Love-for-eva you win the grand prize (*hands over prize*) for thanking invisimeg! I am thinking I should start asking people to plant a tree if they like this chapter or the story... That way I could do some good for the earth (aside from doing this completely paperless) lol.

Seriously though; thanks to EVERYONE who posted a comment to keep me going. I was expecting people to be let down by the scene or to be told that it was awful. So you all really have my thanks for being kind about it. I know it wasn't perfect or all that exciting. I'm hoping to keep the updates steady but I don't know how fast I will be able to write.

Chapter Seventeen: A Pirate's Life for Me

As they approached the cave it became instantly apparent that Emily would not have to fake being afraid to go in. From the shore it had looked harmless, but now, as the entrance loomed over them, it was dark and imposing.

"The first trap here is pretty obvious; I think he only put it here to warn people right off…" Captain Campbell explained, "…which was rather nice of him. Must run in the family…" she added as she glanced back at her girlfriend. "What's wrong?"

"…nothing…" The redhead shivered.

"You don't have to come along," Naomi soothed.

"Yes I do!" Emily insisted. "…I just might need a little time to get used to the idea."

The captain sighed and wrapped her arms around the redhead, rubbing her back softly.

"Are you absolutely sure you won't let me do this on my own? I would feel better…" the blonde insisted.

The girl's brown eyes grew larger as she shook her head determinedly. "I am absolutely sure that I don't want you to go into the big scary death cave without me. Being there with you would make me feel better."

"So, a little time…how much are we talking about?" Captain Campbell gave in.

"…I'm not sure…it's just…not at all what I was expecting…" Emily answered.

"What were you expecting?" Naomi mused, a tiny smile tickling the sides of her mouth.

The redhead saw the grin and became defensive; while it was true she was apprehensive, she didn't like the implication that she wasn't up to the task.

"It's not like I was expecting puppies and flowers…I didn't think it would be so….dark and endless…" she defended.

"It's a cave…" The captain chuckled.

Emily struggled free from the other girl's grasp and gave an aggravated huff.

"I know that!" she snapped. "Don't laugh at me…I can't even see that obvious trap you were talking about."

"Are you kidding?" Naomi asked. "You see this?"

The captain pointed to a well worn rope hanging along the left side of the cave entrance; Emily's eyes follow the rope up and was able to make out a much overgrown metal grating secured to the rock wall above the opening.

"Your great-great-grandfather might as well have said 'fair warning: if you try to get in here, I've got plenty of nasty things to trap you in here with'," the captain asserted. "If you don't step exactly right while going in, that will come crashing down and then…well then you have no choice but to try to make it through whatever else he set up in there."

The redhead took note of the ground as Naomi showed her the safe way to enter.

"I still can't believe he ever was a pirate…" Emily said. "It's not one of the things my family ever focused on; of course, I mean he was the one who started the Fitch merchant line. Why would he just leave all this here? Are you entirely sure it's still there?"

"I'm sure. Everyone needs a safety net, something to fall back on. Think of it—everyone thought he had died…that his ship had gone down. He was stranded on this island for nearly a year before he was rescued. His crew was gone; when the navy found him, they had no idea who he was. He started a new life using a new name and Fitch became synonymous with delivering fine luxury items. Sure he would have taken enough with him to get started, but in the event this new life fell through, he would want to be able to depend on what he left behind," Captain Campbell explained, a hint of whimsy in her voice as she told the story.

"Sounds like you know more about him than I do." The redhead sighed.

"I just…I can understand where he was coming from is all…" The blonde shrugged.

"My dad used to tell us stories of the great pirate Stoat, until my mother overheard and put an end to it; I never imagined he was actually giving us a family history lesson…" Emily mused.

"Maybe he didn't know; they were probably stories his father told him…stories his father told his father...maybe they all thought they were just stories except for Stoat himself," Naomi suggested.

"I'm not really a Fitch…" The redhead shook her head in confusion.

"I wouldn't say that…" the captain insisted. "The life he built as Fitch is the real life he lived, the life he wanted; that makes it real enough."

Emily nodded, still a little shaken but determined to not let it bother her, and looked towards the shore.

"Could we…just…not be here for a while?" she asked.

Naomi wrapped an arm around the girl's waist and began leading her back down towards the longboat. She quickly informed the men that they would be spending the night on the ship and starting fresh in the morning.


"I don't like the looks of that," Katie said as the ship neared some jagged rocks that towered out of the water, some of them nearly taller than the ship.

"There were a lot of things you didn't like before you came on board my ship," Captain Stonem commented, ignoring the redhead's uneasiness as she steered the ship effortlessly.

"Ok…I hate the looks of this!" she corrected nervously. "Isn't there a safer way?"

"Don't get me started on the things you used to hate…" The brunette chuckled. "And yes…there happens to be one…if you don't want the element of surprise, and I do, so we'll do things my way, yeah?"

Katie huffed and tried to pretend she wasn't terrified every time the Bloody Whore veered close to the rocks. The captain tossed her head and laughed a little every time the redhead flinched.

"Maybe you should wait below deck if you don't trust my abilities," Effy offered, knowing the girl would turn it down.

They were too close now; the Lament was anchored on the opposite side of the island at this very moment, which meant Emily was within reach; Katherine would not be able to sit and wait. Captain Stonem had even been merciful and explained the whole plan without too much mischievous teasing the night before. They would set out with a handful of crew members from this side of the island while Mr. Thomas sailed the ship around to flank the Lament and cut off any route of escape. With a little luck, which seemed to be the brunette's strong suit, they would take Captain Campbell by surprise. Which would be the only way to have a chance at coming out on top of the situation.

"Why would anyone want to come here?" Katie asked, changing the subject.

"It's actually quite lovely in the right light," the captain chided.

The light was fading fast and the captain knew she would have to give up her game with the craggy towers soon; she maneuvered the ship through the last two and ordered the crew to drop anchor for the night.

"But we're so close!" the redhead whined.

"What's life without a little postponement of pleasure?" Effy sighed. "We'll be on shore at first light; the rocks aren't the only things here that you have to watch out for and I can't very well do that in the dark."

She tilted her head to the side slyly as she looked her employer up and down. "Best we can do is try to get some sleep…and if that's impossible, then there are other things we can do to take your mind off of it…"

"Is that what this is about? I'm about to have what I came for and now you're afraid to see me go…" Katie stated before she could stop herself, she didn't want the wild girl going off the edge again.

She told herself it was only because she needed her sharp for the day ahead; she shook her head and laughed a little, trying to seem at ease.

"I kid, of course," the redhead crooned. "Let's try to get some sleep…or what have you…"

"You should leave the comedy to me," Effy teased. "You make a terrible jester."

"I guess I am missing that special brand of insanity that makes you so hilarious," Katie said sourly.

"Yes," the captain asserted quickly. "Yours is more akin to delusion…"

The redhead stomped her way down the stairs and through the door as Captain Stonem waved Thomas over. He gave her a chastising look as he ascended the stairs.

"You're playing a dangerous game here," he warned.

"Campbell won't know what hit her…and if all else fails, we still have dear old Cookie to keep the odds in our favor," she insisted casually.

"That's not the game I am talking about." Thomas sighed.

"What's the worst that could happen?" the brunette defended, her blue eyes hardening, though she kept her face as carefree as possible.

The man swallowed hard at the lump in his throat before answering.

"You were there. I am proof of what can happen," he breathed.

He had struggled not to say what will happen; because in his heart, he was hoping against hope for the best.

Captain Stonem shrugged, forcing an uneasy laugh, as she turned and headed down the stairs. She paused on the last step and looked back up at him.

"I don't think that will happen here…" She sighed. "…she still asks about you…she still cares for you, so much…I don't think this is the same at all," she finished and made her way quickly though the door to her quarters.


Emily lay curled around Naomi as the ship rocked softly in the water; neither of them could sleep, but they had both been pretending to for hours. Finally, she broke the silence.

"Are you sure it has to be tomorrow?" The redhead sighed.

Naomi took a deep breath before answering. "Yes. I know you're not crazy about it but the fact is…with what little we could barter from the port and the delay from the storm…we are risking running out of supplies if we wait any longer."

"Ok," the girl replied huskily. "I'll be ready."

The blonde rolled over and wrapped Emily in a tighter hug; she wanted to offer the redhead another chance to wait on the ship, but she didn't. Instead, she assured her that everything would be fine and talked about all the things they would do once they had the money. The captain let herself go for a moment, rambling out all the things she'd ever dreamed of doing in her life—the ways she could help her mother, the places they could go, the home they could make, and lastly, how she could hand over her crew and ship to Cook and not have to worry about making it to the next job.

"I never would have guessed that…" the redhead admitted. "You seem so natural at all this…"

Captain Campbell laughed out loud. "Nothing has ever come natural to me in my entire life. I never really wanted any of this; it just sort of…became necessary…and then…it became my life…"

Emily realized that was why the captain spoke with such conviction about Captain Fitch, and not so much about the pirate Stoat. He had been her inspiration.

"You could be a Fitch if you wanted," the redhead commented quietly. "I wouldn't mind that."

"Really?" Naomi smiled.

"Or I could be a Campbell…I'd be fine with that too…" Emily said lightly. "We could even be Stoat's for all I care…" she added.

"Sounds fine to me." The captain sighed happily.

Naomi stroked Emily's hair absentmindedly and willed herself to ignore the worries that prickled at the back of her mind; she wanted to stay curled up in this warm moment for as long as she could.


Katie paced quietly in the room; she suspected Captain Stonem was awake, but didn't want to risk rousing her just in case. The doll sat propped up on the lounge and the redhead couldn't help but feel it was staring her down. The letter she had crumpled up lay at her feet; she had smoothed it out to read again, but tossed it aside when she couldn't find anything in it that looked like a cry for help. It read more like a plea for forgiveness, an appeal for her father to understand that she couldn't come back.

"Why would you do this to us?" she found herself whispering across the room to the doll.

The brunette mumbled in her sleep and Katie held her breath; she chastised herself for the momentary loss of resolve. Of course the letter wasn't really how Emily felt, not really, and she was driving herself crazy worrying over a letter that wasn't even meant for her. She slipped one of the swords off the wall and padded her way across the room and out the door as quietly as she could.

On deck, the redhead swung the blade back and forth lightly, trying to remember everything from the fencing lessons she had taken. The cutlass was much heavier than the foil she had been trained with; it had all been about balance and fluid movements, but with the cutlass in her hand, she realized this fight would be more about strong slashes than quick jabs. Katie practiced wider slashes and thrusts with the blade, trying to adjust her form to fit the heavier blade.

Effy watched from the other door, hidden by the stairs and the darkness, a wistful smile playing across her face as she took in the scene. She took a moment to feel sorry for Captain Campbell, however briefly, at the furry that was about to come down on her from the redhead. Katie was proving to be a fast learner, her swings quickly becoming more steady and purposeful. Watching her this way was stirring up all too familiar feelings in the brunette and she began to back slowly through the doorway.

"Right as usual Panda," the wild girl whispered to herself, "I surely don't see how any of this is going to end well for anyone."

*I don't own Skins or Skins characters* Keep leaving your comments; they keep me going and make me extremely happy! Basically I have been writing nearly non-stop since I started back up. Which I figure you notice. LOL But now it's going slower again; I don't know if I've just written myself out for a while or if I'm just becoming a little blocked or what exactly.

An example of how all you readers help me: I write the chapter and put it up - Then I wait to see if anyone was even still reading the story after so long. I get your comments and I'm like...wow, I really let them down by not keeping this going...so I go on over a week long writing spree of sitting at my computer typing every chance I get... See, you have to power to make me less of a slacker. Now I want to stay a little ahead by having chapters already done but your comments keep making me want to post quicker because you have been waiting patiently...so I end up posting what I have done... You have the power to make me impulsive. LOL

Please continue to make me an impulsive non-slacker. ^_^