I figured I better start writing Author's Notes now... Considering those of you who have followed and liked my story have been absolutely wonderful! Thank you very much to those who has also done a review or two :) You guys made me happy. Keep reading for more adventures with Mara and the Sirius crew - I have plenty more brewing in my brain. As for who Mara will fall for? It's a secret... for now.

Episode 7

After enduring a few days of harsh conditions due to a storm, the Sirius pirates were finally able to enjoy clear skies and a calm ocean. Mara had proved herself to be useful around the ship, using her sailing knowledge taught by her father to aid mostly everyone there, with Thomas's help. He and Russell have been showing her the ropes of how things were run on the Sirius. Slowly, she was letting her guard down and enjoying her new life on board.

Looking at the Orion, she tried connecting the stars in her head. She saw the bow and arrow, but could not concentrate enough to re-create everything else in her mind. On a quiet night like this, her mind wandered into the memories she tried locking away since she was accepted as part of the Sirius pirates. She refused to talk about her past and the people she used to be associated with. She avoided questions about them and focused her energy on doing various chores around the ship. Thomas and Russell knew that she didn't want to talk about it, so they left it at that.

But it was getting late into the night and everyone was in their rooms, except for Eduardo who was still up cleaning a corner of the deck due to insomnia.

She hasn't really spoken to him much. In fact, he and Nathan tried their best to only talk to her when they needed her to do something for them, like fetch ropes or peel potatoes. The rest of the time, they avoided her.

Not that she minded – they seemed like they weren't as friendly as the other pirates. She suspected that they were still protesting about having a woman on board – officially as part of the crew now – behind her back to Captain.

She sighed and wrapped her arms around herself at the chilly breeze.

"You're going to catch a cold if you keep going on like that."

She turned around and saw Eduardo, who held up something small that caught the light from the moon. It was her engagement ring that she threw away a few nights ago!

"Here," he offered it to her, but she shook her head. She stared at the distance and saw him frown from the corner of her eyes.

"What do you expect me to do with this thing?" he asked her with a patronising voice.

"I don't know," she wasn't in the mood for this so her tone was sarcastic as she said, "Give it to the next woman you sleep with or something."

"You must be kidding me," he took one of her hand, which earned him a glare and pushed the gold band onto her palm. Then she sighed and stared at the ring that was given to her by the person she used to love – and whom she now lost her faith in.

"You still love him?" Eduardo asked quietly, watching her profile. There was a look of sadness in her eyes, framed by bruises and cuts that were slowly healing. He thought she was going to shed tears from his question but she surprised him by shaking her head and looking into his eyes as she said a firm, "No."

"I can't forgive him for not trusting me," she continued, staring squarely at him, "E-even if my father was a crook, he should've-"

"Why should he believe you?"

She seemed surprised at his next question, "Because… Because if you love a person, you'd think they'd put all their trust in you."

"But what if the person you trust so much betrays you?"

Mara felt a stab of pain as Eduardo's words pierced her heart. What he meant, she was sure of it, was that even though she loved and trusted her father, it might just be true that he betrayed her and the Navy. More importantly, if he did take his own life, that act alone was a betrayal to her.

Her fists clenched by her sides, the gold band that reminded her of Leonardo dug on the skin of her palm. She was getting light headed thinking about betrayals of the people she thought she knew.

Suddenly, the ring slipped out of her hand and slid through the gap in between the railings. Before she knew it, Eduardo jumped overboard with a loud splash.

Seconds later, before she was able to comprehend the situation clearly, Nathan showed up next to her and peered over the railings to see Eduardo swimming by the Sirius' side.

"Get some rope, quick!" Nathan ordered, snapping her back to reality. She grabbed a rope on top of the closest barrel she found and threw it at Nathan, who tied one end to the railings and chucked the other end down to Eduardo.

"Grab on, Eduardo!" Nathan yelled at Eduardo below, who was swimming as hard as he could to keep up with the Sirius. Mara watched in shock as Eduardo's grip slipped the first few times he tried.

Finally, he was climbing up the rope and Nathan helped him to get back on board when he reached the top. He was soaking wet as he set foot on the deck, panting and shivering slightly as the cold wind hit him.

"I'll get you some towels to dry yourself off, wait here." Nathan proceeded to run below deck.

Mara crouched down next to Eduardo, who was also crouched as he caught his breath. She touched his shoulder, not knowing what else to say or do.

"Here, take this and don't let go of it or something silly like that again," he said, handing her over the ring that slipped out of her hand. He must've caught it just as it fell and lost his footing while doing so.

She was baffled as to why he would do such a thing. He saw her expression and explained, "My father betrayed me and my mother a long time ago… But the only difference between you and me is that I really believed he was a selfish prick who wronged us for his own benefit. You on the other hand… You know for a fact that your father wasn't a traitor."

Eduardo slowly stood up as Nathan came back to hand him a large, fluffy towel. He wrapped it around his shoulder and walked off before saying, "You know it in your bones, don't you understand?"

Then he left, leaving Mara standing there holding the ring tightly, while Nathan stared at Eduardo's retreating figure and back to her in confusion.

"What the hell happened?" He asked, as she thought over what Eduardo had just said to her.

"On second thought, cross that – I don't want to know," he crossed his arms and shook his head disapprovingly. He then continued, "Tomorrow we land on Dahlia Island to fix the ship from the Kraken and storm damage. Since you're going to stay on board from now on, you better pull your weight. Don't think you'll be let off easy just because you're a woman."

Mara looked at him and nodded. She never expected to be treated like a princess. She knew that there was so much she needed to learn and so many things around the Sirius that needed to be done everyday. She was prepared to do them and earn her place. Eduardo was right, despite everything, she was still her father's daughter and nothing would change that. She chose to keep the happy memories she had with him and continue to live in his name, even if she couldn't prove his innocence just yet. But one day she will and that was when Leonardo and the rest of the Navy will eat their words.

"You better go to bed. Everyone will be expecting you to wake up real early to help out." Nathan strolled off towards the cabins and looked back when she didn't follow, "Are you coming?"

Mara met his eyes and said with determination, "You bet I am." She slipped the gold band into her pocket, and then followed Nathan below deck to get a good night's sleep. She couldn't wait for tomorrow to begin.

End of Episode 7