defined physical traits than those I have seen on your T.V. It’s a wonder why you don’t compete in athletics.” “I’ve got a pretty good reason for not getting into sports.” I said leaving the subject at that, “Now let’s find our seats, batting practice isn’t over yet.” Luna nodded as I lead her to where we would be sitting. The sun was shining bright as the two of us left the corridor and stepped out into the magnificence that was Busch Stadium. I remember when my dad and I would drive all the way from Kansas City just to see a game, we had to wake up god awful early, but we always made it on time to at least see the first pitch. Those were some good days, I didn’t really have a care in the world back then, other than whether or not I was going to see a home run or not of course. I also didn’t have to contend with taxes, rent, a job or anything else. (I also didn’t have to deal with a princess from a world where the superior life form was magic wielding pastel horses, but that’s beside the point.) Luna’s reaction was a little underwhelming however, she was frozen in wonder and awe, but there wasn’t anything too special about it. (In truth I was expecting another spectacle where we would be the center of attention yet again, I was thankful that that wasn’t the case however.) “Right over there.” I said pointing to a set of bleachers that were very close to the away team’s dugout. “That’s where we’ll be sitting.” “I see…” Luna said looking to home plate. “Are you sure that these are adequate seats? They seem rather far away.” “You might get to see why they’re good seats here soon enough.” I said as Dodger first basemen Adrian Gonzales stepped to the plate for batting practice. Not three pitches into his warm up their pitcher tossed the ball directly over the plate. Adrian saw it coming from a mile away and with the crack of his bat, the ball went soaring into right field, finally landing in the second story bleachers. I had to applaud him, the guy knew how to hit and well, but when I turned my attention to Luna she was completely awestruck. “Did… did you SEE that?” she asked pulling at my arm, “Did you see?” “I sure did Luna.” I said nodding my head, “It’s a shame that you didn’t get to see a Cardinal do it first.” “Your Cardinals can do that too?” “Several of them, but their batting practice is over and here soon the game’ll actually start.” “This may actually be an interesting competition after all.” Luna said with a smile that reminded me of her. Before we really knew it batting practice was over and after a very hasty explanation of what to do when the national played the game had begun. The first inning was done pretty quickly; both Wainwright and Greinke had one-two-three innings. I was just glad to see an amazing pitching battle just beginning, but the girl next to me was quite underwhelmed. “Why haven’t any of them hit the ball as that one man had?” she asked, “Is that not the goal?” “Not exactly,” I said shrugging my shoulders. “The real goal is to just get a base and hope for the best. Home runs really don’t happen that often and with who’s on the mound for both teams today it more than likely won’t happen.” “I see…” Luna replied looking back to home plate, “It seems this may be quite a dull experience then.” “You don’t know that yet.” I said holding back every ounce of anger baseball fans had whenever someone called it dull and boring. “The second inning’s just started.” Another four innings passed and still there was no score. The Dodgers threatened in the third with a double and the Cardinals had runners on first and third in the fourth, but neither team allowed anything to come of it. By the end of yet another scoreless inning, I could tell that Luna was dreadfully board; I guess I talked it up so much that she expected the seas to part and mountains to bow. “Is anything going to happen?” She asked me slightly annoyed. “You never know Luna.” I replied, “Baseball’s eighty percent pitching, fifteen percent hitting and five percent luck.” “I wish it was the other way around…” she pouted, crossing her arms. That was a moment that I had to take a picture of, she looked too adorable not to. I pulled my phone out, aiming it her direction ready to take the snapshot. Granted I couldn’t put it on Facebook or anything, I wouldn’t want people to think that I had started to date again anyway. However at the last moment Luna looked to my direction and her eyes lit up in pure excitement. “Aedan!” she said happily, pointing behind me. “We’re on the big T.V.!” “We’re on the wha-“ I froze the second I looked behind myself, sure enough we were on the big board, but the lettering under us was what made the blood rush from my face. ‘KISS CAM’ was boldly displayed under a cartoon heart shape, and Luna and I were at its center. “This isn’t happening…” I said under my breath. “What?” Luna asked, to the sound of the crowd around us egging us on. (She was so oblivious it hurt sometimes) “What isn’t happening?” “God have mercy on my soul…” I groaned turning to face her again, ready to do what must be done. I pulled Luna into me, much to her surprise, but before she could ask me what I was doing I quickly pressed my lips against hers. It didn’t last too long, maybe a second or two but it felt like an eternity to me. Mainly because I knew who she really was, but there was a very small part of me that enjoyed it. I hadn’t kissed anyone since I left Amanda and I guess that all that time just made me want it more. Then rule seventy six echoed in my mind and I released Luna from what possibly was the most unwanted form of contact that you would want after you’d met someone. Her reaction was the complete opposite however, she started staring at me dumbfounded, trying to process what had just happened. Several seconds later I expected the obligatory ‘how dare you kiss me’ slap followed by her storming out of the stadium, but instead I saw her face practically glow red before she tried to hide herself behind her hair. I couldn’t help but smile at her reaction; it was almost as if she had never been kissed before, which I would find hard to believe, she’s absolutely gorgeous. (For a pony that is.) “You alright Luna?” I asked with a smile. “I-I… I…” she stuttered before looking back to the field and flipping as much of her hair as possible so I wouldn’t be able to see her. “Alright…” I said shrugging my shoulders turning my attention back to the game. Several innings later there was still no score, hell there were only five hit total between the two clubs for the entire game. The ninth inning was coming to a close and with two outs and no man on; David Freese stepped up to bat. “Who is that man?” Luna asked breaking her multi-inning silence, “He has the same number on his shirt.” “That’s David Freese.” I explained, “He was supposed to be off today, but I guess Matheney thinks he can do something here.” “Well… he IS quite the ‘hunk’ as Dawn put it…” Luna said with a smile as he took the first pitch for a ball inside. “Excuse me?” “He seems to be an attractive male.” Luna explained, pointing to his face on the big screen. “I can see why women of this world would show affection to him.” “Well… he’s not THAT amazing.” I said rolling my eyes as he took his first strike down the middle. “But yeah he’s a good lookin’ guy.” “You like him too?” “Not in the way I think you think I do.” I said quickly, while David took another ball, “Besides I don’t bat for that team.” “I thought you said you weren’t able to play sports.” Luna replied confused, prompting my hand to meet my face. “I’ll explain that to you when we-“ The crack of a bat filled my ears as everyone’s eyes, including Luna’s, looked skyward. Freese had hit his pitch and hit it hard, the crowd roared as Matt Kemp ran as fast as he could to the wall. Excitement filled my heart; I hadn’t seen a walk off home run while I was at the stadium my entire life, Luna was excited too, but only because someone had finally hit something. One second later I realized something else, not only was that ball going to be a home run, it was coming in my direction. Reacting quickly, I threw my glove into the air along with one hundred other people, in hopes that it would land in mine. I could see it coming closer and closer until finally I heard the sound of a ball being encompassed by a glove. I smiled wildly, thinking that the ball was in my glove, but as I inspected its insides I saw that it was empty. My heart sank a bit, believing that someone a few rows up or down had been lucky enough to snatch it, but as I turned to Luna I saw that she two had her glove in the air, the only difference was that there was a distinct bulge in hers. “I CAUGHT IT!” She squeaked excitedly looking into her glove, “AEDAN I-“ She didn’t have time to finish her statement before I wrapped her up as tightly as I could out of sheer happiness. Just this morning she thought that that old glove was a weird hat and now it was holding a walk-off home run. (Oh how fate works in the most peculiar of ways.) “I can’t believe it!” I said with a huge smile, “God Luna, you’re amazing!” “Can we keep it?” she asked, “or do we have to give it back.” “Keep it, keep it, keep it!” I yelled frantically, thinking that she would throw it back on the field. “We may get to get it signed. It IS a walk off home run after all.” “Could we?” Luna asked with unnecessary puppy eyes. “Of course.” I replied, “Come on let’s make our way to the dugout, we might be able to catch him before he leaves.” It took about ten minutes to bod and weave through the crowd that was between us and the dugout, but fortunately David was selected as the player of the game, so he had to stay a bit longer than usual. I used that and my military voice to get his attention the second he finally began to make his way to the locker room. (Marines know how to yell, don’t let anyone tell you any different) “Hey guys.” He said with a smile. “What can I do for you?” “We were actually wondering if you could sign this.” I said showing him the ball, “My friend her caught it when you sent it flying.” “Oh really?” he said with a chuckle as he turned his attention to Luna. “Of course I’d love to sign this for a pretty little thing like you.” “You are far too kind sir.” Luna replied with a slight blush in her cheeks. “Anything for a fan.” He said etching his name onto the ball, “Especially if they look like you.” David then personally handed the ball to Luna with a noticeable wink before he made his way to the locker room, where he was undoubtedly going to get swarmed by the other players. I looked over to Luna with a smile; she was looking at the ball with the same joy and wonder that I had the first time that I went to a Cardinal’s game, at that moment I knew that a fan was born. About fifteen minutes later we were at the car. Luna was still holding the ball like it was the most precious stone in the world. Granted I would be too, but she insisted that she be the one to hold it until we got back, but when I unlocked the doors and got in Luna was still just standing on the other side, lost in thought. “There a problem Luna?” I asked, popping my head out, “We should get going about now.” “Why?” she asked, confusing me. “Why what?” “Why did you kiss me?” (Oh great… NOW comes the ‘how dare you kiss me’ slap and then storm away part.) “Well…” I said, trying to think of the best possible answer without having her get mad at me. “We were on the big screen; people were egging us on… I guess I just wanted it to be over… that’s all.” “That’s all?” Luna asked, confusing me even further. “Uh… yeah…” I answered, “I mean it’s no big deal, I mean it’s not like I’m the first guy who’s ever kissed you… right?” Luna looked away the moment I said that, telling me that I actually answered my own question. I was the first person to ever kiss her. That normally wouldn’t weigh heavily on my mind, but given the circumstances it really blew my mind. I’m sure the look on my face said it all, but I think she was way too busy being shy to notice that I may have been as red as her. I tried to think of something clever to say, but the only thing that kept popping up was ‘you were her first kiss and you ruined it for her, SHAME ON YOU!’ Fortunately Luna had something off topic that put both our minds at ease. “Could you sign this?” She asked, presenting the ball. “What?” “Could you sign this?” she repeated, “This was a rather momentous occasion for both of us, and when you find a way to return me to my home… I want to bring this with me.” “Really?” I asked, “Why would you want to do that?” “I want to remember the past.” She replied, “Both good and bad… and I wish to remember the name of the one who aided me in my most dire time of need.” “Alright Luna.” I said pulling a random pen from my cup holder. “Toss it over here and I’ll sign it too.” Luna did as I asked and with a few strokes of the pen, my name was sitting opposite David Freese’s. That alone was awesome, but knowing that Luna wanted to remember me when she went home was really cool too. “Anything else you need Luna?” I asked tossing the ball back to her. “No…” she said looking to my name with a smile, “You’ve done enough for today, let’s be off to your abode.” “As you wish…” doing my best Dread Pirate Roberts impression; pushing her door open from inside the car. Luna hopped in and we were off, the ride took maybe thirty minutes with all the traffic, but we got back just the same. Not a word was spoken between us for the rest of the evening. I guess we just let the day’s events speak for themselves, when the time came Luna went to the bead room and I sprawled out on the couch. “Well… that was an interesting day…” I said to myself closing my eyes, “I wonder what tomorrow will bring?”