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theelvenhaven · 2 years

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Archery Lessons

Requests: can you base something on Haldir teaching you how to use a bow but his brothers are keep on teasing him because Haldir is very much in love with you :) Please? Thank you - 🌙

A/N: I hope you enjoy this anon! <3

Haldir x Reader

2.5k words

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You stood there in silence, trying your hardest to ignore the audience that you had surrounding you. Even though it was just Rumil and Orophin that was here with you, you couldn’t help but be nervous. You had never picked up a weapon, especially a bow. Something that required such incredible skill compared to hacking and slashing more wildly with a sword- which you understood still took skill too.

Though you didn’t doubt the ellon who was going to teach you. Haldir had exceptional skills as an archer and had been more than generous in offering to teach you how to use a bow. Something he said you could do together, part of you hoped it would have just been the two of you. Yet you weren’t surprised that his brothers had decided to tag along.

“Now we will start simple, and we will work on just hitting any part of that target there.” Haldir began from in front of you and you watched the ellon pulling arrows from the target. Having demonstrated what to do. From beside you, you could hear Rumil and Orophin snorting out in response to his words.

Your eyes firmly fixated on the well made target before you, it was some distance from you but not too far. Giving you some confidence that you would actually be able to hit it, rather than miss despite your nerves. Haldir having moved out of the way and coming to stand behind you.

“That is about the only thing simple between the two of them…” You heard Rumil sniff in a teasing tone, though he tried to say it in a low voice to Orophin. You turned to look at the Haldir, who took a heavy breath, the ellon bringing his hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose at his brother's words. You couldn’t help but feel the heat burning on your face, pondering Rumil’s words. Orophin was snickering at what Rumil had said. ,

“Ignore them, Y/N.” Haldir said to you gently as he shot them a warning look from just behind you. You couldn’t help but smile faintly over the fact that he had called you by your name. Somehow you had managed to convince him to drop any formality he tried to refer to you as before your name. You supposed it helped that the setting was so casual, had it been anyone else around you other than Orophin and Rumil you knew Haldir wouldn’t have relented.

“Oh yes don’t mind us, you’ll hardly notice we are here.” Orophin grinned, folding his arms over his chest, and you only hoped that was the case. Haldir took a steadying breath before he moved to hand you an arrow.

“Nock your arrow and draw, all will be well if your stance isn’t perfect. I can help you adjust as necessary.” Haldir assured you in his instructions, you looked at him over your shoulder with the concern visible on your face. Haldir merely gave you a faint smile, motioning for you to begin.

You took a steadying breath, knocking your arrow, and drawing with your gloved hand as he instructed. Trying not to obsess over the fact that you didn’t have an inkling as to what you were doing and that you could possibly be messing this up. You were simply mimicking the things you had seen from Haldir when you had watched him practice. Haldir’s brothers were silent, not judging you, simply whispering between one another and you could feel Haldir’s eyes trained on you.

“Good, now can you see the target out of that eye the best?” Haldir asked you, and quietly you looked down at the target. Focusing for a moment as you tested to see if you could, before finally you slowly nodded. Relaxing your draw seeing as you weren’t going to be firing immediately, and didn’t tire yourself out before you even had a chance to shoot.

“I think so.” You responded in a soft tone, with some uncertainty. Haldir hummed at your words, and then gently you felt his hands reach around you. Beginning to adjust your stance, and you felt heat rise to your face. Haldir fought against the heat that found him, breathing in your scent, feeling your arms beneath his fingers and your back against his chest. Bringing his heart to pound and his stomach to flutter.

There was a temptation to bring you to release your bow and arrow, to pull you back into him and press his lips to yours that he so longed to do. But those annoying and pestering brothers that he loved, were watching his every move. Making mocking noises over what he was doing,

“He sure is lingering…” You could hear Orophin playfully criticizing, only serving to make Haldir blush further. He was grateful your back was too him and you couldn’t see just how flustered he was over this ordeal. Haldir knew he was going to hate what came next, not because his hands were going to touch you, but because of what his brothers might say.

“A little too long isn’t he?” Rumil whispered in return to Orophin, and you muttered something soft in rebuttal under your breath that was incoherent. You weren’t complaining that he was lingering so long in fact you welcomed it fully, you just wished there was privacy between you both.

“Now…” Haldir began in a softer voice than he intended, hesitating for a moment but bringing his hands down to your waist. Hands cupping around them, getting a resounding oooooooh from his brothers as they watched you two like nosy hawks.

“Shift your weight to the front of your feet, not on your toes. I will keep you from falling forward.” You could feel his breath against the shell of your ear and you repressed the shiver that you felt wanting to run through you over the feel of it. Damn his brothers for still being here. The tension between the two of you was becoming taut and they were just dampening the mood.

“Ooooh how romantic.” Rumil shot out in a teasing sing-song voice, making Orophin snicker at his words.

“Who knew Haldir had it in him?” Orophin bounced out to Rumil without any hesitation, Haldir huffed heavily, turning his head to glare at his brothers. You felt a reflexive squeeze of his hands on your waist as he angrily looked at them. A silent threat that they’d regret it if they continued to tease and press the situation, yet his threat had no effect on either of the brothers.

Both smiling widely at Haldir, trying to put on a more innocent expression to all their teasing while you just tried to focus on leaning on the balls of your feet. You couldn’t bring yourself to look at them, knowing they’d see right through you and how you were enjoying Haldir’s touches and hand placements and the closeness in which he was indulging with you.

Even if it was just a teaching setting, you certainly wished for it to continue and progress into something beyond him being your teacher. Once you were comfortable on the balls of for your feet, without worry that you would tip forward it was then his hands reluctantly left your waist. Haldir hoped that you didn’t notice his hesitance fighting back the heat that wanted to scorch his face… Curse his brothers.

“Now-” Haldir began, you could feel the warmth of his chest pressing against your back as he leaned forward to bring his hands to lift your arms up. Your face was scorching with heat, savoring the feel of him being so close. Smelling the cool scent of fir on his skin and clothes filling your nose, you fought the urge to turn your head to look at him.

Seeing his profile just out of your peripheral. If you turned your head… your nose would brush against his cheek… Yet if he turned his head too… Well then your lips would certainly meet his. You simply tried to get control of your breathing, though Haldir hadn’t missed the hitch in your breath, the way you seemed to tense a little as he touched you. Yet you didn’t thwart him, oh how he wished to yell for his brothers to leave. But it would only be dirt on him for them to use against him.

“I want you to hold your arms here, and draw… You will pull this arm back, and hold this one steady.” Haldir’s voice came to you in a soft breath, his lips almost brushing against your ear and you felt goosebumps rise on your skin. You repressed the shiver at the feeling of his breath fanning against your face, and with a shakier hand you began to draw the string of the bow back.

Haldir’s fingers gently brushing against the underside of your arm as he went with the motions. Before the sound of Orophin and Rumil oohing over the ordeal broke out, only bringing the tension to wind tighter.

“Ignore them.” He grumbled out bitterly, you could hear the glare that he wore on his face at his brothers pestering. Were it not for your quiet feelings of attraction for Haldir, you would’ve found amusement in all their jesting and joking. Yet you felt like they could see right through you and how you felt for their eldest brother. It only felt like they were making fun of you too rather than them just trying to get under their brother’s skin.

You barely nodded in return at Haldir’s words, just following his instructions as you drew your bow. Haldir’s fingers coming to your fingers, encouraging you to draw further,

“Hold it.” He breathed out, leaning his head into yours, his breath tickling your ear. By Eru…

“Now can you see the target down your sights?” Haldir asked, and you honestly weren’t sure. You could see the target, so you supposed that was the right answer. So you nodded your head at his words,

“Good… Now when you are ready, let go.�� For a moment you kept your gaze fixated on the target, the air was thick and heavy with tension, and the brothers were surprisingly quiet and without any jabs and jeers directed at their brother. Or you for that matter, finally you decided to chance it, unsure of when you’d ever be ready to release the arrow.

So you did so, feeling the string snap forward, launching the arrow forward bringing it to sail through the air. You held your breath as you watched before the arrow hit the target with a heavy thud, your heart pounding suddenly with excitement! You hit the target!

It wasn’t a bullseye, and it was just at the bottom edge of the target! But you did it!

Haldir smiled with satisfaction, for a first try with assistance it wasn’t bad, and he felt pride that you had done so well. It was as you both went to say something, your heads turned at the same time.

You turning your head to look up at him, and he down at you. Your noses softly brushing against one another, and his soft blue eyes looked back at yours before you watched them trail down your face.

For a moment all was still, and you were absolutely positive your heart stopped beating. There was a heavy fluttering in your stomach as butterflies filled you, Haldir once more heard the hitch in your breath as you went to hold it. His eyes focused on your lips that were slightly parted as you stopped before you could speak.

Haldir was amid a short battle between the urge to lean forward to kiss you, and without the distraction of his brothers to stop him… Haldir couldn’t resist. Closing the few inches in that distance, pressing his lips to yours firmly and with confidence.

You released a shuddering breath, bringing a hand up to cup his cheek as you melded your lips against his slowly. Time stood still, you felt his arms move to wrap around your waist, drawing you in closer to his body. It was hard and strong against yours, yet so gentle and careful with how Haldir treated you.

Though the moment didn’t last as long as you’d like and gently did Haldir break the kiss. Those soft blue eyes looking back down at you, tracing over your features. Committing them all to memory, admiring your beauty unable to resist staring now that finally he had kissed you. Something he landed to do for so long. Haldir went to open his mouth to speak, with you waiting on baited breath to only hear-

“It’s about TIME!” Orophin practically shouted, as he clapped his hands together. Rumil was nothing short of guilty as he too began to clap, the sarcasm palpable from the two brothers. Leaving you to smile as you curled your lips in, growing bashful as you kept close to Haldir.

“So much for archery lessons though, I think it was just an excuse to kiss.”

“Well at least he finally did it. We’ve only been waiting for a millennia.” Rumil exaggerated out, and you watched as Haldir snapped his head towards his brothers. While he in no way regretted kissing you, or spending this time with you, he certainly regretted his brothers being here.

Mood killers is what they were.

Gently Haldir pulled from you, and you watched as a look of horror found both brothers face as Haldir swiftly began to approach.

“Now we’ve done it. Run. Run!” Orophin said, scrambling to walk backwards and pulling Rumil with him. You couldn’t help but laugh watching the way the two of them were scrambling to run away. With Haldir hot on their heels.

“Just wait until I get my hands on you both!” Haldir barked out in a threat only pausing in his chase when he was sure his brothers were good and running away. Not wishing to leave you behind even despite the revenge he was going to enact against his brothers. He’d make sure that they’d regret the words they spoke here.

With a huff he turned to you, satisfied that they were smart enough to run and hide from him. Moving to approach you again, back with more confidence and less threatening as you smiled at him. Bringing his heart to stutter in his chest at the sight of it. If he had known that would be how he could get rid of his brothers, he would’ve done it much sooner.

“Let us continue.” Haldir said, but he could hear his brothers voices in the back of his mind poking fun at how it could insinuate with kissing. Only bringing him to blush deeply, “With archery. If that is what you wish.”

Haldir quickly clarified, closing his eyes as he stopped just before you. You grinned out at his words, unable to stop smiling, as you couldn’t wait to spend more time with him.

“I would like that very much, Haldir.” You responded, bringing him to relax before he took his place right behind you. Readying to enjoy archery lessons with you and without his annoying brothers.

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Tags: @saviorsong @lilmelily @dicksoutformtl @fandomhoe101 @icarus-fell-in-spring @red-riding @miriel-estelwen @ta-ka-shi-ma @nerdysimpy @thegirlwithoutaname87 @anunexpectedsideblog @spidergirla5 @eunoiaastralwings @eternalabysss

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mango-sp1ce · 2 years

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Family Leave

There's been an update to my Masterlist btw ;]

The Story Here!

here's the summary:

"He knows he can leave his kids unsupervised in his house. He's done it before. And sure, he has a lot of unexplained incredibly powerful objects just lying about. But his kids aren't stupid. One of em's even in his twenties.

Not to say they aren't dumb. They're definitely dumb. They're just not stupid. They'll be able to handle themselves.... ?

Nevermind. He's not leaving the house unless the dimensions are colliding. Fuck Gotham, fuck Batman, and fuck the League. No way.

Shit. It's mandatory."

#dp x dc #dp x dc crossover #dp x dc fanfic #dad!constantine #danny phantom #batfam #but not batpham #atleast #not yet maybe #dc #danny phantom x dc #fanfic writing #fanfc #danny phantom fanfiction #fanfiction #family leave dp

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inkformyblood · 1 year

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i lose all (but not him) #3

Codywan, slow-burn, canon verse with some divergence. Written with CWW23 prompts: day 2 trading weapons. Ao3 link here

(Cody knitting is introduced in this chapter)

When the war is over, Cody is never stepping foot on to a planet that rains again.

He wrenches his helmet up a scant few inches, the edge catching his nose and reopening the tear on his lip so the rainwater he spits out is streaked with red. It doesn’t matter, landing in the indistinguishable ground that is mostly mud and the parts that aren’t mud soon will be. With part of his face bare, the chill sets in, clawing at the edges of his gums and the exposed line of his chin, and it doesn’t slide away when he pulls his helmet back down. In the moment between the system flickering back into life, Cody waits in the delicate in-between, staring out across a bleak battlefield and wondering if he’s already dead.

He would hope that death would feel warmer or, at the very least, be drier in places.

His helmet systems flicker back into life, wavering between a wash of pale green that comes as standard loaded onto them straight out of the factory and Cody’s custom settings before it stabilises (much like Cody himself, factory made and manufactured and as heavily customised as he could stand). The scar on the side of his face itches before he knocks his wrist against the side of the helmet, pushing the foam lining back into place. It had been a long two weeks with a vibroblade and some borrowed cast-offs to try and mould it into something more comfortable and, even then, it still doesn’t fit quite right.

It doesn’t matter.

Nothing else matters right now.

Cody clicks his teeth together, pulling up the scroll of reports, scanning through them and dismissing them in the same moment. The plan is a good plan, enough variation to prevent the droids from learning their tactics and beginning to use them against the infinitely more fragile clones, but it isn’t good enough and it never will be. The counter in the top right of Cody’s helmet keeps flickering up and up and up, never moving downwards. He doesn’t know if the other Commanders have the same, he suspects Fox doesn’t. The Coruscant Guard is too far removed from the main bulk of the army for a count of their dead to be anything other than a blade Fox would craft himself, hone it to a sharp point and pierce it between his own ribs again and again and again and again with every tick of the counter upwards. Red on their armour, red on his hands, and for what? The Guard are lambs to a slaughter in an entirely different battlefield of senators who don’t see them as human, just poseable accessories.

Another blink, another increase in the counter.

Diving into another thread, Cody pulls up a secondary helmet cam with a blink, dismisses it in the same moment and turns to another. He thinks, to himself and to the small patch of thought that isn’t his and twists around a scrap of his mind regardless — a net snarled around his foot, waiting for him to stop struggling so the whirling scavengers overhead could descend and pick his bones clean, but why, why wait until he’s grown, why wait at all — that this could be what a Jedi feels like, connected to everything and everyone and bearing witness to their deaths. Two of the helmet cams Cody taps into are still, wedged into the mud and nearly swallowed by it; one is in the medbay and Cody catches a glimpse of a medic, their face bare and their eyes wild; and several more are moving, fighting, still alive. Cody notes their locations on the map, comparing it to the plan.

He only catches one glimpse of the General. He is the General on the battlefield, a clear line of distinction drawn and held and then pushed as far as regulations would allow. He has to be because there are decisions to be made, choices that Cody would make if he needed to and that Skywalker couldn’t comprehend the need of. Obi-Wan trusted Cody to make them, he trusted him.

(In an aftermath of one of those choices, Skywalker could be tricky. The errant patch of not-his thoughts locks on this, a scratch across Cody’s skull from the inside out, an incessant questioning why. It would take up too much time, time Cody couldn’t spare, to work through the necessary thought sequences to negate the demand so he answers.

Response: Skywalker cares for Obi-Wan. He doesn’t listen to him or obey his instructions at a rate of 64.5% but he would become unstable if Obi-Wan was deliberately injured or killed. He can’t know.)

Cody wonders why there’s a part of himself that he doesn’t know.

He wonders if the others have it to.

An explosion echoes to his left, a distant kick-back of dirt spraying over his up-raised arm and knocking against the crevases of his helmet. His trim is barely still orange, the paint chipped away from the last campaign and he hadn’t found the time to correct it yet. If Cody’s map is right, and his map is right, then the explosion has something to do with the General. The original plan hadn’t called for any explosions but, giving Skywalker some allowance because the General asked him to, Cody had relented.

Obi-Wan and Skywalker’s relationship is strange,

It doesn’t match to any command flow Cody knows. They had all been briefed on the practices within the Jedi Order prior to their deployment, the channel from Padawan to Knight to Master clear enough even if the promotions don’t seem to be based on anything solid. Obi-Wan had been vague about the subject of his own Knighting, merely stating that it had been a long time ago in a voice that hadn’t seemed stable enough to carry all of his grief, but he persisted through it.

Cody waits for Skywalker to be decommissioned.

The Kaminoans wouldn’t have waited for this long.

He wonders if it would happen at all. He hopes not, dares to hope in a tiny fledging thing that doesn’t have a shape yet and is lodged somewhere in the hollow of Cody’s throat, keeping the grief-stricken scream inside because if it had been wrong — if it had been as incomprehensible to the galaxy at large as Cody thinks it might be — then why did his batch die?

Another explosion, closer this time.

Cody flicks through the helmet cams once more, catching the raised edge of the torn skin on his lip between his teeth and pulling at it. The pain is immediate, a deep pulse that he can feel in the upper echelons of his skull and far more than the tiny scrap of missing skin would suggest. Just a glimpse. He just needs a moment to see if the General, if Obi-Wan is safe, he needs—

(Hand out.)

Cody obeys.

Several things happen in quick succession, absorbed at the time, only to haunt Cody in his sleepless nights. In some, the lightsaber slips through his fingers, or he hadn’t held his hand out in time, and he watches it sink into the mud to rot along with countless corpses that have his face. Sometimes, the lightsaber activates as it falls, often blood red instead of blue and Cody, sweat soaked and trembling in his tangle of blankets when he wakes, cannot say which one is worse, which one hurts the most when it cuts into him and slides through his armour like it isn’t even there. Other times, it isn’t Obi-Wan who slams into the bolt hole next to him, his robes long gone and his hair braided back from his face and faintly smoking, it’s an unknown figure but Cody is afraid, so afraid, and those nights he wakes with his nails cutting lines into his cheeks to keep himself from screaming.

The lightsaber hits his palm, Obi-Wan hits the ground next to him, and Cody moves, curling himself over Obi-Wan, his arm raised to shield them both.

“Hello, Commander. Fancy seeing you here.”

“Sir.”

This close, Cody can make out the ethereal shine around Obi-Wan’s iris, the universe bleeding into him and peering through the crack in the haphazardly bolted bay door. His cheeks are flushed, not the deep hue of cherries that Cody always thinks of but the paler pink of exertion. Despite this, Obi-Wan’s breathing is regular, made impossibly more perceptible by the absence of his outer robe and the close fit of his tunic. Cody notices. He always does.

“Are you hurt?” Obi-Wan cups Cody’s helmet in his hands, his fingers marked as an intrusion on his HUD, one Cody is warned to remove as soon as he can.

“Minor impact from a droid earlier, sir.” Cody’s side aches, his breath catching at the height of his inhalation, but the likely bruise was well-earned. The droid had crumbled beneath his boot, a wail breaking off into a crackle of sparks, but the resulting blow jammed his chest plate into his torso.

He wishes he wasn’t wearing his helmet.

Obi-Wan hums, his mouth twisting to one side as his brow furrows. It isn’t dissimilar to the expression he wears whenever a new scientific article lands amongst his paperwork, scattered throughout the regimented forms and updates that boil down the lives of an entire battalion to nothing more than a few lines of text. Cody holds still and lets Obi-Wan study him.

It should feel uncomfortable, holding the same pinpoint attention to detail that the Kaminoans do, but Cody doesn’t feel the urge to square his shoulders or hold his breath in case the slightest flaw would betray him. Instead, he relaxes into Obi-Wan’s hold, lets his breathing slow to an easy roll, and commits the pinch of the freckle beneath Obi-Wan’s eye as he smiles to memory. Cody feels like it might be raised slightly to the touch, not the harsh line of Cody’s scar but a slow incline and fall, barely noticeable except through touch and intention. Obi-Wan’s thumb smooths over the ridge of his helmet, captured in delicate wireframe and saved to his internal memory in the same blink. Obi-Wan removes his other hand, dropping to work his fingers into Cody’s free hand, and Cody realises he is still holding Obi-Wan’s lightsaber like he intends to use it, a curled grip rather than a flat palm. Obi-Wan would let him too, Cody knows, and he doesn’t have the full spectrum words for the emotion that blooms in his chest because love doesn’t seem like it would be enough, and yet, and yet…

He loves Obi-Wan.

He’d let him die if he had to.

Both things are true.

“Breath in,” Obi-Wan murmurs, his touch nothing more than dull pressure against the thick material of Cody’s glove, but he’s pressing steadily, harder than he would for any nat-born just so Cody can feel it. He obeys, breaths in and tastes ash layering over his tongue that the scrubbers can’t fully remove from the air, the tang of a blasterpack charge, and something sweet, sweet despite everything.

“And out.”

Something clicks in Cody’s side, a bright burst of pain, and then, nothing. He raises his hand, lightsaber still clutched in his grasp, and presses his knuckles against the offending chest-plate, searching for the injury he knows is there, or had been there.

“Force healing is not my speciality, I’m afraid,” Obi-Wan says, his nose wrinkling before he settles back into easy familiar grin. The emotional wound isn’t fresh, scarred over and buried deep but never deep enough. Cody recognises the worry, the concern that he would never be good enough, would never be enough, and his heart twists. He tips his head, presses his helmeted cheek into Obi-Wan’s hold for a moment.

“Thank you, sir.”

It feels better than bacta, as if he had never been hurt in the first place.

“You’re quite welcome, Cody.”

Another explosion rumbles through the earth and Cody barely needs to shift to cover Obi-Wan’s head, the other man tucked close and curling himself impossibly closer. He’s taller than Cody by a head, his superior in a war that Cody had been created to fight in, but none of that matters when they’re folded together like this, conversation flowing between them like they’ve known each other for years, barely needing to try. It’s nice. Cody hadn’t expected anything in his life to be nice before.

A confession would be ill-timed for all of the literature extoling the virtues of a battlefield confession. There’s a holoshow that the shinies are particularly fond of, consumed in tiny crackling segments as they sprawl across their regulation bunks that are pressed so tightly together that they may as well be in the same bed or perched atop of shipping crates, the volume turned up loud enough that the sound echoes. Cody would turn a corner, pause by the hollowed-out tubes and listen to a story that he could feel in his bones. A few of the newer troopers, their armour plain and their faces unmarked, named themselves after the main leads, a handful for each.

Cody knows he loves Obi-Wan. That would have to be enough.

“I feel like giving Anakin this much free reign may have been a mistake.” Obi-Wan doesn’t move away from Cody as they straighten, settling into the crater next to him as easily as he would drop himself onto the small sofa in his room for afternoon tea. He tugs on the cuffs of his tunic, scuffing his fingers along the singed edge before moving on to checking his boots. Cody watches him, the feed flickering in the corner of his vision, the counter creeping ever upwards.

Another blink, another scan through the feeds tracking the twirling glow of blue and destruction. “It is working, sir. Regretfully.”

Obi-Wan breaks into laughter, tipping his head back and squeezing his eyes shut.

One of the main characters in the holo is clearly modelled after a Jedi, charismatic in a way that stretched beyond the allowance of disbelief, magic in a way that isn’t defined but just is, and they’re wearing robes. It isn’t specified which Jedi he is based off of, a brief glance at the holonet revealed threads and forums and one enterprising chat room that Cody is only reasonably confident isn’t entirely made of up other clones that are all embroiled in discussion over who it could be.

Cody knows.

The shock of bright red hair when compared with Obi-Wan’s silver shot auburn had been enough of a giveaway, but a single ‘my dear’ and Cody had been hooked just as surely as he is in love with Obi-Wan. Cody quite likes having hobbies. He can see why nat-borns are so fond of them.

“I shall see you in a moment, my dear Commander. If I could just?” Obi-Wan reaches, not for the saber Cody is already offering him, but for Cody’s belt, unhooking his blaster.

Cody nods, his ears ringing from the sudden rush of blood to his head, his face flushing.

Obi-Wan checks the blaster like he had been made to do so. It doesn’t look as natural as it would for another clone, the motions threaded through their DNA and braided into their muscles, practiced again and again until they could complete a blaster check blind and bloody on the battlefield, but it’s close enough. It doesn’t hold the same heady weight as Obi-Wan wearing his armour, blasters are a credit a crate with no identifiable markers to them save for the serial number and whatever damage they might have accrued, but the blaster is still Cody’s for the time being, and, like Cody, the blaster is now Obi-Wan’s.

“You can use my saber, if you’d like.” The tips of Obi-Wan’s ears are pink but his voice is measured in exacting quantities. “The element of surprise can only be a benefit to us both.”

“Yessir,” Cody answer, automatic, without thinking, because if Obi-Wan only asked him to, Cody would tear the universe down and rebuild it with his bare hands. He might do that anyway. Call it a new hobby or something.

Obi-Wan winks and uncoils from the crater, throwing himself over the lip of it without a moment’s hesitation. Cody waits, forces his heartbeat to steady, and follows him.

⁂

Cody doesn’t think he’ll ever get used to the hush after battle. There’s pockets of noise, the beginnings of a rudimentary camp pooled around the main stronghold and clones sit shoulder to shoulder, pooled across each other’s laps as they compare new scars and pick up old conversations; the spills of shouts from the medtent, still fighting their own battles that will be neatly packaged into a report for Cody to despair over later.

He moves past them all. Made apart, alone.

“Commander!”

Cody turns at the call, his brow furrowing as he scans his immediate surroundings. The battlefield is churned to near abstraction, hollows pitted over the surface from the heavy cannons fired from the AT-AT’s. A few lay where they had fallen, legs crumpled beneath them, and Cody looks towards the closest one, the chest caved in by an improvised round he is reasonably confident is inert. Obi-Wan perched atop waves down to him, his hair a halo of fire in the sun peeking through the heavy cloud cover.

Without being asked, just because he wants to, Cody makes his way over to him, the mud clinging to his boots. They won. They’re both safe and here and together. He can love like this, in moments.

The metal creaks beneath him as he climbs, Cody far more compact than the graceful stretch of Obi-Wan and made heavier from the dense makeup of his bones and the heft of his armour. Beneath the burn of the exertion, Cody thinks about Obi-Wan, about the splash of freckles over his face and arms and the hidden constellations contained within them. Moles were commonplace and Cody had seen in the medical files that one of the shinies had patches of paler skin that had slowly grown over one arm and the side of his face while he had been in the vat, but they had nothing quite like freckles. They were different. They were new.

“Here, Cody. Let me help.”

Obi-Wan braces himself against the hollowed out chest of the machine, stretching his arm down to Cody. He’s shed more layers, the long sleeves of his tunic exchanged for the uneven colouration and broad straps of his under tunic, and Cody snaps his gaze away, unable to find a safe place to let it land. If he looks at Obi-Wan directly, even now, he’ll fall apart and not know why that would ruin them both. After the war, he thinks desperately, catching the thought in his teeth and tasting copper. He can tell Obi-Wan after the war.

Cody takes his hand without hesitation.

“Thank you, sir,” Cody says, swaying slightly as he adjusts his footing on the makeshift platform. They aren’t exceptionally high up given the hunched form, but the wind tugs at every exposed edge of his armour, working its way beneath to the thin fabric of his blacks. Sweat has dried along his brow and the divot of his spine and he feels the chill keenly there. Obi-Wan reclines back into his chosen spot and pats the ground next to him. It reminds Cody, somehow, of the low couch in Obi-Wan’s room, cosy despite the surroundings, somewhere that he would like to be. He sits next to Obi-Wan, stretching his legs out to match the other man after a moment. Obi-Wan’s arm stretches along the back of them, his fingers tapping against the edge of the metal.

“I believe you dropped this, sir?” Cody unclips the lightsaber from the new piece of hardware he had commissioned. It detaches with a fresh click and Obi-Wan watches the movement. He can’t fully describe the look on the other man’s face — a bright mixture of sheer delight and something else that feels sweet like cherries — but Cody grins despite himself. He’s still wearing his helmet and he sits forward, pulling it off with his free hand and sets it down next to him. He doesn’t hide his grin.

His heart twists and stammers in his chest, a faulty cog left to rust, consequences be damned.

Obi-Wan breaks into laughter as the sun peers through a crack in the cloud, the universe cradling him close and bathing him — and Cody as they’re pressed so close, thigh to thigh and hip to hip, Obi-Wan’s fingertips an intermittent brand against Cody’s pauldron — in glorious golden sunlight. Cody tips his face back and closes his eyes. There’s no counter here, no steady stream of alerts and reports, just the endless comforting hush of sun-streaked evenings. Although, it could be morning. He hasn’t checked his chronometer for anything other than expected explosions for a while now.

“It’s evening,” Obi-Wan answers, his words rumbling through Cody. “And this is one of my favourite ways to spend them.”

“On an AT-AT with a clone?” Cody asks, feeling his words slip and stumble into each other. It didn’t feel worth the effort to properly move to speak clearly, exhaustion sitting heavy in his bones.

“Spending time with a friend,” Obi-Wan corrects. There’s a warm press against the top of Cody’s head, his thoughts firing like a speeder before they tick back over into idling, consumed by the knowing that Obi-Wan has tipped his head sideways and rested his temple against the crown of Cody’s head.

Obi-Wan continues, his fingers migrating from tapping against the metal to marking out that same rhythm against Cody’s pauldron. “I did catch that last kick against the droid however. It was very fine work, Cody.”

“Thank you.” Cody pauses, swallows past the anchor in his throat. “Obi-Wan.”

He isn’t Force-sensitive, but he doesn’t need to be to feel the burst of joy from the other man, the brightness of his grin that can’t be uniquely cast just for Cody but he can fool himself that it is, just for the moment; the release of tension that Obi-Wan always carries too strongly down his right side that matches Cody down to the clenched fist on his left, his habitual reach despite everything the Kaminoans tried to implant in them so it had only made sense to attach the lightsaber clip to his left hip; the tap-tap-tap of Obi-Wan’s fingers against his pauldron slipping into a different rhythm, a repeated set of threes again and again and again.

“I appreciate the use of your blaster also,” Obi-Wan says, finally, his laughter colouring his words a trembling shade of honey. He pulls it free from his belt and reaches over to place it in Cody’s cupped hands, curling Cody’s fingers over it almost absent-mindedly. It must be an action he’s used to from the Temple, Cody can remember a similar exchange occurring with the shinies, and Obi-Wan catches himself with a soft exhalation midway through Cody’s fourth finger before he continues. “You can tell me if I overstep, Cody. I don’t want you to ever feel uncomfortable because of something I have done.”

“If you do so,” Cody says, the undertones of a vow in his words because he could follow through now, he can make that choice. “I will tell you.”

“Good.”

Obi-Wan stretches, breaking the brief moment of contact between them and Cody mourns it all the more for knowing that it would end. It’s a full body stretch, closer to the muscle-stretching bone-realigning heft after stumbling from a bed that he hasn’t had to leave for hours, and Obi-Wan’s undertunic rides up, bunching at his shoulders and exposing the curve of his belly, a line of dark hair stretching from the curiosity of his navel down. Cody averts his gaze downwards, past their feet towards the landscape beyond but something else catches his eye.

“You’re wearing the socks?”

They’re by no means perfect or even symmetrical. Cody had studied the instructions from the holonet and the accompanying video made by a bubbling young Twi’lek until the images of her careful creation had been burned into his neural pathways and his too-big room had felt like it fit a little better, but he knew his didn’t match. One stretches far above it’s brother, the heel catching Obi-Wan halfway up his ankle and it had bunched in the curve of his foot, the repeating pattern broke in several places, wandering back into general cohesion before slipping away once more. He had run out of the wool part the way through one as well, the remnants fuzzy and clinging to itself and everything else, and the replacement is a brighter hue, unnoticeable until the two were joined together over the toes.

“Of course,” Obi-Wan hooks his fingers through Cody’s, squeezing them tight and Cody returns the gesture, dares to hope that he could survive like this. “They’re perfect.”

Socks is, perhaps, a slight stretch to call the garment that Cody had made. He had followed the instructions from the holonet and watched a video until the images had burned into his neural pathways while he had been folded into his single bunk in a room that felt too large for just him, but the objects he produced only bore a passing similarity to socks.

“Thank you, Obi-Wan. I’m glad you liked them.”

“Oh,” Obi-Wan laughs and everything is right with the universe once more. “I more than like them, Cody. I love them.”

#codywan #obi wan kenobi #commander cody #obi wan x cody #cody x obi wan #commander cody x obi wan #star wars #my writing #fanfc

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study-coffee-chicago · 6 months

Text

Pirate AU (An Upstead + Upton Sister Imagine)

A/N: I've been working on this one on and off since July. But, between moving out for the first time, full-time grad school, and working almost full-time, I'm finally getting it out now. Don't forget to reblog and comment! Also, the italics are the "present" and the regular font is the story/"past". I just didn't want to write almost the whole thing in italics.

Anyway, enjoy!

"The girls want a story," Duchess Natalie Halstead said to her husband, Duke Will Halstead, one night.

"And you can't tell them one because...?" Will trailed off and looked up from the letter he was writing.

"Because they say you do the voices better than me, and well, I agree on that front. So, if you would like our two lovely daughters to even think about sleeping tonight, I think you should come and tell them a story."

"How old do you think they'll have to be to go to bed without listening to a bedtime story?"

"I for one think it's adorable. Now please, I'd like to get out of this horrid corset in the next hour."

Will smirked, stood up, and pulled his wife close to him. "Only if you'll let me help you out of that corset later."

Natalie blushed. "Will, you scoundrel. Guess you've got some of your brother in you after all."

"More than just a little, love. But, I reckon you already know that."

He began kissing her, but she stopped him. "Will, the girls."

Will stopped and cleared his throat. "Right, yes. Bedtime story."

Natalie scoffed. "You men are so easily distracted, I sometimes wonder how you manage to wage war on each other."

"We have our moments of clarity. Plus, usually you're not around then to distract me."

Natalie rolled her eyes. "You're insufferable sometimes, do you understand that?"

"I do, but—"

"No, buts. C'mon."

Then, the two made their way to their oldest daughter's bedroom where both daughters were seated on the bed, impatiently awaiting a bedtime story.

"Daddy!" they squealed.

"Oh, will you tell us a bedtime story, pretty please?" The oldest asked.

He pulled up two chairs for he and his wife and then they both sat down.

"What will it be tonight?" Will asked.

"The pirate princess, oh please, Daddy!"

"Yes! The pirate princess, please!"

Natalie laughed. This was the one the girls always requested and Will must've told the story every week at this point.

But, Will would do anything to keep his daughters happy, so he began the story.

"Once upon a time, there were two girls and they were running..."

"Hailey!" you whisper-shouted. "Slow down!"

"We've got to hurry while it's still dark, Y/N. C'mon! And don't slip or else we'll be found out."

The two continued moving as fast as they could down the docks holding their skirts up so the dirty water wouldn't soak them.

They continued moving until they saw a ship with no torches lit.

"This one. Hurry."

You looked the ship up and down. The only way you could get aboard was to hold on to a rope that connected the dock to the ship and there was one rope that was connected to a rope ladder.

Your older sister, Hailey, was already on her hands and knees, preparing to grip the rope and maneuver herself across and to the ladder.

"Hailey," you hissed.

The only way to see was by the light of the moon and underneath was the dark abyss of the ocean. There was no telling what lurked below if you didn't make it across to the ladder.

"It's the only way," she told you. "I'll go first so that I can help you across if I need to." Then, she took off her shoes and stockings. "Enough with these. They'll only make it harder. You, too, Y/N. Get rid of them." Then, she dropped hers in the ocean and you tentatively took off your shoes and began working on your stockings while Hailey grabbed tightly onto the rope.

You held your breath as Hailey made her way across and thought your heart was going to stop when she took one hand off the rope and put it onto the rope ladder. Then, she moved her other hand to the ladder as well and then her feet.

"C'mon, it's simple. Just don't let go and look straight ahead," she told you.

"Hailey," you whined.

"Y/N, c'mon now. You can do it. You don't want to go back to dad after this, do you?" Hailey knew it was wrong of her to use one fear to get you to do another thing that scared you, but it was all she had at her disposal at the moment. She sighed. "I'll grab onto your hand as soon as you get close to me. Now hurry."

You crouched down just as Hailey had done and then listened to all her instructions about how to get across.

You moved across at a snail's pace, all while looking down as little as possible and trying not to think about what lay in the dark waters below.

Finally, you got to the point where you could grab onto Hailey.

She moved up on the ladder so that you had room to grab on. She left one foot dangling off, though.

"If you think you can't reach the ladder, just grab my foot."

"O- Okay."

"Now, keep your feet clamped around the rope and move one hand to the ladder."

You did so and felt your whole body shake while doing this.

Hailey directed you on how to continue and eventually, you were both securely holding onto the rope ladder that hung over the side of the ship.

Then, you climbed.

Hailey got to the top first of course.

"I'm gonna get on to the ship and then I'll reach over in case you need help."

Without giving you time to respond, Hailey made her way over the edge of the ship and onto the upper deck.

"This is the easy part," she reassured you.

And she was right, it was the easier part. You got over easily and Hailey held your arm as you made the final leap onto the ship so that your landing wouldn't be so loud as to arouse suspicion.

"Now what?" you whispered.

"Hold onto my hand," Hailey ordered. "We're going to try and find a door and it's dark, so I don't need you getting lost."

You walked around the ship for what felt like hours, and with each passing second, your palm got a little more sweaty thinking about the fact that you could be found out.

Eventually, with the help of what little you and Hailey could see by using the light of the moon, you found a door.

"Keep holding my hand," Hailey told you as she eased it open.

Hailey made her way down the first few steps, and you followed, and then she told you to close the door.

"But, Hailey! We won't be able to see!"

"Shh! Keep your voice down," she whispered sternly.

"I'm sorry, Hailey," you mumbled.

Hailey didn't respond, but you did hear a rustling close to you and then, there was a scratching sound and you could see by the light of a small flame that Hailey was holding.

She had brought matches.

"Now stay quiet," Hailey told you as the two of you began descending the stairs.

There were multiple places Hailey could've turned off of the dark staircase, but she continued down it until you got to the very bottom and, in turn, to the very last possible door.

Hailey tried the door and winced as it squeaked. She paused and held her breath, waiting for movement indicating that someone was on the ship and had heard.

But nothing came.

Hailey quickly opened the door, pulled you inside, and then reached over you to close the door as quietly as the squeaky door allowed.

The match was burning low—almost to Hailey's fingers—so she quickly shook it to extinguish it and held the dead match between her teeth. Then, she let go of your hand and quickly grabbed the packet of matches from between her dress and struck it.

"Follow me," she whispered.

You diligently followed Hailey while looking around you.

Everything around you was covered in thin blankets and netting and the few things that were uncovered were a few barrels.

You followed Hailey to the very back, to something that was covered by a blanket or tarp, you couldn't be sure.

"Hold this up while I look under it," Hailey told you and you lifted whatever kind of fabric it was so that Hailey could look underneath. "Just more barrels," she told you. "Under you go."

"What about you?" You asked.

"I'll be under after you. I want to make sure you're hidden because if there's only room for one, then I'll have to find another place to stow away."

"But, I don't—"

"Y/N, get under there. Now."

Hailey hated being this stern with you, but she'd rather this than the alternatives.

You got underneath the thick fabric and waited to see if you'd hear Hailey's footsteps moving away from you.

Instead, you felt the fabric being lifted once more and then heard Hailey blow out the match and felt her sit down next to you. There was a slight rustling as she made sure the fabric covered all of her and then, it was silent.

"How long do we stay here?" you asked Hailey.

"What did I tell you?" she asked.

"Until we don't understand what people are saying?"

"Until we don't know the language, that's right," Hailey confirmed.

"How long will that be?"

"I do not know, Y/N. I do not know."

***

12 hours later

"What I can't believe is that I'm just now learning that all five of you decided it would be a good idea to leave the ship unattended overnight. You boys are a half step above powder monkeys for god's sake and you can't even do one simple thing right. Next time I'm just gonna have to order two of you to stay on the ship. I tried to be reasonable and let you decide amongst yourselves who'd be staying, but I can't do that now, can I?" Captain Jay Halstead took a deep breath to steady himself before he exploded even more on the boys who were between the ages of sixteen and twenty. "Go check the stores in the orlop, make sure nothing was taken while you five were out gambling, drinking, getting laid, and having yourselves a grand ole' time last night."

The five youngest crew members walked away from their captain without a word to go do as they were told.

***

Hailey could feel her heart beating out of her chest as she rubbed soothing circles on your back. The seas didn't feel very choppy to her, but she had also been drunk before so she was used to the world spinning in circles while she tried to keep her composure. She'd give just about anything right now to be able to get you a cup of water or peppermint tea to help soothe your upset stomach. But, unfortunately, neither of these were options.

"It's okay. It's okay," she soothed. Luckily for both of you, you had nothing in your stomach, so you were only dry heaving. Hailey wished something— anything— would come out if only to stop you from being so miserable.

"I don't think he's being reasonable," Hailey heard someone saying. "It's not like he's never done—"

"Would you just shut up?" another voice asked. "Let's just do what we're told. I'm not losing my spot on this ship because of you."

"Y/N, I need you to be very quiet, okay?" Hailey said.

"But, I—" you tried, but were cut off by your older sister. Then you gagged again.

"Hold your breath if you have to," Hailey urged.

You took a deep breath through your nose and then held it just as the two of you heard a door swing open.

"I'll start with this side, you take that one. Check under everything, especially the food and drink stores."

Then, there were more footsteps.

You tugged on the sleeve of Hailey's dress as your eyes went wide but she just held a finger to her lips. Then, you covered your mouth and breathed as deep as you could through your nose to hold your breath again.

But, you felt the strong urge to gag and empty the contents of your stomach as the footsteps of men echoed throughout the room.

You looked at Hailey as tears came to your eyes and you opened your mouth and gagged.

Hailey squeezed her eyes shut.

"What was that?"

"Wasn't me."

"Check under everything. It sounded like it came from that way."

Footsteps grew closer and closer to where you and Hailey were hiding.

Hailey knew what she had to do. She had come on this ship to save you, and now she was going to possibly get herself in trouble to try and save you once more.

She took one last look at your pale and sweaty face and then ducked out from under the fabric.

Hailey put her hands up as all five of the boys'—they were not yet men— eyes landed on her.

"I mean you no harm."

The boy who had his hand on the sheath of his sword withdrew his hand and put it back at his side.

"What do we do?" one asked. "It's a lady."

"Go get the captain," said the one who looked the oldest.

"You're going to make me look like the crazy one? What will I say? Captain Halstead, please come to the orlop right now. There's a lady down here?"

"Yes!"

"He'll think I'm bluffing. Are you—"

"Go!"

He left and Hailey heard his footsteps bounding up the stairs and a faint call of Captain!

"How'd you get here in the first place?"

"I—"

Hailey was cut off by the sound of retching.

The one who had been talking and giving orders didn't hesitate to take a few long strides and lift up the fabric that was concealing you.

You screamed and then scrambled up and ran to Hailey.

"Two of yous. Anyone else you hiding down here?" he asked.

"No, there's no one else," Hailey answered and pushed you behind her. "Please, don't do anything to hurt us. Please."

Then, there were more thundering footsteps and a booming voice.

"If you are trying to make a fool out of me, I swear—" This man— who Hailey assumed as the captain— paused when he saw that his men hadn't actually been lying. "Oh."

"There's two of them, Captain."

You retched again and the captain moved to be able to see you hiding behind Hailey.

"One of which is a child who looks to be quite seasick," the captain said. "Come to one of the upper decks so we can help her," he offered.

Hailey stayed where she was, and in turn, so did you.

"I don't mean to harm you," the captain said. "I give you my word."

Hailey never trusted anyone easily, especially men. And she wasn't going to start now.

"Give up your sword," she said sternly.

"I beg your pardon," said the captain.

"Lay down your sword as a show of good faith and then we'll come with you."

"And how am I to know you won't pick it back up and use my own weapon against me?" he asked.

Hailey motioned to either side of her. "I'm clearly outnumbered here. It would be a death wish if I did that, don't you think?"

"Bold thing, aren't you?" Hailey kept her expression stern and didn't even so much as blink at his words. "Fine. If I set down my sword, will you both come up to one of the decks with me? I can have someone get clean water and oranges for you both."

"Correct," Hailey confirmed.

Then, with both his eyes still on this mystery girl who had snuck onto his ship, Captain Jay Halstead unsheathed his sword and laid it on the ground.

"Follow me."

You grabbed for Hailey's hand as she started to follow the captain. You'd heard stories of pirates, of them making prisoners walk the plank and how they locked others up in the lower decks and chained them up until they got to a port and could bring the prisoners to a proper prison.

Your lip began to tremble, but you bit it to stop from crying. Crying didn't help you escape your father and it wasn't going to help a pirate have mercy on you either.

You got to the top of the stairs and then the captain opened the door, the bright noon sun so blinding that you had to put a hand up over your eyes.

"One of you get oranges and drinking water for them," the captain ordered the boys who had found you and Hailey. "The rest of you, leave. Do not come to this deck unless absolutely necessary until I say so."

There was a chorus of yes, Captain and one saying that he'd get the food and drink.

The captain quickly moved two boxes. He gestured toward them. "Sit, please." Hailey skeptically looked up at him. "Please, I insist. Again, I mean you no harm."

Hailey looked at you and nodded and the two of you sat on the boxes, you still holding her hand. The captain moved closer to you both and sat down cross-legged on the deck.

All of the fear you had felt these past few minutes made you forget about your seasickness, but now that you were sitting still, you started to feel the familiar feeling of nausea.

"Hailey, I think..." you trailed off and dry heaved once more.

Hailey opened her mouth to comfort you, but the captain cut her off. "Take a few deep breaths and don't fight it," he told you. "If you fight it, you'll make it worse. Be one with the sea." He turned his attention to Hailey. "Once we get you some water and oranges, if it's okay with you, we can get her a mixture of wine and wormwood. Pirate's remedy for seasickness."

"Only a few sips," Hailey answered.

Then, there were footsteps coming toward you and the younger pirate handed you and Hailey each a glass of drinking water and two oranges. The captain then ordered him to go get the wine and wormwood mixture for you.

You were completely focused on not throwing up while you took small sips of your water and started to peel your orange that you weren't really listening to what the captain and your sister were saying. That was until you were through with your first orange and were almost done peeling your second.

What you heard made your heart drop.

"You'll have to tell me why you're here, love," the captain—he had mentioned his name but you were too busy trying not to vomit that you had forgotten it already—said. "I can't in good conscience let two ladies live with scoundrels for no good reason."

You saw Hailey hesitate, trying to figure out how much of your lives to reveal. In the end, she decided on the safest reason, which was also the reason why the two of you had run.

"Our father," she began, "he's not a good man. He's trying to marry her off to pay his debts. She's only twelve years old. We had no other choice but to run. Please, Captain Halstead. Let us stay."

You had never heard Hailey like this. She was usually so stern, so strong, so...independent. And here she was, practically begging a stranger to let the two of you stay on a pirate ship, mainly for your safety.

She'd rather have the two of you live with pirates who ruled the seven seas than have you go back home.

"I see," was all he said.

Then, he took a closer look at you. You looked like a terrified little girl, one who was not close to the eligible age of marriage. He may be a scoundrel, but he wasn't a brute.

Then, he was saved by the wine and wormwood being brought to you. The pirate handed it to him and then he held it out to you.

"Please, take it," he said. "It'll help."

You slowly reached out and grabbed it. The captain didn't let go until he knew it was securely in your grasp.

"Thank you," you softly whispered.

He knew then that he had no choice but to let you and Hailey stay. After all, when he became a pirate, he was also running from something. It wasn't dangerous, but he was trying to leave the life he was born into behind. So, in some way, he understood what you and Hailey were doing. Who was he to refuse someone the right to create their own destiny?

"I'll let you stay," Captain Halstead said. "On two conditions: One, you both sleep in my captain's quarters, and two, you call me Jay."

***

"Really, we can stay somewhere else," Hailey said to Jay once more. "We don't want to kick you out."

Jay waved his hand. "Nonsense. I can't let the two of you sleep downstairs with a bunch of smelly men. You'll be much more comfortable up here anyway. Plus, it'll help with Y/N's seasickness. You feeling better, love?" Jay asked you.

You nodded, still wary of the seemingly nice pirate.

"Good, I'm glad. If you two would like to stay here and get some rest, you are more than welcome to. Or, you can go out to the other deck we were just on. Not much to do out there now though since most of us are working after going to port yesterday."

"Thank you. I think we'll just stay in here to rest."

"Right then. Make yourselves at home. I'll bring up dinner when it's finished along with more water and some more wine and wormwood just in case."

Then, Jay nodded politely to the two girls and left his captain's quarters.

He needed to figure out what to do and he needed to do it fast.

Adam or Kevin? he thought. Adam or Kevin? Adam's the quartermaster because of how good he is at fighting and Kevin's the sailing master because of his smarts and logic...Kevin.

So, Jay made his way back down to the orlop to retrieve his sword from where he had laid it down in a show of good faith and made his way to the helm where Kevin was standing at the wheel, despite the seas being very calm today.

"Kevin, can I steal you a moment? I need to talk something over with you," Jay said.

Kevin said something to one of the men nearby him and then stepped away from the wheel. "Certainly, Captain."

"Right, follow me," Jay said. And then, remembering that the orlop was empty when he had been down there to retrieve his sword minutes ago, he started down there with Kevin in tow.

"No disrespect, Captain," Kevin began, "but why are we here?" Kevin asked as Jay was busy inspecting the areas behind barrels to ensure no other crew members were down here and that he and Kevin were really, truly alone.

"Listen, I've a bit of a problem right now and I need logical advice," Jay started and Kevin nodded, urging his captain to continue. "Last night, when we were in port, the junior crew members made one of the greatest fuck-ups of all time and left the ship unattended—"

"The entire ship? Unattended? For the whole night?" Kevin asked, flabbergasted.

"The entire ship for the whole night," Jay confirmed. "And, during that time, a woman, Hailey, and her younger sister, who's twelve years old, snuck onto the ship. We found them earlier and they're in my quarters right now. I don't know what to do."

Kevin furrowed his eyebrows. He didn't think his captain was this dense. "Drop them at the next port."

"I can't do that. The reason they snuck on here was because their father was trying to marry off the twelve-year-old, name's Y/N."

"Twelve years old?" Jay nodded. "Jesus Christ."

"Now you see my dilemma. I can't let them live with pirates nor can I, in good conscience, drop them at the next port."

"What do you think that you should do?" Kevin asked.

"You need time to figure out an answer, don't you?"

"A few moments would be nice, yes. So, enlighten me about what you plan to do with these two, Jay."

Jay sighed. "I suppose they could stay on the ship for a while, until we figure out a plan or until they feel safe enough to leave the ship."

"That's a good idea and I agree. Where will they sleep? Can't have them down there with all of us."

"God, no," Jay responded quickly. "The two will take my quarters and I'll sleep below deck with the rest of you."

"And when we get to port and leave the ship? What's your plan then?"

"We're at sea for a few more days," Jay answered. "I'll figure that out when we get that far."

***

Hailey laid in bed that night, waiting for you to fall asleep. As she held you close and shushed your whimpers due to the slight churning in your belly because of the motion of the ship on the sea—it had gotten better since the nice captain had given you that drink, but it still wasn't fully gone—, Hailey remembered how she and you had ended up in this predicament.

Hailey stumbled in the house just past five in the morning. Technically, she didn't stumble, but she tiptoed. Despite being an adult, she still had that fear of waking her father from his drunken stupor.

But, what she saw made her eyebrows furrow.

There, sitting at the table by the light of a kerosine lamp, were her mother and father. And, from the look on her mother's face, she'd been crying. Hailey scanned her over for any visible marks, but there weren't any.

"What's going on?" Hailey asked, still quiet so as not to wake you.

"None of your business, Hailey," her father said gruffly.

"Well, if mom's crying, then it damn sure is my business," she said smartly. She'd learned long ago that she could stand up to her father. Yes, sometimes she'd pay for it, but the regret had always been the worse pain of the two.

Her mother sighed. "Your sister's being married off."

Hailey didn't know if she had heard her right. Her twelve-year-old sister? Married off? She'd just started bleeding last month, surely they weren't serious.

"She's twelve!"

"She's a woman now and I have debts to pay!" her father whisper-yelled.

Hailey didn't care about waking you up now. She knew if you heard Dad yelling, you'd stay up in the loft anyway.

"She's twelve! She's still a child! Take me instead! Marry me off to whoever you planned for her!"

Her father scoffed. "You know I can't do that. Not with what you've been doing for the last however many years."

Hailey gritted her teeth. "Then lie!"

He slammed his fist on the table. Hailey looked up to the loft area where she saw you jump slightly. She quickly shook her head slightly and you turned around, scurrying back into your bed.

"Not when you've slept with half the townsmen for money!" he yelled. Hailey winced. Her mother put her head in her hands. "What's done is done."

"When?" Hailey asked. "When is she getting married?"

"A week's time," he answered.

Hailey drew a sharp intake of breath. "I need some air."

Then, she walked out into the night, trying to form a plan to get you out of this life.

She shook those thoughts from her head and listened to your even breathing, which ensured that you were asleep. Then, she finally succumbed to sleep herself because, unlike you, she found the motion of the ship on the sea quite soothing.

***

Jay felt like he'd barely slept last night. He'd forgotten how loud men snore and how uncomfortable the crewmen's beds were compared to the bed in his own quarters. But, he'd rather be the one sleeping down here instead of you and Hailey.

Quietly, he crept up the stairs and to the main deck. He knew it would be time for breakfast in about an hour and knew that most of his men would be waking soon. Because of this, he knew he needed to get out of this nightshirt and grab his sword--locked in a cabinet in his quarters, the key attached to a piece of twine and tied around his wrist for safekeeping--or else lose the respect of his crew.

So, he quietly pushed the door of his quarters open. He quickly opened the wardrobe and, with his back facing you and Hailey, he changed out of his nightshirt and into a more respectable shirt, even for a pirate.

Then, he went about opening the cabinet. After maneuvering the key into the lock and turning, he pulled out the key and then pulled the door open.

He never realized how much it creaked when it was just him in this room.

You woke with a start.

Jay heard a gasp from behind him and turned. In the dim light, he could see that you had sat up and had drawn your knees to your chest.

He fumbled with the matches on the table next to the cabinet and then struck on. Quickly, he lit the kerosine lamp.

He shook the match out and then put his hands out in front of him. "It's alright," he whispered.

You visibly relaxed when you saw that it was just Captain Jay who was in the room. You didn't think that he'd hurt you.

He grabbed his sword. "Would you like me to leave this lit?" he asked you, referring to the lamp. You nodded. "Okay. I'll come get you two when it's time for breakfast."

You nodded once more and he smiled at you. Then, he left the room and you laid back down and, after a few long minutes, fell asleep once more.

***

An hour later, Jay came back and knocked on the door.

"It's Jay," he said and Hailey told him to come in.

The two of you were sitting up in bed and she was braiding your hair. You looked up at Jay. He was carrying a pot with steam that rose from the top and two cloths were sloppily thrown over his shoulder.

"Figured the two of you might want to wash up." He set the pot and cloths down on the small table next to the lamp that he had left on an hour ago. "I'll be back in about twenty minutes to bring the two of you down to breakfast. Or, I can bring it up to you, but I figured you'd want to get out of this room."

"Going somewhere else on the ship sounds nice," Hailey said, and you agreed.

"Alright, I'll be back then to come and get you."

Then, he left the room and made his way across the ship and down one section of stairs to the kitchen. Most of his men were already there.

Good. He needed everyone—except Kevin since he's already talked to him—to be here for this. Granted, he knew the word was already spreading because things travel like wildfire on a ship, but he needed to get ahead of this...especially before the two of you came down here for breakfast.

Jay put his fingers in his mouth and let out a shrill whistle that got everyone's attention.

"Listen up, lads! We've two ladies aboard the ship! I don't want questions from anyone about how they got here because that situation has been dealt with. All you need to do is show them respect and there will be no funny business, you hear? Any of you so much as lay a finger on one of them or whisper a snide remark, I'll push you off the plank with my sword pointed at your back." He paused and looked around the room. "They'll be down here for breakfast soon, too, so I expect everyone to be on their best behavior and act like gentlemen."

Then, he turned around and strode out of the room and back upstairs.

He was about to go retrieve a telescope when a door slammed behind him. He turned to see Adam walking toward him, knife in one hand and apple in another.

"You sure it's a good idea?" Adam asked once he caught up to Jay.

Jay sighed and looked around. Barely anyone was above deck right now other than those who were lookouts or working the sails. He motioned for Adam to walk with him. Then, he moved up the staircase and told one of his men who was steering that he'd take it from here and to go get some food.

Jay's hands found the smooth edges of the ship's wheel while Adam used his knife to cut himself a piece of the apple.

"Well?" he asked once he had had a bite. "You really think it's a good idea to have two women surrounded by pirates?"

"Technically one's a girl," Jay responded, eyes still on the horizon. "More like a child."

"Jesus."

"Not like I had any other choice." So, he told Adam what he had told Kevin last night. He couldn't believe it had only been a day since you and Hailey had been on this ship; it seemed like so much longer with everything he'd had to think about regarding the two of you.

"Son of a bitch," Adam said once Jay was through. "What kind of person essentially sells off a twelve-year-old to marriage?"

Jay shook his head. "The world is a scary place...which is why we've chosen to be only on a land a fraction of the time."

"Pirate and philosopher. Who would've thought?"

Jay chuckled. "Never thought I'd even be a pirate, yet here we are. And, stop swiping food from the kitchen, would you?"

***

Breakfast went fine. Jay had stayed close to you and Hailey the whole time and you'd also met two of Jay's friends, Adam and Kevin.

Now it was nearing noontime and Hailey could tell you were getting restless. She'd asked Jay if there was any chance there was a needle and thread on board so that she could patch up a snag/small tear in the bottom of her dress. (Hailey really wasn't bothered by the tear, but wanted something to keep her hands busy and pass the time.) He'd brought her some and then the two of you sat on the small stairs below where Jay was steering the ship.

You had been staring out at the open water while Hailey had been busy fixing her dress. You sighed loudly. You were glad to be gone from your father and his wicked ways, but there was only so long that you could stare out at the vast sea before you.

Jay called over one of his men to take over the wheel. When you heard his footsteps coming towards the stairs, you looked up. Hailey looked up and then back down at her mending and then continued that. She didn't want to stick herself.

"Do you want to see a real sword fight, Y/N?" he asked.

Your eyes grew wide and you quickly nodded your head. You'd only heard stories of sword fights in fairytales!

Jay held out a hand to each of you and easily helped both of you up at the same time.

"Atwater!" Jay yelled. "How's about a duel?"

"You're on, Captain." Kevin unsheathed his sword from his belt.

Jay pointed to a set of crates and urged you and Hailey to go and have a seat.

Once the two of you were safely out of the way, Jay strode up to Kevin with a cocky swagger that only a captain of a pirate ship could have while he unsheathed his sword.

"May the best man win," Jay said.

Kevin nodded and the two began.

You watched in awe as their swords clashed and they ducked and narrowly missed the point of the sword. You watched their footwork on the ship's deck; it was like they were dancing, but it was a very dangerous dance.

Jay swept a foot in front of him, knocking Kevin's front foot out from under him. Quickly, in order to brace himself, Kevin dropped his sword. Then, he landed with a thud.

Jay leaned over him. Then, he pointed his sword at his friend's throat; it was just mere inches from actually injuring him.

"I believe that I've won," Jay said with a smirk on his face.

There were a few reasons why he had risen in the ranks and become a captain so fast, and his sword fighting skills were one of them.

"You have. Now, get that sword off me and help me off my ass, would you?"

Jay kicked Kevin's sword away from him so that he couldn't grab it on his way up. He then maneuvered his own sword and helped Kevin up his opposite hand, still on high alert in case he tried anything.

Only once Kevin was back on his feet did Jay sheath his sword.

The two shook hands, a show of good faith despite the fight being just for fun.

"I think you've a couple of admirers," Kevin said quietly.

Jay turned his head to look at you and Hailey. You were both clapping enthusiastically.

He strode over to you.

"Did you like it?" he asked, watching Hailey for any signs of discomfort. He knew some women were not fond of violence.

"It was impressive," Hailey complimented.

"That was so exciting! Can I learn how to sword fight, Hailey? Please?" you asked.

Who knew that in less than 36 hours, you'd be totally comfortable on a pirate ship?

"It's not ladylike for you to sword fight, Y/N," Hailey replied.

Jay smirked. "We're on a pirate ship, love. I think you're both well past the point of being ladylike."

It was like Jay could see the wheels turning in Hailey's brain as she mulled this over.

"Fine," she agreed. "Promise me she won't get hurt."

Jay nodded. "I promise. You have my word, Hailey."

"Okay. Go ahead. But, be careful," she told you.

You smiled. Then, you practically ran to the open space on the deck where Kevin and Jay had just been dueling. Jay just walked behind you while chuckling to himself.

But then, as he watched, he thought of how childlike you still were. Yes, you usually followed directions well from what he had gathered, but you still stared in awe at the sea and at other new things. There was no way he could imagine you getting married off.

He felt anger seethe inside him at your father for putting you through all of this.

Then, he took a deep breath. He needed to be calm while teaching.

"First," he began when he was in front of you, "we'll work on the basics. So, we'll work on how you'll stand and ensure you duck. No sword right now."

"Okay! I don't want to get hurt by pulling out the swords too early," you responded.

"Me either. I think your sister might have my head if that happened."

"She probably would," you responded. "She's very protective of me, but I know it's just because of what she's been through and that she doesn't want that for me."

Jay wanted to know what had happened, but he knew not to pry. So, he just put one foot in front of him.

"Stand like this. It's called a split stance," he instructed.

You lifted up your skirts slightly so that he'd be able to see your feet and up to a little higher than your ankles.

If you were in town, you'd be called scandalous. But, as Jay had already said, you were on a pirate ship so you didn't think those unspoken rules applied here.

Then, you stood as instructed. "Like this?"

"Perfect," Jay praised.

Hailey watched on as all of this continued and her heart swelled as she watched a man be so gentle and lighthearted with her younger sister.

You finally had the chance to be a kid—even if it was on a pirate ship—and she didn't want to take that away from you. She'd also be lying if she said that when you began working on ducking (still without the sword) that she clutched the dress she was working on and couldn't tear her eyes off of you and Jay. Every time you were safely on the other side of Jay's arm, she let out a her breath.

You were safe. He promised he wouldn't let anything happen to you. And, even though she vowed to never trust a man even if he had given her his word, for some reason, she was beginning to trust Captain Jay Halstead.

***

One week later

Hailey took Jay's hand after you were safely on land and allowed him to help her off the ship.

"Thank you," she said.

"My pleasure," Jay answered. "Now, I want both of you to stay close to me, alright?"

"I can handle myself," Hailey shot.

"While I don't doubt that, allow me to be a gentleman."

Hailey smiled. "Fine, I will allow that."

"Thank you."

Jay glanced at you. Your eyes were wide at all of the colorful dresses at the vendors. There was also a bird sitting on one vendor's shoulder as well as goats being herded into a fenced-in stall. There was a stand with freshly baked bread and pastries and one with fresh fruit. And, you couldn't even see all the way down the way to see all of them. There was already so much compared to what you had at the market in your small village!

"Where are we?" Hailey asked. She still understood the language that people were speaking, so she hoped she was still in England, but she'd no idea.

"Portsmouth, England," Jay answered. "Now, if there's anything you see that you would like, let me know. I do want to get each of you a nightgown and another dress so that you are not stuck in the dresses you've left in."

"You don't have to—"

"Please," Jay cut her off. "It would be my pleasure." Hailey nodded. Jay looked at you. "Where to first?"

"I- I don't know," you stuttered, still trying to take everything in.

"That's quite alright. You just let me know if you see something you like. I just told Hailey that each of you gets a new dress and nightgown. You can choose whatever color you want."

Your eyes widened. "Can we look at the dresses first?"

"Of course."

Then, the three of you made your way toward the stall with all of the dresses.

***

An hour later, you and Hailey had your dresses. Jay had asked for them to be wrapped in paper so that they wouldn't get dirty while the three of you continued walking. Like the gentleman he had been raised to be, Jay was carrying two of the packages, which meant that you and Hailey only had to carry one a piece.

Jay surveyed the area. He knew a tavern would be up ahead and he didn't know whether to bring the two of you inside or to leave you both outside, perhaps perusing some of the stalls close by.

He figured it would be safer to let you both stay outside. There was a pastry stall right across from the tavern where the two of you could meet him.

"I need to run in here and pick up some rum," he told you and Hailey. He noticed the way you instinctively gripped Hailey's arm at the mention of the drink. "It's mainly for my men. I'm not much of a drinker myself, especially not when we're at sea and need to be vigilant." You relaxed at his words. "But, there's a pastry stall right across. Here's some money. Get yourself each something and I'll meet you back there."

Hailey took the coins. "Thank you. Do you want something as well?"

Jay shook his head. "I'm not one for sweets."

"Alright then. C'mon, Y/N," Hailey said.

Then, you and she and you made your way to the stall that sold pastries. And Jay didn't go into the tavern until he knew that the two of you had made it to the correct stall.

After scanning the selection, you and Hailey each ordered your pastries. She decided on a blueberry muffin and you decided on a slice of lemon loaf with white icing.

Once you had the desserts, the two of you moved to the side and unwrapped them. You sighed when you breathed in the sweet, lemony scent.

"This smells like it will be the best thing I've ever tasted," you said to Hailey.

She laughed. "Well go on then. Give it a taste and tell me how you like it."

You took a bite and felt the icing melt on your tongue.

"Delicious," you sighed.

Hailey smiled and then took a bite of her muffin. "Mine is, too. We made good decisions."

Just then, a man came into their view.

"You look like you're enjoying that. Can I get you another?" he asked.

Hailey bristled. "We're fine, thank you though."

He looked at you. "What about you, love? Want another?"

"I- I'm okay with one," you said.

If Hailey said no, then you were saying no, too. And, even though you were young, you knew what could happen. Men weren't just nice to random women out of the blue on their own accord, usually they wanted something more, which was why you had been wary of Jay at first.

"Oh, c'mon, lassie. Won't cost you much later."

Hailey moved to stand in front of you.

"We said no. Thank you for the offer, but we do not need more pastries," Hailey said sternly.

As Jay walked out of the tavern with a bag full of bottles of rum, he saw Hailey standing stiffly with a man blocking some of her from view. He hoped you were behind her.

He opened the door to the tavern again.

"I'll be back for this," he yelled and then set the bag just barely inside the building.

Then he withdrew his dagger and jogged over to the pastry stand.

"Enjoy the pastry, love?" Jay asked as if nothing was wrong.

"Yes, it was very good," Hailey answered.

"I didn't realize she was—" the man started, but Jay cut him off.

"Enough with your excuses, mate. You should get out of here while you still can. It'd be in your best interest not to piss off a pirate." He began twirling the dagger between his fingers.

"Yes, sorry, have a nice day!"

Then, the man ran off.

Jay quickly put his dagger away. "Are you alright?" he asked Hailey. "Did he hurt you?" Then, he peeked over at you. "Did he hurt you?"

You shook your head.

"I don't know what he would've done if you hadn't come when you did," Hailey said. "Thank you."

"It's what any kind person would've done," Jay said, waving off the thanks. "Now, I've got to grab the rum and we'll keep walking around, yeah? And the rum is just inside the tavern and already paid for, so both of you are coming with me. Don't want that guy lurking and getting any other ideas."

***

"Captain Halstead," the man at the metals shop began when you, Jay, and Hailey entered. "What can I do for you?"

"I've a bit of a situation and all you need to know is that these two ladies need a way to protect themselves. We're here to look at your dagger selection," Jay answered.

"Daggers, Jay? I don't know..." Hailey trailed off.

"Y/N's already learning how to sword fight and I can't be there when we're in port all of the time. Please. It would keep my conscience clear if you both had something to protect yourselves."

"I get a miniature sword?!" you exclaimed.

Jay laughed. "I figure you can think of it that way, yes. We call it a dagger. So if a strange man comes up to you like one did today, you just take it out and flip it between your fingers. Should get him to back off. If not, I'll teach you a few tricks with it."

The man who owned the metals shop laughed as your eyes lit up. "Looks like you've a miniature pirate on your hands, Captain."

"She still has a bit to learn, but I think she's well on her way." Then, Jay shot a playful wink your way.

"Right then, I'll go get the daggers for you three to look at."

He walked into a back room and came out with three boxes stacked on top of each other. They looked like jewelry boxes.

He set them on the counter and flicked each of them open. "Here we are. The finest selection of daggers in Portsmouth. What suits your fancy?"

Shockingly, you stepped up before Hailey did.

You studied the daggers and their handles. Some were simple, with plain metal designs and a few ridges on the handle so that a person's grip would stay steady. But, others had more intricate designs on them, including color on the handle.

One drew your attention. The handle was of normal material, but the ridges were dyed purple and there was a gemstone embedded in the center. The blade of the dagger was curved.

"This one?" You touched the handle and looked to Jay, making sure that you'd chosen a good one.

"Good choice," Jay agreed.

"Not only is it one of the most beautiful ones I have in this shop, but the curved blade makes it one of the most dangerous," the shop owner added.

You looked at Jay, not knowing what to do next.

"Take it," he told you. "Make sure it's comfortable in your hand before you make the final decision."

You picked it up and felt the ridges of the handle pressing against your palm, contrasting with the smoothness of the gemstones.

"Let me have a look, make sure it's small enough for your hand," Jay said.

You held your hand that contained the dagger out to him, blade pointed at the floor so that you didn't accidentally injure anyone.

He furrowed his brow and studied it for a few moments.

"Looks like a perfect fit to me. Does it feel like you can grip it easily?" You nodded. "Alright, final choice."

"Yes, I like this one."

"Perfect. Hailey, your turn, love."

As you held the dagger in your hand, you felt powerful. And you never wanted to lose that feeling and you'd be damned if you lost it because of a man like how your father wanted you to.

***

Jay thought he was done with the bullshit that was drunk men after a day in port. But, alas, you and Hailey had put a wrench in that. He was currently in the belly of the ship trying to sleep, while he heard some of the men groaning from sickness due to how much they had drank—he even heard vomit splatter into a bucket—and some telling others about their escapades with women during their day in port.

So, Jay stood up and started out of there and up the stairs to the deck, anything to get out of there and get some fresh air.

***

Hailey was standing on the deck, staring out at the sea, not that she could see much because it was pitch black. The candle she'd brought from Jay's quarters flickered next to her, sitting in its holder on top of a barrel next to her.

She couldn't get Captain Jay Halstead out of her head.

And she needed to.

She knew love was dangerous.

Hell, she'd vowed to never fall in love, yet here she was.

Earlier in the day, when he held out his hand to help her back into the ship, she felt butterflies in her stomach. They were small like they had just broken out of their cocoon and were learning to fly, but they were there nonetheless.

That was when she knew she was in trouble.

She'd seen what happens when someone falls in love, which is why she vowed to never do so. She'd live her life as an old spinster if it came to that.

But, with Jay, she felt different. And that was what terrified her.

She jumped when she heard footsteps behind her.

"It's just me." She heard Jay's voice. "I couldn't sleep down there. You couldn't sleep either I presume?"

He was right up next to her now, both of them looking out at the vast, dark sea, not that they could see much of anything, though.

"No," Hailey answered.

"Good place to be on a night like this. Slight breeze to keep things moving. Warm night. And just look at those stars."

Hailey looked up just as a shooting star flew across the sky.

"Make a wish," Jay said.

She didn't know what to wish for though. Maybe more nights like this? Ones that tasted like freedom?

So, she let it pass.

Wishes didn't come true for girls like her anyway.

"I don't see stars like this back home in the city," Hailey said. "Too crowded."

Jay nodded. "One of the reasons I love the open water, just me, the stars, and well, no one can tell me what to do out here."

Hailey smiled and let out a laugh. "But you can tell others what to do?"

Jay chuckled at that. "I try to be as fair as I can."

Then, they fell into a comfortable silence as they stared up at the stars.

Jay broke the silence a couple of minutes later.

"I don't mean to pry, but why couldn't you be married off instead of Y/N? I know no one should be married off, but based on age, wouldn't it make more sense for it to be you and not her?"

Hailey swallowed. She knew this question was going to come eventually.

"Again, you can tell me to get lost if you want," reminded Jay.

"No, it's just, I don't want you to think less of me when I tell you."

Jay shook his head. "I'm a pirate, love. There's quite a bit you can say that I won't bat an eye at. Unless it's murder. That I can't excuse."

"But don't you..." Hailey trailed off.

Jay chuckled and shook his head. "As a pirate murder people?" he asked, finishing her question. "No. At least not directly. We just blow holes in their ship and hope that the other pirates know how to swim through a shipwreck. I've never slit anyone's throat if that's what you're asking."

Hailey nodded, mulling over whether or not she wanted to tell him about her past.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Jay reiterated.

"But you've done so much for me and Y/N, I probably should," Hailey said.

Jay quickly shook his head. "I never expected anything of you, Hailey. Just because I've helped you, doesn't mean I'm privy to your life story. That's yours to tell whenever you feel comfortable doing so."

Hailey closed her eyes and then opened them. Here goes nothing.

"Well, when me and Y/N ran and came on your ship, we thought we'd be hiding in the belly of it the whole time. Never imagined someone would help us out. It has always been us against the world and every man or woman for themselves."

Jay looked at her intently. He wanted to reach out to hold her hand, but he restrained himself. "I see," was all he said.

"Trust me, I wish it were me who could be married off. But, I can't. Everyone knows what I am: a whore."

"Hailey—" Jay reached out his hand, but she stepped back, so he put it down.

"No! It's true! I was sleeping with anyone who would pay me so that I had a chance to get out. And look where that got me. The only chance I had to save my sister, was gone because of my stupid decisions. But, I couldn't let her go with a man, she's just a child! And I couldn't let her stay home because our dad likes to talk with his fists. It's all my fault."

Hailey's legs buckled, the weight of everything being out in the open making her feel faint.

Jay quickly grabbed onto one of her arms. "I've got you," he said gently. "Let's go sit over here, yeah?"

Hailey nodded and Jay led her over to a stack of crates and didn't let go of her until she was safely sitting down. Then, he went back to grab the candle that was burning low and came back and sat on a crate opposite her.

"Are you alright?" Jay asked.

"Yes, I think I'm fine now. I don't know what happened."

"Just getting it all out in the open may have been too much for you," Jay began. "But I'm glad you told me."

Hailey sighed. "If I wouldn't have done that then maybe we wouldn't be in the predicament!" Her voice broke with her next words. "It's all my fault, Jay."

He reached for her hand and gently clasped it with his. "It's not your fault, love. You were trying to do what was best for the two of you."

"I just don't want her to turn out like me. She shouldn't have to turn tricks to get what she wants and—"

"She won't have to," Jay cut her off. "Not if I can help it."

Hailey looked up at him as a few tears ran down her cheeks. "What?"

"You two can stay here as long as you need. Hell, you can make it your home if you like. I know what it's like to run from something and you two shouldn't have to run anymore and live your lives in fear."

Hailey wanted to ask what he was running from, but she didn't want to pry and be considered improper, so she just said, "Running isn't easy. Leaving family, even though I hated my dad, I loved my mom, and leaving her wasn't easy."

"I understand," Jay agreed. "I left a life of luxury to come live as a pirate."

Hailey furrowed her brows. "What?"

"It's a bit of a long story. Are you sure you want to hear it?"

"If you don't mind telling me."

"Alright then." He paused. "At the time I left, I was sixth in line for the throne. My brother, Will, was fifth and my father was fourth. He was a duke. And, that gave me privileges and a very nice childhood. I won't bore you with the details.

"But then, my mother died of the fever. Some say it was brought on by the cholera outbreak and that a servant may have brought in that disease with them when they came to work, but I didn't care who brought it in or how my mother got sick. All I knew was that she was gone.

"My father was never the same after that. He was constantly drinking ale and wine. So, my brother, Will, and I were schooled harder in political and geographical relationships than ever before because everyone knew that my father was unfit to take the throne if the time came for him to do so.

"I realized that I couldn't live like this. I know it seems quite stupid compared to yours and Y/N's predicament, but I couldn't just sit around in a posh mansion and learn of all of these things that might not even be of use to me. I wanted to make my own fate.

"So, one night, I left. I slipped a note under Will's door explaining that I was leaving and I'd write when I could. I advised him to burn the note once he was finished reading.

"I bought some commoner's clothes from a nearby village at first light and made my way to the docks, looking for work. One of the ship captains offered me a spot on their ship as a crew member. I quickly moved up in the ranks due to my sword-fighting abilities. That was fifteen years ago and now I'm captain of my own ship.

"So, I know what it's like to want freedom and chase after it with all your might."

Hailey was stunned. She had never imagined that this was the story of how Captain Jay Halstead came to be. She knew that the shock was written on her face, so instead of expressing it verbally, she asked, "Do you and your brother still write each other? What of your father?"

"He drank himself to death," Jay answered without emotion. "As for Will, I write him every month or two. He's married now and has two little girls. He's active in politics and has fulfilled his duties as a duke."

Jay was speaking matter-of-factly now. Hailey knew he was trying not to show emotion.

"You miss him," Hailey stated. Jay nodded. "Will you ever go back?"

Jay thought for a moment. He'd be lying if he said that this hadn't crossed his mind on hot, stifling days when the summer sickness was going around the ship. "It's been years since I've left. I think I've a good thing going here and I don't want to ruin it by leaving."

Hailey nodded. She was starting to feel the same way with this ship.

"Have you thought of where you're going to go yet?" Jay probed.

Hailey tilted her head. Realistically, she hadn't really thought about this since the day after Jay found her and you hiding in the belly of the ship.

"I said we'd leave when I can't understand the language. Maybe I'll still do that."

Jay nodded. "Well, if you like, one of Kevin's closest friends, Vanessa Rojas, is a native of Spain. I'm sure she'd be able to help build your life back up in Spain if that is what you want to do."

"And it wouldn't be a bother to stay there?"

"Oh, no," Jay said quickly. "She vowed to never get married, for similar reasons such as your own, so sometimes she's mentioned that she gets lonely at times. I'm sure she'd love to have you. Would you like me to write her and ask?"

"Um, sure." Was Jay trying to get rid of her?

"Again, you can stay on this ship as long as you want, love. I'd be happy to have you and Y/N. And, the longer you're here, the more Y/N can hone her sword-fighting skills."

Hailey threw her head back and laughed. "Oh, don't remind me!"

Jay suddenly became serious. "I mean it, Hailey. You can stay here as long as you need. I—." He suddenly cut himself off.

Hailey gave him a puzzled look. "You what?"

"It's just that, I haven't been this happy at sea for long time. I love it, but having you and Y/N here just makes it so much better for whatever reason."

Hailey blushed and was glad that it was dark and hoped the candle didn't give enough light for Jay to see the effect his words had on her.

Then, he said the words she never thought to hear him speak: "Dance with me."

She cannot help it. A laugh escaped her lips as a smile stretched across her face. "What?"

He stood up and held a hand out to her. "Dance with me."

She took it. "But we've no music."

He began to hum. "Now we do."

Hailey laughed and threw her head back. Then, she took his hand and the two began to dance under the light of the moon. Jay hummed along with the sound of the water gently moving all around them, calming her. Soon, her eyelids began to droop and her movements became slower.

Jay noticed this and helped her back to his quarters. He turned around while she got dressed.

"You don't have to stay you know," she said as she pulled on her nightgown.

He smiled slightly. "By the way you were moving, yes I do. Can't have you falling over from tiredness."

She began to laugh and then quickly placed her hand over her mouth. You were sleeping peacefully, and she did not want to wake you.

Hailey moved closer to the bed and began to pull the thick blankets over her. "You can turn around now."

Jay does and strides over to her. He takes the blankets in his hands and smooths them over her.

She shook her head playfully and smiled. "You don't need to tuck me in as if I am a child, Jay."

Jay shrugged. "Sometimes it's nice to be cared for. Let me do that for you."

She laid her head down on the pillow. Then, Jay leaned down and pressed a kiss to her cheek.

"Good night, Hailey."

"Good night, Jay."

And then, he blows out the candle, turns off the kerosine lamp, and leaves the room. Hailey feels the smile on her face until she falls asleep. And, in her dreams, she dreams of Captain Jay Halstead.

***

The next afternoon, you were standing on the deck in your new dress with your dagger gripped tightly in your hand.

"Loosen your grip, love," Jay coaxed. "Just like the sword, you want to have enough grip on it so that it can stay in your hand, but also so that you can move swiftly and quickly."

"But what if it falls out of my hand?" you asked.

"With practice, we'll make sure that doesn't happen."

Hailey watched from afar, thankful that Jay was only using a piece of wood as his pretend dagger. He knew you didn't know how to dodge a blade yet, and he didn't want to hurt you while teaching you how to use your dagger and get out of the way of others.

"Now, I want you to jab right under my arm, like this."

He jabbed the air and then pointed right under his arm.

"Now you try."

So you did. You jabbed your arm forward and hit the air right under his arm. And Jay didn't even flinch!

"Good job! Now try and keep your arm tight, like this." He demonstrated again and kept his muscles tight this time. "This helps with controlling the blade."

Hailey would be lying if she didn't blush when Jay pulled his arm muscles taut when he jabbed again.

After a few more minutes of practicing this, you and Jay moved on to footwork and making sure that you could control the blade even when your feet stumbled.

Hailey was watching from afar and when your foot caught, her heart caught in her throat. She did not need you to be injured while on a pirate ship of all places. But then, Jay quickly reached out to grab ahold of you and helped you back up. Who would've ever thought that one of the most famous pirates of the seven seas was so caring and gentle when need be?

***

Jay and Hailey were once again standing on the deck late at night, gazing up at the stars. You had talked her ear off earlier and described every minute detail of what you and Jay did and what he had taught you earlier in the day.

"Y/N loved her lessons today, thank you," Hailey said.

Jay smiled. "I'm glad. You'll have to let me teach you sometime."

Hailey laughed. "I don't plan on being aboard a ship my whole life, Jay."

"And you think Y/N does?"

"I don't know. I can't leave her here, but I wouldn't be shocked if she begs to stay. She seems...happy here."

"Freedom and the seven seas will do that to a person. My first few days, I was nervous that my family would find me, but then as we got further from the land, I felt freer than I had felt since I was young. Maybe the fresh air had something to do with that, too," Jay joked.

They stood in content silence and Hailey took the chance to lean into him and rest her head on his chest.

"I've been thinking," Jay began and pushed a strand of Hailey's hair behind her ear, "I just finished the letter to Vanessa and will mail it at the next port. It's up to you though. You and Y/N can stay here as long as you want. But, if you're here a long time, I'm going to have to teach you how to fight one of these days."

"Hmm," Hailey hummed. Let's just enjoy the stars right now."

"They're beautiful. Just like you."

***

One week later

"Now, remember what I told you," Jay advised, "Adam's left side is the weak side—"

Jay was cut off by bells ringing.

"They're coming from the east, Captain!"

Jay cursed and quickly stood up.

"Everyone to your posts!" he yelled. "Girls, my quarters, I'll be in there when I can! To your positions!"

You didn't know what was going on, but you knew it was bad as Jay took off running while he unsheathed his sword. Then, Hailey quickly grabbed your arm and the two of you ran towards Jay's quarters.

As you were running, you saw what was coming: another pirate ship.

***

Jay knew he'd prepared him and his crew for this. Hell, he'd been in too many battles to count, but he'd never had to worry about women being on the ship if this were to happen.

"Canons?" Jay asked as Adam came up to him.

"Being loaded as we speak."

"Someone's guarding the food and water?"

"Two."

"Good. What could they have that we want?"

They hadn't been on a raid in weeks, so they were running low on valuables. They'd only been to one port after the one where Jay had bought you and Hailey dresses and daggers, but that was a week and a half ago.

Jay started to hear creaking and yelling.

"Here they come."

***

You and Hailey stood quiet in Jay's quarters. You had your dagger gripped tightly in your right hand, just as Jay had taught you.

The second you heard yelling, Hailey thought that you'd get scared and grab her hand. But you didn't. You kept your eyes trained on the door and bent your legs, preparing if someone were to come in.

It felt like ages before you heard it: the pounding on the door. All that was heard before that was men yelling and the clashing of swords.

Hailey pushed you behind her just as the door broke open.

"Well, well, well," one raggedy old pirate began, "we heard Halstead had a girl, we just didn't think one would be so young."

"Don't touch her!" Hailey yelled. "You want someone? Take me!"

"Fine." He quickly yanked Hailey into him, causing her dagger to clatter to the floor.

"Make her watch," the raggedy one said and pushed her to the man behind her.

She started yelling and kicking, but there was no way the man would let go.

What was it Jay said earlier? Go for the weak side and catch him off guard.

You quickly saw that he had his dagger in his right hand, meaning that his left side was his weaker one.

You lunged.

You don't really remember what happened next, but you do know that you jammed your dagger as far into his thigh as you could.

Then, you heard a pop!

"Get the fuck off my ship unless you want me to try this new toy out on you!"

Jay.

Then, there was silence. And then, the sound of more yelling and quick footsteps and splashes. The other pirates swimming for their lives.

"I'd let her go if I were you."

Jay was holding the small revolver he'd taken from a rival pirate to the other pirate's head. Adam ran up and pointed his sword at the throat of the raggedy one that you stabbed.

"Someone come get this fucker off the ship!" Adam bellowed.

The one who was holding Hailey rushed forward.

Jay held his revolver to the back of the pirate's head as he helped the raggedy one to the side of the ship. He and Adam watched as the two climbed into a dingy and then got lifted into their normal ship.

"Keep the canons loaded," Jay ordered Adam. "Just in case they try anything."

Then, he ran back over to you and Hailey.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" he asked.

Hailey shook her head. "I- We're okay. Y/N got him just in time. And then you came and— I need to sit down."

Jay held Hailey's arm as he helped her back into his quarters and onto the bed. You sat down next to her.

"I did it," you told him proudly, not grasping the gravity of what could have happened. "I went for his weak side and caught him off guard. Then I got him in the leg and he fell down and then you came."

Jay's eyes went wide and Hailey gave him a subtle nod.

"Still think she's not a pirate?" Jay asked with a joking sparkle in his eyes.

"She might be now."

"Well, in any case, I say the two of you spend a couple weeks in Spain with Vanessa. Enjoy land for a while."

"Will you be there?" you asked quickly.

"Not at first," Jay answered.

"But you'll come back, right?"

"I promise, I'll come back."

He gave Hailey a kiss on the forehead and then bent down to your height.

"You did so, so good today. I'm so proud of you."

Then you gasped. "My dagger! It's still in his leg!"

Jay threw his head back and laughed. "We'll get you another one when we dock in Spain. I promise. But tomorrow, I say we start teaching your sister how to fight. What do you say?"

Will looked down at his sleeping daughters.

"And then Y/N and Hailey went to Spain, Jay got Y/N a new dagger, and a year later, Jay and Hailey were married. Y/N's now the first mate on Jay's ship, no matter how much that sometimes scares Hailey."

Natalie gave her husband a look. "That last part's new."

"Well, I learned some new information."

"What?"

"Come with me."

Will took his wife's hand and led her to his office. There, he pulled out a stack of letters that dated back years.

"You're still in contact with him?"

"I have been since he left home. He always sent a letter every six months with his port. I just...never told you until now because I didn't want to scare you about Jay coming back and turning our girls into pirates."

Natalie shook her head. "I'm never scared of that. I don't think they'd leave, but if they did, I trust your brother and Y/N and Hailey to take good care of them. Maybe one day I can even meet him."

"Maybe. Those three don't stay on land for long, though."

"Once a pirate, always a pirate," Natalie said.

When Will and Natalie went to bed that night, they talked about what it would be like to sail on the seven seas. They knew they wouldn't last, but Jay, you, and Hailey wouldn't be able to stand living in a castle all of the time.

Everyone had their things, and if Hailey had known all those years ago that she'd be married and live happily ever after with a duke turned pirate, she wouldn't have been able to believe it.

But, despite the challenges, the Halstead brothers, their wives, and you, all got your own version of happily ever after.

A/N: Thanks for reading and don't forget to reblog and comment! And, if you want to be added to my taglist, just let me know and I can add you!

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