Arthur

"Are you done?" I asked impatiently. For almost ten minutes, I was watching as the self-proclaimed doctor was treating Sakura. Although everyone seemed to like him, I could not support the idea of him taking care of her. Upon hearing my irritated question, he and the mermaid looked at me. While his face showed uneasiness, hers was adorned with a blush and she quickly averted her gaze to her leg. She was absolutely adorable and I felt the need to protect her at any cost. It must be due to my childhood. I grew up without a mother; my father told me she had died months after my birth. It was only him and me. He had been a sailor all his life who joined a pirate crew when I was a few years old. 'Come son, we will live on a ship and have many adventures together,' he had said. The sea was my home.

"You really have to rest now," the Colonel requested, glancing at my form before he went away to join the rest of the group, leaving me with Sakura. Her body-language signalled uncertainty. She did not want to be alone with me; which was clear hours ago when she had refused to tell me her name. He eyes stared in the direction Toris had gone. "You don't like me," I blurted out, kneeling down beside her. "You are not even looking at me."

Her beautiful brown eyes finally met mine. "I don't know you and neither do you know me," she said with a calm face, "you are a pirate."

"Oh, I forgot, mermaids tend to disfavour pirates."

"Y-Yes," she stuttered, trying to gain her emotionless façade back.

"And still you are supporting Elizabeta and her crew."

"The prince trusts them, so do I."

I smirked but inside I was growing more annoyed by her urge to protect the Prince. It was her fate since she was born. She would dedicate her life to protect him.

The moment, Toris had spoken of her being a company of the prince, my interest was caught.

"You know, I am not unaware of your kind," I informed her, sitting in a crossed-leg position next to her.

"All your kind," she hissed while emphasising the last word, "knows enough about my species to either kill or sell us on slavery market."

The fire in her eyes confirmed my thoughts about her; she was strong-willed. "Those types of businesses do not strike my interest," I replied dryly, "My stepmother was a mermaid."

"H-how?" Sakura asked shocked, gazing warily into my eyes. I would never tell any soul about my past, but being with her changed my perspective; I felt confident enough to talk about it. "My father and I were members of a pirate crew. He had the difficult task to raise me without any female mother figure. The poor man suffered from his wife's death just like I did," I breathed, focussing my attention on the waves which clashed against the sandy beach. "One day, we suffered shipwreck. I could not swim and was still too small to comprehend the situation. My body was sinking into the deep abyss of the sea and I did not notice as someone pulled me out of the water."

"A mermaid…," Sakura whispered.

"Yes. My father could not thank her enough."

I smiled, watching Sakura with kind-hearted eyes. "I liked her from the first moment on. She stayed with us because I did not want her gone; she was protective of me and after some months my old man had developed feelings for her. Both got married and we were a real family again… But this is an old tale of my life."

It was the reason why I felt protective over Sakura. Beside her adorableness, she and my stepmother shared some characteristics.

"O-oh."

"She told me everything about the ocean, mermaids and the water dragon. I am not as ignorant and cruel as you may think," my voice grew more silent with every word. The last part of my sentence reminded me of the fact how people saw me. Why should she change her mind? She got mistreated by pirates. "Of course you would-" I stopped myself before saying something bad. Sakura's eyes were filled with concern, "I-"

"We need to move," I muttered, interrupting her. My arms picked her up quickly and we went towards the others. She put her arms around my neck to be more steadied. She flushed lightly, looking at the ground which nonetheless caused a little smirk on my face.

"Kirkland, one of your men had arrived," Elizabeta called, "He told us that he has found the rest of my crew and brought them to your camp."

"Good, then we will join them," I commanded.

After we had finally settled down in my crew's camp, I sat Sakura down near the bonfire. I certainly did not want her to freeze during the night. She thanked me quietly. Regardless of her softer response, I only glimpsed at her, before I informed my crew of the circumstances. My mind was going wild; I was far too attached to her. Beside my urge to protect her, my admiration for this woman was something I could not deny. But still, I had to not be too distracted. At least she was aware of my past life and knew that my actions towards her were truthful. I approached some of my crew who looked concerned.

"Captain, as we were strolling near the woods, we heard several noises and found footprints."

"Humans?" I asked my subordinate.

"Could be… "

Thinking of any other possibilities, I ordered a group of men to inspect the island any further. Those who stayed presented me a bag of fruits and a dead pig which they had hunted down. We had food for the night which came faster as we expected. Elizabeta stayed with her crew and expressed how glad she was to know that none of her members had been injured. She stayed with the Prince who entertained her with joyful jokes. Never before had I seen her laughing so merrily. Her group was happily gathered together even though the situation in which they were in was not the best. All the while my eyes glanced towards Sakura, who on certain occasions glimpsed back at me.

"I will take the first watch," I exclaimed. No one objected my suggestion; most of them were tired and prepared their sleeping quarters.

Within an hour, everyone was asleep. The only matter that bothered me was the group of men, who had still not returned. These worries soon disappeared as I slowly felt my eyelids growing heavier.

A cracking sound awoke me and I realised that I had been asleep. My body shot in the air, controlling if everyone was safe. My eyes fell on the one that was worrying me the most, only to see that she was not there. "No," I whispered, rushing to her empty sleeping place. Why would she be the only one missing? Had someone taken her? I recognised sander marks on the ground. Anger took over my body as I looked for her nearby the camp.

"Sakura?" I called, only to find her sitting behind a tree. Her widened look and complete humiliated face expressed utter embarrassment. Unfortunately, I had completely forgotten that every person has the fundamental need to relieve oneself. It was not a nice feeling to be confronted with such a situation. Feeling ashamed and frustrated, I turned away, trying to give her as much privacy as she needed. "I-I apologise. I-I did n-not k-know… E-er," I stammered, trying to compose myself. "A-Are you alright? I-I mean your w-wound? Lord this is so a-awkward."

"Y-yes, I-I…"

"I-I will g-go back now," I uttered, ashamed by my behaviour.

"E-Er Captain… I-I am d-done, b-but I need h-help. I-I have problems s-standing up."

I was glad that the night provided me enough lacking light, so she could not see my red face. I imagined her face colour was the same.

She needed some minutes, before she allowed me to carry her back. Her head hung low in shame; I saw her eyes only for some seconds which screamed pure mortification. "H-how were you capable of coming here w-when you could not properly walk?" I questioned her bashfully.

"I-I crawled."

I put her back on her spot and stood up, as someone behind me coughed. "C-Captain?"
It was one of the men of the missing group. "Yes?" I turned around, seeing him full of blood. "W-we are not alone," he muttered before he fell on the ground. "There are o-other… pirates." I rushed by his side. "No… Elizabeta, wake up," I screamed.

[A/N: I wanted to thank NarwhalianQueen for her review. Your words really cheered me up and gave me new motivation to continue this story :3 I am so glad that you like the story :') ( I feel like a bad person now because I wanted to mention you in the A/N last week and I totally forgot D: I am so sorry D: ). I had much fun writing awkward Iggy and embarrassed Japan :3 this pairing is so adorable :D. I hope this chapter is alright :O I am so tired and I believe there are a lot of grammar mistakes :'D but it's past midnight here and I am missing my bed to badly :'D.)