Wow, it's really taken me longer than usual to get a chapter up. It's exam season round here, I've been busier than regular. And, I've just realized I haven't put any disclaimers up! High time for that, then!

Disclaimer: I really don't own much of anything. The only character who is one hundred per cent mine is our June.

On to the chapter – I thought I'd try something a bit different this chapter. This time we're in Jimmy's point of view. Very short chapter, I'm not used to the change in character. Thanks again for all of the kind reviews.

Chapter Four: Through Another's Eyes

June's face changed so quickly when I had held her hand. It was only to reassure her – she'd gone all nervous and flustered, like she'd do when Lumpy told some crude joke at one of our poker games.

She left me awfully confused with that look on her face. I'd seen Jack and Ann hand in hand, even some of the crew held and kissed the hands of ladies after some of our nights on shore in the exotic places the Venture took us. I reckoned it was a friendly gesture, but June seemed rather taken aback.

I really hadn't been around many women in my life that I could remember, and the ones I had usually skirted around me and did their best to keep their distance.

June didn't do that. Not to me or any of the others on this old ship. June was just like the rest of us. She sang and joked and played with us, she even wore the same clothes as us. Don't get me wrong, I took into consideration that she was a girl, and she wasn't really as akin to us as she made out. But she sure was a good time.

I'd passed her sitting with Miss Darrow a number of times, and I noticed a difference in her right away. She didn't laugh like she did around me, but in a tinkering, giggling sort of way.

It hit me pretty hard, that tinkering giggle. The flare of femininity was rare and exciting coming from June. I even found myself listening for the giggle, hoping it might slip while we were talking.

One day we celebrated Choy's birthday with an afternoon of uninterrupted leisure. I found myself dancing with Miss Darrow on deck, and then I heard it. The tinkering giggle cut through the other sounds around me. June was on an upper deck, her legs through the bars and hanging over the edge. She had her sketchbook open, and she was watching us. I was elated that maybe it was watching me that made that rare laugh appear.

It began turning into a habit, listening for the laugh and seeing if I could make it happen again. When there was nothing to do, I'd find June. My time wasn't spent exclusively around Mister Hayes anymore. Even just sitting with her, not even talking, was exciting.

The tinkering giggle was a highlight of any day, but it was nothing in comparison to her full, uninhibited laughter.

It happened when I persuaded her into dancing with me on the deck one boring afternoon. She had been hesitant, but once I had her going, she was glowing. The sounds coming from her and the expressions on her face were unbelievable.

June was completely different from her father. He had been stiff and sure. While still being a kind man, I'm sure I hadn't heard him laugh more than 5 times during the nearly 5 years I'd been on the ship and in his company. He moved in calculated steps, knowing just where to go. June seemed to have a sort of flowing thing in her body. Even when she just scrubbed pots, I would see the steady movement. You could see it clearly, even through the working clothes that were so much bigger than her frame. She moved with fluidity, like water after it's been pushed away from the hull of a ship.

She had been red with embarrassment as I kept pulling her along with me on deck. She tried to escape at one point, but I had pulled her by the waist onto my shoulder, spinning and laughing.

That was when I found the laugh that was so raw, so undeniably June. She squealed and screamed and laughed, weaving her fingers through the shirt on my back to hold on.

As I set her back down, dizzy and laughing, most of her hair had come out of the haphazard twist she usually wore it all the time. A warm breeze blew past us, blowing the long brown strands lightly around her face. Her pink cheeks and flashing eyes caught me for a short moment, before a big wave hit the ship and we both stumbled over. The men around us laughed and began taking back to the ship's demands,

I helped June gather up her charcoals that I had spilled when I pulled her to her feet. She grinned, saying she should get back to work, and left.

Later that same day, during dinner in the mess, I noticed different things about her. The way her dainty little hands moved when she passed a bowl to someone, or the way she'd bite her lip when lifting a heavy pot of soup. The little things that I'd never seen before started to fascinate me.

Well then, that was fun! Ruddy short chapter, though. A longer one will be up within the week, I promise. I'll probably do more character shifts through the stretch of the story, going back into Jimmy's point of view and also that of other members of the crew. Thanks again for any reviews – constructive criticism is still very much loved!