Bella looked out onto the ocean, leaning against the side of the ship. She took a ragged breath as she watched the sun begin to set. Her auburn hair blew restlessly in the gentle breeze, and she rolled her eyes, annoyed as it continuously got in her eyes. Roughly yanking at it, she pulled it up into a loose ponytail. Turning her attention back to the sunset, she tried to enjoy it for a few moments longer before she had to get back to work. She'd never really known how beautiful it was, but looking at it now just took her breath away. So much had happened recently that she hadn't really had the time to appreciate the little things such as this.

"Bella, it's time for dinner!" Fuzzy called behind her. Bella smiled and turned, heading towards her friend. Fuzzy had joined the Sirius only a little bit before she had, and the two had instantly formed a close friendship, as they were the only women on board. Due to her soft-spoken nature and shy nature, the rest of the guys sometimes were a little much for Bella to handle. And like a momma bear defending her cub; Fuzzy was always there to swoop in whenever she needed it.

"Have you heard anything from the Rika since you left?" Bella asked the two slowly walked.

Fuzzy shook her head. "Not a peep. Good thing too. Rotten dogs the lot of 'em." Fuzzy had previously been a crew member aboard the Rika under Captain Alan. And as she'd told Bella, she'd grown tired of Alan's reckless antics that only seemed to get them all in hot water. She'd run into the Sirius while they were all in port one day, and Morgan invited her to join the Sirius. Eagerly accepting the position, the rest had been history. But Alan still tried to get her to come back to the Rika with him, as she was a very handy crew member to have around.

Thomas dropped onto the deck from one of the masts in front of them. "Hey Miss Bella."

Bella smiled. "Thomas, I told you, you don't have to keep calling me 'miss' all the time. Just call me Bella."

Thomas rubbed the back of his neck with his hand, laughing. "Sorry, force of habit I guess."

When Bella had first come onto the Sirius, Morgan had placed her in Thomas's room, since his was the larger room and there were no more available rooms for her to have. She would've shared a room easily with Fuzzy, but Fuzzy was already bunked down with Russell, and was apparently quite comfortable there. Bella had been more than embarrassed sharing a room with a guy, but out of all the guys on board, she was glad it had been Thomas. He was almost as shy as she was, but he was kind to her and he always seemed to know just when she needed her space. And he was so polite to both her and Fuzzy, that she couldn't help but enjoy his company. Even if Fuzzy teased him relentlessly for it.

The three made their way down into the dining hall for dinner, where all the other guys had already collected. They dispersed themselves amongst the table, sitting in their usual spots as Nathan started bringing in dinner. Almost like a tradition, each member of the Sirius always sat in the same spot every night, and only changed seating whenever more members joined, or they had guests aboard. Fuzzy plopped down in her seat directly to Bella's right, sitting in between her and Russell. Bella always teased Fuzzy playfully about her and Russell, since she knew that Fuzzy had basically had the biggest crush on him since she joined. Fuzzy always denied it, but the way she always looked at him when he wasn't looking, Bella knew differently. To Bella's left sat Thomas, as he'd made it a point to always sit next to her ever since she'd come aboard. Perhaps he and Fuzzy had known just how nervous she'd been when she joined, and had wanted to comfort her by surrounding her with them. She didn't know for sure, but she suspected that was the case.

Fuzzy clapped her hands excitedly as Nathan placed her favorite meal in front of her. Bella had to hand it to Nathan, he always seemed to know exactly what to cook for each person to make them happy. Case in point, as he slid a plate of pasta in front of her, knowing that it was her favorite as well. She beamed up at him as he passed behind her, and he winked down at her as he moved onto the next person. She'd often helped Nathan down in the kitchen when no one else needed her help. While stern like Eduardo, he was much friendlier once you peeled back the layers. She began to look up to him like the big brother she'd never had. And he treated her accordingly, often teasing her the most out of all the crew.

The crew quietly ate the meals in front of them, barely looking up. Bella had found that the crew enjoyed devouring their meals, saving conversation for when they had all finished. A habit that she quite liked, since she was suddenly starving and began happily eating her meal. Nathan finished serving everyone and finally sat in his seat, quickly engulfing the food he'd set out for himself. His cooking was as splendid as usual, Bella noted as she happily munched on her pasta. She couldn't help but giggle as she glanced at Thomas and Russell, who were both slurping up their meals greedily like they hadn't eaten for days.

Bella quickly finished her dinner and began collecting plates from everyone, wanting to help clean up. She snatched up the empty bowls and plates and hustled over to the kitchen, tossing the dishes into the sink. It was her turn to do the dishes that night, and she wanted to go ahead get them done as quickly as possible. She could hear everyone chattering away as she scrubbed the plates clean. She smiled to herself as she heard the loud, boisterous laugher of Morgan as he laughed at something one of the other guys had said. Fuzzy purred something in, what Bella assumed was, Russell's direction. But apparently had gone unnoticed as Russell continued to laugh and talk with the rest of the guys. Bella giggled, poor Fuzzy. Bella scrubbed the last of the plates clean and dried her hands on the towel hanging nearby. She turned and went back into the dining hall with everyone else.

"You ready to head up to the eagle's nest?" Thomas asked happily, looking up at Bella.

The eagle's nest was the spot at the top of the main mast where Thomas had built a station for himself to watch out across the ocean, looking for any enemy ships. When she'd first joined, she had been curious as to what it was like up there, as she often looked up at the eagle's nest when she went to bed. One night after dinner, he asked her if she'd like to join him for his watch, noticing her curious gazes. She'd been reluctant, as it was quite high up in the air, but Thomas had assured her that he would be there with her. After reaching the top, she'd been glad that she'd agreed. It was by far and in her opinion, the best spot on the ship. You could look out for miles across the ocean, and had the best view of the sunset and sunrise from there. Seeing how much she enjoyed it, he invited her more and more often, until the point where she went up with him every night after dinner for his watch. It was also the one time of the day in which the two of them were completely alone, and away from everyone else, and both Thomas and herself seemed to relax around one another.

She nodded eagerly, and the two practically ran out of the dining hall. They ran across the deck like two school children, but neither cared. Bella's favorite part of the day was going up to the Eagle's Nest with Thomas, and she didn't care how excited she appeared about it. Thomas smiled and held a hand out to her as they reached the base, to let her to go up first. Bella laughed and took his hand, using it to grab a hold of the ladder. She climbed up the ladder up onto the platform above. It was night time by the time they had all finished dinner, and Bella admired as the sky started to become kissed by stars. She heard Thomas climb up behind her, and plop down in his seat on the other side of the platform.

Sighing contently, she took in a deep breath of the fresh ocean air. She wasn't sure how she'd lived so long without being on the ocean like this, but she knew she never wanted to part from it again. She loved everything about the ocean, the wonder and mystery within it. It excited her, even at it's worse times, and was more reliable than most of the people she'd met in her life, before coming on the Sirius that is.

Bella looked over at Thomas and smiled. "So where is it that we're going again?"

"Moldor I think. We're running low on some of our supplies and it's the closest port. I think Captain wanted to check in too to see if there were any new treasures for us to hunt for. If there aren't any, hopefully we can go on a nice long vacation."

"That would be nice! Where would we go?"

Thomas shrugged. "I'm not sure. I remember one time we went to this little island, a couple miles away from Yamato, that was really nice."

"Really?"

"It was great! Sunny skies, sandy beaches, and the clearest water you've ever seen. We only got to stay there a few days, but I've always wanted to go back."

Bella sighed. "I hope that we can. I'd like to see it."

Thomas ran a hand through his hair and glanced over at Bella. "So, Miss Bella…"

"Please Thomas," she interrupted, "call me Bella."

He laughed. "Sorry, I did it again didn't I?"

She smiled. "Yeah, you did."

"Sorry. I'd just gotten so used to calling you that, that it's hard to break it."

She giggled. "I understand. Why don't you just call me Bella when it's just us alone then? Until you get used to it that is, then you can start calling me it around everyone else."

He nodded, looking out at the clear night's sky. "I think I can do that … Bella…" Bella felt a blush rise up in her cheeks. She liked hearing him call her just by her name. It was nice, and felt like they had gotten closer.

"So… are you finally going to tell me what it was you did before you joined the Sirius?" He asked, keeping his gaze out on the horizon.

She looked down bashfully into her lap. She wasn't ready to tell anyone about what she did before she came onto the Sirius. "N-Not yet."

Thomas shrugged and looked back at her, the light from the moon reflecting off his eyes as he smiled gently at her. "That's all right. You'll tell me when you're ready then." Bella nodded, keeping her eyes averted from his, but she could sense his smile continuing to shine on her, and she couldn't help but to smile back.