A/N - This chapter manages to be simultaneously fluffy and angsty and though I'm not sure how that happened exactly, I kind of like it, lol. I have to officially say though these kids - and by that I mean Kate and Jim - have complete developed minds of their own and have pretty well stopped doing anything I expect them to do. Which is amusing, but also means that my chapters keep multiplying O_o. Ah well, it keeps me on my toes anyhow.

As always, many thanks to LC and -NamelessForNow- for their kind reviews. You guys are made of win! Enjoy the chapter everyone!

It was another beautiful day at sea. Kate felt her mood lift almost the moment she stepped out into the sunlight and felt the breeze catch in her clothes and hair. Jim, following closely behind her, had kept wisely silent for the rest of the walk up to the Well Deck. Kate didn't mind the lack of conversation, but she wished he'd stop giving her those little darting looks as though afraid that one false move would trigger her temper again.

"Jim Farrell," Kate said finally when she caught him at it for the hundredth time, "Will ye stop that?"

Jim looked over his shoulder as if hunting for a clue as to what she was talking about, "Stop what?"

"Lookin' at me like I'm a bomb 'bout te go off," Kate replied. She crossed her arms and gazed at him sternly, "I'm a girl, not stick o' dynamite."

"Could've fooled me," Jim said drily.

Kate glared up at him for a moment, then said, "Oh bugger off," and headed off to investigate the deck. Jim, detecting no vitriol in these words, chuckled and went after her. As it turned out, the forward Well Deck was pretty well interchangeable with the aft Well Deck in terms of size and shape. The main difference was the fact that Kate could see right out the front of the ship here and that sight made her glad.

Because she wanted to sit so that she was facing in the direction they were headed, Kate climbed half way up a staircase that lead up to what she presumed were the second class decks, and plunked herself on one of the top most stairs. There was a chained blockade at the top of the steps preventing steerage passengers from entering the higher class deck space. Of course, Kate thought sardonically, they wouldn't want us wandering around ruining the view.

A small noise like the clearing of a throat caught Kate's attention. Jim was still standing at the bottom of the staircase looking up at her, as though he wasn't sure what the protocol was for this situation and thus had decided to wait for her to tell him he could join her.

Kate smirked, amused and almost flattered by his deference to propriety, "Ye can come up here an' sit down ye know."

Jim returned the smirk and started up the stairs, "Well I wasn't sure. I don't know if yer aware, but yer not the easiest woman in the world te predict."

Rolling her eyes, Kate said, "Be that as it may, I surely don't expect ye te stand down there starin' at me."

"Aye, and I thank ye fer that," Jim replied settling down beside her.

The staircase, it turned out, was not particularly wide. There was enough room for two people to climb side by side, but just barely. This became immediately apparent when Jim took his seat and the pair suddenly found themselves in very close quarters, close enough that their shoulders were pressed together, close enough that if they turned to look at each other simultaneously there was hardly a foot of space between the tips of their noses. Of course, the first thing Kate did when she realised this was turn to look at him, and of course Jim did the same so that they discovered very quickly how little room they had.

It shouldn't have mattered in the slightest, but it did. There was a ridiculous stretch of dead quiet in which they both stared wide-eyed at one another. His eyes have flecks of grey in them, Kate thought completely out of nowhere and the fact that she had noticed this cause a wave of heat to rush from her neck to the top of her head. The knowledge that she had likely just turned magenta effectively broke Kate out of her stupor. She dropped her gaze to her lap and scooted as far away from Jim as she could, which in all truth was not very far at all.

Neither of them seemed to have recovered working use of their vocal chords, so for another torturous minute they said nothing. Finally Kate made a desperate stab at speech blurting, "It's nice weather we been havin' isn't it?" and then immediately wanting to slap herself for saying something so asinine.

Fortunately, Jim didn't seem to care that the conversation was idiotic, only that there was conversation at all. He nodded, making a pointed effort to avoid looking at her. Kate could have sworn that he was suppressing a smile and she had to restrain herself from boxing his ears. "Aye; it stays clear like this, we're likely te have the smoothest crossin' ever recorded. There's hardly any wind even."

"It barely feels like we're on water right now." Kate commented, still perched rather rigidly on her end of the step, "If the seas were rougher would it make a diff'rence ye think?"

"Oh sure t'would," Jim replied matter-of-factly, "The swells're small now, but we'd feel it if they got much bigger."

Kate glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, "Ye say that like ye know fer sure."

Jim shrugged, "That's because I do know, don't I?" he said, "Worked fishin' boats nearly ten years now, been out on open water loads o' times."

Surprised by this tidbit of knowledge, Kate forgot her discomfort entirely and rotated to face him, not even noticing when they knocked knees, "Really? I didn't know that."

"'Course not – I never told ye," Jim said with a crooked smile, "Now, it's diff'rent maybe, bein' on a big ship like this; I expect ye don't feel the waves so much. Still an' all, I don't s'pose we'd much enjoy havin' te sail through a bad storm, fancy big boat or no."

"Ah no, I'd think not." Kate agreed, shuddering at the thought of being tossed around at the mercy of the sea. She'd heard tales of ships capsizing under the strain of a ferocious gale, their hulls dashed to pieces by the crash of the waves. But then, the Titanic was said to be unsinkable, so she likely didn't have to worry, even if there was a storm. Looking at Jim with fresh curiosity, Kate said, "Have ye sailed much in bad weather then?"

Jim nodded, "Aye, a fair amount."

Kate frowned, thinking this over. A few of her closest neighbours back in Ireland had had husbands who were fishermen and she remembered how they would stand at the windows during storms, anxious pale faces fixed on the dark skies as though willing the violent weather to blow over. Kate's mother had once said that she was glad her husband worked inland; she couldn't have stood the waiting, the not knowing. "It's dangerous work isn't it?" Kate said slowly, "Fishin' I mean."

"It can be," Jim told her sounding as though it wasn't a matter he'd given much thought, "I can think of a fair few storms where the winds were so strong, they were sendin' waves washin' clear over the deck of the boat. It's like the whole sea's tryin' te swallow ye whole, ye can't help but think yer a goner fer sure when it's like that."

The image of Jim swept out into an unforgiving black ocean never to be found made Kate's mouth go dry. She licked her lips nervously, "Why'd ye do it then?"

Jim looked at her as though she'd started speaking in tongues, "Listen te her!" He exclaimed, raising his eyes to the sky. To Kate he said, "What d'ye mean 'why'? It's work isn't it?"

"But there's other work Jim!" Kate said, her voice rising in pitch, "Work as doesn't mean takin' yer life into yer hands ev'ry day."

"Christ, what're ye getting' so worked up about?" Jim demanded, bafflement plain on his face, "The way ye sound ye'd think it was you I had te leave behind ev'ry time I went out on the water."

Kate opened her mouth to make a retort, then closed it again. Why was she getting so worked up? "Well, yer sisters…"

"Didn't know anythin' diff'rent." Jim finished for her. "My father was a fisherman, so I was one too, simple as that."

There was no arguing in the face of this logic. Kate folded her arms across the tops of her knees and stared out at the calm blue ocean stretching for miles out the front of the ship. She hated it, the way people like her and Jim got trapped in a line of work simply because they didn't dare hold out for something better. She was determined that it would change now, that it wouldn't be that way for her anymore.

Out loud she said, "Well, at least ye managed te not die."

Jim huffed a little laugh and replied, "Aye, well I'm grateful fer that too."

They fell silent again, but this time there was none of the previous tension. Kate rested her chin on her arms and sighed, drawing a sidelong glance from Jim. After a moment he said, "So, are ye gonna tell me then?"

Kate twitched one eyebrow, "Tell ye what?"

"What ever it was had ye in such foul spirits earlier."

Kate sat up straight and looked at him, her lips compressed into such a thin line that they practically disappeared. Jim was perceptive enough to notice the change in her demeanour because he shifted backwards slightly.

"I don't see how it's any of yer business Jim Farrell." Kate snapped, the muscles in her jaw tightening.

Jim raised both hands defensively, "All right, all right. Jesus, I'm sorry I asked." He rumpled his hair under his cap, then tugged the brim of the hat back down, "Just thought ye might want te talk about it."

Feeling guilty for her tone, but not so guilty that she could stop herself from scowling into her lap, Kate said, "Well I don't." She picked at the buttons of her coat and brooded quietly for a minute. "I don't see how talkin' would make it any better. Only makes it worse so far as I can tell. 'Twas talkin' as put me in a bad mood in the first place wasn't it? Bad mem'ries ought be left in the past where they belong 'stead of makin' a body dredge 'em up ev'ry minute. Because thinkin' about it always upsets me an' I know that, so I don't know why I can't just stop thinkin' about it and let m'self move on!" Kate looked at Jim, "What's done is done right?"

There was a beat and then Jim said, "I thought we weren't talkin' 'bout it?"

"We aren't!" Kate spat.

"Oh aye? Aren't we?" Jim deadpanned back at her.

Kate made a noise like an angry cat and leaped to her feet, "No, we are not." She stomped down the stairs and half way across the deck before whirling around and stomping all the way back to say, "You are positively infuriatin' Jim Farrell!"

Jim laughed in disbelief, "Me?" He said sounding utterly nonplussed, "I'm just sittin' here!"

"And bein' infuriatin'!" Kate proclaimed. She glared at him but got no response a fact that only made her angrier "God!"

Looking thoroughly amused now, Jim leaned back and propped his elbows on the step above the one he was seated on, "Good Christ," he commented to no one in particular, "She's gone completely out of her head."

Kate narrowed her eyes and glowered with all of her might for precisely five seconds before bursting into tears.

It was hard to say who was more surprised by this turn of events – Jim, who bolted upright and looked terrified, or Kate who clapped both hands over her face and, mortified, made a run for the staircase that led below decks. Despite her head start, Jim moved faster and before Kate could disappear down the stairs, he'd caught her by the upper arm.

"Hey now," Jim said, clearly alarmed by her behaviour, "Wait a minute."

Kate tried to pull free but Jim tightened his grip and pulled her back out into the open. Kate struggled half-heartedly and finally snapped, "Jim, let me go!"

He immediately relinquished his hold, "All right," he said taking a step back, "I'm sorry." He looked at her, face creased with concern, and rubbed the bridge of his nose, "Jesus God Kate, I didn't mean te… ye know I didn't mean anythin'…"

"I know," Kate waved him silent. She wasn't even crying anymore; other then some residual wetness on her cheeks, nothing appeared amiss. Whatever crack had appeared in her defences, she'd walled it back up even tighter than before. "It's not you."

Jim looked vaguely relieved, "Yer sure?"

Kate nodded, "Aye." She wiped her damp cheeks angrily, furious with herself, "It's nothin'…it's just…I'm fine."

"Clearly." Jim said, rolling his eyes. He made a small, helpless gesture with his hands, "Kate, what's goin' on with you?"

"Nothin'," Kate repeated, more firmly, "it isn't anythin' te worry about." She wrapped her arms around herself and looked at the sky, "I'm just… I guess I'm a bit homesick after all."

Jim shook his head, "Ah hah, ye see I don't buy that Kate McGowan. With all yer big talk, I don't buy that yer pinin' fer Ireland already. Not you."

Kate made a low, frustrated noise in the back of her throat; "Never said ye had te believe me, did I?" Jim narrowed his eyes at her and Kate spread her arms wide, "Jim, what d'ye care anyway?" She demanded, half despairing, half exasperated, "It's not as though we're life long chums; yer not on this trip so ye can be my keeper. I know it doesn't feel like it, but the truth is ye hardly know me!"

"Well maybe I want te know ye!" Jim snapped back at her so quickly that Kate was positive that he had spoken without thinking first. Kate's eyebrows shot almost to her hairline. Jim rubbed a hand across his eyes, "I mean… ye know what I mean."

"Do I?" Kate said. She let the question dangle for a moment before continuing "I'm fine. Stop worryin'. I don't need ye worryin' about me."

Jim seemed to sense that he wasn't getting anywhere because he closed his eyes briefly and took a deep breath, "Fine." He said, looking at her again, "But just so ye know, I'm goin' te figure it out."

Kate tilted her head to one side, puzzled, "Figure what out?"

"Whatever it is yer hidin'." Jim replied with a shrug, "Sooner or later yer gonna give yerself away."

"I'm not…I don't know what yer talkin' about." Kate stammered, feeling the blood drain from her face, "I'm not hidin' anythin'."

Jim smiled blandly, "If ye say so." He took in Kate's stricken face and his tone gentled significantly, "And whatever it is, I'm not gonna care."

"Yes ye will." Kate all but whispered. "Oh God, ye will." Jim stared. Kate felt her throat close around anything else she might have said. There was a heartbeat's worth of silence in which neither of them moved, and then Kate darted around Jim and ran for the stairs. This time he made no attempt to stop her.