Heart of the Sea

Chapter 16 - Scrubadub

Author's Note:

Hey guys! Sorry it's been so long since I've updated last! I hope you enjoy this next chapter. :) Please don't forget to comment and vote, and thanks so much for reading!

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The next few days she didn't get off quite so lucky. Reading helped calm her mind though, so she wasn't too bothered by it. Henry brightened her day with his frank generosity and kind smiles, and of course, with the fact that she ended up with more knowledge after their conversations than before.
After a few more days, it wasn't quite so easy. Her thoughts would wander and enter troublesome territory; dragging them back, forcing them to bend to her will, to focus, grew harder and more vexing, and what was even more bothersome was how the amount she accomplished diminished as her focus did. Her dreams were getting worse, too. (Turning into memories.) (They were nearly always memories.) She was irritated a little more easily. Clearly she just wasn't tired enough for her body to fall asleep properly. So, next step. Exercise. She'd shadowbox and do as many sorts of push-ups and sit-ups and pull-ups on the stairs when whoever it was that was staying wasn't looking; she worked until her body screamed with soreness. It helped a little.
Once that failed to help, she thought of one last option that could possibly help: cleaning.

Henry was staying today; he was up in his room, supposed to be doing homework. (She'd been given orders to chastise him if he was playing on his..whatever the hell the device was. Talking phone? Maybe talking phone. Unless he'd finished his homework.) The loft was hers. She looked at the clock. Ten? Alright. She figured she had about seven hours to get it all done before everyone else started getting home. She could put the captain's cabin in perfect order in one. This place was about..fffive cabins? About. She could do it. (She was grateful the Charmings weren't too terribly sloppy.)
Time to get crackin'.

Emma came in at about five and found the young lady lying on the couch, threading her fingers through her loosed curls; a small pile of bobby pins was huddled on the coffee table. Other than that, the loft looked spotless. ...Absolutely spotless. Everything was in order, the spices lined up in painfully straight rows, the dishes all stacked perfectly neatly; nothing was out of place. Emma looked in the fridge to find everything was in order of biggest things in the back and smallest things in the front, meticulously ordered. The cabinets, counters, tables, sink, and floor were gleaming.
"What happened?"
"I cleaned." Lili flashed a smile at Emma before continuing her work, scrupulously pulling apart the individual curls of hair and setting any pins she found on the small pile. "I cleaned, and then I decided t'see if I could find all the pins in my hair. Well would y'look at that?" She pulled apart a particularly thick knot of curls to reveal a gold doubloon. "I's wondering where that got to." She set it beside the pins.
"Damn, kid, how many pins did you keep in there?"
"I dunno; never really counted thum. Whenever I found an extra one, I just stuck it in. I think I've counted...twenty one? I think?" She pulled another one out.
"How did everything get so..clean?" Surely she hadn't had enough time to clean the whole loft.
"Darling, when you've lived with a former naval officer for a few centuries and you have to do 'is cleaning for him, you learn how to do it properly. 'After all, m'boy, cleanliness is one of the best forms of all. When you're finished, I expect perfection. Not a speck of dust must be out of place. Hell, there ought not even be a speck of dust. Is that understood?'" Her imitation of Killian was spot on, if a bit lofty. "Ahfter a while I learned y' cahn't ever over-clean." She put one last pin on the pile and ruffled her hair. "I believe that ought to do it."
"So what's the total?"
"27. Shit. I didn't think there was that many." Her eyebrow twitched. Could never be too careful, though, right? A pin could always come in handy. Plus a doubloon. "Say, Swan, I'm gonna hop in the bath while my hair's empty. Think you can hold down the fort?"
"Yeah sure; help yourself."
Lili took a fresh set of underclothes, one of her henleys, and her other pair of sweatpants into the bathroom.
Again, she took her time, relaxing, letting the warm water seep into her and calm her soul. Nothing like a hot bath to clear your mind.
After a while, she finally scrubbed away at her skin until it glowed pink, then soaked her hair; it eased the soreness of her scalp from the pins and having it tied back all the time, and once it was relieved, she squeezed the water out and drained the tub, drying off. She slipped into her clothes before wrapping her hair up in a towel-turban, pulling on her necklace, examining the heart-shaped glass jar and its contents. The wee thing was near full of a light, purpley pink dust, and it smelled bittersweet, as magic always did. She rubbed her fingers over the raised curls and details on the bottle before she let it drop behind her collar. She rolled up her sleeves as she went out of the bathroom. Aah, she'd thought she'd heard voices earlier. The rest of the family was home. "Did you clean, Lili?" David asked.
She nodded, smiling.
"It looks good!"
"Well thank you, y'highness." She bowed deeply, adding a flourish of her hands. "I'm glad my skills are pleasing to your standards."
He rolled his eyes.
"Really is a good job, lass."
"Well thanks, Captain. I learned from the best."
"She cleaned upstairs, too," Emma called down.
"I hope you don't mind, Swan. I still had some time and I figured I might as well while I was at it," Lili called back.
"No, kid, this is..great, thanks." Emma had never been much of a tidy person, but she didn't mind it at all. It was nice not to have to clean up herself. The kid was a serious neat freak. Even more so than Killian. Everything was in pristine order, her clothes were lined up neatly by color and kind in the closet, the bed was made, covers folded back nicely (even on both sides; who the hell made sure it was even on both sides??), pillows fluffed and placed perfectly next to each other. What things she had here were either stacked or lined up neatly against the shelves or on the shelves. There was no dust on the window sill or any of the shelves. There was no trash or anything on the floor. Everything was clean. "Did you try and tackle Henry's room yet?"
Lili grinned. "Nah, I figured I'd let him do it."

Supper was a pleasant affair, and Lili was in a better mood than she had been in a while. Emma and Killian took Henry to Regina's before returning to Killian's room at Granny's.
(Lili dreamed once more of the innkeeper.)