There is a moment when she realizes the full shock of what she feels for the man called John Smith.

Oddly enough it's due to her boy, her little Thomas. She's sitting in her cabin, flicking through an illustrated book of English plants, and half wondering if she ought to be reading the bible, when there are shouts from the deck. The book slips from her hands, papers rustling, and she runs to the deck.

A strange scene.

In the middle of the deck, a young sailor lies on the ground, swearing loudly and clutching a bloody nose. He's missing one or two teeth, and his mouth leaves raspberry smudges on the wood beneath him.

And her son – her peaceful, wind wanting, smiling son stands over him, breathing hard, fingers clenched into fists and a little trickle of blood coming from the corner of his mouth.

And Meg, little Meg, she clutches the side of the ship and trembles appallingly, eyes wide and frantic, mouth a little bit agape, as though about to scream.

'What is the meaning of this? I will not have fighting on board my ship.' Shouts the captain, running to the scene, past the frozen Pocahontas.

'This savage attacked me!' the sailor squirms upwards, and John grabs Thomas' arm to restrain him. 'Here I was, minding my own business, when he appears out of nowhere – like the filthy animal he is. You shouldn't have let them-'

'That's enough, Samuel.' John Smith's voice is even. 'What do you say happened, Thomas?'

Her son swallows. Looks to Meg, who has begun to breathe quickly, and Pocahontas sees his gaze, goes to the blond haired child and pulls her to sit on the ground, holds her hands and looks into her eyes.

They hear the continued conversation, and Pocahontas wants to look, wants to see what is happening, but she knows she cannot look away from the dark brown gaze of the young woman.

For the first time, she wonders who her mother was.

'This – he was saying things. Insinuating.'

'You will have to be clearer than that, Thomas.' Don't look away, don't look away, the girl is almost into madness once again, and she needs you, needs you so much her fingernails dig into your skin from fear.

'He was talking about Meg. Saying filthy things about her. And she could hear and told him to stop and walked to him, and he grabbed her hand and she started screaming, so I hit him.'

'More than once, from the looks of things.'

'Yes.'

'And those who were watching – which story is true.' Why doesn't he just believe her son? He would clearly never lie. He is clearly telling the truth.

But perhaps that is not the way a captain has to think.

But the murmurs, the general consensus seems to be that the Indian boy is telling the truth.

Meg shuts her eyes and lets go of Pocahontas' hands in relief. The older woman turns to see the ending of the scene.

John stands between the two young men, looks them both evenly in the eyes, and says that if he catches them fighting again he will have them whipped.

And if the sailor so much as says his daughter's name, he will keel hall him.

The look in his eyes as he says that. He really, truly means it, because he loves his daughter so – loves his daughter surely just as much as she loves her son.

Then, when the watching crowd has dispersed, she sees him take her son aside and thank him.

Perhaps he cares about her son, too.

And it is at this moment, watching her son smile at the way the older man shakes his hand, seeing the way her son holds himself – upright, tall, free – it is at this moment that she realizes she never really…

She never really gave him up. John Smith. No matter how many times she tried, she never really gave him up.