The days of their journey to La Goulette flew by, chasing each other like the waves of the blue sea encompassing the galleon on all sides.

Annie had no time to brood over her separation from Barbarossa; her life on board of Restless Soul was too busy for that. The young woman spent every morning with the captain, studying maps, talking about both her fathers and hypothesizing where exactly the cave on the island of Monte Cristo could be, and what had been hidden for her in it by the two men. The island wasn't big, but there were several caves the captain knew of, and they could not spend too much time at anchor in those waters, which were too trafficked and perilous for them.

Afterwards, she would meet Giacomo and Ahmet in Zehra's kitchen for lunch and spend the rest of her day with either one or both of them-- it soon became a pleasant routine.

Annie was moved by the deep friendship she could see growing fast between the young man and the boy, just like Zehra was moved by the relationship that had formed over the week and few days between her and Giacomo.

"You have a good taste, girlie," the cook whispered in her ear one day, as she collected their used dishes, so Annie had enough space on the small table for her daily language lesson-- she taught bits of Italian to Ahmet, pieces of Arabic to Giacomo and a little English to both.

When Annie gaped at her, Zehra rolled her eyes, "I'm not blind. None of us is. Sooner or later... " she nodded meaningfully to Giacomo, who was so absorbed in his multilingual chatter with Ahmet that he did not notice what was going on the other side of the table.

There was no point in denying, Annie could only hope that Zehra was the only one who had noticed so far.

"My name is Annie," she whispered, smiling at the jovial, clever woman.

"Now that's waaay better than Jack," Zehra said, giggling. "Should you ever need anything..." she added, winking conspiratorially before she left Annie alone with her boys.

During the first week of the voyage, Annie spent every night on the deck with Giacomo. Soon, she felt so easy around him that she found herself leaning on his shoulder when she woke up one morning.

That wasn't good; her feeling of closeness towards the surgeon would only lead them both into trouble, she mused, looking around. It was still early. The sun had not risen yet completely, but from the way her heart pounded in her chest, she knew that something had startled her awake. She stood up carefully, not wanting to awaken Giacomo, then hastened towards the gloomy, narrow passage leading towards her cabin.

A dark shadow separated itself from one of the walls, its wide, contemptuous grin, the only visible part of his face.

Antonio.

"I knew there was something weird about you, Jack, but I'd never have guessed that you liked boys. I wonder if Giacomo has noticed... I have seen him with enough women to be sure that he is not like you..." he whispered darkly, his voice almost a hiss.

Annie pushed past him, speechless. Even though his words brought tears into her eyes when she realised that she might lose Giacomo's friendship if Antonio decides to tell him his opinion, there was nothing she could say in her self-defence now, nothing that wouldn't make the situation even worse.

But, for some reason, Antonio kept his opinion to himself. Giacomo continued inviting her to spend the nights with him, and she, ignoring her better judgement, never refused but never allowed herself to fall asleep on the deck again.

The evening they docked at La Goulette, fifteen days after leaving the port of Antalya and finally free to spend one night on the firm ground, she felt so close... and attracted to the young surgeon that the image of the two of them spending the night on the beach alone, far from any prying eyes, was taking her imagination to places... it was not supposed to go. She had never met a man who had felt more than a friend to her before, and so her feelings for Giacomo, who simply didn't fit that role, were too confusing.

In the end, she decided to let him go without her.

Confessing to Zehra, who knew everything anyway, she agreed with the cook's idea to hide in the kitchen while Giacomo searched the entire ship for her, and not finding her left the galleon alone.

"Girl," Zehra said as they watched the small boat taking the surgeon to the shore through a salt encrusted porthole, "I don't know why don't you simply tell him. You two are complicating your lives too much. I bet he suspects who you are already; half of the crew knows!"

Annie sighed. "I guess I should... I will. I promise. The moment he comes back tomorrow."

"That's my girl. Now go have a good, long sleep. All those sleepless nights spent on the deck with him are taking their toll on you. Look at those rings under your eyes..."

"Oh Zehra, is there anything you don't know about?" Annie smiled, letting the woman embrace her.

She took Ahmet, his pockets full of food for his friends, the ship's powder monkeys who were not exactly as pampered as he was, to Giacomo's cabin, then, with the last, longing look to the shore she walked towards hers and fell asleep the moment she laid down.

The following morning, Annie woke up at daybreak, as she was used to.

While she chose a clean set of men's clothes from her chest, her eyes fell on the other things hidden underneath them-- a large mirror and the two female dresses she brought with her, a European style gown fit for a princess and her favourite turquoise robe.

Only two weeks had passed since she wore it last, but it felt like eternity. Annie sighed, caressing the layers of soft, semi-transparent material, wishing she could wear it again instead of the too tight bodice and loose shirts.

She picked up her mirror then and carried it to the ledge under the window, leaning it against the wall. Sitting down in front of it, she ran her brush through her long black hair. She was just about to gather and hide it under her blue kerchief when someone knocked.

From the way her heart stumbled, she knew who it was even before he spoke, "Jack?"

Zehra's words about telling Giacomo the truth flashed through her mind. There was no better way to explain than... let him see. And despite only wearing her bodice and a pair of trousers, her hair still loose and her dresses spilling out of the chest, she called, "Come in!"

Taken aback by the voice he did not expect to hear, Giacomo opened the door hesitantly. Reflected in her mirror, she saw his dark blue eyes widen with surprise as he caught his first glimpse of her. Collecting himself quickly, the young man entered her cabin and slipped the bolt in behind him.

In two strides, he crossed the small space dividing them, then stopped, towering above her. She stood up and turned around to face him.

"I knew it," he said, his voice just a hoarse whisper.

"You didn't." She smiled at him, enjoying the way he was looking at her.

"I hoped..." he corrected himself, caressing her hair tenderly, as if he was afraid that she would vanish like a dream.

Annie laced her fingers through his hair and pulled him down for a kiss, letting him take the initiative the moment he overcame his surprise. She had no idea what she was doing, but it felt good... her heart assured her that this was the right thing to do.

"I wish I could see you wearing that..." Giacomo nodded to her aquamarine robe as they pulled away for breath. "Or nothing at all," he whispered in her ear, his cool breath making her shiver, his words making her lean into him as her legs suddenly threatened to give way.

"I wish that too," she confessed in a whisper, looking into his eyes, not caring that he would see the blushing spreading over her cheeks.

After that morning, they never slept on the deck again. Giacomo found a much more suitable and comfortable place for them. Belowdecks, in a large room where spare sails were kept.

"Sooner or later, someone will find us here," Annie whispered, giggling, as she tried to button his shirt one morning while he laced her bodice.

"I don't care. I'm ready to tell the whole world about us!" he called.

"Hush. Not yet, Giacomo, " she said, pulling her shirt on, then tying her kerchief around her hair. She was scared of what the galleon's crew would think.

"As you wish," Giacomo said, kissing her one last time before taking her hand in his and leading her outside.

"So it's true. Our Jack is a woman," Antonio spoke from the shadows the moment they stepped outside, startling them.

"You... "Giacomo hissed. "Have you been spying on us, Antonio? Don't you have anything more exciting to do?!"

"I would make you walk the plank hand in hand for this if I could. The captain promised that there would be no more women on board apart from Zehra; the crew is too superstitious!" the quartermaster called, pulling out a dagger from the sheaf attached to his belt.

Giacomo pulled Annie closer to his side with his left hand while he fisted his right around the fabric of Antonio's shirt.

"Stop threatening me, Antonio," he warned, completely ignoring the dagger now touching the side of his neck, making Annie gasp with fear. "It's just you who is superstitious. The crew would love her just as much as they love Zehra."

Giacomo released the other man suddenly, making him stumble, leaving him alone in the dim passage as he dragged Annie away quickly.

"Don't worry about him," he told her, kissing her on top of her head as he left her outside her cabin. "He won't do anything, not until the captain is around."