Still no more Capitan, but I promise you, I'll more than make up for it in the next chapter. I just gotta get it finished and ready to post. *nervous chuckle.*

But handsome Spaniard is on the way!


I was tired when I left the shop, yawning as I dreamed of nothing more than my cozy bed aboard the Mary.

Ramirez was waiting outside the door, a small basket on one arm holding my cherimoyas, and something in his other hand that looked like a kebab.

He held it out towards me. "Seasoned goat meat with peppers, potatoes, and mushrooms, I believe. I thought you might be hungry."

I took it with a soft thank you and next thing I knew, I'd wolfed down the whole thing. I barely stopped myself from licking the stick and gave him an apologetic smile. "I guess I was just a little hungry."

He chuckled and held out his arm. "We have a short while before the shops close. Perhaps there is one you wish to visit? And we can see if another stall has something you wish to eat as well."

I still had the money Lesaro had given me, and figured Ramirez wouldn't mind terribly if he had to calculate prices for me. Hopefully he wouldn't ask questions about why I couldn't… "Any suggestions, Lieutenant?"

Ramirez cocked his head thoughtfully as he studied the shops as we passed them, before steering me towards one with various knickknacks in the windows. It kind of reminded me of a flea market stall, but where everything was new and much pricier.

Still, no one said I had to buy anything.

The shopkeeper greeted Ramirez and barely spared a glance at me, which I was coming to realize was a staple of the times. Men were the purses and women were mostly to be ignored.

I rolled my eyes and looked around curiously, realizing that past the knickknacks, were shelves upon shelves of books.

"I believe Teniente Lesaro gave you a purse?" Ramirez asked as he followed me when I started to wander amongst the shelves, quite content in such a familiar environment.

"He did, but I need someone to count for me." I didn't like having to admit to it, but I figured I probably wasn't the only one.

Ramirez nodded and silently watched as I peered at titles, most of which were in languages I couldn't read, but there were a few English ones scattered here and there. I was actually a little surprised to see an actual bookstore in a town like this, since for the most part I'd only seen shops for food, clothes, and general goods. "Why is there a bookstore if the town is so small? Aren't books expensive?"

"Indeed they are. A select few citizens allude to some form of society, so they seek to comfort themselves by pretending they have more than they do." Ramirez picked up a decorative plate and wrinkled his nose before putting it back down. "Most of shops such as these tend have more practical items towards the back of the store, with items considered impractical displayed in the front, but this is a small shop."

There weren't many titles in here to catch my eye, which wasn't surprising. I was usually quite picky with what I spent my money on, and English books in the 18th century that were worth reading were few and far between.

But there was a display of coins that caught my attention towards the front and I moved over for a closer look, tilting my head curiously. "What are these?"

I picked one up and saw that instead of currency, it was engraved with a flower and a small sun.

"These are, ah, how do you say…" Ramirez murmured something in Spanish before saying in English, "Tokens of affection. Romantic affection. They are common with – young couples."

"Interesting." I picked up another, fascinated by the idea. "So these are something that say, a sailor, would give to his…betrothed?"

"Not simply a betrothed. Merely the…woman of his affections. Though it can be the other way around, but it is not as common." Ramirez moved to stand next to me, sifting through the already engraved coins before curling his lip at the sign. "Five reales a coin. Thievery."

"Well, it's like you said. Lot of people can't afford to buy things like these here." I picked up another and froze when I saw the engraving on it.

It was a very well detailed design of a rapier carved down the middle of the coin and a rose twined around the blade. Vines encircled the edge of the coin and there were empty spaces on either side for initials.

In an instant, I knew there was only one recipient this coin had been made for…and there was no way I was going to give it to him.

With stiff fingers that almost refused to cooperate, I let go of the coin, dropping it back in the bin with a clink. "We should go."

Unfortunately, Ramirez's curiosity had been piqued. He picked up the coin I'd dropped and inspected it, his lips tilting in a faint grin. "An elegant design, is it not? You do not wish to purchase it?"

The innocent expression he wore was too innocent. I gave him a look just short of a glare, knowing he knew exactly what I'd been thinking. "No, I don't."

Instead of leaving it alone, he widened his eyes as if to appear completely oblivious. "No? But this seems to almost have been engraved for you, señorita. Surely you do not intend to leave it behind?"

"It's just a coin, Ramirez." It didn't matter that his words had a ring of truth to him. That design was too eerily accurate, and it sent cold tingles tickling over the back of my neck. As if it'd been made for one man, and for me to find it.

I shook my head, ignoring the coincidences. "You said it yourself, it's too expensive. Even I know five reales is not cheap."

The shopkeeper, apparently having a basic understanding of what was going on, sidled up to Ramirez's elbow. "A gift, señor? For la señorita?"

I didn't trust the glint in Ramirez's eyes, and told him sternly, "I said no."

The playful grin faded from his face before he stepped forwards. "Perhaps, instead a keepsake, then." His tone had changed to a softer timbre, lacking the cajoling note from earlier. "A memento for the future."

I paused and looked down at his open hand as he offered the token again, then up into a face that hinted old pain.

Ramirez nodded faintly in encouragement. "These things are important, señorita. Even if they are never given to whom they are meant for."

Sighing with defeat, I took the coin, now warm from his hand, and stared at the engraved rapier. Maybe he was right. Maybe it would be helpful in the future, when I had only memories of possibilities to keep the loneliness at bay.

I heard voices and blinked back into the present to see the shopkeeper making small gestures as he spoke in rapid Spanish.

Ramirez responded in kind, shaking his head at whatever the shopkeeper was trying to coax him to do.

"What's going on?" I asked, closing my fingers around the coin. I didn't even bother attempting to drop it back in the bin again. It felt like my hand had locked in place, the coin generating its own gravitational pull in my palm, holding my fingers closed.

After huffing in frustration, Ramirez turned to me with a disgruntled expression. "He wishes to know if you have initials you would like engraved on the token. Which is an extra two reales," he added, shooting a sour look at the determined shopkeeper.

I shook my head. "No. No initials. Just the coin."

Not sensing any weakness in Ramirez, the shopkeeper tried to press his luck with me. "Por favor, señorita. Is gift, ? For señor?" he gestured at Ramirez, who inhaled deeply through his nose as he reined in his impatience.

"No, it's not for him. It's for me." When the shopkeeper's face scrunched in denial, I had to resist the urge to punch him in the nose. I doubted Ramirez would appreciate trying to extract us from that.

"No, is for señor."

"It is not for me, it is for the señorita to keep," Ramirez snapped, finally fed up with the man's stubbornness.

I rolled my eyes when the shopkeeper continued to insist that it was for someone other than me. "Ask him if I have initials engraved on it if it'll make him happy."

Ramirez gave me a curious glance, and too late I recalled how I'd worded that, but snapped shortly in Spanish, to which the smaller man nodded and broke into a beaming smile, chattering happily back.

The lieutenant grunted and said, "He says yes, and that he'll only charge one extra reales for it." He muttered something under his breath that probably wasn't flattering about pushy shop owners.

I smiled sympathetically. "Regretting a few things?"

His lip twitched as if he wanted to sneer, but refrained. "Only a few."

The shopkeeper scampered towards a small table with a few delicate tools and asked, "What to carve on coin, señorita?"

He held out his hand for the token.

Oh, now you wanna pretend I exist. Big surprise. I took a deep breath, pondering my answer as I handed him the coin. I'd rather not have had anything further engraved on the coin, but it did look…naked, for lack of a better term.

Before I could answer, Ramirez leaned down to murmur, "I will be nearby, señorita. This is too…personal."

I looked up in surprise as he gave me a reassuring tilt of his head and stepped away. I hadn't been expecting him to leave, but I couldn't help but feel grateful. He wasn't wrong. This felt oddly intimate.

The shopkeeper waited patiently for me to tell him what I wanted, tools in hand.

I inhaled slowly, then said quietly, "An A on the left of the rapier, I on the right."

It should have felt wrong. It should have. For all that no one would know, there still should have been some form of nervous guilt, like I was breaking an unspoken rule. Yet as I watched the tools delicately chipping an elegant cursive A to the left of the entwined rapier and rose, I couldn't help but feel like it was the only letter that belonged on the coin.

xxxx

It should have felt like a brick in my pocket. I should have been flinching at every sound, waiting to be found out with my guilty secret.

But instead, my fingers were tracing the engravings, the coin like a comforting warmth in my hand, and it felt like something akin to a worry stone.

"Thank you."

Ramirez looked down with a raised eyebrow. "Hm?"

I smiled up at him as we strolled towards the hotel. "Thank you for making me buy it."

He nodded courteously. "You are welcome, señorita."

We walked in companionable silence for a little while, taking it nice and easy for my leg, and eventually I glanced up at him out of the corner of my eye. Ramirez was an interesting man. He reminded me of how I imagined a young Armando was probably like, and the thought made me smile.

"Something amuses you?"

"I am not certain you wish to hear it," I told him, still smiling even if it turned somewhat bittersweet. I desperately needed to stop thinking of Armando at every turn.

Fat chance when we have a love token in our pocket that practically screams at us about how we feel for him.

Shut up.

"I still wish to know what makes you smile so," Ramirez insisted, nudging me to the side around a stall selling some kind of greenery, like a type of sugar cane or something.

"Alright. Just remember you asked for it." I smirked up at him. "I was thinking that Capitán Salazar might've been a lot like you in his youth."

Ramirez's expression instantly soured, making me giggle at the look on his face. "I would prefer you do not put that image in my head, por favor."

I grinned. "But I thought he was someone all young men wish to be like? After all he's impressive and intimidating and all the pretty ladies can't help but fall at his feet?"

He snorted. "Perhaps that is such, but he has become - stodgy, in his doddering age."

I choked on my spit. Stodgy?

The dark bruise on my neck, barely hidden by the dress's high neckline, begged to very much differ. The man was anything but stodgy. "Are you certain 'stodgy' is the word you wish to use?"

"I am quite certain," Ramirez answered decisively, then cast a curious glance down at me. "Why is there another word you suggest I use?"

I cleared my throat and shook my head. "Not at all."

He made a disbelieving noise, but didn't push my evasive answer.

We walked a bit further, the path taking us back to where I'd noticed the inn earlier, and I was relieved to be heading towards a bed. My leg wasn't going to take much more before it started to protest. I'd already been on it too much as it was.

Strains of music reached my ears as we strolled down the street and I came to an abrupt halt, Ramirez having to catch his balance slightly before he turned to give me a perplexed look. "Señorita?"

I ignored him for the moment, instead tilting my head in different directions until I could pinpoint where the soft sounds were originating.

Ramirez's confusion cleared just as I managed to locate the origination and he gamely kept pace as I led him towards the source.

It was a violin and a cello outside a small shop, making love to one another in an absolutely beautiful duet. A small crowd had gathered and we joined them, listening silently.

I got lost in the notes as they ebbed and flowed like waves on a shore, a melancholy beauty that reminded me so much of home that I could have cried.

I don't even know how long I stood there before I felt a slight nudge against my arm. I blinked, struggling to focus back to reality, then blinked again as I looked up at Ramirez.

The expression on his face was one of curiosity and concern. "You were very far away, señorita…"

His tone suggested he would like to know where I was, but I knew better than to tell him, so instead, I simply said, "Home."

His chest expanded on a deep breath that was let out slowly, his eyes closing in a slow blink of understanding, and we both turned back to the two musicians that were lost in their song, oblivious to their audience.

I missed home so much. I'd done my best not to think about it too much for fear of being swept into a despair so crushing I might never escape, but thoughts still slipped in.

Would I ever be able to go back? Would I ever see my family again? Or my animals? Would I ever be able to drive my car down the highway, radio blasting, high on nothing more than the moment?

A soft touch on my cheek startled me and I instinctively shied away, then realized it was only Ramirez, thumbing away the tear that had been trickling down my cheek.

I sniffed and blinked the tears away. It certainly wouldn't be proper to burst into sobs in the middle of the street.

"Tal tristeza," Ramirez murmured, lowering his hand as his brow furrowed in sympathy.

I sniffed again, shaking my head a little, then forced a perky note into my voice. "Anyway, you were leading me to supper, I believe."

Ramirez's expression softened and he gave me a little smile before tucking my hand in his arm and slowly leading me away. "Very well, señorita. Let us find some dinner."

I quickly wiped my eyes with the sleeve of my free hand, shaking my head when Ramirez offered his handkerchief. "I'll be fine, thank you."

He walked beside me, quiet for a moment, then asked, "How long has it been since you have seen home?"

"Too long. It might have not been so bad if I had known I was leaving, but it was…very unexpected."

His mouth pinched into a frown. "But…how did you not know you were leaving?"

I chewed on my lips for a second as I searched for adequate words, then admitted in a quiet voice, "I was…stolen from my bed."

As apt a description as I could think of. I hadn't been kidnapped. I'd been asleep in my bed. I'd had no foreknowledge of my fate. And I desperately wanted to change the subject.

Ramirez's face went slack with shock as he comprehended my words. "You-"

"I don't want to talk about it," I interrupted quickly, making sure to keep my eyes straight ahead as I hobbled beside him. If I looked at him right now, I'd probably cry again. "Ask Reíno your questions, he will be able to answer most. I just…can't, tonight. I'm sorry."

The warm hand covering mine squeezed gently, but he didn't press further. "I will take you to the inn. They have good food there, and you will be able to retire should you wish it."

I bobbed my head slightly in weary agreement. My energy was flagging something fierce, utterly drained after that bout at the dressmaker's. My limp was growing more pronounced, the barely healed skin protesting with each pull of movement.

The inn was somewhat crowded, more people than I'd seen in months gathered in one place and making me even more tired. I recognized more than a few faces in the crowd, speculating that a great many were fellow sailors excited to hear of news from the Silent Mary's crew and vice versa, but right now, I just wanted peace and quiet.

I heard Ramirez's name called and we both turned to see another Spanish officer gesturing for his attention. I doubted he would want company, so I gently withdrew from his clasp.

Ramirez dropped his gaze to me with a concerned look. "Señorita Isabeau-"

"I'll be alright. I am sure there is someone in this crowd who can point me towards some dinner," I said with a tired smile.

He frowned, then looked out over the crowd, ignoring as his name was called again. After a moment, he took my elbow and turned me in a direction towards the dining hall. "I see Teniente Lesaro just inside. He will be able to assist you."

I nodded, smiling slightly when he scowled as his name was repeated, this time with more vexation. He muttered something that probably wasn't polite, then laid his hand on my upper arm. "I will see you in the morn, ?"

"I believe so. Thank you again, for escorting me," I told him, then grinned as the officer yelled his name with obnoxious volume.

Ramirez gritted his teeth and gently pushed me towards the dining room, waiting to see me take a few steps towards the doorway before stomping towards the other officer, snapping out irritated Spanish.

I huffed in amusement before turning towards the rambunctious din that lay between me and food.

My smile faded as I took in the two sailors stumbling out of the doorway, chattering excitedly as they almost ran into the wall before managing to steer towards another exit.

My stomach growled plaintively, making me sigh before walking into the room, feeling myself grow even more tired as the noise level increased. Oh, joy. What a party.


Spanish Translations (courtesy of Google Translate)
Tal tristeza - Such sadness

So again, I apologize profusely for it taking me so long to post. It's been a nightmare and a half for the past year, (again, how am I considered essential) and I hope that once I can find a new job, I'll have more freedom to write. But again, so no one panics, I am not giving up this story. And thank you so much, once more, for everyone checking in on me. It warms my heart to know that people are still reading this story, and I'm sorry again for making people worry that it was being left unfinished.

So long, for now, and when we return, the lack of el Capitan will be more than made up for. *smirks*