Silver Spirits

Every single muscle in Scarlett's body was begging her to turn around and run away, but she forced herself to follow Ben's lead as he took her down the empty cobblestone streets. It was still far too early in the morning for anyone to be out, and the two remained slinking along alleys and shadows, yet Scarlett still feared being seen by someone who would undoubtedly ruin everything. Of course, she did make a promise. And she could break a promise, especially to Ben.

Her nerves bothered her even more when Scarlett's surroundings started to become horribly familiar. The estates grew larger and grander the further they went, until they were right at the end of the street Scarlett was born and raised on. She took a sudden step back, but Ben grabbed her hand and gave it a light squeeze, smiling reassuringly. She pursed her lips and followed reluctantly as he dragged her around the back of the homes. Scarlett should have known that they wouldn't be using the front door. She followed as Ben quietly sneaked back towards a stone wall, climbing up and holding out a hand to help Scarlett climb over with him.

When they landed on the other side, Scarlett found herself in a garden lining the tall hedges surrounding a gorgeous white bird bath, though the bath looked neglected without any water in it. She was in her garden. As a little girl, she had begged her father for a rose garden, promising that she'd take care of it all on her own. So many years later, the roses were still vibrant and beautiful. Ben looked over his shoulder at her and gave her a sad smile, gesturing towards the pink rose bushes near them.

"He waters them himself," he whispered. "Keeps them tidy in case you ever came home."

Scarlett felt a tug on her heart as she ran her fingers lightly over the petals, the faint memory of taking care of them as a little girl coming back to her. Ben hesitated for a moment, then leaned in and gave her a quick kiss, stepping back a second to look at Scarlett.

"Am I presentable?" she asked.

"You look beautiful," he assured her. "Stay here. I'll be back in a minute. Don't you dare move a muscle, understand?"

"Relax, I won't try to run away," she scoffed, rolling her eyes.

Ben grinned and nodded, slipping away and leaving Scarlett on her own in the garden. She wandered a bit, sitting down on a sleek marble bench and fixing her hair and clothing, taking a few deep breaths to calm herself down. Despite her attempts, the moment she heard voices, her blood turned to ice. They were behind the hedge by the birdbath, speaking in hushed tones. One of them was unmistakably Ben. Scarlett could hear the smile in his voice. The other was a voice Scarlett hadn't heard in ten years, but one that hadn't changed in the slightest. While she couldn't see him, the sound of her father's voice was enough to get Scarlett choked up on its own.

"You're lucky I recognize your handwriting, Ben," Edmund Triggs grunted. "Had anyone else tied a note to a stone and thrown it through my window, I would have thrown it right back at them and turned them over to the authorities. What is the meaning of this? You were lost at sea, your entire family is worried sick. They're the ones you need to see, not me."

"I'm afraid I can't go back, Sir," Ben told him. "I'm supposed to be dead, you see. I had to risk being caught, because I felt you needed to know what I truly did find while I was out."

"This is very cryptic of you," Edmund said. "If I didn't know you better, I'd say you called me out here at such an hour to kill me."

"Quite the contrary," Ben promised, poking his head around the corner.

He froze when he saw that Scarlett had disappeared from where he'd left her, nowhere to be found. When he looked back, Edmund Triggs was impatient and annoyed, waiting for Ben's big reveal.

"One moment, please," Ben said, chuckling nervously before taking off down the path he came.

He caught Scarlett trying to scramble back over the wall, scared half to death, but he wasn't about to let her escape so easily. He grabbed her around the waist and pried her off the wall, even taking a hard smack in the face to keep her from getting away.

"Oh, no you don't," he grumbled, grabbing Scarlett by the wrists so she couldn't hit him again.

"I changed my mind," she whispered harshly. "I was perfectly happy where I was. My conscience is clear."

"Is it?"

Scarlett trembled slightly, shaking her head as Ben pulled her into a tight hug, taking both her hands and moving them away from her face.

"You'll be fine."

Scarlett sighed and took his arm, letting him lead her back to where Edmund was impatiently waiting for Ben's return. When she saw him, she wasn't sure what to think. Yes, it was undoubtedly her father, but when had he gotten so old? When had his face, once so full of life and laughter, become pale and covered in wrinkles? When had his hair turned gray, and started to fall out? He'd aged far more than most did in ten years, but his eyes were just as Scarlett remembered. A striking blue, and an exact copy of her own.

At first, Edmund seemed confused. He stared at Scarlett as she clung to Ben, looking her up and down multiple times. Then, a hundred emotions seemed to cross his face. Anger, sadness, concern... But most of all, he showed extreme relief. Ben let go of Scarlett and stepped back as Edmund slowly walked towards her, reaching out to touch her face. She didn't move a muscle. She knew she must have looked petrified, but there wasn't much she could do about that now.

"Madeline?" Edmund said, his voice barely a whisper. "Is that you?"

Scarlett opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out, so she simply nodded. Her entire body was shaking as Edmund placed his hands on either side of her face, looking her directly in the eyes for a few moments until he got some sort of validation and broke into a wide grin, overjoyed tears streaming down his face as he pulled Scarlett into a tight embrace. She also found herself crying as she hugged her father back. They both grew weak at the knees and fell back on the nearest bench, where they spent the next hour crying and laughing. Ben watched in silence, but even he seemed to be getting a bit emotional from the reunion.

"You're so big," Edmund muttered, leaning back to look at Scarlett. "You haven't changed, and yet, you're a woman now. Ben, how ever did you find my darling girl?"

"She found me," he chuckled. "It's a good thing she did, too."

Edmund watched as Scarlett and Ben exchanged a somewhat bittersweet glance, seemingly seeing the connection there.

"Are you two...?"

"I didn't know I could love someone the way I love your daughter," Ben admitted.

"I never would have believed someone if they tried to tell me what Ben and I would go through," Scarlett added, her voice a bit hoarse and cracking from the crying.

"This is wonderful," Edmund exclaimed, taking both his daughter's hands in his own. "Then why, pray tell, is Ben leaving again?"

"Well, I will be leaving with him," Scarlett admitted.

"What? You just came home!"

Scarlett bit her lip as Ben walked over and sat beside her on the bench, encouraging her to tell him. She did just that, starting from the very beginning and telling her father everything. About Phineas, Abram, Colt and Percy, the amulet, and the day Ben butted into it all.

"I tried, but I can't leave. It's not just my life that depends on it," Scarlett sighed, finishing the story.

She and Ben waited for Edmund to react, but he just seemed stunned.

"My daughter... challenged the band of pirates who kidnapped her... and made herself their captain," he repeated slowly.

"That's about it," Scarlett shrugged.

"She acted a bit more like a monarch than a captain," Ben added, receiving a sharp elbow in the gut from Scarlett, who was trying to leave out the cruel, violent, and promiscuous bits.

Edmund went silent for a moment, then leaned in to hug his daughter once more, this time pulling Ben into the embrace as well.

"Ben, you've helped fill a hole in my heart that has been empty for many years," he sighed. "And as much as it pains me to see her go again, knowing she's grown, healthy, and in love is all a father can really ask for. And Madeline... Oh, Madi, darling. There is nothing you could have done that would make me anything less than your father, who loves you very, very much."

Scarlett held back more tears as she hugged her father once more, glancing up as Ben stood and patted her shoulder lightly.

"We should go, before everyone wakes up."

Scarlett's heart sank again. As Ben looked at the two of them, he almost looked sad to see that Edmund and Madeline Triggs wore the same heartbroken expression, blue eyes losing a bit of light. Scarlett sighed and looked back to her father, about to speak, but silenced when he held a hand up.

"I understand," he said. "I'm glad to have seen your for a few hours, rather than never again. Benjamin, I'd like you to take this with you, before you go."

He pulled his own golden wedding band off his finger, putting it in Ben's palm and closing his hand around it.

"Sir?"

"I know you're a perfect gentleman, so I can rest assured that you intend on eventually marrying the woman you find yourself this intimate with," he said knowingly, as Ben turned red. "None of that now, Benjamin. I'm not asking you to do it right this minute. Wipe that look off your face, boy. Did you think I wouldn't recognize the glow of a man who's seen every inch of the woman before him?"

"Daddy, please," Scarlett said, trying to hold back laughter as Ben seemed to shrink back.

"I know you never got the chance to meet your mother, but she was wonderful. I like to believe that ring was what brought us the best of luck," he explained. "And now I hope it brings you two the best luck there could be."

Scarlett nodded with another smile, squeezing his hand. All their heads suddenly snapped in the direction of some voices over the wall.

"Off you go now, you two," Edmund said, ushering them towards the back door of the garden and unlocking it for them so they wouldn't have to climb over the wall again.

"Thank you," Scarlett squeaked, hugging him one last time. "I'll try to visit you."

Edmund just smiled and bowed his head as he watched his daughter leave him once more, though this time he was relieved to know she was in the hands of someone he trusted. Or rather, Ben was stuck in the hands of Scarlett. They managed to sneak back to the Silver Spirit just as some authorities were beginning to question why it was docked there, sailing away before anyone could do anything.

Scarlett stood at the front of the ship as the wind whipped her hair around, holding tightly onto the new hat atop her head. She heard Ben come up behind her and swat the feather out of his face as he slipped his arms around her waist, kissing the side of her head.

"You're not being very professional," Scarlett told him. "You do have big shoes to fill, you know."

"I'm a changed man," he said. "I've learned that the closer I am to my captain, the less likely she is to smack me."

"Don't get too smug, now," Scarlett warned. "I won't feel guilty about locking you up in the brig again."

"You're right. I'll be good, as long as I get to sleep in your bed again," he said.

"We'll have to see about that, second-in-command."

"Fine, then. Care to tell us where we're headed, Captain?"

"Well," Scarlett frowned, turning around to face him now, "I didn't actually think I'd ever get this far..."

"How about I surprise you?" Ben asked.

"You always do, idiot."

Ben grinned and kissed her forehead, once again swatting the feather out of his way, before backing up to address the waiting crew. Scarlett sighed contently and looked back out to the sea as the sun rose over the waves. Like the dawn of a new life.