"Are you afraid of a new love, or an old pain?"

seagulls squawked above her head, the wind ruffled her unruly hair that fluttered in the sea breeze, it was not the first time she had climbed as a stowaway on top of a ship, so had Captain Dietfried found her many years ago when the pupil of his gaze did not shine, and when his heart was a little colder than the sea, she felt long fingers tighten on her arm and turn her with unpredictable violence, their gazes collided, as waves crashing against rocks on the shore, the captain's discomposed countenance when he realized it was her and his surprise was like a fauvist painting, you could not imagine it.

He wanted to be the cruelest person in the world at that moment, because she had never seen him being captain, she had broken the greatest of rules, Dietfried felt totally disappointed and desperate, a new battle was coming and she was in more danger there on the ship than anyone else, Deep down and with all his being he wanted to wrap his arms around her and tell her that she was a fool for doing such a crazy thing, but he couldn't, his subordinates were there, waiting for orders, his responsibilities over the ship were not a game, he ordered her to be taken to his office, he had to be strong in front of his crew, he couldn't hesitate.

He then approached the edge, pressed his fingers against the steel of the railing, his hair that he had not even managed to braid properly rushed over his shoulders covering his face, just like that, there, in that small instant a smile came to his lips and his eyes shone again, Violet standing there suddenly confirmed one thing, her feelings had taken firm roots, after feeling almost humiliated in front of Gilbert, Violet was now running for him, Violet was slipping into his ship looking for him.

"I'm not terrified of death, but yours, yours terrifies me."

Her eyes flitted around the entire room, it was huge; and it was the first time she saw the captain's cabin, her fingers wandered over the shelves of the huge bookcase he had against the wall at the edge of his bed, when the door opened, behind the cadets appeared the captain holding a red ribbon between his lips as he braided his hair.

Violet wanted to say something, but nothing came out of her mouth, her cheeks flushed pink when Dietfried closed the door and wrapped her in an embrace, he pressed his whole body against hers, she could feel every millimetric movement of his body against hers, his fingers almost melting against her back, the tickle of his breath against her neck, the heat of his whole body wanting to melt against hers, that vehemence was so great that she could not count it.

His heart stricken with restlessness and the fear of losing it again had disappeared, Violet separated a little from him trying to catch her breath, their gazes on each other with starry pupils, her heart racing as if she had been running for an eternity, trying to catch her breath, both exhaling hard, looking for the breaths of air, dietfried's hands reached up to caress her cheek, their half-open lips feeling each other's breath burning them, searching for each other.

Dietfried was still holding Violet's hands, he guided her to sit next to her on his bed, explaining to her that her actions had not been correct, that he had no choice but to put her down when they reached their destination.

It had been years since Violet had forgotten that life when she used to be a soldier, when she ran around dirty in clothes that were bigger than her body, throwing grenades, and preparing suicide missions, she didn't want to leave Dietfried, but she didn't want the crew to see her as a burden either, she accepted the conditions that Dietfried had explained to her, in a couple of weeks they would reach their destination, that was the time limit she considered to make herself useful inside the ship.

It was not the same to be a soldier of war in the ocean on a ship, than on land, but she had already decided, she would remember her training again, to be useful for Dietfried, for the crew of that ship.

For him again she would remember those moments when her life had no value, where the value of an order was the gunpowder that made her heart beat, she would go back to being that doll of terror, the one that everyone was afraid of, but no. She knew that even if Dietfried could do it, she would not.

She knew that even if she could, Dietfried would not allow it, as soon as she touched the port he would put her in a carriage and Claudia would come back for her.

"there are poems in you that even paper can't bear".

Captain Bouganvillea was summoned by the high commands of the navy, once he had concluded the tactical practices and the training of the new cadets and the maintenance of the ships, it was time to set sail and set a course for the new mission.

All the high commanders and captains of the fleet were gathered, the general was about to give the last tactical specifications; and he started talking about a recruit that stood out and that having had experience in combat on land, had exceptionally managed to finish the training to be part of the navy: "this new recruit will sail under the command of you captain bouganvillea".

Dietfried nodded somewhat skeptically, in his mind only the word "new recruit" had been traced, in his mind the vivid memory of Violet in uniform carrying a rifle made him feel a bad sensation like bile.

"ah, at last you have been able to arrive... gentlemen, I present our new recruit, graduated with honors... "

Dietfried's eyes widened and turning around almost in unison he said her name "Violet", he turned completely around and there she was in uniform, their eyes met, she tried to sketch a smile, but Dietfried noticeably enraged, with his eyes filling with tears, he frowned trying to control his pain.

He didn't understand why he had to expose herself like that again, what was the need to turn him into Gilbert, he clenched his fists under the table, trying to find some calm, while the general talked about the surprise of having found Violet, that the victory with her was closer than they thought, that she could be the future of the nation.

When is a monster not a monster?