The English captain clasped his hands together and raised his head to look out the window behind his desk. A few of the first rays of sunlight were trying to poke through and he sighed. Clasping his hands together, he closed his eyes and bent his head.

"Hello Mom," he whispered. "How is it up there? Probably pretty good…better than it is down here anyway. I know it's been a long time since I last talked to you and I'm sorry. In that time I've stained my hands to the point of being permanent. I will never be able to erase all this red. Also, I don't know if you know, but I captured a Frenchie today. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with him, maybe I'll kill him, maybe I'll keep him as a servant. I don't know yet. I also took his boy away…he reminds me so much of Alfred and I'm sure I can take better care of him than that frog would. Do you remember Alfred? You didn't really get to meet him before…well anyway he's growing up to be a fine boy. You would be so proud of him." He rubbed his eyes in irritation. "I can't get the frog out of my head…he's the same one from when I was little. Surely you remember him? It's alright if you don't. In fact I hope you don't now that I think about it. I still blame him for what he did. I should kill him. Get my revenge. I don't know if I could carry that through though. I've become so tough and hard since I lost you but I don't know if I can be that cruel to someone I used to call my best friend even if he did have a hand in…" He sighed deeply. "For now I'm going to take the two of them home and see what happens. That sounds logical and reasonable, right? Wow, it's been a long time since I've tried to figure out what's make sense instead of just plunging ahead. I don't know about anything anymore. I wish you were still here to tell me what to do…" A shard of light hit him in the face. "Well I've kept you long enough. I need to get some sleep and then figure out what to do. I will talk to you again soon, alright? Good night, Mom."

He stood up and stretched his back before changing and getting into his bed. The bed sunk low with the weight and Matthew squeaked a little, fearing he would be crushed. Luckily the English captain thought it was the bed and ignored it.

"That little boy will turn up soon," he mumbled through a yawn. "Someone will spot him and catch him."

He fell asleep quickly and Matthew slipped out from under the bed, running quickly to the door. Pulling on the handle the door opened with difficulty and he squeezed through the small opening he made. He started for where he had last seen his Papa, carefully avoiding detection in the early morning.

To his dismay the other wasn't there anymore.

"P-Papa…? Papa, where are you…?"

He looked around and hid behind the mast as he heard two sailors talking about the man in question.

"Aye, we locked him in the brig," one said with a laugh. "That frog won't escape, no matter how hard he tries."

When they passed, Matthew ran for the brig, a place his papa had told him never to go to again on their ship because he had locked himself in it on accident once.

As he approached he saw his papa chained to the wall.

"Papa!"

The man looked up, eyes weary and bloodshot.

"M-Mon p-petit?" he asked, voice hoarse and unsteady. "W-What are you d-doing down h-here?"

The boy ran up to the bars and stuck his hand through, trying to reach the other. The Frenchman reached as far as the chains would let him; they were kept apart by a few inches.

Giving up, Matthew pulled his hand back.

"P-Papa…I'm scared…I-I want to go h-home…"

The man's heart broke at how terrified his precious boy was.

"W-We w-will. J-Je p-promets."

Matthew looked down.

"Th-That man w-wants to k-kill you…"

"J-Je sais…H-He has w-wanted to f-for a l-long t-time…" the man said sadly.

Matthew looked around desperately.

"You need to get out of there!"

The captain shook his head.

"Non, mon petit." He heard movement. "You need to leave. Someone is coming."

Nodding quickly, Matthew ran back to the deck. Not sure what to do, he looked around and spotted the crow's nest. He hurried toward it and started climbing up the rope ladder.

Someone spotted him and pointed.

"Ey look! There's the brat!"

Many sailors gathered by the mast, starting to shout at him.

"You better get back down here or we'll shoot you!"

Scared, the boy curled into a ball and tried to ignore the yells.

"P-Papa! Only Papa can make me come down!" he screamed. "O-Only P-Papa!"

A sailor pulled out his pistol and fired a warning shot into the air.

"You will come down now or we will make you!"

Starting to shake, he hugged his knees tightly, tears sliding down his face.

A man leapt over the edge and grabbed him by the back of his nightgown. "You could have avoided this, brat," he whispered before he threw him out of the nest.

Matthew screamed as he fell through the air; he didn't stop when someone caught him.

"Oi!" an angry voice yelled. "Who is making all that noise and keeping me up?!" The crew quickly turned to see their furious captain and pointed at the shrieking boy on the ground. "What happened?!" he demanded, noticing how terrified he was.

No one answered.

The captain picked up the little boy. "Go back to your stations!" he ordered, carrying the boy back with him.

Matthew slowly calmed down and simply cried.

"What happened, lad?"

"Th-They th-threw me o-off the n-nest," he forced out between hiccups.

"W-WHAT?!" He stood up quickly. "Stay here while I deal with them."

He strode to the door and left.

AN: Ha! Arthur was kneeling to look for Matthew! He was kneeling to pray to his mom!

Yeah...sorry about the wait...college keeps one SUPER busy, especially now that's it's time for finals. But oh well! More Pirate Boy for you all who waited! And this chappie is dedicated to a good friend of mine for encouraging me. You know who you are. ;)