A/N: Here is chapter 3. I feel so weird posting this for so few people. Seriously, Sinbad is due for a revival! What do you think?

When the sun was finally high enough for him to get out of his cabin, he did so. The small amount of sleep he had gotten had worked wonders on him and he felt rather refreshed. He joined the rest of his crew at breakfast then went up on the deck.

He relieved the night-shift man of the tiller and bid them a nice rest. He looked at the horizon. It was clear. No land ahead and definetely not a cloud in sight. It was going to be another nice day.

He heard the footsteps in the stairs and knew immediately who it was. Seconds later Malika was emerging from the galley.

" 'Morning, Malika." He said, in a voice he hoped had sounded cheerful. "Did you sleep well?"

"I always sleep well."

Doesn't surprise me since you're up all night talking to invisible people. He thought.

"Sweetie, could I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure."

She smiled and he noticed that, when she wasn't in a trance, she could have a really beautiful. He waved a man over and the man took the tiller. Sinbad led Malika on the other side of the ship where they could actually talk privately.

"What are you?" he asked her.

"What do you mean?"

Sinbad cleared his throat. Where to begin?

"Well, last night I went to your cabin because I heard you chatting."

"Oh... right. I do that a lot."

"You do?"

He sounded surprised.

"Who do you talk to?"

"My mom, mostly."

Sinbad looked at her questionningly.

"Isn't your mother dead?"

"Yes. I never knew her."

"Then how can you know that you're speaking to your mother?"

"Because I remember her."

"But you just said you never knew her."

"I didn't. I was two years old when she died. I have no conscient memory of her."

"But..."

Malika giggled.

"It's a bit complicated. Maeve told me all about it when we met. It's actually because of her that I know how to use my powers."

"Your powers? You're a sorceress?"

"Sort of. I have some powers that I have since birth and some others that I could develop should I have the perfect training."

"I see."

"About my mom, when I said I didn't know her, that was the truth. But I remember her. I was quite young when she died but I was old enough to have a very blurry memory of what she looked like. That's how I know."

"I see."

He would ask Bryn to talk to her after. This was too 'scientifical' for him. Maybe she would have an explaination for what this strange little girl was talking about. It just didn't make any sense to him. Maybe it wasn't supposed to.

"So were you talking to your mother last night?"

"No."

"Who were you talking to, then?"

"Maeve."

"What do you mean she was talking to Maeve?" Doubar asked.

The kids were asleep for an afternoon nap and the crew had gathered up on deck to listen to Sinbad's surprise announcement. He had been rather secretive as to what he had to tell them and they all understood why now.

"She was talking to Maeve, that's all she told me. It seems that Maeve is able to communicate with this girl and that's who she was talking to when I came in her cabin last night."

"Wait a minute. How is that possible?" Firouz.

"I don't know, my dear friend." Sinbad replied. "I guess this is one of these things that can't be explaine scientifically. It's magic."

Sinbad couldn't stop smiling. Malika had the power to speak to Maeve which meant that there was a slight chance they could bring her back. It meant that she hadn't died, that she was still alive, somewhere in this universe.

"Sinbad." Bryn said. "Didn't Malika also say that she was able to talk to her mother?"

"Yes. And?"

"Well, her mother died, didn't she?"

Bryn didn't need to say more. He understood and the happy feeling immediately vanished. He hadn't thought of that. He had been so happy to learn that Malika could make contact with Maeve that he had forgotten about the fact that she could also talk to her dead mother. Maeve might not be alive after all.

"- I'm sorry Sinbad but I don't think Maeve is still alive." Bryn said, putting her hand on his elbow.

Sinbad sighed.

"If she's dead, why did they both ask me to look inside my heart?" Sinbad asked, suddenly remembering what Maeve and Malika had told him the previous night.

Seeing their puzzled expression, Sinbad went on.

"While Malika was in a trance, she turned around to face me and told me to look inside my heart, only then would I be able to save them. Maeve then told me the same thing."

"Who's them?" Firouz asked.

"Dim-Dim!"

They all looked to look at Doubar.

"What?" Sinbad asked his older brother, confused.

"Remember two years ago when Dim-Dim appeared in the sky and told you that Maeve and him were safe and sound?"

Sinbad felt a hint of hope.

"It's true. I had completely forgotten about it."

"Sinbad, if you can do as you're told, you might be able to bring them back."

"Do as I'm told? And how on earth am I supposed to do that? I'm supposed to look inside my heart, Doubar. It's not like all I have to do is sail to some island and ta-da! there they are. Tell me how exactly am I supposed to look inside my heart?"

"I don't know." Doubar replied, defeated. "I have no clue."

"Yeah well I have all day to think about it. You guys go on doing whatever you have to do. I'll be at the tiller if anyone needs me." Sinbad replied, walking off to the other end of the ship.

All day, the captain thought about how he could look into his heart. The more he thought about it, the more frustrated he got. Malika was playing nearby, glancing at him every now and then. Even though she was quite young, she had an extraordinary mind and she knew, just by looking at the captain, that he truly wished to free Maeve and Dim-Dim. The first stage was now complete.

Sinbad knocked softly on the child's door, not wanting to startled her if she was asleep. He heard the faint reply telling him to come in. She wasn't sleeping.

He opened the door and stepped in to find her sitting on her bed, legs crossed, hands resting on her knees just like she had been the previous night. Memories from their last encounter in this cabin flashed in his mind and he felt his stomach contract in anxiety. Had she been getting ready to contact Maeve?

"- Malika?" he risked asking.

The little girl turned around and looked at him.

"- Hi Sinbad!" she said.

Good, she wasn't in a trance.

Sinbad approached the bed and sat down beside her. He didn't know what to say or how to act. It felt awkward to be in the same room as her and felt like he was invading her privacy. He suddenly realized that he didn't feel comfortable around her. Malika must have sensed it because she giggled.

"You don't have to be scared of me. I'm only a child."

She smiled at him and he couldn't help but smile back. She had such a contagious smile.

"Do you want to try again? I know you spent the whole day wondering how you could look into your heart."

"How come you're so smart?" Sinbad asked.

"I told you. I was born with powers, one of them being my mind. Sinbad, in order to look into your heart, you will have to open it."

"Meaning?" he asked, suddenly a bit scared.

"Meaning you will have to let me into your heart. Tell me, how do you feel about Maeve?"

Sinbad looked nervously around the room. He didn't know if she was ready to admit, out loud, what Maeve meant to him.

"I don't see what that's got to do with looking into my heart."

"Just answer my question. How do you feel about her?"

"She's a friend."

"Just a friend?"

"Malika..." He warned.

"You have to be honest with me. Don't worry, I'm not in contact with her."

Sinbad sighed. He was really afraid to admit it; to admit that he liked her more than just a friend, that he wanted her, that he needed her, that he... loved her, even after all this time.

"She's a bit more than just a friend."

"Are you in love with her?"

The question seemed to have come out of nowhere.

"I don't know. Maybe."

"Okay, that's good enough for tonight. Come back tomorrow night. We'll try again."

"What? That's it? Why can't we do more tonight?"

Admitting that he sort of loved Maeve had somehow taken a whole weight of his shoulders and he had been eager to see what the next step was going to be. He simply couldn't believe that Malika was ending this for the night.

"Well, you don't know if you love her or not. You have to be completely sure of what you feel in order to do what you are asked to do."

Sinbad sighed and went back to his cabin.

TBC in Chapter 4