Disclaimer: I do not own Treasure Planet

Promises

For Music and things

Marianne closed the door quietly and locked the door behind them. She didn't want anyone walking in on them and if they had been detected locking the door was a good way to stall the authorities so they could have enough time to get out the window. She stood there for a while, as if any second Cassandra would come to the door and come to apologise or tell her something. She had made many sacrifices coming here. She had given up so much for Cassandra only so that she would never know the truth. She was better off not knowing the truth but now she wasn't so sure it was always going to stay that way.

If anyone in the authorities of either Montressor or Orion knew that she was here she would have a lot to answer for. Also she had been on the run from the law since the war ended. Even though she had done a lot for Montressor she had broken a great deal of laws in order to do so. There was no easy way of fighting a war. She was still haunted by the things she had done. Sometimes those plans didn't always go according to plan. Even Xavier knew that. In fact he knew it better than anyone. Maybe that was why he was able to help her through it, because he knew what it was like to try to do good when all it came to was making even more of mess than there already was...

"Marianne?"

She turned round and tried to give Murat a reassuring smile. "Yeah?"

He stared at her for a moment trying to find the right word. She stood there patiently as she waited for him to finish. She always had to be patient with him in everything and having to put up this for all these years it was safe to say that she was able to wait for half an hour if need be. That was how used she was to the slow pace of his mental processes. He wasn't the brightest bulb in the closest but...He was her brother after all. She loved him. It was her job to look after him. After all there was no one else to do it for her. He had given that job years ago and she couldn't see him coming back to take that role off her hands considering how quickly he ran away from it...

"You don't look so good." He hesitated, trying find a better way of phrasing it. "You don't look happy."

"I'm fine." She replied quietly.

"It is because of what that girl said to you? Because I don't think it was very nice the things she was saying to you either."

She took his hand and held it for a while. It was so warm. She would sometimes place her hand on his to compare the size of her hand against his and she always felt like a little child in terms of size but then again when it came to who was more mentally incompetent. She looked up at him and was about to explain everything. She opened her mouth but no words were being articulated. How was she to tell him? How was she to explain? How was she to make sure he wouldn't say anything to Cassandra? She had to at least give Xavier that, even if he was dead. Just so that he could understand, but she knew better than to do something like that and patted it.

"I know. But its fine."

"But you don't look fine, Marie." He insisted.

"MURAT WILL YOU JUS-!" She screamed, she stopped herself when she saw the look on his face. She shook her head and blinked away her tears. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have shouted at you."

He looked down at the ground, obviously upset but feeling more guilty about making her angry. "I didn't mean to make you mad."

"You didn't. I'm just tired. I think I might go to sleep."

Murat nodded his head dumbly and walked towards his own bed. She watched him sadly, hating how obedient he could be. He would jump off a cliff if she asked him. He fell onto it making the floorboards creek a little. She rolled her eyes knowing that he didn't have a weight problem but that it was just the oldness of the building. She sat down on her bed, not falling so suddenly as he did and took in a deep breath before lying down. Maybe she shouldn't have brought him with her. She could have left him behind. She would have been able to deal with this alone. This was something that she had to do herself.

It would have been better if she had left him behind. But then again she always had this constant fear that the moment she left him with someone or left him unattended that he would instantly get into trouble. That was the problem with being the older sister to a knuckle head. You are always constantly worrying about them doing something stupid. Plus, he wanted to come and once he started to insist it became increasingly difficult to say no to him without making more of a fuss. So she brought him along. She was probably going to regret it once something went wrong. She could definitely feel that in her bones. It would only be a matter of time before things got worse.

She rested her head against the soft bed and tried to sleep. No dreams came but she knew if she did sleep there would only be memories which came in the guise of nightmares who would visit her. All she could think about was her. She was just a few doors down from her when her whole life her aim was to stay as far away from her as possible. That was the agreement. That was the one thing she had promised but now that Xavier was dead...She supposed she could bend the rules a little. She was a pirate after all and things were different now. She would be causing more damage staying far away than doing otherwise.

She couldn't believe she had grown up so quickly. Her hair. Those eyes. Her face. It was all...It was all so real. She couldn't believe that she had ended up...Then again it had been eighteen years since she last saw her. She was a little newborn babe the last time she saw her, held her. Maybe it was the shock from the last memory she had of her which made it seem like time flew too quickly for you to catch it. She couldn't believe how much she looked like...She didn't really imagine her being so...

She thought she would be more like her father. She hoped that she would be more like her father than her mother. It would be better for her that way. She couldn't imagine someone with that temperament being able to withstand the sort of life Xavier Richardson would be able to provide for her. Even though she didn't know it there was a lot that had been given up for her. Marianne could make it very easy for herself and march down to her room and tell her why she shouldn't have spoken to her like that. But she promised. That would be the worst promise for her to break.

"She can't know."

"I know."

There was a moment of hesitation in his voice. "Are you sure?"

"You have a wife, Xavier. It could never be. You would be deceiving them if you carried on-"

"I already am."

"Don't let it be her fault though."

He chuckled sadly. "At least she will have her mother's spirit. At least that will always be present in my life."

"Will...Will I ever be able to see her?" She paused. "She-She may want to know...She might..."

"No." His voice was determined but regretful. "It will better for her if she never knows of this. It will...It will be too much for her even you're giving her to me for the sake of her having a better life. If she was to know she was part of another...It would be too much for her."

"...You're right. It would be too much for her. She deserves more than that..."

"Marie?"

Marianne woke up with Murat's face looming over hers. She blinked and sat up after he have her some space. He rubbed her back reassuringly.

"You were talking. You sounded sad." He explained.

She nodded. "I know."

"Was it because of Cassandra?"

"Yes." She admitted after a moments hesitation.

"She means a lot to you, doesn't she?" He asked innocently.

She smiled tiredly. "Yes. You have no idea."

He frowned and licked his lips before asking, "Why?"

She tried not to cry. She had to do her best not to cry. "I think...I think I should not talk about that, Murat."

"I will understand." He replied.

She sighed. "I know you will. But I made a promise. You know like the promises you make to me well I made a promise to someone long ago not to talk about it to anyone. So I can't because we can't break promises."

"Okay." He replied reluctantly.

She touched his hand. "Hey. Don't be upset. You did nothing wrong."

"I know I do a lot of silly...things...I know I...don't always understand..."

She gripped him by the shoulder and shook his head. "I think you understand more than you realise. You know what a promise is don't you?"

He smiled a little. "What is a promise worth to a pirate?" He replied rather wittily.

She raised her eyebrow. "Well said."

He giggled to himself being very proud of the joke he had made. "If I can though...I will tell you."

He looked a little shocked now. "You would break a promise?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "Once it was okay. Perhaps when I can...talk to him again."

"You don't need to break a promise for me, Marie. Its fine." He said grabbing her hand with a panicky look in his eyes. "It's okay."

"Shhhh." She could tell when he got upset or when he was about to get overly upset which usually included breaking windows and throwing furniture about the room. It made it rather difficult being able to stay in a rented room for the night.

"It's okay. It's fine." He nodded looking more upset than reassured. She sighed again and wrapped her arms around him. He grabbed onto her arm and rested his head in her lap. "It's okay."

"Is everything okay?" He whispered.

"Everything's okay."

"Alright." He replied weakly.

She pressed her cheek against the top of her head and began to shake. Cassandra was never to be part of this world. She was never to be part of this life. She deserved more than this. Even though she didn't realise it...

A/N: REMEMBER R&R! AND VOTE ON THE POLL!