Morg: Heyo!

Ikuto: What?

Amu: She's just posting a chapter.

Morg: You bet I am! Bringing all my fics to the current year.

Ikuto: Oh good.

Amu: Don't worry, she doesn't actually own us.

Morg: Another year and that still hasn't changed…

~The Eighth Sea~

Miki didn't bother with knocking as she walked into the Captain's cabin. The blue-haired girl wasn't worried about disturbing her captain. Ikuto never did much besides pour over his maps when they were out at sea anyway. Not that that was a bad thing. The man was in charge for a reason. "Cap, come and see what Amu did."

Not exactly interested in what their stowaway was doing, Ikuto gave a grunt in answer. Amu could do whatever she wanted as long as she stayed away from him. "Don't care."

Lifting an eyebrow, Miki took in the sight of the tall man. He looked to be sulking, though that'd be ridiculous since there was no reason for him to be doing so. "Well, she wasn't lying when she said she could fix anything. The stairs that Yaya and Pepe broke are perfect. She replaced all the boards. We won't have any difficulties getting into the hold or the orlop anymore."

Trying to seem indifferent, Ikuto slowly looked up at one of his crew members. "The stairs are fixed?"

"Yes."

"She fixed them?"

Sighing, Miki nodded her head. "That's what I said, isn't it?"

For someone about to marry a rich man, Amu shouldn't have known how to do what she'd done. "You said that she said she could fix anything. What makes her so confident?"

Giving a small shrug, Miki moved to the door. Just as she came in unannounced, she'd leave without permission. "She worked in the shipping yards of the colony we just left. Apparently, she worked several jobs to help support her family before being forced into an unwanted engagement. Kukai already asked her to look at the mast, so I'm going to go see if she needs my help."

There wasn't anything that Ikuto could say as the girl left his cabin.

The girl that Miki was looking for was rather easy to find. Miki just wasn't expecting her to be straddling the lower yard of the mainmast, pink hair flying around in the wind as the boat surged across the waves. "Amu?"

Being up in the wind as she worked made Amu feel like she was flying. It wasn't the same sensation as when she was diving, but it was rather close. There was nothing she couldn't do when she felt so powerful. Focusing back on the task at hand, Amu examined the broken beam between her thighs. The crack was old. The whole beam would have to be replaced, though she knew it wasn't going to be easy to find a yard that would do it for them. Then again, if she got some of the crew members to help her out, Amu would be able to fix it herself. Finding an island to get a tree and carving it out wouldn't be too difficult. Convincing the captain of the ship that they needed to do this would be.

At the sound of her name, Amu looked down to see Miki looking up at her. "We're going to have to replace this. I can mend it for now. It'll last a few more weeks, but a good storm will break it easily. Mends or not."

Nodding her head, Miki knew better than to question Amu after watching her fix the stairs. "What do you need?"

Smiling down at the other girl, Amu couldn't help but be pleased with the fact that she had made a friend on her first day with the crew. Miki was definitely being nice to her, and Amu was grateful for it. "Some thick leather straps. Whatever you got, we'll use."

Hurrying away, Miki went to ask the first mate for the materials that Amu would need. There had to be something like what Amu was describing on their ship. Miki was determined to help Amu and learn as much as she could from the other girl.

Taking a second to look around the ship from her vantage point, Amu looked for anything else that might need her attention. Her pink hair whipped in and out of her face in the wind, making Amu wish she really did have something to tie it back with. Working in the wind would be so much easier if she didn't have to worry about being hit in the face or having strands of her hair stab her eyes.

Using her thighs to grip the wood she was perched on, Amu held her hair back out of her face with her hands as she continued to look around. There wasn't much to see. A spot in the railing looked as if it needed some attention, but there wasn't anything that caught her eye besides that. She'd definitely have to ask the first mate when Miki came back if there was anything else. The stowaway would have to find something else to occupy herself with if there was nothing else for her to fix. The captain had said that she needed to earn her keep. Amu intended to do so.

The sight of Utau, the sailing mistress, struggling to turn the helm made Amu's eyes stay on the tall blonde. There was no reason for the wheel to be so difficult for the girl. There was no storm and the wind wasn't overly strong. Something had to be wrong with the rudder. Amu smirked as she realized she was going to have to go over the side of the ship to see if there was anything she needed to fix.

Amu spotted a large coil of rope that she could use to fasten herself a harness just as Miki returned with not only the leather but Rima as well. The shorter girl didn't look exactly pleased to be helping Amu with another task, but the pinkette couldn't blame her. There was no doubt that most of the crew would be wary of her for a while. "If you throw one end up to me, we can work together to get it tied off faster."

Doing as suggested, Miki threw one end of the leather strip up to the other girl. The first attempt, Miki missed her mark and hit Rima. The blonde wasn't hurt except for her pride. The second time, Miki managed to get the strip to Amu. The pinkette worked quickly to bind the yard. The two pirates were rather impressed with how efficient Amu was when she was working. Though Rima would never admit it.

Finished with her task, Amu finished tucking the loose end of the leather strap under itself so that it wouldn't fly about in the wind. There were two ways for her to get down from the yard she currently sat on. One meant moving backward slowly toward the mast and climbing down the rigging. The other meant swinging down and landing on the deck much like she'd done in the hold before fixing the stairs.

Wrapping her arms around the yard, Amu pushed her body weight to one side so that she'd flip as she went over the edge. Letting go at just the right moment, the pinkette landed lightly on her bare feet once again. Miki looked unimpressed, though Rima's squeak meant that Amu had surprised her. The stowaway wasn't attempting to show off. Moving as she did was simply how she'd done so on the ships she'd fixed back at the yard. She had to be efficient to keep her job. "I need to see Kukai."

"You need to see Doc."

Laughing a bit at that, Miki shook her head before motioning for Amu to follow her. The pinkette wasn't crazy even if she kept doing things that made her seem that way. "I'll take you to Kukai."

"Can I also have something to tie back my hair?"

Rima gave a small scoff before offering the new girl a piece of leather for her pink hair. There was a reason that Rima kept her hair braided out of her face all of the time. The wind could do brutal things to her ends.

Sending a small smile to the girl that had helped her out without a word, Amu couldn't help but feel like Rima wasn't as cold as she appeared and acted. Not that Amu had been expecting a warm welcome from the pirates. She had stowed aboard their ship, after all. "Thanks."

The first mate was in the kitchens with Su. The two were discussing how much food was aboard the ship and what they'd need to find and get the next time they were in port. Amu didn't realize until she was in the kitchen that she was hungry. Hiding where she had, she hadn't had food for almost two straight days. Her stomach was definitely empty, though she knew that asking for something to eat, at the moment, wasn't a good idea. Why should they share food with someone that hadn't earned it?

Friendly personality in place, Kukai smiled at the three girls as they approached him. "What can I help you with?"

Taking the lead because she was the one that needed to speak with the first mate, Amu took a small step forward. "I looked at the yard. The crack in the wood is old and slowly rotting. I've fixed it to last a few more weeks, but it needs to be replaced. A good storm will knock it out and then you'll be in trouble."

Rubbing the back of his head, Kukai let out a sigh as he took in the information from the girl that used to work in a shipping yard. "Finding a port that will help us won't be easy. Not with the navy becoming so dominant in these areas. People used to not care where the money came from as long as they were paid."

Nodding because she was well aware of what the pirate meant, Amu figured she should at least offer her help. "If you can get us to an island with some trees, I can make a new one. With some help from the crew, I can put it up and then set all the rigging. It isn't something I haven't done before."

"You can do it all?"

"Yes."

Kukai couldn't help but be impressed. They were rather lucky that their particular stowaway was one worth keeping. "I'll talk to the captain. We might do that before dropping you at the next port. That way we can get it fixed and be done with it. Miki reported that you fixed the stairs to the hold."

Nodding, Amu decided to use her time out of the wind to fix her hair out of her face. Running her fingers through the pink strands, the hungry girl pulled it back and out of her eyes. "I did. It'll take more than a couple of dropped cannonballs to break them now."

Grinning sheepishly because he'd been the one to assign the two as gunners when they'd first joined the crew, Kukai rubbed the back of his head while avoiding eye contact with the girl before him. "Good."

Done with her hair, Amu turned to find that they were no longer alone in the kitchen. The captain had entered at some point. He stood in the back, watching the conversation without joining in. Something about him made Amu wary. Then again, he did hold her fate in his hands. "I'll go talk to Utau. It looked as though she was having a bit of a hard time with the rudder."

Before anyone could make a comment or move to stop her, Amu took herself out of the room. Something about the ship's captain made her chest ache. Amu just couldn't figure out why. It was best that she just stay away from him.

Ikuto watched the girl go before turning to his crew. "There's an island a few days south of here. The last time we were there it was uninhabited."

"You want her to fix the yard?"

Staring right back at his first mate, Ikuto gave a small shrug. "Might as well make her earn her passage to a new port."

XXX

Arriving at the helm, Amu stood off to the side for a few minutes to watch as Utau manned the large wheel. Just as she thought, the blonde was having a hard time cranking the wheel to the left. There was no reason for it to be so rough, which meant that something was blocking the gears near the rudder.

Ignoring the new girl, Utau continued to take them to the port where they could let the pink-haired girl off. The sooner she was gone the better. There was no need for some rich fiancé on a pirate ship. "Why are you staring at me?"

"How long has it been difficult for you to steer?"

"Excuse me?"

Amu hadn't been intending to insult the sailing mistress in any way. Unfortunately, she took offense to how Amu worded her question. "I can tell that it is difficult for you to turn toward the left. How long has it been like that?"

Huffing, Utau didn't particularly want to answer. She couldn't find a reason not to. "Since a storm about two weeks ago. I'm getting used to it."

Frowning, Amu watched as Utau forced the wheel left again. "Something's wrong with it. I'm going to check it out."

Before the blonde could ask how the other girl intended to do that, the pinkette was hurrying away. "Whatever."

Ignoring some of the weird looks she was receiving from other members of the crew, Amu grabbed the coil of rope she'd spotted earlier to begin making her harness. A single strand around her waist could cause problems inside her abdomen. Tying her rope around her entire torso instead of just her waist would take some of the pressure off her organs. If she'd had the time before jumping from the other ship to the pirate ship back when she'd been trying to escape, she would have made a harness then, too.

No one said a word as Amu began to climb the mainmast. Stopping just below the crow's nest, Amu tied her rope to the large beam that rose from the middle of the ship. With the ship moving on the waves and the wind, Amu knew that she was going to have to run to the right before jumping off the end of the top yard. She'd have to jump a bit forward so that when the rope caught, she'd be pulled back into a large arc. That way she wouldn't hit the side of the ship too early and would be able to get around to the back side.

Squaring her shoulders as she faced the way she was about to go, Amu closed her eyes and felt the movement of the ship and the ocean. The wind attempted to pull her hair from her tie. Amu blocked out everything as her mind went through the motions of her jump. She could already feel herself flying through the air, free-falling until the rope caught and pulled her around to her intended target. There was a spot she was aiming for just beside the rudder. It would be difficult to stop there while the ship was moving, but Amu had always loved a challenge.

Ikuto and the others walked out of the kitchen just in time to see Amu settle on the top yard. "What is she doing?"

No one could answer the question as they all kept their eyes firmly fixed on the pinkette on top of the mast. Just when Ikuto was about to call out to her, Amu's eyes snapped open and she took off running down the yard. "Yah!"

Every member of the pirate crew watched as the pinkette dove off the top of their ship in a perfect dive. For a few long seconds, everyone watched with bated breaths until the rope caught at the girl was brought in a graceful arc around the side of the ship.

Racing to keep the girl in their sights, the crew members looked over the edge of their ship to find that the girl was no longer there. Ikuto looked back up to see the rope pulled tautly but showing that the girl was now at the rear of his ship. Moving to the back railing, he looked down to see her talking to herself as she looked at the rudder. "What the hell was that?"

Startled, Amu looked up to find a rather pissed looking pirate captain glaring at her. "What was what?"

"That jump."

Shrugging, Amu went back to examining the rudder. There were more important things to do at the moment besides explaining something she found simple to someone that probably wouldn't share a similar belief. "That's how I get down to the sides of any ship needing a repair. I've been doing it for years. You don't have to be worried."

Scowling, Ikuto leaned back without letting the girl out of his sight. "Who said I was worried?"

Biting back her smile, Amu found what she was looking for. Something was caught in the gear of the rudder. When Utau steered right, the chunk of debris moved easily. When the blonde turned the wheel left it caused the chunk of whatever to get caught up more. "Tell Utau to spin all the way to the right."

Leaning back over the edge of the railing, Ikuto tried to see what the girl below him was looking at. "Why would I have my sailing mistress take us in a tight circle?"

"Because something is stuck in your gears and if we don't get it out then you won't be able to steer this floating raft anywhere."

Begrudgingly, Ikuto turned to signal to Utau. "Let it all the way to the right. Amu will get whatever out. Kukai! Give the order to brace!"

As first mate, Kukai had the task to make certain that everything on the ship was kept in order. Her first day on the ship and already Amu had noticed something that he hadn't. "BRACE!"

Once she received the call from Kukai, Utau did as instructed and spun the wheel as quickly as she could to the right.

Having known that the ship was going to turn sharply, Amu held on tight to the piece of whatever was stuck in the rudder chains. The momentum of the ship and the loosening of the chains around whatever it was gave her the strength to get it out of the chains. Once the rudder was free, Amu dropped whatever it had been and watched as it sank into the blue water below her. Whatever it had been, it wasn't wooden. "All clear! Tell her to test it out!"

With the helm firmly back under her control, Utau spun the wheel a few times to make certain that everything felt smooth. It felt perfect under her hands. "All clear!"

Ikuto looked back down to see that Amu was studying the rudder still. "How do you get back up?"

Deeming that nothing was broken or needed further repairs, Amu pushed herself away from the rudder. "Easily."

One hand after the other, Amu pulled herself up to the railing of the deck and climbed back onto the ship. "Utau said that something happened during a storm. I would suggest that the next time you blow up a navy ship, you make certain you're far enough away that you won't get hit by the debris. Having part of a cannon stuck in your rudder isn't ideal."

Ikuto couldn't decide if he liked the fact that Amu was so blunt or not. Having her on board was definitely interesting so far. Maybe they wouldn't hurry to the next port after all.

.

Morg: So Amu rules.

Ikuto: She is my queen.

Amu: I might throw up.

Morg: That was a bit cheesy.

Ikuto: I only speak the truth.

Amu: Gross.

Morg: Just review so we can leave.