There was a saying that most sailors around here had.

"If you want land, you need to brave the waves to get to it".

And nowhere was this more true than with Marv and his crew.

"Lash it tight, everyone"! he called to Joe and Don, who were tying down the sails. "We don't want it catching the winds while we're asleep"!

"Been there, regretted that, Cap"! Joe called back down to him, binding a length of thick canvas down with some rope. "It'll be done".

Marv nodded and went to help them, skillfully taking two lengths of rope and tying down a loose portion of the sails before they could pull the rest of themselves loose. Most days, their automatic fold-down setting worked just fine, but on days when it got jammed for the umpteenth time in a row...well, at least they kept coil after coil of rope around.

Marv set his jaw grimly as he lashed the ropes tightly around the mast. No doubt piracy was a controversial topic in legal matters, and his crew's exploits had more than earned them mixed reactions of shock and awe back on their home planet everytime. The latter was the one that prevailed most of the time, though there were still a few in the former category.

Oh, of course, Lord Drakkon, that uptight scrooge. He'd always been a sore spot for them all, what with his always insisting on going by 'orthodox' methods and not caring about other possible ways to solve a problem. Heck, he'd be giving them all grief for months on end if it weren't for Zi-O to keep him in check and make sure he didn't run his mouth past the point of no take-backs. Marv didn't intend to get violent with anyone for getting mouthy. The dead could still talk, after all, but the same couldn't be said for Ahim and Luka.

The news of the former being pregnant had spread like wildfire in a dry forest, and soon enough, their storage was packed to the ceiling with baby items of all kinds, gifted by their admirers. Bottles, blankets, onesies, mittens, booties, fluffy pillows, boxes of baby formula, a skull and crossbones themed mobile and, surprisingly, a breast pump, of which the sender was anonymous beyond a kindly-written note left in the box. They had put that away and left it only if Ahim really needed it.

Ahim, Marv purred under his breath as he finished knotting the ropes and signalled for Joe and Don to return to their cabins. The lady had seen so much beside him, and stayed by his side for so long, sacrificing her own life of comfort for one of perilous adventure. Many times she had been presented the opportunity to leave him and find a better, less chaotic man, and many times she had rejected said opportunity. She was happy with him, her loyal captain, and anyone who said otherwise was mistaken, end of story. Her life of luxury and comfort was no longer tempting for her, such that she found it painfully uncomfortable now.

On that part, Marv couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt. Sure, he hadn't forced nor coerced her into joining the crew, but part of him couldn't help but feel that she had felt compelled to because of how kind he had been to her (her words, not his). Back then, he had been none but a young man stockpiling supplies for another long journey, and she a young woman content with her life, yet bored and looking for something to ease that, and when he had introduced himself, she had jumped at the chance.

Marv detoured into his own cabin and sat on a chair next to his wife's hammock, stroking her as she did. She was asleep now, with one leg curled around a bolster and one arm tucked under her pillow. Marv took advantage of her deep sleep to gently rub her belly. Three months had passed now, and their future child was looking to be one to behold, if the way they filled out their mother's womb was anything to go by. The previous ultrasound had shown them to be pretty tiny, only about the size of an orange, but they were healthy either way, so Marv and Ahim weren't at all worried.

Looking back on their past together, Marv had to admit that he'd been pretty hard on Ahim for no reason other than how he perceived everyone else outside of the Gokai Galleon. Naive, soft and lacking any understanding of life away from dry land was that perception, and he had put it on Ahim the first time they met. In fact, just like their last newbies, Marv had fully expected her to cave into the intense training and give up, never to be seen at the docks again.

Ahim had proven him wrong on all those assumptions. The first day she set foot on the Gokai Galleon, she was already running around doing twice as much work as Luka, Don, Gai and Joe did collectively, fetching coils of heavy rope, moving barrels twice as large as herself and even scaling the mast unaided to dislodge a piece of scrap metal on one occasion. She had even gone a step further by taking up the role of being the ship's cook, and even handled the cleaning on most days (though they all still helped out). A few more of her incredible feats included; fetching pails of hot water for Gai to bathe in when he was down with pneumonia; listening to Luka's rants when everyone else barely had the energy to do so; deducing what exactly got Don into his newest habit of wearing an emptied watermelon skin over his head and comforting Joe when he broke his shin once and they had run out of painkillers. Marv had been impressed, and though he wouldn't admit it, Ahim had done more than just prove she was a capable crew member in his eyes.

Their relationship had started out fairly casual, but it didn't take long for the others to catch on and discreetly suggest locations for a date from time to time. They had even gladly attended the wedding, which was really just the ceremony with only a few choice guests invited. Even then, Ahim had chosen the more casual route of the relationship, admitting that they could save the extra affection for the bedroom's privacy.

Marv yawned, stretching out his arms like a cat. It had been a long day, and he really wanted to go to bed, but he couldn't help but want to stay awake longer. His eyelids prickled at that, telling him that he should sleep this time, even if only for a few minutes, but he knew what was coming from that the moment he sunk into deep sleep.

Blood.

Internals.

More blood.

Crying.

Shrieking.

Agonised screaming.

Running away from something.

What was that something?

Warm.

Then cold.

A hand clutched his, hard yet comforting.

Home. There was a home waiting.

Waiting for him?

Who waited for him?

Who was he?

Marv shook his head briskly, clearing his head of those thought and reaching for a bottle in one of the drawers. He unscrewed the cap, jostled two white oblong pills out of it, contemplated for a moment, then added a third and swallowed them dry. It wouldn't be the first time he had to pop sleeping pills just to get any sleep for once, but there was certainly going to be a last time before he accidentally overdosed on them.

He climbed into the hammock beside Ahim and pulled the blanket up, covering them up to their chests. He had promised himself that he'd deal with his little nightmares before he accepted his lifelong role as a father, and he wasn't going to back out on that promise anytime soon.