Author's Note: Well I'm back. For those who were paying attention a few weeks ago I know I started a new story and then dropped it, but that's because I just wasn't feeling it after I started, but don't worry I'm seeing this one through. This is my first stab at a Zack/London story and it will be sad at parts just to warn you. Enjoy!
EDIT: When I wrote this story the episode "Family Thais" had not aired yet, so I apologize for the mistake on my part regarding London's heritage.
Chapter 1: Mischief Makers
As the day came to a close Zack and Cody went through their clean up for the night before finally clocking out of their respective jobs. There was no one on deck besides the two of them and at this point they were grateful for the peace and quiet. Cody gathered up the discarded towels and quietly mumbled to himself about the hygiene of some of the ship's guests. He came across a particularly nasty towel that looked like it had been used to soak up a whole mixture of messes.
"Ugh this one smells worse than your room!" Cody said as he held a towel up by a small frayed thread at the corner.
Zack let out a little chuckle, but he seemed to be too busy with something behind the juice bar to really pay attention to Cody. Zack had his back turned to him as he fumbled around with something that Cody could not see.
"I hope you are cleaning over there. I'm almost done and I'm not helping you clean your work area for a third night in a row!" Cody said as he stowed the towels in a linen closet located a few feet from the juice bar.
Cody locked the closet and walked over to the juice bar to see how far Zack had gotten on his clean up, but just as he feared it was just as messy as ever.
"Zack!" Cody said in frustration.
"What?" Zack said and turned around to face Cody.
When he turned Cody saw that Zack had placed two long straws between his upper lip and gums and they now hung down past his chin.
"Do I even want to ask?" Cody said.
"I'm a walrus!" Zack said with a chuckle.
Cody reached over and yanked the straws out, causing Zack to yelp and rub his gums in pain.
"Watch it!" Zack cried out.
"Will you clean up already, curfew is in 15 minutes!" Cody said as he threw the straws into the trash.
"Relax! It won't take me that long," Zack said and began wiping down the counter with a rag.
Cody watched as Zack hastily wiped the counter down, missing spots here and there. As he wiped with one hand he used his other hand to chunk a couple of cups into a tub used for dirty dishes. Cody tried his hardest to sit back and let Zack work, but he couldn't bear to watch it any longer.
"Oh just give me that!" Cody said and took the rag from him.
Cody then thoroughly cleaned the bar while Zack leaned back and watched. When Cody finished Zack applauded him.
"Bravo! It's never looked better. Come on let's go," Zack said while patting his brother on the back.
It suddenly stuck Cody that he had just done Zack's work for him yet again, but at this point he was too tired to even care. The two of them made the trip back down to their cabins looking worn out and ready for sleep.
"I can't believe you decided to stay on board all summer," Cody said.
"Well Mom was doing a tour around the country, singing at all the Tipton Hotels and Maddie spent the summer in Antarctica so I figured I'd have more fun just staying here," Zack said. "You only stayed here for the Summer because Bailey was staying. If Maddie had been in Boston I would have been home in a heartbeat."
Just the mention of Bailey was enough to make Cody forget how tired he was. He leaned against the wall and thought about all the things he had planned for the next day with Bailey. He would have stood there all night if Zack hadn't snapped him out of it.
"Hello, are you listening to me?" Zack asked.
"Huh?" Cody said.
"Nevermind, London and Woody are coming back tomorrow so at least I'll have someone to hang with while you and Bailey do your usual boring stuff," Zack said as he reached his door. "Night Cody."
"Night," Cody said as he shut his own door.
Morning came a little too quickly for Zack and if it weren't for the loud horn on the ship he might have slept right through the morning. The horn had signaled that they were pulling into port, so Zack decided to get up and get dressed to go greet London and Woody when they came aboard. It was no surprise to Zack to find that Cody and Bailey were already awake and making googly eyes at each other on the deck. He ignored them and went over to the railing to see if you could catch a glimpse of his two returning friends. He then noticed a limo pulling up in front of the walkway onto the ship and had no doubts as to who was inside. Zack watched with a laugh as London made the limo driver fetch her bags while she walked up the walkway with her hands free. She wore sunglasses and a large pink hat. Zack couldn't help but find her appearance a little silly, but that's one of the things he liked about her.
"I'm back!" she sung out as she reached the deck.
She seemed a little taken back when the only people that greeted her were Zack, Cody, and Bailey. She then walked over to a small group of people, whispered something to them, handed them something, and then repeated, "I'm back!"
This time the small group applauded loudly and London thanked them for their kindness. "Thank you, you're too kind," she said.
"Hey London," Zack said and she turned to him with a smile.
"Hey Zack," London said and hugged him, but she was then distracted by the limo driver who had just managed to make it to the top of the ramp, looking ready to fall over under the weight of her bags. "Just take those to my room," she told him.
"So how was your summer?" Zack asked.
"It was great. I spent some time in the Virgin Islands, and let me tell you something those islands were so beautiful I don't know how they've remained virgins for so long," she said with a laugh. "I think I'll have Daddy buy me one of them so I can hook it up with a nice boy island," she then added in what Zack took to be complete sincerity.
Zack was fighting back a laugh, but he had to admit it was nice to have her back on board. The two of them walked around the deck towards her cabin and chatted some more.
"I heard we're heading for a tour of the Caribbean before school starts back up. Maybe we'll run into some pirates," Zack said jokingly, but it caused London to stop dead in her tracks.
"Say what?" she asked with a look of worry. "No one said anything about pirates," London said.
"London I was joking," Zack told her and she finally let out a breath she had been holding.
"Oh thank God. I would not want pirates on this ship," she said and Zack figured she didn't want them stealing her stuff, but he should have known better.
"I mean have you seen the way they dress, and that tacky jewelry they wear?" she said and headed towards her cabin, leaving Zack dumbfounded and trying not to laugh.
Once London was situated they returned to the deck to find that Cody and Bailey had gone off somewhere else on the ship. They also noticed that Woody had arrived and had wasted no time in heading for the juice bar.
"What's up Woodster?" Zack asked and Woody turned with a cup still to his lips and waved.
"Hey did you guys hear we're taking a tour of the Caribbean?" Woody asked, slopping a little juice onto himself.
London looked disgusted at Woody, but Zack just laughed.
"Yeah we heard," Zack said and offered Woody a napkin.
"Do you think we'll see pirates?" Woody asked excitedly.
"I thought you said that was a joke!" London exclaimed.
"It is," Zack said reassuringly.
"It is?" Woody asked.
"There are no more pirates in the Caribbean…that I know of," Zack said and London looked happy, while Woody looked like he just learned Santa wasn't real.
Woody went back to his juice, but Zack found himself lost in thought. The gears in his mind started to shift into high gear as a plan formed.
"What if we brought Pirates back to the Caribbean though?" Zack asked.
"Zack you are really starting to worry me," London said.
Woody was stunned enough to stop drinking and look up.
"No I mean we could dress up as Pirates, for fun," Zack said and Woody looked overjoyed.
"I love it!" Woody said.
"We could dress up and have a sword fight on deck or something," Zack said as he stared off into space as if he was watching it unfold on an invisible screen.
"Could I have a parrot?" Woody asked excitedly.
"I don't think we could find one on short notice," Zack said.
"I have a stuffed animal parrot," London said.
Woody was like a kid on Christmas morning as they planned their fun. Even London decided to get in on it. Soon they were collecting items to make their plan work. The next morning the three of them gathered at Zack's room and put on their outfits. Zack and Woody had eye patches and hats. Both of them wore white shirts and black vests, with gray pants and black boots. Woody had taped the stuffed animal parrot to his shoulder and kept playing with it like it was real. London on the other hand was still in the bathroom getting dressed.
"Are you almost ready?" Zack called out.
"Yeah I'm ready," she said and when she walked out Zack was floored by what he saw.
She had on a glittery silk bandana, a tight tank top that was rather low cut, and a short skirt with a gold sash tied around her waist. On her feet she had thigh high black boots. Zack couldn't take his eyes off of her and after a few seconds she waved her hand in front of his face.
"Zack….hello?" she said.
Woody was too busy with his parrot to really notice her outfit, but Zack had to shake his head to regain his wits.
"You look great, I mean your outfit is great," Zack said.
In all the years he had known her, Zack had always found London to be cute, but he was interested in Maddie. For the first time Zack really found himself attracted to London and he couldn't believe it. London seemed to have forgotten Zack's lack of manners and adjusted her makeup in a mirror before the three of them headed out.
Meanwhile on deck, Cody and Bailey were sharing a juice at the juice bar while scattered guests talked across the deck.
"It's nice having things so peaceful and quiet around here. I almost hate that classes are about to start again in a week," Cody said.
"I know, this reminds me of summer days back on the farm. All we need is my Uncle's jug band and it will be complete," Bailey said and the two of them laughed.
Cody went to take another drink when suddenly the peace and quiet was broken.
"Avast ye matey!" Zack cried out.
Cody nearly choked on the drink as Zack and Woody appeared on deck having a sword fight with plastic swords. The two of them seemed to be locked in a heated battle as they fought back and forth. The fight then came precariously close to Cody and he had to lean back against the bar to avoid it.
"What are you two doing!" Cody cried out.
"Fighting to the death," Zack said without missing a beat.
"If only," Cody muttered to himself as the two of them continued to fight out into a more open area.
Zack took a swipe that nearly hit the fake parrot and Woody cried out, "Watch it! You almost hit Skittles!"
"You named it Skittles?" Zack asked as they continued to fight.
"Yeah, it's rainbow colored," Woody said.
London was watching the fight from the stairway with a look of fake fright.
"Look out Zack…I mean Arrrrrr watch it me mate…I think," London cried out.
"Why are you rooting for him?" Woody said.
"Because he's better dressed," London said and Zack had to grin.
Woody's distraction was enough and Zack was able to knock his sword away.
"Arrr I got ye! Now it's time to walk the plank!" Zack said.
"I don't think so!" came a loud voice from the other side of the deck.
Mr. Moseby came walking around the corner and London hid herself beside the stairway. He walked straight over to Zack with a look of anger on his face.
"What do you think you are doing? You are disrupting our guests!" Moseby said.
"We were entertaining them! We're heading to the Caribbean so we thought we'd have a Pirate theme," Zack said.
"I don't recall putting you on the payroll to entertain the guests! You are being a nuisance! What am I going to do with you three?" Moseby yelled.
London came out from behind the stairs looking upset.
"She wasn't part of it," Zack said quickly.
"She's dressed as a Pirate!" Moseby said.
"That's just one of her outfits," Zack told him.
"She was talking like a pirate and cheering you on," Moseby replied.
"Well you know London, I assure you she had nothing to do with this," Zack said.
Moseby looked ready to throw the three of them into the brig, but finally he pulled himself together and said, "Fine, but the two of you will be punished."
"Well you can't give us detention, school hasn't started yet!" Zack told him.
"There are other ways of punishing you," Moseby said with a wicked grin. "You two will swab this whole deck for the rest of the day and I want to be able to see my face in it!"
"Yes sir," Zack said with an air of defeat.
Moseby left to go get the mops and buckets and London walked over to Zack.
"You didn't have to do that for me," London said with a smile.
"This wasn't your idea, we dragged you into this. It's okay," Zack said.
"Thank you Zack, I had a lot of fun," London said and hugged Zack close.
The hug only lasted a second, but it left Zack frozen in place for a few seconds after she left. Woody finally came over and poked him on the shoulder.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"Yeah…I think," Zack replied.