Morg: Heyo! This chapter is for an amazing person and I hope they know how much I appreciate them.

Ikuto: Are you going to tell us who it is?

Amu: Do you actually care?

Morg: This person knows exactly who they are. Plus I sent them a message since they FINALLY made an account.

Ikuto: Okay…

Amu: This here. This is a great example as to why we don't want you to own us.

Morg: Whatever.

~The Eighth Sea~

Amu felt the ship moving beneath her before she was fully conscious. Then there was the matter that her eyelids looked red with her eyes closed. Clearly, she was no longer underground. That wasn't as calming as she'd thought it would be as she pushed herself up on the bed she was in. "Ikuto!?"

"I'm here."

Turning her head sharply to the right, Amu found Ikuto sitting on the bed between herself and the wall. He was not touching her but he was also clearly not going anywhere. "What happened?"

Ikuto closed his eyes and rested his head against the side of his ship that he was leaning against. "We were rescued by the crew and they set off."

Amu moved until she was sitting cross-legged not too far away from the captain. She faced him with her body but was just far enough away that they weren't touching. Not unless one of them reached out to the other. "Ikuto, we were… We could have… I…"

The captain's eyes flew open as he heard Amu fight with a sniffle. Her eyes were pooling with tears and he knew that she was going through the same mental dilemma that he had when he'd woken up. Then again, he hadn't cried about almost dying with her in his arms. "We're safe now, Amu. We were rescued."

She sat there for only a moment longer before she lunged forward into his arms. It wasn't a surprise to her that it took him a moment to actually hug her in return. She wasted none of her time crying against his chest.

Combing his fingers through Amu's hair, Ikuto held the girl tightly to his chest. If it was at all possible, he would remove the memories that she now had that would haunt her for the rest of her life. There would always be nightmares waiting for Amu to fall asleep. She'd seen so much that no one should ever have to see. "I've got you."

It took a while, but Amu was able to calm herself down. She sniffled a few more times before turning her head and look at the wall of the ship. "I… Ikuto, I don't know how to say this."

"Just say it and I'll try to understand."

"I'm glad you were there with me."

He stayed quiet so that Amu knew that she could continue talking. If anything, he was also glad that he was with her, though he would have rather she never have been in the situation.

"I don't… that sounds so horrible! I mean that when I was diving down to get Utau and saw that she was floating there alone, I was scared. I also thought it would be the end for me. I thought I would die there alone. And then when we were in that… that box… If you hadn't been there I would have panicked."

Though he'd been trying not to since he'd woken up, Ikuto thought about the words that he'd said to her while they were buried alive. He'd confessed everything, but she'd been so far gone. It was possible that she hadn't heard them at all. And then he'd woken up before her and just sat there to watch her breathe because she was. She was breathing and they were both alive still.

But she didn't seem to remember and he wasn't sure if he should bring it up again. That had been a rather desperate moment for him. "I'm glad that I was there with you, Amu. But let's try to never do that again."

Chuckling a bit wetly, Amu pushed herself off Ikuto's chest. She wiped her nose with the back of her hand before moaning at the sight of his wet shirt. "I'm sorry for crying all over you."

"Don't be. I'd be more concerned if you hadn't cried."

Sucking in a breath, Amu took a moment to gather her thoughts. Dealing with the cove and the sirens had taught her that if she tried to repress her thoughts and memories then it would only be worse later. Instead, she let them flow through her mind and tried to see them through a detached light. The thing was, she remembered Ikuto talking to her. His voice was frantic and whatever he'd been saying was important. She just couldn't remember the words.

"Ikuto, what did you-"

"SHIP ON STARBOARD!"

"ALL HANDS HOAY!"

Ikuto was out of the bed within seconds and heading for the door. His legs were a bit unsteady but meeting another ship in open water could mean several things and he was not prepared to be in another battle. If anything he really just wanted everyone to have a break for once. "Amu! Stay here!"

For a moment, Amu stared after the man as he staggered out the door. Then she snorted and got to her feet. Her clothes were a bit of a mess and her hair had seen better days, but none of that was a concern as she made her way out onto the deck. "What is it?"

Frowning at the girl he was sure he'd just given an order to, Ikuto looked away from Amu to where Kukai was already looking at the other ship through his spyglass. "Kukai!"

Turning with a grin, the first mate saluted his captain before gesturing back toward the other ship. "Glad to see you up, Captain! That ship is flying Navy colors!"

Groaning, Ikuto moved forward until he could take the spyglass and look for himself. "Have they moved to intercept us?"

"Aye."

"Damn it!"

Amu swiped the spyglass out of Ikuto's hands as he turned to start giving orders to the crew. She ignored him for the first part as she focused on the other ship. "Son of a biscuit eater!"

Startled, Ikuto turned back to look at Amu. Never had he heard her talk so much like a pirate before. "What?"

"That's Tadase!"

"Who is Tadase?"

Kukai knew from the way that Amu was biting at her lip and Ikuto's face was beginning to darken that he wasn't going to want to be caught in the crossfire of this discussion. So he backed away.

"He's the idiot that tried to force me to marry him by threatening my family."

"He what."

It wasn't a question and that caught Amu off guard. She thought Ikuto knew. The rest of the crew had known the situation that she'd been in. "I escaped him by hiding on your ship."

"And now he's chasing us down to get you back."

Amu blanched at that before she turned to look up at Ikuto. "I guess so. That boy really doesn't understand that no means no."

"I would sink that ship."

"Ikuto! You can't fight a navy ship. That'll bring a whole world of hurt down on you and your crew. Let's just flee. It's not like he knows that I'm here."

"They're gaining on us, Captain!"

Ikuto stared at Amu for a moment before he let his eyes fall shut. This was another one of those moments when he really wished that he was still back at home with his mother and not yet taking the crossing. His life had been much simpler then. "We are going to flee, Amu, but if he's out here looking for you then it isn't likely that he'll let us slip away."

"And if he does catch up?"

"Then we'll do what all pirates do."

Amu didn't know if she liked the smirk that sat on Ikuto's lips. "And what's that?"

"Fight for our freedom."

With a sigh, Amu returned the spyglass to Kukai before heading for the mast.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Stopping, Amu turned to look back at the captain. "To help the crew, of course."

Shaking his head, Ikuto pointed back to his cabin. "You should get back inside, Amu."

Anger igniting her, Amu opened her mouth to give Ikuto a piece of her mind. There was no way that she was going to let everyone else do all the work while she hid in his bunk. "If you think-"

"I think that we're not the only ship out here with a spyglass, Amu. If he sees you on the deck then he won't ever give up his pursuit."

She hesitated. Amu thought over his words before looking back at the other ship and dropping her shoulders. Ikuto was right. If she was seen then she'd be putting the entire crew in danger. "Fine."

Pleased that he wasn't going to have to worry about the pinkette if a fight broke out, Ikuto turned back to the crew and began issuing orders once more. He was more than aware when Amu slunk back into his cabin. Something in his stomach tightened when he thought about how he'd watched her sleeping in his bed not that long before.

Shaking himself to focus, Ikuto climbed to where his sister had the helm. "I'll take it, Utau."

Handing over the wheel to her captain, Utau scrambled to join Kukai on the main deck to help the others with the ropes and sails.

Ikuto closed his eyes for only a moment as he enjoyed the sun on his face and the wind in his hair. He hadn't thought he was going to be able to feel this again when he'd been buried with Amu. Now he just wanted this all the time. And he knew exactly who he wanted to share it with. "Heave ho, you seadogs! Let's put some space between us and those scallywags!"

The crew let out a cheer as they moved as quickly as possible to turn the sails to their advantage and lose the ship that was still approaching them.

Kukai kept his wits about him as he watched the navy scum move about their deck in order to chase them. "We aren't going to lose them easily, Captain."

Ikuto nodded as he turned the wheel to adjust his ship so that the wind could push it just that much faster. "The question is, do you think we can?"

"Their ship was built for speed. That's not a huge crewman ship. That's a policing ship. They're out here to find others."

Swearing, Ikuto threw a glance over his shoulder at the other ship. "And they're looking for Amu."

"She hid on this ship once, we could let them board us and search."

"The chances of them finding her are too high. We wouldn't be able to do much if they tried to take her."

Kukai took a step closer to his captain before he let his smile drop from what it usually was in front of the crew. "Look who suddenly doesn't want to be rid of her."

Ikuto made a gesture with his hand that was nothing nice but made Kukai laugh anyway.

"So we run and if that doesn't work?"

"We fight."

Kukai knew that look in his captain's eyes. It had gotten them the pieces of the maps that they'd been looking for. That look meant that nothing was going to stop him from doing what he thought should be done. And it also meant that he'd make sure to see his crew through whatever it was his plans were. "Aye, aye, Captain!"

Turning, Kukai let his smile come back full force as he began shouting once more. "Gunners! Get ready! If need be, we'll be feeding the fishes!"

.

Morg: Exciting.

Ikuto: Meh.

Amu: The end.

Morg: Not yet!