Captain Jansen and the Phoenix

Chapter 2

Floor awoke very early the next morning to find herself in a strange bunk with Tarja lying naked half on top of and half beside her. She was naked as well. Floor shoved Tarja away and leapt up. Tarja sat up in bed.

"Floor, what's wrong?" Floor crossed her arms over her bare breasts and glared at her.

"You...you tricked me again!"

"Yes," Tarja said simply.

"Tarja, I trusted you!" Floor cried. Tarja smirked.

"Don't," she said, picking up her shirt from the pile beside the bed. She pulled it on and shook her hair out. Floor grabbed her own shirt and put it on, then threw aside Tarja's coat as she reached for her pants. She turned away in an attempt to hide the tears that were forming in her eyes. She couldn't cry. She was Captain Floor Jansen of the Night Temptation, legendary sword fighter and sailor. Her very name inspired terror in the hearts of pirates. But she had gone and let Tarja trick her into having sex with her. "Why did you trust me, Floor?" Tarja asked suddenly. "After everything I've done to you, why would you trust me?"

"That was six years ago, Tarja," Floor answered, pulling on her pants. "I was going to give you a chance. I wanted to trust you, to believe that you'd changed." Tarja was quiet for a minute.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you," she said finally. "But one thing has changed. I'm no longer interested in Sharon."

"You want me instead," Floor guessed.

"If I want anyone at all," said Tarja, buttoning her coat. Floor buttoned the last button on her waistcoat and pulled on her boots.

"So you mean, now that you've banged me, you don't find me so appealing after all?" she asked. "Real nice."

"I never said that," Tarja replied. "I meant, if I want a relationship with anyone, it's you."

"Well, I'm taken!" Floor shouted, putting on her belt. She started for the door but turned around. "You're angry with yourself, aren't you?" she asked. Tarja cursed.

"Floor, leave while you still can. Whether I love you or not, you're making me angry."

"You know I'm right. You're touched that I believed you could've changed, and you wish it were true," Floor said. Tears sprang into Tarja's eyes and she turned away.

"Leave," she repeated. "Quickly, Floor, before I hurt you." Floor wanted to, but something was stirring in her heart. Pity, sympathy, even love, perhaps? She crossed the room and put a cautious hand on Tarja's shoulder.

"You're sorry, aren't you?" she asked. Tarja nodded.

"For tricking you, yes. I wish I had changed." Suddenly, she became fierce. "Get out of my cabin!" she yelled, spinning around. Floor watched her but did not move. Tarja drew her sword. "Leave!" she said again, pointing it at Floor's chest. Floor drew her own sword and knocked Tarja's blade aside with it.

"So now you throw me out? You...cheating...devil of a woman!" she exploded before she turned and left the room. Her emotions were fighting a raging battle in her heart. Part of her was angry with Tarja, but part of her wanted to forgive the other woman. She emerged on deck and asked one of the sailors if he could take her back to the Night Temptation, adding that Tarja had said someone would do that for her. He started getting one of the boats ready. Tarja came out on the deck as well.

"We will stay with you until the pirates have been defeated and you have fulfilled your promise. After that, our partnership is at an end and no one is under any obligations," the captain of the Phoenix said. Floor turned and answered,

"Understood." She grabbed the rope hanging over the side of the ship and swung herself down into the smaller boat.

When they reached the Night Temptation, there was a bunch of shouting from the crew. Sharon appeared at the rail. Someone flung a rope down and Floor caught it. As she was being hauled aboard, she called,

"Thank you," to the man from the Phoenix. Hands reached out to pull her on deck, and soon she was standing in the middle of a crowd, all of whom were trying to talk at once. Floor raised her hand for quiet, and everyone instantly ceased talking except for Sharon, who said,

"Captain Jansen, we need to talk."

"I know, Captain den Adel," Floor answered, though she was dreading that. "The rest of you, listen to me. The Phoenix shall be sailing with us for a while. They will help us defeat those pirates who attacked us. Members of their crew may come over here, and some of us may visit their ship as well. No one is to harm them in any way, and if you visit the Phoenix, you will be expected to be polite. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Captain Jansen!" chorused many voices.

"Good," Floor said, then went with Sharon down the ladder and to her cabin. She sat down in a chair, but Sharon remained standing.

"Floor, where were you last night?" the other captain demanded.

"On the Phoenix," Floor answered.

"Why? What were you doing? Why did Charlotte and Marco come back without you?" Sharon asked. Then she said, "Wait, don't tell me. I already know. You cheated on me with that devil of a woman!"

"She tricked me," Floor said weakly, then realized that Sharon had used the same words she had to describe Tarja.

"Oh, I'm sure!" Sharon snapped. "What did she do this time?"

"I don't know exactly. Put something in my wine, I think," said Floor.

"You actually drank it?!?" Sharon screeched.

"Sharon, I wanted to give her the chance to have changed. I wanted to trust her," Floor tried to explain. "That was six years ago that she tricked me. I thought it was possible that she'd mended her ways. But I guess I was wrong."

"I would say so!" said Sharon. "What all did you do with her, Floor? Please tell me you didn't actually...go all the way." Floor bowed her head, blinking back tears, and slowly nodded. Sharon's eyes filled with tears as well. "Floor, I trusted you. I thought you'd be true to me. I gave you the two most valuable things I could give you: my heart and my ship. And yet you cheated on me!" Each word cut Floor to the heart.

"Sharon, I'm sorry. I honestly didn't mean to." Even to her, that sounded pathetic.

"You didn't mean to! Oh, of course you didn't mean to!" Sharon yelled. Then she stormed out, leaving Floor feeling worse than ever, and furious with Tarja and herself.

 For the rest of the day, the two captains avoided each other. This made things awkward for the rest of the crew, as whenever the two women got anywhere near each other or their eyes met, Sharon would turn away and act like Floor didn't even exist. This sort of thing went on for days, with no sign of an end in sight. No one knew for sure why the captains were ignoring each other, but some of them whispered about it. Floor barely spoke to anyone, usually giving orders to Marco and sending him to tell the others. She spent most of her time either in her cabin with the door locked or up in the crow's nest. At night, she stayed out on the upper deck by the ship's wheel for hours, all alone. Those who knew Floor better than others, like Marco and Charlotte and Troy, knew that something was very, very wrong and this was Floor's way of dealing with the pain. Sharon, however, was a different story. She snapped and yelled at her crew, which was not like her at all. Ordinarily, Sharon was a gentle-tempered, kind captain who preferred to talk things out and only use violence as a last resort. Charlotte and the rest of the crew didn't know what to make of this strange behavior from either captain. Tarja's presence didn't help matters. It didn't take long for most of the crew to realize Floor's silence and Sharon's anger had something to do with her. Charlotte was worried. If the captains couldn't cooperate with each other, how would they ever beat the pirates?