please listen to Ganja Burn by Nicki Minaj for this chapter.

also, let me know what you think yea? I'm dying for feedback.

-gg

The tree line that unfolded before them was in no way extraordinary than any other in the Bahamas. Buttonbush and palm trees clogging any land further into the eye, the white sand nearly blinding where it could be seen against the deep blue water.

Yet, as the Jackdaw made anchor and the bustle began as supplies made their way up from below, a sense of mysticism set in even as she watched the unthreatening shores.

She could see the outline of men and woman, dressed just the same as those manning this ship, in whites and reds. Their pattern one that she'd know from a mile off, one she'd copied and made into a sleek black set for Kenway. It brought a small hole into her chest, even as parts of her were trying to hammer boards in place to fix the wreckage that had been wrought these past years. Wreckage she'd lit sit in disrepair and rot with no hope to change.

Hope was dangerous, even now.

Adewale had spent the days as they'd sailed the waves towards this destination quietly filling her in further to the changes of the world now.

He'd been quiet about his outburst on learning the fate of the three pirates, other than to say upon anchoring, he had to speak to the leader of his faction.

This was then that he explained the purpose of the Assassins.

It was a different view than the few hushed spoken conversations that Edward had shared with her, with reverence and purpose dripping from each word the man spoke.

He spoke to her as an equal, with respect and softness to each edge, and Liete could not bring herself to fault him anymore. Man was ever a fickle thing, she'd known this with the glee that her ever changing moods had brought the fear forward from even those that had looked at her with fire in their eyes. Ade held a love for Kenway, but it had been broken down, like how crashing waves whittle away at a shoreline till sand is made. His love had been fragile in a time when the man himself was fragile. She saw the shame that came and went in his eyes, for he was a good man, that had felt his actions hadn't been good in the end.

So, the Assassins were now the balm to that wound. Giving Ade a purpose of a greater good, that through the course there was safety to provide others, and the discretions that may have been performed before were nothing but a stepping stone to this moment.

Liete held less conviction in the good of others, but she'd not say now.

Now was not the time for a philosophical fight of the good and evils of man, and as they'd ridden the waves, she began to slowly feel once more the women she'd once been.

A girl really, standing at the bow of a ship as it crashed into battle, wind whipping her hair, the bright Caribbean sun turning her cheeks red. Only now she stood at the helm of the ship, just to the right of Adewale, feet sure and steady.

The woman who Liete had growled at upon her rescue had been tentative in her showing of a sling made out of the red cloth their faction wore about their waist. She'd shown, with raised hands and quiet coaxing in a language she didn't know, how to wrap the cloth about her chest and sternum to then tuck Michael either to her chest or along her back.

Liete had given the women then a smile of thanks, the kind gesture still not enough to break through the walls she'd built within herself, but enough.

It had made her uncomfortable at first, wondering if the woman had seen the struggling Liete had been going through in trying to constantly keep a hold on her son. Liete had weakened in her years of captivity, and her ever growing son made her arms ache but it frightened her to put him down for even a moment. With the introduction of the sling, Liete felt the grip she held on her son soften, and it had found her on cool nights watching as he went about the slowly charming walk of learning.

He stumbled and fell, and it took everything in her not to rush forward and collect him in her arms of safety. He'd furrow his eyebrows, the crinkle of skin between his eyes the same Edward would make as he'd maneuvered the ship through tricky territory, and slowly using his hands against the deck pushed his bottom into the air. Never stopping until he was upright once more giving himself gurgles of happiness, the silver flash in his eyes cheeky. Even if he fell only a moment later, Michael never seemed to tire of trying to get back up once more.

In those moments, quietly sat to the steps leading to the wheel, Drew kept her company. With his quiet murmurings, and the delicate handling, Liete could never repay him for what he'd done.

He'd been the one honorable man in this life, the one person who would never leave her, and it should have scared her to know that she loved him. It had been only with the horrors of her capture that she'd realized her love for Kenway and her folly on not telling him when she could have. It had been a power play. Needing him to howl at her door, keeping him ever at a distance so when they'd been no more, it wouldn't destroy her.

But she'd found that her love for Kenway was unconditional, and it was the same for Drew. It would have been absolute madness to not breath the truth into it now.

Even the part of her that still rang true as Mad Liete couldn't bring herself to hide from the truth.

No, she was Mad Liete even now, but she had new titles that she cherished just as much. Lover, companion, mother.

With the freedom of the sling across her shoulder Michael had begun to fuss more, always eager to explore, and so as a row boat was brought up to take them to shore he shifted nearly endlessly in the sling that kept him on her back. He gurgled out one of his four words he had seemed to catch onto, more than a one and a half year old ought to have as he reached towards the white of the surf.

"'ater."

Ade chuckled behind her, as Drew grinned as well, softness within both of their bearings that only a child could bring out of such men.

Just as he'd done upon their first meeting, Drew moved forward and helped pick her up from the deck into the row boat slung along the side of the ship railings before it began to descend.

As it hit the water, both Drew and Ade clambered down on a small set of rope and wood stairs to take place at the front and back of the small dingy.

Although Drew had grown more gaunt from their time together it seemed his strength still remained, as he took up the oars with another grin to her.

"As we come to shore, and enter into the village, be wary. The men and women here expect a relic, and I know you can give them one. Ah Tabai, the leader, does not. He also did not expect him." Flicking his hand towards her, Liete couldn't help the snarky grin that grew as he then gave Drew a look behind her.

"More cargo than expected? Good."

Ade huffed and rubbed his hands together as the boat slid through the water with ease, bringing them to the shore in only minutes. They were met by a group of three women and one man, all brown skinned with sharp cheekbones and varying heights.

All of them smiled at Adewale, but quieted their expression as he jumped from the boat to drag it closer to the sand, leaving Liete and Drew to their view.

Just as Drew tucked the oars back into the boat and made the jump into the ankle deep water next, the man in the group moved forward first walking into the surf without hesitation and offered a hand to Liete. With dark lashes that touched his cheek each time he blinked, eyes of amber, he was muscular and taller than even Drew who had moved nearly with lightning speed to intercept him.

"I've got Miss Liete." His words were friendly but firm, and Liete was reminded once more the changes that had come to her friend in their time separated. He held himself with confidence and she'd come to learn that the sandaled man, Anton, had been part of the reason. The last year of Drew's life had been spent with the man planning and working to rescue her. It had been with the arrival of Ade & the reinforcements from Tulum that it had been made possible with the least casualties.

The native grinned, thick lips drawing back to reveal a clean set of teeth with long canines as he raised his hands and backed away to stand beside his comrades again. His eyes twinkled as he looked to her then and winked.

He reminded her of Thatch, she thought dangerously as she didn't react to the poke the man gave her. Instead she stood and let Drew wrap his arm around her waist just under Michaels bottom lifting her to deposit her on the sand.

Adewale on the other hand, clasped the man's hands in his own in greeting, before letting them know that the others on board would begin bringing supplies ashore if they cared to wait and assist.

"I'm to escort you in, Ah Tabai is anxious to meet the one we sent so many after." Honey, like thick honey rolling off a spoon, his voice sounded like. Just like Thatch in his more clever moments.

Ade nodded and their party followed into the jungle thickness along a path worn by foot traffic.

Michael fussed giving off a small whine, as he turned in the sling to watch the water behind them disappear with dismay. Liete reached back with one hand to tickle one of his feet, but even that didn't seem to quell the soft whimper that settled in his chest.

The village unfolded before them, ropes between palm frond huts, wood tied together tightly and thatched with clay. The air was filled with distant conversations and a wooden flute playing a soft tune faltering and coming with practice.

Beyond that, stone rose out of the ground, towering high with its columns framing a small courtyard, dark fountain underneath a large stone Mayan god depiction with a snake's mouth on its head. Above and beyond that, Liete could make out other large stone dwellings but as their group moved into the courtyard she found that she floor's stone was arranged in triangle shape.

It was a symbol she'd seen on Edwards original ill fitting robes, in a iron buckle.

Putting the thought to the back of her mind, Liete watched closely as they were lead to a stocky man, robes of dark leather, hood obscuring a weathered face with black and white war paint underneath his eyes and a thick iron plate under his throat that held the same symbol. Although he was older, his robes showed enough of his chest to show the muscles that hadn't faded with that age.

All the people around her and Drew reacted with reverence and respect towards the man, as they offered greetings in form of handshakes and arms across their chest.

He returned them enthusiastically, and Liete took note that the leader cared for his people very much. Where did Drew and her fit into that she wondered in sudden suspicion.

Sure enough, as the man's eyes fell to her, his expression hardened subtly, and his lips thinned.

"Our guest has arrived in one piece after all. Welcome." Moving forward the man offered a hand, but Liete instead nodded her acknowledgement taking a step back.

Men in power held no reverence for her.

His eyes snapped up to her face, before dropping his own hand to collect with his other behind his back, interest lighting his expression.

"We are glad to have saved you from the Templar grasp. I've been told you've been through much, but that your lineage will speak for itself." That ignited her like fire pitch.

"My lineage is nothing more than a name. If it is what brought the offer of rescue, then I'd rather return to the four walls of a prison I know." Liete's eyes flashed and churned in anger. She'd not thought that her rescue had come with a price.

She should have… as ever the facets of men did.

Silver cut all that watched her, the honey tongued man flinching hardest as he looked to the elder, Ade's jaw locking in place as he grit his teeth. Drew moved closer to her then, a hand reaching out to wrap around her wrist, and she had the faint thought that she may look as if she was about to throw a punch to the man's face.

"Have no fear, Liete Beckford, we did not bring you here for anything but peace." The words were sincere and careful. It did nothing to quell the anger that had been ignited within her.

"What is the true price? Come, speak! What is it that elects the choice for help from you and your bloc?"

Ah Tabai watched her as she practically gnashed her teeth and raged. She'd fallen for it once more, the machinations of men… her brother, Rogers, now a mayan god…

The others around him looked as if a wave had crashed against them, stepping back, wide eyed and panicked. For those who had not been around her the years before, it was akin to a a great man o' war baring down on the schooner that was Ah Tabai.

As she tugged her arm to remove Drew's grip, not shaking his grip a bit, Liete stepped forward, the swirling within her eyes frightening the women who'd escorted them enough to back away and make a sign against evil.

It was a familiar wave of indignation, of holding some sense of pride. It had been stifled and torn from her these past two years under Woodes hands, but in this moment it came rearing back and Liete for a moment relished in it. Having autonomy, even if it had been bought by the man in front of her…

"I told you to speak. Your damned philosophy warrants saving a damned whore, yet even your own rots away while you hold no thought of it? I shudder to think what service warrants my saving, God of the Hunt. Whatever it is know that I Will. Burn. It. Down." Her last words came out in a quiet growl and she meant every word of it. She wanted to burn it all down, every single hut, and to wipe the damned paint from the mans face as she strangled him for his collusions for her purpose to him. As she growled her words, Drew's grip on her arms hardened but nothing painful as he held her back as she moved to get even closer to the native man.

What brought her back from her anger was two things that happened simultaneously.

The look of confusion and panic that entered the leader's eyes, and the very clear shrieking that faded into her awareness. Stilling, her son gave off one more shriek of agitation, before gurgling with soft whimpers.

The pain that passed behind the mans eyes sang to her then, and she knew he'd lost a child as with each little whimper brought a micro flinch from the man as his mouth opened slightly agape.

Liete huffed softly as the anger faded to a soft simmer for the moment, moving her arms to shimmy the baby towards her chest as she turned the fabric.

Ah Tabai watched her then still in silence, eyes glittering.

One of the women that had moved behind the man with her anger, reached with fingertips to rest against the mans shoulder with the lightest touch. Her expression was just as pained, and for a moment the rest of those around them held their breath.

It was released once Liete pulled the child from the sling, resting him against her hip as he tucked his face into her chest hiding away from the eyes that watched so closely.

Ah Tabai cleared his throat then and asked in the same even and calm tone.

"What one of our own has been captured?"

It was Ade who answered.

"Mary, her companion Anne. Edward Kenway as well. They're being held at Port Royal prison."

The older mans eyes flashed with dismay at the first name but quieted with the last, as he turned away from the woman, unable to look at the child any longer lest he betray himself. He hardened himself then to the reality of losing one of his cherished pupils.

"I care only for Mary, but there is nothing we can do if they are in that fortress."

Ade sputtered then, the mood of the group changing as they all seemed to sadden with the thought of Mary.

"Mentor, we can't just leave them to the Templars."

Ah Tabai looked at Ade, his mouth set in a grim line, even as his wife's hand remained on his shoulder giving him some strength at the turmoil that wrestled within him. He felt the loss of his son before he had even seen the age of ten deeply, and he felt this loss of Mary similar in its depth.

"How can I justify the potential deaths of more of my people to save one? With this past mission, Anton had already agreed, and it was into a manor, not the most guarded prison in all of the west indies. I do not want to leave her as she is, but I have to keep all of us safe."

"What of her child?"

Liete's words were an arrow in the cloud that hung above them all with the tone the discussion had gone.

Ah Tabai didn't look at her but stilled.

Liete wanted to rail for Kenway, her heart nearly rammed her chest with the wanting, but it wasn't the thing that would garner a reaction from the man in front of her. No, her anger had hardly stirred a thought within him, and she had to be as cunning as ever to save them all if he was willing to choose death over the attempt.

"And of Anne's? Both were taken while pregnant, and you would leave innocents having no say in their mother's choices to die?"

"I'll go." Honey Tongue spoke loudly as he moved forward once more, as did Ade as he to nodded his agreement.

"As will I."

Ah Tabai just watched them with pain warring behind his eyes as he let her words settle into his throat.

It was a hallucination; he knew it was.

It didn't make it any less beautiful or real to his starving and exhausted mind.

He could feel her touch, resting against his cheek just then, and it nearly brought him to tears. He'd have fallen to his knees long ago if not for the cage bars that forced him to stay standing.

The dusk had come and with it the summer mosquitoes had come out in full force. The ache in his bones dulled the stinging bites, as he held the bars resting his face against one, as Liete smiled for him just yonder.

She was as beautiful as ever, her eyes calm and shimmering as she looked at him with sadness. Her hand on his cheek was heaven even as he knew it wasn't real.

It couldn't be. She'd chosen the man who'd strung him up here.

Or had she? He couldn't tell anymore what was real or fake. He'd spent all his time chasing something that had never been real, so had he made up all the other things in his life too?

He was going to die here for all of his plans and chasing. In a cesspit, where no one remembered his name, and the promise of coin to a forgotten wife to repair battered home boards and provide good food was lost.

Through all of it, all of the people he'd left behind, he saw now Liete as he weakened to the elements and time. His face and arms were red from sun exposure, and the bottoms of his feet and palms of his hands held strips of burnt skin from where they'd lain against the iron that had heated with the sun to burning temperatures.

Every part of him ached, and he wanted nothing more than to die.

He assumed with the vision of Liete here, he was close.

It was almost a relief, through all of it.

Kenway took a shallow breath as he opened his swollen eyes just a little wider, taking in the whole of her.

Framed in gold hues, She wore the grey gown from their first meeting with its red slash of blood along its bodice. Her hair framed her face as she smiled just for him. He'd only seen that smile maybe a dozen times in their time together, but each time he'd known that she'd been his alone.

"L-Liete, I missed you." His voice was rough from the months of being unused and came out to little more than a whisper.

Her smile softened even further as the ghost of her hand soothed him once more, her other hand laying across her stomach as she tilted her head. He paid no mind that she stood well above the ground where he hung.

"Now is not the time to sleep." Her words were little more than wind, and it may have well been just that as he raised one of his own hands to rest against his cheek wishing he could just feel her there.

"'m so tired Lass."

Her smile slowly faded then as she seemed to move closer, lips parting to whisper.

"Look. Pay attention." She began to fade into the nights darkness then, and Kenway struggled against the cage then rattling the bars as he reached out to her, trying to grab her and bring her back.

"No!"

"Quiet you, before I shut your gob for ya!" A whack of metal on metal came from below as two guards men stood just below his feet, one of them having lifted his musket in an attempt to quiet him down.

Fresh anger and frustration gave Edward the strength to rattle the cage once more as he looked out into the darkness in desperation.

He found no Liete there… but he found instead a dark silhouette decked in brown leather taking the opportunity given as the two guards looked at Edward to run across an open path and into shrubbery closer to his cage.

Ah Tabai he realized, It hit Kenway like a train and a flood of adrenaline ignited within his veins.

Using everything he had left within him, Kenway began to hiss and shake the bars, causing the guards to stare up at him in confusion as he continued without pause.

Let them watch him, as he set them in tune for their death.

The figure came closer and a sudden burst came as the man tore across the small walkway tackling one of the guards with wrist blades drawn and shooting off a dart into the other putting the man right to sleep.

Ah Tabai pulled his hood from his face then as he viciously stomped the sleeping man's head quickening the sleep potion to a straight knockout. The man wouldn't wake for many hours, and he'd have an incredible ache when he did.

Edward could hardly believe it as the man rustled through the guards clothing and pulled the keys to his cage before tossing them up to him.

"Good morning Captain Kenway, I have a gift for you."

He fumbled with them for a moment, his hands stinging and complaining with the effort that rubbed against the now blistering burns until he unlocked the cage and he felt himself falling forward.

At last second, he managed to land on his feet, knees shaking with the effort, his feet nearly screaming with pain as he steadied himself to look on the last face he expected to see in Ah Tabai.

"Do not mistake my purpose here, I come for Anne and Mary and you owe me nothing for this…But if you can lend me your aid, I can promise you safe passage from this place." His words should nettle him, but as Edward took a moment to mentally build blocks against the physical pain that racked his entire tired body, he was thankful nevertheless.

Standing straight, taking a few deep breaths, Edward looked the older man in the face to find a grim and determined look but also just there was something that expected him to run off right then and there.

Edward could not find it in himself to leave someone he cared for behind again, whether the man believed in him or not.

"I'll need weapons."

The surprise at his answer was quickly wiped from Ah Tabai's face to be replaced by a little grin as he pulled a wrist blade from his belt and a blow pipe with a pouch from his back offering them with no hesitation.

"You are comfortable with these I am told."

Edward simply smiled as he latched the blade to himself and slung the blow pipe across his own shoulder. Steeling himself once more, Kenway shook his legs and arms to stretch the tired and aching muscles as just out of the corner of his eye he swore he could see Liete in her grey dress leaning against a palm, a quiet smile lingering even as the night claimed her once more.

"We must hurry."

Ah Tabai took off at a run towards the imposing central prison, and with one last look, Kenway took off after him.