The Greatest Treasure Ch. 6

"Oi, look what we have here!" A familiar voice woke you from your sleep.
"Looks like we got ourselves a couple o' lovebirds." Another voice chuckled. You moaned in
displeasure, not liking that you have been woken from your sleep. You started rubbing your eyes.

"Oh, looks like they're comin' to." A third voice stated. You finally managed to open your eyes,
and discovered almost thirty men staring down at you. Arthur must have noticed this too, because you
hear a small gasp escape his lips. Realizing that you two were still cuddled together, you tried to
separate yourselves. Since you had just woken up, you weren't very coordinated yet, so you ended up
tripping over your own feet and almost falling on your face. Meanwhile, Arthur tried to scamper
backwards with his hands, but ended up hitting his head on the rail. This little display earned roars of
laughter from the crew, making the two of you blush furiously. Alfred came over and helped up Arthur,
who then walked over to you and offered his hand to you. Blushing, you took his hand and he quickly
helped you up.

"So, Captain, you finally told 'er last night, eh? Told ya she'd feel the same!" Brom chuckled,
giving his Captain a slap on the back. You giggled as his cheeks turned even redder. He looked so
adorable like that. You turned to go put on some fresh clothes, but, you felt something grab your wrist
and pull you back around. Before you could say anything, his soft lips met yours once again, making your
heart flutter uncontrollably. But, as soon as the kiss had started, it was over, as he pulled away. Even
though the kiss was only brief, it evoked a plethora of cheers and whoops from the crew, which made
you turn ever redder. You quickly hugged your Captain, burying your face in his chest to inhale his scent
again and then went below deck to your room. Once you got there, you let out a squeal of joy. It was
love you felt for Arthur, and he felt the same way! You were also so glad that the crew had accepted
your relationship and had actually encouraged it. They were such an amazing and supportive group of
men. You threw on some fresh clothes and tied your hair back with your usual ribbon. Smiling to
yourself in your small mirror, you walked back outside and breathed in the fresh air. This morning, it felt
better than ever before.

"Congratulations, _______ I'm happy for you!" Alfred came over and slapped you on the back.

"Me too. This might be good for the Captain." Seamus added. He came over and placed a
brotherly arm around your shoulder.

"Hopefully now he won't be so contrary all the time." Gilbert chuckled, handing you your mop.
You got to work alongside him.

"Thanks for that, Gilbert." You said cheerily.

"Thanks for what? What did I do?" He stopped swabbing to look at you, he tried to appear
confused, but his crimson eyes gave him away.

"I knew it was you that convinced the Captain to do this. So, I'm thanking you for it." You told
him, giving him a tight hug.

"Heh, you're welcome, schwester." He whispered back to you, wrapping his arms around you
and squeezing you tightly. "Aww…damn you, _______. You're turning me soft." Gilbert chuckled again,
releasing you and getting back to work.

"Well, I like it better than that cold, hard, bad-boy façade you were putting on when I first met
you." You said, giggling. He was about to say something when a little chirp was heard. You both turned
your heads to see a little yellow bird fly onto the ship and perch right on Gilbert's shoulder. You noticed
it had a piece of paper attached to its leg.

"Is that bird yours?" You asked, pointing a finger to the little yellow thing.

"Yes, his name is Gilbird." The German replied, taking the little piece of parchment off the bird's
leg.

"What an adorable name." You giggled, then, you realized something, "wait, who would be
writing you? You said that your family was dead…"

"Ja, um…I'm writing to a friend who survived the attack." He said, a little flustered. You thought
it was a little suspicious, but, decided to brush it off because you were being nosy.

"I'm sorry, I'm being too nosy." You said, looking down at the ground.

"N-nein, it's fine.. He said, taking the parchment and pocketing it. You decided to let the subject
go and continue your work.

"Antonio and Francis." Gilbert said suddenly.

"Excuse me, what?"

"Antonio and Francis, those are my friends." He said quickly.

"Those don't sound like German names. How did you meet them?" You asked.

"I traveled the world with my brother. I met Francis when I went to France and Antonio when I
was in Spain. They came to live with me in Germany, and they were there for a few months when the
pirates attacked…" He explained. He noticed that you tensed slightly when he mentioned that Antonio
was Spanish.

"Don't worry, Antonio isn't a pirate. Neither is Francis."Gilbert reassured you. You let out a sigh
of relief that you weren't friends with the enemy. Although, you did question how that bird could fly
from the middle of the Atlantic Ocean to Germany and back so quickly. You pushed that thought out of
your mind, as you didn't want to be any nosier than you already were.

Aside from that, most of the day passed on fairly uneventful. Although, Arthur did request that
you clean up his office after supper, to which you happily complied. The call for supper was made and
you did your usual guarding of your newly cleaned spot and just as you were about to leave yourself,
you felt someone walk up behind you.

"Excellent job, princess." That beautiful voice you always loved whispered in your ear. Before
you could turn around, you felt a familiar pain on your rear. You turned around and saw Arthur wave at
you playfully as he went down into the galley. Your face paled as you realized that he didn't have his
cutlass on him. He had always hit you in the behind with the flat of his sword, so you were always
cautious when he had it with him. This time, he didn't. Did he really just smack you with his bare hand?
Your pale face now reddened as you realized that yes, yes he had. You were going to get him back good
this time. You went down to the galley and got your food. You were going to sit with Gilbert, but he
motioned you to go sit with your Captain. You smiled, rolled your eyes and walked over to him. You
blushed as you saw that he wore a big sly smile on his face.

"What the bloody hell was that all about?" You hissed as you sat down. He instantly knew what
you were talking about because his smirk grew bigger.

"I just decided to step up our little game a bit. I was getting too predictable with the sword,
anyways." He leaned over to you and winked, making you blush.

"W-well I don't think it's very funny!" You retorted.

"All is fair in love and war, princess. You might want to hurry up and eat, though. I do believe
you have an office to clean?" He mockingly raised an eyebrow. You hated how cocky he got when he
was excited.

"All is fair in love and war, princess." You mocked him in an annoying voice.

"Hey, now, no need to be like that." He chuckled, ruffling your hair, which evoked a growl from
your throat. His surprised face made you giggle a bit.

"You know, you really do have the most adorable laugh." He mused as he held his chin in his
hand.

"Th-thanks…" You muttered. You had always hated your laugh.

"Your eyes are really pretty too." He continued on, making you blush more.

"What's with all these compliments all of a sudden?" You asked flustered.

"What? A man can't tell his lady that she's beautiful in every way, shape and form?" He smiled
that sweet smile that never failed to make your heard melt.

"Thank you..
You blushed even deeper, if that was even possible. You felt fingers grab your chin
and lift your face up, and the next thing you saw were gorgeous emerald eyes.

"I mean that, you know." Arthur said. If you two weren't separated by the table, he probably
would have kissed you. He released your chin after a moment or two and you quickly finished the rest of
your meal. The two of you got up, and Arthur led you to his office. As you remembered the first time
you saw this room, you couldn't help but smile to yourself. You had thought it was the worst place on
the whole ship. Your opinion had obviously changed since then. He sat down in his chair and rested his
feet upon his desk. You shook your head at him and began your work.

"Have I ever mentioned how adorable you look with that mop?" He chuckled, eyeing you.

"Well, considering you've only admitted your feelings to me last night, no I don't think you did." You chuckled.

"Okay, I'll say it now. You look bloody adorable with that mop." He repeated. You couldn't help
but giggle. After a while, you had finished your work and had turned to leave when you felt a pair of
arms snake around your waist.

"Thank you for cleaning up." Arthur's voice whispered low into your ear. Like every other time it
did, shivers crawled up your spine, but, this time you allowed yourself to shudder. You heard him
chuckle slightly. He nibbled at your ear lobe for a moment before slowly licking it. He then proceeded to
send kisses down your jaw and neck, moving back up when he reached your collarbone. Once he had
enough of that, he turned you around and his lips met yours. Your hands flew up around his neck and
started playing with his golden hair. He licked your bottom lip, asking for entry and you gladly agreed.
You opened your mouth slightly and his tongue snaked in, not messing around exploring your mouth as
much as it could. You couldn't help but moan a bit into the kiss, making Arthur smile against your lips.
The two of you soon pulled apart, needing air. Arthur took this opportunity to reach behind your head
and pull out your hair ribbon once again, letting it flutter to the floor.

"You look so much better with your hair down." He smiled, taking a strand of your hair and
bringing it to his nose. One he had inhaled the scent, he let the lock fall through his fingers like sand.

"Well, I like you better without your hat, then." You giggled as you removed the feathered hat
from his head and let if fall next to the ribbon. He didn't seem to mind, though, because he was lost in
your eyes. You started playing with his soft hair again and that's when he moved in for another kiss.
When the kiss deepened, Arthur moved forward, driving you backwards into the nearest wall. He pinned
you there by your wrists for a second before taking one hand and running it up your thigh, his lips still
attached to yours. When he broke away from you for more air, his head moved to your neck. He ran his
wet tongue from your collarbone almost up to your jaw and came back down with a mixture of kisses
and gentle bites. You moved your head so that he would have better access to your neck. His right hand
move from your thigh and snuck up your shirt, resting just below your chest before rounding to your
back and then coming back around a moment later. The whole while, short heavy gasps escaped your
open mouth and your eyelids were closed, not allowing you to see anything but blackness. Suddenly, the
warmth of his body disappeared and you could hear him take a couple steps backwards. You opened
your eyes to see him standing a few feet away from you, looking away.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that…I don't know what came over me…" He said nervously.
You couldn't help but smirk.

"It's fine you know. If I wanted you to stop, I would have said so." You raised an eyebrow.

"Oh…well in that case…" He said, walking back over to you. Before he could make it to you, you
reached out your hand and crackling noises filled the room. A satisfied grin formed on your face as you
saw that you had successfully frozen the Captain's arms and legs in place.

"Wh-what is this…?" Was all he could say.

"Revenge for earlier." You laughed and walked behind him. Not bothering to get your mop, you
raised your hand and brought it down on his arse with a satisfying smack.

"Ow! That's not fair!" He yelled as you went to walk out of the room.

"All is fair in love and war." You laughed as you shut the door behind you, leaving him there. You
didn't bother to free him since the ice would melt in a couple of hours.

XxXxXxXxX

You awoke the next morning to shouts and running coming from the top deck. You quickly hauled on

some clothes and ran up, flinging the door open.

"Alfred, what's going on?" You asked the blue-eyed man as he was walking past you.

"Didn't you hear? We're upon London!" He exclaimed as he pointed towards the bow of the
ship. You thanked him and bolted for the bow, amazed at the sight before you.

There was London, towering over the horizon, awaiting your arrival.