On Board {A Solangelo Pirate AU}

23: All The Time In The World

NPOV

It took another three minutes for Percy to come back in and find me pacing back and forth. There were voices outside on our ship—voices that did not belong to my crew. They must've kidnapped someone again. Damn them. They'd told me they hadn't. Shit. Are we seriously going to have to do this entire adventure over? I don't have time for this, dammit.

Percy made me tie a scarf around my eyes to keep whatever was out there a surprise. I cursed him out as he pulled me back out of my cabin. "I swear to God, Percy, if you kidnapped someone again, I will suddenly believe in executions again. Did you not learn anything?"

"I didn't kidnap anyone," he promised. He turned me to face whatever it was he brought on this ship, and then slowly removed the scarf.

He looked just like Bianca. He looked older than how I remembered him, but he looked just like Bianca.

My father.

A sob tore through my throat, and I found myself in his arms. Tears streaked down his cheeks, too. "Nico. Nico, my son. I've missed you. I love you. I'm so sorry. My son."

"I've missed you too. I love you. How are you here? How did you—? Where's Mom?"

He held me tighter. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. We think—I mean, the stress was horrible on her, and she got sick after you and Bianca were taken—It was too much—She didn't make it—I'm so sorry."

I pulled away. His words barely made it to my head. There was a woman standing beside him that I hadn't even allowed myself to notice until now. "You, um, remarried?"

My father nodded, looking almost guilty. "This is Persephone."

She pulled me into a second hug, and she felt like my mother. Her arms were loving and warm. Her chin rested on my shoulder. "I've heard a lot about you, Nico. I hope we can get along. I know I could never replace her, but I can try my best to be a second—"

I sighed into her shoulder. In all honesty, I barely remembered my mother. "It's okay. You've kept him company for so long, then—thank you. But, when you say you hope we can get along.... I mean, are you...planning on staying? Because I can't come back to Honnet, they'll arrest me."

Persephone wrung her hands nervously. "No one told you yet?"

"Told me what?"

Someone put their hand on my shoulder. "We're not going to spend the rest of our lives on this boat, Nico. We're going to that island."

I turned and found it was Will. I took a step back, eyes wide. "You're still here? Okay, someone needs to seriously tell me what's happening. I—I don't understand. Did you forget something?"

He took my hands. "No. Nico, you guys need me. And, you need to get off of this ship if you ever want to be able to live without fear of being arrested."

"We don't have much of a choice, Will. I thought you understood that."

"Nico, we could live on that island. We have the supplies to start. No one's there, it's not charted on any maps. Gabe could never find you. You could be happy there. We all could."

I seemed to be struggling to breathe. "And my parents are coming with us?"

"I offered to give them a map so they'd be able to visit, but they wanted to be able to visit more often than sailing would allow. Yes, they're coming."

I practically melted into him. "So...so you all planned this behind my back? For how long?"

He smiled. "Somehow, I didn't think you'd be completely unaccustomed to your crew doing things behind your back."

"Mm. Fuck you."

"We're setting sail!" called Leo. "Everybody's back. Percy, can you move the plank back onto the ship?"

Then we were moving. It all seemed to be happening so fast, and tears blurred my vision. Everything seemed to be all too real and entirely imaginary at the same time. When Will wasn't holding me, my father was at my side, and when they were both gone, there was Persephone. I think my father had some suspicions about me and Will's relationship, but that was a problem for another time. For now, he held me, and I was content to let that continue all the way to the new island, if he would let me.

One day, he was up in the crow's nest, watching to see if he could spot the island, but the sun was setting. It would be too dark soon. I joined him, heart thundering. He didn't have to look over to know it was me; we could recognize each other's footsteps and the sound of the rope swinging the specific way it does when the other climbs it. "Hello, love."

He'd begun calling me that. I think he half just did it to see the blush that colored my cheeks every time. Sometimes he would notice the blush and kiss it, but only when the others wouldn't see. Eventually, we were going to tell everybody. Many of them were guessing it already, anyway, but someday we would be loud about it. Someday we would hold each other's hands without the fear in our gut, or we'd kiss each other's cheeks (or even lips! I hadn't worked up the courage to kiss him on the lips ever since that day in the cell, unfortunately.) without checking over our shoulder first.

But for now, the quiet endearment was enough for me. After all, we didn't have to take this fast.

We had all the time in the world.

His shoulder brushed mine, causing me to shiver. "We never talked about how you confessed to me right before you thought you would never have to see me again. I didn't even have time to respond."

I swallowed. "You don't have to. I don't want to pressure you into saying anything you don't mean—"

He rested his head on the top of mine. "I love you, too, di Angelo. But you seriously could have given me more time to respond. Really. You're lucky you're handsome, or else I might even be slightly annoyed with you."

I smiled. "Can I make it up to you?"

"I'd accept an apology in the form of a dance, thank you."

I laughed as he took my hands. There wasn't a lot of room in the crow's nest, but that only made me laugh harder as we struggled to fit two people in the smallest space on the ship. It also forced him to be closer to me, which I didn't mind in the least. There was no music, so Will began humming a song I didn't recognize, slow and dreamlike. Everything seemed to be dreamlike these days. Especially Will. The sun boy.

We danced until the stars opened up above us and our feet became almost too sore to climb back down to the deck. Will, of course, took advantage of this, and put the back of his hand to his forehead in an attempt to look dramatic once we got down. "You know, oh strong man, my feet are very sore.... It would be so unfortunate if I...fell." He dropped into me, forcing me to catch him.

He wrapped his arm around my shoulder. "Looks like you'll just have to help me back to my cabin, huh?"

I snorted and went along with it, if only because it felt nice to have his arm around me. We leaned on each other as we returned. I couldn't help but feel that the stars were watching us, guiding us. Perhaps the legends of spirits turning to stars were true. Perhaps it was Bianca, giving me the courage to move forward. Or, maybe they were only stars. It didn't matter much. Right now, I had all I needed. Bianca would know that.

Word count: 1287