So, I need a show of hands. How many of you thought I would never continue this?

-____- Now that’s not very nice of you, I always finish what I start. No matter how long it gets dragged out. I have planned out the rest of the chapters, I just need to write them. Thesis willing, I’ll finish this before Christmas. That’s the hope. Cheers!

Disclaimer: I don’t own Gundam Wing, or Pirates of the Caribbean!

Chapter 6

It wasn’t the pirates Trowa feared at the moment so much as the incredible urge to sleep. He had been trying to sleep as little as possible since the beginning of this adventure, and the stress of working on the ship and the situation with Relena and The Black Death as a whole combined with his burning need to capture Maxwell had punctured holes in his stamina and left him drained. Without sleep he would not have enough energy or awareness to fend off any attacks, and he was starting to get desperate to find at least one safe place where he could gain the rest he sorely needed. They were almost to the island, after all, and he refused to be left behind by Yuy and Maxwell.

They were just a few miles away, with dusk on their heels, when Moony came up to him. He refused to leave his position, so the youth stood there with him and watched the island grow bigger and the sky prematurely darken. It was with an apologetic smile that Moony grabbed Trowa’s hand and managed to lead him below deck.

“This had better be important.” Trowa didn’t allow any emotion to color his tone or shift the handsome thin lipped frown that played at the edge of his mouth. Moony nodded emphatically and Trowa continued on, despite his better judgment. It was only due to the fact that he had let down his guard before around this individual that they could get to him at all. He contemplated the last time anyone had seen anything approaching the ‘real’ Trowa Barton. The fatigue addled thoughts only confused him, so he refocused on his surroundings, one hand on his sword.

The kitchen was small and cramped, with cupboards all over and utensils in jars and various types of food in the stages of being prepared. This was Moony’s dominion. No one else was allowed in here. A smile attempted to assert itself and the frown simply turned to a neutral line across his face as compensation.

“I see what you are offering, but I’m afraid I cannot agree to it. I will not die from lack of sleep.”

Moony shook his head.

Trowa looked impassive. “So I will die from lack of sleep.”

Again came the shake of the head. With a sigh as Captain Barton continued to glower, Moony shocked him out of his superior and vaguely condescending glance. “They will kill you once Yuy and the Captain leave for the island.”

Several possible sentences drifted through Trowa’s mind, but the most important one to him happened to be the one that escaped his lips as he grasped the shoulders of who he had considered up until now to be a misguided mute youth who could find no better employment. “You’re a girl?”

Moony sighed and said softly. “Please, I’m a woman. And you needn’t be so surprised.”

“This changes everything.”

“Not particularly. Your life is still in danger, and despite what’s in my best interests I don’t actually wish to see you dead.” Her voice was slightly raspy with disuse, but she spoke with certainty and the confident delivery made up for the shaky tone.

Trowa considered this, but asked different questions to bide his time while he made a decision whether to trust this woman or not. “Who else knows about you?”

The former mute tilted her head to the side and gently disengaged her shoulders from his grasp. “Hilde. Most likely Captain Maxwell. Doctor Sally.”

“I’m honored.”

“I killed everyone else who discovered my secret.”

His lips thinned out again as he thought deeply once more. “I see.”

“Look, I don’t know why, but I feel it in my bones that you aren’t supposed to die and I follow my instincts, at whatever cost.” Just like a soldier should. Trowa approved of the phrasing more than he let on.

He closed his eyes for an instant, regretting that almost immediately as the urge to sleep struck him hard and stars danced behind his eyes, tempting him to join them. “How can I trust you? You’re one of the very pirates who you say want to get rid of me.”

“I can hide you. You can wrap up your head and your face to look like me. So long as one of us is in the kitchen at all times, no one will think anything of it.”

“I’m too tall.”

“Hunch.”

“I have a different face.”

“Wrap the scarf around it.”

This was almost starting to sound plausible. To trust her word and do what she was asking was tempting. But he couldn’t chance it ultimately.

“How do I know you’re serious about all of this?” Breaking her silence was strongly in her favor, but his nature was wary.

“You’ll just have to trust me.” She sounded irritated, as if he were failing some sort of test.

“That’s not good enough.”

There were voices in the hallway, and the two of them fell silent as they passed. Trowa picked up his name followed by more muted conversation and raucous laughter. He had sorted out enough of the gist of their words to know that they were not looking for him to offer any sort of similar aid as this girl. What if her story was true?

“What if I swear an oath on my most sacred possession? Then will you trust me?” She wondered why she felt the need to save this man’s life with such urgency.

“Yes.” His decision was lightening fast, unlike the suspicion from before. He understood honor and oaths; he would trust his own gut on her credibility.

No one had heard this since she was a child and before her father and brothers were ripped from her through the civil war inside her country that left her alone and far too young. She had been reborn that day, taking on the name Moony and finding her own way in life. Until now, she had privately cherished the only thing she retained from her former life. For this man who reminded her of the way things had been, she would set aside her misgivings and offer her most precious item.

“I promise you, Trowa Barton, that I shall do everything in my power to see you safely off this ship. I so swear by my name, Midii Une.”

There was a pounding at the door of the kitchen. “We’re looking for Barton, we think he might have jumped ship but we’re checking just to be sure. Knock once if we can come in.” There had been penalties threatened by Hilde about anyone who infringed on Moony’s space. It involved the same separation of body parts that she always threatened, but with the added promise of lopping off the nose and the tongue in addition, possibly an ear as well. And Hilde didn’t make idle promises. Her justice had made her a fearsome pirate and a highly respected one at that. Women in this profession had to be twice as vicious.

Midii saw him draw his sword, but she couldn’t allow the fight to begin. He was in no condition to fight the pirates who in the previous night had decided to save themselves pain and worry in the future by dispatching of the most feared pirate hunter in the Sanq. Maxwell couldn’t be everywhere and they could dispatch Barton with a minimum of fuss once he and Yuy had left for the confrontation with Winner.

Saying a silent apology in her head, she struck Trowa a particularly hard crack on the head with a rolling pin she grabbed from a utensil rack. She caught him as he fell and laid him down on the ground before stepping over his limp body and opening the door a crack to regard the scarred and eager faces beyond.

“He there?”

She shook her head.

“Can we come in and look?”

Her malevolent glance was enough to make them reconsider the question. They wandered off to continue their search, delirious with the prospect of murdering the one man more feared than Treize Kushrenada in all of the Sanq. Midii closed the door, wishing it had a lock upon it.

She undid her turban and let her long blond hair fall down in its fat braid she tied it in for necessity. Rewinding it around Trowa’s head, she tenderly touched the already large lump she had just raised on his skull. He would thank her someday for saving his life, maybe, but until then she would keep him alive. She just hoped she wouldn’t regret it. Midii simply could not let someone so pure with his convictions and purpose die, even if his purpose was contrary to her lifestyle.

Shaking herself awake from the daze of thoughts that had stalled her, she went to clean up the last of the mess from dinner. She’d have to clear out space in that big cupboard until he woke up. With any luck he wouldn’t panic and make too much noise when that happened. As things stood, this was probably the only way he would have gotten any sleep.

*

*

*

The harbor, foggy and miserable, put Relena in mind of her fantastic novels again and how they described evenings like this. Or was it daytime? She wasn’t exactly sure as the storm they had come through had been black as any night she had experienced outside of the city and now it didn’t seem as if it was anything better then dawn or dusk by the amount of light coming through. The masts of ships that hadn’t been so lucky on the path to this forbidden isle stuck out of the water as if they were hands reaching for those who made passage through their waters. Despite the thickness of her dress Relena began to shiver and could not stop herself.

“Stop that.” She told herself, finding any voice breaking the silence was slightly comforting. “This is just your overactive imagination. If you get out of this alive then you either have to write a book and get this out of your system or swear never to touch those things again. Stick to history. Something dry and about dead people who don’t get up and walk about.” Her hands rubbed at her arms trying to generate more warmth.

It didn’t feel like they were moving anymore, but then she wouldn’t know because she decided not to look out the window for her own peace of mind. The wait felt all too short when Quatre opened the door, of course knocking first as if her answer would have effected if he entered or not.

“My lady, we await your presence with baited breath.”

Relena swallowed the retort that sprouted in her mind about the state of his breath and held her head high as she exited. As someone who was expected to hold a respected position in society she had had training that was holding her in good stead. Deep in her heart she knew that Heero would somehow appear and save her, but just in case she was going to die like a lady and not snivel or cry.

Her conduct seemed to amuse the pirate and he gave her that falsely angelic smile that at one time had fooled her to the insanity brewing beneath the surface. If nothing else, she would try to feel bad for him and his crew as a pack of tortured souls. Then again, what she really felt despite her good intentions was a damning anger. It was neither charitable not ladylike to want to stab another human being. Maybe it was ok because they weren’t human.

On deck she passed by the crew who watched her with hungry eyes. They were looks that she had never received in her lifetime that she knew of and it made her feel dirty. It would serve them right if this silly blood thing didn’t work and they were stuck in their own hell for the rest of eternity. Then again, if her death could make them mortal then that meant that their pillaging and violence would have to stop eventually as well. If all went badly then she would just consider herself a martyr for the good of the people.

Quatre sat at the head of the boat, facing the opening of rock that led to a little patch of beach. Relena was behind him and a squadron of boats followed theirs as this miniature armada made their triumphal way back home with loot of all kinds and the prospect of freedom to spend it ahead of them. The excitement of the pirates charged the air, making the thick fog almost choking for Relena. This was insane. She didn’t want to be a martyr, honestly, she didn’t want to think high minded and enlightened thoughts, she just wanted to be rescued and to tell Heero everything about how much she loved him. It wasn’t supposed to end this way, she had a plan. . .

“Ah hem.” Quatre cleared his throat to alert her to the fact that he was holding out his hand to help her from the boat onto the shore.

She couldn’t help the slight sneer as she accepted the gesture. “Why thank you, sir. You’re too kind.” The nice words with their sardonic overtone were not lost on the pirate captain. He squeezed her fingers painfully, to the point where she nearly gasped with pain. In the end just a crooked smile gave away the sensation.

“You’re very welcome, Miss Yuy.” His eyes were alive with laughter and bright with fever. “It’s a pleasure to be in the company of a lady such as yourself.” She chose not to respond.

The cave that held years’ worth of booty was simultaneously filthy and gaudy. The piled gold, silver, jewelry, chests of miscellany, and various bits of furniture here and there made it look like the world’s most eclectic rich person had decided to throw all their goods into a vault with no sense or order. Across the room, over to a raised dais on which lay a chest and many more piles of goods, was where she found herself being dragged at a pace faster than she could manage as her legs tangled in her skirts.

She fell, dropping to the ground with an exclamation of frustration. “I can’t go that fast in this dress!”

“Should I take it off of you then?” Quatre laughed at his own joke all the more as Relena protectively crossed her arms over her chest and nearly jumped up from the ground. He grabbed her arm once again and led her to the dais just as the other pirates began to bring in their bags of plunder to throw on the pile. In a room full of noise Relena picked up strains of conversation.

“. . . when we finally can spend. . .”

“Then I’ll find the prettiest tart in Sandrock. . .”

“. . . but the best part is always when the sword slides right through the ribs!”

She didn’t want to think about what these men had done to gain this loot. They had to be stopped, but she was barely in a position to do anything about it. For ten minutes or more she stood there with little to say and merely attempted to block out the buzz of conversation by concentrating on the world in her mind where Heero leapt from a dark corner of the cavern and cut his way through pirates to sweep her away. It was a lovely little fantasy, but Quatre’s raised hand brought silence to the room that was punctuated only by the infrequent clinks as the haphazardly dumped goods settled into their spots.

“Men! Today is a special day for us, as you know.” He held up the medallion that Relena had once so preciously coveted and adored. “This is the last piece of gold. We all know the pain that this little bit of metal caused us, the days boiling beneath the hellfire from heaven and the nights rolling about and wondering if we would be cursed to this fate for the rest of time. Now, we know the answer, and the rest of the world will pay for the horrors we lived with!”

The cheer resounded and echoed about the cavern. Mean patted one another on the back and a few shot into the air with pistols. The feeling was almost jovial, rather like a holiday. Some holiday.

“But before we may continue our dominion of the waves, first we must pay that which caused this long before we ever arrived to dip our hands in the cursed depths of this golden casket.” The long dagger he drew from his belt made Relena’s eyes go large, she bit down too hard on her lip, drawing blood. The rusty taste seemed to fill her mouth and nose as soon as she became aware of it. The horror of the situation forced her heart to beat in awkward jumps. Where was Heero? Was she really about to die? She closed her eyes, hoping for a miracle but not expecting one to occur.

The pain forced her eyes open and she looked down at the deep cut that had been opened up on her right hand by that beautiful and incredibly sharp dagger that Quatre had brought forth. He forced her stiff hand to clench around the small golden coin and she could feel the cut stretch and ooze in protest. That her throat hadn’t been the thing opened up was of infinite relief, but what her position would be as soon as this ceremony was over filled her with new fears.

“And now, it ends.” Quatre forced her hand open over the casket and as the last piece joined its brethren the entire room heaved a sigh of expectation and relief. They all looked preoccupied while Relena merely stared at her hand, still in a state of shock, and watched the blood run down her palm and off the sides of her wrist onto the ground.

They all waited in their spots until some of the pirates began to shift around.

“How do we know it worked?” Said one particularly confused sounding man.

Quatre seemed to consider the question for a time, then with a shrug he flipped the dagger over and launched it skillfully at the man where it buried in his chest. The man disbelievingly removed with dagger. The men around him observed his perfectly state with mixed reactions. Some were angry, some looked simply distressed, but most of them had the same betrayed expression playing across their face as they regarded their captain.

“Hey,” Said the man from before, waving the dagger around as he spoke. “How come it didn’t work?”

Accusations about his poor leadership and decisions came fast on the heels of that innocent question. Quatre, overwhelmed in those first moments as he dealt with his own disappointment, growled and sunk his hands deep into the coins that had proved false in their guarantee of relief. With no other outlet, he pulled a hand out of the cold metal pieces and struck Relena forcefully. Her body fell down a steep embankment, landing just short of the water that encircled the dais and she closed her eyes and tried to gather her wits about her. So far as she knew, her life was worth even less then nothing now. Heero hadn’t come. All she had to look forward to was whatever painful torture the frustrated pirates would inflict upon her. She couldn’t even be a martyr to help others. Her death would be useless.

Maybe she should just crawl into that water and drown herself before they remember she was down here. The yelled comments had thinned out to a shouting match between Quatre a few others as he tried to regain order and a semblance of command over the pirates. She had time if she was really committed to ending things now.

She stared into the opaque waters with resignation when the water apparently took the initiative to act on her thoughts and a pair of hands emerged, reaching for her mouth to stifle the scream that nearly escaped and gave everything away.

*

*

*

“Stop worrying about Barton. I see the way your eyes keep darting back to the ship. That’s very noble of you, worrying about him like that when he clearly. . .” Heero wasn’t rising to the bait. Duo dropped the pretense. “He’s safe.”

There was no room for jokes to be made here, even for the displaced captain of the cursed Black Death. Now that they were here, Duo was attempting to think of a plan. There were too many variables. Even his cunning mind was finding it difficult to come up with much besides a basic strategy and he knew basic strategy was not going to be enough against Winner. He ground his teeth a little even as the name echoed in his mind. Outwardly, he forced a smile.

“You a religious man?” Duo and Heero slowly rowed from The Wing towards the menacing island. Jagged rocks towered above them and the sea itself was unnaturally calm now that they were close to shore.

“No.” Heero stifled the urge to snort.

“That’s a shame. We could use all the help we can get. I’d like to think what’s up there has a special consideration for the honestly dishonest.”

When Heero made no comment, Duo attempted to continue to fill the silence that sucked at them. Now that they were closer, an odd feeling of cold was seeping into their bones. It wasn’t even this frigid in winter in this part of the world, and yet the island seemed to take the very warm and life-giving rays of the sun and bend them to create a veritable nexus of death. This place was cursed indeed. What had possessed Duo to seek it out in the first place?

“You know, you’re practically one of us these days. The crew respects you, so sometimes it’s difficult to forget that you’re not a pirate. After all, you’ve commandeered one of His Majesty’s boats, sailed out of Sandrock with some of the craziest pirates ever to stick their daggers into one another, and you’re obsessed with treasure.”

Heero, unable to refute most of it, simply added. “I’m not obsessed with treasure.”

The chuckle rebounded off of the rocks around them, making it sinister somehow coming from the jolly pirate captain. “All treasure isn’t silver and gold, mate.” There were no more words exchanged until they reached the shore.

The boat slid up alongside the much used landing boats from The Black Death. Heero marveled at how although the wood looked rotted through they were floating as if they were as whole as the small boat he and Maxwell currently sat in. Duo, before allowing Heero to leave, held out a hand and with a serious countenance said:

“Don’t do anything stupid and heroic now. We’re not like them. We can get killed, and right now that wouldn’t do anybody any favors, savvy?” Heero curled a lip and nodded. “Now, stick to the plan.”

Carefully, they threw every oar they could find out to sea but for one each and only then continued to make their way into the island. Duo seemed confident, a peculiar smile resting on his lips, and with a light in his eye that keyed into Heero that there was something important that he was not telling him. The rock around them was sharp and dark, with a layer of slime over it that glistened a tad in the guttering torchlight that served as the only illumination every ten yards or so. When they had gone past fifteen or twenty of those torches they could hear voices.

“. . .golden casket.” Duo, at the sound of Quatre’s voice, seemed to surge forward before he caught himself. Heero looked at him suspiciously and Duo gave an apologetic smile and shrug, as if he had merely stumbled. There was no such hesitation in Heero, he was ready to charge in there if he had to, but he was willing to give Duo the benefit of the doubt in this case.

Heero leaned close and whispered. “What now?”

“We wait.” Duo murmured, eyes glittering, mouth folding into a demonic smile.

They watched as Quatre spilled Relena’s blood onto the cursed gold, and Heero still held his ground, shaking and on edge seeing his beloved in pain. If it were not for that fact that Duo had a blood debt to repay, Heero would dedicate his life to the torture and dismemberment of this man who dared to treat Relena so harshly. Unfortunately, tense and aggressive, when he watched Quatre strike Relena, Heero felt the need to lash out. The only person he could lash out at was Duo, and with a deft swing of the oar and a somewhat worrying crack, the pirate captain landed face down in the dark sand and at their feet very much unconscious.

Stifling a curse, Heero examined his inadvertent handy work and examined the situation around him. They pirates were all arguing among themselves so now was the opportune time if he was going to take action. Duo was unconscious and would stay that way for some time, most likely, but it would be cruel to just leave him there. But there was no room for hesitation at the moment. Heero dragged Duo behind a stalagmite and folded his limbs together as tightly as possible. Then, slipping into a pool of water nearby, he held his breath and submerged entirely while hoping that his breath would last until he made it around to where he assumed Relena was lying.

In a burst of pain from his head and his lungs, he finally found her, lying among the coins and making them seem worthless by comparison to Heero’s eyes. Nothing else mattered now. He had found Relena and he would get her out. Hastily, he reached up his hands to quiet any scream she might give off and allowed his head to emerge once again for air. Once he had drawn in that life giving breath he kissed her harshly, fast and relieved, and it seemed just as vital and as natural as the air he had drawn into his lungs moments before.

“Come with me. Hold your breath.” She nodded and pulled herself into the water. He tugged on her hand, but there seemed to be something she was grabbing from the bottom of the pile of coins where she had been laying before she followed him. There had been no questions, little surprise, and as welcome an embrace as he could have expected. She knew he would come for her. Her faith in him made his pride swell because of his ability to fulfill her expectations and love for her even having those expectations in the first place. Hopefully, she would not think less of his for his methods.

They emerged from the water and he cupped his hand over her mouth as she gasped and coughed initially. None of the pirates, who were still arguing with the fair man that had cut Relena, seemed to notice but they were settling down and soon enough they would notice their absence. In her condition, bruised ribs, still coughing up water, and in slight shock from her cut judging from her shaking, Heero knew that he needed to most likely carry her, lest they go too slowly.

Maxwell would have to remain to find his own way. It was certain death, but that man had the devil’s luck as well as his tongue and it was possible that he could make it even now. With a silent apology to his fallen aide on this journey, he pulled Relena onto his shoulders and picked up both oars. They were too the boats even as some shouts of surprise began to echo down the corridor they had just exited. Duo had been found.

Eyes wide, Relena looked to Heero. “You came alone?”

“No.” He said simply, rowing but letting his gaze linger behind on the passage. Relena too looked back as the boats began to shrink in perspective.

“I see.” She said sadly, mourning for the man she hadn’t seen who had helped bring her to safety. “I didn’t see anyone else. What happened to him?”

Heero waited and chose his words carefully. He’d be forced to repeat them to a more biased audience as soon as they were aboard The Wing again. “He fell behind.” The oars splashed in the still black water, the only dirge available to them.