Morg: Heyo! I think I let the suspense build enough.

Ikuto: Is that what you were doing?

Amu: No, she was just being lazy.

Morg: If you keep giving away all my secrets then I'm going to have very boring stories.

Ikuto: I know something that's not a secret.

Amu: What? That she doesn't own us?

Morg: I hear that all the time and it still feels like you're rubbing salt into an open wound.

~The Eighth Sea~

Amu had been right to think that she wouldn't like the plan that Ikuto had been putting together in his head. They'd found an out-of-the-way area for her to change. The captain had had to help her get into the overly large gown, but they'd managed. Amu knew she looked stunning in it. "So I have it on, what's next?"

Rummaging through his sack for a moment, Ikuto took out a bit of rope before handing the bag over to the pinkette. He may or may not have peeked a bit while she had been changing. Granted, he had had to help her, but he was still somewhat of a gentleman. "You're going to tie me up."

"As much as I enjoy that idea, Captain." Amu dragged out the Captain part as she stared up at him. She was putting things together and didn't like the way that they were fitting. "I don't think this is the time for that sort of thing."

Unable to help himself, Ikuto chuckled as he began trying to wind the ropes around his own wrists. Amu had a sense of humor. He couldn't deny her that. "You're going to turn me in for the reward."

Lifting one of her eyebrows, Amu moved forward to finish tying the rope so that Ikuto was now her prisoner. "I take it that you're not going to be staying with the people I'm selling you to."

"Of course not," Ikuto said as he checked to make certain that the ropes were tight enough to look real. "You'll be meeting me back here once you've collected the money. Do try to get out of that dress the best you can by yourself and get it hidden again. People have less of a chance realizing it is you that way."

Tugging at the skirts of the ridiculously large dress, Amu let out a huff of breath to get some of her pink hair out of her face. "So I take the money and run in case someone is after me, but I just wait here for you because you're certain that you'll get away without any problems?"

"Are you doubting me?"

Amu shrugged her shoulders but decided to remain silent.

Ikuto stared down at her for a few seconds longer, waiting to see if she was going to say anything. When she didn't, he motioned for her to pick their things back up. They didn't have much time before they were going to have to leave. "Come on, let's get going."

Amu really didn't like the idea, but she wasn't going to argue. If this worked out the way that it was supposed to, then Ikuto was going to be much richer and she was going to be in his good graces. She couldn't really refuse him. "Fine, but remember that I'm going to have to be in charge for a while."

Ikuto's response to that was a roll of his eyes.

Amu pretended that she couldn't see it.

Moving through the streets, Amu walked every bit like the lady that she looked like. She tugged on the ropes to make Ikuto stumble once in a while. It was all part of the act. She had to make it seem like she really had subdued him. Once they found some of the men they'd seen before, Amu approached them. "You there, I want to turn this man in. I heard that there's quite a bit of a reward being offered for him."

Hiding his surprise at how well Amu could talk down to people that were clearly much larger than she was, Ikuto kept his head low. He didn't need them to realize that he was well aware of everything going on.

"And who might you be?"

Lifting one of her brows, Amu tapped her foot on the dirty ground. She was feeling rather nervous, but she turned it into impatience as she stared right back at the thug that had spoken to her. "Someone in a hurry, so if you'd kindly direct me on where I should go then I'll be on my way."

The same man moved closer to her. His height made him tower over her form. He also had a rather unpleasant stench hanging in the air around him. "Why don't you just hand him over to me and I'll take care of everything for you, darling."

It wasn't really a question, but Amu found herself scoffing out loud. It was a reaction she hadn't meant to show but went with rather than show that she regretted it. "And what? You'll take care of the reward money, too? No, I'd rather take him myself. If you are unaware of the location to which I'm supposed to go then I'll ask someone more intelligent."

The man's sleazy grin turned into a scowl. "Watch it, bitch. These streets ain't safe for your kind."

Pulling herself to her full height even if it still didn't match his, Amu let out another breath of impatient air. "My kind? Do you mean rich, wealthy, and powerful? Because I'm well aware of how easily I could squash your insignificance beneath my heel. So either you tell me or you move."

At first, Ikuto had kept his head down so that he wouldn't give away the fact that he was paying close attention to everything that was happening. Now he was keeping it down so that the fools before them wouldn't see his smirk. Amu had quite the way with words.

Begrudgingly, the man pointed his beefy hand the way that they needed to go. "The boss is waiting in the abandoned house down the road. You can't miss it."

Pulling a coin from her bag, Amu let it fall into the dirt on the ground before turning and walking away. She made certain to tug harshly on Ikuto's ropes. "That's for your generous help."

Ikuto didn't have the chance to look back to see if the man picked up the money or not. He was far too busy holding back his laughter and trying to pretend to be a bit incapacitated.

The house was easy enough to find. There was another thug-looking guy standing outside of it that gave the location away. Amu didn't hesitate to approach the door. The guy tried to block her, but the pinkette only scowled at him. "Move, I'm here to collect my reward."

The man took one look at Ikuto before moving out of the way to let Amu and her captive go past.

To Amu's surprise, though she hid it well, the shopkeeper was currently there arguing with some man seated at a desk. She cleared her throat to gain their attention before smirking as she tugged Ikuto forward once more. "Gentlemen, good evening. I trust you're doing well."

"You!" The shopkeeper seemed shocked that Amu was standing there before him. He recognized her despite her change in outfit. "You're the bitch from the shop."

Keeping her smirk in place, though Amu couldn't really understand why everyone was calling her a bitch, the pinkette flipped her hand through the air. "And you're the idiot that thought he was going to collect my reward. I've been after this particular bit of money for a while. I'm good at rounding up those who don't want to be found. Did you think I was going to let you just steal my money?"

The man was outraged. It was clear by how red his face was turning. "Me? You're the one that stole my hard-earned money!"

Scoffing at the other, Amu shook the rope in her hands. Ikuto did his part by slightly falling to one knee. "You? I'm the one that found him, made him let me travel with him, and then proceeded to drug him. You didn't do shit."

Once again, Ikuto had to hold himself back from reacting to how feisty Amu really was.

The shopkeeper seemed at a loss for words.

Seeing this, the man behind the desk finally stood. "Then I welcome you to my establishment, Madame. It seems you've well-earned the reward for this particular ruffian."

Holding her chin high, Amu gave a slight nod of her head. "I have."

"Then let me pay you in full. I would hate to keep a busy lady like yourself waiting."

Amu couldn't help but let a smile grace her features. Finally, someone ready to help her out. "That would be lovely. What a good man you are."

The shopkeeper gave one last scathing look before making his way out of the door. The bitch might have won this round, but she wouldn't be keeping that prize money. Not if he had any say.

The man waited for the other man to leave before turning back to the beautiful pinkette standing before him. "So you drugged him?"

Smirking once again, Amu gave another nod of her head before tugging again on the ropes. Ikuto let out a moan at that cue. "He won't be moving much on his own for several hours. You could leave him sit outside until morning and he'll still be there."

The two shared in their laughter for a moment before the man motioned Amu closer to his desk. He pulled out a rather large sack of coins before dropping it on top of the desk.

Amu eyed the sack, but she didn't move to touch it. She didn't want to seem eager. "Is that the full sum? As you can see, I'm more than capable of doing what needs to be done and I'd rather not have to return because I've been cheated."

From his place still slightly kneeling, Ikuto tried to figure out when and where Amu might have learned how to do everything she was currently doing. She could talk hard with bad people and act the part of someone that lived the life. Things were working out almost too perfectly.

The man chuckled before pulling out another sack and dropping it beside the first. "You are rather smart, for a woman."

Amu let the insult slide as she took the bags off the desk and weighed them in her hands as if to judge if they really were the right amount. "And you're rather kind, for a man."

Handing over the rope that Ikuto was tied with, Amu slipped the bags into her own sack. She was about to make her exit. Granted, the pinkette wasn't stupid. She knew that there were plenty of people waiting for her outside the door. They wanted what she now had. "I trust that we're finished here."

The man nodded. "Have a good day."

Amu smirked back at him before approaching the door. She didn't dare throw a look toward Ikuto. He was on his own. She'd meet him back at the spot they had agreed on. "I trust that you will, too."

Not waiting to see if the man was going to respond, Amu kicked open the door of the house before screaming over her shoulder at the man still in the house. "You're a cheat and scoundrel! Just because I'm a woman doesn't mean that you don't have to pay me, you bastard!"

With that, Amu angrily stomped her way away from the house. Of course, she was well aware of the ears that had heard her outburst. She was also aware of the footsteps following her. However, they would never be able to catch up with her. Even in her humongous dress, Amu was light on her feet and able to move swiftly through the streets and back ways.

Finding a secluded spot, Amu worked on getting out of her dress. Her guard was up due to the fact that someone could still be following her. She managed to change back due to Ikuto not tying the ties properly and stash the dress back into the sack on her shoulders. Ikuto's bag that contained their money was strapped so that it hung around her chest. Amu wasn't going to let it out of her sight.

With her part of the plan finished, Amu made her way to the spot they were supposed to meet. She made absolutely certain that she wasn't being followed before getting Ikuto's sword and other weapons from where they'd stashed them. Then she settled against the wall to wait. Hopefully, Ikuto wouldn't take too long to get there. Amu hated waiting.

XXX

The man was rather impressed with the brains of the girl that had just left. She'd even left dramatically so that the others outside thought she didn't have the money that he'd clearly seen her take. "She's quite the woman."

Ikuto wanted to agree with the man, but he couldn't let the other know that he wasn't as drugged as Amu had said he was. The girl wasn't far enough away just yet to be safe. Of course, Ikuto was more concerned about all the money he'd just seen her take.

Walking toward the captain that he'd been after for several years now, the man pulled his hand back before letting it collide with Ikuto's face. The male staggered to the floor in a heap. He released a groan but otherwise didn't move. "Hmmm, I guess she really did dose you up. I'll have to let you get some of it out of your system before the real fun begins. I want you to be fully awake for that."

When the man kicked his side, Ikuto just rolled with the hit. It hurt like hell, but he couldn't retaliate in any way. Not yet, at least. Instead, he allowed himself to be beaten for a bit before he was hauled into a back room. His rope was tied to a pole there, but it didn't mean much to Ikuto. He could easily slip the ropes.

There was no window in the room. When the man shut the door behind him, Ikuto heard a key turn to lock it. Again, he wasn't really worried. Locks weren't that hard to pick. He'd make it out of there in no time.

The only problem was that Ikuto didn't have an indication of when he could try his escape. Granted, he wasn't really worried about walking back out into the front room with the man still there. He wasn't really an obstacle. He might have a hard hit, but Ikuto wasn't one to let himself get hit usually.

There was no doubt in his mind that Amu was well on her way back to their meeting spot. He could easily slip out and go to meet her.

Twisting his wrists, Ikuto freed himself before pulling a pin out of his pocket. He always had one on his person for this reason. Getting the door open, he made sure to stay silent as he looked out. The man was at his desk, counting even more money. Yep, Ikuto would also be taking that.

Quietly, Ikuto approached the man. His steps didn't make a sound against the floor as he moved. Ikuto had learned a long time ago to tread lightly. Most people weren't aware that they were in danger until it was too late. It gave Ikuto a strange sense of pleasure.

"You know," he spoke lowly just behind the other male. He watched in delight as the male jumped and hit his knees on the underside of his desk. "You should do a better job of securing your prisoners. It was all too easy for me to walk out of that room."

The man turned slowly to see that Ikuto wasn't at all drugged. "You aren't incapacitated?"

Laughing, Ikuto shook his head. "Oh, no. My little vixen is quite the actress, isn't she? I'll reward her later."

The wink told the man that he'd certainly been had. "So what now? You're just going to walk out of here?"

Chuckling, Ikuto shook his head. "No, of course not. You're going to give me all that money first. Then I'm going to leave without a problem."

Slowly scooping the coins back into the bag they'd come from, the man kept his eyes on Ikuto. Weapon or no weapon, the captain before him was dangerous. "So you're here to steal more of my money?"

"You know," Ikuto drawled out as he waited for the man to finish getting the money into the bag. He really needed to be on his way to meet Amu. "I had intended to pay you back until you put a bounty on my head. That, to me, was declaring our business over with."

Shaking his head, the man let Ikuto take the money. To his surprise, the captain didn't make his way toward the door. Instead, he watched as Ikuto climbed the stairs to the house. "I will find you and skin you for this."

Laughing again, Ikuto shook the bag of money as he disappeared from view. "Good luck!"

Ducking through the rooms, Ikuto climbed out one of the windows before pulling himself to the roof. From there, he made his way across the city staying off the roads until he got to the alley where Amu was waiting.

XXX

"So there you are."

That wasn't the voice that she was waiting to hear. Amu looked up to find the same shopkeeper from before just a little way down the alley from her. "What do you want? Did you come to bask in the glory of my failure?"

Cocking his head to the side, the shopkeeper smirked at the girl sitting in the dirt. She was no longer dressed fancily, but he knew it was her by her pink hair. "Your failure? I'm here for your money, but I'd love to hear about that, too."

Scoffing, Amu shuffled the things on her lap. If need be, she'd fight the man before her. There was no way that she was giving him anything. "He wouldn't pay me. He kicked me out at gunpoint. That bastard."

The smirk on the man's face only widened. "Oh, did he now? That just makes it all the sweeter, don't you think?"

Rolling her eyes, Amu stayed rather still. She was prepared to fight. She didn't flinch, even when the man got closer to her. This was something that she was used to even if she shouldn't have been. There were times when others on the docks had thought that they could take advantage of her because she was a woman. They learned their lessons. Working on the ships made her stronger than she looked.

Not at all liking that the girl wasn't responding to him, the shopkeeper moved to strike her. The blow never landed.

Not because Amu blocked it, but because a force dropped from the roof to cause the shopkeeper to land in the dirt. "I suggest you don't touch her."

Shocked to see Ikuto, the shopkeeper tried to get to his feet, though he stopped when a sword nicked the skin at his neck. "So it was a hoax?"

Getting to her feet, Amu began to place Ikuto's other weapons back into their positions and holders on his body. She worked quickly while he kept the shopkeeper at the end of his sword. The movements made her get rather close to Ikuto, but she pushed those thoughts away while she worked quickly.

Smirking, Ikuto held out his bag of money that he'd brought along for Amu to add to his other sack of money. He felt like quite the rich man at the moment. "Of course, do you think I'm honestly that stupid to fall for a pretty face?"

Looking from Ikuto to the beauty behind him, the shopkeeper shrugged a bit. "She's really pretty."

Ikuto pressed his blade a bit harder. He knew what Amu looked like. He also didn't like hearing other people acknowledge her good looks. "Well, she's with me. So back off."

The shopkeeper nodded. He opened his mouth but didn't get to say anything.

While they'd been talking, Amu moved behind the man before slamming the bags of money against the back of his head. He slumped forward and was unconscious before his face hit the dirt. Ikuto pulled his sword out of the way before he killed the other.

Sheathing his sword, Ikuto looked around to make certain that they were still alone. Before leaving, he checked the man's pockets. He took the money he'd paid the man earlier back. "I believe our arrangement is off. Consider the goods as repayment for trying to sell me out."

Amu couldn't help but laugh at that. "Well, that went better than I thought. Here's your money."

Ikuto met her gaze as he moved to take the sack full of money from her. For a moment, he couldn't find the words that he wanted to say to her. "You know, you're quite the actress."

Shrugging, Amu broke their gaze to look at the ground. "Living poor makes you learn how to be someone else around others. Now, can we go sell this thing? It's really heavy. Besides, I also have to figure out how to get out of town. The men in the area don't exactly like me now."

Chuckling at that, Ikuto nodded. He had bought most of what he needed from the man sleeping by their feet. "Sure, let's go get rid of the dress."

Amu ended up getting quite a bit of money for it. The shopkeeper was more than excited to purchase the exquisite dress. It was finely made and there was hardly a stitch out of place. Amu wished that she could pass that information on to Su since she'd been the one to fix it, but she couldn't.

With her own money in a sack, Amu stayed with Ikuto just as he'd told her that she would. They made their way back to the docks. The crew had already returned and moved the supplies to the ship's holds. Amu could see some of them standing on the deck. They waved to her.

Turning, Ikuto looked down at the pinkette. The day with her in town had taught him a thing or two about her. She wasn't quite the woman that he'd been thinking she was. "Well, have a good life."

Laughing, Amu held out her hand to the captain. After the day that they'd had, Amu figured that they could at least part as friends. "You, too, Captain."

Ikuto took her hand. His eyes flickered up past Amu's head. There were men shoving vendors out of the way as they raced toward the pier. Ikuto knew exactly who they were after. Thrusting his money into Amu's hands once more, he swung her behind him. "Fuck it all. Get on the ship!"

Amu barely had the chance to look behind herself as Ikuto was practically throwing her back onto the ship that she thought she'd never get back on. The captain kicked the gangplank out of the way as he made certain that everyone was already on board except himself. Amu thought it was a rather foolish move, but she understood what he was doing. Ikuto had to make certain that none of those men got onto his ship.

"Kukai! Get moving!"

The first mate sprang into action, barking out orders so that they could leave the port. "You heard the Captain! Get your asses moving! I want this boat already out at sea!"

Amu grabbed a coil of rope that she knew wasn't going to be used for anything else. With it ready, she moved further down the ship's side as it slowly got moving. She didn't let Ikuto out of her sight as she moved around everyone else.

Ikuto ducked under the first swing. He blocked the second hit but wasn't able to avoid the kick. He knew that he was the main target, but he also couldn't let his crew be in danger. Ikuto would never let anything happen to them.

Cringing at a particularly hard hit, Amu waited with her rope. Just as the end of the ship left the dock's side, she hefted the rope higher. "Captain!"

Ikuto turned just in time to see Amu throwing him the end of a rope. He dove into the water before swimming for it. The wind was strong, which meant that it wouldn't take much for his ship to pick up speed.

Fingers wrapping around the end of the rope. Ikuto began to climb. It wasn't until he was out of water that he realized that Amu was also pulling him up. That girl was just full of all sorts of surprises.

Once he was on his ship again, Ikuto took a second to just pant. Using the side for support, he looked behind him to make certain that none of the men he'd been fighting had managed to get aboard. "Remind me to never come back here again."

Smiling, Amu nodded her head. She was too out of breath to respond. Instead, she just handed Ikuto his money once more. At least she was still on the ship.

.

Morg: So there's a long chapter to make you all happy.

Ikuto: Well, I'm not sad.

Amu: I am. I had my freedom right there but couldn't take it.

Morg: Yeah, like you'd survive on your own.

Ikuto: Nope.

Amu: You don't know that!

Morg: Oh, but we do.