You stood in the little English kitchen of your little English cottage, staring out the little English window at, you guessed it, the little English coastal countryside.  It was a normal, quiet English day or cloudy, wet and gloomy.  Your fists balled up.  You were so tired of it!  You were tired of the never-ending myriad of puddles that you had to dodge if you wanted to go somewhere.  You tired of never seeing the sun.  You were tired of all the villagers who never did anything but their daily routine.  You would have run away and moved to continental Europe if not for one boy.  You knew it was cliché, but you couldn't imagine a life without Arthur Kirkland.  What made it worse was that Arthur was a pirate, so he was constantly going off without telling you and risking his life for a piece or two of yellow metal.

You wanted to tell him your feelings, but every time you worked up the courage to do so, he sailed off again.  You didn't know how many nights you spent crying yourself to sleep because you couldn't stop worrying.

You sighed, it was time to get over your angst, and get over to the bakery to work.  You went out of your cottage and started down the trail to Mrs. Smith's Bread.  You stopped.  It was quiet.  Where were the birds and the bees?  They hardly ever failed to be out and about, making nonstop noise- except when a ship was about to set sail.

The only ship in the village's small harbor was Arthur's.

You ran back up to your hillside cottage to take a gander at the coast.  You didn't see anything, which meant Arthur hadn't left yet.  You still had time!

You ran down the hill, falling every once and while, but getting up faster than you could say "Son of a gun."  You went straight through puddles, slashing muddy water all over your dress.  You recognized Old Man Jack's house as you ran by it.  That signaled you were on the outskirts of town.  You couldn't dare to hope that Arthur might still be there.  You jumped over the few alley cats that milled about the streets and the drunks whom had passed out without regard to how inconvenient their location was to everybody else.  You reached the docks.  Arthur's ship was still there and his men were still loading barrels and crates onto it.  You bent over and gripped your knees, panting.  You could look for Arthur when you caught your breath.

"_________?!  Are you okay?"  Speak of the devil.  There he was, right in front of you, and concerned with your wellbeing.

Words stuck in your throat.  You felt your cheeks dampen and wondered if it had started to rain.  You could tell it hadn't.  The only rain here was from the storm in your heart.

You straightened up and tackled the love of your life with a hug.

"__-________?"

You pressed your face into his red pirate jacket.  "Please don't leave me," you murmured.

He gently gripped your shoulders and pushed you away.  You looked down as the crying got worse.  His gloved hand lifted your chin and he stared into your eyes.  "What's wrong, love?"

"You-you never tell me when you're leaving and then I spend my time worrying when you're out.  I hate that feeling in the pit of my stomach.  And I hate it here!  I would go anywhere else, but I can't because I'd never have the chance to tell you where I was going.  I don't want to do what you do to me!"  You slapped his hand away.  You sucked in your tears.  Put on a brave face.  And started to walk away.

"________, wait!"

"I don't want to hear it!"

"I never tell you when I'm leaving because I never want to say goodbye.  I feel like if I say goodbye, you'll move on without me.  Maybe find some gentleman, settle down, have a few kids, and forget about me."

"So…  You don't want me to be happy, so you can have at least one girl in every port?!  Is that it?!"

"No that's not what I meant-"

"But it's what you said!"

"_______, I love you and can't imagine life without you!  I don't want you to find someone; I want you to find me!  I know it's selfish, but I want you to be mine every day of the year, every hour of the day, and every minute of the hour."

"Well maybe you should've considered my feelings before you hurt me, time and time again!"

"I don't ever want to leave you!"

You stopped.  "Then, why do you go?"

"I go because I'm trying to save up the money to buy you a cottage in a beautiful, sunny place with an endless, sandy beach where we could maybe raise the children.  The children I want to have with you."

You turned around and looked him in the eyes.  You tackle-hugged him again.  "You bloody idiot."