Warm sun an a cool breeze had been natures offering after the storm, an apology for the danger the gods had caused during their battle. Willa had been leaned casually on the upper deck soaking some of it up when Izzy found her. He made no attempt to wrap her in his arms, to kiss her cheek to hold her hand, that wasn't Izzy's style. Truthfully he seemed a little more irritated than usual.

"Thought you'd be off planning a fuckary with the twats."

Willa shook her head. "They told me my idea was too scary, that it was just torture."

"Scary? Fucking seriously? What did you suggest?"

"That I could take a really sharp blade and flay some skin off of someone."

"That technically is torture."

"It wasn't going to be real." Willa told him briskly. "I thought maybe Roach could provide something human looking. Whatever, they said no so now I'm not interested."

"Me neither."

"Ah, so you have the night off." She smirked as her mind filled with possibilities.

"I'm first mate, there are no nights off. Especially on this ship since someone has to keep it from falling a-fucking-part."

Quite obviously Izzy had never bothered to hide that he thought Bonnet's crew, and of course the man himself, were all simpletons, asshats, shit for brains and any other insult he came up with; just lazy idiots.

Willa took the chance to slip her arms around his neck, the fingers of her left hand caressed his swallow tattoo and, much to Izzy's inner annoyance, practically had him preening. After Blackbeard's show with the fuckary he'd staged for Stede, Izzy had finally had enough and confronted his captain. All he'd felt at the time was rage that his beloved Captain Blackbeard was falling apart before his very eyes and Izzy couldn't seem to prevent it. Bonnet was a dog, a fucking pet that needed putting down! Still, while Willa stood there stroking his tattoo she dispelled his anger allowing him to think clearly again.

He'd done it again, the dirty bit, and set up the perfect opportunity for Blackbeard to kill Bonnet once and for all, the bearded man had told Izzy he would. The anger could leave him now. Everything would soon be back to normal, it would be right again, and Izzy's world would stop crumbling away around him. So he stood there and let Willa work her magic, let her calm his soul and distract his mind just for a few moments.

"We could stay out of the way in our room and I could teach you some letters, maybe a little reading." She suggested while tracing the beak before her hand dropped to hold his gloved one.

"If I say yes will you let go of my hand?" Wilhelmina quickly agreed somewhat enthusiastically. "Then yes, fine."

He pulled away from her then and returned to his duties, he'd been moaning at Blackbeard about having a pet, couldn't stand there with Willa petting him like a needy dog or it would be doggy heaven for all of them.

Across the deck Stede had spotted the expression on Willa's face when Izzy had simply walked away from her without so much as a kiss to the cheek. He'd been on his to have tea with Blackbeard after his long conversation with Lucius about the fuckery they intended to play on the Dutch merchants, but Stede found himself intercepting Izzy before he'd really decided to do so.

"You should be nicer to Willa." He told the shorter man in a, thankfully, non-confrontational tone.

"You should shut the fuck up, doggy." And with that Izzy marched off to do whatever it was Izzy did when not growling at a crew member; he'd not even slowed down his steps.

Stede sighed deeply. He'd tried being nice to Izzy – well maybe not nice but certainly pleasant – but the man apparently had an impenetrable wall that the blond captain just couldn't break down. Earlier he'd thought there had been a moment when Izzy had assured Blackbeard that he'd be capable of pulling off a good fuckary, but maybe that moment had been as meaningful as Stede had presumed.

Striking brown eyes glanced around to see Blackbeard hadn't yet come up on deck, he'd vanished not long after he'd seen Izzy talking to him, so Stede calmly walked over to Willa who'd leaned against the gunwales at the bow of the ship.

"Are you all right, my dear?"

Willa showed him a cheery smile. "I'm fine."

"Perhaps it might be better if- if you were … less enamored with Izzy."

"I love him." Willa said promptly with a direct look. "I didn't intend to fall in love with him. I didn't want to but I did. I love him. His gruff, deep baritone and the way his eyes sparkle when he's happy but pretending he's not. That stupid grin when he's proud of himself, that one's a rare sight. I even love how his hair is a mess when he sleeps. I fell in love and I didn't even notice myself doing it until I was in too deep. So I love Israel Hands even though he's eternally hostile, even though he's volatile and eager to threaten. I love him even though there are those who would tell me I shouldn't." Willa took a breath of sea air. "I think you can relate to that."

"What?" Stede's head tilted to one side a bit with confusion.

Willa rolled her eyes, a common trait of late. "Never mind."

The land-owning captain stepped closer so he could rest on the gunwale beside her. "My dear, I don't wish to hurt you, that really is the last thing I want, but I … don't think he loves you."

"I know." Something in the way she said that made Stede's heart ache and for a moment he was reminded of Mary. "Everything in his life is Blackbeard, he's so hyper-focused that there isn't anything else, but that's the thing about love, Stede. Once you give your heart to somebody it's almost impossible to take it back. Israel Hands has my heart and I couldn't get it back even if I wanted it." Stede was surprised when she hugged him, her head on his shoulder as he returned the embrace of this sweet girl. "Danke. You're a nice person, Stede."

Lucius appeared then with a quickly growing grin on his face. The moment had ended it seemed and Willa released the captain with golden curls.

"Ooh, what's going on here then?"

"Nothing. Excuse me, I have chores to do or Izzy will -"

The scribe cut in. "Throw a temper tantrum?"

"I was going to say he'd glare at me but ja."

She walked away then but Stede was almost positive she didn't actually have anything more to do, her workload was surprisingly light. What he didn't know was that Willa hadn't changed the candles in the lanterns for days, she'd been letting them burn to force Ivan to actually use all of his bloody candles, the fucker had a stash of them for God knew what she'd discovered.

Her steps were large and fast paced to the storeroom. She'd appreciated Stede's concern but she'd already come to terms with Blackbeard being where Izzy chose to keep his heart. I that moment and many moments afterward she'd have much preferred to think of restocking the lanterns, yet after a thorough search the box hadn't revealed itself among the shelves. When her head tilted back in irritation though she found a brand new box on the very top shelf as if it had climbed higher to torment her. She'd not be fucking able to reach that!

Wilhelmina stretched awkwardly almost to the point her shoulder popped out for several long minutes but her fingers hardly brushed the edge of the box. Being so short had never been all that problematic before the Revenge, she'd not needed to get on high shelves and if she had – usually to get books – there would have been a damn ladder, Friedrich or a damn footman to aid her.

"Let me." Said Wee John as the large man magically appeared behind her; for a big guy he could be quiet when he wanted to be.

Now, most people would assume Wee John, tall man that he was, would just reach up to grab the box for his height-challenged friend, but no, instead Willa was suddenly lifted by strong arms around her narrow waist. Having been lifted Willa grabbed the box of candles and another which turned out to be behind it.

"Get the marlinspikes for me, would you?" Thanks to the big man's lessons Willa actually knew what a marlinspike was so grabbed them with ease. "Don't take this the wrong way but you smell really nice."

From others that would make Willa feel uneasy, alarmed or just plain creeped out, but from Wee John it just got a chuckle.

"I found some really nice soap a while back on that French ship. Stede said I could have all the woman's things so I took it."

"All flowery."

"Lavender." She told him as her attention was drawn to his facial tattoo.

Willa shuffled the items in her grasp to free up a hand then gently brushed her right forefinger along the stars tattooed at his temple.

"Did these hurt?" Willa inquired.

"The one closest to my eye did a bit but it wasn't awful. Why?"

"I like them. I love the swallow Izzy has and Blackbeard's are so elaborate."

Wee John's eyes squinted, by this point they'd totally forgotten he had her raised in his arms.

"Sounds like you want one."

"I think I do." She confirmed with a quick flash of delight.

"But ain't you a noble?"

She smirked. "Doesn't mean I can't have a tattoo if I want one. Maybe not on my face or neck though, but I like the idea of getting one."

Wee John was excited by the prospect of her getting her own ink now the bit about her having a noble rank was out of the way. He'd clearly always been a fan of tattoos as one could probably tell by taking a look at him.

"You should have something real pretty."

"Then how about you help me think of something?"

He nodded in agreement, and that was when Frenchie stepped into the storeroom only to ground to a halt at the odd position of his friends. To Frenchie it kind of looked as though Wee John were holding a child as a father would a toddler.

"I'd put her down quick mate, before Izzy sees you." Having been reminded she was still high off the ground Wee John set Willa back on her feet softly. "Have you not seen the death glares he gives anyone who talks to Willa for longer than a sentence?" She questioned that. "Willa, he's possessive. And after earlier with Ed up in that rope harness thing, he's super pissed off for today."

The sixteen-year-old couldn't help but wonder if Izzy was possessive of her. He'd stormed off when she'd been dancing with Blackbeard and Stede but she'd thought that mostly because she'd been getting Blackbeard's attention rather than because they had hers. However, as she went about her task of replacing candles, Willa started to notice she rather liked the idea of Izzy Hands being possessive of her. She shouldn't have been, shouldn't have liked it in the slightest, not after Kommodore Hohenstaufen and all she'd suffered at his hands, but she did. The thought of that angry scowl being thrown at people because of her rather than Blackbeard appealed and left her smiling to herself.

Once she'd finished swapping out candles and ensured she'd taken back Ivan's stash she placed everything back in the storeroom – though on a shelf she could reach – and took the last candles up to Stede's cabin. She always changed Stede's last because that way she could help herself to a new book at the same time.

Instead of books her mind drifted right back to Izzy and the chores he'd given her. He'd never given Willa all that much to do. She had a few simple jobs and would sometimes help the others but he'd never made her scrub the deck or do anything all that taxing. She'd been pleased for that, hadn't exactly been built for hard labor, but she couldn't help hoping it was a nicety on his part rather than because he assumed her incapable.

Her foot crushing a load of cutlery yanked Willa back out of her inner debates. Emerald orbs peered down to find knives and forks had been scattered all over the floor just outside of the door. That sight gave her pause though she did lift a single eyebrow.

Softly she knocked on Stede's door and it was quickly opened for her. Before Willa stood Stede with that big smile he almost always wore when talking to her.

"Yes, Willa?"

"Em, why is there a selection of salad and escargot cutlery on the floor?"

Stede's eyes traveled down to where Willa's still rested. "We tried dining etiquette again. It didn't go as planned."

She slipped inside the cabin to see Blackbeard sat on the sofa looking a little dejected, forlorn even. Willa couldn't shake the feeling that there was more going on inside his mind than just the cutlery, he looked like she had when her father had sold her off, let her be dragged away from the only home she'd ever known. The teen didn't mention it though, it wasn't her place; she settled for saying hello to him instead.

"Hey, baby girl." The pirate sounded dejected as well.

The candles found their new home without incident while Stede returned to the sofa beside Blackbeard.

"Sure you don't want to try again?" Stede asked gently like someone trying not to spook a cat.

"I'm sure." Announced the bearded captain in a deep voice; Willa actually felt a little bad for the man.

"Fine dining is just a stupid way of rich people trying to out do one another." Willa told them. "It's not an elegance thing, just a – what is the English equivalent? Oh ja, pissing contest. It's a pissing contest."

Stede gave a quick nod. "I actually agree with Willa."

She leaned on the back of the sofa between the two men and Blackbeard glanced toward her so she offered him an encouraging smile.

"Besides," she began, "escargot is inexcusably revolting. The escargot is escar-gone. Snails belong in the garden not on my plate."

She'd been trying to get a smile out of him but instead the bearded man appeared more curious than anything else.

"Did you have a lot of dinner parties? You know, what with being a Prussian Baron's daughter."

Wilhelmina shrugged. "There were some but they weren't all that interesting. You haven't missed anything."

"They used passive aggression."

Willa's expression turned serious. "Passive aggression?"

"We crashed a party and they used it on him, he wasn't prepared."

Due to a sudden urgency she rounded the sofa and sat between the two men so she could hug Blackbeard like a mother would a small child who'd scraped their knee. Quite obviously the dark-eyed man wasn't used to being embraced, but he accepted it nevertheless.

"Oh you poor man. It takes years of training to deal with passive aggression from these people."

She pulled away but Backbeard went with her so Willa ended up with his head rested on her shoulder in, what Stede felt, was the cutest thing he'd ever seen. Blackbeard. This was the infamous Captain Blackbeard yet he rested his head there on her shoulder like it was the most normal thing in the world.

"Stede fixed it." Said the bearded man.

There truly wasn't any denying the broken lilt to his voice. Something bad had happened but Willa didn't quite know what could have hurt a man like Edward Teach so much on the inside. Maybe Izzy would know, but she couldn't ask him that.

"Yes," started Stede, "and then the ship burnt down."

Blackbeard sat up straight and for a moment Willa actually missed the warmth of his cheek.

"Hey! We could be ship burning buddies!" He exclaimed with a sudden wave of glee. "I've burnt down loads of ships, Willa blew one up and you caused that fire. Ooh Iz too! He's burnt down a few. Could be like our little club."

Stede pulled a face. "Bit too morbid for a club maybe?"

"We're pirates." Willa shrugged. "We do morbid things."

Blackbeard wagged a finger at the Prussian as he nodded in agreement. "She's got a point."

"All right, you win." The blonde captain's hands raised in surrender. "You, Willa, Izzy and I shall be 'ship burning buddies'. Does make us sound rather dangerous, I'll admit. Bit fun."

Stede Bonnet really didn't fit with other pirates but life with him certainly wasn't boring. He had this unique way of seeing the world that Willa often found refreshing.

"I can't wait to tell Izzy about this." Willa grinned. "Stede, can I borrow another book please?"

"Of course you can, my dear. You're always welcome. The books are available to all."

He said as she stood to go peruse the shelves fully aware that Stede watched her with interest as to what she'd select. Blackbeard finally seemed to feel a little better in himself so the blond took the opportunity to move the topic on to one less filled with upset.

"Do you have a favorite author, Willa?"

"Not really, I'll read more or less anything."

"In that case might I suggest some Shakespeare."

Willa almost cringed. "As long as it isn't Romeo and Juliet."

Blackbeard's brow furrowed deeply. "Is that the one where the kids kill themselves?"

"Ja, so pointless. Besides Shakespeare stole it."

While Blackbeard didn't appear overly bothered with the play and Willa had clearly chosen to be opposed to it, Stede had other opinions.

"It's a tale of true love, not pointless at all. And what do you mean he stole it?"

Willa spoke while continuing to peruse the assortment of tomes. "It's really just the Greek myth of Pyramus and Thisbe with a good amount of Arthur Brooke tossed in for good measure, then he slapped his name on it."

"Damn." Breathed Blackbeard. "These literary types are ruthless."

Willa snorted. "You're telling me. The son of one of my father's so-called friends liked himself a poet." She finally turned from the bookshelf. "It was awful, the sort of thing that made you want to drive a spike into your ears."

"Maybe we should get some and read it to prisoners."

"Lucifer himself doesn't deserve to hear it."

"Really must have been bad then." Said Stede as he shuffled a pillow behind his back for better back support. "Also, we don't have any prisoners."

"You know, my brother once faked us being summoned by my father with impressive detail to get us out of one of Jürgen's readings. I've heard dying horsesmake more pleasant sounds." Blackbeard nodded and told her he thought her brother sounded very wise and shrewd. "Oh Friedrich is. He'll make a good Freiherr."

The two captains shared a look when Willa went a little too quiet, they both knew she missed her brother more than anything else, but they also knew there wasn't really anything they could do to fix that there and then. Once more Stede felt the need to change the subject so he went to her side at the bookshelf.

"Here, Troilus and Cressida, a play halfway between comedy and tragedy."

"Interesting." She took the book. "Danke."

Having gotten her reading materialjust as she'd intended Willa decided it was time to leave the captains to whatever they'd been doing before she showed up. The pair stared at the door a moment or two after she'd gone before Stede finally broke it; of course it was Stede to speak first, he did like talking.

"I told Willa I'd get her back to her brother."

"Gonna be a bit hard what with this being a pirate vessel and all."

An energy flooded through Stede then as a smile decorated his face, Blackbeard had seen that expression once or twice before.

"I know but I have an idea."

The tattooed captain took a breath as if to mentally prepare himself for whatever 'Stede idea' he'd had now.

"Lay it on me."

"Okay," he grinned. "It's simple really. We keep raiding and save up enough to buy her passage on a less piratey ship. I'd use my money but I need to ensure I always have wages ready for the crew, and if we work for it she'll feel less like it's charity. See, simple and perfect."

"That is simple. So simple that it could actually work." He agreed. "Prussia is a long way from here though, Stede."

"Yes. And I know it won't be cheep or easy but I made a promise to her. Willa misses her brother and I'm sure he misses her."

"I'd miss her." Blackbeard sighed. "Willa is a nice girl."

"Indeed she is. You know, earlier she told me that she lo-" He cut himself off abruptly.

"What? You can't hold out on me."

"I- I don't know if Willa would want it repeating."

The bearded captain actually seemed to grow somewhat concerned, an almost childish anxiety.

"Is it about me?"

The blond shook his head quickly. "No. It's not about you."

"She ill?" Again Stede assured his fellow captain that the answer was no. "Gonna be bad if I don't know?"

"Almost certainly not."

Blackbeard shrugged with a single shoulder. "I guess I don't really need to know then."

"I suppose you're right. Now," Stede patted his leg a single time, "back to my plans for the fuckary. Oh, by the way, your display this morning with the flames and the smoke – genius, absolute genius. I'm so inspired. I need to go get changed and then talk to the crew about the fuckary. I need some stories." Stede stood. "I hope Lucius can still keep up with notes what with that missing finger."

Stede's mind practically overflowed with wants for the fuckary, he'd been pouring over with ideas but as soon as he'd focused on one another popped up and he'd instantly forgotten the previous. He needed the crew's help.