A/N: I want to say thank you to maja84 and Banmaixanh for putting this story on alert. It means a lot to me that I have at least two people who like this story. The TV show hasn't aired in ages and my "obsession" with it has been renewed this summer after I bought season 1 on DVD. Hope you two (and TiaKisu) like this new installment.


"They do make a handsome couple."

Their friends had chuckled all the way to the ship. Sinbad and Maeve, who had sat at different ends of the longboat, tried their best to ignore them.

Soon after he had spoken these words, Sinbad had immediately realized his mistake. The words had just slipped out. For once, he had let himself show openly his feelings towards Maeve which is something he had been working hard not to do. However, it was becoming more and more difficult. Their relationship had changed, especially after sharing all these short, stolen kisses in the past weeks. They never spoke of them afterwards. It was part of their non-verbal agreement.

They avoided looking at each other throughout dinner. Thankfully, none of their friends teased them about it. The meal lasted several hours. Eventually, the members of the crew retired one-by-one and soon, Sinbad and Maeve found themselves alone at the table.

He wasn't sure what to say. They hadn't been truly alone since the last kiss they had shared a couple of weeks earlier. He was sure she was just as aware of the tension slowly creeping into the cabin. She avoided looking at him, her gaze turned to the porthole across the room.

"Are you okay?" he asked, unsure what else to say.

Her gaze snapped back to him.

"What do you think Jial meant when she said we made a handsome couple?"

The question took Sinbad off guard.

"I don't know," he lied, heart pounding. "Maybe she thought…"

Maeve interrupted him.

"I mean, we're not a couple," she added, as though the idea of the two of them being in a relationship was ludicrous. "We're friends, right?"

Sinbad nodded, still unsure what to say. The idea of Maeve and him being in a relationship had crossed his mind several times.

"We are good friends," he replied.

"You're right. We are good friends."

She smiled at him before letting out a sigh of relief.

"I think I'll go practice some magic."

"You do that. Just try not to burn down anything."

"Very funny."

Sinbad chuckled as he watched her leave. Then, he turned his back to the door and began clearing away his plate and the remainder of the food.

"I mean, it's not like we act like a couple! Do we?"

Sinbad turned around to find Maeve standing in front of the door, looking at him questioningly.

"We're still on that?" he asked, surprised at the sudden change of the situation.

"I mean, we don't kiss, we don't hug or hold hands. We do nothing other couples do. There, we can't be a couple."

Maeve crossed her arms in front of her chest. She seemed particularly proud of her reasoning. A smile twitched at Sinbad's lips.

"Actually, that's not quite true."

"What do you mean?"

"We do kiss," Sinbad explained. "We kissed many times actually."

She stared at him defiantly for a few seconds before dropping her arms by her side, as though defeated.

"I guess that's true…" Maeve replied, slowly. "But that still doesn't mean we're a couple. Even though, you do kiss me a lot."

"Excuse me?"

"Well, I mean, there was that time at the tiller."

"That was only to shut you up. You were really annoying."

Maeve slapped him on the shoulder. Sinbad held back a groan.

"What about that time when I was disappointed we hadn't found Dim-Dim? I wasn't annoying then. What was that kiss about?"

"That was barely a kiss. Besides, you grabbed my hand."

Maeve raised her eyebrows, unimpressed by his response.

"Don't act so innocent! You've kissed me too."

"When?"

"That night when we looked at the stars. I wasn't the one who kissed you. You kissed me!"

"Okay, that was one time!"

"There was also the time when I saved you from the Vorgon. You kissed me then too."

Maeve knew she was cornered.

"Yeah, I did. So?"

The two of them glared at each other. Then, realizing the absurdity of their argument, both of them began to laugh. Maeve took a seat beside her captain and turned to him. Slowly, the laughter died down and the two friends looked at each other tenderly.

"Do you regret any of those kisses?" Sinbad asked, suddenly worried all the stolen kisses had damaged their friendship.

"No, I don't."

Sinbad smiled at her before slowly leaning in. Maeve remained still.

"Do you?" she asked, voice catching in her throat.

Her heart was beating faster the closer his face inched towards her.

"No."

Their lips met tentatively. Sinbad still expected Maeve to pull away. However, when he felt her returning his kiss, he knew he wouldn't be able to resist her. Cupping the back of her head with his hand, he pulled her closer to him. For a split second, it felt like they had gone back a few weeks when Sinbad had saved the village from the Vorgon. Maeve kissed him with the same intensity she had done that day.

The sound of hurried footsteps in the hallway made them pull apart. Breathless, they turned towards the room to find Firouz bursting inside the cabin.

"Sinbad! We need you on deck! There's a storm coming!" he told his captain, oblivious to the tension in the room.

Sinbad nodded and got to his feet. Apologizing to Maeve, he followed Firouz out of the cabin. Left alone at the table, Maeve groaned as she thought about what had just happened. Her heart still pounded from the intensity of the kiss. What had got into her? Was Jial right? Were they a couple? She heard Sinbad yell out her name from the top of the stairs. Quickly, Maeve stood up and pushed back all thoughts of the kiss. Sinbad needed her. A storm was coming. Securing the ship was more important than a kiss.

Right?