"Ow! Eduardo, please calm down, you're hurting me!" I plead as Eduardo hurriedly pulls me down the pathway. "Eduardo!" Suddenly, he turns around and give me the deadliest glare I've ever seen. Yipe! If looks could kill. I shrink back from his gaze that's piercing me down to the bone. A moment later, he sighs and let's go of my hand.

"What a hassle," he mumbles under his breath, then looks at me. "Let's go." He turns around and continues walking, slowing down his pace so could keep up. As we walk down the path, I rub at the small, swollen, purple coloring on my right hand. A few minutes later, I see the ship come into view. Soon, I see as well that the rest of the crew has gathered.

"So gang, did ya get everything?" Captain Morgan inquires. "Nathan, Russell?" Captain turns to Russell and Nathan as they answer,

"Yeah."

"Christopher?"

"Got everything." Captain nods in response then turns to us.

"Eduardo, get anything on our destination?" Captain questions and Eduardo averts his gaze.

"Nope, nothing," he responds, irritation behind his voice. Captain's face becomes a bit disappointed then it returns back to normal.

"I see, anyway, can't give now can we, we'll just keep searching right crew?" Immediately, I raise my hand and speak up.

"Excuse me!" Captain looks in my direction and smiles.

"Sakura, what's up?" he asks. All at once, all the crew's eyes were on me.

"I got some information," I say a bit strained as all the attention was making me choke.

"Seriously?" I hear everyone exclaim. I nod my head a few times again, figures, men always judge woman's capabilities, then Captain puts his arm around my shoulder.

"Good job, Sakura! Tell us what you know later. Nathan! Get the- BOOM!" Captain stops mid-sentence when a loud explosion came from the ship. Suddenly, Thomas comes sprinting from the ship and calls out to Captain. "Thomas! What was that?"

"Captain, someone put a small bomb at the bottom of our ship while we were away, apparently we won't be able to sail," Thomas clarifies as the crew emits a tense aura.

"The heck! What kinds a person does that?!" Russell spits angrily. Someone blew up the bottom of the ship, who would do that?

"Was it The Rika?" I question. Eduardo bops me on the head and explains,

"Can't be, even if that idiot had enough guts to bomb our ship, it's an absolute disgrace to pirates to attack a pirate ship unsupervised." I nod in understanding. I see, so who was it? Then Captain Morgan steps up.

"Thomas, what's her condition?" He inquires, and Thomas nods.

"The whole bottom of the ship is flooded and most of the food is soaked," he explains. Captain nods and then contemplates for a bit. Then he turns to the crew and gives orders.

"Crew, tonight we sleep at an inn, tomorrow morning, we fix her up, got it?" Captain commands firmly. The crew agrees in unison and we all head to a nearby in and check in. Later inside the inn, Captain gives us all our room keys. "Here ya go crew, now rest up we need our strength for tomorrow's repairs." We all take our keys and head to our rooms. As I walk down the hall of the inn, I sigh in relief of getting my own room. Room 13 uh? At least Captain remembered to give me my own room, I don't want to have to share with the guys even off the ship. I stop at my door and quietly open it. Inside, the room was lit with a single lamp hanging from the ceiling, the room was a simple small room with a single bed and a small balcony on the left side. I slowly walk inside and shut the door, then almost immediately, I collapse on the bed. Gosh, today was so tiring, that my knees feel like jelly from all that walking. I flip over on my back and eye the ceiling. I wonder who put that bomb in the Sirius. Suddenly, being pulled out of my thoughts, I hear someone knocking at my door. I quietly stand and open it to see Eduardo standing in the door way.

"Eduardo, what are you doing here?" I question, but he just stares at me blankly, not answering. Uncomfortably, I speak up again. "Eduardo?" BOP! "Ow! What was that for," I asked a bit irritated that he bopped me on the head.

"Idiot, don't just open the door without checking who it is! Do you want to get abducted!?" Eduardo scolds bopping me on the head again. That's it.

"Well, excuse me! But haven't I already been abducted!" I counter, crossing my arms over my chest. "Anyway, what are you here for?" I ask, turning my head away from him, looking out at the glass of the balcony.

"I came to apologize," I hear him say softly. My eyes allow themselves to look back at him, head still turned to the balcony.

"What for?" I question. Sighing he comes closer to me, and gently picks up my wrist. It's a deep purple already, and the flesh looks swollen. "Oh, it's alright," I reply, getting the message. Quickly, I pull my hand away, and caress it gently with my other hand. Accidently pressing too hard on a sensitive spot, I flinch from the sharp pain. I hear a sigh, then Eduardo grabs my uninjured hand and pulls me out of the room. "Ah, Eduardo where are you taking me!" I protest.

"Shut up and just follow," he orders simply, and I let out a huff and let him lead me. Soon, we arrived at Christopher room and Eduardo knocks on the door. What are we doing here? Moments later, Christopher comes to the door greeting us with a smile.

"Doc, she's got an injury, can ya take a look at it," Eduardo explains, and pulls me to stand next to him. Christopher nods then turns to me.

"May I have a look Sakura?" he questions, and I hold up my wrist. Christopher takes my hand gently in his and he looks at the bruise intently. He moves to press the bruise lightly, and I flinch. "Hmm, why don't you come inside, I might have something to help with it," he offers, stepping aside to let Eduardo and I in. As I step in, I look around. Hmm, not so different from my room. "Sakura, have a seat on the bed, I'll be back with something to help that bruise." I nod and Christopher disappears from the room, out the door, leaving me and Eduardo alone again. A dead silence fills the room, until Eduardo acts as the ice breaker.

"You're so fickle aren't ya?" he comments. I jerk my head up at him.

"So what? Is it a bad thing to be fickle?" I snap, still a bit agitated that he bopped me on the head more than enough times, and has called me idiot more than what was called for.

"I didn't say it was a bad thing, I meant it as a complement," Eduardo continues. "You can be sweet, gentle, and as innocent as a lamb, but bite like a dog when it counts." I huff at his words and fixate my gaze at my hands.

"I'm sorry," I apologize. "For shouting at you in the other room." I hear his steps come closer to me and I raise my gaze to look at him. He raises his hand above my head. Just when I think he's gonna bop me again, I feel the soft sensation of my head being caressed. "What are you doing?"

"It's a reward for getting info on Crystal Island," Eduardo says before he pulls away. "Don't expect that I'll go easy on ya from now on, just because I was nice this time. Anyway, Doc should be back in a few minutes, just wait for him here."

"You going to sleep already?" I ask, and Eduardo nods his head. "Alright goodnight."

"Night." I watch Eduardo leave the room, and shut the door. Mmm, am I really that fickle? I inhale deeply at the thought and look back down at my hands. Unexpectedly, I let out a big yawn as I feel my eyes begin to droop. I'm guess my body's tired from all of the activities I've done today. Maybe just a few minutes of sleep wouldn't hurt. I close my eyes and fall fast asleep.

(Eduardo's POV)

I shut the door to Doc's room with Sakura still inside. What the heck am I doing, comforting a kid? A stowaway for that matter. I silently walk down the hall to my room and go inside. I head out to the balcony and look out at the sea. Breathing in the fresh air, I begin to replay today's events in my head. As my mind came across the memory in the bar, I stopped mid-memory. Now that I recall...

I immediately go see Captain in his room. I knock four times and Cap opens the door. "Eduardo, what are ya doing here?" Captain asks surprised.

"Captain, I need to-" I was interrupted mid-sentence when Russell came running down the hall towards us.

"Captain!" We turn to face Russell who seems out of breath.

"Stupid, you'll wake everyone in the building yelling like that!" I snap and Russell shoots me a glare, before a straightens up.

"Russell, what wrong" Captain Morgan inquires.

"Have any of ya seen Sakura?" he asks panting a bit. Captain and I look at each other, then back at Russell.

"Nope, why?" I answer, and Russell puts on a stern face. He tells us the news and Captain and I both rush out of the inn. What troublesome woman! I keep my eyes off of her for two minutes and she's already causing problems!

Author's Note:

Hi guys! Another cliff hanger, anyway, hope you guys like it so far. Please, please, please review, favorite, and follow. Also tell me anything I can improve on in the future. I need tons of support. It gives me motivation when I get reviews and favorites, thanks! Also sorry, that the chapter is a bit shorter than before, I'm a bit busy right now. You know school work and parent rules, so I'll only be able to update on the weekend! Anyway, thanks for the support and please enjoy the story as it progresses. Thank You So Much! huhu...

-Suri Sakurazawa