A/N: Sooo sorry for the delayed update! I had the finals, then some awful things happened, then Christmas, and now I finally have free time(:. So thank you very, verty much for being my faithful readers(:. I hope you like the chapter. And for those of you who read the one shot "backstory" in the collection My First Kiss Went A Little Like This, I hope you found it to your liking :D. Enjoy, and hope to hear your thoughts in a review! Also, I hope you had an AMAZING Christmas! Love, The Girl in the Fedora
Hours later, Coral walked the deck of the ship. Crew members scurried around, paying her little if no mind, except to maybe stare at her "odd" outer apparel.
She leaned on the rail, staring into the crashing waves. What had happened earlier? Her head was still spinning.
"I kissed him. I kissed the man I thought I hated. What on earth is wrong with me?" She slid to the ground, head in her hands. "Oh, God." She prayed. "I just wanna go home. Take me home, Lord."
A woman sat down beside her. She eyed Coral with a sympathetic glance.
"Hey, Maria." Coral said absentmindedly. She started once she realized what she had said. "How on earth did I know your name? I've never seen you before in my life!"
Maria grinned, making Coral nervous. "I know your story."
"What?"
"I know you don't remember anything from before last night. You remember another life, correct?"
Coral nodded.
"It troubles him. I should know. I used to love him."
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Coral said. "I had no idea!"
She shrugged. "It's fine. Don't trouble yourself about it. But now you need to make a choice. You need to choose whether to go back to your old life or live this new one. I can help you go back. I'll also give you until tonight to make your decision." She stood and walked away, not giving Coral a chance to ask anymore questions.
"Ugh!" she groaned. "I hate difficult choices!"
"What's so difficult, love?"
Jonas.
"There's something you should know. . ." She turned to look at him, and found he was not as attractive as he was in the candle light. No matter. She already knew her choice.
"Whatever you'd like to tell me, darling, I'm all ready to listen. Tell me what's on your mind."
"What is the one thing you hold closest to your heart?"
"Darling, at the moment you are the one thing I hold dearest and nearest. You are even above this vessel, the second most loved thing in my life."
'Oh, sure. Make me guilty, why don't ya?' Coral thought. "Are you sure?" She crossed her fingers behind her back, hoping for a different answer.
"Absolutely."
She glanced away, and her eye caught Maria working on a small hole in a sail. Her expression seemed to say, "Why are you trying so hard to leave him? He loves you."
"I'm afraid." Coral said out loud, but under her breath so Jonas couldn't hear. "Jonas, I need to go think, I'll be in the bedroom, okay? Please don't disturb me."
"Anything you want, love."
She shut the door behind her once she found the cabin.
"Okay. To stay or not to stay- that is the question." She weighed the pros and cons in her mind. "Reasons to stay- Love, happiness, freedom, piracy. Reasons to go- Piracy, loneliness, always wondering if this is right." The last one slammed into her heart. She could stay married to Jonas, and never really know if this was meant to be. Or, she could go home and find out she had given up what could have been the best thing to ever happen to her.
The last choice didn't sound very appealing.
The door creaked as it swung open. "Love? Can I come in?"
"Yes. What time is it?"
"Fancy way to greet me. It's sunset."
"Sunset?" She hurriedly rose from the bed and pushed past him. Noticing his hurt look , you send him an apologetic glance..
Jonas smiled. "I'll wait for you."
Coral searched for Maria, and found her at the helm.
"Maria?"
"Hello, Coral. Something on your mind?"
"I-I've made my choice."
"Are you sure? You can't go back. This is it."
"I know."
"What's your decision?"
Coral could feel her heartbeat pulsing. She re-considered her choice, making sure it wasn't wrong, making sure it was what she really wanted to do. She took a deep breath.
"Tell me." Maria said, not unkindly.
"I have decided to. . ." The words stuck in her throat. "I'm going to stay."
Maria breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank God you picked that. I was so scared you'd go back."
Instantly, her energy drained. "Why?"
"Because the night you arrived here, you were brutally murdered in your sleep."
"What?"
"Shocking, isn't it?"
"But why? How?"
"I wish I knew. The only one who could tell you is the mystic, and since she became vanished last May. . . "
"This is too much." Coral collapsed, and next thing she knew, Maria was gently rubbing her forehead with a rag drenched in seawater.
"You scared me. Don't do that again."
"Sorry. . ."
"I'm just glad you've woken up."
"Maria?"
"Mmhmm?"
"Are Jonas and I really married?"
"Yes. Yes, you are."
"I've got to talk to him… Thank you so much for everything." Coral gave Maria a quick hug before darting away to find Jonas.
"Jonas, I'm ashamed to say I almost went home tonight. Back to my time."
He tilted his head, confused. "Why would you ever want to do a thing like that, lass?"
"I wasn't sure about so much. I didn't know if this was right for me, or if I even belonged here. But, the more I thought about it, the more I realized this just may be what was right for me. Then Maria told me what had happened to me in my time… I have so many questions and no way to get answers, except from someone called the mystic? And-" She was interrupted with a brief but gentle kiss.
"You needed to breathe, Coral." She loved the way her name sounded in his Scottish accent.
"There was another reason why I stayed…" her cheeks blushed red as she looked away.
"May I ask why?"
"Let's just say. . . It wasn't just the candlelight after all. There is something about you that I can't get out of my head… as much as I'd hate to admit it, I'd miss it."
"Oh, that was it, was it? You stayed to satisfy your curiosity." Jonas joked, slipping his arm around her waist.
She gently pushed him away, giving him a flirty grin. "You'd like to think that, wouldn't you?"