Author's Note:

Hmm… it took me a while to think up this chapter, but I'm glad I have it now!

Rebecca was finding getting to sleep difficult as she tossed and turned in the bed. Though it was the first stationary bed she had slept in for weeks, the hammering rain against the windowpane made falling asleep nearly impossible.

The young woman stared at the top of the canopy bed, trying to count flocks of Zeferetti in her mind, but it was useless… There was no way in the Etherium that Miss Rebecca Jane Clarke was going to get to sleep.

Rebecca rose from the bed and wrapped herself in the warm housecoat that she had packed. It was a light green colour and covered her silky nightdress well. Rebecca chuckled to herself, thinking back when her mother had first seen her in the knee-length nightdress while she was readying herself for bed. The older woman had nearly had a heart attack. The look on her mother's face had been priceless, and Rebecca remembered laughing long and hard after trying to calm her down.

The thought of her mother brought tears to her eyes, which Rebecca quickly wiped away with the back of her hand. The moment she wiped away the tears, more spilled out of her eyes until she stopped trying to suppress them and let them flow.

Rebecca sat down on the bed and sobbed quietly in her hands. She hadn't realized how much she missed her mother until now, and the rest of her family, her beloved home planet, and a simple lifestyle… The tears kept coming, as did the sobs, stopping only when Rebecca heard a faint tapping on the door.

She quickly wiped her eyes. "Come in…" She called gently.

The door opened and a figure silently slipped into the darkened room, closing the door behind them. The dark shadow walked to the side of the canopy bed and sat down beside Rebecca.

"What's wrong, Rebecca?" John's soft and caring voice asked the young woman.

"You heard me?" Rebecca asked, slightly surprised.

"My room is right beside this one." John stated, he reached through the darkness and gently took Rebecca's hands into his own. "Yeh can talk teh me."

Rebecca leaned against John's arm, noticing that he had taken off his leather overcoat and was just wearing a loose shirt. Having John's big, warm hands around her own gave her comfort and utmost trust in the young man.

She sighed. "I miss home…" Rebecca instinctively nuzzled against John's arm. She was slightly surprised by her boldness, but now the need to feel the warmth and closeness of another person was overriding her upbringing, "…and I miss my mother." She sighed, "I know that it's childish, but that's truly what's wrong."

"I see…" John whispered softly.

Rebecca thought for a moment. "But I'm not going to stop my voyage because of a little homesickness…" She stated, wiping her eyes. "I'll keep going on." She nodded.

Though it was too dark to see his face, Rebecca had a feeling that John was smiling. "I'm happy teh hear that, Rebecca… yeh stick teh it."

"Exactly." Rebecca smiled to herself. "I can't give up now," she stated. "We've hardly begun." Rebecca then looked up at the young man, "John?"

"Aye?"

"Can you stay with me until I get to sleep?" She asked. "I don't know why, but I just can't get to sleep tonight."

"Sure thing, Rebecca, I'll stay as long as it takes…" John promised.

"Thank you, John." Rebecca gave John's arm a warm hug before scooting to the other end of the bed.

John chuckled as he rose from the bed and sat in the plush armchair at the bed's side.

Rebecca wiggled back under the covers of her bed, pulling them over her, and she leaned back against the pillow. Before she knew it, she was sleeping soundly in the canopy bed.

Morning came, bringing with it a gentle light in the cloudy sky. Rebecca blinked awake and looked at the armchair beside her bed. She half-expected it to be vacant, but was surprised when she saw John peacefully sleeping in the comfortable chair, his head resting against the palm of his hand.

The young woman smiled softly, silently slipping out of the bed and tiptoeing past the slumbering sailor.

The room was filled with the blank light of the morning sun coming from the tall windows and the unending rain tapped gently against the glass of the windowpane.

Rebecca grabbed some of her effects and gathered together her clothing for the day. As she was searching through her clothing, Rebecca located the dark red skirt, which she hadn't worn since Adrian Marx's attempted rape on the Siren's Sonnet.

The jacket still had holes in it where the feline had ripped apart the fabric, and a few of the buttons were missing from it. Rebecca loosely held the clothing in her hands, debating whether to just throw it away entirely.

John woke up, having a crick in the back of his neck from sleeping in the armchair, and he looked around the room.

A few feet to John's right was Rebecca, sitting with her things. She was wrapped in her housecoat. Her raven-black hair was let loose, falling a little past her shoulders. Rebecca was turned away from John and was looking over a red jacket in her hands.

John's face fell as he spotted the holes in the jacket, knowing that it was the garment Rebecca hadn't worn since the insult of a felid had tried to rape her.

The young man rose from the chair and walked beside Rebecca. The young woman looked up at him and sighed.

"I should've told you how I felt that day…" She said gently.

John knelt beside Rebecca and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Yeh don't 'ave teh tell me anythin' that yeh don't want teh, Rebecca." He stated.

Rebecca sighed once more. "I should have though…" She stated. "You're the greatest friend that I've ever had, and a good man. You deserve to know the truth."

John was silent, both listening to what Rebecca had to say and stunned by what she had said. Did a woman of Rebecca's stature truly consider him, a commoner at best, to be a trustworthy friend?

Rebecca turned so she was facing John and looked up into his caring coal-black eyes. "I was completely terrified… like any one in that situation should be…" She paused to gather together her thoughts. "I didn't know what to do other than to scream and try to get away…" She wrapped her arms around herself. "But that wasn't enough."

At this point Rebecca looked away from John, back at the torn red jacket.

"I shudder to think what would've happened if Simon hadn't stopped Adrian…" The young woman stated emptily, a single tear falling from her right eye.

John cupped Rebecca's chin and turned her to face him. He looked deeply into her eyes and gently wiped the tear track from her cheek.

"Don't let the past weight yeh down, lass…" John stated.

Rebecca felt a wan smile appear on her lips; she enjoyed hearing John's occasional nickname for her, and she listened to what the young man had to say.

"Sure things in the past are tough… an' some things hurt a lot." John continued. "But if yeh learn from the past, an' get stronger from what's happened teh yeh, an' yeh live for each day… well…" He paused and a broad smile formed on his face. "Life's worth living."

This time John's smile evoked a smile on Rebecca's face and she nodded. "I'll keep that in mind, John." Rebecca looked at the torn garment in her hands and she cleared her throat. "Well… I guess I'm going to have to sew this back together later then." She carefully folded the jacket, placed it back into her bag and smiled up at John.

John chuckled gently and rose to his feet, his hand leaving Rebecca's shoulder. He began walking towards the door and smiled at Rebecca over his shoulder. "I'd imagine that yeh'd want teh get dressed now, Rebecca." The warm smile turned into a smug smirk. "I think yeh might be a little chilly in those nightclothes of yers." He then exited the room, gently closing the door behind him.

Rebecca's cheeks flared to a bright crimson red as she quickly tightened her housecoat around herself. She had forgotten that she was still in her less-than-modest nightclothes, and that only her housecoat was covering them. She quickly riffled through her bag to find something a little more weather appropriate.

Author's Note:

Well, I afraid we'll be getting off of Romano all too soon, but look on the bright side… many more adventures lie ahead!

Thanks once again to Whisperwings for betaing and to you readers for keeping up the amazing support.

MG#6