Well, hey there, y'all! This is Maya Koppori and Christina in our first ever collaboration fanfiction! We're relatively unknown on this site, but we're hoping to change that. This is an AU fic, so don't trash us over details, please. So yeah. Pirates. Human names used. Not countries in this fic, just attractive seamen. Light Hetalian humor here and there, if you can catch it.

Disclaimer: No, we don't own it. We just write randomness for praise from strangers and a way out of homework. Please enjoy^^

The night was pitch black, and the ocean was a roiling mass of black ice water as it crashed over and over on the sandy beach. A tall blond with a pony tail, alongside an albino with a German accent and red eyes, stepped onto the shore. The blond looked around the small town. It was a simple village, quiet and peaceful. He looked with pity at the citizens cowering in fear. "Gilbert, nous ne faisons pas effrayer les gens." "Gilbert, we should not scare the people." He turned to the man, supposedly called Gilbert, and motioned towards them.

"I know Francis. I wasn't trying." The albino growled and addressed the gathered people. "Okay, people! You're going to listen to me right now. Me and my friend here are going to search your houses and take anything of value we can find. Anyone who objects will shot on the spot. Do you understand?" He looked around venomously. He saw the people nod their heads in fear, and watched him warily as he walked by. Francis walked behind Gilbert, keeping his distance from him. While Gilbert went into a small shack next to the town shop, Francis went into the one across the street.

It was pretty run-down, only big enough for about two people to live in it. The blond wandered around quietly, looking at the pictures hanging on the wall. He noticed there were only two people featured in each of the frames; a set of twins girls, about the age of ten, posed in them. One particular photo caught Francis's eye. The younger one, presumably, was clambering on the back of the other, wearing a bright smile. She had bright red-hazel eyes, and mocha colored hair cascading in ringlets down to her shoulders. The other sister, presumably the older one, had her coffee colored hair up in a half pony tail, pulling her wavy hair back from her face. The set of amethyst orbs the older one showcased slightly clashed with the annoyed tone on her face.

Francis smiled at it slightly; it reminded him fondly of his friend Antonio's younger brothers Feliciano and Lovino. Now, given they weren't twins, but still, it reminded him of the two rascals. The Frenchman moved slowly along the dark hallway, his heavy leather boots clicking rhythmically in time as he approached the first door. He opened it warily, as the door made a creaking noise on its hinges. It was a closet, a rather large one at that, and it was empty. The other rooms faired the same; bedrooms, closets, a bath, but nothing worth taking.

Eventually, after what felt like forever, he reached the door at the end of the corridor. This door didn't creak when it opened, however. The door opened soundlessly to reveal a narrow wooden staircase. Francis took the creaking stairs slowly until he reached the top, where he found the only bedroom that looked like it had been touched in the last century. The room was painted a rouge color, only making it feel darker. There were oil lamps lit in the back corners, providing the light needed in between flashes of lightning. He walked in quietly, the boot clicks ceasing as he stepped onto a white crème colored carpet. The single cast iron bed in the middle was clad in a black quilt, adorned here and there with patches of red and violet floral patterned swatches.

The corners of the rooms where the lamps rested, however, are where the same-ness ended. In one corner, the lamp rested on top of a bookshelf, adorned with many manga, novels, a few Spanish textbooks, and everything in between. There was a small mat for sitting, along with a table and a desk. The other side had a bookshelf with manga, but the other bookshelves were stuffed to the brim with stuffed animals and sketchbooks, and a viola case (it was too big to be a violin, so it had to be a viola of course) rested on top of the bookcase. It sat atop a couple of French textbooks and a couple more music folders.

He smiled to himself once again. Whoever lived here was obviously into the arts, musical or otherwise. He wandered about the room for a few minutes, rifling through drawers, before hearing the scuffling of feet along the wooden floor where the large carpet ended. He immediately stopped his embarkation around the room and listened intently. He eventually decided to look in the closet, seeing as how that was the only place he hadn't looked.

He opened the door slowly, and was greeted by the two faces of the girls he had seen in the picture. The older one held the younger one in the back of the closet, holding a gun and a knife close to her in case he tried to get any closer than he already was.

"Filles? Ne pas être peur." "Girls? Don't be afraid." He tried using his French, hoping one of them would know what he was saying.

The younger one, scared out of her mind and almost in tears, looked at him and responded, "Sil te plaît…ne faisons blesser pas moi et ma sœur…sil te plait…" "Please…Don't hurt me and my sister…please…" The girl replied haltingly, trying to not mess up. He smiled reassuringly and got down on one knee. He reached out a hand to the girls.

The older twin growled and grabbed the knife instantly, thrusting it forward. The tip of the knife threatened to cut its way through his hand. He smiled and took the knife slowly and unthreateningly, laying it on the floor. He reached forward again and ruffled the younger twin's hair softly. She looked up at him, the tears threatening to spill over her rosy cheeks.

Remembering the Spanish books from the shelf, Francis drew upon the scant Spanish that Antonio had taught him. "No estoy aquí para hacerte daño. ¿Son ustedes dos aquí solo?" "I'm not here to hurt you. Are you two here alone?" He looked at the older twin.

"Yes," she replied without missing a beat. Although he had taken her knife, Francis could tell that the girl's suspicion was fading. "Our parents were taken from us." A loud crash came from downstairs.

"Francis! Did you find anything?" Gilbert's voice boomed from downstairs, the German accent thick and prominent as his boots clicked their way up the wooden staircase. Francis motioned for the girls to be silent and hid them under a few coats.

"No, Gilbert. There isn't anything here worth taking." He emerged from the closet, closing it sharply.

Gilbert let out an annoyed sigh. "I asked around to see who lived here. Apparently it's just a couple of no good brats. Parents were kidnapped by other pirates or something." He turned around and looked at the room as Francis had earlier. "At least they're educated. We might have to come find them again one day." He turned and stiffly walked out, knocking over a glass vase in the room as he left. They heard him laugh and slam the door again, leaving Francis there to debate what to do. He opened the closet again as soon as he was sure the albino wouldn't hear them and looked at the girls. The younger one was trembling in fear as the older one held the gun.

"It's fine. He's gone. Relax." The purple-eyed girl laid the gun down as her sister ran over to the Frenchman, hugging him. "Please don't let him take us…don't let him take us like he did mommy and daddy…please don't let him hurt anyone…" She looked up at him with hopeful eyes.

He smiled down at her. "Don't worry, ma bonbon. He won't." She nodded and went back over to her twin. He bid them farewell as he walked out of the house, humming as he went. The storm had let up, and the sun was rising. The raid was over; it was time to head back out and let the wind lead them to their next destination.

Four years later…

"Yo no sé… darn it! Yo no conozco a… nadie!" The girl finally ground out. "Stupid affirmatives and negatives!"

"Don't you give me that, Anya," the Spanish teacher chided. "You and your sister are the best language students this town has seen in a long time. Madam Beaudelaire tells me that Holly is her best student, as you are mine. You'll get this, I promise. Here, try this activity…"

Holly yawned and stared out the window. Her seat gave her a perfect view of the sea. No matter how many times she saw it, the beautiful water amazed her and stole her heart over and over again. She blinked. Her eyes must be playing tricks on her; she could have sworn that there was a smudge on the horizon. Her eyes tracked the silent shape as it grew steadily larger and closer.

"A ship," she whispered.

"Would you like to share something with the class, Holly?"

Holly jumped at her French teacher's tone. "N-No, madam! I was just watching the ship outside!"

The teacher turned pale. "A ship? Don't be silly, dear. Supply ships only come once a month and the last one only came last week." She laughed nervously, turning back to her French class of only eight people.

Holly quickly lost interest in her speech about transitive verbs; she knew all of that already. After meeting that kind Frenchman named Francis, the young girl had redoubled her efforts in learning the language. As she turned her eyes back to the sea, however, Holly felt unease poking at her stomach. There was a ship there; she was positive. It wasn't flying the colors of the merchants, either. Through the light fog that had been lingering since dawn, Holly could barely make out a smattering of white against a pitch black rectangle of cloth.

"The skull and bones!" Everyone jumped at Holly's outburst. She was wide awake now, and overcome with terror. "Madam! It's pirates!"

"What is going on?" Señora Arroz grumbled. "Everyone, stay in your seats. I'm going to see what the noise is about." The Spanish teacher exited the classroom and stalked across the hall to the French class. The school was small, typical of such a small town, and loud noises could be heard throughout the whole building.

The Spanish class remained hushed until an ear-shattering scream rang out. Anya threw her texts aside without a second thought; she knew that scream. Something had frightened her little sister, and she was going to find out what and, if possible, pound it to a pulp. Anya tore across the hall and flung open the classroom door.

"Holly! What-?" Anya was cut off as her younger twin threw herself around her middle.

"Pirates," Holly sobbed. "Anya, it's pirates! They just came ashore, look!" Anya pulled her sister off of her long enough to look out the window, where all of the students and teachers were crowded. A great Spanish galleon was anchored a few hundred yards off shore. A longboat rowed by at least two dozen sailors had just run aground on the shore. Two resplendent figures jumped down from the prow of the vessel and the rest followed their lead. They were headed straight for the school.

Holly was frozen, unable to even cry out again. Pirates, pirates, pirates! Why did it have to be pirates, of all things? Pirates had taken everything from the twins except each other, and they were determined not to let them take that, too.

Holly looked at her sister fearfully. "What's going to happen, sis?" Anya didn't look away from the pirates. She tracked their path to the school building until they were close enough to see the whites of their eyes.

"Nothing is going to happen," she said finally. "We're going to stay out of their way and stay together. I want you to promise me that you won't draw attention to yourself; the monsters will want to make an example of someone."

"I-I promise!"

Captain Arthur Kirkland sniffed disdainfully at the huddled mass of schoolchildren. The teachers had been moved out of the room at gunpoint, leaving the students to simply sit and stare at their captors in silence. Arthur paced slowly, letting himself show off for the younger kids. He knew they were in awe of him; it was written all over their faces. This town was an easy target for raids, but it was so poor that pirates rarely bothered. Most of the children had never seen a real pirate this close.

Suddenly, a soft glint caught his eye. A young teen was fiddling with an earring that one of the crew had dropped. Next to the girl was an older one who had to be her sister. They had the same dark tresses, and were nearly identical except for their eyes. The older one followed his gaze and immediately chastised her sister, whispering harshly. The younger squeaked and shoved the shiny bauble into her lap, trying to melt into the floor.

Something about the twins' antics tickled a memory at the back of Arthur's mind; two siblings who could be compared to Lovino and Feli…

"Oi, Antonio," Arthur remarked. Every child in the room stiffened at his harsh tone. "Don't those two remind you of someone?" Antonio Carriedo looked up from his map. He un-propped his boots from the teacher's desk and swaggered over to Arthur. He scrutinized Holly and Anya for only a moment before grinning widely.

"Si, hermano! They are so like little Lovi and Feli! Far too pretty to be my brothers, though…" He knelt in front of the twins, a curious glint in his eyes. "Arthur, didn't Francis say something about stopping here a few years ago? Said there was a set of little twins who reminded him of my hermanitos." He reached a hand forward, only to receive an icy glare from Anya.

Holly, however, was intrigued. "Did you say Francis? Very tall, blond hair in a ponytail? Has a scary friend with red eyes?"

"Holly, you idiot, shut-!"

"Come now, hermana," Antonio cut in. "Let your hermanita speak, no? It seems you two have met Francis before… They must be the girls Gilbert told us about, Arthur!" He stood again, staring at the twins in their kneeling position on the floor. "Who knew? This is some coincidence. Francis will be glad to know they're doing alright, at least. He wouldn't shut up about you two for weeks, you know."

Holly's eyes lit up. The Frenchman had talked about them! Suddenly, these pirates didn't seem as scary as they had before. They were friends with her hero, and that was good enough for her. Anya's elbow to the side, however, brought her back to reality. Right. Pirates. They're holding us hostage. That's bad... right?

The crewman on watch at the door gave a shout, and suddenly the room flooded with the fathers of all of the children in the school. Each was armed with a tool of his trade; rakes, hammers, wrenches, and even frying pans were present as the townsmen rallied to protect their children. The pirate crew was quickly forced into the corner; they might have weapons, but they didn't have the desperation of a parent.

"Wow," Antonio said lazily. "Gilbert said that this town was spineless. When did you honest people grow a backbone?"

"We don't want trouble," one man shouted. His eyes were fixed on a small boy in the group of children. "You can have anything you want, but leave our children alone!"

"Be calm, gents," Arthur cut in. He strolled casually to stand by Antonio and the twins, who were still on the ground. "There's no need to get excited; maybe we should just get to the point." The captain drew his cutlass from his belt, letting it dangle inches from Holly's hair.

"Touch my sister and you're dead, pirate!" Anya growled. She tried to pull Holly back, but the point of Arthur's sword was suddenly resting on her sister's collarbone.

"Arthur," Antonio warned. The villagers had the rest of their crew surrounded. Even if their weapons were primitive, the message was clear. They were at a standoff.

"Hush, tomato lover. I know what I'm doing," Arthur hissed. To the townsmen, he made a proposition. "I am a reasonable pirate. I try to avoid unnecessary violence. But if you intend to harm my crew, I'm afraid bloodshed can't be avoided."

"No!" Holly yelped. "Please, don't hurt me or my sister!" The sword tip quivered at her neck. Anya gritted her teeth, hating herself for not being able to protect her own little sister.

"Siléncio, mi corazon," Antonio shushed gently. "He won't hurt you, hermanita. We just need to get out of here alive, no?"

"You heard the girl," Arthur said. "If you don't want her gizzards spilled on this floor, you're going to drop your weapons. Now."

"¿Qué está diciendo ese idiota?" Anya grumbled.

Antonio was surprised, but grinned and answered, "No sé, señorita. I honestly don't know." The men reluctantly let their tools clatter uselessly to the floor. The pirates instantly looked to their captains for orders.

"We're done here, men," Antonio called. "These honorable hombres have convinced us."

"But," Arthur added. "We're going to need some insurance that you all don't come after us, aren't we? After all, you surprised us once by fighting back; we can't be sure you won't do it again." He hoisted Holly to her feet, keeping the sword in plain view. "This girl is coming with us; once we're out of the harbor, I'll send her back in a dinghy. There will be no negotiation. Men, move out!"

Anya's mind went blank. It was really happening. Were these presumptuous pirates really taking away the only family she had left? Over her dead body!

"I'm coming too!" she yelled. Ignoring the blade across her sister's neck, Anya latched on to Holly's arm. "You mongrels aren't taking her away from me. I'm going to make sure you keep your promise!"

Arthur smirked. "Don't you think you should ask your parents first, young lady?"

Holly sniffed, and a single tear coursed down her cheek to meet the cold steel at her throat. "We- our parents died a long time ago," she whimpered.

Arthur stole a glance at Antonio, raising his rather large eyebrows in a questioning look that seemed to say, What now?

Antonio shrugged, a gesture that Arthur took to mean, It's your show, hermano.

Arthur shook off his mood and smiled brightly at Holly. "What luck! Now we won't have to worry them! Right this way, ladies." He sheathed his sword and, to the twins' complete shock, offered Holly his arm while Antonio did the same for Anya.

Antonio laughed at Anya's wary look; she seemed to be contemplating whether or not his sleeve would bite her. "Don't act so surprised, hermanita. Just because we're pirates doesn't mean we aren't gentlemen!" The twins automatically followed the pirates out of the school building; really, what choice did they have? And if what Arthur had said was true, they would be back home in no time, right?

Right?

The two teen twins were escorted to the ship slowly, the entire town watching as they trudged up the wooden planks onto the ship. Pirates followed them on each side, making sure they neither tried to escape, nor did any townspeople interfere with the plan.

The ship was rather large and majestic. It wasn't what a typical boat seemed like; the deck was well kept, no large bugs or rats were scurrying about; in addition, the wood was in tip top condition, so they knew it wouldn't fall in from under them any time soon. The girls were escorted to the captain's office. The door wasn't locked behind them, but they were afraid to venture outside.

When they arrived, the first thing Holly did, of course, was adventure around. She didn't go through the papers on the desk of course (that would be rude and going into other people's business), but she simply roamed about the room. This room in particular was nice; there were oil lamps hanging on the wall (normally, offices like this might have torches, but a wooden ship and torches? Not happening.), and on the back wall, there were quite a few maps hung.

Holly was joined by Anya a few minutes later, and they spent some time in silence studying them. The maps were covered in different colors of inks; Anya guessed that these were the routes they had planned, the routes they had already embarked upon, or the route they might have currently been trekking.

Thump. Holly visibly jumped and let out a squeak as the brunette captain walked into the cabin. He smiled fondly at the two and stood behind them, putting a hand on each of their shoulders. "Ah, admiring the maps, I see?" He moved his hand from Anya's shoulder and pointed at the map with purple ink written on it. "Do you see this route right here? This is the one we're on right now." His hand spread and he trailed it unthreateningly across the map, pulling Holly closer. Anya let out a threatening sound, but Antonio simply ignored it and continued rambling for some time.

"Oh, my. I completely forgot!" He swiftly dropped down upon one knee and grabbed Holly's hand. She blushed darkly, watching him in curiosity. "I am Captain Antonio Fernandez Carriedo. But please, the two of you may refer to me as Antonio, or Toni. Whichever you prefer." He kissed Holly's hand softly before turning to the older twin, who simply watched him, uninterested.

Was that a glimmer of admiration Anya had just seen in her sister's eyes? No way; she wasn't going to let her sister get comfortable with these people, if they could even be referred to as humans.

"Captain Carriedo! Storm!" One of the crew members yelled out. The ship suddenly tilted to a side, causing the two twins to cry out and fall. One of the unlit glass lamps crashed to the floor and spewed shards of glass across the boards. Antonio instantly hit the ground and caught the twins, pulling them over to a corner and holding them down with his body until the ship was re-stabilized. As soon as he was able to help the two into the captain's cabin where he and Arthur slept, he ran out to help, his boots clicking to the door as he closed it gently.

Anya and Holly lay back against the walls of the captains' room, shaking along with the ship. They had fallen hard, even with Antonio there to catch them. Holly was whimpering and trying not to wince at a sharp pain in her leg. After what seemed like a long time, the rocking of the boat subsided.

The Spanish man soon returned, holding a bottle of beer (or was it whiskey?) and a few swatches of cloth, assumed to be used for the bandaging of their wounds. He was dripping, a sure sign of the tempest that had upset the ship. He leaned down to Anya's level first. She had impaled her arm on the edge of a table when she fell; it wasn't deep, but it was bleeding badly. "Ok, now this is going to hurt, but it'll keep it from being infected. Stay still."

He gripped Anya's arm and poured a bit of the alcohol onto the wound, instantly putting the rag over it and pressing down. Anya held back a yelp of pain, but it eventually subsided to a dull, throbbing ache. He wrapped a clean rag around her elbow and patted in gently, smiling at her. She grudgingly muttered her thanks.

Next was Holly, who was sure to flip out. He gently pulled out a piece of glass that had managed to lodge itself not too far into her knee. She was surprised when the careful extraction didn't hurt at all. Antonio lifted her knee and repeated the process of disinfecting her wound, quietly telling her to stay still.

"That wasn't so bad!" Antonio grinned and put the rags in a bucket in the corner, soon to be washed by the crew no doubt. There was a loud bang, and Arthur entered the cabin, also soaked to the bone. He looked relieved when he saw that the girls hadn't been seriously hurt.

"It's bad, Toni," he sighed. "The storm threw us miles off course. We've been blown halfway to India!" He shed his sodden coat and fell into a chair. After a minute of silence, he addressed Holly directly. "I hope you two realize you aren't going to be able to go back home at the moment." Arthur looked at the two warily, waiting for their reaction.

Holly was the first to speak. "But Captain, you said we could go home once we were out of the harbor!" The younger girl pouted at the Captains, a little bit hurt. She wanted to trust these men.

"Lo siento, cariño," Antonio apologized. "But we're a long way out of your harbor, now. You heard what Artie said; we're far away from your home." He stood and pointed at the twins' home on the map. "We were here, but now we are somewhere around… here!" He tapped a point a little ways off from the diamond shaped peninsula of India. "It will take at least another two weeks to get back to your town against the wind and current."

"Two weeks?" Anya spluttered. She grasped Holly's hand to steady herself. "We are not staying here with you pirates for two weeks!"

"You and your sister don't have much of a choice, love. Unless, of course, you want to swim home." Arthur knelt in front of the twins. "I'm very sorry about all of this. We never meant for this little visit to be extended; we just needed a way out of that situation back there."

Anya looked on with horror as her twin nodded her understanding. "That makes sense. Mister Arthur, could you please take us back home? You promised!"

"Well, this has put us far behind schedule. We were actually on the run from the imperial navy of Japan. We raided a major port town a few months ago and couldn't shake them for weeks. That storm gave us a major heading, which would be wonderful if not for you two being on board. Antonio failed to mention that it would be suicide for us to turn around now. If the Japanese navy is still waiting for us-"

"Then Hetalia, and all of her crew, will be at the bottom before we know it," Antonio finished sadly. "But we can't let that happen; these men have put their faith in us, as we have put our faith in them. It pains me, señoritas, but we just can't take you home. You'll have to stay with us until we're sure the navy has given up on capturing us."

A knock on the cabin door interrupted them. "Come in," the captains called in unison. A deck hand, aged maybe in his mid-forties, entered the cabin and saluted smartly.

"Ah, Javier!" Antonio beamed. "What's the damage?"

"The mast held, thank goodness, but it'll be slow going until we clean up the mess up on deck. We need to patch up the mainsail and repair the yardarm, as well. No one was lost, but we have three down in the sick bay that were knocked out. The crew would also like to know where we are now. End report."

"Right then," Arthur sighed. "Javier, get Smith to the sick bay to treat the injured. Tell the crew we're just off the west coast of India. And while you're at it, kindly inform everyone that we have guests who will be accompanying us on this voyage." Holly waved shyly while Anya glared at all three pirates.

"Javier, these girls are to be treated like ladies, do you understand?" Antonio instructed. "If any man of ours wrongs either of them, have him keelhauled!"

"Aye, Captain. I will inform the rest of the men about..." He trailed off before addressing Anya, assuming she was the older sibling. "I'm afraid I didn't catch your name, señorita." Anya smirked lightly at Javier's dialect; was every other pirate here Spanish?

"I'm Holly," the younger twin gushed when Anya retained her silence. "And this is my big sister Anya!"

"Very well, Holly and Anya. Captains." With that, Javier bowed and stiffly exited the cabin to go about his duties.

Arthur watched him go, amused by his strange behavior, before turning to the other captain. "I can't believe you were down here with them this whole time and didn't ask their names, Toni."

"Callar! We were in a bit of a situation, si?" Antonio smiled at the twins as he helped them to their feet. "Holly and Anya... Your names are beautiful, just like the two of you. You should rest now, and make yourselves at home; Arthur and I need to help out on deck. Hasta luego, sirenitas!"

After the captains left, Holly collapsed on the bed with a prominent blush on her cheeks. "I don't know what he just said, but didn't it sound sweet?"

Anya's Spanish wasn't all that great, but even she had figured it out. "He called us little mermaids," she stated. "How is that sweet?"

"It just is!" Her sister's eyes were shining. "Anya, isn't this a great adventure? And the captains are so handsome! How old do you think they are?"

"Holly?"

"Yeah, sis?"

"Do us both a favor and wake up!" Anya yelled. "Look around; we're miles from home on a pirate ship being held hostage! Stop daydreaming about the cute pirates and think for a minute!"

"...So you admit that they're handsome!" She dodged a pillow thrown by her sister. "I'm kidding! I know what situation we're in! But this isn't as bad as you think; look at how nice Toni and Arthur are."

"Don't call them that," Anya groaned. She sat down on the bed next to her sister. "Look; no matter how nice they are, it doesn't change the fact that those guys are wanted criminals. There are Japanese ships chasing them down right now, and I don't want either of us to get caught up in this!"

"What else can we do?" Holly asked rationally. "Arthur was right; it's not like we could swim back! What did we have back home, anyway? It was you and me against the world. As long as we stay together, I don't care where we are." She gave Anya her best pouting look, the one that had worked since they were six. Anya eventually sighed and mumbled something under her breath.

"What was that? I didn't hear you~"

"I said fine! We can stay, but just until the navy stops chasing us."

"Love you, sis!"

"Whatever."

"We look ridiculous," Anya muttered.

"No way! These outfits are so cool!"

"Holly, we look like boys."

"You might; I think I look great!"

"We look exactly the same."

"Well, then you look great, too!" Holly modeled in front of the floor length mirror, admiring her new clothes. After talking it over with Toni and Arthur, it had been decided that the twins' school uniforms just weren't going to cut it for a long distance sea voyage. The Captains had generously offered some of their older clothes that were close to Holly and Anya's size, and they had both gratefully accepted. Their itchy wool uniforms had been switched for loose-fitting white shirts and black pants, with matching brown belts and boots. Holly thought they looked quite the picture, but Anya was having second thoughts. The fact that the captains were giving them clothes implied that they would be staying for quite some time.

"Can we come in, Holly? Anya?" Anya hated herself for becoming accustomed to the British pirate's voice so quickly.

"Yes!" Holly chimed. Arthur entered his cabin with Antonio in tow. "Toni!" Holly cried, tackling the Spaniard in a hug. "Thank you both so much for letting us borrow these clothes!"

Antonio laughed and complimented them both on their new looks. Arthur did the same, face flushed and eyes jittery. Holly noticed Arthur's eyes for the first time; they were a brilliant green, like the shallows of the tide pools back home. She looked away, blushing, as Antonio gestured for all of them to sit on the floor together. Anya pulled her sister down to sit with her across from the pirates.

"I need you two to listen closely; there are certain protocols that you both need to specifically follow." Holly nodded quickly and enthusiastically while Anya just shrugged, not interested at all. As if she was going to follow these pirates orders.

"First off; your living accommodations. We've had the crew build two extra beds for you two; we're having both of you stay in our cabin with us. One reason is because...well, the crew is full of a bunch of...uh...strange people, if you get what I mean. Loonies and all." Holly giggled at this, Anya stabbing her side with her elbow to shut up. She squeaked and sat up quickly, straightening her back and stifling her laughter. "Second reason is because we don't want the two of you separated. You seem to be very close; we don't want to make a mistake like that." He smiled softly at the two girls and moved on to his next point.

"Next, you are allowed to go about the ship as you please. If any of the crew members try anything or do anything to make you upset or uncomfortable, get me or Artie and we'll deal with it." He smirked lightly at this, Arthur simply sighing.

"Moving on, you can roam the ship like Toni said. The only thing we ask of you is when it's too dark outside, is to please come back to the cabin. We don't want you out there when it's dark. It's dangerous." He shivered slightly. "And if you decide to go out on the deck any time after that, you need to inform us so we don't panic if you aren't here."

Anya sighed; that was the one thing she was looking forward to. Now she would have to tell one of the captains anytime she went out on the deck to stargaze. Just. Lovely.

"Next, there will be times that we are going to be attacked; it happens to every crew. When that happens, you have to go below deck. We can't lose either of you." The Spaniard looked to both girls. "You have to hide in the crates we have down there- there are empty ones, don't worry- and stay in there until either me or Arthur come and get you. You have to stay quiet; most of the pirates out here will take no mercy and shoot you on the spot." Holly felt a cold shiver of fear jolt up her spine; that scared her more than anything.

"Finally, if you have any questions, comments, concerns, cries of outrage..." Holly laughed again, but this time Anya giggled a bit as well. "Just come talk to either of us. Javier is also a trusted member of our crew; go talk to him too if you can't find either of us. And please remember; these rules aren't to restrict you. We only want to make sure you're safe until we can escort you home." Arthur smiled as he finished the sentence. "So, do any of those points need to be addressed?" Both girls shook their heads 'no', and they all got up to wander around.

Wow, this long already, huh? Don't worry, there's a lot more where this came from. Christina-chan didn't want to post at all yet (we have lots more so far) but I convinced her to put this up. You're welcome^^ Don't forget, we aren't close to being through. Expect adventure, romance, and awkward situations in the future. Please R&R!

~Random Otakus are Random~