Everything was silent except the footfalls upon the wooden deck and the sloshing of the waves at sea. For once, none of the crew was speaking or joking around, but opting for a comfortable silence. Eduardo manned the helm in the light of the half-moon, keeping watch over the seas. Christopher and Nathan were at the sides of the upper deck, looking out over the ocean while Thomas was quietly taking stock of the rations they had in the storage room just below the upper deck while constantly looking at the waves through the manhole. Russell was at the lookout point atop the main mast, appreciating the stars while the captain was pacing at the front of the ship.

It was one of the most silent nights the crew had spent in each other's company, yet no one complained or started to break the silence. It was quiet welcome in fact. Until one of the members heard a small cry over the waves of the ocean.

"Did anyone hear that?" Morgan asked, looking back at his crew. Nathan shrugged while Christopher's brow was furrowed. He had heard the cry as well.

And again, the cry sounded out, almost sounding like an infant's wail. At this point, Thomas came up to the deck with a panicked look on his face.

"Did anyone see the baby floating at sea?!" He cried, looking anxiously around the crew. Everyone was shell shocked for a few moments before bursting into action.

Eduardo fought to quickly stop the ship while Nathan and Christopher started looking out at the sea to spot the babe. Russell was quickly climbing down to find out exactly what the news was about when suddenly—

"There is it!" Morgan shouted, shedding his jacket and hat to jump into the sea. The crew all ran to the side of the deck to watch their captain swim out a few meters from the boat. Now that the ship was completely quiet, they could hear the squeals coming from the little bundle that the captain was bringing closer to the ship.

Russell and Thomas threw down a long stretch of rope to reel in their Captain.

As Morgan looked down at the bundle, he noted something odd. The babe wasn't wet save for the tears falling down its petite face. It was completely dry. And by extension, he was completely dry as well.

"Hush now small one, it wasn't that scary was it?" Morgan said soothingly with a smile, as if the child actually understood his words.

Soon, Captain Morgan and the small child were pulled onboard and examined

"Here Christopher." Morgan said dryly, handing the bundle to the resident doctor. Christopher nodded, talking to it soothingly and shushing its cries. It was leaning against the doctor's chest while he supported its weight under its legs.

"Now, why are we crying? A pretty thing like you should be laughing." Christopher said softly.

"Who leaves a baby at sea? And how'd it survive" Russell asked partly in annoyance and partly in anger. Damn parents these days were becoming too irresponsible.

"It's not a baby, I'd say. It's at least three." Morgan said. The thing had been much too big to be a mere baby.

"She's a girl." Christopher said, pulling the blanket down slightly to show off black hair and blue eyes that were frames by heavy lashes. Not to mention the girl was wearing a snowy white gown in her size meant for ladies to sleep in.

"What are we going to do with a toddler?" Eduardo asked, walking over to observe the child. She had calmed down considerably and was now watching the men talk about her.

"Easy, we find her parents!" Morgan said brightly, standing from the wooden deck.

"You'd hand her over to parents that stranded her at sea?" Nathan asked, raising his eyebrows.

"We can't very well keep her here." Eduardo said. Christopher was still talking to the child in hushed tones before turning to the navigator.

"Hold her, I'll be right back." He said, ushering the small thing into his arms. Eduardo suddenly found himself with a small girl in his grasp, looking up at him with the most innocent blue eyes ever. At his slightly panicked look, the small girl giggled and grabbed up at his face, catching hold of his nose.

"Noose" She giggled. "Eye. Mouf. Teef."

The little girl touched every part of Eduardo's face respectively while entranced by his features. She was having fun naming all the parts she knew. Eduardo was at a loss for words as he watched the young thing manhandle his face.

Grins were forming on the faces of the other crew members who had ceased their conversations to watch the two interact.

"Cheeks!" She gleefully said, pulling on the man's light skin.

"Would you knock that off, kid?" Eduardo asked suddenly. The little girl stopped for a second as if contemplating the fact that her plaything could talk.

"Knock off?" She asked, confused at his speech.

"Here, she should be hungry, right?" Christopher asked, coming back up from below deck. He had a small bowl of mashed fruit. "I was going to eat this later tonight, but I think it can serve another purpose."

"Here. Take it." Eduardo said, shuffling the girl over to Nathan, who took her with great care. She was startled slightly at the change of faces until she brightened up at Nathan's features.

"New Noose!" She cried happily, poking the tip of the chef's nose. Nathan raised his eyebrows at the small girl.

Eduardo hurried up to the helm while Morgan ushered Russell and Thomas to help get the ship moving again. Soon the ship was picking up speak, the wind ruffling the toddler's hair. Christopher and Nathan agreed to take the toddler into the kitchen. Once they entered the moderately sized room, they sat down at the small table to the far side of Nathan's domain with the small girl in the chef's lap.

"Alright, do you want to eat?" Christopher asked, a kind smile on his face.

"No." She said, hands held toward the bowl.

"No?" Nathan asked confusedly.

"No." The girl nodded up at him, then turned to Christopher again.

"You mean yes." Christopher said, smile still firmly in place.

"Yes?" the girl asked slowly, but confusedly.

"Yes." Christopher said, putting the bowl down in front of the small thing.

The small girl clumsily but eagerly grasped at the spoon in front of her. Sadly, it was too big for her to handle. She became perturbed at the overly heavy and clunky utensil, dropping it and putting her hand in the bowl.

"What are you doing now?" Nathan asked exasperatedly, picking up the spoon. Christopher got a towel and tied it loosely around the toddler's neck before letting her continue with her fruit escapade.

"Hey, what's taking so lo—what is she doing?" Thomas came into the kitchen, adding on to Nathan's annoyance at having so many people in his workspace.

"Fruit!" The toddle gleefully said, showing the apprentice her hands that were covered with the sweet food.

"I can see that," Thomas laughed. "So, can you tell me what you name is?"

Both the Chef and the doctor looked up at the apprentice in surprise. Neither of them had even given thought to the girl's name.

"Name." She asked.

"Yeah, I'm Thomas and you are…" He led off.

"Thomas!" The toddler gleefully cried. Thomas's smile grew at the kid's utter cuteness.

"No, silly. That's my name." He laughed, ruffling the black hair atop the child's head.

"Are you done?" Christopher asked. The little girl answered with another 'no' to which Nathan rolled his eyes and Thomas looked utterly confused. Christopher cleaned her up and huddled her into his arms before the three of them left to go back up to the deck.

"How's the kid?" Morgan asked, grinning at the giggling girl that Christopher held onto. They weren't sure yet if the kid could walk or not, but they'd most likely figure her out tomorrow. As the three came up to the helm, the giggling girl reached for Eduardo who shuffled away.

"Fed and unharmed." Christopher said, setting the small girl down near the feat of the navigator, knowing that the man would be keeping an eye on the child for fear of being cutely manhandled again.

"What are we going to do about her situation though?" Nathan asked.

"We find her parents or drop her off at the next port." Morgan said. "We found this in her blankets. Her parents obviously didn't want her drowning if they gave this to her."

The captain held out a blue pearl, the size of the tiny girl's palm, and promptly pored a cup of water on his sleeve. He was completely dry.

"The thing is charmed?" Thomas asked.

"Or something close to it. If anything, we could look at recent reports of recent shipwrecks as soon as we hit port or try to find the owner of this charm." The captain said. "But for now, she'll be staying with us. She'll rotate rooms so we'll take turns babysitting."

"Noose!" The little girl cried, making all the pirates looked down at her. She was standing, both hands clenched on one of Eduardo's legs. The navigator looked down at the small thing, at a loss for what to do.

"Alright girl, I think it's time you learned that noose means nose." Captain Morgan laughed, picking the girl up and bringing her face level to his. At this point, the toddle didn't mind being picked up and put down so much by so many different people.

"Nose?" She questioned.

"Nose." He said. She shook her head and adamantly fought him.

"Noose." She said, tapping his nose.

"Nope. Nose." He said back, tapping her nose right back.

"Noose." She giggled back.

Morgan sighed, beginning to think that this may take a bit longer than he thought.

"What're we going to call her?" Thomas asked. The pirates looked thoughtfully at the small girl whom had yet to be given a name.

"How about Anne?" Russell asked.

"No thank you. I courted a woman by that name." Morgan said, looking down at the child.

"Jessie." Thomas offered.

"No, too… just no. I don't want to relive that experience." Morgan said, shuddering.

"Marie?" Christopher asked.

"God no! That woman almost choked me to death when she found out I was with Jessie." Morgan said, looking down at the little girl who was confused by all the names flying about her. A few more names came to mind, along with Morgan denying each name because it reminded him of a less favorable encounter he'd had with another woman. Soon a silence came about the pirates. The small girl was yawning at the point, finally tired from all her excitement.

"Leah." Nathan said.

"What was that?" Morgan asked.

"Leah. It's a good name." Nathan said, looking down at the little girl.

"I like it." Thomas said, smiling at the girl in the captain's arms. It seemed that all their talking had lulled her to sleep.

"Alright, the kid's name is Leah. I think it's fitting that the one who named her," Morgan grinned while walking towards the chef, "Should be the one to start the rotation."

With those words, the Captain gingerly handed Leah over to the surprised-but-totally-not-surprised chef. He had thought this might happen, but he doubted that he'd be the one to start the rotation. Honestly, how did they think they could take care of a toddler for six weeks?