thoughts? please let me know!

listen to Before You Go by Common Kings.

- G.

Liete hadn't seen Thatch since the day he'd kissed her, and so as the Jackdaw pulled up along a dark frigate, a ship more akin to a fortress with the immense fire power it held, her breath caught.

He'd done well to build the illusion of his madness, it even gave Liete pause and she knew that he would never fire upon them, but with forty guns or more she found pointing at them, it still occurred to her.

Ships of this size were seldom seen in the pirate republic, most pirates only able to catch brigs and schooners for prizes, and although the Jackdaw was impressive for being a Brig, sometimes often mistaken for a frigate as well, it was easily trumped in grandeur by the Queen Anne's Revenge.

A fitting name, Liete mused, as she wrung her hands against the bow railing. She'd met the women only a few times, but she'd been mild mannered and calm in all of their dealings. A pretty woman, she'd held a sadness about her which Liete was told by her mother was due to her multiple pregnancies that failed. In the end, Queen Anne, had been pregnant a total of seventeen times, and of the five that came to fruition, all died before the age eleven.

She was dead now, some five years, but one of the Duchesses of the court had made it her duty to slander the poor women over as slow & ignorant. Liete liked to think Thatch had named his frigate with the woman's being in mind. A woman who lost seventeen lives, formidable and strong, showing each and every sailor she now encountered just how royal she could be.

Gerald rested his head on her foot, open to the air in a pair of sandals, sick of the constricting leather shoes she'd been wearing that had begun to pinch. He'd not been happy to return to the tossing of the ocean, but did his duty and stayed by her side.

The crew around her now felt felt akin to the one she'd first sailed with Kenway, a far cry from the one who'd stared at her with salivating eyes. They looked to her with fear & wonder, which she'd take over the former any day.

Even Drew, who'd instantly upon reboarding the Jackdaw had glued himself to her side, now went about daily duties only checked on her every so often.

In his mind, it had been a very smart idea to find Gerald where he'd left him with his old lord who'd kept the mutt on as a rat killer while he'd been away. It did the old dog good to simply follow around his girl all day, what a life, Drew grinned to himself as he went about with nearly half the crew pulling the diving bell from its odd settlement on deck to tied up similar to how they'd done for whales & the like.

Releasing the anchor, pulling the ship to a complete stop, the Jackdaw shuddered and stilled as Kenway turned his body towards his mentors ship to find the man striding, nay strutting along the deck of his ship, rum bottle in had looking rather pleased with himself.

"Devil in his hole Thatch, this is a darling galley. Thirty two guns is it?"

Thatch preened, clearly this not his first rum bottle of the day as he uncorked the one in his hand with ease, striding until her leaned against a railing looking to him with glazed eyes.

"I lost count at forty."

Edward would have snickered to himself at the boastfulness of Thatch, but simply quipped as he released the helm moving closer to his own railing, Ade quietly watching them both arms crossed.

"You've stepped up a rung. So, any luck with medicines here?"

"Nothing round this spot sadly but there be a few wrecks yonder that have nay been scoured by nothing but crabs and coral." The mans voice was gruff, as he took a swig from the bottle, glancing behind him.

As they spoke, Liete kept herself to the bow, watching with a quiet composure. The man was drunk or at the very least well on his way towards being so, any dilly dally could see that. How he managed to balance himself on the railing was a surprise. It made her angry. Ever a man, drowning in alcohol rather than facing himself.

Liete had gone through hell, changed her very innocence to madness & anger, and this proud man now wasted away into a bottle for nought but a rebuked kiss?

Weak, she mused.

Hurt, her mind whispered back. You've only held a small taste when sailing away from Great Inagua, you are none to speak on what makes anyone weak.

When had she become to accommodating?

Liete rather liked when all she cared for what the freedom of the waves, and scaring other. These emotions and thoughts ran far to rampant for her liking.

"I'll have a look" Edward put his hands to his hips as she squinted in the early morning sun reflecting off the water as he peered towards a lonely ships point jutting from the ocean yonder.

"Edward, Edward is that you? My the west indies sure is a compact place." Both Edward & Liete, who was closer to the nasally voice that called out to Kenway, looked suddenly towards the bow of the Queen Anne's Revenge where a short portly man with ruby cheeks, a nose reminiscent of a mouse & a silly eye patch strode forward. His clothes were of a finer quality fabric than any man aboard either vessel, and Liete quirked her head from her perch at the mortars in interest.

"Hello Bonnet, A surprise seeing you out here." And he was, Liete was peaked to hear in his voice as he spoke with a friendly recognition. Here her death pretended he knew no men of leisure, ever a ruffian.

"I met Mr. Thatch a month or so ago, and he offered to take me under his yard arm so to speak." As Bonnet referenced Thatch, the tipsy captain grimaced and took another swig as he looked to the man with a look of disbelief. In what, Edward wasn't sure.

"Says I must wash the hay sea from my hair before I am a true pirate." Corking the bottle, Thatch threw the liquor to the portly man, and it amused Liete for just a moment as it occurred to her that upon hearing the man speak, Thatch must have deemed himself to far gone for it & would rather the drink quiet the seemingly silly man.

"Well, good luck to you then. Worst men have become better under black beards watch." Clearly feeling emboldened by what he perceived as some form of acceptance, Bonnet pulled the cork of the bottle and took a big swig for himself.

Less than a moment later the man spit up the liquid, pulling a dark chuckle from Thatch as Edward grimaced to himself at the spectacle the man always seemed to make of himself. He meant well, but Bonnet seemed unable to help himself most moments Edward had seen.

Thatch stood and whistled to his crew, who quickly pulled a plank of wood from the deck, sliding it across the Frigates railing till it reached the Jackdaw's connecting the two.

While Thatch's ship still had it's diving bell in the water, presumably as one of his men scoured to the left of his ship, beneath them a large enough reef kept the right side of the Jackdaw off limits to it lest they heft it out of the water and reposition.

The Jackdaw crew shimmied the bell and its rigging to that side, but Liete hardly gave it any mind as she finally stood from her niche, her undyed cotton dress thankfully light and breezy as she stood to the full impact of the sun.

Teach knew she'd been there, he'd felt it like a drop that creates waves in the water. His crew, other than Bonnet that is, had quieted as the Jackdaw had slid beside them. They feared him, aye, but they respected him as well knowing his eccentrics were for their greater good in the end. In Liete's case, the pirates of the west indies looked at her with terror, sure to lose their souls. It had circulated, whispers over candle light, with shadows around to make the story more real & terrifying.

The witch had stolen Blackbeard's soul, he'd traded it for a frigate that no one could sink. Sealed with a kiss to his cheek, his dark beard had grown from the spot, a symbol of his unholy pact. They'd seen it with their own two eyes, with her at the bow of Edward Kenway's brig, whispering her spells, he'd over taken a Spanish fort, that which hadn't been done by any pirate in the Caribbean before.

Thatch did nothing to dispel them among his men. It did a man good to hold some superstition in life, and in a way it protected her from those that may have been tempted to take for themselves otherwise.

Even when the news came of her lineage, it spooked most men further. Royalty, the aristocracy, was akin to fairy tales for most poor men, and to have this women who'd been labelled siren suddenly announced as one of them…

But he'd known.

She was a woman running from the circumstances of their time, just as he. No more, no less.

As they'd dropped anchor and he'd turned to his bottles of liquid courage waiting for Kenway to show, he had the spiteful thought that maybe if he'd been the one to follow the rumors of a plantation score that Kidd had planned, she'd be on his ship, warming his bed.

It was an unkind & unfair thought, and one he'd felt ashamed at thinking. She wasn't some damsel, she didn't just open her legs for any man that showed her kindness and a set of sails.

What Liete was, was a damned fine woman. Under all the snark & bark, she was kind. Thoughtful, watchful & calm with a knack for learning.

And In truth, Kenway was a better man than most he'd known. A good man under all that bluff, and it had been the very thing he'd seen the day he'd brought the man into his crew, saving him from the cheating man who'd meant to kill him.

It was not a foul man, or dog she'd chosen, but a man. He knew he needed to make peace with that.

But for now, he'd found comfort in his drink and pirating, be damned Hornigold's rules.

It was the drink that held him still now, as Liete strode to just right of where the plank connected the two ships to spear the man with pure silver that rocked back and forth around her pupil.

"Have you drunk yourself sober yet?"

When Liete spoke, Kenway turned from where he'd been directing his crew to drop the bell on the other side of the ship. It was not her words that gave him pause, but her tone. It held a white flag, something he'd heard himself when he'd found her once more in Nassau.

It occurred to him that although he and Liete were no strangers, and spoke freely of most things, she too held some secrets. He did as well, he hadn't told her yet of Kidd's true nature of Mary… but it had been a little naive to think she'd not have the same when it came to the people around them.

For a moment, he wondered if there had been something more to his mentor and her relationship but he refused to let it poison him. He'd not give the thought any further voice as he turned back to his men as he watched the diving bell begin to ascend from the deck.

Thatch grumbled something under his breath, attempting to look anywhere but Liete.

When the woman received no answer in reply, she stood a bit straighter and barked a laugh of her own. At the very least one sailor made a cross silently over his heart, bringing her some amusement.

Turning away from the stubborn captain, Liete made her way to Kenway who watched the diving bell as it swung over the railing to still above the dark water.

Moving to stand at his side, she felt a sudden wave & a pit form in her stomach.

He'd spoken to her last night as they'd sat in his quarters over the nights meal, her food untouched, of what exactly was take place today.

He hadn't a finer swimmer on board than himself, and he knew exactly what to look for, so he'd be the one going with the dive bell on the morrow.

She'd listened quietly understanding the words then, but only now did it seem to truly translate. The water was dark, unlike the shores, unable to see anything past two fathoms. A diving bell would take him tens of fathoms below, how would he see if she could not even now?

This caring was exhausting.

What happened to the days when she barely blinked an eye at a raging ship battle, but now a damned deep swim sent ice running through her veins, as if something was making her usual reason obsolete.

Edward looked to Liete who was staring at the diving bell with eyes of a tropical storm although the rest of her stood still as a pond.

"Once it is ready to release, I'll jump with it as it will pull me down. Once the chain has come to an end, I'll be able to breath within for a good three hours as long as I maintain a steady breath." He'd schooled her last night, his face passive behind the burning candle he'd placed between them.

"At most I'll be twenty or so fathoms below water line. I will be able to swim and search, returning to the bell as needed for air."

"and if you are too far to return?" She imagined staying close to the bell would not always be practical if searching a wreck.

"The men will use the empty barrels I've stashed with bits of sail to trap additional air pockets for my use. Tis not an exact science but as long as they drop a few about I'll not run into trouble. If anything, I'll worry to the sharks before my breath."

He'd delivered his last line with a cheeky smile as if playing with her and she'd only pinned him with laughable look.

Now, sharks swam within her own mind, biting at her sanity.

"Kenway, is this really necessary for these medicines as you say?" The quietness in which she spoke, gave a lightness to his heart as he reached for her tentatively wrapping his arms around her shoulders her face tucking to his chest near the bottom of his throat.

"It's a way that'll make both men satisfied & take care of the people of Nassau."

"Let them take care of themselves." Her words were hollow, and he knew she didn't mean a letter of it.

Releasing her once more, Edward smiled down to her before bringing one of her hands to his lips, kissing it sweetly.

"I'll not be dying today. I'm thinking there are better ways to drown." He waggled his eyebrows at her, and she refused to give him any smile in return although it made her spine shiver.

Instead she pulled her hand away, scoffed, and looked him up and down with an unimpressed look to singe even the boldest man.

"I can think of better men to drown."

A few of the crew near by heard her words, and choked on their own breath, while Drew who only needed one hand to hold his part of the rope, grinned goofily to himself.

He knew not why, by whenever she was fiery towards men, he thought it great fun to hear. She was always keeping them men on their toes, although he didn't quite understand her meaning. He inwardly shrugged to himself, sometimes he just didn't know and that was okay.

Kenway on the other hand, grinned, and gave her a mocking salute before excusing himself to his quarters.

Emerging minutes later with simple light hemp breeches and one of his red sashes sewn with pockets to hold any items found wrapped to his waist & chest bare, an expression of excitement.

Liete had moved to sit on the rigging box at the base of the center mast, legs tucked primly to the side as she watched him with heated eyes.

Kenway might have preened under the gaze, had not the entirety of both ships been watching him in expectation. He knew there was danger to the dive, he knew that even when he signaled to be brought up, it would take nearly an hour or so to rise least her rupture his ear or suffer a heart sickness. He'd seen it happen before as less cockier men than he ascended from the depths to quickly.

This information he'd kept from Liete, for all her bluffing as she'd listened to him last night, her eyes seemed to swim in insecurity. It was like a breath of air each time, as her emotions became more and more evident each day to him. As she quietly placed him, as well as Drew, making sure they were okay without a word.

It was that tenderness he held close, as he nodded to his men, who began to release the chain lowering the bell rapidly to the water below. With a deep breath, he sprinted & vaulting himself over the edge of the ship taking hold of the bell closing his eyes as it dragged him down.

Liete took three long breaths as her Death disappeared from the surface of the ocean, and stood instantly meaning walk, or move, anywhere, the sharks within the valleys of her mind hungry.

After half an hour had passed, Thatch had bucked himself up, and crossed over to the Jackdaw deck as he'd eyed Liete the entire time from his peripheral.

She'd stalked the railing on the side the diving bell had been dropped, waiting for the deep ringing & reverberation from Kenway's signal to pull him up. The chain holding the bell was wrapped around the wooden pulley system as one man stood with his hand on it least they miss the ringing, they'd feel it.

Liete's giant on the other hand stood patiently near the stairwell up to the helm, calm and watchful.

Heading straight to Drew, Thatch crossed his arms growling to the man in quiet comradery.

"To think, a year ago she'd been pacing my railing as she'd left him. To think the roles now to be some what reversed."

Drew looked to him before huffing and rolling his shoulders, looking similar to a boxer preparing for a fight confusion at the man's meaning.

"Cap'n'll never leave ." Thatch chuckled sadly and clapped the man on the back, Drew's word ringing truth deeper to him than he was sure Drew meant.

Moving to intercept the pacing woman, Thatch held his hands up for a moment in a surrender and peace offering, as she came to a stop, her look that of cool indifference.

"He knows his way around ever crack and crevice of these islands lass. He'll not expire here."

She still watched him with no expression, as she smoothed her hands against her middle before quirking her head to the side with no words.

When she still held quiet, the same he'd done to her earlier, Edward ran his hand over his beard from his chin to the bottom quieting himself as she asked her tentatively.

"Either Kenway be the most secure man in the world, or you nay told him of my indiscretion."

"I am no ones book to read Mr. Thatch. I am able to hold my own secrets should I wish." Viper quick, her words were akin to knives as they settled in his gut. He felt wrong for having taken the step he had, it had changed them, since they'd come to Nassau they'd never spoken without ease.

"I think it foolish to think we can remain as we were. I regret the action's I've taken, but I do not regret the dedication behind them." With most of the crew taking the time to relax, napping or lounging about, the deck was blissfully clear near them aside from Drew off to the side, and the man waiting with the chain some ten feet off.

Ade stood at the helm, leaned against the wheel as he whittled away at a small block of wood forming some small animal figure.

Liete scoffed and turned away from the man, gripping the railing as she shook her head.

"Dedication requires some promise of return. Kenway would find a fault in your tutorship If I spoke on your actions, and I am not the one to bring that about. The affairs of men are not mine to deal with. You've been selfish in matters unconcerned with you."

If the words earlier had been knives stuck into his gut, these words were the hand to twist them about.

As she spoke, it tasted of cruelness as first sip, but she was due some anger. He'd known from the very beginning who she'd chosen, to have taken the step and made the choice to be flippant to her about it was a form of punishment. To make her feel some sort of guilt for not being able to return his feeling was selfish of him and she felt she needed to say it once and for all.

Liete drew a breath through her front teeth before tsking once, calming once more as she'd let her wrath bleed with her words.

"I have but one friend in this world, and now I feel that I've somehow lost that with no fault of my own. I was complacent in the times you formed this passion, and I said it before, you've not imagined it. I just can't make a change within myself for the request you've asked with no words."

Thatch sighed and as she faced him once more, her eyes distraught, causing the silver pools to almost quake.

He reached forward to cup her cheek in his hand, his next words soft and sad.

"If things were different, would you leave with me on my ship once more?"

Liete sighed with his words, the acceptance within them piercing to her heart. Thatch had played at a mad man but had been a sensible and sound mind, but desperation & fool hearty she could see now creep within him. He was tired.

"You may have fooled all the men in the West Indies Teach, but I know you hold a soft heart. For this I will always love you… But Kenway for all his greed and ambition, holds one as well. I love him."

As she said the words, they tasted true on her tongue. True to what she knew love to be. Sacrificial & accepting all in one.

It was the first time she'd gave words to the rush that filled her lungs each time she looked on Kenway, and as her breathlessness grew with each passing week, there was evidence to it.

Nodding, Thatch rubbed her cheek with his thumb before leaning forward to kiss her cheek softly.

"A luckier pirate I've yet to find."

Liete gave a sad smile to the older man as he pulled his hand away to tuck into the small pockets of his black vest under his over coat he still wore in the heat, as he looked at her, really looked as if committing her form to memory. As he did this, for a moment his vision lingered a bit longer to her form and eyes widen with recognition and understanding.

"Cap'n, there be a tug on yer bell." A call rang from the Queen Anne' setting Thatch in action as he moved to return to his ship with a bellow.

"Begin the pull, wary too quickly."