A soft little moan escaped her lips as his fingertips traced lines up and down her spine. "No starting anything Simon-love…" She said with a little smile. "We don't have the time to entertain your stamina."

"Well you're no fun." He joked as he laid beside her on the small bit of furniture she claimed was a bed, enjoying the feel of her bare skin beneath his hand. God how he missed this. "Why won't you accept my offer…" He sighed a little as he continued to rub her back.

"Simon…" She said his name softly as she turned her head to face him, her eyes met his violet one then moved to gaze at the milky eye he was blind in… She rolled a little so her body was facing his, the bed was only meant for one person so they couldn't help being pressed together, she touched his face gently with a sigh. "Let's not ruin the good moment we're having, ya?"

He took the hand and kissed her wrist tenderly. "I'm serious Abby, let me protect you. I could take you off this ship and keep you safe…"

She kissed his cheek with a smile. "And all I'd have to do is give up my pirating ways, ya?"

"You know I hate pirates."

"And yet you love me." She smirked.

"That's different…" He grumbled

"And what about Sam? He took over my ship when I left so that would make him a pirate, ya?"

"That's also different." He poked her in the ribs for being a brat. "He's been staying out of trouble, unlike you, and he only takes down other pirates."

"Hmmm, his parents must be so proud." She teased and she rolled her eyes at his lecturing.

He smiled at that. "Oh, I'm sure they are." He kissed her deeply, pushing her onto her back and leaning over her before breaking the kiss. "Please Abby…" He whispered. "Come back to Bala Bala island with me. Lu would love to see you again."

"And bring more trouble to the Island?" She gave him a skeptical look. "I miss Lu too but she's been through enough."

His lips moved but the memory of that night flooded back to him… he shook his head and pushed the thought away. "That won't ever happen again, we're more prepared now than ever…" He'd never let that night happen again… not ever… "Besides, that man only wants female Captains, he won't…"

She hushed him with a finger to his lips. "I won't risk it." She said sternly. "We both know he doesn't care if I've stepped down, he cares that I got away."

He gave a defeated sigh as he kissed her forehead, he hated it when she was right. "You're stubborn."

"I thought that was just part of my charm." She said with a smile.

He poked her again and shared a laugh, God how he didn't want this to end… but he knew he was losing this argument. He sat up with a sigh and looked around for where he tossed his clothes… "So, tell me about this crew and it's oh so charming Captain." Ah! There's his pants…

She followed his lead and sat up, swinging her legs over the edge of her bed and reaching for her clothes. "They are good people; I've genuinely enjoyed getting to know them. Especially my Neddy-love, she's so smart and picks up on the studies quickly…"

"Ah ha!" He said with a big smile as he slipped into his jeans. "So that's what's goin on."

"What are you talking about?"

"I can hear the tone in your voice."

"What tone? I don't have a tone."

"Like hell." He teased. "You can't resist being a teacher, that's why you want to stay isn't it."

She blushed a little, he really knew her so well. "That's part of it."

"Oh?" He gave her a mischievous grin as he hugged her from behind, she only had her pants on and she looked too good. "And what's the other reason?"

She leaned back into him with a sigh. "I'm curious… I want to see what happens with this crew and his… their dreams…" Damn…

He frowned at that. "This Captain… you're attracted to him."

"How about we use a very loose definition of the word 'attracted' ya?" She turned to face him. "Base emotions aside, he's passionate about his dream and this crew believes in him."

He grumbled a bit as he let her go and put on his vest. "He's violent, putting aside all the people he's already killed, what happens when he turns on you?"

She gave a weak laugh as she went back to the task of dressing, she wasn't particularly wanting to let him know about her already violent 'relationship' with the Captain. "You know I can take care of myself, Simon-love."

"Regardless." He muttered as he started digging through her covers to find his eyepatch. "You're free to do as you like, as much as I can't stand it…. Where is that damn thing… just be careful and for the love of God call me if you're ever in trouble."

She smiled softly as she picked up his elusive patch from her desk. "You're being a mother hen again."

He took the bit of fabric from her a put it on with a sigh. "If you don't like it then let me be your damn husband."

"So you can go full blown worry wort on me?" She joked halfheartedly, she tried to be that for him… she really did… "Come on, our time limit is almost up."

"Yea…" He sighed a little as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a package no bigger than the palm of his hand. "Best not forget this though."

"Oh, I forgot about that."

"I take full responsibility for that." He said as he kissed her cheek with a grin, which was true and he didn't regret it in the least. He set the package onto her bed and slipped off the sea prism ring he wore on his left finger, he touched the package and with a little 'pop' and bit of smoke it returned to its true size which was a little less than half the size of her bed.

She watched quietly, his Tiny Tiny devil fruit ability always amused her but it's what made him the best smuggler in all the seas. She reached down and grabbed a long thin bundle carefully wrapped in purple cloth, she opened it with a growing smile her eyes scanned over the violet to black gradient sheath adorned with white crosses. She missed the feel of her katana in her hands.

He smiled as he watched her, that sword might as well been her own arm. "Don't forget these." He slid her glasses onto her face. "You should wear them all the time, they make you look adorable."

She smirked at that. "Adorable or not I don't need to wear them all the time." She took them off and set them on her desk. "What else do you have for me?"

"Just the usual; Books, some more clothes and…" He picked up a small rectangular box. "A gift." He turned it to her and opened the box so she could see it. "From Sam and I."

"It's lovely." She looked at the necklace he presented her, a simple silver pendant with an ouroboros symbol on it.

"And…" He said with a wide smile as he picked up the pendant and opened it. "It's a secret locket too."

She smiled a little as she looked at the picture inside of it, an image of Simon with a black haired boy a little older than Stitch, she touched it gently and fought back a tear that threatened to escape as she looked at both of their goofy smiling faces. "When you see him, tell him I miss him… so much…"

He kissed her head softly then he stepped behind her as she lifted her hair. "I will… And now you'll always have us with you." After he fastened the clasp he rubbed her arms affectionately, he knew staying here hurt her too… but she had to have a reason. She always did. "Come on." He said softly, no sense in delaying the inevitable any longer.

"Simon-love…" She turned to face him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I love you…" She kissed him deeply, it was going to be the last one and something told her it would be a long time before she got to see him again.

He hugged her to him and kissed her back, doing his best to express those words to the fullest. When their lips parted they rested their foreheads together and sighed… damn it all. "I love you too baby… I love you so much."

A knock at the door startled them both, Abigail stepped away and brushed the tears that were building in her eyes as she opened the door to a surprise of her own. "Kil-love…"

The masked man eyed her, she looked miserable considering she had been enjoying herself a bit ago. Had to admit it felt… a little bit more than extremely wrong to hang out in the hallway why she enjoyed her quality time but he did need to talk to her… at she's she good at keeping quiet, bed is a bit squeaky though… and that guy can keep up one hell of a pace… ok he really needs to stop thinking about it.

"Kil-love?" She repeated, he seemed to be acting odd… oh god… did he hear them?

"I need to talk to you." He said as he stepped away from the door. "Before he leaves."

Bon arched a brow as he grabbed his bandana and tied it on. "And am I going to be a part of this convo…"

"No, you can wait up top." He interrupted the man.

"I see you're just as charming as your Captain." He snipped, he's barely been on this ship for an hour and he still couldn't see what she saw in these people. "Abby sweetheart."

She nodded to him. "I'll see you off, wait for me."

"Always." He rubbed her back and kissed her forehead as he walked out the door, damn did that masked guy give him the creeps.

The two watched him go quietly, Abby took a step back and started putting up her hair. "So… ah, what did you need?"

His eyes stayed on her, he'd never seen her so… unsettled, and this was considering he'd seen her every time Kid came damn close to killing her. With a sigh he stepped into the room a bit. "Kid wanted me to tell you to get off his ship… leave with your man."

"Wha… what?!" She turned a bit too quick and bumped her desk, damn did it sting. The hair she was still fumbling with fell free. "Could you… ah… enlighten me on that decision."

He smirked a bit, the shock on her face was genuine and he knew her feelings already. He heard their conversation and knew full well what she wanted. "That what he wanted me to tell you…" He crossed his arms in front of him and leaned against her wall. "But he's a shit liar."

She rubbed the bridge of her nose trying to figure out what he meant. "I… ok. When I said to 'enlighten me' that didn't mean confuse me even more."

That gave him a bit of a chuckle. "He said it but only because I told him to let you go."

She gave him a confused look once again. "Why would you…"

"Because I thought it's what you wanted, obviously I was wrong."

"Yea… yea you could say that." She sat on her desk and gripped her forehead, this was giving her a headache. "What…" She took a deep breath to calm her nerves. "What do you think I should do?"

He had to admit he was a little surprised by the tone in her voice, she really sounded… lost. "Before I do that… who is chasing you?"

Her eyes got a little wide… well, shit… "You huh… heard…"

He nodded, smiling behind his mask. "Oh yea."

She laughed a little. "You could've at least tried not to make that sound creepy."

"No, creepy would've been getting aroused from the little moans."

"Oh I did not moan loud enough…"

"I didn't say it was your moans now did I?"

Her mouth opened to respond but his remark caught her off guard and she ended up laughing loudly. "Yea. That, ah… that's really disturbing actually." She needed that… everything got a bit too intense for a minute there. "Thank you…"

He smiled a little, she seemed more relaxed now. "You can thank me by filling in the blanks."

"Yea…" Damn it all… she wasn't expecting to have to tell these people this. "His name is Yaegar Faust… Captain Faust… and he's a bastard."

He could tell she wasn't in the mood to talk about it. "Just tell me, is he a threat to us?"

"To you guys?... maybe." She said honestly. "He wants me… in truth he wants women… all of them."

"Sounds like a hassle." Just dealing with the women they had on this ship could be a pain. "Why does he want women?"

"Not sure to be honest, never got a chance to ask him."

"But he did have you."

Her jaw clenched a bit at his wording. "Yea… yea you could say that… when you guys… when Eustass-love 'bought' me… I was on the run from him."

That he wasn't expecting. "He was close to you then?"

"I don't know, by that point I had been… free from him for about a month. My plan was just as I told you, I get bought by some rich bastard and rejoin my crew with the money I rob from them but you know the story from there."

He nodded a bit. "So if your original plan was like you said, rejoining your crew, then why do you want to stay on this ship? You're free now, nobody will stop you…"

"Because I don't want to…" She whispered it as she gripped the edge of her desk in frustration. "Don't get me wrong, I love my people… more than anything but they are safer without me there."

"They are safe but you put us in danger." He pushed himself off the wall and took the step towards her to close the distance. "Do you really need me to tell you why I don't like that."

She looked up to him with an apologetic look. "No and if you tell me to leave than I will… but I… I want to be here Kil-love… I want…"

"If you want to stay…" He put a large hand on her head and gave it a little squeeze. "Then become a member of this crew. I can forgive a crew mate that make stupid decisions and puts us in a bad spot, but I can't give the same forgiveness to anyone else." He let her go and turned towards the door. "The same goes for the Captain…"

She watched him go without another word but what he had said was going over and over in her mind… could she really do it?... Become a Kid Pirate?

To Be Continued…