"Her soul was too deep to explore by those who swam in the shallow end."

                                                                              -A. J. Lawless

"There."

Your voice came out in a tired huff, arm reaching up to wipe the sweat from your brow as your body straightened out, blue eyes inspecting you work. 

Thomas furrowed his eyebrows at the strange, wooden device attached to his leg. 

"How does that feel?"

You watched with a small smile as he hesitantly bent his knee, flinching out of habit.

His eyes snapped back open as he grew bolder in his actions, taking a small step forward, his hands instinctively reaching for his crutch that you had rested against a small crate. 

His hands shot out towards you as he stumbled slightly, not used to walking without the crutches' support. 

"It's okay," You cooed, watching as he took a few more unsteady strides towards you, the worry on his face slowly morphing into a smile of excitement. 

"I-I'm walking!" He smiled at you, voice cracking. "Do you see me, captain?"

You nodded your head, grinning softly at him.

"You're doing great, kid." You laughed. "But this is just a prototype. If you feel uncomfortable after a while let me know and I'll make some adjustments. Okay?"

He nodded happily, eyes still focusing on the wooden device on his leg that allowed his knee to bend and support him when he needed. 

You rolled your eyes, ruffling his hair affectionately as you walked past him, leaving him to enjoy his new-found freedom. 

Jimin leaned against the wheel of the ship, watching as you climbed the stairs towards him, the wind blowing your h/c locks over your shoulder. 

He'd been watching you try to build that thing for the past three days. His former quarters were filled with drawing and plans of the small brace. You'd built different prototypes, but abandoned them if you thought they may have been too bulky or uncomfortable for the young deckhand.

In the end, you'd settled with a smaller version of the original plan, making it easier for the boy to walk upright without his crutches. 

When he has asked why you'd do something like this for a stranger who was almost certainly a spy for the notorious Bluebeard, you'd just brushed him of claiming it would be inconvenient for you to have to wait up for him in case you were pulled into trouble  

The blue-haired sailor had believed you...until he saw the look on your face when that young boy began to walk.

Your eyes narrowed in suspicion as you took in his gentle smile. 

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

He shrugged, turning his gaze back onto the ship that sailed in front of you. 

"It's just nice to see you being genuine for once."

You rolled your eyes, pulling out a map from your waist band and placing it on the railing in front of you. 

"If your map is right, we'll be entering the danger zone pretty quickly." You stated, ignoring his comment. "The mermaids will more than likely be the first thing we encountered as they have to have sunlight to survive and the sea only gets darker from this point."

Jimin raised a brow at your comment. 

"Seems like you know a lot about the sea for not being part of it." He mumbled out, propping his elbow up on the wheel. "You sure you're not a siren?"

You sent him an unamused look. 

You couldn't exactly tell him that you'd gotten the information from a certain siren. He'd definitely question whether the information was accurate or not and you'd have to reveal the ace up your sleeve, something you weren't too keen on doing at the moment. 

"It seems like it was so long ago." He said. "The day we met."

"You mean the day you knocked me unconscious and dragged me back to your ship?" 

He shrugged again, offering you a cheeky smirk. 

"I forget the details." He said, causing you to roll your eyes. "I remember how pretty you were that day. You looked like a willow tree--gracefully fighting those men on that platform. Who would have thought you'd become the cold captain that you are now?"

Your eyes narrowed as you let out a tired huff, turning your attention back to him and away from the map.

"Let's not forget why I had to 'become' this," You gritted. "Maybe if you would have listened to me instead of trying to sell me off, we could have been friends."

He laughed, propping his cheek up on his hand. 

"How boring that would have been." He mumbled, still smiling at you. 

"Do you mind letting me alone?" You asked, studying the map.

He raised his hands in mock surrender, using his hands to make the 'zip it' gesture, sealing his lips. 

You rolled your eyes at his childish, fingers tracing over the grooves of the map, eyes glancing up every few seconds to make sure you were heading in the right direction. 

Your brows furrowed in concentration, tongue poking the inside of your cheek as you marked down your current coordinates. 

"You look pretty when you're concentrating." 

Your shoulders fell as Jimin's voice filled the air once again, a soft sigh leaving your lips. 

"Thomas," You called, catching the boy's attention, his smile almost causing your mask to crack. "Go get the carrier pigeon. I need to send your captain a message."

He sent you nod before walking towards the entrance to the lower deck, a slight limp in his motions. 

"You must really like that boy." Jimin smiled. "Going so far out of your way for him like that."

"I told you," You said. "I only did it so he wouldn't-"

"Get left behind?" He finished. "No matter which way you look at it, you're looking out for someone other than yourself...I'm starting to think you aren't the ice queen you try to make yourself out to be."

"Is that so?"

He nodded his head. 

"The crew may start to like you again if you'd be a bit more open to them." He stated. "If you let us know what your plan was."

You clenched your jaw. 

"I don't need them to like me." You deadpanned. "I only need them to listen to me."

"Call me a dreamer, but," He said, leaving the wheel and walking over towards you. "I do not think this is the real you..."

You paused, eyes narrowing on him. 

"And what would you know of the 'real me'?" You asked.

Jimin smiled at you, raising his eyes to the darkening sky, the setting sun illuminating his features. 

"I don't know much about her," He admitted. "But, I think I got pretty close to seeing her that night...the night we stood underneath the stars. What you said about them telling stories...I do not think you would have said that if you did not truly believe it."

You frowned. 

"I do not know the real you," He continued. "But, I believe I have seen glimpses of her. In the way you looked at the stars that night, in the way you fought the day we met, and in your smile when you helped that boy."

"Seems like you have too much time on your hands," You said. "If you can find the time to do all that seeing."

He smirked at you, taking a step closer towards you. 

"I make time to look at you."

You frowned as he raised his hand to cup your cheep, a sharp pain in your heart causing you to flinch away from him, taking a step backwards. 

"Well, stop it." You deadpanned. "We have more pressing matters to focus on."

"Come now, captain," He sighed tiredly, "One may think that you did not trust me."

You nodded, walking down the stairs onto the main deck. 

"One would be correct in their assumptions."

He smiled softly as he returned back to the wheel, leaning against it and watching as Thomas climbed back onto the main deck, limping over towards you, a small cage in his hands. 

You smiled as he placed the cage down on a small table, ruffling his hair in appreciation before pulling out a small piece of parchment and a pen from your belt.

Thomas watched as you scribbled down a few words on the small paper, rolling it up and wrapping it with a small ribbon before opening the cage. 

"Hey, little fella." You cooed, placing your hand in the cage and allowing the white bird to perch on your hand before pulling him from the cage.

You attached the small paper to his leg.

"Take this to the old man." You smiled, gently petting the animal's head before raising your hand

Your blue eyes watched as the bird took off, flying towards the ship ahead of you, your heart silently longing to be able to fly as he did. 

Thomas watched as you stared at the bird for a few moments, making sure it got to the ship safely before turning on your heel and walking back towards you cabin. 

"What did the note say, captain?" He asked, following you. 

You slowed your walking, trying to make it look as natural as possible so no one would catch on to your small act of kindness. 

"I told him to prepare for battle."

"Battle, captain?"

You nodded your head. 

"Our enemies are formidable."

"Who are our enemies?"

You tilted your chin up, turning to look at him. 

"Mermaids."

A/N,

Thank you all for reading!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. :)

I love you. 

I adore you. 

I purple you. 

I'm out.

-Max