Hello my lovelies!
Please don't kill me...I'm sorry I Haven't been on in literally forever.

I was up to my elbows in school and other crap that makes life a pain in the ass.

Anyway, I'm back and fabulous! :D jk.

Soo, here's the update, and thanks to everyone for reviewing and staying true to this story. I love all of you so much. 3+ reviews and I update! Rule still up!

Enjoy this chapter!
Btw, this is where the action begins.

xx, Crystal

Kenya

I was in the kitchen, adding more mellowdew to the Sweetness. It wasn't sweet enough for me. I hoped Silver wouldn't mind me adding a little something to his concoction.

"Hey," I heard a voice at the door.

I turned around, and saw Jim standing there, looking tired.

"Hey!" I moved out from behind Silver's stove. "Are you okay?"

Jim nodded. He moved over to the bench and sat down on it.

"Taste this." I smiled and gave him a pinch of Sweetness out of the pan. "It's hot so be careful. Silver made it. He said he thought it might cheer you up."

Jim put it in his mouth and he grinned slightly. "It's good."

I nodded excitedly.

"What is it?"

"It's called Sweetness."

"Tell Silver it's amazing."

"Tell him yourself, later." I sat down next to Jim. "So. Do you want to talk?"

Jim shrugged and leaned back against the bench. "Silver just talked to me."

"What did he say?"

From the brightness of Jim's smile I could tell that whatever speech Silver had told him had really touched Jim's heartstrings, and I was glad. "Something really nice?"

Jim nodded. "It was really nice."

I nodded too, and then rubbed his arm. I was afraid I was going to spill right now all about how Scroop killed Mr. Arrow and how Jim wasn't to blame at all, but then I knew I'd be betraying Silver, in a way. So I pressed my lips together and settled for smiling.

Jim looked at me, his penetrating dark blue gaze settling on my eyes.

I dropped my gaze, a blush heating my cheeks, and looked self-consciously down at my clothing. I had changed out of today's regular tank top and shorts and was now wearing a plain white dress that ended a few inches above my knee, with thin straps and a low cut back. It was what I planned to sleep in, and was comfortable, so I had changed out of my sweaty clothing and into this right after the supernova. I felt a tad bit underdressed now, especially under Jim's gaze.

Jim looked down at his lap and then across the galley at the walls.

Silence echoed through the galley.

Suddenly, Jim spoke.

"Hey, you have another tattoo."

Now I felt even more self conscious. Because the tattoo was located on my back, right below my left shoulder blade.

I blushed. "Yeah."

"Wow." Jim leaned forward to inspect it closely. "It's a moon. With three stars."

"Um, the moon is the Spaceport, actually," I told Jim. "And the three stars are just there."

"Cool." He reached forward and then drew back. "Can I touch it?"

I nodded. "Sure." Right that moment, I was blushing so bad I was sure the heat from my cheeks could probably light a fire.

I felt Jim's warm soft fingertips skim the tattoo below my shoulder. I felt his fingers trace the outline of the small crescent moon, and then touch each of the stars.

I sucked in air. I looked over at his face, saw his blue eyes flecked with gray, those soulful haunting eyes, the glint of that gold earring and the softness of his brown hair, and in that moment on impulse, I leaned forward towards his face.

This is so stupid, Kenya! I realized, and desperately tried to pull my face back, humiliated.

But before I could, I felt his warm hands beneath my jawline, holding my face close to his.

I parted my lips slightly to say "sorry," but then his lips were on mine, and in that moment I forgot every single thing.

Like, someone could have walked into the room and asked me what my name was, and I wouldn't have remembered.

I felt our lips touching, and I felt myself burning for more.

I leaned forward, pressing into the kiss, and then my mind flashed back to my parents leaving.

"You'll be okay, dear. We'll be back soon. We love you."

"Mommy, don't go!"

"Lucia, we should go before she starts to throw a tantrum." My father.

"Jakke, how can we leave her here? She's too young."

"Lucia, come on! We have to leave!"

"She's our only child, Jakke—"

"Don't get soft now. Someone will find her and take care of her."

"MOMMY!" Me, wailing.

"How do you know that, Jakke?" Mom's voice, raising in pitch and volume. "Someone might not really care for a little orphan girl abandoned at the might kill her! Or...take advantage of her."

My father sighed. "We can't think about those things. We must go. Now."

"Goodbye, sweetie," Mom had said, tears in her eyes, and then they had both gone.

Left me to the cruel mercy of the world.

I pulled away as fast as I could, tumbling back against the wall.

I couldn't trust anyone. Not one person. Betrayal was my biggest fear.

"Kenya?" Jim looked concerned, his eyes shining in the dim lighting of the galley.

I whimpered, but didn't say any audible words.

"Oh—" Jim looked down, rubbing his eyes. "That was stupid of me. Sorry."

I shook my head, trying to get the words out. "I leaned in. It was my fault. I forgot...everything for a second because you were there, right in front of me."

Why did I always have to sound so stupid and corny in front of Jim?

Jim swallowed. "Okay. Yeah."

"Yeah." I smiled softly at him. "It's okay. We can just pretend it didn't happen, right?" Please say yes. Please just say yes. Please.

Jim shrugged. "Yeah."

I breathed out. "Okay. Great. Thanks."

"Yeah." Jim stood and stretched. "I'm tired—I better go to bed."

"Okay." I stood up too. "Goodnight, Jim."

He pecked me on the cheek and walked up the stairs.

And I wasted the next five minutes of my life just standing in the galley with a hand to my cheek, with the blissful memory of our kiss playing in my mind on endless replay.

Jim

I woke up the next morning awakened by what was possibly the rudest bunkmate in the entire Etherium.

I fell out of my hammock, sleep still in my eyes, and I rose to a sitting position, trying to get my eyes to open.

I had to work.

I pushed myself to grab my socks and boots and put them on.

Just then, Morph snatched my other boot and flew off with it, chattering happily, thinking I was playing some game.

"Morph," I moaned, attempting to rub some sleep out of my eyes. "Morph, knock it off." I stood up but stumbled back to my knees while trying to tuck in my shirt which was hanging wrinkled past my belt.

I fell to the ground in front of a pile of boxes where I guessed Morph had hidden my other boot.

"Morph, knock it off. It's too early for this."

Suddenly, my boot came up behind me and kicked me right in the rear end.

I fell forward, into the pile of boxes, and then whirled around, outraged. "Hey! Morph!"

The little guy burst out into his squeaky laughter, and still carrying my stolen boot flew up the galley stairs and onto the front deck.

"Hey, come back here!" I chased him up the galley stairs and onto the front deck. I managed to catch the boot in a last resort attempt by jumping off the stairs straight over the floor grate and narrowly snatching the boot.

I sighed.

Morph turned into a blowfish and sprayed me in the face with water.

I wiped the water away with one hand and tried to snatch the little floating blob with my other hand.

He morphed into tiny versions of my face.

"You little squid!" I tried to catch him, but he had already dove beneath me into the grate.

I ran to the galley stairs and stumbled down, seeing Kenya already down there mixing something in a pan.

"Hey." I grinned at her. "Morning."

"Morning." Kenya handed me a pinch of something. "Last night's Sweetness cooked beautifully. Taste?"

"Yeah!" I put the pinch in my mouth and swallowed. "Yum."

Kenya smiled and giggled. "Looking for Morph?"

I sighed and gestured to my feet. "Stole my boot, and I got it back. But where is he?"

"Keep looking."

I strolled through the galley, my eyes settling on the purp barrel. I crawled over to the edge and peeked in.

A purp opened an eye cautiously and looked at me.

Morph.

"Busted!" I laughed and dove into the barrel, grabbing the little pink blob between my fingers and holding him there, tickling him as he chirped happily.

Suddenly I heard Kenya gasp outside the barrel and looked up. She was scrambling back behind a table. She pressed against the wall and pulled her knees to her chest.

I looked up and saw Scroop and a few other sailors coming downstairs with murder in their eyes.

I sank down deep into the barrel with Morph in my hands, muffling him so he couldn't make any noise.

"We are sick of all this waiting!" It was Birdbrain Mary.

"Ve are vanting to move!" I heard a fat sailor cry.

"We don't move till we got the treasure in hand!" I saw the metal hand and froze, because I knew it was Silver.

Another voice, oily thin and raspy. "I ssssssay we kill them all now."

Silver spoke again, this time his voice echoing raw outrage. "I say what's to say! Disobey my orders again like that stunt ya pulled wit' Mr. Arrow, and so help me , you'll be joinin' 'im!" He grabbed Scroop around the neck and flung him in my direction, right into the purp barrel. The barrel swayed back and forth precariously several times, threatening to flip over, but luckily it didn't.

Scroop slowly lifted himself off the floor. "Ssssstrong talk, but I know otherwissse." Scroop reached his red pincers into the barrel, and I saw my life pass before my eyes.

He was scrabbling around for a purp.

Panic in my eyes, I grabbed a purp from near me and held it up to his pincers. Luckily, he grabbed it and pulled his giant claw out of my hiding place.

"It'ssss those kidssss," I heard Scroop say in a soft, dangerous voice.

No one moved—total silence echoed through the galley.

"Me thinksss you've have a—" I heard the sound of the purp being pierced. "sssoft ssspot for them."

I heard the crew murmuring and mumbling words that I couldn't really decipher, but my heart was pounding so loud I couldn't believe I hadn't been found out yet.

When Silver spoke next, it sounded like murder laced with poisonous revenge was dripping off his tongue. "Now mark me, the lot of ya! I care about one t'ing and one t'ing only! Flint's Trove. You t'ink I'd risk it all for the sake of a nose wiping little whelp and an orphan girl?"

Shock nearly paralyzed my body.

A nose wiping little whelp?

I thought he meant those things he said last night.

It was almost like...he was my...father.

Tears threatened to fall down my cheeks, so I ground my teeth together and pressed my forehead to my knees to try and get a grip on reality.

"What was it now?" I heard Scroop chuckle darkly. "You've got the makingssss of greatnesss in ya."

"SHUT YER YAP!" I heard Silver yell. "Ah, I cozied up to that kid to keep 'im off our scent. But I ain't gone soft."

"What about the girl?" demanded Scroop. "You don't call ssssix yearsss worth of love and affection 'cozying up', do you, Ssssilver?"

I remembered how Kenya had told me she had been with Silver six years, since she was nine. That can't have been a lie. Silver really, truly loved Kenya. All of that could not be a scheme.

"The girl is just like a helper for me!" I heard Silver say. "I felt pity for the little t'ing when I first saw 'er at the Spaceport. But I'm tellin' ya—all of ya—that I ain't feelin' no feelings. Not when we're so close to the treasure!" Silver looked around at the crew, who seemed to be tilting towards his side again. It seemed his speech had been convincing enough.

Scroop scowled.

"Land ho!" screamed Onus from the front deck.

The excited crew members, including Silver and Scroop, raced up the galley stairs to go sight the planet we had been sailing towards for weeks.

I was in no mood to see Treasure Planet right now, realizing there was a mutiny onboard.

Sadness piled up in my gut as I hauled myself out of the barrel and started towards the exit.

Then I remembered Kenya and turned around.

She was standing behind the table, her face dismayed.

Her lower lip quivered for a second and I stepped towards her, but she bit her lip and pulled herself up from a hunched position back to herself.

I wanted to open my mouth, to speak, to be strong for the both of us, but I wasn't ready to talk yet. Instead I stumbled forward against a table, my fingers hitting Silver's spyglass.

Kenya was right behind me when I glanced back.

"Are you okay?" she asked me, touching my shoulder.

I closed my eyes. "I don't know." I looked at her. "Are you?"

She shook her head honestly. "No." She paused, and then looked at me. "We're going to Treasure Planet?"

"Yeah," I said faintly.

"I thought that was just a myth."

"It's no myth." I rubbed the back of my neck, trying to sort my thoughts into order. "It's real. And the map I found led straight here."

I nodded. I couldn't even think straight.

Suddenly, fear shot through my mind. "We have to leave the Legacy. Otherwise, they'll know!"

"Know?" I heard the panic lacing Kenya's words, and I grabbed her wrist and yanked her forward, halfway up the stairs, nearly safe, when suddenly Silver appeared at the top.

He blinked several times rapidly in surprise.

I heard Kenya inhale sharply behind me and I began to slowly back up down the stairs.

She grabbed a fistful of my shirt, and I felt her hands shaking against my back.

"Jimbo." Silver walked slowly down the stairs. Purposefully. Placing his huge hands against the walls so we couldn't get past. "Kenni." Silver smiled what was a friendly smile. Underneath I sensed the poson, the anger, the shock because he knew we had heard the entire mutiny thing.

"Playin' games?" Silver cocked his head, and put his arms behind his back in a friendly way.

I narrowed my eyes, still backing up. I felt Kenya squeeze my arm, and saw that we had backed up against Silver's table.

I put my arms out on either side of her and grabbed the table's edges, determined to at least protect Kenya, if not myself.

"Yeah." I narrowed my eyes. "Yeah, we're playing games."

"Oh, I see." Silver nodded slowly. "Well, I was...never much good at games." I heard the cocking of a pistol. "Always hated to lose."

And in that moment, fear raced through my veins so much I could feel my teeth chattering together. I set my jawline and pressed my toes into the floor, hoping an idea would randomly dance into my brain.

I felt something sharp touch my hand, and I knew Kenya was pushing something at me.

I scrabbled and wrapped my fingers around it.

"Hm," I said. "Me too!" I dove forward towards the ground and stabbed whatever that sharp thing was into Silver's leg pump.

It lost all its air and Silver went falling to the ground.

"Silver!" Kenya's hand flew to her mouth.

No. I couldn't let her pity overtake her rational senses. I grabbed Kenya's hand and pulled her up the stairs before Silver hauled himself after us.

"Where are we going?" she wailed, hair flying in a ponytail.

"The Captain's room," I said, making a split second decision.

We raced in that direction, content to be getting farther away from the pirates.

Aww, I love their relationship. So sweet.

Anyway, more updates hurled your way this week! If school isn't a b**** to me. :/ Love you guys!
3+ reviews!
Mwah!
xx, Crystal