I failed to mention in the previous chapter that this story is nearly finished. Just a few more chapters to go. It's been a fun ride.

Jim's POV

"I love you, Jim!"
Briar pushed me hard on my chest, knocking me back. At that very moment a guy went off and echoed across the caved room. Briar fell limp at her side and I rushed over to see if she was okay. "Briar!" I picked her up and held her in my arms. My words were stuck in my throat. I couldn't bring myself to say her name again.
On one side of her temple was a hole the size of a small coin, and on the other side, it was the same. Blood seeped from both ends, this sudden pain was unbearable. I didn't think it was possible to hurt this much.
I heard Lucard scream out in pain and fall to his side. That's right, if anything were to happen to either Briar or me, Lucard would cease to exist. He was dying.
I looked down at Briar. Despite all the blood splattered on her face, it looked like she was only sleeping. A drop of water fell on her cheek and then another. It was my tears staining her beautiful face. Wake up, I thought. We need to have a life together, you and I. We need to get married and have a family. Please wake up, Briar. I want you to hold me back and have our bodies get tangled together. I want to make love to you and tell you how important you are to me.
I grabbed my spare gun resting at my side and searched the area for Stickler. He was going to pay with his life. Screw bringing him back to tried for his crimes. I was going to break every limb on his body. But I never got the chance to do it; this hood figure, this creature used an unknown force with the simplest movement of his hands and pushed anyone back who got to close. And any attacks towards him were blocked by an invisible shield. For a moment I thought it was going to kill us all.
This creature knocked down all pirates and even some of my crew. Even I could feel the weight of its power pulling me down and I wasn't anywhere near it. Slowly, but surely, this being walked closer to me—a red stone beating like a heart in the middle of its chest. The thin piece of fabric it wore couldn't mask its gangling arms and legs. It bent down toward me and I pointed my gun to shoot. The creature was fast and held my wrist, squeezing it. I was forced to drop the gun and that's when it finally let me go.
It held one long, bony finger to its lips and that's when I saw the face a being with sunken cheeks and black eyes with dark circles underneath. It ripped out the stone from its chest and offered it to me. I was unsure if taking it was the right choice but something in me told me to do it. When I grabbed it the stone was warm—almost hot—and the creature grabbed my wrist again but did not squeeze it. I stared back at it and for a split second it was not a creature I was looking at, but a man—a human.

No words needed to be spoken to know who this man was. There was a deep understanding of the uncanny resemblance. And like that the creature let me go.
Suddenly, Briar was gone; the cave and everyone in it was gone, including the mysterious man and I was now standing outside in the dark. I saw the Benbow Inn and another house sitting somewhat close to it. I could tell it was newly built. A single light from a candle was lit in a room on the second story of the neighboring house. The silhouette of a woman walked over to it and blew it out.
Something in me told me to go check it out. I felt weird walking into this strange house but I felt like it was the right thing to do. The home was warm and tidy. It was beautifully decorated, yet it was with all things simple. I heard a creak above me and walked up the spiral staircase to check on the sound. I was met with a long, dark hallway with only the light of the moon to guide my path. All doors save for one was closed. I walked up to the door sitting ajar and poked my head inside. I saw two people sleeping together: it was a mother and child.
My pocket quickly became warm and I felt the stone vibrating. When it stopped I walked the rest of the way into the room and quietly closed the door behind me. I hovered over the bed to get a closer look at the sleeping woman and child. I almost lost my breath as I know understood who they were: Briar and Lucard.
Lucard was just a small boy, maybe four or five, and Briar was pregnant. That's right; Lucard told me that when Stickler killed me I left Briar pregnant with our second child: Auriel. Briar must have been eight to nine months along.
Briar's eyes flickered open and she looked up at in a sleepy daze. "Jim…?"
I sat down on the bed next to her. "I'm here," I told her and gently caressed her long hair lying all to one side.
"I dreamt you went away." Her voice sounded groggy, but I could still make out what she was saying.
"I'm here now, and I'm not leaving again." She pursed her lips together as she tried not to cry. Tears fell down the sides of her temple and I reminded of how she died to save me. I wiped her tears away.
"Don't leave me again." She begged quietly, careful not wake little Lucard. I looked over at his sleeping form. He was so small and cute and I smiled at the way he clung to Briar.
I cupped Briar's face in my hands and I bent down to press my forehead against hers. "I'm going to fix everything. We'll be together again soon." I wanted to kiss her lips so badly but a part of me felt like it would be wrong. Even though we had already been together in this time, it was different for me than it was for Briar. If I kissed her now it would be like taking advantage of her. I wanted our first kiss together to happen at the same time for us. For now, I kissed her forehead and wished her goodnight. She quickly fell back to sleep and before this moment ended I rested my hand on her belly and felt the soft imprint of Auriel. I was overcome with joy and placed a hand over my mouth to stop myself from making any noise of cheering. I was so happy. This was the future I wanted with Briar, but according to what Lucard told me, Stickler takes this all away. I wasn't going to let that happen.
Next I knew, I was standing in a brightly lighted room. Toys were scattered all over the floor and a messy bed was sitting up alongside a wall. I could hear a soft noise coming from somewhere in the room and I carefully stepped over the toys and followed the sound. Behind a giant chest of toys, I found a little girl whose back was facing me, putting together a device. When she finished she held it up and it started floating in the air and it lit up with bright green lights. It suddenly dropped and the girl grumbled.

I moved in closer to get a better look at her but when I did my foot accidentally hit a toy and she quickly turned her head to look at me. We locked eyes and for a moment neither of us moved. She looked at me curiously as she turned herself completely around and stood up. Her light brown hair was long and put into a braid and she wore a cute frilly nightgown that looked a little too big for her. She walked up to me slowly, but she was not afraid. I had the feeling she was more concerned about me stepping away. She looked to be about four and was less than half my size.
All of a sudden she raised her arms, wanting me to pick her up, and I did so. Her big blue eyes sparkled with innocent curiosity.
"I know you." Her little voice said to me.
"You do?"
She grabbed my face with her tiny hands, surprising me a bit and nodded. "You're my papa."
My breath was caught in my chest.
"This is the first time I've met you, but I know it's you." She told me as she finally let my face go. "I haven't mama yet, though."
I furrowed my brows out of confusion. "What do you mean?"
She paused for a moment before answering me. "A bad man killed her. Big brother tells me not to talk about it. Ever." She paused again. "That same bad man killed you, too." She was talking about Stickler. Suddenly she whispered to me. "Do you have the stone?"
I wasn't sure how to respond to that question but I didn't want to lie to her, so I nodded. "I do."
She smiled a little. "You're gonna save us, huh?"
"I'm trying," my words almost didn't make it out of my mouth. "I'm going to try, Auriel," I told her honestly.
She smiled sadly. I'd never seen such an expression come across a little kid's face before. It tore me up inside. Auriel said nothing to me, only wrapped her arms around my neck and held me close. Her little body was shaking and I didn't know if it was because she was cold, or if she was crying. "I love you, papa." She whispered.

I didn't want our time together to end. There was so much I wanted to ask her, but I wasn't given the chance.
"Jim, let's talk." I heard a familiar voice say my name and I opened my eyes to find myself back on my ship in my estate room. I quickly turned around and saw Briar standing before me. She saw the look of confusion on my face and asked: "Jim, are you going to be okay?"
I couldn't believe it. She was standing right in front of me! I smiled and rushed to her and held her against me. I didn't hesitate this time and I kissed her soft, welcoming lips. Her body went stiff for a second and then I felt her loosen up. I didn't know where to put my hands first so I just wrapped my arms around her. Where on her body was I going to kiss next? I didn't know, so I kissed her lips again…and again. The taste of her excited me and I wanted more; her breath on my lips made me fall that much more in love with her.
She suddenly pushed me back a little to catch her breath. "W-what…why?"
I caressed her soft, warm cheek. "I thought I lost you."
Briar looked at me confused. "What are you talking about? And why me?"
Now I was the one confused. As far as I was concerned, she had loved me from the very beginning. At least that's what Lucard told me. "I don't understand. I thought this was what you wanted."
She struggled with her words. "I DO want this, but…people like us just don't mix." She closed her eyes as soon as she said this and I see the guilt rising up inside her. "Aren't you worried about what people will think of us?"
"To hell with those people," I told her. "I love you, Briar Edwards, and I think you're beautiful." It felt so good to say that.
She buried her face in her hands and started crying. "I've been waiting to hear you say that for so long."
I smiled at her and brought her close to me again. "Trust me, so have I."
"I feel so embarrassed now."
"Why?" I asked her.
"Because…"
I chuckled and rubbed my hands up and down her back. "You and I have a lot to talk about."
She looked up at me and smiled a little. Her eyes were wet with tears. "I'm sure we do."
I grinned. "No, we have A LOT to talk about," I said again in regards to Lucard being our son and the fact that I kind of sort flipped back and forth through time.
Briar raised a brow. "O-okay," she cleared her throat and took a step back from me. "We have to get back to being serious with the matter at hand: the enemy is right outside this door. What are we going to do? If I go with Stickler there is a chance we can still beat him, but right now he has us cornered and if we do anything stupid he can have us all killed."
I nodded, understanding the situation at hand. I was coming back to reality. "I have a plan, but in order for it to work I can't tell you what that is?"
Briar shot me a cross look. "That doesn't sound very helpful."
I shrugged. "Well, we'll see." I could feel the stone still in my pocket. If anything bad were to happen I could easily change the outcome…right? "Just trust me," I begged her and she reluctantly complied and followed me out the door.
"About damn time." Stickler said. He took hold of Briar's arm and pulled her over to him. "Ya not as stupid as I thought ya t' be, Captain." He started to leave with Briar.
My hand was steady at my side as my fingers lightly brushed against the handle of my gun. "Hey, Stickler," I said calmly. He turned to look at me and that's when I swiftly took my gun and shot him between the eyes. The dastardly pirate fell hard to the floor. While gasps escaped the mouth of others, there were a few who were rendered speechless. Briar was among that group.
"What the actual hell…?" said one of Stickler's crew members. "You…you actually killed him?" What I thought would soon turn into a bloodbath turned into something else that I was not expecting. All of Stickler's men dropped their weapons and released those they held captive.
I looked to Lucard who was just as surprised. He noticed me looking at him but he just shook his head. He had no idea what was going on.
"We's never had the guts to do it." A pirate said standing off to the side. "This was never our fight. Stickler threatened us all if we didn' follow his orders." Many of the other pirates nodded in agreement.
"Why didn't you band together to take him down?" I asked as I pulled Briar to my side. No one was going to take her away from me again.
The answer the pirates gave me was fear. They were all scared of Stickler, but now it was over. This never had anything to do with them, I understood that, but they were still pirates and had severely injured my crew. Besides that, they all had a bounty on their heads. I almost felt bad for these pirates. Half the things they were in trouble for Stickler probably had them do. What was I going to do with all of them?
"Ahem," a pirate stepped forward. He was a tall, overweight, pig man. "My name is Derk. If anythin' happens to the Captain I am next in line." I looked around to see the pirates nod in agreement. "We's are by no means innocent, but we's ask for yer mercy."
All eyes were on me now. "I see," I started. "If you help with the repairs on my ship I'll allow you a heads start. How does that sound?"
The pirate named Derk looked surprised. He didn't he would get an answer like that out of me. "A-alright," he said. "We's need t' fix our ship, too."
I nodded to this. "Let's help each other out then. But right now I think we could all use some rest. Everyone stays on my ship. If any pirate leaves, I will have you in chains. Understood?" They were eagerly nodding. I didn't think it was going to be that easy and was still a little wary at first. "Any of my crew members strong enough I'll have take charge for the moment. As for me, I will be retreating to my room for some refreshments. Briar, Lucard, Maria, and Silver will follow me. I need to speak with all of you."

Lucard was irritated and let me know it as soon as the door to my room closed. We were all together now. "What you're doing is dangerous." He told me.
I took a seat and poured myself a glass of red wine. "Want some?" I offered to pour him some but he just shook his head.
"Do you have any idea what they could do to us?" Lucard took away the bottle of wine and set it somewhere out of my reach. "They could kill us all in our sleep!"
"Calm down," Maria told him. Lucard finally backed off before I had the chance to tell him in a less friendly way.
"The lad is right." Silver said. "No matter our relationship, Jim, I am still a pirate. I knows how the lot of 'em think."
I looked at him. "What does your gut tell you, Silver?"
He thought for a moment. "Uneasy," and then he added: "but I don' think they'll try anything…to be perfectly honest."
I looked at Lucard. "See? There you go."
He grumbled and crossed his arms.
"What are we going to do next?" Briar asked. She had been quiet for so long I wasn't sure she would say anything. "I mean, after the ship is repaired, what will we do? Go back to Montressor, or continue the voyage?"
"Actually," Lucard opened his mouth, "there are some things you should know."
I quickly stopped Lucard before he could say anything else. Briar had been through enough already. I was worried that if Lucard told her the truth about himself and Maria then she might faint or lose her mind. "Not right now, Lucard. In time, yes, but not right now."
Lucard stepped down from wanting to spill out all his secrets and composed himself. "Fine...I mean, yes Captain."
I finished off my glass of wine. "Now that I have your thoughts on this situation, you can all leave now." They headed for the door and started exiting, but I called for Briar to stop. "Everyone but you, Briar,"
She stopped at the door. "Yes?"
I pointed to the door. "Please close it. I want to speak with you privately."
Her face went red. "O-okay," she did as I said and closed the door and walked up to me. "Yes, Jim?"
I stood up and ran my fingers through her hair a couple of times. "Are you going to be okay?" I asked. She only nodded. "Look at me." I lifted her chin and kissed her. "Even being this close to you is not enough for me."
Briar bit down on her lip. "I…"
I smiled. I loved how shy she was. "You can tell me anything."
She stared up at me with rosy red cheeks and said. "I'm not very good at these things…I'm nervous." She admitted. "It feels like my heart is beating faster than a mile a minute."
"Don't be nervous," I told her. "Just be yourself. Briar, you don't have to try and be perfect. Look at me, I'm not perfect."
Briar gave me a short laugh. "Oh please. You are definitely perfect."
I tucked part of her hair behind her ear. "Will you grow your hair out? I miss it being long."
She blushed. "Oh uh, okay."
I put my hands on her hips and gently squeezed as I pulled her in for another kiss. "Stay here with me tonight. I'd appreciate your company." Before she had time to answer I slipped off her uniform jacket before picking her up and walking her over to my bed. I laid her down gently and took off my jacket as well to be more comfortable.
"Hey, wait," she said as I rested beside her. "I, uh…"
I put one arm next to her head while I rested my free hand on her side and pressed our bodies together, closing the gap between our mouths. Her whole body was warm and I could feel myself melting against her. I left tender kisses neck as I slowly moved my hand up under her shirt, but she stopped me before I could reach my destination.
"Stop," she said a little out of breath. "I need to tell you something." I stayed silent and waited for her to tell me what was on her mind. "I'm a virgin." Her face flushed a darker shade of red.
I had a feeling she was but I wasn't going to comment on that. "That's okay."
Her eyes shifted from one side of the room to the other and then back at me. "Are you?"
Now that was something I didn't expect her to ask me, although I felt like I should have seen that coming. "Uh…no," I told her honestly.
She gave me a very small nod as if she predicted that to be my answer. "…Kate?"
This time I nodded to her. "Yes…but that was a very long time ago. I don't have feelings for Kate anymore." I found myself asking: "Does that make you think less of me?"
She shook her head. "No,"
I kissed her again and sucked on her lower lip. She moaned, which excited me and I started to lift her shirt up. Again she stopped me.
"What are we doing?" She whispered this to me as if what we were doing was something forbidden.
"I was going to make love to you, but if you don't want to then I respect that," I confessed.
"Oh…" She laughed nervously. "I'm sorry, Jim. I don't think I'm ready."
I smiled at her. "That's nothing to be sorry about. Whenever you're ready, just let me know." I told her. "We can just lay here if you want. That's perfectly fine with me."
I noticed her relax against me. She was no longer tense as she let me put an arm around her. "What did you need to tell me? You said there was a lot for us to catch up on."
I thought about whether or not to tell her, but I knew it wouldn't be right if Lucard was present. "That can wait a little bit longer. Tomorrow we can talk about it, I promise."
"If you say so."
The light from outside was beginning to fade, giving my room—our room a golden touch from the setting sun. Even though the scenery gave off a romantic vibe to our current condition, I respected Briar's wishes and relaxed beside her. She was worth waiting for.

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Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.