Hey everyone. This is chapter 21.

This chapter is dedicated to:

they call me KEERAN

ALSO: Alenor Peredhel, Charmed Angel, Sakura123, RedFireHead41, and Pookie Power 2005.

You people are awesome.

Yeah yeah, don't rub it in.

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Kate closed the door to her shared cabin behind her, careful not to wake Ana. The night air was cool and refreshing, just like all of the other nights.

She had made it a habit to sneak out every other week, when Jonathan had watch. They would talk about things, life in general. The topic of the Rosaria never came up. If she wanted to talk about she would. Now that Barnett was dead, it was time to forget.

They barely spoke during the day though. He seemed almost nervous around her. After the warning her father had given him, he had tried to stay away from Kate.

But doing that was hard when she came out every time he had watch. He did enjoy the time though, when he was able to be around her without the scrutinizing gaze of Will.

"Hey." She came up from behind him and positioned herself next to him. He smiled back in greeting. They stood in comfortable silence for awhile.

In the back of her head, Kate was wondering what to say. She wanted to ask him why he had been avoiding her, and wanted to say how she felt. About him. She was never quite sure about what she felt anymore, but when they would stand there, she had a good feeling.

"Jonathan…" She turned towards him, hoping that something would just come out. But nothing did. She simply stood there, staring up at him. He looked back down at her, waiting for her to continue.

All of a sudden she leaned forward and kissed him. She pulled away quickly, hoping for a good reaction.

Jonathan wasn't quite sure what to do. He felt the same way about her, and he had hoped she had felt it too, but it was her father that scared him.

You couldn't really blame him though. His daughter had been raped and beaten. Another scary thought there.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have…" Her cheeks turned red and she looked down at the deck when he didn't respond.

"No it's fine really…" He took her hands in his own and pulled her a bit closer. Their lips met again.

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Will climbed the stairs to the deck, rubbing his eyes sleepily. It wasn't supposed to be his watch, but he had switched with another crew member. The change of routine took a bigger toll than he thought it would. Amazing what a difference a few hours can make.

Ana stood near the helm, facing backwards. She was smiling and looking at something on the upper deck. His gaze followed hers to where he could see Jonathan and Kate.

Together.

Very close together.

Kissing.

He felt pure rage surge inside him. That boy was doing exactly what he had specifically warned him not to, and he was going to pay for it.

Will's hand twitched to the gun at his side but thought better of it. They were too close. He couldn't shoot Jonathan without possibly hurting Kate.

His hand moved next to his sword. That would be much more satisfying anyway. He was about to go forward and breakup their little party when Ana stuck out her hand to stop him.

"Let 'em be mate."

"Why should I? Have you seen what he's doing to my daughter?"

"Aye. Seen the whole thing actually. She's been sneaking out for weeks now."

"WHAT?!" obviously the other two were too preoccupied to hear.

"This is as far as it's gone though." She replied casually.

"It shouldn't have gone this far in the first place!" he tried to move forward again, but she grabbed his sleeve.

"Don't do it Will. She's happy, and you should be happy that she's happy."

"But he-"

"Just so ye know, she was the one who started it." Will eyes widened a little and looked back up at Kate.

"Don't do anything stupid Will." She shook her finger in his face before walking back towards her cabin. She hoped that he would listen, for his sake and for Kate's.

He stood and watched them for a minute. The kiss broke, and they both smiled. They turned back towards the water, arms wrapped around each other.

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"Jack I think it's time for me and Kate to go back home." Will said as Jack stood at the helm. The pirate's eyebrows rose. "I have to get back to the smithy. I left Ben and Robert to take care of it, so I should get back to give them a break."

"Ye sure this is about you and not Kate and Jonathan?" Will groaned.

"Did everyone know except me?"

"Well if ye weren't so busy trying to keep them apart, ye might have seen that they have a thing for each other." He looked sideways at Will, who was now glaring at the two teens in question. "But hey, who am I to judge."

"Who indeed." He went back to work.

Throughout the day, he found that he too noticed the connection. Kate would smile at Jonathan regularly, and they often worked alongside each other.

He still didn't like the situation. Kate wasn't ready for this kind of thing. Or rather, he wasn't ready for Kate to be ready. He was her father after all.

Ana appeared next to him.

"I hear you're leaving soon."

"News sure does travel fast around here." He paused. "I just don't want her to get hurt again."

"No one does. Jonathan especially. He felt bad enough about what had happened." He stopped working and looked at her.

"How is it that you know these things?" he laughed. Ana shrugged.

"I just know."

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Okay, another chapter done.

The story is drawing to a close; I'm thinking maybe another one or two more chapters.

R 'n' R, s'il vous plait!

Chicaga