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Now on with the story*

Ch3: Life at Sea

Jack sat on the stern of the ship called the Bloody Baron, looking out into the sea. As she saw the waves rolling up and down, he noted that no matter how long he had been on this ship, he would never tire of it.

At twenty, he had spent most of his life on ships, especially the Bloody Baron. Jeremiah Black's journeys and adventures had made sure of that.

By now, he was more than comfortable on a ship than on land, but he remembered a time when he couldn't even tell the difference between the stern and hull of a ship.

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All that Jack could see was Nia's soft black hair, as he followed her up the gangplank of the ship. This was not his first time seeing a huge ship, but it sure was his first time being on one.

As he walked up towards the ship, he noticed that the words Bloody Baron were painted in red on the side of the ship. He guessed that this must be the ship's name. He also noticed that the red hue of the paint perfectly matched the black wood of the ship.

He turned to see Nia staring at him,

"Well, come on," and she laughed as Jack's face turned as red as the sign.

"I-I'm… sorry." he finally stated.

"No problem," she brushed it off as they entered the ship.

"I'm 'ome!" she breathed as she lead him to their compartments.

"Your bunk is over there," she told him, pointing to a small bed with blue sheets,

"I sleep 'ere, so you won't be alone." she told him as she turned to put her things on the bed.

"But what about your father?" Jack asked, looking confused. There is only two beds in this small cabin.

"'e sleeps in the captain's quarters, silly." she noted,

"Now I'm going up to the galley to see what's for dinner, you want to come?" she asked.

"The what?" he asked, for he had no idea what a "galley" was.

"The galley." she said, then realizing that he had no idea what she was talking about, she explained,

"The kitchen."

"Oh! Sure, I'll go with you."

"Maybe you should stay 'ere and learn all the new vocabulary." she laughed, her black hair waving with the wind.

"There's more?" he asked, looking startled. His face turned scarlet when she started to laugh,

"Of course! There's the stern, the hull, the p-"

"Ok, I get it. Maybe you could teach me?" he asked, looking hopeful.

"Sure, but it will take some time."

"Well, let's get started." he said.

It took days for Jack to learn all the terminology, but he eventually understood the difference between "port" and "starboard", "stern" and "bow", "galley" and "hull". He learned that the corridors were alleyways, that aft was somewhere behind you, that the hull was the body of the ship, and that the walls were the bulkheads.

As Jack learned the terms of the ship, he became accustomed to the life on the ship. He slowly fell into a pattern, and became part of the "family" of the ship and crew.

One day, not long after his first year on the Bloody Baron, Jeremiah came to him.

"I would like to speak with, Jack," he casually said as he steered the ship out into the open sea.

"Yes, Sir." came Jack's subtle reply.

"Well, you've lived almost two years on this ship, and I was just wondering if you wanted to go 'ome, to Tortuga."

"Tortuga is not my home, Sir." Jack responded.

"Well, you never told us exactly were your 'ome was, I always assumed that you lived there."

"No, I was born on an island just off of Tortuga," Jack confessed,

"My father treated me badly, so I left."

"Ahh, so that's the way of it. Well then Jack, you can consider the Bloody Baron your 'ome, if you like, and I your father."

"That would be wonderful, just wonderful."

And ever since then, Jack called the Bloody Baron his home. He did not just say, he believed it.

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The memory of this moment faded from Jack's mind. He rubbed his hand along the side of the ship, and felt a great warmth spread throughout his heart. Home, he was home.

"Jack," came a familiar voice. He turned around to face Nia. Her green eyes had grown darker and more beautiful throughout the years, her black hair had grown longer. In Jack's opinion, she had grown more beautiful as each day passed.

"Yes," he answered, and she felt the familiar knot in her stomach. Ever since she was a little girl of ten, she had felt an attraction for him. Now that she was a grown woman of twenty, she had yet to act upon this attraction. Oh, yes, she had flirted, but never flat out said anything to anyone.

"I was just wondering what you were doing up there all by yourself," she answered.

"I was thinking.."

"'Bout what?" she asked smiling when he reached for her hand. Slowly, he pulled her up beside him. She had always appreciated his strength, especially the strength in his arms.

"About you, and me," he said, and she felt her stomach do cartwheels,

"And when you taught me about living on a ship,"

"Oh, yes, I remember. You didn't know what a galley was." she laughed. He smiled, he had always loved that laugh.

"Yeah, now I can hardly believe it. The Bloody Baron is my home."

"Yeah, I know, it is hard to be here, on this ship, and not feel at home." she agreed, nestling against his cheek.

He felt her against him, and suddenly he felt that his feeling hominess was complete. He felt that with her by his side, living on a ship, would be heaven. And he suddenly realized that he wanted her with him, he wanted her with him five, no ten years from now.

She felt him jerk, so she turned around to face him.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing," he said, as he tried to turn his head away, but it was caught by her hand. Slowly, as if time itself had stopped, she moved her lips to his. The kiss exploded inside each of them, it felt as if the world finally seemed right, as if everything made sense.

She tasted of the sea, and he wanted more. His head was spinning out of control, but he didn't care, he wanted her to be his. Regretting it, he pulled free of her grasp. Shaking, he told her,

"I think we need to go inside."

"Yeah," she agreed and they hastily moved towards Nia's compartments. It had been years since he'd seen them, seeing as soon as she reached twelve, he had moved into his own.

He took her in his arms, then lowered her unto the bed. As she pulled him closer, he felt a fear grow inside of him. I have never done this before, what if it all goes wrong?

"What is it?" she whispered into his ear.

"I-I've never done this before…" and he turned red when she laughed.

"Neither have I…" she giggled, as her hands ran through his hair. Her tongue ran lazily across his jaw and down to his neck as they undressed each other in silence. As he plunged into her, they both gasped at the sudden roller coaster of emotions, and soon they were both in heaven.

By the next morning, Jack felt alive. Her body was warm against the cold wind that fluttered through the air. He wondered if all lovers felt this way after their first time. He hoped they did or they didn't know what they're missing.

Jack shifted, trying not to wake her, for she looked like an angle, so soft and warm. As soon as he had managed to get out of bed, he dressed, but he never took his eyes off of hers.

Last night she had been mine, he told himself. He smiled at the remembrance of it, as he walked out to meet the cold morning.

It wasn't long before he felt a hand on his back.

"Good morning," he told her, as he bent down to kiss her, but got a violent nudge in his stomach instead.

"That was for not waking me up in the morning," she said as she stalked off to look out over the water.

Women, he thought as he went to join her, can't live with them, and can't live without them.

"Nia was my first love, mate, she taught me everything that I needed to know about life on a ship. She was one of those strong women who you couldn't resist, love. I still miss her…"