Princess!Reader x Pirate! Spain and England: Love Lost at Sea

Chapter 8

The blanket fell and rose steadily. The girl was still, except for the quiet, gentle breathing. Her (h/c) hair framed her bruised face. Her once bleeding arm was now bandaged, and so was her ankle.

"She'll be-a fine." The Italian grumbled, disturbing the silence that had filled the Captain's quarters. Antonio let out a sigh. "I know, Romano." He replied. His voice was soft.

Romano gazed down at ____, then at Antonio. He looked between the two with narrowed eyes. "You're getting attached, Antonio." That was the first time in a while that Romano has actually called him by his real name. "What makes you say that?" "The way you-a look at her... I've never seen this expression before." Antonio looked up at him, eyes wide. But Romano was sincere and grim. "You're a pirate... You shouldn't get attached to-a something that doesn't belong to the sea." His words confused the captain. He just shook his head and looked back at ____.

"Why become attached to something you can't hold onto?"

The question sent a chill down his spine... Romano exited the room quietly.

Once again, silence filled the room.
Captain Antonio sat by the bedside. His eyes scanned her face. He stared at the green and purple bruise on her forehead. "Hm..." He brushed away a lock of hair from her face. Romano's questions repeated in his head.

"And for-a what? Some girl?!"
"Why are you-a doing this??"
"Why become attached to something you can't hold onto?"

"Why am I doing this?" His mouth formed yet another thought provoking question. It rang out through the quiet, then quickly disappeared only to echoe quietly in his ears like a whisper. He thought about the past few day's events. How different she was. ____ was nothing like the pirates or low lives he was used to... But she didn't seem like a royal. ___ wasn't snobbish or spoiled. She was kind. Bold... And curious. He decided that she wasn't either. She was simply ____.

And he only continued to stare at her, slowly becoming frustrated at his lack of an explanation. Why? Why was he doing all of this? What was it about her?...

And he remembered the first day. Her hesitance at the dinner table. The stubbornness she displayed frequently. But most of all, the look in her eyes when she has stared at the sunset.

In her eyes...

He had seen pure, innocent wonder.

It was something he hadn't seen in anything other than children. Wonder and innocence wasn't exactly common on the seas. Yet he had stared, taking in her beauty and pureness. She was a rarity. Something he'd never seen before.

She truly was a treasure.

He frowned. It would only be natural for him to want her. It's a pirate's instinct to seize any treasure worth while. But this wasn't so simple. He felt different around her. He felt... Good.

He mulled over this new observation. ____ made him feel a way he had never felt before. His heart seemed to pound. His mind raced. And he couldn't do more than stare and admire ____ like a work of art. This was new...

There was something more to this. Something deeper that he couldn't understand. Antonio took her hand in his. It was bandaged, covering her rope burns. "I'm a pirate. I'm not supposed to be like this... So soft." He murmured. "But it hurts to see you like this, ____." He chuckled to himself. "And I've only known you a few days... Do you realize just what you do to me, Princess?"

Antonio stood up, letting go of her hand. It fell back by her side. He watched her, smiling. "You have a lot to learn when you wake up, ____ ... you're going to become a pirate."