Disclaimer: I do not own these characters and all that stuff blah blah blah it belongs to ubisoft

"I'll be with you Kenway, I will."

Those were the words that sent him into drunken hallucinations and spiraled down into gut wrenching nightmares. He could still feel her slip from his grasp every time he woke, as reality hit him once more. Waking up was the hardest part for Edward, the warmth of her skin fading from his finger tips as he desperately tried to hold on. Anne had grieved with him, but she had been able to regain her sanity much sooner than he.

Six months later he awoke to a lurch of the room, almost being knocked out of his bed. Swinging his legs over and dropping his boots onto the wood floor he ran out to the deck to see the problem. Rain cut his skin as he was meant with angry winds. The sky was a swirl of gray and black over the men rushing to their stations. Edward raced to the helm as he saw a rogue wave come towards them. "Batten yourselves!" he shouted, hunkering down as they were hit. He could only watch while his men were tossed off the ship. Grimacing, he made his orders, but didn't even know where to sail away to, the storm stretching for miles in all directions.

His train of thought was interrupted by a voice singing out over the ravenous waves. The winds were silenced and the rain stopped falling as he followed the melody. His vision hazed as the men were still panicking while they worked. Turning the wheel with all his strength, but he felt no strain, too enchanted to notice.

The words and sky became clearer as he got closer to the voice, recognizing the shanty.

"I dreamed a dream the other night."

It sang as he grew closer.

"My love she came, all dressed in white."

The Jackdaw made it to where the rain began to lighten and the waves barely licked the ship.

"All dressed in white, like some fair bride."

Waves calming down while the crew returned to the deck, cheering, though the captain couldn't hear it.

"Her cheeks were wet, her eyes did weep."

Stepping away from the helm he moved to the railing.

"She made no sound, no word she said."

Edward couldn't bear being so far from the voice, and jumped into the water. He swam feverishly, having a need to find the source.

"And then I knew my love was dead."

Coming to a formation of rocks jetting out of the water he grabbed onto one, pulling his torso out of the water. Everything was a complete blur as the last note rang in his ears.

"Fancy me singin' do you, Kenway?" a voice all too familiar asked, shaking him from his trance. His eyes blue as the sea around him shot up to the large rock above him. He found tanned skin and dark chocolate hair hanging in curls and braids over tattooed shoulders. Bright red lips and a pale scar finally lead him to a dangerous spark in bronze eyes.

"M-Mary," he breathed, not believing his eyes. There was no way she was here, crimson lips pulled into a lopsided grin and the cerulean beads in her hair. I must of drowned he thought, for the world was cruel, and nothing gold could stay. "You're dead," he stated in shock.

"That's what I thought as well, yet I'm still here," she sang. She sat with one knee pulled to her chest with her arms draped around it, while the other leg dangled off the rock and hovered above the waves. "Suppose heaven and hell couldn't decide who got me, so they left me here."

"You can't be real, I was knocked out in the storm, I must've been," he insisted, shaking his head. "Maybe I died, my dreams never turn out this well," he muttered, slowly hoisting his body onto the rock below hers. His clothes felt heavy with water and his skin chilled as the wind blew past, making it feel too real for his liking.

"Nice to know you've been dreaming of me, but I don't like repeating myself. I am real, though at first I didn't believe it," Mary said, tracing the tattoo of a dagger on her thigh. "I also didn't think I could sing so well, but look what it brought me."

"I saw you accept death with open arms, and felt you go limp in my hands, watched your corpse be taken away." He said, his voice shaking as it grew louder, "I went through hell and followed your wishes, trying to become an honest man."

"I know, I remember death, but I remember waking up drifting below the waves, gasping for air, but water did not drown me, it gave me life once more." She said, looking down at the waves crashing against the rocks around her. "Swam up to the rocks, finding myself bare skinned and clueless as a babe. Instincts told me to call out, to sing, and when I did I drew a merchant ship in, drowning them when they crashed. Hearing the screams of dying men it all started to come back to me. Months I've been like this, sitting on rocks in solitude, occasionally crashing Templar ships. I feared I might drown you, trying to get you out of that storm."

He stood up on his rock, his eyes unreadable as he looked her over. Suddenly, he lunged for the rock above him; landing crouched in front of his friend. He threw his arms around her, pulling her to his chest, burying his face in her hair. She returned the embrace, which he didn't fully expect, and hid her face in the crook of his neck. His scruffy blonde beard tickled her cheek as they sat in comforting silence. There was a whimpering laugh from Edward as he squeezed her shoulders. "I thought I lost you. Mary, god how I missed you," he murmured into her hair.

She let out a laugh as tears formed in her eyes. "I was so afraid I would've lost you in that storm, I had looked for you for weeks. I just wanted to see you again." Her voice trembled as she spoke, closing her eyes to take the rest of him in. His muscular arms and hands holding her so tight as though he was afraid she would slip through his fingers like grains of sand. He smelled of rum and spices, and strong with smoke and gunpowder. The warm sent masked the salt water and brought her home.

"You've been in the sea so long, why not come to shore?" He asked, his lips pressed into her hair. She tasted even more like the sea than he did, but he could still taste the coconuts on his lips. Her voice, though still gruff with a heavy accent, had a continuous melody even when the singing stopped. "Come back to Inagua with us, or I could take you back to Talum, to your assassins."

Mary relaxed her arms, though she still sat in his. She let out a sigh before speaking. "It seems that when I swim, I change rather noticeably, and it makes it farfetched to try and make it on a beach." She said, opening her eyes, "though the sea has always been my love, I find myself missing the earth and trees."

"When you say change…"

"It'll be easier if I just show you." She said, untangling herself from his grasp. Edward saw more inked skin on her than he ever thought he would, restraining himself from staring anywhere but her face, for he still wanted to remember every spot and scar. Watching as she jumped off their perch and into the water, leaving him leaning over the edge, waiting for her to resurface. When she did, she went to float on her back. "Just watch, Kenway." He looked over her body as her legs seemed to mold together, the skin being replaced by ruby scales as they extended. His eyes widened in shock and wonder as he watched her twist her tail around in the water.

"I never believed in those stories of women coming out of the sea and seducing men to crash their ships," he said, mesmerized by how she moved, "but you nearly did just that to me, lass."

"I don't want anyone to know about me, not yet. Not until I know how I do on land," she said, resting her arms on the rock, "I'll follow you to Inagua, and we'll see what happens there."