I stared at Amber in quiet horror. Serah wasn’t usually one who took such disrespect very well. Beside me, Henry drew in a sharp breath, his hand slipping into mine. I squeezed his hand gently. We both feared the same thing, Serah’s rage, and we were both afraid that Amber had finally stepped over the line.

The room was dead silent as Serah tilted her head and locked eyes with Amber. Beside her, Tanner tensed up, his hand resting on his belt where his sword was stowed away. His emerald green eyes met mine and I swallowed.

“I don’t scare you?” Serah asked, her voice dangerously calm.

At the bottom of the stairs, Lydia straightened up, her usual smile was gone, replaced by a sneer that matched Tanner’s. Lydia was usually the friendly sibling, but her anger had the possibility of being as intense as Tanner’s. I slowly stepped down the stairs, all eyes except Serah’s and Amber’s turning towards me. All the earlier friendliness between us and royals was gone, replaced by a cold intensity. None of us liked it when people challenged our captain, especially not royals.

“Not one bit.” Amber replied levely.

I approached Amber silently, the snarl on my lips escaping with her next words:

“You’re just a girl pretending to be a scary pirate captain.”

Amber seemed surprised by the threatening sound from me and snapped out of her trance, breaking eye contact with Serah to look around the room at Tanner, Lydia, Henry, Colten and me.

“You have your crew. They protect you. But what are you without them?” Amber continued.

“Amber. Shut. Up.” Perryn growled from a doorway, but she waved him off.

“You’re all so blinded by their flashy swords, big ship and good looks!” Amber snapped, turning on her friends, “You don’t see what pirates really are, do you?”

She whirled on Serah, “You are murderers. You kill people for fun. You’re thieves. Rogues.” With every word she stepped closer to Serah threateningly, “Misfits…riffraffs...pirates.” She shifted her glare to me, “Do you even have real families? Or are you orphans? Elizabeth, have you ever even loved someone other than yourself? You seem to have this sunshiny personality but I know that empty look in your eyes...none of you have love.

Serah shoved Amber backwards, hard, “Don’t you dare speak to Elizabeth that way. We could’ve left you floating in that ocean and you’d all be dead now if it weren’t for us. We could’ve killed you after learning you were royals. We could’ve handed you over to slave traders along with your captain. We could’ve thrown you at the mercy of Uthera...but we didn’t.” Her snarl was intense, and deep.

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Amber’s words cut deep into me. People were usually so afraid of us that they never dared to insult us.

“And yeah, we are all orphans.” Serah continued, “Yeah, we’ve all lost our families. And okay, we’ve all killed our fair share. But that’s what brings us together, we stick together through thick and thin. If that’s not love to you, FishBait...then what is?”

Amber didn’t answer her, instead blinking slowly.

“We can’t all have the fairytale lives of you royals.” Serah said, her voice sounding weary, “At least we look out for each other. You wouldn’t care one bit if Kate died, now would you? You’re selfish, Amber. You say we’re the evil ones? Maybe you should look in a mirror some time.”

Turning away from Ambr, Serah loped her arm around my shoulders and we both vanished out the front door and into the darkness.

After walking for some while, I spoke up, “You didn’t have to do that, you know.”

“Do what?” Serah asked.

“Protect us. Protect me…”

She sounded confused, “Why not? You’re my best friend.”

“Yeah, but now you have no chance with the prince.”

She laughed, “If I wanted him, I would have gotten him earlier, Liz.”

“Part of what she said was true, though.” I sighed.

“What?” Serah asked.

“We do need love in our lives. I mean, sure, we all have that sense of security around each other. We all have that instinct to protect each other. And yeah, I think we love each other. But...not that kind of love.”

After a few moments of silence, Serah spoke again, her voice sad, “I think we’ve all forgotten how to love, to be honest.”

I blinked at her, “What?”

“Elizabeth, when was the last time you were with a guy that you actually had the intent to marry?”

“I…” I swallowed, “Not ever, i don’t think.”

“When have you seen Tanner with a girl? They come for his looks but can’t accept him for who he is. They can’t see past his wall. Lydia has no interest in love either, we’re her family and she seems okay with that. Henry can’t trust any girl because any girl who wants him comes for his money, good looks and occasionally the butler. They want a big guy like Henry to be able to be tough and mean but that’s not who he is. Elizabeth, you’re a play girl. No offense here, but you see guys to be toys, you play with their hearts and lead them on for the fun of the chase. Then the second they want to start something serious, you panic. You can’t understand that maybe, just maybe someone is loving you just for who you are.”

I nodded quietly, “We are misfits…”

“No one will ever accept us just for who we are.” Serah said quietly, “and we need to come to peace with that.”

I sighed, “You had something going with him, didn’t you?”

Serah turned away from me, “He’s a prince. I never listened to my own command. I can’t--”

“Can’t what?” I demanded, “If he’s who you need to be with then be with him. If he makes you happy, and truly happy, Serah, not just the ‘Oh I’m drunk, I’ll flirt with a few people, I’ve gotten a million compliments and had too much wine today’ happy. You and Tanner have one thing in common...you both have a thick wall that needs to be broken down. You say I panic when people get serious with me, and that’s true! But the moment someone starts breaking down your wall, once they finally see you for who you are and love it, you deny them. You steer clear. You say I’m the one who plays with their hearts? Serah, don’t be a hypocrite. Have some faith in yourself.”

I stopped and she stopped with me, shocked into silence, “This is my street.” I said quietly, “Goodnight, Serah.”

She didn’t reply as I vanished into the darkness. As I glanced back at her, standing in the dim moonlight, I saw a gentle tear trickle down her cheek as she watched me leave.