Author Note: Hope everyone is enjoying the story! I know I've been having so much fun writing it. We're back to Aimee's perspective again… and the adventure begins! They're finally about to set sail. Enjoy!


Chapter Twelve

"Miss Aimee! Miss Aimee!"

Groaning, I roll over in bed and squeeze my eyes shut. Whoever decided to wake me up at this ungodly hour is going to have hell to pay… as soon as I can actually muster the energy to get up. I've just had the craziest dream that Nick broke up with me and then I got kidnapped by a ship full of pirates, so it's obvious I want to know how the dream ends. But unfortunately, you can't just jump back into a particular dream once you've acknowledged that it was, in fact, a dream… or at least, I can't.

But as I reluctantly open my eyes, I realize that I don't have to worry about missing out on my dream. I'm living it.

Memories from yesterday come flooding back to me. After touring the Jolly Roger with Lucky, I hung out with him and a bunch of the other pirates below deck for a while. Sam and Twitch showed me around Neverland a little, and Smee made us all the most fabulous dinner.

James and I barely spoke, except when he told me I could stay in Jenna's room for the duration of my visit, showed me where I could find a washroom, and promised me new clothes and anything else I would need as soon as we reached our stop.

Suddenly, I hear a knock on the door. "Miss Aimee? Are you awake yet?"

I recognize the voice as Smee's, and assume he's responsible for all the wake-up calls on this ship. I guess it makes sense… from what I've seen so far, he seems almost like a mother to these guys.

"Yeah!" I yawn, getting out of bed and heading over to the mirror. Combing my hands through my hair a few times, I give myself the once-over and shrug. I'm still wearing yesterday's clothes and haven't gotten to take a shower yet (is that even possible here? I shudder to think…), so it's not like I can really look much better.

Slipping on my Converses, I make my way out on the deck, where I see the pirates all climbing up from beneath the ship. I head over to greet them.

"Morning, men," I greet them tiredly, wishing I could be a little livelier. "Should we go beg Smee and James to let us sleep in?"

Lucky grins and shakes his head. "On sailing days we always wake up early," he tells me, pulling his eye-patch onto his left eye. "Not to worry, love… you'll get used to it!"

"The first m-morning is always h-h-hard for everyone," Twitch says reassuringly, patting me lightly on the arm.

"Thankfully Smee always makes us a fine breakfast!" Sam exclaims, adjusting his glasses. I can tell he's a morning person.

"Pancakes," Queequeg informs us, taking a sniff.

"Queequeg's got a great sense of smell. He can always tell us what Smee's cooking up," Lucky explains. He motions toward the kitchen door. "Shall we?"

We walk into the kitchen, where James is already sitting down. "Good morning, men," he greets the group as a whole, then turns red as soon as he realizes I'm definitely not a man. "And lady," he adds, nodding in my direction. "Sleep well?"

I nod. "That's definitely the most comfortable bed I've ever slept in," I tell him, not wanting to complain about being awake at the crack of dawn (since the other pirates are surprisingly chill about it). "Not that I have a lot of room for comparison," I say hastily, not wanting to make it sound like I sleep around or anything. "I mean, I don't sleep in a lot of other beds. I'm just saying I like this one a lot." God, I sound like an idiot. Shut up, Aimee, I tell myself.

Luckily, I'm saved from any awkward silences by Smee's pancakes. "Dig in!" Smee insists, setting a huge plate in the middle of the table.

In the middle of our meal, Queequeg speaks up. "Some of my tribe come to say us goodbye," he says in his broken English. "After pancakes."

Poseidon nods. "Thalassa and her friends were thinking of doing the same," he responds, taking a huge bite. "If that's alright with everyone."

"You know visitors are always welcome!" Smee exclaims, his cheeks growing rosier in his cheerfulness. I swear, he reminds me of a miniature Santa Claus in blue-and-white-striped clothing, except that instead of bringing toys, he brings food. Really, really good food.

I'm actually kind of excited to meet some other people (and merpeople, too, I guess) from Neverland before we leave for the Dragon Coast. It makes me feel even more a part of the stories.

As if on cue, right as we're finishing our food, we hear voices coming from on deck.

"Olathe!" Queequeg exclaims, immediately getting up and rushing out of the kitchen. The rest of us follow quickly after him.

Olathe turns out to be this tall, gorgeous dark-haired girl, about Queequeg's age, with a huge smile on her face. Queequeg hurries over to her and hugs her tightly, immediately lost to the rest of the world.

"Olathe is Queequeg's betrothed," Lucky tells me, nodding in their general direction. "They're arranged to marry as soon as we return from this voyage."

I watch them in awe. I've never seen two people seem so happy to be together, and I wonder if I've been living a dysfunctional life or if this is just the real deal.

"He's in love with her, isn't he?" I ask quietly, actually softened by their engagement-bliss… if that's even how it works in Neverland.

Lucky grins. "That he is," he agrees. "Not something you come across every day."

Before I can say anything else, another girl (presumably from the same tribe) approaches us. She looks a couple years younger than Queequeg – probably about my age – but is just as pretty as, if not more than his bride-to-be.

"'Ello there, beautiful," Lucky greets her, casually adjusting his eye-patch. "What brings you to our humble ship this morning?" I can't help but laugh at what a flirt he really is.

The girl rolls her eyes at Lucky but smiles nonetheless. "I thought you wore that patch on your other eye," she says, snapping him out of the whole ladies-man mode. I notice her English is a lot better than Queequeg's, but she still has a hint of an accent that I can't quite place. She turns to me, shakes her head, and then laughs. "Men."

I return a smile. "I'm Aimee, by the way," I introduce myself, feeling a little awkward and out of place. "The new girl on the ship."

The girl bows her head. "I am Tiger Lily," she replies. "Queequeg's sister. Are you joining the men for this voyage?"

I nod. "It's kind of a long story," I admit, "but yeah. Any parting advice for me before we leave?"

Tiger Lily grins. "Yes," she tells me, glaring in the direction of the other pirates. Some of them are mingling with the other Indians on the ship, while others are within earshot. "Watch out for these brutes. They may try to charm you, but some of them just want to break hearts."

"You wound me, darling," Lucky says with a laugh. He turns to me and grins. "She's just upset because things didn't work out between us."

"And what do you mean, break hearts?" Sam demands, having somehow made his way into the conversation. I see the way he looks at Tiger Lily in total adoration, and it's actually really cute. "Not all of us are like Lucky, you know."

Tiger Lily reconsiders her advice to me, then smiles good-naturedly at Sam. "You are right, Sam," she admits, reaching out and squeezing Sam's hand reassuringly. "I know you aren't like that."

We mingle a little longer, and then I branch off to meet the others – Queequeg's younger twin sisters, Anouk and Alaska, as well as a few of his friends from their tribe. When we hear splashes in the water, I follow Poseidon and the other pirates (with the exception of Sam, who is basically basking in Tiger Lily's attention) over to the side of the ship to see the mermaids. "Thalassa!" Poseidon calls out, a huge smile on his face. I swear, this is the first time I've seen him truly smile; up until this moment, I thought Poseidon was just the angsty pirate.

"Poseidon!" one of the mermaids calls back. There are three of them in the water, but the one who spoke is the one in the center. She has wavy hair – long, almost white – and a sunny disposition. I'm surprised; this isn't how Jenna's books described the mermaids. They're supposed to be morbid… not like something out of a Disney movie. But Thalassa and her friends seem perfectly normal and pretty and nice.

"Jenna only met one mermaid when she was in Neverland," James whispers to me, as if reading my thoughts, "and the one she met was not a particularly nice one. Everything she wrote about the mermaids in her books was purely imagination, which is why you're surprised by these good mermaids."

It makes sense. I nod, thankful for his explanation.

Everyone continues to socialize until Smee rushes on deck. "Time for the adventure to begin!" he exclaims, sounding his usual chipper self.

The pirates, Indians, and mermaids all bid their final goodbyes, and moments later, we set sail.


It's been a few hours now and I'm still not totally sure what I'm supposed to be doing. I've seen Pirates of the Caribbean more times than I can count (hello, Johnny Depp? I rest my case), but that doesn't mean I have any clue of what to do.

So I've spent the trip so far basically trying not to get in anyone's way, instead merely observing. I have to admit – the scenery is amazing, out here at sea – then again, as far as I can tell, where in Neverland is it not beautiful?

James oversees everything with a watchful eye.

"James, when are we going to be there?" Poseidon calls out, a pained expression on his face as he fixes the sails. I have no idea how he even got up there. "Because I really have to… well, you know… go."

James shakes his head to himself and groans. "You should have thought about that before we left!"

I smile to myself, remembering the times when I was little and we used to visit my grandparents, who lived a few hours away from us. Hannah and I used to complain all the time to our parents in the car, begging to get off at the nearest rest stop to use the bathrooms.

"Hey… I can cover for him, if he really has to go," I offer, but James dismisses it at once.

"You haven't been properly trained yet," he responds loudly, causing Poseidon to groan.

Well, it is true. Even if I were to figure out how to get up there, I'd have no idea what to do with the sails.

"Besides, the trip shouldn't be much longer," he whispers in my ear. "I'm just pulling Poseidon's leg."

I laugh. "You're horrible," I reply, shaking my head.

Soon enough, we see land up ahead.

"We'll be arriving at Clover Cove shortly," Sam informs the crew, pointing to his map.

Somehow, that doesn't sound right to me.

"Clover Cove?" I repeat, baffled. "But I thought we were going to…"

"The Dragon Coast," James finishes for me. He smiles lightly. "That's where we're headed, yes. But we always make a stop here first… it's where Lucky's from. We'll stop at his mother's house for lunch, pick up some things for you, and be off again by dinnertime."

Moments later, we arrive at the port, where I see exactly why the little island is called Clover Cove. It's freakin' full of clovers. But it's got other vegetation too, like flowers and stuff… and the place is actually really scenic.

After Lucky has tied off the ship, he leads the other seven of us down to this place I can only describe as a village. People are selling and trading all kinds of goods in the streets, and I wish I could take time and really absorb all this unique culture, but we're moving too fast for me to really look around. I'm surprised – it's almost like a little town here, more modern than the main island of Neverland that we've just left (though I wouldn't exactly call this "modern," either).

We make our way through, passing rows of little houses. We finally stop at a pink one, decorated with seashells and clovers, where Lucky runs over to knock on the door. Right away, a lady answers.

"Kenneth!" she exclaims, pulling Lucky in close and giving him a big hug. "Oh, my Kenny… it's so good to see you!"

She's a petite woman, probably in her forties, with big eyes and a kind smile. Her hair is a mix of brown and blonde, just like Lucky's, except much nicer and cleaner looking. I can tell she was probably really pretty when she was young.

"Hello, Mum," Lucky greets her, a sheepish grin on his face. "It's good to see you too."

Lucky's mom pulls back for a moment to look at him. "You've got a smudge of dirt on your face," she tells him, licking her finger and wiping it off his nose. "And Kenneth, are you still wearing that silly patch of yours? Take that thing off!"

Lucky laughs and pulls off his eye-patch. "Sorry, Mum."

"Oh, how rude of me… just leaving everyone in the doorway!" Lucky's mom gives us an apologetic smile. "Won't you all come inside?"

"Thank you, Miss Mae," the other pirates greet her in unison, each wiping off their boots outside before entering the little house.

"And who might you be?" Lucky's mom asks me as I follow everyone inside. "Kenneth's brought friends home before, but never any of his pretty little girlfriends."

"Oh, I'm not his girlfriend," I tell her with a tiny giggle, which is actually pretty uncharacteristic of me, but I guess things change when you realize you're the only girl on a ship full of pirates… in a place you thought was imaginary until now. "We just met yesterday. I'm Aimee, the new girl on the ship."

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Aimee," Lucky's mom replies, smiling warmly at me. Instantly, I know that I like her… she seems really nice. "I'm Kenneth's mum, as I'm sure you've guessed by now. You can call me Mae. Now, dear, how did you get involved with these rebels?"

"James k-k-kidnapped her, Miss M-Mae!" Twitch tells her, laughing.

"It was an accident!" James insists.

"Come on now, mate," Lucky tells him with a grin. "You know there's no such thing as accidents."

"Just fate," Queequeg agrees with a grunt.

"Anyway," Lucky continues, "James let us keep her. She's agreed to stay with us for this voyage."

"Well, I think that's just terrific that you're joining them," Mae says, patting me on the arm. "You know, when I was a little older than you all are now, I spent some time on the Jolly Roger myself. After we've all had lunch, I'm sure I'll have plenty of stories for you, if you'd like to hear them."

"Of course," I agree, surprised at her past but certainly wanting to know about her life among pirates. It's hard to picture, but definitely interesting.

"Now," Mae tells us as she leads everyone into a tiny kitchen. "I can't say my cooking is quite like Smee's..." Smee beams at this "…but I did manage to whip something together."

And with that, we sit down to eat.


Acknowledgments: I would like to thank NobleBrokenBeauty, EragonPeep, Purple Shamrock 17, imagine everything, Risa Pecuu, CurryCurran, Yuki Asao/Aiyoku Saotome, FreckledFerret, and SuperWafer for the reviews on Chapter 11!