Please, I am begging you, PLEASE BE HAPPY WITH THIS CHAPTER!!! I wanted nothing more than to write all day but school started today and I had to write a freaking essay. WHO GIVES OUT FRIGGIN ESSAYS ON THE FIRST FRIGGIN DAY OF FRIGGIN SCHOOL???!?!!!?!?!?!?!?!! I hate school. I want out! (Mo-omm, when do I turn 16? Damn.) And just to let you all know, I've been planning out the chapters and this fic should turn out to be about 26 chapters long, including the epilogues and the final authors note. I'll write a sequel if you want one enough…but we'll leave that for chapter 25, k? Enjoy this one! Woah, 19 chapters…this might be the longest story I've ever written. It's definitely the most reviewed one, save the Child of the Wood (read it? It's LOTR Legomance! L/OC!) OK, now that I'm done plugging my other fic (it has a sequel!) enjoy my chapter.

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Chapter Nineteen

Lost to the Wind 

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               It was the first beautiful day of the spring and Connor was pacing the dock alone, as Serenity was still fast asleep. It was rather early and the sun was just rising in the east, and the air had a nighttime bite to it. He was wearing his jacket and checking the ship logs that were posted on the dock, keeping a record of all the ships. He found nothing, however, but he didn't want to give up hope just yet. Every day was a new day. Every morning was the morning that he would find out when his ship was leaving. It bobbed placidly in the calm waters of the harbor, as if asking to be boarded and sailed high on the seven seas. 

               "'Ay," came a gruff voice from over Connor's shoulder. "You're the sailor that was askin' about this'un?"

               "Yes, that's me," said Connor tiredly. "Do you know when it's leaving?"

               The man smiled to reveal a gap in his teeth. "Two weeks, son. Two more weeks a'freedom left for ye, and your goin' far this time. All the way 'cross the ocean, this voyage is. Better marry ye girl in case ye don't survive it," he leered.

               "How do you know all this?" said Connor.

               "Captain's my best friend," he answered, rather affronted sounding. "He just decided where he wanted to go last night. He was drunk as a pig," he added thoughtfully.

               "Well, thank you," said Connor. Two weeks. I only have two weeks left.

               "An'time."

               Connor walked back down the dock and over the stone bridge in the direction of the inn, thinking of what he had to do and what he would have to by before they set sail again. All the way across the sea this time, thought Connor. What if we don't come back? Transatlantic voyages usually left a lot of sailors dead or dying and diseased when they finally returned to berth. Their ships were no Dauntless.

               Better marry ye girl in case ye don't survive it.

               What if I don't survive? I'm not afraid of dying…I wonder if Serenity would miss me? She's really the only one I have left… I can't die, if it were just for her sake, don't let me die…

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               Serenity was taking a walk. It was really the only solitary time that she had been able to enjoy in a while. She was staring down at her feet and watching the rocks steadily crawl by as she passed the governor's house unacknowledged by the guard. The door of the sprawling mansion closed and Serenity could hear footsteps coming down the gravel path, but she didn't look to see whom it was. There wasn't anyone coming out of the governor's household that would need her attention anyway, save for the person that actually did come out of the governor's household.

               "Serenity," called Will as he ran up to her.

               "Hello, Will," she said. He offered a slightly uncomfortable smile as a return greeting.

               "So," she said awkwardly. "You were"-

               "Up at the Swann's." Will completed her sentence. "Sword business," he stammered.

               "Oh."

               Will sighed. "Serenity, I'm so confused," he said, drawing her into a warm embrace. Taken off guard, Serenity wrapped her arms around him and leaned her head on his shoulder. He stroked her hair as he kept talking. "It's just that everything is so difficult…Elizabeth is so beautiful…but so are you…"

               Her arms stiffed from their embrace and Serenity drew away. She shook her head. "Goodbye, Will," she said sadly, and ran in the opposite direction at her full speed towards the beach. Coincidence had it that Connor was sitting in the place that they had come to regard as their special spot. The Irishman appeared to be thinking deeply about something, and Serenity slowed her pace so not to disturb him.

               "Hello, Serenity," said Connor without turning around. Serenity slumped down next to him and took a deep shuddering breath. Slowly Connor slid his arms around her shoulders and cradled her against him, rocking her slightly to comfort her. "I leave in two weeks," he whispered. This piece of news, offered at the wrong time, only caused more tears to slide down Serenity's damp, sticky cheeks.

               "So soon?" she said to his jacket. Connor nodded. "I don't want you to leave," she whispered.

               "I don't want to leave either," he said. Showing the little tact that he possessed, he waited until she calmed down to ask her the question that had been plaguing his mind since that morning.

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               Will stood, dumfounded, and cursing himself in the same spot that Serenity had left him ten minutes ago. Why can't I just talk to her? his heart cried.

               Go talk to Elizabeth. It will make you feel better, said his brain.

               Serenity is the only one for me.

               Elizabeth is the only one for me.

               Serenity!

              

               Elizabeth!

               "I'm following Serenity!" shouted Will to himself. The echo of his voice bounced off the green hills and stonewalls around him, bouncing off the waves and coming back to him, making him feel foolish and embarrassed. He marched resolutely down the street towards the beach where Serenity had run. Don't make a fool of yourself this time, was the only thing that his heart and his mind actually agreed on.

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               Connor slowly slid his arms from around Serenity, but he kept his hands on her shoulders as he slowly shifted his weight to his knee.

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               Will sprinted across the stone bridge that led to the harbor and to the beach, his legs pumping faster than they ever had before.

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               Serenity was shocked as she realized exactly what Connor was about to do. He smiled nervously at her and reached into his pocket.

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Will tried to push his way through the gaggle of dirty sailors making their way down the boardwalk and scurried across the sand dunes.

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               "Serenity," Connor said, his voice steadier than the hand that was holding her own. In the other hand he held a little box.

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               Will came to the top of the dunes and scanned the beach quickly, searching for Serenity.

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               A slow, bright smile spread out across Serenity's face, making her feel more radiant than she had ever felt before.

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               "Serenity!"

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               "Serenity…"

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               Will was standing on top of the dunes, watching, his words lost to the wind. "Serenity!"

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               "Serenity, will you marry me?"