Chapter 3: Red Sky in the Morning, Sailor Take Warning

Sometimes when the morning was just right, the Captain could open his eyes and remember the dreams that had filled his sleep through the night. On this particular morning, where the sun shown obviously high through the curtained small window in his room, making his eyes wince in their still shut state, his dreams ran recluse away from him. Taking mercy on his lead heavy eyelids he loathed to disturb their shut state and simply cocooned himself tighter in the blankets and held onto the last wisp of a memory. Tangled sheets and limbs, lust filled sighs and strangled climatic declarations ran through his mind. But they were too much like butterfly kisses skipping through his memory. When he tried to focus and make the dream recall itself in his brain, the damn organ reared its ugly head and banged against his temples.

It had been years since he had emerged from sleep in a haze with a headache the size of the last sub he had commanded and his tongue glued to the roof of his mouth. He, Max and Elsa must have really tied one on for the first night of their coastal vacation he mused as he rolled himself onto his side- his body not yet willing to leave sleep behind and his mind still racing to hold onto the dream-if for just a bit longer.

As he relaxed back into sleep, snippets replayed themselves in his mind. They were like snapshots washed under water where the image was clouded but the memories made them come alive. He recalled golden hair sifting through his fingers like satin with skin as soft as velvet that had wrapped around his body warming him down to his core. But it was her voice. Oh that sweet seductive voice that had been his undoing as it sang through the passion that the dream had produced. He hadn't had such a dream since before he had been married. Vaguely he wondered if he wasn't losing his mind or having a second adolescence.

So vivid had been the dream, so candid had the apparition of his desires been that it seemed more like a memory than a fantasy. A fantasy that seemed destined to leave him, for even as he would recall something new the others flitted out of his mind as his body would drift to sleep then wake again, only to drift once more. Each current taking different parts of the dream back into the dark ocean of repressed memories never to be seen or heard from again. After a few more moments all traces were washed away and he was left with naught for all of his trouble.

He wondered who it had been that he had dreamt about. Clearly it hadn't been Elsa. No, not Elsa, that much he knew. The apparition had been soft and tender, warm and sweet. A sharp contrast to Elsa's cool and hard in all the right places persona. No, no, this fantasy was nothing like that…or so he thought. Dammit, why couldn't he remember? But there was something there, some lingering thought, or more feeling left from the dream. What was it? Trust, maybe? He thought hard about it. Yes, definitely trust and something else. ..faith perhaps.

Trust and faith? That sounded more like Fraulein Maria than Elsa. Hah…had he had a sex dream about the young virtuous Fraulein? And why did he find that hard to believe? It certainly wouldn't be the first time. However, feeling a certain portion of his body stick to the sheets, it would have been the first time to end with that kind of effect. Actually he knew for certain he hadn't had a dream that had ended in quite such a fashion since he had been a teenager and now he was certain he was going through a second adolescence.

Unsticking his body from the sheets he tossed around in the hard bed. The coarseness of the sheets rubbed against his bare skin. Why on earth had he slept naked? The question had entered his mind fleetingly but it was quickly washed away as he cursed the blasted hotel for their choice in linen. For such an expensive resort on the French coast one would think that they would have Egyptian cotton covering their beds instead of…horse hair! My goodness the navy provided higher quality linens than this resort. Elsa was sure to let him know her disapproval as soon as they met for breakfast.

Talking about breakfast, he cracked one eye open against the sun and then quickly shut it as a sharp pain crashed through his skull. He may have missed it, for it seemed the sun was as high as noon and just as bright. Trying once again he opened his eyes and slightly lifted his head up to find a clock, but a sudden spout of dizziness sent him back to the pillow. He felt as if his entire body was made of lead. Yet again making him wonder just how much he, Elsa and Max had drank last night. Hoping against hope he hadn't done anything to make a fool of himself all the while.

No wonder he couldn't remember the dream. He couldn't remember anything from last night. As a matter of fact he didn't even remember arriving at the resort. Stretching sleep from his limbs he tried to file quickly through his memories. He remembered something about a hat and the Fraulein. And the train leaving…without him…wait a minute…his mind screamed. You're not at the resort you fool! You're stuck in the middle of nowhere with the Fraulein.

The Fraulein! Goodness! Now where had she gone to, he wondered? Had he lost her too as he had lost himself last night in the alcohol? He was in mid-stretch and trying his best to remember just where he had deposited his children's governess last night when the bundle of blankets in front of him stirred. He froze in place with his hands above his head…my god…his mind whirled…you're not alone in this bed.

In a fragment of a second he uttered the quickest prayer of his life…please, please, please God in heaven don't let this be…the prayer ended on a silent scream as the Frauleins face poked out from under the covers looking—for god's sakes-sated.

Had he have thought about it, the most logical move at this point would have been to cautiously and quietly remove himself from the bed and slink himself off to the restroom. A regal man would have covered his misdeed up by hiding clues and coming up with some deceitful lies. A refined man would have at least put some clothes on his bare ass before any questions could have been raised.

For all of his expensive and expanded education did he do any of these things? For heaven's sakes, no, he acted just as any other man would have after realizing he had befouled an innocent girl. Instinctively he smacked the sleeping Fraulein away from him, grabbing the blanket to cover himself whilst jumping from the bed. Only to be stopped by the wall that held him up halting his wish to fall to the floor and hide from his crime under the bed.

"You fool," he cursed out loud, "what have you done?"

He never knew how many different thoughts could run through his mind at one time in a millisecond. He ran the gauntlet of berating himself to rationalizing that it all could be an innocent misunderstanding before the Fraulein could even open her eyes to consciousness. All thoughts ceased, as she began to stir in the bed and he simply took her in. She was wearing a thin white slip that ended near her waist line. He knew this for he could see the seam that rested right where the sheet covered her lower body. Thank goodness for that! Now if he could only ascertain if she was somehow clothed underneath those sheets, then it all could be innocent enough. Right?

He didn't bother to answer himself for all concern had stopped about him and was now focusing on the poor young Fraulein fighting off the effects from last night just as he had only moments ago. Only she wasn't doing quite as well as he had.

First she had barely cracked her eyes open trying her best to focus. Then she had let out a small fragile, "Captain?", before raising her hand to her temple moaning, "ohh my head!" In a rookie mistake she fought the remaining effects from last night's intoxication by sitting up too quickly against it. Thus bringing her hand to her mouth, "I'm going to be sick," she cried while fighting with the sheets to free herself. Flying from the bed she headed for the only other door in the tiny room and disappeared behind it quickly.

As fast as she was, she wasn't quite fast enough to beat the fabric falling down her bare backside. She was just as naked as he underneath that slip. While filing this information away in his head his eyes focused on the last remaining piece of evidence to convict him of his crime. There on the bed, where she had vacated the spot, was a crimson red stain.

His legs went weak and he buckled to his knees onto the bed. "Oh lord," he cried on barely an audible whisper, "forgive me. I…I…" But what, he questioned running his fingers roughly through his hair in a vain attempt to jog his memory. What had he done? The evidence was clear to him, but there was absolutely no memory of it. None- what so ever. So what really had he done?

From behind the door he could hear the Fraulein fighting against losing her stomach contents. Inside he cringed as he heard her innocent weeping against the violence of the sickness. This had probably been the first time she had ever awakened in her life with a hangover. It was, most assuredly, the first time she awoke no longer a virgin.

"You know what you have done. She may be too naïve to know, but you do, you animal. How could you?" He ran a hand across the sticky damp stain, "How could you steal her innocence like a thief in the night?"

He had been so busy reprimanding himself, that he hadn't heard it go quiet in the bathroom. From behind the door the tiniest voice asked, "I'm sorry Captain, did you say something to me?"

Had she heard him? "Ah," he tried to think of something intelligent to say but his mind was still going in a thousand directions, thankfully his subconscious was still of sound mind and he finally whispered against the door, "I was just asking if you were alright, Ma…Fraulein." Did I hurt you? Was I rough with you? Will you ever forgive me? He really wanted to ask those questions and more. But he wasn't quite ready to face the answers yet, so he continued to play the gentlemen that he knew far too well that he wasn't. The question was did she know? Or was she like him, with no memory at all?

"I'm sorry, Captain." She apologized before turning on the sink water, sending him scurrying for his pants. Quickly finding them he listened to her through the door while holding the handle so that she couldn't open it before he was done dressing and strategically covering the bed. "I've never felt like this before." He heard her splashing the water around and winced at her confession. "My head is coming off and my stomach, oh my stomach. And I feel so…so…" don't say it. Please don't say it he pleaded in his head only to hang his head low when she whispered, "sore."

You monster, he cursed himself again. You hurt her! He yelled in his mind making the poor muscle reel from the pounding. It may have been all silent, but his head still couldn't take it. Yet that didn't stop him from continuing his own onslaught, he deserved nothing less in his own opinion. How could you do that to the poor girl, he asked himself while coming up with his own defense…I wouldn't. You wanted her, don't even try to deny it, he argued back…yes but, I wouldn't just take her. I wouldn't, he sank down on the bed with his still undressed shirt in his hands and covered his face. Would I? Why couldn't he remember?

He barely heard the door to the bathroom creak open. He wanted nothing more than to just sit there with his head in his hands, but he had to face her at some point. So he slowly raised his head to see the Fraulein wrapped in a robe that she must have found in the bathroom looking in a much worse state than him, rubbing her temples feverishly trying to relinquish her headache. Her eyes scanned the little room, stopping momentarily on the bed and making his heart stop. Quietly they rested onto him and he saw the many questions that lay behind her eyes. Questions he wasn't ready to face yet.

Yet, her being who she was and never able to hold her tongue, they just had to be voiced.

"Captain?" She began then quickly stopped to scan the bed again. He made a point to look behind him. He knew she couldn't see the stain for he had covered it up, but her eyes rested right where he knew it was. "Captain," she was so hesitant that it broke his heart and he almost wanted to confess. But how do you tell a saint that you're the devil? "Did…did…" uggg, she was killing him with her innocence, "did something happen last night?"

"Whatever do you mean, Fraulein?" Oh yes he was surely a demon for how else could he explain his answer to her?

"I…I…" she blinked against her own confusion knitting her eyes at the brow. "Did we sleep in the same bed last night?" She didn't quite ask the hidden meaning behind the question, but he knew that it was there.

Tell her you fool! She deserves to know his subconscious piped in, only to be beaten back by the new demon that lived inside of him. For it was he that answered her with, "I believe we did Fraulein. But I have no memory of any impropriety on either of our parts so I do believe I was a gentleman and your innocence is still intact." And if that wasn't enough to convince her he ended it with a, "What kind of man do you take me for?"

If his words weren't enough to shame him, then the violent blush that colored her cheeks was and he looked to the floor not able to meet her eyes any longer. He didn't understand why he simply couldn't tell her the truth, except that he knew he just simply couldn't. He wasn't a man after all, he was a coward.

"I'm sorry Captain. I didn't mean to accuse you. I just…I just can't remember any of last night…at all."

Speaking to the floor he replied, "Well Fraulein, if there isn't anything to remember than nothing happened, right?"

"Right?" She more asked than confirmed while running her fingers through her already tousled hair.

Letting out a long sigh, he stood to face her. She looked so fresh and pure. Even with her red rimmed eyes and the effects of last night still lingering on her face, he simply couldn't shatter her. He may not have any memory of last night, but his fingertips seem to and they reached out without his approval and traced a soft line down her cheek. To his surprise she didn't jump from his touch. Instead she brought her trusting eyes up to meet his and his heart skipped a few measures of beats.

Confess his mind yelled but all he could muster was, "I would never willingly hurt you, Fraulein. Please know that."

She silently nodded her head, his touch having caught her breath in her throat. Even after everything that he had realized this morning. Learning what a monster he had been with her last night, realizing that he had used her body without her permission. For how could she have given it under the circumstances, even with all of this knowledge, it still didn't stop him from wanting to capture her pretty pink lips with his own. This was a new low even for him.

Before he could bring his own demise full circle he dropped his hand from her face. "Why don't you go and shower while I try to procure you some clothing. We need to start out for the car as soon as possible."

"Yes, Captain." She replied all too submissively and he briefly wondered if he had indeed shattered her spirit after all.

A/N SORRY THIS UPDATE TOOK SO LONG. I WASN'T SURE HOW TO MOVE THE STORY ALONG, BUT I THINK I HAVE FIGURED OUT SOME PATH FOR IT AT THIS POINT.

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN THE SOUND OF MUSIC.