Blurred Horizons

"Scarlett. Scarlett, wake up."

"Go 'way. It's the middle of the night."

Ben stared down at her with his arms folded as she buried her face in her pillow.

"Scarlett, it's approximately five in the morning," he said.

"Middle. Of. The. Night. Benjamin." Scarlett's cranky tone was muffled by the pillow. Ben sighed and knelt on the bed beside her.

"All right, I just want you to know you brought this on yourself." He yanked the blanket off of her and she groaned, reaching for it without looking.

"Give me the blanket Ben or I swear I'll stab you."

"I'm afraid not, my buxom blond bed headed beautiful birthday girl. You can walk out of here or I can carry you out."

"Ben it's too early for alliterations. Go away and stop talking."

"It is never too early for alliterations." Ben scooped Scarlett out of the bed, causing her to shriek.

"Ben! Put me down this instant!" She punched his shoulder as he carried her toward the door. "I'm in my night dress and I'm a mess! Don't you dare take me out of here in this state!"

"Are you going to be a good birthday girl and get dressed?"

Fine you lunatic, just put me down," Scarlett snapped. Feeling triumphant, Ben set her gently back on her feet, continuing to smile even when she punched his arm again. He tapped his foot impatiently while she got dressed and ran a brush through her tousled blond curls. She scowled at him.

"Stop it," she grumbled. "You should be glad I'm even awake, and not killing you."

"You can't kill me. You made me immortal."

"Yes well I wouldn't have if I had known you would be dragging me out of bed at ungodly hours."

"You don't always mind being awake at ungodly hours," he replied with a cheeky smirk and Scarlett hurled her brush at him. Ben caught it and bent down to kiss the top of her head.

"Don't do that. I'm trying to be cross with you."

Ben chuckled softly. "Do you really want to be cross on your birthday?"

"If it's my birthday shouldn't I be allowed to sleep in?" Scarlett grumbled. "How did you manage to remember my birthday anyway?"

"I remember everything," Ben said. "And I promise your surprise will be worth it. But just to make you feel better, I'll give you your first gift now."

Scarlett perked up and looked at him with interest in the mirror as Ben went to the desk and pulled out a piece of parchment and a small box. He presented it to her with a flourish and Scarlett finally cracked a smile.

"You're so dramatic, Benjamin." She opened the box and her smile widened. She pulled out the small diamond earrings, which glittered spectacularly even in the dim light from the oil lamp.

"They're beautiful," she said. "What's with the paper?"

"It's a map, that leads to the rest of your presents. You are after all quite the treasure hunter. And I thought it was a nice sort of tribute to how we met."

Scarlett took the map and studied it. "You really go all out, don't you?"

"For you, yes."

"Is this why you insisted we stay docked here for so long?"

"It is. I've been trying to gather gifts for a while now, in preparation for my stroke of genius. It's very difficult to hide things from you, let me tell you. Now come on, fair sea goddess. We have a treasure hunt to commence."

Scarlett seemed in a much better mood as they disembarked and wandered the streets of the small Caribbean beach town. She followed Ben's painstakingly drawn map, pouting when he refused to give her extra clues. They had sailed many places since Ben had joined the crew of the Silver Spirit and he had been carefully selecting gifts for Scarlett's birthday for the last three months. When they sailed into their current port, he had hidden the gifts all around it and drawn up the map. By the time they reached the end of the map, Scarlett had a jewel encrusted music box, a Venetian mask adorned with black swan feathers, a diamond pendant to match her earrings, and a small pistol with mother of pearl decorating the hilt, and engraved with her initials.

"Again I say, you really go all out." Scarlett wrapped an arm around his neck and pulled him down into a kiss.

"Worth getting up early?" he teased. She rolled her eyes.

"Don't get cocky, First Mate Griffith."

He wrapped his arm around her waist and steered her back toward the ship. "I'm not done with you quite yet, Captain Rose."

"How many crazy things can you really do in one day, Ben?"

"Scarlett don't ask questions you don't want the answers to." He ushered her back to her quarters, seeing members of the crew shooting the two of them sideways glances and shaking their heads. Ben's romantic tendencies never failed to amuse his fellow pirates. But he was as skilled a sailor as any of them and he had their respect even if they did find him ridiculous sometimes. No one could really blame him for treating Scarlett like a queen, anyway. He opened the door and waved Scarlett inside, laughing as her mouth fell open.

"I asked Cook to make the most spectacular cake she could come up with," he said. The cake in question was five layers, decorated with pink and white frosting and what must have been nearly a hundred roses.

"Do you like it?" he asked. Scarlett turned to him and beamed.

"I love it. Honestly Ben, you spoil me."

"That's the idea. Happy birthday, sea goddess."

He cut a slice of the cake for her, making sure to get a whole rose on the top. Scarlett admired her gifts and sighed.

"I really don't think life could possibly be more perfect," she declared. Ben scooped some frosting off her cake slice and smeared it on her nose.

"I think you're right," he said.