A few years later after they had lost their brother, Yao's sibling were getting on well in life. Kiku and Yong Soo were merchants for a nearby locksmith, and Mei was a teacher in the local school.

One day, the mailman dropped off the post at their house. It was rare that the family received correspondence from anyone – everyone they knew stayed in the same village. There was no need for letters.

Mei thanked the mailman and proceeded to enter the house, clutching the envelope.

Yong Soo was having something light to eat in the dining hall when Mei entered it. "Is that the mail?" he enquired excitedly.

"Yes. It's strange, isn't it?"

Yong Soo laughed. "We rarely get any mail," he commented. "Open it! Open it!"

"Okay, okay," Mei replied, slightly annoyed with her brother. "You are so impatient."

Mei tore open the envelope and took out the paper from inside it. She unfolded the letter and began reading. Her eyes widened.

Kiku, Yong Soo, Mei,

I'm very sorry for not writing sooner. I wish I had a good excuse, but the truth is, I don't.

I don't know what you thought happened to me. Whether or not I have run away, whether or not I have died, I really don't know. But I am not dead, that's for sure.

Well, I was taken by pirates. They captured me and made me their prisoner. But I was not treated unkindly.

To cut a long story short, I am now in love with the pirate captain. I don't know what you must think of me, being in love with a man. But I really do love him. And Arthur loves me too. I am no longer a prisoner in the ship, and am now travelling the world and experiencing so many adventures. It is very interesting.

And please know that I love each one of you very much too. Not a day passes that I don't think of you.

But the fact remains that I cannot return home. For one, I wouldn't be able to find my way home. For another, I cannot leave Arthur – I love him too much.

Know that my best wishes and prayers remain with all of you.

I will try to write as often as I can. Of course, I can only mail it off when we dock, but it's better than nothing. And even if mail takes ages to be delivered.

Love,
Your brother.

"He's alive," Mei said softly.

"Who's alive?" Yong Soo asked. He held his hand out for Mei to pass him the letter.

"Big brother Yao," said Mei breathlessly, handing Yong Soo the letter for him to read for himself. "He's alive."

As soon as Mei uttered that Yao was alive, Yong Soo quickly snatched the letter from Mei. His eyes scanned through the letter, committing his brother's words to memory. When he was done, Yong Soo looked at Mei with a stupid grin on his face. "He's alive, da-ze!" he cried, engulfing his sister in a hug.

As tears of joy leaked from Mei's eyes, she embraced her brother. This was the best news she had ever received.

Now that Yao had a baby to take care of, he never let Hong Kong out of his sight (unless he couldn't help it, but he made sure Hong Kong was in good hands first). Even Arthur's crew members were growing fond of the baby, and would sometimes play with him when they had the time. Hong Kong was known as "the little Captain" amongst the staff and crew.

Feliks and Toris were currently playing peek-a-boo with Hong Kong.

Hong Kong clapped his hands excitedly and giggled delightfully whenever either Feliks or Toris shouted, "Peek-a-boo!"

Yao was watching nearby. When Hong Kong turned to look at him, Yao waved at him. Hong Kong laughed and then turned his attention back to Feliks and Toris.

Soon, however, Feliks and Toris had to get to work as watchouts in the crow's nest. They passed Hong Kong back to Yao, waved goodbye to him and headed on their way.

"Did you enjoy playing with them, aru?" asked Yao, bouncing Hong Kong on his lap.

Hong Kong made a cheerful sound in reply.

"Come on, let's get you something to eat, and then you can take your nap," said Yao to Hong Kong as he stood up, Hong Kong in his arms, and made his way to the kitchen.

After Hong Kong was full and satisfied, Yao rocked him to sleep and before long, he was dozing off.

Yao placed Hong Kong on the makeshift bed Arthur had constructed in his quarters. They didn't have a crib, so Arthur had transformed the small table in his room into a bed for Hong Kong by putting layers of soft cloth and some pillows onto it. He had even placed barriers around the table so that Hong Kong wouldn't roll off.

After making sure that Hong Kong was sound asleep and alright, Yao stretched his body. He loved Hong Kong very much, but sometimes the boy could be a handful. And as Yao took care of Hong Kong, he often found himself very exhausted. This was a much deserved break.

Yao walked out onto the deck and gazed out at the ocean. There were a few seagulls flying around, but none of them approached the ship; they were all busy looking for fish in the ocean. Nevertheless, Yao was comforted by the sound of the whooshing of seawater. He closed his eyes to relax for a while.

Not long after, Arthur came up beside Yao. "Tired, love?"

Yao opened an eye and glanced to the side. He saw Arthur grinning at him. "Very," Yao deadpanned.

"Do you need a nap?"

Yao looked appalled that Arthur would even suggest that he take a nap. "I'll have you know that I haven't taken a nap since I was very young, aru!"

Arthur smirked and turned his gaze towards the ocean. "Well, if you need to rest, then you should," he countered.

"I'm okay."

Arthur ruffled Yao's hair with his hand.

Hong Kong was missing. Well, Yao left him on the ground playing with his soft toy while he left to go to the bathroom briefly, but when he returned, Hong Kong was nowhere to be seen!

Yao knew that no one had kidnapped his child, for they were still on the ship and it was still sailing. Besides, he knew he could trust Arthur's crew – they treated Hong Kong as if he was their own son. So they wouldn't cause Hong Kong any harm. Hong Kong must have wandered off on his own. The only question now was where had he gone?

Yao hoped Hong Kong had not climbed onto the deck and fallen off the ship into the ocean. He hurriedly went to the deck and checked it surroundings. Yao even looked at the ocean in case Hong Kong really had fallen off. But the ocean was as calm as ever. Not a ripple was in sight, indicating that there was no disturbance in the water, and Hong Kong had not fallen off the ship.

Then Yao went around, asking Arthur's pirates if they had seen Hong Kong. None of them had – they were busy.

Yao went below deck, but Hong Kong was not there. He even checked all the nooks and crannies of the ship, but Hong Kong wasn't in those places either.

Yao was beginning to get frantic. He shouldn't have left Hong Kong on the ground where he could easily crawl away.

Yao looked into the maids' quarters, and asked them if they had seen a baby crawling around in the ship. None of them had.

Finally, Yao checked the kitchen. Hong Kong was sitting on the kitchen counter eating a biscuit, while the two female cooks were fawning over him. Hong Kong stuffed the last bit of biscuit into his mouth and held out his hand for more. The cooks were only too glad to give him one more.

"Hong Kong!" Yao exclaimed, running over to his son. He gathered Hong Kong into his arms and kissed his head. "Don't run away from me like that ever again, aru!"

One of the cooks giggled. "Sorry sir," she said. "He just came crawling here. We found him and put him on the counter to be comfortable, but he was interested in this tin of biscuits, so we gave him some."

"That's okay, aru," Yao replied. "He has some teeth, so it should be okay for him to eat the biscuits."

"Oh, that's good," the other cook sighed in relief. "I wasn't sure if it was okay to feed them to him!"

"Anyway, thanks, aru," Yao said to the cooks. "Come Hong, say 'bye-bye' to the nice aunties," he encouraged his son.

Hong Kong turned around in his parent's arm and waved his hand at the cooks. "Ba-ba!" he said.

"Aw," the two cooks cooed together.

Yao bowed his head in thanks once again and left the kitchen with Hong Kong. "Did you like those biscuits?" Yao asked Hong Kong.

Hong Kong snorted happily and buried his head into his father's chest. It was obvious he enjoyed the treat the cooks gave him.

It was night, and both Hong Kong and Arthur were fast asleep. Yao could hear Hong Kong snoring lightly in his makeshift bed from his position in Arthur's bed.

Arthur, on the other hand, had conked out early. He and his pirates had raided a merchant's ship that day, and were no doubt tired after a day of excitement.

Yao was silently gazing at Arthur's handsome sleeping face He looked so peaceful, and so unlike the pirate captain demeanour he put on during the day. Well, it was only in front of his crew that Arthur had the tough front. In front of Yao and Hong Kong, Arthur mellowed out almost immediately, and was very gentle and loving. Arthur even didn't get angry as often as he did before, now that he and Yao were in a relationship. It seemed that being with Yao truly made Arthur happy.

Yao planted a kiss on Arthur's forehead and settled himself comfortably beside Arthur. This wasn't how he envisioned his life to be when he was younger and thinking about the future, but Yao wouldn't have it any other way. He was contented. Yao fell asleep with a smile on his face.

A/N – Thanks to blueflower1594's idea of having Yao write a letter to his siblings letting them know that he's alive and not to worry. It made a lot of sense, and I think it's good for his siblings to have some closure as well.