She cleared her throat. "Ye know I'm goin' back to Sean's ship." She looked at the crew she was now relinquishing - sort of - to John, in order to rejoin, and command, Sean and his crew. She looked over at them, too - the two ships were held together with ropes. A plank was placed between the two ships, and she and Peter walked over to Sean's ship. Before jumping off onto the deck, she surveyed her audience one more time. "John will act as captain in my absence." She jumped down.
As the plank was drawn back in, and the connecting ropes thrown to one ship or the other, she looked at John, perhaps for her last time, she thought. He was watching her, his face suffused with sadness, and longing.

"I don't think I'll ever understand ya." She stated simply. Mari rolled her eyes, and smiled fondly at her.
"I'm not hard to understand. Certainly, not as hard as you."
"Wait." Aliette interrupted. "You need rescuin' from them bastards - twice," she gave Mari a look to emphasize the importance of this fact, "then you turn around, and just. let someone do it. Of your own free will."
Mari sighed, giving a wistful smile. "Just look at him." from their shaded spot, both looked over at Sean, spending his time in the sun. He grinned, and waved, turning back to his task. "Isn't he wonderful?"
Aliette gave a disgusted look. "'E might be wonderful, or 'e might not. Even if 'e is, 'tis no reason ta. ta give him. control over ye." She swallowed in disgust at the very idea of such happenings.
"Aliette," Mari gave her a level gaze. "you seem to have gotten many ideas in your head, most of them wrong. I'm not relinquishing control. I'm not forcing myself to suffer through anything. I love Sean, Aliette, and I'm not doing anything I don't enjoy." Aliette shook her head, saying nothing more. Instead, she nodded goodbye to Mari, and worked her way over to Art. Like Mari and she, Art was pretty much killing time. Art looked up at her and then, strangely enough, blushed and avoided her glance.
"Hi." He spoke quietly. Aliette sat near him, and he stooped to join her.
She nodded abruptly. "Art, ya know what's goin' on 'ere. 'Ow is everyone farin'?"
"We're doin' well." He answered. "Those pirates ya. I mean, th' women, they're still angry, especially, th'one, William. As for Sean and Mari." he shrugged, and made a gesture deferring to the two in front of them. "You c'n see what's goin' on with them." She nodded, frowning. She looked over at Art. He looked, well, forlorn.
"Art," more gently now. "What's wrong?" he looked miserable.
"Wrong?" she had startled him into fear. "Nothin's wrong! I'm-" she put a hand on his shoulder.
"Art." Still gently, but now she tried to be firm. His face crumpled.
"I don't know why 'e's so wonderful. I mean, sure, 'e's older, but I've known 'er fer longer. It in't fair, it just in't." She didn't have to ask: she knew he was talking about Sean, and Mari. She smiled, empathetic but amused. When had Art suddenly started caring so much about whom Mari was courting? When had he discarded loud, laughably blatant invitations for sex between strangers for gentle affection, courtship, and crushes? Perhaps Mari had changed him, perhaps he had picked it up just by being around the two. The change was startling, either way.
"Art," she said carefully, "Ya wish you and Mari were courtin', don't ya?" He looked down, embarrassed, then nodded. Her hand slid around his back in sympathy. He looked up at her, startled. When he spoke, his voice held admiration, and an earnest hope.
"I c'n show you where they talk."
It was hardly more than a quarter-meter thick, and nothing more than a space between walls. Still, it qualified, especially since Art had at first enlarged the opening between his room (the one originally shared by he and Aliette) and the space, then hid the entrance behind a cupboard. He shoved it aside, then squeezed through. Not at all sure what she was doing, Aliette followed. They crouched, then sat on the dusty floor of the space. Through the other wall, the wall that served as separation between them and Sean's room (which he now shared with Mari), Aliette heard the sounds of someone entering. No. two someones. The voices of these two people quickly gave away their identities. Sean, and Mari, of course; what else had she expected?
"Here, sit down." Mari's hesitant, strangely quiet voice.
"Thanks." Sean's voice was quiet as well. She and Art heard the invitation being accepted, as Mari's cot sagged under the unexpected weight of two people.
"So." Sean seemed unusually tongue-tied, even for his normal awkwardness in Mari's presence. Aliette noted the difference, then wondered at herself for doing so. What was it to her? At any rate, Sean's skills at small talk were not exactly at the virtuoso level, whatever the reason. Fortunately, Mari was not loath to long silences. "Today was my turn to cook, and we were running low on meat, so I decided we could have fish. I went fishing, but a shark got my bait. It was a little shark, though, so I tried to wrestle him in." Aliette grimaced; his blabbering was almost worse than his silence. "It took me a long time, twenty minutes maybe." Aliette could almost hear Mari smile at this exaggeration. "I got 'im, though, I did. And everyone knows shark meat can be some of the best, when cooked right." Aliette rolled her eyes. She had had shark, and was inclined to disagree. Whatever Sean had done to it, she had to admit it was enough to mask the sickeningly familiar taste of the sea with a more pleasant flavor. Aliette had picked up a little of such things, but Sean had certainly overcome a challenge. She smiled slightly; Sean's need of bravado and masculinity had prevented him from taking credit for his real display of talent.
"It was delicious." Mari's voice held laughter. Apparently, she was also aware of the dangers of improperly seasoned and prepared shark. Aliette gave Art a smile that hid her laughter. He nodded, although there was hardly any room to move, crammed in as they were. Their shared grin ended as their eyes took on the blankness present when the eyes are not being used. Staring into space, each concentrated on the soft sounds of Mari's mellifluous voice.

A/N: This is as far as I got. Is it worth salvaging, or is it overwhelmed by the cliches that got it off the ground?