[4/6]
"I still can't believe we pulled it off." He says with a laugh. He's had a few drinks and usually Santana would tell him to knock it off, but tonight? Tonight they have a reason for celebrating.
"Well, believe it. We're legends now." she tells him.
"Yeah, but come tomorrow you're retiring - whatever the fuck that means." He replies as he takes a seat in front of her desk. He's not angry, at least not anymore, but he's still a bit hurt that she's leaving them.
"It means that I found something with a stronger calling than the sea." She explains again. And it's that the most surprising part about this whole ordeal. She always pictured spending all her life on a boat, becoming one of those pirates that goes out fighting valiantly at sea. She never thought it would all end like this. "And come tomorrow, a vote will pass and you'll be the new captain of the Panther, Quartermaster Puckerman." she smirks at him and raises her own drink. She really couldn't have left this crew in better hands.
"Jesus Christ." he says as he clinks his bottle against her glass and laughs.
"You did it." Are the first words out of her mouth. She sounds surprised which makes Santana smirk as she leans against the door to her room.
She did do it alright. Pulled off the biggest heist any pirate had ever tried. Attacking and robbing the largest English Royal treasure ship and doing so successfully – with only her own crew and no outside help – she's going down as the baddest fucking bitch in history.
"I did. How 'bout you?" Santana asks. She got the gold, but all of this won't matter if Dani hasn't held up her part of the bargain.
"As of 8 days ago, I have officially paid off my debt to Schuester. We're free." She answers, her smile widening. Santana rushes towards her and picks her up. Dani's giggles fill the room as Santana twirls them around.
They had never been able to get it right between them. The first time they met, Santana already had her ship and the reputation that came with it. While stopping in Nassau to sell off her goods to Sylvester, she had given her hard earned crew – hard fucking earned alright, it had taken a lot of work, a lot of blood, but it had all been worth it in the end – a few nights to fuck around. She had headed for the local brothel and asked for the most expensive whore.
She'd gotten Dani.
What happened after was a series of moments spread out through the years. Whenever the Panther stopped in Nassau, Santana would pay for exclusive rights to Dani for the amount of days she'd be in the island. How she ended up falling for her was a mystery.
(Except that it wasn't and she still remembered the moment she realized she was in love. They were lying in bed, Santana exhausted from her arrival and subsequent argument with Sylvester and not to mention a local pirate suddenly deciding she had to still keep proving herself a worthy captain.
The fight didn't last long, but that didn't make the bruises hurt any less. And as for Smythe, he'd ended up tasting her blade, literally.
So there they were, lying in bed, Dani having tended to her wounds. Santana was too tired for sex and instead the two spent the night simply sleeping. It was one of the best nights of her life and it was the moment she knew that she had more to live for than just the sea.)
Along the way, Dani had somehow fallen too. Santana had offered her freedom, but Dani had declined. She was too proud to have Santana pay off her debt, so she would do it herself. And that was the plan; Santana would get them the gold to start anew while Dani would finally free herself of the awful life she had been living.
"Come tomorrow we set sail for New York." Santana says, dropping Dani on the bed and laying on top of her.
"A new beginning. Think you're ready to leave behind those sea legs?"
"For you? Without a doubt." She answers pressing her lips against Dani's, moaning when the girl deepens it.
"Is that a promise?" Dani asks slightly out of breath as she pulls back.
"No. It's a threat, and one you should take seriously. I'm a pirate remember." Santana answers back pinching Dani's side and feeling the blonde squirm underneath her.
"You won't be one come tomorrow." She replies with a look of hope and wonder in those brown eyes.
"That's the plan." Santana says, because that indeed is the plan. She's made her name legendary now, and she didn't have to die to do so. Instead, she plans to die of old age with this gorgeous woman by her side. The idea itself is worth more than all the gold coins and silver pearls in the world.
"I love you." Dani says with a smile so bright it makes Santana's heart want to burst.
"I love you too."
(Inspired by Black Sails)