Look at the first chapter (prologue) to see disclaimers, claimers, pairings, and warnings. Thank you.

|:| 3 Years Later |:|

CLATTER

"That's it! Get out of my bar you drunk! Get out!"

I've been waiting for that. This place isn't normal until someone is told to get out because of drinking too much booze to the point that they throw up.

I smile to myself discreetly as the person stumbles out. I almost snicker when I hear their footsteps pass me. I take a glance at the bartender to see him look at his carapace and shake his head with mumbles of how he had been put into this kind of situation. Just under the turtle shell is a gaff that had caught it in the first place.

I have to cover my mouth with my hand in order to keep myself from bursting out laughing with the indignation in the costumer's voice for having to be shouted at to get out of the bar where his service is not wanted. His presumptuous comments were what made me want to laugh, though.

It was his fault for getting drunk in the first place.

I hear the door open but don't bother to turn around because I have the feeling that it's just another person I don't know, someone who wants to drown their sorrows in rum. The footsteps get closer to me instead of the bar. I start to finger the crack in my cup as my mind starts to wonder who this is. The stranger passes by my table rather closely and they stand before me and I give a friendly, big grin.

"Ah, Jiro-san!"

I get up and give a firm handshake to the familiar, older man. I invite him to sit down and he does with a nod. I take in his gray, wavy, messy hair that looks a little greasy and dirty. His skin shines a little from the perspiration on his face. I notice that his dark brown jacket looks worn down and the white long sleeve underneath is now yellow and dotted with dirt and it looks like he hasn't shaved in a while. I can see the wrinkles under his eyes and the bags which tells me he still looks as old as the last time we met.

"Konbawa gozaimasu (Good after noon (politely)). Ogenki desu ka (How are you today)?" I ask politely as I wave over a boy and ask for a drink for Jiro.

"I'm doin' mighty fine, arigatou (thank you). I see you've grown up a bit since we last saw each other five months ago. You still sixteen years old?" he asks to keep up a conversation although we both know that he isn't here for a coincidental meeting.

"Iie, I'm seventeen years old as of a month ago," I correct him politely. "You still as old as the hills?"

"Now now Miss Michi. You know I don't like to be told about me age," he says with his usual gruff voice that makes anyone want to talk to him as if they knew him since they were small.

"Aa (Yeah), I remember. Now that we've gotten the formalities out of the way, what brings you here to this humble pub, ne?" I ask as I take a sip of my drink then lean back.

"Well, we both know that I know how much ya like to be out in the open sea with the breeze blowin' yer hair around. I'm still right about that, now aren't I?" I nod to tell him that this hasn't changed and I can feel excitement gripping my heart. "I heard yesterday that there be a ship in the port ready to set sail in a couple o' days. A certain someone's callin' fer a crew."

I lean forward in order to be able to speak more quietly and discreetly since the both of us know that this isn't just a normal get together for people who want to set sail. The both of us look around to see no one looking at us or trying to listen in.

"Is it…?" I inquire.

"Ay that it be. Seems the ship builder's son is funding a sail out into sea. Of course he's not goin' to be captain since it would be too obvious. He's actually goin' to disguise 'imself as a nobody."

"There's only one reason he would go set sail," I mutter as I lean back again.

"You've got it lassie," Jiro says. "Seein' as you love us an' get along well I thought that ya might like to know about these kinds of things. Will I be expectin' to see ya go aboard that ship?"

"Naturally," I answer with a mischievous grin.

"I'm bettin' that you could actually do it lassie. You may be seventeen, demo you look to be older then your age suggests."

"So it's safe to assume that a map has a play in this," I suggest.

"Naturally," he answers with a grin, showing off yellow teeth along with a black one.

"And you wonder why I attached myself to you when I first met you," I mutter with a shake of the head.

"Iie, I don't," he joins in. "It's a good thing I found you so early, demo also a bad thing. I must be goin' since I have important business to attend to. I wish that I could a saw you off, demo I have a life a me own. Try to stay alive until we meet again, will ye lass?"

"I sure will old man," I say with a happy, but also sad, smile.

Jiro pats my back roughly but I don't mind. I close my eyes and listen to Jiro's footsteps head to the door as memories come flooding back to my mind. If I had to choose his footsteps out of many others I would know his right off the bat since I've always had to listen to them when I had first joined a pirate crew. I actually had to disguise myself as a cabin boy in order to get onto the ship, but it still worked out even if he was the first to figure out I was a girl.

The door opens and then closes. I chuckle to myself quietly and finish my drink then leave to get ready for a new voyage for a new adventure.

In order to continue I'd at least like ONE review! Two of them would be GREATLY appreciated.