Heavy weights tugged on Willa's eyelids upon waking, wanted her to linger in sleep longer, wanted time to recover and free her of the scratchy sandpaper feeling her eyes got when lids blinked over them. However, something else wanted the teenager to wake up and take notice, wanted attention and tending to; the deep initial Izzy had carved into her otherwise perfect skin. With a body which had clearly been rested in one position too long, Willa pushed herself up to a seated position in the little bed to find dried blood around the cuts and an angry shade of red. With that soon-to-scar mark Willa remembered the tragedies of yesterday, remembered the duel, Izzy's banishment, her breakdown in Stede's bath and, of course, the carving of letters into one another's chests. Shaky fingers brushed over the I only to instantly pull back as pain shot through her sternum and a sharp hiss escaped her lips.

Green orbs the color of emeralds in firelight finally flicked to the one who'd bestowed such a mark on her then. Izzy lay on his back looking totally exhausted though his salt and pepper hair hung over his forehead and eyes in that way she adored. The sight of him brought a smile to her pink lips. It hadn't all been some cruel dream, no, Izzy was actually there beside her where he belonged. Willa couldn't resist reaching to to play with the locks that hung over his forehead, softer than one would imagine, cleaner too. Such lovely black dusted with silvery gray. Ever so carefully, so as not to wake him or put too much strain on her slowly healing body, Willa twirled a loose strand around her fingers. Israel Hands may have been an acquired taste for many but to Wilhelmina he was exceedingly handsome, especially when peacefully lost with Morpheus. When asleep he looked years younger than his usual irascible, day-time self; not that the Prussian didn't think that had its own attractiveness, apparently she had a thing for irritable older men with more issues than a castaway surrounded by coconut crabs.

"What is your obsession with my hair?" He asked then without opening his eyes. He'd clearly wanted her to jump but Willa knew him too well for that.

She shrugged. "I don't know, but it is my favorite bit of you." Izzy let out some kind of nondescript sound and Willa trailed her hand down from his hair to his hairy chest where a W now dominated his pectoral. "How does this feel?"

"Like a sixteen-year-old cut a fucking W into my chest."

That had her breathe out a small laugh and Izzy finally opened his eyes so blue could meet green. Willa hadn't remembered she'd been wearing her stays when they'd gone to bed – or maybe passed out was a better term – but Izzy did, he remembered carefully stripping her of it so she'd sleep more peacefully and let her new scar breathe.

The letter I had been cut more clearly into her than the W had been into him, clearly the work of a hand much more skilled with a blade, but that didn't matter, both were readable and only meant for them. The pirate's first initial wouldn't ever leave her body, it had become part of her now, something she'd carry with her for the rest of her life. She'd chosen to carry it for the rest of her life.

With one of those sweet smiles Willa leaned down to press a gentle kiss right over his pectoral which was still matted a little with blood. The pressure didn't hurt exactly but it did provide a sting the former first mate really rather liked. Then, as though there weren't so many horrifying unknowns just outside their cabin door, Wilhelmina rested her head on the unscarred half of his chest and settled.

Izzy stared up at the ceiling while indulged in the cuddling she so enjoyed. What had happened? The previous night was a blur of insanity all drowned in sea water. He'd been banished and yet Blackbeard had turned the ship around to retrieve him; he'd been forced back to the Revenge. When he'd spotted his adored captain swimming toward him his heart had soared but Blackbeard hadn't come for him, no, Edward had come for Willa. 'This is me trying to be better' the taller man had said. Better? Why would Blackbeard have needed to be better? He was the best damn pirate to have ever lived! Or at least until fucking Bonnet had shown up he had been. No, Izzy's life is still as uncertain as when he'd been left in the middle of the ocean. His fate hadn't changed, just been delayed a little. To think otherwise would have been somewhat jejune. The only reason Izzy lay in his bed rather than in some unsavory, flea-ridden box in the Republic of Pirates like a stray kitten was because of Edward's predilection for Willa.

"I can hear you thinking." She told him softly, her voice lightly accented and lyrical. "Like the cogs of a clock."

"I've got a lot to think about, lass."

"I don't doubt it for a second, but maybe try thinking of nothing for a while. Just listen to the waves and the ship's creaking."

Izzy's brow furrowed in that way it always did when he thought someone was talking shit. "Why?"

"Because it is peaceful. Get some more sleep."

Frankly it sounded more like it was Willa who needed the sleep.

"I'm not tired."

That had the girl raise her head from his chest so she could lean on her elbow and flash him an unimpressed expression she'd perfected from watching Izzy in his natural environment.

"You're completely enervated."

"I'm what?" Fuck, she didn't half come out with some random words.

"Tired." She rolled her eyes. "Sleep. I can't sing otherwise I'd sing you a lullaby, but maybe I could tell you a story instead."

The former first mate groaned. "Please don't."

Again he earned a tiny chuckle from his sweet sixteen-year-old girl as she went back to resting on his chest. Once he knew she couldn't see him Izzy went ahead and closed his eyes. He'd not go admitting it but he was tired and it would have been nice to just stop thinking for a change. Rowing exhausted a man much more than one would expect, didn't just strain the arms and shoulders but the back, legs and hips as well. With that taken into account it perhaps shouldn't have been so surprising that even with his future so uncertain Izzy soon fell asleep with soft snores.

Willa took comfort in listening to the rise and fall of his chest and his almost musical heartbeats. Izzy was with her. Edward had cared enough to bring him back, to bring him home. Izzy was with her again and Willa delighted in just being in his arms.

After a while her attention turned to the pile of clothing Izzy had left haphazardly on the ground. His clothes had dried off but she decided to make herself useful while he slept since her eyes no longer stung. Carefully she slipped from the tiny bed to the floor only for a shooting pain to run through her. Bandages were a very good idea, Izzy would need his wrapping once he awoke again too.

Willa made do with Izzy's less than stellar medical stash and awkwardly managed to wrap herself up while stifling many a yelp. As soon as she'd decided she'd not randomly start bleeding everywhere she started to fold Izzy's clothes for him; he'd always been a fan of neat and tidy, probably why the crew drove him so insane. However, when she got to his leather pants she sighed. There in the side of one leg at the thigh was a rip he'd not had when he'd left. How he'd managed it she'd no idea, surely rowing couldn't have caused it. At least it was a small rip Willa knew she could mend easily enough and once she'd thrown on Izzy's shirt since her leather pants were in the bathroom she set about fixing what needed fixing; it gave her something to do at least. That was how the Prussian ended up sat at the small table diligently repairing his trousers while Izzy snoozed on.

Having something to do pleased Willa, something to ground her as she tried so very hard not to panic about what would happen next. That was why Willa had no desire to leave the cabin even to get the rest of their clothes. Izzy had lost that duel on a technicality, he wasn't first mate any longer and she'd got no idea what that meant. The words first mate were basically the only words to describe Izzy Hands, well, asshole and cunt had been frequently used also. No, she'd not leave the room, if she went outside then just existing with Izzy would be over. The moment of perfect happiness she'd found in him just being with her couldn't evanesce just yet.

Wilhelmina had quietly taken on the duty of repairing the more extensive damage to the crew's clothes some time ago, anything they hadn't been able to fix themselves or just put up with went to her so she could work her magic. Nobody had asked her to become their unofficial seamstress, but when Willa had spotted Ivan's shirt being held together by little more than sweat and a few brave threads she'd not been able to let it continue. Fortunately all of that meant repairing Izzy's ripped leather trousers hardly took any time at all and when she'd finished they were folded and placed neatly – lovingly – with everything else. Unfortunately however, it left her with little else to do and a still unconscious Izzy Hands.

For quite some time she searched for this and that to do but in a room so small with so few possessions finding something wasn't easy. Eventually Willa fished one of her pilfered books out from underneath their bed then quietly slipped in beside Izzy to read since her feet had gotten cold. Though she'd needed to clamber over him the former first mate didn't so much as twitch.

Her eyes took in each word diligently for quite some time but in the end they randomly flicked to Izzy more than the sentences, it reached a point where she just gave up, let the book fall to her lap and stared at him. Willa sighed. Israel Hands was a broken human being, sometimes more akin to a feral dog who'd been kicked one too many times. Poor thing couldn't realize that violence and pain were not the only form of social interaction; that those things weren't love. She'd no intention of pitying Izzy, he would have hated her for it but she couldn't think of a better word to describe how she felt; and this was from someone who fluently spoke four languages. She suspected most had either shied away from Izzy out of fear or simply abandoned him, she'd done the same for a while, but he was with her again and if he was once again banished Willa knew this time she'd travel with him.

"Ich vergölttere dich." (I adore you) She breathed softly against his forehead after she'd leaned down to kiss him lightly. Willa meant those words, she really did.

The young Prussian couldn't quite keep the smile from her face as she watched him sleep, so peaceful, so free of his usual anger. That was when an idea struck her, maybe a slightly childish one but Willa honestly couldn't have cared less. Slowly she slipped the fingers of her right hand into his hair, which he'd pushed back before returning to sleep, and waggled her hand to mess it all back up so it stuck out at all angles and draped over his forehead once more. That was much better.

"Den perfekten Moment." (The perfect moment) She breathed. Or at least it would be perfect once she'd snuggled up against his side.

Willa returned to her favorite pastime of listening to his almost musical heartbeat and let him sleep. If he got some real sleep maybe he'd be calmer and more level-headed than he had been yesterday; certainly less likely to start a duel because something told Willa another fluke wouldn't save Stede.

Later, when the sixteen-year-old girl had almost fallen asleep herself, she heard footsteps coming from beyond the cabin door in the passageway. Panic suddenly rose up inside her. Had they decided Izzy remained a threat and wanted to toss him overboard sans dinghy? Had they just decided to kill him before he got another shot at killing them? However, the footsteps passed by their door and simply continued on their merry way. Those footsteps had nothing to do with Izzy or Willa, her happy world wasn't to cease existing just yet, nobody had come to take it. She could pretend a little while longer. So Wilhelmina pretended. The teenager cuddled closer to Izzy, an amazing accomplishment considering they'd already been plastered together, and breathed him in, blood and all. Anything to keep pretending. Pretend that she didn't know Izzy might not be able to heal from the darkness inside him. Pretend that he wasn't deeply in love with Blackbeard instead of her, or hell, even Edward. Pretend her father hadn't sold Willa like she were little more than a good-looking candelabrum. Pretend she didn't feel bad that her urge to return to her brother wasn't as strong as it used to be. Pretend there hadn't been a duel. Pretend, just for a while, that the man she loved with every shred of her being wasn't the worst man she could have possibly picked.

With a deep sigh she closed her eyes once more, took comfort in his heartbeat and pulled his right arm around her small body for the cuddles she so desperately craved.

~X~

Loosing track of time was easily done when in Izzy's arms so that was exactly what had happened to Wilhelmina. She'd honestly got no idea how long they'd been locked in their room together, long enough for Izzy to wake and start reading to pass the time, seemed even he had gone looking for ways to keep himself from exiting their cabin. Willa had also begrudgingly shifted from hungry to full-blown ravenous.

"You're starting to look like an angry wolf rather than my sweet puppy." She teased from her spot beside him in the bed; very domestic. "You need a shave."

"No point." He shrugged.

"There's always a point to everything, Izzy. Now, you need to shave and you're going to shave even if I have to hold you down." He lifted an eyebrow because he suspected he could have lifted her with a single hand. "Than you're going to let me bandage your chest so it doesn't get infected."

Izzy's book, the first thing he'd picked up from Willa's stash, fell to his lap as he grumbled.

"Demanding little bitch."

"That's me." Willa smiled. "I can shave you if your arms still hurt."

Suddenly Izzy's mind flooded of memories of the last time she'd given him a shave. He'd not exactly trusted her enough to assume he'd walk away without a plethora of cuts on his cheeks, but she'd done well. His girl had a steady hand. Izzy ran a calloused hand down his face as if to prove his supposed wolfishness to himself. Yes, he had become scruffy beyond his usual unkempt appearance.

"Don't cut me."

Willa nodded. "Abgemacht." (It's a deal) "Not that I did last time."

That was how Izzy found himself sat once more in the tiny wooden chair with Willa holding a blade to his throat as she sliced away stubble that shouldn't really have been labelled stubble any longer. He supposed her helping him to shave wasn't really a big deal after they'd carved letters into each other, however, he couldn't shake the feeling of intimacy he felt.

Meanwhile Willa experienced something much the same. The warmth of his skin underneath her fingertips, the way he let her move his face around, but the thing she cherished above all else would forever be the trust he had in her. A blade to his throat and Izzy didn't worry for an instant. He trusted her and that would have to do if she couldn't have his love.

"Maybe we should go get something to eat after this."

"I'm fine." Translation: I'm not leaving this room.

Willa could understand not wanting to leave, oh she could, but they'd been there the entire day and possibly some of the night too.

"Izzy, are you – are you hiding from the captains?"

"I don't fucking hide!"

She pushed his head to the side so she could get his jaw just below his sideburn.

"Then why else do you not want to leave?" It certainly wasn't because he wanted to stay with her, Willa was sure.

Izzy sighed. "Isn't it obvious? I was banished from the ship, I'm not first mate. Technically I have no right to be here." Now that had Willa's hands still. "Way I see it there are three outcomes to all of this. One: we stay on board until an island or port is found and then booted off. Though that's unlikely since everybody actually likes you. Two is exactly the same as the first option only you get a choice to leave with me or not, like a second chance. Then there's the possibility I'll just be killed and tossed to the sharks. Bet Jim is already sharpening their knives."

Willa swallowed. "I don't like any of those." She took a moment to think, used wiping the blade clean as an excuse; she'd got one section of his moustache to do left.

"There is a fourth option."

"Oh yeah?" He didn't seem to hold out much hope. "What's that then, lass?"

"Everything could just go back to how it was."

Izzy instantly labelled that sentence as idealism. Everything going back to normal wasn't ever going to happen. It wasn't as though he and Stede had engaged in a public argument, he'd tried to kill the damn ponce.

Neither spoke after that, Willa just finished shaving him while Izzy seemingly waited for his inevitable demise. Willa had repeatedly told Izzy she loved him but he'd never said it back and Willa doubted he ever would.

Meanwhile, out in the passageway, Lucius, Wee John and Roach had gathered so they could just stare at the door to Willa's and Izzy's cabin. Neither the former first mate nor their much-loved Prussian had exited all day, not for food or anything else, and it had been eerily quiet. Almost disturbingly quiet.

The group had gathered for reasons unknown, they were worried about her but hadn't consciously decided to congregate in the passageway like creepy stalkers. None of them quite felt they had the right to just swan over and knock on the door to check on her. Something serious had gone on between Edward, Stede, Willa and Izzy in that bathroom. Something none of them had spoken about to the rest of the crew even after Lucius had gone to low-key interrogate an injured Stede Bonnet. Something which had left Edward calling the bathroom off limits.

"Maybe we should go talk to her." Wee John said breaking their silence.

Lucius pulled a face. "Are you insane? The asshole known as Izzy will probably rip our heads off. Don't know about you but I don't feel like being some sort of human dissected puzzle."

"What if he's already hurt her, that's why we haven't seen her?" Roach cut in.

"I don't like the guy but even Jim doesn't think Izzy was hurting her in there, otherwise they'd have busted in throwing knives by now."

Lucius folded his arms across his chest. "Hate to say anything nice about the bastard, but I don't think he's gonna hurt her, he'd be more likely to kill us."

"Hey guys," began the Swede as he appeared behind them. "It's starting to look like a ghost ship up there and Frenchie is talking about a monster that might be picking us off one by one."

"I swear he's on a whole new level of weird." Muttered the ship's scribe. "All right, let's go stop that turning into a problem."

With that they all traipsed after Lucius to see what Frenchie had cooked up inside his mind this time. All except for Roach who took another moment to simply stare at the closed door. Willa might not have felt anything for him beyond friendship but that didn't stop Roach caring about her.

"Coming, Roach?" Wee John called only to receive a nod from his friend.

Back in the cabin little had changed. Izzy had returned to his book while Willa had cleaned off his straight razor and put it away. Although, she couldn't take her hunger any longer, ravenous had been left behind a while ago and now she was a step and a half from starving. Maybe that was why she wasn't so wholeheartedly determined to remain inside their quarters with her fantasy any longer, maybe that was why she suddenly lost tact with Izzy.

"Edward didn't actually want you to leave, but you insisted." She told him out of the blue, mostly inner thoughts which had slipped out. "I know you're in love with him deeply-"

She was instantaneously cut off. Izzy was on his feet so quickly it actually made Willa jump and back away from him.

"I'm not fucking in love with him!"

Oh they weren't playing this old game again. "Of course you are! It's so damn obvious that it's practically comical. The only one fooled is you. And it's not just love, it's full-on obsession. You're so obsessed with him that you blind yourself to everything else going on around you, and you need him so much that anyone or anything that threatens that even slightly makes you think you're world is crumbling."

"Shut the fuck up, girl!" Izzy hissed. "It's not my fault Bonnet is turning my captain into a fucking weakling. Bonnet won't be happy until Blackbeard is fucking effete! He's destroying Blackbeard."

"Nein, he's not." Willa reached for his hand but he batted her away in favor of giving the teenager his back. Apparently looking at their bed was more interesting. "Blackbeard isn't real, he's a mask invented to protect Edward, same way I 'played little girl' as you so colorfully put it. Blackbeard isn't a real person, Izzy, he's a legend, a story. It's not healthy for either of you. You make him your world, cling to him like he's a lighthouse in a savage storm, but the sea is still rising up and one day it's going to wash both of you away. Edward realized that, I think. Stede has helped him, but you are still clinging to that damn lighthouse with your blinders on. It's just hiding, that's all it is. The legend of Blackbeard holds the pair of you back." She stepped toward him, not quite brave enough to try reaching for him again just yet. "Hiding from change because it scares you." Tears had started to well up in her eyes despite how many she'd shed the previous night in that bathtub. "Izzy, do you want him to be Blackbeard for him, because it is in his best interest, or for you? This isn't healthy."

The older man spun around to glare at her then, always needed something to growl about like it was fuel for him. "Why would you care?"

That was what allowed a single tear to escape, to roll down her cheek where it lingered at her jawline. How could he ask her that?

"Because I love you more than anything else in this world … even though you don't love me."

Izzy fell to sit on the bed dressed in only his leather pants since Willa wore his shirt. He kept his blue eyes trained on the floor between his feet. He couldn't bring himself to look at her. Love was evil, wicked and cruel, that was all life had taught Izzy Hands about love.

"You don't need a story masquerading as a man who will hold you back from the change and pain, Izzy." Willa told him quietly. "You need someone who will hold your hand and walk through it with you. I can't force you, but please take those blinders off, you might notice the storm has ended." She sighed. "Love doesn't have to be painful."

Willa stood there one she was finished talking. She adored him, loved him, but what real right did she have to try to change him? She wasn't even a proper adult, just a teenager playing pirate. Adulting ruins lives, lesson learned. Wasn't like she'd ever even belonged onboard the Revenge, a strange twist of fate had let her survive Die Falke's sinking and another twist had mixed her life with Izzy's.

Willa snapped violently out of her mind then and down to her right hand to see Izzy had silently reached up to take it and her heart clenched. Their eyes locked, hers full of tears, his filled with something neither of them knew how to describe. Wilhelmina squeezed his hand and flashed him a loving smile, then, slowly, she bent to kiss him in a way different to before.

"I love you."

"I know, lass."

The auburn-haired beauty didn't care Izzy hadn't responded with 'I love you too', she didn't need it, wanted it but didn't need it. All Willa wanted was a tiny corner of his heart, if she had that she'd be happy, and it looked like Izzy had given her that little corner. That moment was a wonderful one containing gentleness and devotion, but Willa's stomach decided to ruin everything when it grumbled loud and grumbled long.

"Erschaffen und sogleich zerstört." (Created and immediately destroyed) She muttered to herself.

"What?"

She sighed. "The moment, it's over."

"I think it's time you go get something to eat, lass."

"I think you're right." Willa agreed.

The pair knew it wasn't just about food, they both needed a moment to themselves, a moment to breathe and understand what had just happened between them.

As soon as the cabin door closed behind her, Willa slipped down it to the floor and took a couple of shaky breaths. The hands Izzy had held raised and she cradled it close to her chest as though it were a newborn kitten. She forced herself not to cry, had shed enough tears for one lifetime since she'd been taken from her home.

Maybe Izzy wasn't as closed off to change as she'd presumed though. He loved Blackbeard but he cared for her as well. It had been a very long time since someone other than her brother cared about her.

Another deep breath gave the sixteen-year-old strength enough to push herself to her feet, she shook her head to cast away any possibility of crying she still had, then headed off to get something to sate their shared hunger.