“Well,” Ace said, turning her cup around in her hands. “Say for instance I told them to you, one by one. Say I only told you two or three in a year. How many do you think we’d get through, before… before you move on to something new?”

She looked at him then, her expression schooled into something like indifference. But Zander noticed the slight crease in her brow, the way her nose flared, the white-knuckle grip she had on her cup. For some reason, she still didn’t trust that he wanted this—that he wanted her.

He put his hand on her thigh, his heart beating like a wild animal trying to break out of his chest.

“I’ll be here for all of them,” he said fervently. “And hopefully, I’ll find something new right here, with—”

“Captain!”

Ace and Zander both jumped, ripped from their moment by Aled’s call from across the deck.

“What,” Ace said sharply.

“Sing us a song!” Aled called back.

“Aye Captain, sing!” echoed Jurgen.

“Ahh, fuck off, all of you!” Ace said, waving her hand.

“Ah, but it’s been so long since you sang,” Saila endeared. A murmur of agreement came from the crowd.

Ace looked at Zander, and he smiled encouragingly. He didn’t know Ace could sing. He wasn’t about to disagree with the crew and prevent her from doing so now.

Seeing the eagerness on his face, Ace sighed, stood up, and drained her drink.

“Alright,” she announced. “You want me to sing you lot to sleep then, is that it?” Another murmur of agreement, and Zander noticed some of the crew get comfortable in anticipation. Ace leaned back against the railing and took a deep breath.

What came next had Zander struggling to remember how to breathe. Ace’s voice, deep and beautiful when she spoke, was hypnotic when she sang. The hairs on his neck and arms stood up, Ace’s voice filling his body like a siren call, and he wanted nothing more than to jump into her ocean and swim there forever.

Long have I wandered

For years and years, I’ve roamed

I have crossed many waters

But I have not found a home

Late I have planted my feet

But the wind it howls and moans

I feel it come to take me away

It calls, ‘it’s time to go.’

While wandering I met a fellow

He seemed so brave and fair

His countenance chilled, his kisses they thrilled

His hands ran through my hair

And so I gave up my wandering

He loved me, or so he said

He made me a mother, and gazed at another

He left the warmth of our bed

Child if I’m being truthful

I did not even grieve

For years I laid next to him, and I prayed

That he would finally leave

The truth is I knew he held me

But held no love inside

We gave it our all for happiness’ sake

Lord knows, lord knows, we tried

She carried on, each verse she sang more haunting than the last. When her song ended, the deck remained silent for several long moments. Zander heard a sniff and looked over to see Abdoul wiping his eyes, the effect of the song’s sorrowful lyrics apparent.

“Ah, Captain,” George crowed from the other side of the deck. “It’s been too long since you blessed us with your voice.”

Ace smiled affectionately at the older man. Her eyes swept over her crew, filled with fondness for the ragtag group.

“Get some rest, you all,” she said softly. “We’ve got a big few days ahead of us.”

The crew began to shuffle around, cleaning up the remnants of their evening before heading to bed. Daniel and Amir settled in near the helm, preparing to take watch together, as they often did.

“I didn’t know you could sing,” Zander told Ace as he stood.

“Aye, well, if I sing too often, this lot will start treating me like their mother.” She smirked at him, shrugging.

Suddenly, the air between them changed. It grew heavier, like they were standing together in a cloud. Zander’s breaths came quicker, and the tips of his fingers tingled, but not from anxiety. It was more like a compulsion, a desire to move, to do something. It spread through his body like a phantom, begging him to close the distance between them, wrap her in his arms, hold her tightly against him for the rest of his life.

Zander could not have known this, but Ace felt it too—a writhing in her soul, like hands that meant to burst from her chest and pull him toward her. Their souls, no longer content with the slow magnetic draw toward one another, ached to be united once again.

A strangled cry sounded from the main deck where Thomas stepped on a stray piece of glass. The string of obscenities that left his mouth pierced the tender veil surrounding Zander and Ace, and Zander realized his hand was suspended in midair as he reached toward her face.

Her mouth turned up at Zander’s bashful smile, but rather than lower his hand, he reached forward and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.