A/N: I think I had a lot to say while I was writing this chapter...but at this moment, I can't remember any of it... (sigh) oh well.

Chapter 10

I woke up to a very dark room, boarded up on all sides. The ship was wobbling…I had trouble standing up right. Everything seemed to be spinning even though there was nothing I could see. There was not even a window to tell time; not one speck of light. Tenderly, I raised my hand to my face. Even when it was touching my nose, I still couldn't see it.

I was not tied up. Wobbling, I leaned heavily against the nearest wall in an attempt to find the door. Walking endlessly around, I realized it was no use. I couldn't feel the seam of a door anywhere. Panic kicked in; I crumbled to a heap. Where was I? Why was I here? The floor seemed so warm…I was so cold. My entire body ached and throbbed, yet I couldn't exactly remember exactly why. I screamed and I thrashed around, all I ended up doing in the wobbly room was end up in a heap. I could not find the walls again to help me stand up.

When I finally stood up, the ship seemed to lurch and I ended up on my hands and knees again. The tales from my childhood kicked in…

"Father!" I burst out of the manor, sprinting to the man coming up the drive. Charlie always came to visit me each spring when the governesses I had set me free to play and explore. They could never truly understand what it was about the sea that I loved. Why, I could even ride horses, if Mother would only let me. But no matter how I pleaded, she never openly gave me her permission. I ended up making friends with the stable boy, who took me out to a ride every now and then.

But Father would always bring me on his ship and let me do big stuff. It took only two years to learn how NOT to fall when the ship is unsteady and how to make it seem like you're tied up in two seconds…at least, that's what I learned. Whether father really knew I learned how to do that was a different matter. He tied me to a chair or pole plenty of times to punish my misbehavior, but I always ended up getting free to play and coming back before someone checked up on me to make sure I was still there.

I didn't see a stray branch on the walkway, and tripped over it. Charlie was smiling, but a worried expression replaced that smile when I fell. Grimacing when I pulled myself up, I brushed off my skirts and limped to him. He gave me a brief hug, laughing as he twirled me around…

And I was back in that dark cell. Sweat trailed down the sides of my face. I didn't know what happened. I was cold; my head ached as if hammers were being struck on my skull from the inside. No true memory came back. How did I end up here? I screamed, but no one came in. I was alone.

I bit my lip to keep from crying. I couldn't cry. Big girls never cried unless they wanted to be bullied…

I was in the midst of another nightmare. The first life I ever took was that of a young boy, no bigger than me at the time. It was eight years ago, when I was only ten. Leon and I just moved permanently into Sarijam. He was the local ambassador from the street gangs to warn us the consequences of entering their domain.

I had obstinately said no. I was young, and had just gotten off a ship where the captain treated me like a mere cabin boy instead of a watcher; it was his fault that the ship was four weeks late in its delivery. If he had just listened to me when I told him he was going south into a storm instead of westward, we wouldn't have gotten 'lost' and had to do emergency on-board repairs of the ship. In the end he offered me the wheel, but only after a long bullying session from Leon and the rest of the crew. Apparently, the other men of the ship held me in higher esteem than I thought.

Leon warned me to stop my sharp comebacks, but I couldn't…wouldn't. It was not until he threw a punch at me when I suddenly knew I had gone too far. He missed terribly, of course, but I hit him back. Leon tried to break the brawl up, but I had kept on it, eventually blocking Leon's attempts in addition to the boy's throws. His size was bigger – taller, and yet my dexterity made him twist his body into awkward positions not fit for a fight.

I didn't want to kill him. As I dodged hits, I only aimed to make him immobile and let him go. He didn't think the same as me. It wasn't long before he drew his dagger. I had none. Mine was in Leon's possession – he knew to keep it far from me when I was in a bad mood. I could only parry and dodge while waiting for my chance. It came a little sooner than I thought. In one thrust, his dagger made to chop my head off. My right hand rose of its own accord to grab his wrist. With a quick duck and turn, I had guided his dagger to his own neck… with more force than I thought. His arm's momentum caused him to slice his throat. His shocked face stared at me as he crumpled to the floor in a heap.

The face haunted my vision – grew until there was only that shocked expression and nothing else.

And then it changed. Parts of the flesh ripped off as the face grinned. "You'll meet your end, too, Bella!" it shouted, the voice echoing with such force that it threw me back. The face loomed over me, the bony mouth open as if to swallow me. I screamed as his teeth loomed closer and closer…

My eyes shot open, immediately closing against the blinding light from a hole in the opposite wall. As if in a daze, I wondered what I'd look like. My hair was matted to my scalp under the bandana. My hands hurt – I knew I must have skinned them in my earlier attempts to get out.

And the light suddenly faded.

My eyes opened of their own accord. A dark shadow was standing in the doorway. I whimpered, my voice long gone from my screaming.

"Key! Are you alright?" The shadow detached itself from the light. A solid being came over. I hissed when he grabbed my hand, but whimpered when cool hands pressed against my forehead. "You're burning up!"

"Edward?" I croaked. In some unknown, coherent recess of my mind, I recognized the voice, the touch. I distantly registered how weak I must look. Some warning blared in my mind, but I couldn't recognize it. "My name is Bella," I whispered. I didn't know why I said it. More warning bells blared in my mind, but I was too weary to ignore them.

The man – he hadn't responded yet – froze, his cool hands still on my forehead. "What did you just say?"

"Call me Bella," I repeated. My eyes were tearing up again. His dark shape seemed to split into two, three, more than three. He spoke, but his voice echoed endlessly in my head, adding to my existent headache. Dry sobs broke out of me – strangled sounds that signified how miserable I was. "My name is Bella." I whispered again. And then, his image was gone, replaced by more memories…

"Who are you?" one of the crewmen sneered at me. "We dun accept lil girls like you here."

"My name is Bella. Bella Swan," I answered. I had a distinct feeling that I should be scared, but I giggled at his expression instead. His eyes bulged until they almost popped out and his lips were pulled over his teeth like an old toothless granny. "And I'm here whether you accept it or not."

His expression after that made me laugh even harder. He looked…stoned – as if someone pulled a big bucket of ice-cold water over him and he didn't know whether he was cold from the ice or hot from the anger within. One side of his face twisted up into an awkward attempt of a smile; the other half was trying to narrow his eye at me and make me cry… at least, that's what my instincts told me he wanted to do. He was just being silly.

"Have you a paralysis of your face? My old governess said that people who make expressions like yours need to see a doctor right a way in hopes that the loss of muscle control won't spread," I told him knowledgably, proud of myself.

Deep chuckles sounded behind me. I whirled around. "Papa!" I screamed, running to him. His arms were wide open as he scooped me up into his arms and twirled me around.

"Well, hello Key," he laughed. "I see you're giving my crew quite a handful." He tried to be serious, but his grin and wink gave it all away.

"They were being silly. Miss Sterba always said that silly men needed to be reprimanded." His eyes widened as he played along.

"So I've not only brought my daughter and helper, but also a strict Miss Captain!" He laughed and turned toward his men. "This is my daughter, Bella - Key," he said, nodding to me and then to his men. "I do hope that she will find no more need to reprimand you." Some of the men laughed outright, but the man who I spoke to just glared at me. I stuck my tongue out and made a noise at him in return. Father set me down and pushed me in the general direction of the deck, telling me to play.

I ran for the door, but the atmosphere suddenly changed. It felt as if the previous cheery feeling suddenly morphed into something mean and evil. The faster I ran towards the door, the farther it seemed to move from me. I looked back to where my father was, but he was on the ship, waving goodbye as it struck a stone structure and everything disappeared…

I sat up, panting, the sudden movement caused my head to pound. Cool hands pressed a cloth on my forehead while leaning me back. I groaned, jerking away.

"I wouldn't do that, Key," a very male voice said. My eyes shot open. The blurry shape of Edward loomed above me. I was in a cabin I had never been to before… bookshelves lined the walls, each self with a special ridge to keep the books secured against tumbling waves. From what I could see, I was on the only bed.

"Where am I?" I whispered.

"My room," the voice answered. I tilted my head, suddenly coming in contact with a pair of vibrant green eyes. He seemed to be kneeling by the bed, chin propped on his hands. And he was just staring at me unblinkingly.

Feeling better than I had before, I waved a hand in front of his eyes. He blinked, as if startled from his thoughts. "You know, if you need some object of inspiration for your great ideas, you should find something inanimate to stare at."

He looked confused for a second, and then snorted. "Are you admitting that you're unnerved?" His eyebrows rose in amusement, but he could not hide the flush that spread across his cheeks.

"Yes," I answered, playing along.

He snorted again. "I don't believe it! The great Mr. Key just admitted that he was scared!"

I shrugged, although the gesture felt quite awkward when lying in a bed. "For all you know, I may be a quivering mouse inside."

"And pigs might fly!"

I was silent for a moment, thinking it through. "I appreciate the vote of confidence, although I'm not sure I care for the association."

For the first time since I'd met him, he smiled – truly, genuinely smiled. The corners of his mouth pulled up in a crooked grin. His eyes sparkled with mischief. He leaned conspiratorially in, his lips inches from my ear. "You should take it as a compliment. They're pretty high up the intelligence scale." His breath fanned over my ear, I shivered involuntarily.

"Very well," I continued, cursing at the slight tremor in my voice. "Thank you for the compliment."

He laughed then. "I'm glad your fever broke to the point where you're coherent again." With that, he got up and made to leave. There was a nagging memory tugging just on the edge of consciousness… something I thought I should know.

"Wait!" I shouted. He stopped, his hand on the door handle. Slowly, he turned around, raising an inquisitive eyebrow at me. "Who brought me into this room?"

"Emmett. He had the strength to carry you without dropping you even when you thrashed about." He left before I could launch another question.

Call me Bella. Those three words echoed loudly in my mind. I remembered them vividly in my dream, but I also knew that my habit of sleep-talking may have spilled it.

The days that followed, I recovered fully from my abrupt illness. Two questions constantly plagued my mind. Does Emmett know? And, more importantly, what will he do if he does?

--

As soon as I regained the use of my feet, I slipped away from Edward's room. It was dark at night, the sounds of the ocean traveled lazily in tune with the gentle swaying of the waves. Edward was asleep, as he often was, on the hammock hung in a corner. Every night that the nightmares rolled, I'd wake myself, finding him staring at me with that peculiar expression – eyebrows furrowed in concentration, eyes sparkling with an unknown emotion. Whenever I asked, he seemed to jump, as if startled from a daze, and turn away from me. Several times, when the light hadn't burned out, I caught him flushing, though I could not figure out why.

The next few days I kept myself aloof from everyone, even far away from the crow's nest. I stayed among the ropes, swinging from side to side. Sometimes I stopped and dropped behind unsuspecting crew members, usually earning myself a muttered curse. Other times, I just hung motionless on a cable, feeling tempted by the breeze to loosen my hair. Throughout all that time, I was looking for one person in particular – Emmett. He avoided me.

The days passed without a sight of him. It got to the point where I paid him a visit one morning.

I nearly slammed his door open, inwardly wincing at the ruckus it made.

"It's not every day I see the First Mate scrambling for cover as soon as I enter," I remarked casually when I saw Emmett at the far corner. He coughed, his eyes quickly shuttering out a startled look.

"Does that mean I have permission from Your Highness to call you Bella?" he asked, standing straight and making a beeline towards me. I only narrowed my eyes in reply.

"If you chose blackmail, why all the trouble taken in avoiding me?" I ignored his question.

"You will not tell me outright why you chose to board the ship," he stated simply.

I couldn't help it. I laughed. "Smart thought. I'd never guess you had it in you."

The next second, his sword was on my neck, blocked by the hilt of mine. I took one look at the sword and then at him, smirking. "Quick, but not quick enough." I winked. "Other tricks to make me impressed?"

I saw his other hand reach for his belt, suddenly coming up empty. "You took my…" he trailed off as his sword clattered to the ground. His eyes traveled up. "…whip," he finished softly. In my hand I held the cat-o'-nine-tails. Each gentle flick of my wrist, the whip made a sharp crack against the ground.

"Aye. So I have your weapon, you have my secret. What does that tell us?"

"That I shouldn't underestimate you."

I grinned. "Wonderful!" I dropped the whip to the ground, turning for the door.

"Would you actually whip me had I not agreed?" he asked as I opened the door.

"Would you tell Edward my secret had I not come here to ensure that it's kept?" With that, I opened the door and let it shut behind me, feeling as if a sudden weight had suddenly left me.

Many of you wrote in your reviews that you are quite anxious about my "slight character changes" for Bella. She's going to be her witty self (I hope) but might turn a little more reserved.

And... I'm a little evil for this chapter. We don't know for sure whether Edward heard Bella when she was "out of it". We don't really even know he was there at all - he might be pretending or he might actually be clueless ;) I still haven't found the perfect time for the truth be revealed, but it's coming soon! :D

A penny for your thoughts? hehe

--Cathy