My friends I finally finished this lovely chapter! So lots of plot here and a little, little bit of kinda fluff stuff. Hope you enjoy~

The first thing Kiku noticed was the burning in his chest followed by dizziness and the lingering taste of salt water. He wanted to just relax and go back to sleep but he forced himself to slowly open his eyes. Kiku was thankful that the room was dimly lit, anything brighter then this would have made his headache worse. Slowly he blinked a few more times and oriented himself with the room around him, he was back in Arthurs cabin. What had happened…? He lifted up his hand and pressed it against his head, the last thing he remembered was standing in the crows nest with Alfred asleep. No, he had no idea how he got here.

The next thing he noticed was that the sun had done down and his hair was slightly damp. There was a creeping feeling in Kiku's chest that he had somehow caused trouble and nothing good would come from that. While continuing to mull over the facts he knew he heard the cabin door open and slam. The sound caused him to tense up as a serge of pain pulsed through his head.

"You're awake." The statement came after a minute of silence, and the cold words confirmed Kiku's suspicion that he had indeed caused trouble.

"Yes" His voice sounded stained and hurt to use.

"Don't talk prince, I think your weak body can't handle the strain of what just happened." Arthur mocked Kiku, who the hell is stupid enough to faint from sunstroke and almost drown on their first day.

"I'm not weak." The reply was softer this time as Kiku adjusted to the strain.

"I told you not to talk." With that silence filled the room; the air seemed heavy as Arthur began to settle down.

Kiku watched as the Pirate removed his hat and ran his finger through the blond hair, although he hadn't realized it before but Arthur didn't really look like a pirate. His face was clean shaven, his hair cut and maintained, and he had not visible scars. His stance was that of someone who had been taught proper posture and that alone should be enough to raise questions. Of course the outfit Arthur wore screamed his profession and his hard eyes held a dark secret but compared to his crew the captain did not completely fit in here.

When Arthur realized he was being watched he smiled to himself, the Asian man in his bed was strange one. He held the pride of someone from a royal family yet he was quite and almost timid in some ways that made him curious. Arthur stopped himself when he realized that as he assessed the young man he wanted to know him but he did not have the time nor allowance for that.

Deciding that he didn't want to lay in silence Kiku spoke again, "What happened?"

"You decided to try the professions of bird then fish, you suck at both of them." Arthur spoke mindlessly as he removed his jacket and sat down at his desk. He picked up an unopened letter sealed with wax with an elaborate 'F' pressed firmly in the middle. Picking up his letter opener he bitterly opened the letter. Pulling out the letter he was not surprised to find that it was short addressed simply to 'brother' and had five lines of instruction. Francis was being careful, and Arthur hated all the secrecy, he would prefer a battle with flying colours and glory. Throwing the letter into the fire he glanced back at Kiku. He should just kill him for good it would save hime trouble and make the war that much easier no chance of him backstabbing him if he was dead. "What do you think of war."

The sudden question threw the Asian man off of his mental balance. "What do I think of war… I wish it could be avoided but that is naive. If anything I wish war could be waged without harming the innocent people caught up in it."

"Ha, war is nothing if not bloody and full of sacrifice," The pirate scoffed, "it is those things that make victory that much more sweet. There are many people in a country but only one country for the people to work for. Can you imagine a completely unified world how outstanding it would be to under one empire strong and unified but to get to that point war is needed."

"Is that your goal?" Kiku asked, "To create a unified world under one empire it would take years of war and countless lives, and what unifies the people, a name? People need more then a name to be united under."

"And I expect you know better how to create a world that is strong and united."

"No, but I have never thought of it, Each of the three empires is solid and each strong in it's own right I have never had a desire to have the world united under one ruler.

"What if Ivan and his family attacked they are stronger then the Eastern and Western Empires. Would you want a world under his rule? Yet your brother rejected all rejects to become one united empire." Arthur had begun to shout, "Our rulers just want to protect ourselves from the biggest threat and Yao should too!"

Kiku sat up his lungs still sore but he wanted to look the pirate in the eye. His argument sounded like that of a politician and not a random pirate. "Are you working under direction from the government?"

Arthur's colour drained from his face. Had he really been that transparent? He glanced at the fire which had consumed the letter Francis had sent. He was not only working under the direction of the government, he was part of the government. "No, my actions are my own and I act out on what I think will benefit me, a unified country like how the West suggests would benefit me so I Independently decided to speed things up."

Kiku could here the stale words as if they were his own practiced response. The type of response meant to hide the truth and protect the country. Arthurs role was pirate like how Kiku's role was a shadow. "You and I are more alike then I had thought." Kiku smiled at the blond, "You are a strong cruel pirate and I am a nameless shadow of no importance."

Eye's locked and Arthur then also understood the introduction and vague answers given when they met it was not only because he as a ninja but it was because he had to protect the royal family. "Yes, but we both have fallen short of our roles." The blond walked over to bed causing Kiku to tense up. "I will not repeat what I did the other night… if anything I was thinking of killing you but now…" He looked into dark eyes that held pain and strength, "but now I see you as some sort of mirror, so for now keep me company, you are the only one who knows this secret even among the crew." Kiku was shocked into silence as Arthur whispered on, "Don't leave me, if you do I will kill you."

And end. Of this chapter, can you image if I was mean enough to leave you with this ending but fear not I will not abandon this story! Please comment and stuff.

We will soon have lemons so hang in there!