Disclaimer: Really? I thought we went over this already. I don't own APH!

Dear Matt:

Hey, it's me! Like I said, I'm writing a little every day so you know what I'm doing. I'll send all the letters when I see another American ship. They'll know to get them to you!

So it's the day after I got on this crappy ship, and let me tell you, the situation is looking grim. I'm stuck in a boat full of crack-heads and idiots!

No, I'm not kidding you. By the way? Only one of the sailor's on this goddamn ship is British—the captain. You know the one with the fuzzy eyebrows? All the rest of them are "hand-picked" and are of the "finest quality". Feh. Doesn't stop him from arguing with the rest of the crew like mad. I miss everyone on the old ship; we all got along! These idiots… if I didn't know any better, I'd say they were pirates! But that's impossible, right? I couldn't have been captured by pirates, right? C'mon Mattie, just the day you decide to

Matthew frowned, looking a little worried at the big splotch of ink and the abrupt cut-off. It was the thing he'd heard from Alfred in almost two weeks, and the letter was quite long. What could've caused him to stop so suddenly?

His question was answered in the next line.

Oops, sorry about that. The first mate—this creepy Russian guy called Ivan stopped in to check on me. Oh, I probably should mention the rest of the crew.

There are the chef's; this one perverted French guy who the Captain just loves to argue with and these two strange Italian boys. The French guy is called Francis and Captain had to tell him off when he… well, let's just say… never mind. Forget I mentioned it.

Matthew snickered. He knew exactly what Alfred was talking about; Matthew knew the boy so well he could tell what he was thinking even in a letter!

The Italian guys are really strange, and they act nothing alike. One of them, Feliciano, is really out there and bubbly and happy and kind of a coward, but he's alright. The other one is the complete opposite of his brother. His name's Lovino. Lovino swears a lot, and the other people in the kitchen tend to avoid him, though there's this one guy on deck who worships him, named Antonio. Antonio's pretty neat, but he has this weird obsession with tomatoes. He and Lovino share that.

Then there's the nurse and her brother, from Switzerland. The guy is so overprotective of his sister, who's really sweet and looks a lot like a boy. He threatened me so many times in so many different ways; he must be a genius. Well, actually he is. A genius of shooting! This guy is even better than me at firing those old muskets off, and can shoot and hit the bulls-eye of just about anything. I'm kind of hero worshipping him right now.

Matthew's eyes widened in awe. Alfred's shot was the best he'd ever seen in his life! This guy must be pretty good to have beat Alfred.

The first mate is the really creepy, tall Russian guy who clocked me over the head with the pipe that one time. He's been given the job of watching me and making sure I don't kill myself, in the words of the captain. His name's Ivan, and I don't really know much about him besides the fact that he enjoys stalking people and is really quiet. I'm also pretty sure Ivan doesn't like me much, but that's his problem, not mine.

There's this really awesome Prussian man on board called Gilbert, and he always carries around this cute little bird called Gilbird. Me and him are one of a kind; cause as much havoc and drink as much beer as possible afterword. Gilbert's got a slightly less awesome German brother called Ludwig, who's really uptight and acts like he has a pole up his ass all the time. Feliciano seems pretty attached to him and this Japanese guy called Kiku, who I think is pretty cool. He's like a ninja assassin or something! Pretty neat, right?

Matthew laughed softly, brushing back some hair. He examined the rest of the letter quizzically. Did Alfred really keep his promise to write every day until they could reach someone to carry the letters?

The promise was that Alfred would write down something from each day in the form of a letter, and the next time he could secure someone to carry the letters for him he'd send all of them, and then the process would start over again. Matthew honestly hadn't expected him to keep his promise, so he was really surprised to see a thick packet of letters shoved in his mailbox.

Matthew shrugged, figuring he'd figure it out eventually and continued reading.

The musician is another Ludwig, though more pompous and has a bigger stick shoved farther up his ass. Apparently he was a pampered kid, and decided to join the Navy to "branch out." He hates Gilbert, so I guess he won't like me much either. His wife, Elizaveta, is really pretty, though she hates Gilbert a lot too. I guess Gilbert was always picking on Roderiech and Elizaveta wouldn't stand for it. Did you know that frying pans make pretty good weapons? I didn't know either until Eli whipped one out on Gilbert and beat him up with it.

One of the people who helps the Cap'n make decisions is this guy called Wang Yao. He's a Chinese guy who looks really young but is as least 30 years old. The guy is always shaking his head and muttering about young kids' energy and stuff. He's pretty close to Kiku, and he seems like the only one not afraid of Ivan.

I don't think I'm missing anyone else, though I can't be sure. Besides, Ivan was pretty vague when he talked about the rest of the crew, and I had to get most of the info by asking the others and studying like crazy.

Ah, wait. Only one more person I'm missing: The great Captain himself.

The guy is tough as nails stern to the core. No nonsense, and he commands complete respect from his crew. Well, I mean the fact that he won't not take respect. He's kind of a bully, and makes Ivan intimidate anyone who won't respect him. However, if Ivan doesn't take care of the non-respecting "idiot", the Captain—Arthur certainly will. Even though he's a prick, Arthur's pretty scary.

So that's the basic crew. I haven't met everyone yet, because it's a big ship. Though there's a few problems in this situation: I have to do the dirtiest, crummiest jobs that not even the cabin boys dare to do (I only know of two so far; this little shrimp called Peter and a little girl from some weird island nation. Say—Seyshell—Seychele… Um… Whatever).

Matthew stopped reading there, quickly flipping off his bed and striding to the bookshelf. His fingers danced lightly over the scrolls and pamphlets before he pulled out a World Map and a long list of countries. He skimmed the list, looking for a country with a name similar to the one Alfred had tried to spell out. Eventually he found it; a small island in the Indian Ocean. Satisfied, Matthew replaced the papers and flopped back onto the bed.

So I do whatever they want, and I can't do a shit about it. Basically I'm the lowest of low on this ship; they didn't even ask me if I had any skills! Not that they would care. I still wonder why they took me; I mean, you're obviously more talented than me (though no offense Matt, you're physically lacking), so it's a little strange.

Matthew frowned, though accepted the words none the less. He also frowned at the mention of his skills; yes, he was a pretty good navigator, much better than Alfred, though no one could read the wind and waves like his brother. Alfred's skill was almost phenomenal; however, he never seemed to be able to use his talent for anything good. Still, he was a decent navigator.

The second thing that really bothers me is that I'm not allowed in the crow's nest!

At that, Matthew sighed and rubbed his head. Obviously Alfred was very displeased with that; the closer to the sky he felt, the closer to home he felt. Of course Alfred wouldn't have the brain to stay away from the crow's nest, even if he was told by someone else specifically.

So I'm going to start sneaking in at night.

Matthew face-palmed.

Anyway, that's the most I can think of right now. Got to get to sleep.

With love,

Alfred.

P.S. It hasn't happened yet, so no need to worry. If it happens, I'll write you. Okay? Love ya!

Matthew frowned on that dark thought, running his fingers on the words. It was so like Alfred to ruin the mood with reminders of that.

Alfred had had a nasty childhood, and some unspeakable horror had happened that he wouldn't even talk to Matthew about it. However every once in a while the memories would overwhelm him, and he'd faint and have to stay in bed while he thrashed and cried out against some unspeakable horror.

Matthew wasn't sure if that was considered a medical disability or anything, but he and Alfred weren't willing to risk the chance that he'd get booted out of the Navy. Matthew quietly remembered the first time he'd seen it…

It had been a while after the two first met, which was when Alfred was 17 and Matthew was 15. When they had first met, they'd hated each other. Alfred saw Matthew as a spoiled little nerdy coward who'd spent most of his life pampered and couldn't understand the outdoors to save his life (some of it was true, Matthew grudgingly admitted). Matthew saw Alfred as a moody, selfish, self-pitying teen who was throwing a tantrum for no reason whatsoever (some of that was true, too).

Now they both that while the accusations were semi-true, the good parts of them outweighed the bad. Matthew was physically fragile, and would've gone outside if his mother hadn't insisted on keeping him as close to her as possible. Matthew had never had much freedom at all. Alfred's mom, or Matthew's mom, had left him at an early age for another man, and had had Matthew. Alfred had a perfectly good reason to not like Matthew, however untrue it was. For him it seemed that Matthew himself had stolen his mother away. Both of them technically had a reason to act as they did.

It all changed one day.

After Alfred had sent Matthew running outside crying (again), he'd gone to his sanctuary on the bank near the river. However, with his eyes blinded by tears and head reeling from the harmful jibes Alfred had thrown at him, Matthew hadn't noticed the river overflowing until he'd succumbed to the currents. If not for Alfred, who'd had a sudden moment of remorse and had gone looking for Matthew, Matthew would've drowned.

After this, the two had become noticeably closer. Alfred started defending Matthew from the bullies in town who made fun of him for his stutter; Matthew started to teach Alfred how to read.

The day Matthew learned of Alfred's secret was like any other day; Alfred had been working in the garden, which he'd never done before. Alfred had asked Matthew to get a certain tool for him, and just as Matthew had turned his head he'd heard the most unnatural noise. It sounded like a cross between a choke and a whimper. Matthew, alarmed, turned to see Alfred's eyes rolling back into his head, and his legs crumple beneath him. He'd thrashed and made strange noises the rest of the day, though in the morning he'd been fine. After Matthew had demanded answers, Alfred had finally broken and told him everything, except the specific memories.

"I got it! You keep my secret, and I'll protect you forever! Like a… body guard or something!"

So when Alfred had wanted to join the Navy, Matthew, of course, joined with him. After all, what else could he do? Alfred wouldn't have minded if Matthew hadn't joined, but Matthew just couldn't forget the promise they'd made years ago. What would Alfred do if Matthew wasn't there to cover for him? What would Matthew do if Alfred wasn't there to protect him? They needed each other.

And now Alfred was on a British ship, worlds away.

Ah… hey! It's me again! This is an un-beta-ed chapter. Um… this is supposed to be a two-part, and the second part will come shortly after.

I got this idea after reading about how the British ships used to capture American soldiers in the late 1700's to the early 1800s, claiming they were "deserters" and make them work on British ships. Other than that, there's not much to say.

IceEckos12