Scarlet Queen

Chapter 7- Scarlet's POV

I woke up for the first time in a long time without nightmares.

I stretched and yawned, then slowly slid out of my hammock. Peg let out a snore next to me, and I grinned. I quietly pulled on my hood and scarf before silently leaping up to the rafters to climb out. I went up the stairs and climbed up the mast to the crow's nest, breathing in the dawn air, watching the sun slowly climb over the horizon.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" I turn, not surprised to see Captain Slinger climbing up behind me. He had been joining me far more often when I came up to the crow's nest. "Indeed," I said, replying to his question. I turned back to the sunrise, and unexpectedly felt his hand on my shoulder. I turn and find him studying me intently. I never noticed how warm his chocolate brown eyes were. "You've changed," he said.

I look out over the landscape. "I know. You've changed too. You come up to look at the sunrise with me a lot more often. I almost feel like you wait for me to come out here," I say. Secretly, I smile. I don't feel like he waits for me. I know he waits for me. I've snuck around him and found him waiting for me. He just never knew I was there, watching him patiently wait for my appearance.

Slinger starts spluttering, trying to find the right words. I hold back my snickers the best I can. I've never seen our calm, cool, collected captain so flustered. He finally takes a deep breath and looks at me. I can't help it. I bust out laughing, and then Slinger is laughing with me, and I can feel the happiness rising through the sky. At last, when my sides hurt and i'm out of breath, we stop.

Slinger glances over at me, and our eyes meet. He takes one of my hands, and he starts to say something. "Scarlet, I..." he falters, and I wait to see what he's going to say. "I... don't know what to say, or how to go about this... but... I..."

I roll my eyes. His stuttering made me a bit impatient. When he goes on for a few more seconds, I sigh and say, "You like me." He stops and stares at me. I roll my eyes again. "All due respect, Captain, I ain't dense. You've been waiting for me to come out to be with me. You've been favoring me lately, too. Last night you gave me one of the turkey legs. You never do that for anyone!"

Slinger's so still that I'm afraid he's not breathing. I carefully wave a hand in front of his face, and he stirs. "Sorry. It's just... I forgot how observant you are. That's why I made you First Mate, after all." He takes my other hand, and our eyes meet. He whispers, "You mean a lot to me, Scarlet. That's why I want to ask... will you be my permanent First Mate?"

I feel like all of the air has been squeezed out of my chest. I pull my hands away from Slinger's, and stare at the rough wood of the crows nest. Then, I look at Slinger, at the hope in his eyes, and punch him in the chest. Hard. He staggers back, and looks at me incredulously. "What was that for?" He cried.

"You... you... just expect me to answer that? Only 3 minutes after you confess that you like me, you propose. I need time! You can't just say that and think I would say yes!" I launch out of the crows nest and land on the mast-pole. I hear a thud behind me, and sense that Slinger had the nerve to follow me.

I whirl around, and he stops in his tracks. "Did you hear me, Captain? I need time!" I cry, then fling myself off of the mast-pole and land on the deck. Another thud lets me know that Slinger is still behind me. I whirl around and get ready to fight.

I throw a left hook, catching Slinger in the face. He falls hard, but gets up again. He lunges towards me, but I easily dodged his attack. I feel like he's trying to go easy on me, like he doesn't want to actually hurt me. I snarl. I'm not a child. Nobody goes easy on me. He should know how I fight- It's my opponent or me.

With a defiant roar, I tackle Slinger and pin him to the deck. Our eyes meet, and I can see all of the emotion deep inside him. The emotion he never dares show us. Love, pain, fear, anger, hope, all deep in those chocolate brown eyes. In that moment, I sense that the whole crew is watching. But I couldn't care less.

I quietly pull down my scarf, making sure my hood is hiding my face from the crew, and lean over Slinger. Our lips meet, and everything else melts away.

I don't know how long we sat together, or how long the crew sat staring at us. But when we pulled away, one person in the crowd started clapping. It was Peg, and I'd never seen a bigger smile on his face. Slowly but surely, every single pirate was clapping, cheering, coming forward to congratulate us. I pull my scarf up quickly, and turn to face Slinger. Our hands are clenched tightly together. I lean forward, and I say, "I said I needed time. I guess the fight gave me all the time I need." I rest my head on his shoulder, and his arm goes around my waist. "So, what's your answer?" he asks.

"Yes," I say, my voice steady, but my heart pounding. "My answer is yes, oh Captain my Captain."