Morg: Heyo!

Ikuto: Well, look who decided to show back up.

Amu: Oh, it's you again.

Morg: Wow, you could be a little more excited to see me.

Ikuto: No, I couldn't.

Amu: You don't own us. You can't tell us what to do.

Morg: Whatever.

~The Eighth Sea~

Amu blinked several times before bracing herself against the map table. "Well, shit."

Ikuto couldn't help but chuckle at that. He wasn't sure what he was expecting but her stunned expression was pretty great. "I didn't know until he was pushing me out into the bay. I didn't have a chance to get him to come with me. He sent me back. I can't just leave him there."

"Yeah, no." Amu shook her head before straightening back up. "Ikuto, I get it. I mean that. I had to leave my family behind to escape from Tadase. If one of them were trapped and I could do something about it, I would. I wouldn't hesitate to face down the sirens again."

Nodding, Ikuto looked back down at the map piece he'd been studying before Amu awoke. "The crew know. They know the reason that I want to go. The treasure that is there is sort of just a bonus."

Giggling at that, Amu looked back down at the map. "So, what does it say?"

Sighing at that, Ikuto held the piece out to the girl standing before him. "I am so fucking tired of these riddles."

Laughing, Amu took the piece of the map. She understood what he'd meant when he said that it had been too wet before for him to read. The words were barely legible to her. "Only once you can fly can you discover what you seek."

Ikuto just sighed again.

Amu looked from the map piece to Ikuto to back to the piece of paper in her hands. "That is so not helpful. Have you made any headway on this?"

Shaking his head, Ikuto gestured back down to the map. "I can't think of anywhere that I've been where I have seen anyone flying."

"Only birds."

"Right."

Amu bit her lip for a second before shifting her weight from one foot to the other. "I know I don't know a whole lot about magic, considering I didn't believe in it until this conversation, but do you think it means we have to turn someone into a bird?"

Ikuto blinked before looking up. Amu wasn't looking at him but it was clear to him that she was embarrassed by her suggestion. "I don't know if that's possible, but I hope that is not what we have to do."

Nodding once, Amu looked back at the paper in her hand. "That would be crazy, right?"

Nodding once just like Amu had, Ikuto reached out to take the map piece back from her. "Right."

Amu jerked a bit when she felt Ikuto's fingers rub against hers as he took the clue back from her. She jolted enough that she knocked some of the weights on the map off from where they'd been holding down the various papers Ikuto had on his table. "Sorry."

Ikuto couldn't help his smile as he moved to straighten out the mess that Amu had made. "Don't worry about it."

Amu wasn't sure why it caught her eye, but she suddenly knew what she was looking at was important. She hardly paid attention when she snagged Ikuto's hand out of the air before he could finish reaching for the papers that she'd moved. "Wait."

Ikuto froze. Amu had his hand in hers. He swallowed as he studied her. She seemed to be thinking hard while looking at the table. Part of him was hoping that she might have remembered something from that island where they'd almost died. He wanted her to ask. He wanted her to remember him.

"I think I figured it out."

Blinking hard, Ikuto shook himself out of his thoughts. "What?"

"Look."

Ikuto looked down to where Amu was gesturing at the map. "Here there be dragons."

"They have wings."

Ikuto frowned as he shifted around the table to stand closer to Amu's side. He didn't bother to pull his hand out of her grip. "Does that dragon look like it has an island below it?"

"The words kind of obscure it but I think so."

"Huh."

Amu looked back up at Ikuto before realizing she was still holding his hand. She let go of him and willed her face to lose the heat she could feel gathering there before Ikuto noticed her blushing. "Do you think that's it?"

Ikuto took a second to brace himself against the table and think. "If I wanted to hide the last piece of a map that could lead the wrong people to something strong enough to harm the world then I would take it to the place it would be the most secure."

Amu couldn't help but nod her head. "Dragons would be dangerous. There's no way that it would be easy to get by them to get the piece. I mean, the sirens were terrible but dragons seem like something no one wants to even dream about."

Swallowing hard, Ikuto stared at the spot on his map where he was certain was an island. One that was potentially filled with dragons. "It's the best lead we have. We'll go that way and see if there really are dragons there."

"There could be nothing there," Amu agreed. "We could find ourselves back in here looking at the map again."

Ikuto shrugged before looking up at Amu again. "True, but I can't think of it being anything else. There are no legends that I've heard of where something that isn't a bird can fly."

"So we're going?"

Ikuto studied Amu's face for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, we're going."

The smile that Amu felt pulling at her lips was one that was weak. "We're going to find it, Ikuto. We're going to rescue him."

Clearing his throat, Ikuto nodded again. "I know we will."

Amu was moving before she realized it. She was just about to wrap her arms around Ikuto's shoulders and reassure him again that they would get his father back when a scream broke the stillness of the air. Amu jerked back to stare at the door to Ikuto's cabin. "What?"

"Dia."

Stumbling, Amu followed Ikuto out the door as the captain rushed out of the room. She hoped whatever was happening to Dia wasn't horrible. That scream had not sounded good.

The entire crew was frozen as they watched Dia. She'd been helping with tying off some of the lines as they adjusted the sails when she'd suddenly stood upright and stared out at the ocean. Her scream had alerted the others to her state.

Ikuto pushed Yaya to the side as he moved past everyone to get to Dia. She was staring out at the ocean without blinking. Her mouth hung open but no sound came out. It was clear to him that she was having some sort of vision.

Carefully, Ikuto removed the rope from Dia's clenched hands. He had learned from previous times not to touch her besides making sure there was nothing nearby that could harm her. "Kukai, get the chores done before clearing the deck. I'll sit with her."

"Aye, Captain. I'll have Su bring up something for you to eat and drink."

Ikuto ignored everyone else as he stood next to Dia. He let the sounds of the crew moving and getting their tasks done quickly wash over him as he stood vigil beside her. Dia had told him once that she sometimes had no control over the gift she possessed. There were times when her visions took over her mind and she had no choice but to watch them to the end before she could break free of them.

"Is she okay?"

Ikuto tipped his head to look past Dia to Amu. The pinkette was worrying her hands as she looked at the other girl. "She will be fine. Dia has visions, Amu. She doesn't always have control. I will make sure nothing happens to her."

Amu chewed on her lip for a second before looking from Dia to Ikuto. "Is that why you all seem to trust what she says?"

Nodding, Ikuto leaned against the railing of the ship so that he could keep an eye on Dia. "Did anyone tell you about how we got rescued when that tribe took us?"

Amu shook her head but didn't say anything else.

Ikuto sighed before running his hand through his hair. "Dia had a vision right after we were taken. It was too late for the crew to help us. She saw that if they tried then they'd fail. So they had to wait until morning. She was able to lead everyone to where we were and got us rescued before it was too late. Dia can see things that she shouldn't be able to see."

"Is that what is happening now? She's having a vision?"

Ikuto nodded without saying anything further.

Amu studied the captain for a second before nodding once more. "I'm going to go find something to eat. Then I'm going to see what sort of damage those Navy assholes did to the ship. Will you let us know when she wakes up and if she's okay?"

The fact that Amu wasn't asking to be told what the vision might be about made Ikuto nod. "Yes, I'll let everyone know when she wakes. I'm sure she'll want to rest. These sorts of visions always take a lot out of her."

Amu smiled at that before patting Ikuto on the shoulder. She was careful not to touch Dia before turning to head for the stairs. Ikuto had asked everyone to finish and clear off for a reason. Amu was not going to sit on the deck and gawk at Dia when she was vulnerable. "I'll let you know if I find any major problems."

Ikuto watched Amu walk away. He tried to tell himself to stop feeling so happy about the fact that she cared for the ship and the crew as much as she did. Amu didn't remember him. She didn't feel the same way about him as he did about her.

The rest of the crew went about their business while Ikuto stayed with Dia. He was thankful when Su brought him some food and water. He thought about telling Kukai and Utau about where they needed to go but decided against it. He wanted to know what it was that Dia saw before he changed their course.

XXX

Amu found Miki and Rima easily enough. They were in the hold looking at a couple of holes that had been blasted through the hull by Tadase's men. "Well, what's the verdict?"

Miki grinned at Amu. "We took some hits but haven't found anything major."

"There are holes in the side of the ship."

Laughing, Rima rolled her eyes at Amu. "Come and see. We'll take you to where there are other places that need mending, but the cannons weren't well aimed. They didn't hit below our waterline. As long as we get our repairs done before a major storm, we'll be fine."

Amu returned their smiles as she moved to look at the holes in the side of their ship. "I almost want to turn around and go back and give them a piece of my mind. We have been working so hard to get this boat back in order. What were they thinking firing cannons at us?"

Nade entered the hold just in time to hear Amu's question. She couldn't help but giggle. "It's almost like they were trying to sink us."

Huffing, Amu blew some of her wild hairs out of her face. "All they did was make a mess. Do we have enough wood to make all the repairs?"
Miki shook her head. "These aren't the biggest holes we're going to have to mend. There are some lower down that are a little bigger, though not by much. That and a support beam got hit."

Swallowing hard, Amu let her eyes slip shut. "Please tell me that you haven't noticed any sagging or groaning from the wood around it."

"Not yet," Rima said as she moved to pull Amu away from the holes they were looking at. "Come and see."

They were going to have to stop. There was no doubt in Amu's mind that they were going to have to find somewhere to stop to get a tree where she could carve a beam out of it to replace the one that had been hit. "Have the other supports been checked? We need to make sure that there aren't any cracks in them. We should check the masts over, too."

"The holes and beam were the worst that we have seen so far. There is quite a bit of superficial stuff that can wait."

Amu nodded at Nadeshiko as Rima continued to pull her to where the main mast touched the bottom of the boat. "We're going to comb this place for any damage and make note of it. Then we'll figure out what needs to be done first and what can wait. Then we'll divide up the tasks and get them done as quickly as we can. Does that sound good to you guys?"

The three other girls nodded before moving to grab lanterns. The hold was dark and they had a lot of space to cover. They needed to get started.

XXX

Ikuto watched as the sun set and the stars began to come out. He stayed at Dia's side throughout it all. He nodded to the crew members that called out to him but otherwise didn't move. The worst thing that he could do was leave Dia to wake up alone. She'd confessed to him once that sometimes her visions were so bad that she would wake but be unable to move. He didn't want her to suffer if he could do something to help her.

The crew gave them as much privacy as they could while they stood on the deck of the ship. Ikuto was glad that they had enough respect for Dia to continue on with their tasks without staring. Still, he was glad when night fell and more of the crew moved below deck to sleep.

It was late in the night when Dia began to stir. Ikuto watched as she jolted a bit before flexing her hands. Her arms moved before she gasped and began to blink.

Ikuto stayed where he was and watched her wake up from her trance. "Dia? Can you hear me?"

Shuddering, Dia jerked her head in a nod as she slowly gained control of her body back.

Realizing that she wasn't ready for speech just yet, Ikuto reached out to steady her as she stumbled backward. "I've got you. Don't worry. I'm here, Dia."

Moaning, Dia felt her knees give way. She was grateful when Ikuto caught her and lowered her to the deck so she could sit. "Ikuto?"

Humming, Ikuto began rubbing her arms and legs to help her warm up and get the stiffness out of her limbs. "I'm here."

"Ikuto."

Her voice was getting stronger but Ikuto knew that Dia was far from recovered. "Take your time, Dia. Breathe."

Dia felt her teeth begin to chatter as he body began to shake. She wasn't cold. Her muscles were out of her control. "Ikuto, I saw the future."

Ikuto looked up at her but didn't speak as he continued to rub her legs.

Dia swallowed as best she could before bringing a shaking hand up to her face. She closed her eyes for a long moment while she collected herself. "We make it to the Eighth Sea."

Pausing at that, Ikuto waited for Dia to continue.

"We get in and rescue your father, but the Hotoris catch up to us. They follow us in and bind the magic to them. They take over the world, Ikuto."

The shakiness of her voice and the way she trailed off had Ikuto looking up at Dia's face. "What is it?"

"They take over the world and everything burns."

.

Morg: I hope you guys didn't think this was going to be easy.

Ikuto: It never is with you.

Amu: Great.

Morg: Well, let me know what you think!