"Eh, Cinday, ya t'ink ya could keep de little lassy away from the hot food?"
Pausing from her work at the stove, Cinderella glances at the girl sitting on the floor at her feet and then at Nadab, who eyes them both with nervousness. The raven-haired girl gazes up at the woman and Cinderella can't help the light laugh that floats from her throat.
It's obvious Nadab has always hated too many people in the kitchen and it's apparent he's even more on edge with children. However, it seems more a safety issue here, as Cinderella stirs a large amount of soup within a big pot; the girl sits right at her feet, giving Cinderella any opportunity to suddenly trip over.
"Oh, all right," she smiles and drops the ladle in her hand. "How about the table over there, Melody?"
In turn, Melody hesitantly stands and obeys.
"Yer voice don't work dere, little lassy?" Nadab asks Melody as she slips into a chair and lies her head down limply.
Taking out several bowls and spoons, Cinderella begins pouring. "No, she speaks, Nadab. It's just painful for her."
"Ah," Nadab nods and limps over with another batch of vegetables to the sink to wash.
"All right, Melody," she gestures for her to come over. "Let's go serve this to the crew."
Taking two trays topped with bowls, Cinderella hands another to Melody as they head up deck. The light hits them and Melody pauses, her frail body tensing.
Despite they have been doing this routine for a week with her, the child still hates being on deck. Or around others. She's just beginning to warm up to Nadab, even if she doesn't converse with him. Cinderella knows she's not like the other children; other children laugh and play. She knows whatever Melody went through has stunted that regular enjoyment any child would have. Sadly, she's not sure if Melody will recover. She hopes Melody hasn't been completely robbed of her childhood, as she had been when her father died and a step mother ruled her life.
Blue skies are out today and Cinderella breathes in the salty air she's become to love so easily within these few weeks. Smiling warmly, she greets some of the crew members, Melody following along, head bowed.
"Did ya hear?" one of them asks, tipping his chin to get her attention. "We're gonna land port soon enough."
"Is that so?"
Talking to them is relatively new. Since Melody has come aboard, it's been an attraction getter.
He nods. "They say the book should be there."
Cinderella ignores it when they speak about "the book". Stealing has never been right with her and she understands that's really these men believe in to survive. However, in no way will she voice encouragement. They each take a bowl and she nods for Melody to follow her down to the kitchen again so that they could refill, in case the crew wanted seconds.
"Hey, I'm a bit hungry, you know."
She groans inwardly and glares at the view in front of her (which is just a bunch of water) before she turns and comes face to face with the captain. Sighing, she realizes Melody has only a couple more bowls left on her tray. Cinderella wishes he'd leave well enough alone, but apparently he's in a mood to annoy. Well, that just means she doesn't have to make a special dinner for him tonight; more time for her, she thinks to herself smugly.
"Melody, would you please give Captain Sinbad some soup?"
Cinderella guesses Melody can sense the tenseness in her voice because she stares up at her, worry etched over her face.
"It's all right," she whispers and taps the back of the child's leg with her foot.
Taking small steps, Melody keeps her head down as she walks to Sinbad, who had seemingly been at the cockpit the whole time. He kneels down when she offers him the bowl and takes it gingerly. Grinning, he ruffles the top of her head. It surprises her and she quickly runs back behind Cinderella, a horrified expression on her face.
Cinderella can't help a small giggle and soon realizes someone else joins her. Sinbad muffles his laugh into his palm, looking away from the child.
"I don't think she likes me."
"Well," Cinderella returns with an amused smile, "Does that really surprise you?"
He shakes his head at her joke. "I'm a loveable person!"
They begin down to the kitchen, leaving him and the crew behind. She tries not to laugh, still.
-x-
"We live, we love, we leave."
Melody's eyes flicker towards her temporarily guardian with mild interest. She sits on the rickety chair, her eyes focused on something unimportant on the floor and a small blanket wrapped around her shoulders. The child sits on the small bed, crossing her legs, rocking back and forth.
"What do you mean?" she asks in a raspy voice.
The blonde doesn't answer at first; a solemn expression still graces her features. But she blinks and turns to the girl with a sweet smile and the atmosphere suddenly feels better than before.
"It means life can be fleeting."
-x-
Another raid goes on above deck and Cinderella makes sure Melody is below in the kitchen, where the sounds of wood splintering, gunshots and screams cannot be heard.
For a moment, she wonders if Sinbad is at the forefront of the small battles-if he really is the captain the crew all respects. Is he the stereotypical pirate captain who swings on the ropes, knife in hand and a battle cry? Does he take combat with more enemies than his followers combined? Do he and the leader of enemy engage into a fight of life and death?
And then she wonders if that means she's began to respect him.
-x-
Her clothes have to be washed today; they're dirtied and stink. So when she asks Nadab for extra clothing, she takes Melody to the bath. Down the small hall and to the right, there is the washroom. Usually, she cleans herself in the room alone, but she intends on teaching Melody how to wash clothes.
In dingy, brown clothes, the two stand before the door. Upon knocking, a rather rude answer greets them.
"Go away!"
Wonderful. Someone is already in there. Well, it's not surprising. It's early in the evening and they just got back from porting. Trying her sweetest voice, Cinderella asks, "Would it be possible for you to hurry? Just a little?"
There is a series of yelling from inside, and Cinderella is covering Melody's ears because of the cussing thrown at them from the other side. When it's over, heavy footsteps approach them slowly. She looks up to see the first mate, Kale, looking rather amused, a dark smirk in place and eyes sparkling.
"Essie has a temper, don't he?" when she glares directly at the door then back at him, he laughs. "He'll be in dere awhile, missay."
"Great," Cinderella throws a hand in the air and sighs. Gesturing to the dirty clothes in her hand, "We need to bathe."
"Then use the Captain's," Kale suggests gruffly, nodding in the general direction, "Yer his lady friend."
"I am not," she sniffs but stops and sighs, weighing her options. "Are you sure he wouldn't mind?"
"Nope," and he's on his way.
Something spells trouble and she's sure only bad things will happen if she goes along with the proposal. But since when has that gotten in her way?
-x-
After tip-toeing through the room to the captain's bathing area, Cinderella plops the clothes near the tub on a small table. Preparing the water carefully and pouring it into the tub, she prays that Kale was right. Her eyes glance over to the wall and nearly jumps when someone stares right back at her. Blonde, long hair, ragged clothes, blue eyes-Cinderella stops her worry as she realizes it is her reflection in a mirror. She hasn't seen herself for so long (weeks, months) and it's a shock. Shaking her head and looking away, she reminds herself it shouldn't matter.
Turning to Melody, who seems rather apathetic and unworried about the possibility of getting in trouble here, Cinderella nods to the bathtub.
"Time to get in."
The small girl obeys, stripping her clothes off and plops into the warm water. Letting Melody clean herself off, Cinderella reaches for the clothes again and waits to place them over Melody.
"All right," Cinderella sighs out, "I'll lead you to the room and then I'll finish cleaning the clothes."
When she returns alone to the bathtub, she hesitatingly peals off the spare shirt and pants, folding them on the floor. Still anxious, the blonde takes the dirtied clothes and begins washing as she dips under the water herself. Its warmth surrounds her and she sighs, bubbles appearing above the surface.
So, maybe Kale was right. She's fine and nothing's going wrong at the moment. After wringing the clothes, she puts them to hang and settles back into the water, laying her head back lazily. Her mind goes back to the last time she's been relaxed. She doesn't remember, but she thinks of waking to singing birds and helpful mice. Yes, she misses them. Friends she'll never see again.
Getting up from the water, Cinderella freezes at the sound of the door suddenly opening quickly. With horror, she realizes that of course this was going to happen. And within that moment, she glances up to see the very person she had dreaded from the start.
"Holy goddess of chaos!"
Sinbad makes a failed attempt to scramble back out the door, only tripping over the folded clothes. He falls on the floor face-first and, in her fright and shock, she accidently falls back, over the tub with a yelp. Her hands grasp for anything related to coverings and manages to grip the still-wet clothes.
Groaning in pain, he gets up, holding his sore head. He covers his eyes and tries to reach the door.
"What are you doing?"
Okay. Maybe she shouldn't speak right now. But she's a bit peeved and embarrassed.
Despite the situation, the captain whips his head around, completely abashed by her blame.
"Me? Who's the one naked in my own bathroom?"
Keeping the clothes against her chest and still kneeled behind the tub, she grabs the side and leans over, yelling at him. "I didn't mean to!"
"What? The naked part or aimlessly wandering into the bathroom?"
The sad part is he actually looks confused. Whimpering, she lets her head fall against the side of the tub, wallowing in self-pity. How could this happen? Of all people, it had to be him? She pauses to think about this. It was expected, actually. And it is his bathroom, being captain and all.
Cinderella wonders if explaining herself would be appropriate. But that would put Kale in a bad position and she likes Kale a great deal. So spilling the truth why she is here is out of the question.
She looks up to him, softly asking, "Could...would it be possible if you could leave...just for a moment?"
"...what?" Sinbad stares at her incredulously, and when his eyes wander just a little bit south, she ducks even further behind the tub and he turns the other way, groaning. "Fine."
After he closes the door, she dashes for the clothes on the floor and picks them up. To her dismay, they're dirtied and ruined by his boots.
Of course.
-x-
"Actually, they look pretty good."
"Didn't I tell you to please be quiet?"
"Y'know, I don't think you have much appreciation that I gave you my own clothes to wear."
"Tell the whole crew, why don't you? And please, cease talking. You're the one who ruined the clothes in the first place."
"Yeah, well, I still think it doesn't look bad on ya."
Cinderella sighs, annoyed and trumps down the corridor in baggy pirate's clothes.
"Not lyin', darlin'."
She throws an arm out and the long sleeve hits him in the face. When he gasps in pain as it hits his eyes, she smiles sickly sweet with satisfaction, returning to the kitchen.
(He still follows her, though.)
-x-
Nadab doesn't say anything about The Incident. She's never been so grateful in her life.
"Are you going prancin' around in those clothes forever? Or is another rebellious act?"
The gratefulness ends after two days, when Kale pokes fun at her. Leaning over the railing, she throws him a glare, crinkling her nose in displeasure and turns back to the waves. The baggy clothes she wears, dyed black and dark reds, hang over her small form like blankets. But they're decent and she's rather comfortable in them.
Kale joins her in the view, folding his arms over the wood banister, flickering his gaze over her silently and, with a sigh, back to the glittering sea. Sunset will begin in just a few minutes. She likes the sunset, it means the night will come. Rest follows the night and she escapes just for a little bit in dreams. Quietly, she ponders to herself if the others have this problem. Do these crewmates have to escape this life of chaos? Or is this the fantasy, dreams they've always wished for?
Cinderella closes her eyes and thinks about her own dreams. Years and years of dreaming and to end up with what? She feeds twenty-something thieves on a ship heading nowhere.
Calloused fingers meet the cold flesh of her cheek and she nearly jolts away from the touch. Kale skims his thumb over her chin, a fleeting smile upon his lips.
"Such beauty should not be so bitter," he whispers and she lets her eyes stay closed to listen to the soft, deep voice. "People here have no hope on land. Why are you here, m'girl?"
"Because hope has abandoned me, though I have tried to grasp it so many times before."
"If you try, then hope will come."
Despondent, she brings her hand to his, which still lies on her face. "How much longer, Kale? How much longer until I am given love?"
His eyes reflect something she's only seen once. That waning smile returns quickly with more sorrow than the first. "Don't wait for it. It will show itself to you."
"I believed that as a child, Kale. I'm afraid I've become jaded."
"Beauty does not grow jaded. Just wiser."
"Is that not the same thing?"
He brings his hand down but still holds her hand in his as they stare at the disappearing sun. Oh, she didn't get see it this time. Cinderella thinks it doesn't matter now.
"You're a princess among us, Cinday. Here, you brighten faces, bring life to our dreary lives."
"I don't affect any of you so much, Kale. Don't make something out of nothing."
Kale chuckles and brings her closer and she embraces him.
"You have no idea, m'girl."
-x-
Enjoy.
(Thank you so much to those of you who have story alerted, and reviewed. It's quite kind of you.)
