Disclaimer: I own none of these characters. If I did the 2nd season would have been completely different.
Author's Note: This is set after the 2nd season, Sinbad's in love with Maeve, always has been. I don't think he'd have given up on Maeve as easily as was written in the show. This story ignores most of what they had happen romantically between Sinbad and Bryn. In this story they are just good friends and Bryn knows how Sinbad feels about Maeve. Maeve returns to the Nomad. Mind-speak is in "italics". Hope you enjoy the story.
LOVE CONQUERS ALL!
Chapter 1: Reunion of Friends
The handsome young captain stood at the railing of the Nomad looking out across the calm blue sea, but his thoughts were in the past. He was thinking of his beautiful sorceress whom he hadn't seen in a little over a year and a half, ever since Dim-Dim took her to a secret place where she would be safe while finishing her training. Sinbad had an unpleasant surprise a couple of months before, when Scratch tricked him into thinking that Maeve was a prisoner in the underworld, only to find out it was a trick so Scratch and Rumina could trap him and his crew. After getting away from Scratch's chamber, they found out that Maeve was still with Dim-Dim because she was able to use her magic to communicate with them long enough to reassure her friends that she was safe. Hearing her voice after so long, rekindled all the feelings Sinbad had for her from where he'd buried them when she disappeared. He didn't know exactly where she was, but he was positive he would see her again.
A squawk sounding nearby interrupted Sinbad's thoughts of Maeve. Turning he saw Bryn coming toward him, with Dermott on her arm, and smiled at them. The hawk was a perpetual reminder to him of Maeve's absence, and at the same time, one of the reasons Sinbad knew he'd see Maeve again. On the other hand, Bryn's magical powers had helped out in times of crisis, though she didn't have the control Maeve did.
Bryn smiled back at Sinbad thinking that he looked sad and lonely. She was beginning to worry. All too often lately she had caught him with a pensive look on his face.
"He misses Maeve, Bryn." Dermott's thoughts entered her head, as he picked up on hers.
"I know Dermott, but I can't do anything to bring her back." Bryn thought back to the hawk, at the same time noticing an odd look cross the captain's face as he tilted his head a bit while glancing toward the two of them.
"He can't either; that's what upsets him most."
Sinbad started to ask them to join him, when a stiff breeze blew around the ship causing everyone to shiver, as Bryn and Sinbad's bracelets glowed briefly before fading back to normal. Bryn stumbled, nearly falling to the deck while Dermott flew from her arm to land on the relative safety of the main sail. When Sinbad grabbed her arm to steady her, Doubar, Firouz and Rongar came running to see what was wrong.
"Are you okay? What just happened?" Sinbad asked, a frown marring his brow.
Bryn answered, "I'm all right, I just felt a little dizzy. That was no ordinary breeze. It was caused by a conflict between good and evil magic, coming from that way." While speaking, she pointed in the direction that the ship was sailing.
Looking the way Bryn indicated, the others noticed a dot on the distant horizon. Firouz grabbed his magnascope from his belt to see what the dot could be. Checking, he reported, "We're coming up on an island."
Bryn focused her mind on the distant point then, shivering, said, "That's where the conflict is playing out right now."
"Well let's stop and see what's going on. Maybe there's something we can do to help," said the captain.
On the island
Maeve, Sinbad's red-haired sorceress, was fighting the evil Rumina's skeleton warriors. Maeve was holding out against them, but tiring quickly, and she had to rely mostly on her sword skill, because the number of warriors converging on her position didn't give her time to use much magic. Rumina smugly watched from her mirror pool in the safety of a distant cave. She was pleased that her archenemy was losing the fight without the help of that meddlesome sailor and his crew.
When Sinbad and his friends landed on the island in a longboat, they heard sounds of a battle in the distance. Hurrying to see what was happening, they had to climb a low hill to even get within sight of the confrontation.
From the top of the hill, Sinbad and the others saw a lone figure fighting the skeleton warriors and quickly ran to the unknown person's aid, drawing their swords as they went. Sinbad began dispatching skeleton warriors left and right as he waded into the fray. Doubar alternated between smashing warriors using his brute strength and slashing them in half with his sword. Rongar used both small dirks and sword effectively, taking down numerous warriors. Bryn forced some back using her semi-controlled powers, then fought others that were closer with her sword. After Firouz used all of his exploding sticks to take out as many as he could, he had to rely on his limited sword-fighting ability. He quickly began to be overpowered by ten warriors when out of nowhere Rongar jumped in to help.
With their arrival, some of the strain was taken off Maeve so she was able to throw a volley of fireballs taking out more warriors. The unexpected fireballs surprised the crew and they all thought of Maeve at the sight of the magic. None, however, were able to clearly see who they were helping without risking being overwhelmed by their opponents. In a matter of moments, however, the army was defeated. Perturbed by the interference of the Nomad crew, Rumina angrily cleared the pool of its reflection and vowed, "This isn't the end my little peasant sorceress. We'll meet again."
While everyone was catching his or her breath, Maeve said, "Thanks, I don't know how much longer I could've held out."
At the sound of her voice, Sinbad quickly turned and glanced up to see the red-haired sorceress of so many of his thoughts lately, both waking and sleeping. Maeve was wearing her usual white top with the brown leather dress over it, but with the addition of dark brown leather pants underneath. Upon the realization that it really was Maeve, he called to her. Maeve looked up in time to see Sinbad's beloved face just before he embraced her.
"Sinbad?" she questioned wonderingly while returning the embrace.
Before he could say anything else, Doubar and the others had come to greet their long-absent friend. Doubar, Firouz and Rongar each gave the red-haired woman hugs, though Doubar was a little over-exuberant, leaving her slightly breathless again. When they had finished, Bryn came forward with Dermott, "Hi, I'm Bryn. From the way he's acting, I believe he wants to be back with you now." She said holding out the hawk, then moving slightly away, undisturbed by Dermott's wish to be with the other woman.
"Dermott!" Maeve exclaimed, stroking his feathers when he moved to one of the leather cuffs around her arm. "I've missed you, brother." Maeve thought to the hawk.
"I've missed you, too, sister," came the welcome answer.
"We've all missed you, Maeve, not just Dermott," Sinbad softly stated from behind, startling her.
"How…?" But Maeve never got to complete her question.
"Let's get back to the ship, everyone!" Sinbad called, interrupting her query. Maeve caught his eye with a questioning look while the crew obeyed Sinbad's order. He gave her a simple smile accompanied by a slight shake of his head. Maeve decided not to press the issue knowing that he would explain later.
Back on the Nomad
Sinbad gave the orders necessary for the Nomad's departure from the island. Once they were underway, he escorted Maeve below to her cabin.
Maeve stopped, astonished, in the doorway just looking at her cabin, while Dermott flew across the room to land on the perch that was still in there. She'd half-expected that Bryn would have taken over her room but it looked as if nothing had been touched.
Wondering where the petite brunette stayed, her natural curiosity finally got the upper hand. Adopting an innocent look as she moved into the cabin, she casually asked, "I figured you'd have given Bryn my room, where does she sleep?"
"She has Rongar's old cabin. He and Firouz have been sharing," was the captain's quiet reply from the doorway. "Maeve, how long ago did you finish training with Dim-Dim? Why were you on that island, instead of coming back to us?"
Maeve, wandering farther into her cabin, answered, "I wasn't sure where the Nomad was exactly, Sinbad. When I was first taken away by Dim-Dim, I could feel your presence strongly and pinpoint where the ship was, but after talking to all of you six months ago, after you thought Scratch had me prisoner, you calmed down and stopped dwelling on where I was, so it became harder to feel your emotions, but I could find you because of your bracelet. When I was finished with my training, I could feel Rumina was closer, and since I had unfinished business with her, I decided to go after her and then find you and the crew. Sinbad could we wait about any more of this story until Bryn and our friends are with us? This involves everyone; I would rather tell the story once and be finished."
"Would you rather be alone for awhile then?" Sinbad queried with a quizzical look.
"Actually, could we talk about what you said on the island?"
"You mean about all of us missing you." Sinbad stated instinctively following her train of thought.
Maeve nodded absently, "I didn't think anyone could pick up my thoughts with Dermott, except maybe Bryn."
Sinbad stepped further into the room and closed the door for privacy. Maeve sat on the bed waiting expectantly. He sat beside her, glancing around a moment unsure how to begin his explanation.
"I'm not really sure how it happened. I've been picking up on Dermott's thoughts for a while even before you disappeared. It shocked me the first time. You had gone off to practice your magic and the others had been captured. Dermott came back to where I was and he just stared at me then I saw pictures in my mind of Doubar and knew he needed my help."
Maeve smiled in remembrance, "I sent him back to you, but wasn't sure if you'd understand him."
"I did," Sinbad replied. "After that I picked up odd thoughts from him at various times, usually when you weren't around, even before Dim-Dim took you away. When Alana sent you overboard, while we were looking for the Isle of Bliss, Dermott came back to the ship from searching for you and I asked if he'd found you. I could have sworn that I heard him answer 'No' in my head."
The sorceress glanced at her captain curiously, "Do the others know you've been hearing him?"
"I didn't tell anyone. Dermott hasn't seemed inclined to tell Bryn, or she would have mentioned it, I think." Sinbad grinned ruefully, "It's almost funny thinking about a hawk choosing certain things to divulge but there's a difference to Dermott that I've noticed more since you've been away, especially since he's been 'talking' to me more while you were gone."
Maeve glanced hesitantly at Sinbad contemplating whether to finally reveal the truth about Dermott. "Umm, Sinbad?" she hesitated a moment, "Dermott's different … because he's not really a hawk."
"What do you mean?" Sinbad frowned at her.
"He's my brother." Seeing the shocked look on the captain's face, Maeve began explaining in a breathless rush. "Rumina was infatuated with him a long time ago, but he rejected her making her extremely angry. She turned him into a hawk; I vowed revenge and that's why we're antagonistic with each other. If I defeat her, Dermott will become a man again. I was going to tell you this over a year ago, but the storm came…and you know what happened then." As Maeve came to a stumbling halt, Sinbad silently mulled over her story.
Maeve feared that he was very angry with her, when he asked softly, "So that's why you were training with Dim-Dim and why you've always been so intent in your learning?"
Maeve nodded, watching the young captain uncertainly. Suddenly he grinned broadly and chuckled, reaching out to hug Maeve, he stated, "Well, that explains why you were so upset when you saw Dermott after he dropped the jewel in Rumina's cave, not to mention the other times that we thought she was defeated and wasn't, and, at least, I don't have to be jealous of your feelings for him anymore." With that said, he kissed the sorceress on her cheek then stood up.
Maeve sat in open-mouthed shock, as Sinbad started for the door. "Wait a minute… why would you be jealous of Dermott?" She exclaimed to a now empty room.
Outside the cabin door, Sinbad smiled slightly at her tirade and continued on his way above deck; relieved at avoiding the question and not having to reveal his as yet unspoken love.