Knowing You

The following weeks were some of Carina's happiest, despite Silver working her and Jim harder than even she could have imagined—preparing the food, washing the dishes, and cleaning or repairing the ship. She was living her dream of sailing space, and she (finally) had her best friend at her side. Most of all, the crushing weight of Jim's supposedly broken promise had been lifted, and Carina knew that he really had cared about her during those years they'd been separated. For Carina, no task was impossible now that she had Jim again.

Whenever they had some free time from Silver's chores and knot tying lessons, Carina and Jim would climb the rigging and watch the stars, sit in the galley and listen as Silver enacted fearsome stories to the crew, or just find a discreet place to talk. She told Jim about her escape from Endrane; he eventually shared the details of his father's departure and his resulting downward spiral and delinquency, and how his mother had turned their home into an inn as she struggled to support them.

One late afternoon, Carina was sitting in the rigging with Jim when she brought up the question that had been rolling around in her mind since the first day of the voyage. "Jim." Said boy turned to look at her with a smile, "Yes?" Brow furrowed slightly, she spoke cautiously. "If your fa—if it's just you and Sarah, and with all the trouble you've told me that you got into the last few years; how are you here? How did you manage to get on a ship like we always talked about? You didn't," she lowered her voice nervously, "You didn't run away like me…did you?"

To her surprise, Jim grinned mischievously and leaned towards her. "I haven't told you where we're really going," he whispered conspiratorially. "The Captain said to keep it hushed and, well, I didn't know it was you at first. You know the Treasure Planet book we were always reading?" Carina nodded, "Yes of course I rememb—" her eyes widened suddenly. "We're going to Treasure Planet?" "Shh!" Jim pressed a finger to Carina's lips when she raised her voice, speaking urgently. "We have to keep it a secret!" Carina winced. "Sorry. But, you mean it's real? I mean, of course I believed it was real; but you're saying it really real? Wait a minute, how…how do you know where it is? Are we just—" Laughing softly, Jim interrupted her rambling torrent of questions. "There is a map, and I'm the only one who knows how to open it. It shows how to get to Treasure Planet from any location in the galaxy." Carina's jaw dropped, her mind reeling. "That's, that's incredible…but how in the Etherium did you get it?"

She watched Jim turn away slightly, his face darkening. "A couple of weeks ago this salamander guy crashed landed at…at home, and said he was being pursued. He was in bad shape; he gave me the map and told me to keep it safe, and then he died. Doc was over, and we were ambushed, well…they burned the inn." His voice was quiet. Carina made a strangled sound, and saw her cabin boy clench his fists. Poor Jim, she couldn't imagine what it must have been like to watch his home go up in flames. Her eyes filled with tears thinking of that place, which had always felt like home to her, being gone. After a moment, Jim continued. "We went to Doc's house, which is where Mom's staying, and I figured out how to open the map. Well, we didn't actually know it was a map at first, but once we saw that it led to Treasure Planet it opened up a lot of possibilities. This is my chance to make it up to Mom, and with that treasure we could have a house again."

Once he had finished, Carina laid a hand on his arm. "I'm so sorry Jim, about your house and everything. But at the same time I'm really glad you got the map, and that it allowed you to find me again." Smiling slightly, Jim put his hand on hers and said in a soft-voice, "Me too."

Though Jim still had an attitude and moments of sullenness on their voyage, particularly around the adults, Carina treasured their friendship now that she was no longer "Lucas". One night when Jim had seemed distant and disappeared after the chores were done, Carina decided to follow him. She emerged on deck to a brilliant display of stars and gasped at the Etherium's beauty. Shaking her head, Carina looked around for her brown-haired friend and found him out on the very prow of the ship. Tentatively, Carina walked out to stand near the boy who was kneeling and admiring the sky as his hair blew everywhere. Jim glanced up at the sound of her approach, and Carina was relieved to see his face relax. As she stood there with her hand on his shoulder, they understood that no words were needed. The two friends simply enjoyed the stars in silence until their yawns prompted their return to the sleeping quarters with a soft "goodnight".

Not every moment on their voyage was so idyllic. They were scrubbing the deck yet again (seriously, it didn't even get dirty) when Silver came over to point out the spots they had "missed". Jim heard Carina sighed quietly, and he puffed himself up against the large man as though daring Silver to call him a boy. After Silver left, Jim scrubbed with a sour expression, remembering how his father had been so dismissive of his abilities.

Jim was jolted out of his thoughts when he heard Carina gasp, and he turned to see the largest crew member snickering and walking away from a now-soaked "Lucas"; who evidently had been about to toss a bucket of water overboard. Jim's blood boiled, but he didn't dare make a scene after the 'Scroop incident', especially since they were hiding Carina's gender. Remembering the first time he'd gotten in a full-fledged fight—defending her on their way to school—Jim felt extremely frustrated that he was helpless to do the same here. Most of the crew were just too big, and it was folly to expect Silver to save him again. He couldn't help yelling though. "Hey! Watch where you're going!" She wasn't even the smallest person on the ship, couldn't they pick on someone else? Jim walked to her swiftly, taking the bucket out of her hands and helping to wring out the lower half of her shirt. He wanted to give her his shirt or go find her ragged jacket or something, but settled for wrapping his coat around Carina's shoulders as she whispered her thanks.

Later that night Silver was in a theatrical mood; and the two teens sat at the bottom of the stairs, watching from the shadows in fascination as Silver scared the crew with his stories. Chuckling, Carina glanced over at the boy seated next to her. Jim had a small smile on his face, but he also looked a little wistful; and Carina wished they belonged to families that spent time together, like the interaction she and Jim were witnessing and silently wanting to be a part of.

Her drifting thoughts stopped as she shivered. Night had come and her shirt was still soaked, so even with her jacket on she was having difficulty staying warm. She felt Jim turn, and glanced up to see a concerned face. "You're cold" he stated. "It's fine, my shirt just isn't quite dry yet." Jim rolled his eyes after feeling her hand. "Sure, and in the meantime you are freezing cold." Miffed, Carina started to retort when Jim cut her off, scooting closer to her and opening his big jacket, eyebrows raised expectantly. With a wry grin of defeat, Carina leaned against Jim's chest and sighed happily as he wrapped his jacket and arms around her. She was about to nod off in his warmth when Jim whispered kindly, "I know you are used to looking out for yourself Carina, but it is okay to be taken care of too." She replied softly, "I'll remember."