The Achievement Junkie

It was still early morning and there was plenty of time to rest, but Jack couldn't find it in himself to sleep. His turbulent mind wouldn't let him calm down.

As the others eventually woke up they quickly found Jack sitting in the center of camp with black lines beneath each of his eyes. Most ignored it but Little Lina made sure to comment on them.

Lina tilted her head to the side as if to get a better view of Jack's face. "Big Bro, what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. Don't worry about it, okay?" replied Jack, showing a hint of a smile to ward off her curiosity.

Before long everyone was up, giving Jack the chance to update them all on the next steps of the plan. Like Jack expected, everyone agreed whole-heartedly and worked together to make some breakfast before taking down camp.

Though he was smiling, the other party members understood that Jack was ridden with stress and worry. But they couldn't do much about it since he wouldn't acknowledge it with anyone else. They could only wait for a better opportunity to discuss it or for Jack to open up on his own. Of course, they had no clue that he was also stewing over his most recent conversation with Daruun.

A few hours later both Daliea and Rydel returned with smiles on their faces. Not much else was said verbally as the party silently left the area and made their way to the town not too far from the base of the mountain.

It was late in the afternoon by the time the entered town, but they quickly left without saying a word. There was no military personnel to be found anywhere.

Moving on to the next border town, they hoped to have more luck. And since they refused to use Appa in fear of being caught, they managed to arrive late into the night.

'I'll scout the town,' Rydel called out mentally to the party. 'Everyone should get a quick rest at an inn, even if for only an hour or two.' Having said his piece, the hunter dashed into the dark streets of the quiet town.

Jack tried to voice his own opinion of not resting quite yet but Eliza grabbed him by the arm and pulled him into the nearest inn. 'Come on everyone, we shouldn't waste any valuable time. Let's rest while we can so we're ready for whatever comes next.'

'Right behind you!' agreed Keela.

Dahlia nodded and walked behind the couple, following them without hesitation.

The party approached the barren front desk. Eliza was about to call out for someone when a head popped up from below with a yawn. "Hi, what can I do for you?"

"We need a few rooms for the night," stated Eliza with an amiable smile.

"Well, I've got two left. One with two beds and a single bed."

Again Jack tried to interject but Eliza was too quick with her reply. "We'll take it." She hastily set a few coins on the counter. "Keep the tip."

As the man at the front desk happily swapped the coins for two keys, Jack was frowning and giving Eliza a mean glare.

"Come on, it's not going to kill you to share a bed with your wife," joked Eliza. She was completely unperturbed by Jack's antics as she pulled him up the stairs to the third floor toward their room.

Keela giggled as she watched the two leave her and Daliea behind on the second floor, where their room was located.

The two girls made themselves at home after locking the door behind them. Yet as Keela pulled the covers over her, she noticed that Daliea wasn't anywhere near her bed. Instead, she found Daliea at the table in the corner of the room.

"What's up? Aren't you going to sleep?" asked Keela.

"Not yet." Daliea shook her head and pulled out a blank piece of paper along with a quill pen.

Too curious, Keela then asked, "What's that for?"

"It's… a letter."

"To whom?"

Hesitant, Daliea coughed to clear her throat. "To… Jack."

"Oh? Why write him a letter? Why not just talk to him?" reasoned Keela.

"Well, this is in case… If I don't get a chance to tell him this before I…"

Realizing the personal significance of the matter, Keela started to back off and put less pressure on the goblin girl. "Oh, sorry to pry."

"No, don't be sorry," stated Daliea. "I just saw Eliza do this, so I thought why not write one too."

"Wait, you saw Eliza write one of these letters?" questioned Keela even more curious than before, considering she was always with Eliza yet never saw such a thing.

"Yeah…" Daliea replied softly, having said something she probably shouldn't have.

"Did she tell you why?"

"No… I only saw a piece of it," replied Daliea.

With stars in her eyes, Keela hopped out of bed at sat herself across from Daliea. "Wait, you saw the letter? Tell me more."

Feeling a sense of duty to finish the conversation she had fueled, Daliea begrudgingly explained, "It was in the middle of the night, the one night where Jack wasn't on guard duty. I was… hidden, since I had been helping Rydel scan the area before that."

"Sure you were," giggled Keela.

"So, when I got back to camp Eliza was finishing up her letter," continued Daliea. "All I know is that it was address to Jack and was about their relationship."

"That's it?" groaned Keela. "If that was all, it wouldn't have inspired you to write your own, right?"

With a sigh, Daliea added, "Well… Eliza did add one other thing."

"And that was?"

"She… She took out her Phoenix Lilly and hugged it tightly. Then she put it in a new storage ring… which she then put in the envelope."

"WHA--?!"

"Shhh," Daliea threw her hand over Keela's mouth, trying her best to silence Keela's surprised shout. "I shouldn't have told you this. You know Eliza wouldn't like us to know about that."

"Well… I guess you're right." Keela sat there for a few moments. Suddenly, she nodded to herself and pulled out her own piece of paper and a quill.

"Keela, what are you--"

"Well, if you're both writing some final words, why can't I? Who knows, you'll probably never have to read it anyway."

Neither of the two girls said anything more, letting each other focus on their own letter and only sneaking occasional glancing at each other's words.

*****

"Jack…"

"Jack…"

"Jack!"

"What is it, Eliza?" Jack rolled over inside his bedroll, letting him get a better view of Eliza, who was sitting up on the bed.

"Jack, what's wrong with you?" asked Eliza.

"Nothing, now let me sleep." Jack closed his eyes and tried to ignore his wife. But she quickly said something that caught his attention.

"How about a massage?"

Looking back to Eliza, Jack lifted his head from the pillow. "Well…"

"We all know that you're stressed out and worried about what's about to happen. Don't I, as your wife, have the responsibility of supporting you and easing your burdens?" stated Eliza as stood up.

"Well…"

"'Well', what? Are you going to lay down on the bed or not?"

With a quick nod, Jack got to his feet and prepared for the massage. Knowing what was needed, he removed his shirt and pants before approaching the bed.

"The boxers too."

A look of surprise crossed Jack's face. "But I--"

"For a full body massage, those will only get in the way. Since you're more stressed than ever, I'll make sure to relieve you of it all."

Not arguing with her, Jack then removed his boxers. He did his best to cover up with a towel he retrieved before laying down.

Happy to see him compliant, Eliza stood over Jack. "We won't be needing this."

"Hey, that's--"

In a flash, the towel was thrown away and lotion was poured onto Jack's back, not letting him get up.

"Quiet, Honey. Just relax and enjoy yourself."

Like magic, Eliza's hands started to glide over Jack, sometimes slowly and other times quickly. Her varying pace and movements forced a few light moans from Jack's mouth, who was incapable of denying the amount of relief he felt.

Taking her time, she worked every inch of Jack's back and shoulders before moving down his arms. Eventually, Eliza moved on to his feet before gradually moving up to his calves and thighs.

At every new area, she would briefly pause while applying more lotion, but it never lasted longer than a second. However, after rubbing Jack's thighs another pause occurred, one slightly longer than the others.

Jack was about to awake from his relaxation to check on Eliza but the massage quickly continued as she revisited his back. But something was different.

What was rubbing against his back... didn't feel like hands. They felt soft, yet firm. It was warm, yet shivers ran down Jack's spine as thought more about it.

"Do you want me to stop, Jack?"

Those soft words trickled into Jack's ear just before he hesitated. They caused him to drift back into relaxation and submit himself to the bliss.

Eliza smiled. Finally, Jack let down his walls.