Morg: Heyo! Do you love me?

Ikuto: What kind of question is that?

Amu: No.

Morg: Harsh.

Ikuto: You asked.

Amu: That's never going to change.

Morg: I'm going to be mean to you now.

Ikuto: Oh, you're breaking my heart.

Amu: Well, you don't own us anyway so…

Morg: Point taken.

~The Eighth Sea~

The crew that was left on the ship had watched everything that had happened on the beach. Thus, naturally, they had plenty of questions once those who had gone ashore made it back to the deck of the ship. However, duty came first. The smaller boat was hoisted to the main deck and the items aboard it unloaded before the rowboat was stored. It wasn't until Amu had her tree safely put near the bow for her to work on that the crew moved closer to their captain to ask the questions burning their tongues.

Kukai was the first to break the silence. As the first mate, he felt that he could actually ask questions without anyone getting angry at him. Usually. "So what happened? That was some crazy stuff that we watched from here."

Shrugging a bit, Ikuto turned to Temari and Il to ask the question he wanted to know the answer to. "Tell me what happened."

Used to the captain demanding things instead of asking for them, Temari gave a short shrug. "Dia warned us right before we were attacked. The things just came out of the grass by a small pool of water and came straight at us so we ran."

Nodding along to Temari's part of the story, Il couldn't help but send a grin over to El to show the other girl that she was just fine. "We had our knives so we were able to hold them off without much of a problem until you got there."

Despite the rest of the crew being there, El moved to the other girl's side to check her over for any injuries. "Are you sure that you're not hurt?"

Shaking her head, Il simply took her hand to keep her by her side while the rest of the crew talked about the creatures. They could talk later when they were alone.

Amu watched the exchange without much of a thought until her attention was pulled back to Temari describing how the animals had been like giant blood-thirsty rats. Well, she wasn't wrong with that description. They were unlike any animal that Amu had ever seen.

Shaking his head, Kukai ran a hand through his hair before grinning at the other members of the crew. "Well, no one got hurt so I suppose it isn't a big deal. Let's mark the island on our map so that we'll remember not to come back here in the future."

Ikuto couldn't have agreed more. He didn't have to say anything as the crew broke apart to get ready to set sail. They all knew their jobs and what they were to do. However, there was a certain pinkette that Ikuto wanted to remind about her current predicament. "You only have a few days to get the yard done, Amu. Don't tarry."

Hiding the urge to roll her eyes, Amu made certain that she did not look away from Ikuto's hard gaze. She didn't know if the captain wanted her to fail or succeed. She also didn't know what would happen if she didn't finish the yard. There wasn't anyone else on board that could do it. It could be her excuse to not have to get off at the next port.

Amu wasn't raised to take advantage of other people. She already felt guilty enough about sneaking onto the ship. There was no way that she could purposely not finish mending the yard on time. Her parents had taught her better. She wanted to stay because Ikuto saw her worth, not because she'd tricked him.

Toughening her resolved, Amu faced the man that confused her more than anyone else on the ship without her knowing the reason as to why. "I'll finish before we make port. There's no doubt about that, Captain."

Nodding at the girl, Ikuto didn't bother to say anything else before he walked away. If Amu was going to keep her promise then she needed to work and Ikuto wasn't going to be the one to keep her from doing so. Instead, he entered his cabin to settle at his desk. "Yoru?"

The younger male quickly entered the room. "You called?"

Sighing in his seat, Ikuto rested his chin on the palm of his hand and his elbow on the top of his desk. "Mark the map. You can name this island whatever it is that you want, but make certain to draw some kind of rodent or something so that we remember."

Grimacing a bit, Yoru moved toward the map to do as instructed. He liked doing these sorts of tasks for Ikuto. "I don't think we'll be forgetting those big rats any time soon, sir."

Ikuto couldn't agree more.

XXX

With Nadeshiko and Miki's help, Amu gathered all the tools that she was going to need to fix the yard. Rima was quick to join them. The other three girls were learning more than doing, but Amu found that she enjoyed explaining what needed to be done to the wood in order for them to make the repairs. If the other three could learn some things from her then she wouldn't have to worry so much when she did leave the ship.

Pointing at the bits of wood that looked useless but Amu was keeping off to the side, Rima scrunched up her face a bit. "I don't understand why you think it's worth it to keep those. Why not just toss them over the side and be done with them?"

Looking down at her growing pile of wood, Amu let out a soft sigh. Part of the reason she was keeping it was because her parents had raised her in a poor environment, which meant never throwing away anything. The other part was because wood on a ship was important. Even the smaller pieces could be useful. Especially since they were soft pine.

Using one of the large knives to continue carving the log down to the size that they needed it to be to fit on the mast, Amu tried to figure out the best way to explain herself. "Pine is really great. Especially when it is this soft. Keeping even the small bits like this is important. Some of these chunks are big enough that if the railings get damaged, or some of the other décor pieces, we can replace them or repair them. The smaller bits are good for filling in any cracks that might appear in the hull. Does the ship have any leaks at the moment?"

Nadeshiko nodded her head to the question. "Yeah, there are two down in the hold. We used tar to fill them, but they usually only hold for about a month before we're filling the crack in again."

Nodding along to what the long-haired girl was telling her, Amu paused in her carving to wipe some of the sweat from her forehead. The sun was rather cruel, but Amu wasn't going to allow it to slow her down. "Once I finish carving this, we'll go down and look at them. Does the captain know about them?"

"Does the captain know about what?"

The four girls looked up to find Kukai looking back at them. He couldn't help but be a bit amused at the sight of the four of them having girl bonding time over carving part of the mast. He wasn't going to say anything due to the fact that each one was more than capable of giving a few bruises for his unwanted comments. "Are you going to answer me?"

Swallowing, Miki gave a small smile to the first mate. "Ikuto knew about them when they happened the first time."

"Knew about what?"

Sighing, Nade figured they might as well just explain, or else the male wasn't going to leave them alone. "The cracks in the hull. The two down in the hold."

Lifting an eyebrow, Kukai continued to watch the four girls. He wasn't all that surprised when Amu went back to working on the yard. It had only been a few hours, but she'd managed to carve off a lot of the unnecessary wood. "Weren't those fixed?"

Rolling her eyes, Rima nodded. "Yes, but the tar we used doesn't last for long. Amu said she knows how to fix them so we'll go do that later this evening. It isn't anything to worry about."

Smiling as he turned to leave, Kukai gave them a wave before heading off. "Never said that I was worried. Not with you girls on the job."

Grumbling something about telling Utau to be particularly cold to the first mate for a few days, Rima turned back to watch what Amu was doing. In her honest opinion, getting rid of the pinkette at the next port was a terrible decision. If there was anyone that Rima had ever met that she thought could build a ship from scratch, it was Amu. "Wait, why did you move to that spot? Are you done here?"

Looking up to see what Rima was talking about, Amu shook her head. The sun felt rather hot against the back of her neck, but Amu didn't have time to find what she needed to protect it at the moment. There was only a couple of days for her to finish the yard. On top of that, she now wanted to show the other three how to fix the cracks in the hull. "Because if I carve this part down too far then I might risk the chance of the log splitting due to uneven pressure. So instead of letting that happen, I'll move along the length of it and make certain to keep it fairly even until it's finished. I should be able to have it all done by tomorrow afternoon so we can hang it."

Letting out a sigh, Nadeshiko flipped her hair again before looking straight into Amu's eyes. "Ikuto is a fool if he leaves you behind in that port."

Amu wanted to agree but knew she couldn't. Ikuto was the captain, but he wasn't her captain. For now, there was nothing that she could do.

XXX

Rather exhausted from not only the eventful morning but also the rather harsh afternoon under the sun, Amu made her way down into the orlop. Nadeshiko and Rima were coming to meet her to take her down into the hold and show her where the cracks were while Miki got some more hot tar. Amu already had the wood that she was going to need.

Freezing her place, the pinkette stared at the sight before her. El and Il were tightly holding onto one another while kissing rather passionately. It was a sight that Amu wasn't really expecting. "Oh."

Breaking apart, the two girls stared at Amu while they attempted to get their breathing under control. Il was the first to find her voice. "What are you doing here?"

Shifting the wood in her hands, Amu gave a soft shrug to the other two. It wasn't like she'd been looking for them to ruin their time together. "I'm on my way down to the hold to fix a couple of things down there before eating and getting some sleep. I didn't mean to interrupt."

El looked a bit torn as she bit down on her bottom lip. "Sorry, you had to see something like that."

"El! Don't apologize to her! We did nothing wrong!"

Clearly, this wasn't the first time the two girls before her had talked about their relationship and making it known to more people. Amu really hadn't meant to disturb them. "I'm the one that should be apologizing. I didn't mean to interrupt. If you're worried about what I think about your relationship then you shouldn't be. I mean, I won't tell anyone."

Sighing, Il rested against El before mumbling out some words loud enough for the stowaway to hear. "The rest of the crew knows anyhow. Not like we can really keep a relationship a secret when we're all on the same boat."

There was that. Amu wasn't exactly surprised to hear it. "Well, my mama taught me that love is love. It doesn't matter the gender as long as you really love them."

Tilting the other girl's chin, Il looked down into El's eyes. "That's what I've been trying to tell you. The rest of the crew doesn't care that we're together. It's okay to be more open about our love."

Shuddering a bit due to the hot breath of the other girl fanning over her face, El wrapped her arms around Il's waist before burying her head into the other girl's neck. "I know. I know, but it's hard for me. I'll try though, for you."

Looking up at Amu, Il mouthed her thanks to the pinkette without letting go of her lover. There was no way that she was going to pass up a chance of holding her for a bit longer.

Smiling back at the other girl, Amu turned so that she could continue on her way into the belly of the ship. With the stairs fixed, people were using them again and moving more and more throughout the ship. She really shouldn't have been surprised to find the two girls down there, anyway.

Stepping off the last step into the hold, Amu looked around at the items stored there. There wasn't actually much there, which confused Amu since she was aboard a pirate ship. Usually, from the stories she'd heard, they had a lot of treasure or things down in the hold to sell once they made port so that they'd have money to buy provisions. It didn't seem to be the case for this ship.

Just the fact that she was fixing their problems one by one for free was definitely helping the crew save whatever money they did have. Amu let out a quiet sigh. She figured it wasn't really free labor since they were giving her a ride that took her far out of Tadase's grasp.

"There you are, Amu. The first crack is right over here."

With the lantern that Nade was carrying, Amu was easily able to see the crack in the hull. Water was already beginning to seep in around the tar that they'd used to plug it. Despite her tired state, Amu carefully explained what to do as she balled up as much loose bits of softwood as she could.

With a knife, Amu carefully removed the chunks of tar filling most of the crack. The spot that was damaged wasn't below the water line unless a rather large wave hit the boat, which meant that Amu was going to be able to fill it easily for now. "If the crack was bigger then I'd say that we'd have to go outside to fix it from both sides. Stuffing it full of sawdust before putting tar over it will definitely help hold it longer than a month. You have to keep an eye on these spots though. Pay attention to their size. If they get any bigger then they're going to need a different sort of repair."

Nade let out a soft sigh as Rima moved to find the other spot that needed fixing as Miki came down the stairs with the tar. "Seriously, we're the carpenters of this ship, but we can't do much without you. You've taught us so much in the few days that you've been here. I don't know what we're going to do if something happens and we've left you behind at the port. Ikuto really is a fool."

The other two girls were quick to agree as Amu just gave them a tired smile.

XXX

After a grueling morning of servitude – Amu had gotten up earlier than usual just to make certain that she finished her task on time – the pinkette was already rather exhausted when she called for Kukai. "The yard is finished. We have to remove the old one and hoist this one up so I can attach it."

Nodding to the tired-looking girl before him, Kukai called out the sailors to help. El, Rhythm, and Nagihiko were quick to come when called for. Dia wasn't far behind them. "Clear the rigging from the broken yard. It's time to replace it!"

The crew scrambled to help as Amu instructed them on what to do with Kukai's help. They had the old yard coming down and the new one going up without much difficulty.

Keeping an eye on the ropes, Kukai grinned up at the pinkette already on the mast to finish the task. "Steady! Steady now! How we looking, Amu?"

"A bit higher!" Getting the yard into the correct spot wasn't too difficult with all the help that they had. The moment it was there, Amu was quick to settle all the parts so that the new piece of wood would do its job well. "Got it!"

The crew cheered as Amu finished securing the yard before scrambling down. The sailors would put the rigging back to where it was supposed to go. Amu didn't have to worry about it anymore.

Pulling the pinkette under his arm, Kukai couldn't help but mess up her already messy hair. "You look tired, why don't you go get some more rest. We'll call you when it's time for some grub."

Nodding though she felt like collapsing, Amu smiled back at the first mate. "I told Ikuto that I'd get it done."

"That you did," Kukai said as he smiled back at the girl. "That you did."

Rima was quick to take the broken yard down below the deck with Nadeshiko. They'd definitely already learned Amu's first rule. Don't ever throw out wood. They weren't going to forget it so soon.

Dropping into Su's bunk, Amu let out a tired sigh. They'd make port by the following evening. She'd managed to not only get the yard done in the small amount of time that Ikuto had given her, but she'd also done it faster than he'd thought she could. Amu fell asleep feeling rather proud of herself.

.

Morg: I'm feeling proud of myself right now.

Ikuto: I don't know why.

Amu: No one does.

Morg: Hey now! I like this chapter! Amu is making friends with the crew members.

Ikuto: I don't really care about that.

Amu: No one does.

Morg: I need better friends.