A/N: Wow. I know it's been a while, but here you go. I just recently got re-addicted to Sinbad, so there should be some more updates for the next while. Enjoy!!

Chapter 5

Sinbad watched at Basra faded into the distance, then he sighed in relief. He always felt safest while at the open sea. Talia's ship The Black Rose traveled close behind. Talia herself was on the Nomad with Sinbad. As he manned the tiller, she stood near him with a slight smile on her face.

"So, Sinbad," Talia said suddenly, turning to him, "what exactly did you do to warrant such a large bounty?"

"It's simply a misunderstanding, Talia," Sinbad assured her, "It really wasn't my fault."

"Where have I heard that before?" Talia said, rolling her eyes. Sinbad looked at her and grinned, knowing they were both thinking of the first time they met.

Sinbad, 17 years old, careened around the corner, several thugs on his trail, and crashed into a beautiful young woman. They both hit the ground hard and for just an instant their eyes met. Both smiled briefly, and then the thugs caught up. Sinbad flipped to his feet and drew his sword.

"Come and get it, then! IF YOU DARE!" he cried. Then with a roar, Sinbad started in at the thugs.

The young woman smiled. She knew that the boy was showing off for her, but he was such an attractive boy, that it really didn't matter. She watched in awe as he danced with his blade, a master at such a young age. His body completely balanced and perfectly shaped. Then, she stopped and grinned as she saw the heavy purse tied to his side. He was a greenhorn. This would be too easy. Maybe it would be worth her time to hang around with this boy after all.

After a moment, the last thug was sent running with his tail in between his legs. The boy was hardly breathless as he turned toward the woman and bowed gallantly. "My Lady," he said, "permit me too apologize. It's simply a misunderstanding. It really wasn't my fault."

The young woman laughed and then raised her hands and said, "Then whose fault was it? I didn't see anyone else shove me over."

"Well, you see..." the boy said, rubbing his head ruefully, "this royal fellow has seized my ship, and those thugs were his men. They were trying to take me back to confront the royal fellow. I didn't necessarily want to go. So, see, it's this royal fellow's fault."

"Your ship, huh?" the young woman said, her hands on her hips. "And who exactly are you?"

The boy grinned, he obviously usually got a reaction when he told people his name. At that moment the young woman decided that whatever name he said, she was not going to be impressed.

"My name is Sinbad," the boy said proudly.

Despite herself, she was surprised, but then she recovered quickly. "Hmm, never heard of him. Are you supposed to be someone important?"

"Oh, come on!" the boy exclaimed dejectedly, "you've never heard of Sinbad?"

"Should I have?"

The boy sighed, but then quickly assumed a dazzling smile. The young woman felt her breath quicken at the sight. He truly was beautiful. "Well, then," Sinbad said, apparently giving up on the idea of impressing her with his name, "what's your name?"

"Talia, the black rose of Oman."

The boy appeared thoughtful, then shrugged. "Sorry, never heard of you either."

"Good," she said. Then she prowled closer, her body winding and gliding as gracefully as a cat. "So, Sinbad, did anyone ever tell you that you're gorgeous?"

Sinbad choked, and stuttered, "What...?" but before he could get anymore out, she had her arms around his neck, and she was kissing him passionately. Deftly, she snagged the purse from his side and stuffed it into the pocket of her cloak. Then she released the boy, who was left gasping.

She turned away and waved. "Good luck on getting your ship back, kid. I'll see you later."

"Wait, Talia," he said, grasping her arm. "You're pretty good. You want to help me steal my ship back?"

"What?" she asked, insulted. "What do you mean pretty good? That kiss was more than pretty good, it was..."

"I wasn't talking about the kiss."

Looking at him, startled, she grasped her pocket and looked inside of it. The money bag was gone. "How..?" she stuttered, looking at him. He popped it up in front of her and then grinned.

"This one's just a decoy anyway," he said, he opened it and poured out a bunch of rocks.

"Hmm," she said, "not such a greenie after all."

He grinned, cockily, "Not by a long shot," he agreed.

She sidled up to him, and ran her fingers up his arm. "So, handsome, where's the real one located?"

He laughed and pushed her away. "So, Talia, you gonna help me or not?"

Looking at his smile, she couldn't help it. "Sure," she said, "but you'll owe me one. And I collect big."

"You always did have the deftest fingers," Talia purred. "To this day, I still cannot figure out when you snagged the bag from my pocket."

Sinbad grinned. "It's a secret." Talia grinned and sidled up close to him, pulling his arm around her. Gently he pushed her away and readjusted the tiller. Talia looked a bit disappointed, but Sinbad seemed not to notice.

"Sinbad," she said, thoughtfully, "did you ever consider turning yourself in and getting the bounty? That's a lot of gold."

Sinbad grinned, thinking of what Casib's face would look like if he were to do that, but then he said, "Well, Talia. Money's never really interested me as much as it has you. Mostly you got us into trouble, and I had to get us out of it."

"Not that first time," she said, with a slight smile. They both were reflecting when they heard someone clear their throat behind them. Sinbad jumped surprised and turned to find Maeve looking at him sideways.

"What happened the first time?" Maeve asked, trying to distract Sinbad from Talia. "How did you guys meet anyway?"

"Well," Sinbad said, "It is a long story, but I suppose we've got some time. Did you get to talk to Caipra?"

Maeve nodded, still looking slightly jealous. "She said to head for Corpse Cove, next to the Isle of Death. She feels the evil is emanating from there."

Sinbad nodded, "Appropriately named."

"Now," Maeve said, "tell me what happened."

"Well," Sinbad said, "it all began as we approached a small country. The Sultan there was a very wealthy man, but he had earned his wealth by terrorizing the villagers on the surrounding islands. We just happened to be in the neighborhood and needed to stop for supplies."

"Sounds familiar enough," Maeve commented.

Sinbad nodded, "Exactly. We rowed to shore on a longboat, I was only about 17 at the time, and had been Captain for nearly two years. People were starting to recognize my name."

Talia laughed, and the other two turned and looked at her. She snorted again, "Recognize your name? You were practically a legend. Your name had spread all over the place. I had even heard of you, and I was from a remote island."

Sinbad gave her a dimpled grin and said, "Ha, ha! So, you did recognize my name. I thought so. I knew you were bluffing."

Talia shrugged and motioned for him to continue.

"So, we pulled up to shore, and offered to buy some supplies. The villagers ran screaming in fear. At that point, I had quite a bit of money on hand, and I was puzzled that the villagers wouldn't want some of it. Then the guards showed up and we found out why everyone was screaming. There was a fierce battle and I called for everyone to split up. I raced back to the Dirk, only to find that the Sultan had already seized it. Frustrated, I realized that some soldiers were coming after me, so I ran, looking for help."

"And that's when you found me," Talia interposed.

Sinbad nodded and grinned as the memory once again crossed his mind. Maeve didn't look to happy at the memory though, so he quickly continued on.

"Talia agreed to help me, though she did say it would cost me, and we headed for the Sultan's castle. It was heavily guarded, but we managed to slip in with some teamwork and a lot of luck. We fought our way into the dungeon, and found the rest of the crew. They were all very impressed by Talia, as we picked some locks and released them. I asked the crew if they knew why the Sultan had captured them, and they said that he was looking for me. I didn't know why, but we decided it would be a good time to get out.

"We ran up the stairs and were nearly out of the castle, when we were surrounded once again. We fought hard, and I managed to let the crew escape, but I was captured. I was brought before the Sultan. Turned out he had heard of me, and had recognized my ship when it was anchored in the harbor. He didn't want me to interfere with his tyranny, so he had decided to get me before I got him. It turned out he also dealt with slavers."

"And selling Sinbad was too tempting to resist," Talia teased. "After all, it's not often you get such a good-looking man."

Sinbad choked and blushed, and Talia laughed at him and pounded him on the back until he could talk again. "Anyway," Sinbad said, after he had recovered, "The Sultan locked me in a tower where it would be less likely that my crew would be able to rescue me, and it looked like I would spend the rest of my life working on a galley, or something equally as terrible. That's when Talia showed up.

"She had managed to become friendly with one of the guards, and he had brought her in to 'tour' the castle. She managed to convince him to take her somewhere private, and he had brought her near me. Then, she knocked out the guard, stole his keys, and unlocked my cell. I was very happy to see her and we ran for it. We managed to sneak our way out and free our ship. Then we sailed off."

"And that was the start of a beautiful relationship," Talia finished, smiling fondly at Sinbad.

"Uh-huh," Maeve said. "Was this the same Sultan that put you on his war galley?"

Sinbad laughed, "No, that was a different Sultan. Sometimes we would have trouble because Talia would try to steal things that she really shouldn't have. That's ultimately why we parted ways. After a year, Talia decided she wanted this big rock."

"Oh, give me a break, Sinbad. It sounded impressive at the time. Even you have to admit that."

"Okay," Sinbad said, "So, it was a big expensive rock. Doubar and I had just received a message from the Caliph that he needed us, and so Talia went off after her big rock and we went back to Baghdad. We've crossed paths since then, but her lack of morals has always caused us to eventually part again."

Talia grinned, and said, "Well, one can't blame a girl for trying, right?"

Maeve shook her head. However, she had been burning with curiosity, and she knew that if she asked the question that was burning on her lips that she would regret it, but if she didn't she would regret it too. "So, uh, Sinbad, what exactly was between you two during that year?" When the question came out, she could have died with embarrassment as Doubar, Rongar, and Firouz, who had evidently heard her, walked over and waited for the answer. Even Dermott dropped down to listen.

"Well," Talia sighed, "I suppose if I was honest, which I'm not, I would probably tell you that it was a little one-sided."

Doubar nodded his head. "I hate to admit it as well, but Sinbad was a little less than willing to start a relationship at the time. Talia tried her hardest, and was making progress, but it was only a few years since..."

"ANYWAY," Sinbad interrupted quickly, "enough about me. Let's get back to..."

Just as he was about to finish, he spotted something on the horizon. "Oh, no," he breathed. Everyone turned to see what had captured his gaze, and all were stunned to see a fleet of ships lining the horizon. They were blocking the way to the Isle of Death, and Sinbad could instantly see that it was going to be difficult to get around them. This did not look good.