Ava came to consciousness and she couldn't have told anyone where she was, who she was with before she went to sleep, or why she was in a bed that didn't feel like her own. She opened her eyes and saw a place she had never seen before. Green leaves made up the roof of where she was. Her neck felt stiff and sore as she twisted it to the right to get a better view of the room she was in. She managed to turn her head to find that she wasn't in a room. There was a mix of green and white to her side. She was on a beach, tucked into the edge of greenery leading into the jungle. It was cold and the sun was going down.

She shot up in her bed, a cot of some sort. She had a heavy blanket on but she was still freezing despite it. Ava quickly looked around and saw no one. A small, empty beach. Panic began to set in as she was getting no answers from her surroundings. She focused hard and tried to remember what was happening before she got here. Why did she wake up on a random beach with some thatching as her home?

The storm.

What had happened to her? Had the ship crashed on this island? Had she fallen overboard and was found by some random person. She didn't know what to make of the situation. She pushed the blanket off her legs and tried to calm herself but her hands were shaking and she could feel the tears begin to well up. She pushed down any fear and tried to focus on getting out of bed and finding something to protect herself with.

She set her feet on the ground and stood up but her knees buckled under her. She grabbed herself on the cot and righted herself. She looked around for any clues as to who had been there but everything was devoid of personal objects. There was a small campfire by the beach and a tent but no weapons. Ava took a few steps onto the sand, getting a feel for walking again. It felt like she hadn't walked in a cycle. She peeked her head down either side of the beach and found herself blocked into between two large cliffsides.

Ava walked back to the small dwelling she had woken up in and began to think.. Physically, she felt weak. Like she could sleep for another length and only wake up to gorge herself on food. There was not much she could do at the moment. No weapons, no water, no food. She took a moment to sit on the cot and figure out what she was going to do next, what the plan was going to be. A few minutes passed then she heard voices approaching. It sounded like whoever was coming was having an argument amongst themselves.

Ava pushed herself off the cot and practically dove behind the nearest bush. She felt her heart pound against her ribs, shaking through her whole chest. She took small, shallow breaths; afraid that anything else would give her position away. The voices got closer and closer until they arrived at the cot. Ava couldn't see from behind her bush but there was a pause in the conversation. They knew she was gone. She heard leaves crunching and footsteps leading to the beach.

"Ava!"

She heard her name being called.

"Red! Where are you?"

A different voice. Both of them were easily recognizable. She took a deep breath, head going light from the sudden influx of air. She had spent most of her energy getting up and running towards the bush like her life depended on it so it took her a lot longer than it should have to clamber up to her feet and wave her arms.

"Here!" Ava called but her voice wasn't strong enough to carry very far. Her throat straining to speak after who knows how long. She cleared her throat and stepped out of the brush, "here!"

That one carried and the two figures quickly turned in the direction of the noise. Theo and Morgana. They both bolted to her, coming to a skidding stop once they were about to hit her. It was comical but Ava had no energy to laugh. None of them said anything, they just stared wide-eyed at Ava. Ava had nothing to say either, she was the one that had woken up in the middle of a beach with no one around.

"You're alive!" Morgana said.

"I am," Ava answered then looked between both of them, "was I dead at any point?"

"No, but you were asleep for a fuck ton of time we were afraid you'd never wake up," Morgana provided and Theo reached out and hit Morgana.

"A little small talk before jumping into that would be appropriate," Theo said, "how are you feeling?"

"Weak," Ava answered honestly, "starving."

"Mor, go get Tuni," Theo said and then stepped towards Ava holding an arm for her to take.

Morgana jogged back into the jungle and Ava took Theo's arm, supporting most of her weight on it. Once Morgana was out of sight Ava stopped them and Theo looked up at her with a concerned look.

"What's wrong? Are you alright?" Theo brought a hand up to brush Ava's curls away from her forehead to look at something there. It hurt where her hair was pulled away and Ava assumed she had gotten hurt there.

Ava was originally just going to hug Theo. A relieved hug. Both relief at surviving whatever she had gone through and that Theo had also made it through. But that plan went out the door when Theo turned to face her, eyes wide and tender. Ava could feel genuine care seeping from the Captain's expression and she was overcome with fairies fluttering through her bloodstream. She cupped Theo's face between her cold hands and brought their lips together into a kiss.

Ava felt Theo tense up but only for a moment. Once the initial shock of what was happening had passed, Ava felt Theo melt into the kiss. Her hips were being cradled by strong hands and she was pulled into Theo's chest. One hand came up to cup her cheek and Theo rubbed a thumb along it.

Theo broke the kiss off, if she hadn't Ava would have never stopped herself. She leaned her forehead against Ava's and closed her eyes, "You're okay."

"How long was I out?" Ava asked, pulling Theo's hand off of her cheek and into her hand.

Theo squeezed Ava's hand and she looked distraught, not well rested at all, "Four suns."

"Four?!"

"I didn't know if you were ever going to wake up," Theo admitted and Ava could hear the edge in Theo's voice. Like Theo had been struggling with that fact for a long while.

"Where are we?" Ava changed the subject, not wanting to think about the fact that she had been asleep for four suns.

Theo caught her up. She guided Ava back to the cot and helped her get into it. They were on the closest island they could find after the storm. The storm had thankfully only pushed them further along in their voyage and conveniently dropped them off only a sun's journey from Corinspe. The beach Ava had woken up on was used throughout the suns to help the injured women recover. It was secluded and away from base camp so those that were hurt had cover in case of an attack. Ava had been the last one to make a recovery which is why she was alone.

Everyone else was on the main beach. That is where the camp was set up and the ship was being repaired. Apparently, she had missed the careening of the ship and it being put back in the ocean. With all of the repairs ready to go and the ship in sailing condition, they were due to leave the upcoming morning so they could still get to Corinspe with one sun to spare. As Theo was speaking, recounting the tales of the last few suns, Ava wanted nothing more than to tackle her to the ground and keep kissing her. Relief at surviving was all she was thinking about and jumping Theo's bones was her preferred celebration. But she was starving, weak, and heard voices coming their way and decided that wasn't the best idea.

Theo's attention was also caught by the growing voices. Her head snapped to the side and
They both caught a glimpse of a short dark figure zooming past the brush. Tuni bounded into the makeshift tent with the same intensity that Ava had been greeted with earlier. Tuni had the same relieved expression too. Behind her was Navi and Iona trying to peek past the huddle of people already around Ava.

"Thank goodness you are awake, my child," Tuni gasped and put a hand to Ava's head, "You are freezing. Let's get you warm."

Tuni fetched the blanket from the floor and shook out some of the sand from it. It was draped around her shoulders and Tuni continued to poke her fingers in some places and prod in others. It was a check-up, Ava had been subjected to them many times before. Once Tuni was satisfied she dropped her worried expression and it was replaced with a huge grin. She cupped both of Ava's cheeks and squished them together so her lips resembled a fish's. She heard snickers behind her but Tuni's grip remained firm.

"Do not scare me like that again! We were all so worried," Tuni dropped her grip on Ava's cheeks and leaned forward for a hug. Ava wrapped her arms around the small healer and basked in the warmth radiating from her body.

Tuni didn't even let Ava respond or talk to anyone else. Tuni clapped her hands and made a shooing motion with her hands, "Out. Out all of you. One of you go cook her some food and the rest must let her rest some more."

"I just slept for four nights," Ava objected but Tuni stared her into submission.

Navi and Iona did their best to get their waves in. Looking like excited school children being given a surprise for doing well. Theo walked off in the direction of the campfire to begin pulling something together for Ava to eat and Tuni launched straight into a retelling of the time Ava had missed. She had already heard most of it but Tuni helped fill in any of the blanks Theo left. Ava didn't speak up much, there wasn't a lot for her to say. Instead, she found her eyes wandering to where Theo was.

The Captain was sitting by the campfire, trying to start it so whatever she had in the pan next to her could cook. Tuni looked back in that direction trying to ascertain what Ava was staring at. Once she had a clear picture, Tuni turned back to Ava with a raised eyebrow.

"She didn't leave your side the whole time, you know," Tuni dropped the morsel of information causally.

Ava felt a fire inside her belly. It was hard not to whip her head toward Tuni and ask her to repeat what was said. Ava knew what Tuni had said, she just wanted to hear it again. Ava let her stare drift away from Theo and nonchalantly looked into the brush to her right. She heard Tuni chuckle above her but she paid no mind.

"Who?" Ava asked, feigning aloofness at the statement.

"Your Captain," Tuni informed Ava, "There's been a lot of girls that come through here and Theo treats all of them fairly and respectfully, just like she does to you. She plays no favorites and you've seen that but I would be lying if I said I do not see the special place she holds for you."

Ava wanted to roll off her cot and into the jungle. Her pale cheeks flared red and she faced away from Tuni. They were really about to have this conversation and Ava was not prepared. Did Tuni suspect something was going on between them?

"Aye, we are good friends," Ava conceded and finally looked over in Tuni's direction, "and I'm quartermaster now so it has brought us closer I suppose."

"Mhm," Tuni said and grabbed Ava's chin gently and tilted her head back checking something on her face, "I don't mean to interject in anyone's business but I wish someone would have stepped in sooner when it came to me and Morgana."

"I don't get what you mean by that," Ava said and her hair was pushed back and something wet and smooth was applied to her forehead.

"Nothing. All I'm saying is that these girls are not good at talking about how they feel. Most of them have been out at sea and on their own for a while and that teaches them how to harden to emotions. It's not easy for them to display it but they have tells," Tuni wrapped a bandage around Ava's head, keeping whatever was on her forehead in place, "you just have to watch out for it and I have been."

"What was Morgana's?" Ava asked, laying down in the cot once Tuni was done in order to avoid staring at Theo again. She wanted to ask about Theo but didn't want to seem desperate. Morgana was a good buffer.

"She hates people touching her. I am very touchy. I knew she liked me when she started sitting close to me and not pulling away if I would nudge her," Tuni chuckled to herself, a smile on her face as she recalled the memories, "I hugged her one day and she hugged me back, lingered a bit too if you ask me. I had Cooker go try and hug her too just to see if it was a new thing Morgana was trying or if I was special."

"And?" Ava asked, taken into the story.

"Cooker got a black eye," Tuni laughed a bit and Ava did too. The way Tuni talked about Morgana was the way she wanted Theo to talk about her. It was the way she would talk about Theo if asked, good thing no one ever did.

"What is Theo's tell?" Ava avoided all eye contact and stared at the ceiling, fidgeting with her hands.

"There is a certain tenderness behind her eyes when she looks at you. Her expression softens when you're mentioned. She has had a vested interest in your safety and survival," Tuni sat at the edge of the cot and looked out towards the campfire, "the list goes on and on."

Ava sat up a bit and followed Tuni's line of sight. Theo was squatting in the sand, knees spread apart and her chest leaning down through them. Her face was hard with concentration and her tongue peeked out from her mouth. She looked like a goblin in the adventures she read about as children. Ava let a small giggle escape at the sight of the captain and she quickly shut up, any noise that came out of her was an involuntary action caused by a head injury.

Tuni paid Ava no mind, probably also amused at the sight of Theo. Ava reflected on Tuni's words. If Tuni herself said that Theo acted differently with her than with others then it must have been true. Ava hoped it was, she willed it to be. Ava had a feeling that the late nights and the soft touches and the intimate conversations meant something deeper but she had second-guessed everything.

This was the first time she was doing something of the sort and Theo wasn't exactly an open book. They hadn't even told anyone they were having sex. Tuni was right though, these were fucking pirates they were dealing with and they had proven time and time again to have the emotional maturity of a 10-year-old adolescent. If Ava wanted straight answers and a straight conversation she would have to sit Theo down and demand it. She just had to gather the courage to do so. There was always the risk that both she and Tuni were delusional and unable to read romantic hints and then she would end up ruining something good with Theo.

She was zoned out, staring past Theo and into the waves crashing into the shore. At some point, Tuni had gotten up and left. Ava was sure Tuni had said something to her but Ava was too in her own world to pay attention. She snapped out of her daze when she saw the goblin squatted by the campfire finally stand up and walk over with a plate of food. Theo set it down on Ava's lap and Ava said her thanks. It was fish and Ava wasn't overly excited at the sight of bland white fish after four days of not eating but she would have to take it.

"Once you feel energized enough we can head back to camp," Theo said and sat down at the edge of the cot as Ava began to dig in, "all of the girls miss you. It's been chaos without a quartermaster to mitigate their worst impulses. You have spoiled them during your short tenure."

"Watch out, once I learn to sail I'm coming for your job," Ava teased through a mouthful of food.

"Anyday, Captain Red, I am ready for your captaincy," Theo gave her a small salute with two fingers.

Ava laughed and slowed down on her food. Trying to lengthen the time they had alone. Ava was trying to gather up the courage to ask Theo something about how they felt about each other but she had no idea how to approach it.

Do you like me?

Hello, good captain, do you fancy me in a nonplatonic way?

Would you perhaps be up to moving past just fucking and maybe emotionally connect?

Do you, Theo, see yourself having a future with me, Ava?

None of those seemed appealing to her and she wanted to avoid that terribly awkward situation she was bound to put them in. They were silent as Ava ate, no need to have small talk fill the air. She finished her food, letting it digest slightly before giving the all-clear to be ready to head back. She was willingly giving up the opportunity to be alone with Theo and passing on her chance to confront their situation once and for all. Regardless, she was content leaning on the captain for support on their way back, staring at her jawline and dark features the whole way back.