I was really glad to see Silver again…but when he told me why he was there, I got worried…

After a quick hello and welcome, Jim took Silver into the kitchen, which B.E.N. and his mother had adopted as their hiding place away from the drunken guests. Silver had his hat pulled down, concealing his cyborg eye; he kept his right arm wrapped in his traveling cloak. The only thing you could notice was his mechanical leg, but he wasn't the only man in the Etherium to have one. Sarah gave her son a curious look. "Who's this Jim?"

B.E.N.'s eyes narrowed uncharacteristically when he recognized Silver, but he didn't say a word. B.E.N. figured if Jim trusted the 'former' pirate, then he should also. The robot excused himself, deciding it would be better for him to leave the room so he wouldn't be able to blab something about Silver's treachery on Treasure Planet in the presence of Mrs. Hawkins.

"Mom," Jim started, ushering Silver into the room. "This is an old friend of mine; from the Treasure Planet voyage. Meet John Silver."

Silver took Sarah's hand in his flesh one and kissed it politely. "Pleasure ta meet ya ma'm!"

Sarah nodded a little with a small smile. "Nice to meet you too Mr. Silver. Jim, I'm going to make sure everything's going ok with your party. Don't be away too long." Sarah kissed her son's cheek before leaving the kitchen.

Silver watched her go. "You didn' tell yer mother 'bout all t'e goins on of tha' particular voyage, now did ya lad?"

Jim laughed a little, scratching the back of his neck. "Uh, no, not all of it…So, what brings you here Silver? Are you still on the run? Still a pirate? Can I get you a drink or..?"

"Jimbo!" Silver laughed as he spoke, he large belly dancing around. "Ye don' 'ave ta worry 'bout makin' me comfortable," the cyborg said, readjusting his cap, revealing his mechanical eye. He brought his mechanical arm out and stretched the fingers. "I's 'ere on business, ya see."

"Jim?"

Jim jumped, thinking that his mother had come back, but turned toward the kitchen door to see Chloe poking her head into the room. "I uh…just wanted to say good night."

Jim nodded, offering his hand out to her. "C'mere," he said softly. She obliged, taking his hand and allowing him to lead her into the room and in front of Silver, who had taken a seat at the table. "Chloe, this is John Silver. Silver, meet Chloe."

Chloe gave Silver a bewildered look. "You're John Silver?" She glanced at Jim, who was standing beside her, an arm around her back. When Jim nodded, Chloe turned back to Silver, a large smile on her face. "It's wonderful to meet you Silver!" She held her right hand out to him, but then caught sight of his mechanical arm, so she switched to her left hand.

Silver started to take her hand and kiss it politely, but he stopped when he noticed her ring. He eyed it for a moment before speaking. "Pardon me askin' lass, but, where exactly did ye get this?"

Chloe pulled her hand back and began twisting the ring around her finger nervously. "I uh…I don't know."

Jim explained Chloe's situation; Silver listened closely and as Jim reached the end of the story, he began digging around in the pocket of his travel cloak. "Jimbo," he said excitement in his eyes. "Your lil' lass 'ere has jus' saved me some time!"

Jim cocked his head as the cyborg retrieved something from his pocket. "What do you mean?"

"T'e business I's 'ere fer!" Silver said excitedly, shoving a piece of paper into Jim's hand. "I was sent ta find 'er!"

Jim looked at the piece of paper. It was a picture, the old fashioned ones that were printed on paper and weren't holographic and didn't move. It was a family of six; an older looking gentleman in fancy clothing standing alongside an equally fancy woman. The man wore military retirement best dress, his dark hair pulled out of his face with a ribbon the same shade of blue as his uniform. The woman sat in a chair, her light brown hair pulled into a knot on top of her head.

Standing on the other side of the woman was a set of identical twin girls, both the spitting image of their father (unfortunately for them). They were both wearing light blue dresses, their dark hair hanging around their faces in large curls.

Sitting in front of the woman was another set of girls; not twins, but you could tell they were related. The daughter on the right of the woman's feet was a perfect mix of the man and woman, with the woman's delicate features but the man's coloration. The final girl, who appeared to be no older than sixteen in the picture, sat on her knees on the woman's left. The woman had her hand pressed firmly into the girls' shoulder, keeping her in place.

Jim examined the final girl closely as Chloe peered over his shoulder. The girl was attractive, with pale skin, large green eyes and hair the color of burnt sugar falling over her shoulder in a neat braid. She wore a rather plain green dress with long sleeves and a square neck line.

Jim sqeezed his eyes shut and shook his head a little before looking at the young woman in the photo again. There was no doubt about it. "Chloe," he said softly, pointing to the girl in the photo. "That's you."

Chloe looked closely at the photo before a small gasp sprang from her lips. "Oh my…that's me!" She looked back to Silver. "My family sent you?"

Silver nodded. "Aye, lass, they sent me lookin' fer ya to bring ya home. Ya see, you're supposed to be married in a month's time."

Chloe gasped again, but this time it was a frightened sound. "I'm sorry, but I…" she glanced at Jim for a moment before speaking. "I can't go back. I…have no intentions of leaving Jim."

Jim cast her a slightly shocked look as Silver addressed her. "Now, lass, I's sorry to tell ye this, but you ain't got no choice in t'e matter. Yer father, Lord Alders, ordered me te bring ye back."

Chloe shook her head. "How do you even know that I'm the girl you're looking for?"

Silver motioned to her ring. "T'at there? T'at's a ring yer father gave you and all your sisters when 'e found ya each a husband. Yer initials is engraved on t'e inside. Yer name is Vivian Kim Alexis Janele Alders; yer father's a nobleman who owns several planets across the Etherium."

Chloe slid her ring off her finger and peered at the inside of the thin band. Sure enough, etched into the gold, were the letters V, K, A, J, and A. Chloe released a shaky breath before sliding the ring back onto her finger. "You can tell my father that I'm staying here," she nodded curtly before turning to Jim. "Now, goodnight."

With that said, Chloe left the kitchen. Jim watched her go, wondering why her mood had soured so quickly. "Sorry about that Silver," he said, running a hand through his hair. "You'd think she'd be happy to hear that her family is looking for her…"

"Now, don't ye worry 'bout it lad," Silver said. "Now, why don't ye get me t'at drink you was talkin' 'bout earlier?"

XD XD XD

Later that night, after the party had finished and the guests had gone, Jim headed up to his room to change and then get some sleep. His head was swimming a little from everything that had transpired: kissing Chloe, Silver showing up, Silver revealing that he was there to find Chloe and take her home.

Jim was glad to hear that Chloe's family was looking for her. He didn't, however, like the prospect of her leaving the Benbow to go get married. Silver had explained that Chloe's (Vivian's) fiancé was a noble man old enough to be her father; it was a marriage of prospect. Lord Alders hoped to gain favor with another nobleman, Lord Randall, with the marriage of his youngest daughter.

"Morph!" Jim head a voice from inside his room. "Give it back!"

Jim smiled as he came to his door way to see Chloe in a brown night gown, jumping in an attempt to catch the pink blob as it zoomed around the room chanting "Give it back! Give it back!" Morph had apparently stolen Chloe's hair brush; her hair bounced freely around her face as she attempted to retrieve the brush from Morph.

Jim cleared his throat from his spot in the door way. Chloe turned to face him, her face pink from both embarrassment ad exasperation. She pointed to the chattering creature accusingly. "Morph stole my hair brush!"

Jim laughed a little as Morph came to rest on his shoulder. "I can see that. Morph, give it back."

The blob chattered unhappily at Jim as he flew back over to Chloe and dropped the brush in her hand. "Thank you Morph," she said, reaching out and stroking the creature's head with her finger. Morph's mood brightened as he nuzzled against Chloe's cheek before flying over to Jim's bed and making himself comfortable on the pillow.

Chloe began walking out of Jim's room, smiling at him slightly as she went. "Thanks Jim," she said, stopping in the door way to stretch up onto her toes and kiss his cheek.

Jim returned her smile before speaking. "Are you sure you don't want to go back to your family?"

Chloe stopped walking and turned to face him. She took a breath and began running the brush through her hair as she spoke. "I know that I ran away for a reason; I wasn't happy. I mean, I'll go back if you want me to-"

Jim shook his head quickly. "No, that's not what I meant. I just thought that… I don't know, I just thought that maybe you would want to go back. That seems like the normal thing to do."

Chloe stopped brushing her hair; she took a step closer to Jim and looked him in the eyes. "Haven't you learned by now that I'm not a normal girl?"

Chloe turned and walked to her room and Jim watched her go, glad that she had decided to stay with him and his mother at the Benbow. As Jim entered his room and prepared for bed, something Silver had said struck him. You ain't got no choice in t'e matter. That worried Jim a little as he got into bed that night. Why exactly didn't Chloe have a choice about who she married? He didn't have much time to think on it though; he quickly fell asleep, worn out from the day's events.

Hooray! A new chapter! Let me tell you, I had a rough time with Silver's dialogue; I hope I did okay.

R&R if you want the next chapter…I'm slightly ashamed that I've taken to holding my work for ransom, but it seems to work, so…

Till next time!

XXOO~BBTM