Playing for Keeps (a PIL fanfic)

Chapter 11

Me and Nathan are the last to reach the navigation room, we sit down towards the end of the table, all eyes on our captain. "Two more days till we reach skull island. We will be stopping at one last port before heading there, for any last minute supplies, seeing as we won't know what we will encounter as we get closer to the skull." Morgan tells us, and we all nod, except for Eduardo, whose head snaps up, meeting the captains gaze.

"Wait. The only port nearby to stop at is Moldor." Eduardo snaps, glaring at the Captain. I can tell by the tone in his voice he doesn't like this one bit.. hmm...

I glance at Nathan, raising an eyebrow at him. He leans over, so our faces are almost touching. "That's the navy capital." he whispers.

My eyes widen in surprise."No shit?" I exclaim, a little too loudly, drawing the attention of the rest of the crew. I look at captain. "Captain, should we really be stopping at a navy capital?" I ask, meeting Morgan's gaze.

Morgan shrugs, likes it's no big deal. "It'll be fine. We will make sure to roll up our sails, and carry more concealable weapons." He tells us all glaring, almost daring us to challenge a direct order. We all fall silent, and then the Captain goes back to his usual look, smiling. "Anyway, it's a full moon tonight, let's party eh?" he adds, waving us off.

Everyone looks surprised at the quick subject change, but they quickly recover. I roll my eyes...just like captain to change the subject by announcing a party..We all leave the navigation room, me and Nathan heading back to the kitchen to start prepping for the food for the party, so we won't have to do much later.

"Shit is it really okay for us to wander around Moldor?" I ask Nate, as I start chopping vegetables.

He shrugs. "As long as we're careful tomboy. Shit, I've been there before, though pirates are really hunted in that area." he admits.

"You've been there before?" I ask curiously. That catches my attention, Nathan's told me some of his past, but was kinda vague about certain parts.

He sighs, looking up, with a far away look in his eyes, like he's thinking about something from long ago. "Yo princess whatcha thinkin' about?" I ask, nudging him.

He smirks, looking at me."Moldor tomboy. It's where I met Cap. Let's finish this and I'll tell ya more later." he tells me quietly.

I wonder what happened? By the look on his face, I'd guess it's sad. I really want him to tell me though. I've always been curious, but wasn't sure if he wanted to tell me. According to most of the crew, when I did ask, only Captain knew Nathan's story, and it wasn't captain's place to tell me..

A couple hours later, the party is under way, with all the food and booze out. Mostly everyone's been drinking for awhile now, and are dancing and singing. I see Nathan grab a beer, and wander off by himself, heading towards the bow.

I follow him, and go stand beside him quietly, as I gently take his hand in mine. He's silently looking out towards the ocean, when I finally get the courage to break the silence. "Is it later yet?" I ask shyly.

He nods, and sits down, crossing his legs. He pulls me down and sits me in his lap, my back to his chest, and he puts his arms around me, leaning into me. I can feel his chin on my shoulder, and his breath as it brushes my cheek. I glance sideways at him, and he has that faraway look in his eyes again, as he looks out across the sea.

I turn my head, and gently kiss his cheek, prompting him to finally look at me, his soft brown eyes meeting mine, and I can already tell by what I see in his eyes that this story isn't a happy one. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." I whisper. I want to know, but I can already see the pain in his eyes. I don't want to hurt him by dredging up the past.