The Crossing of Blades (FIOLEE)

Chapter Twenty

Marshall tapped the side of the ship impatiently, trying his best to stay in the shade. "Where is she?" He asked no one in particular.

Across town, the bells in the clock tower tolled twelve times. The crew began to weigh anchor and sail away.

Marshall stared at the docks. No one was running for the ship, no shining blonde hair materialized in the crowd. She wasn't coming.

He turned back to the ship, but noticed someone unfamiliar was onboard, helping to weigh anchor. "Who...?"

Noticing his confusion, a demon stepped forward. "That's Finn, sir. I found him this morning, since one of our crew disembarked with Lord Timothy last time we were on Middleground, and we needed a replacement."

"So you just picked a random Duine boy?"

"He wanted to see the world, sir."

'Finn' was wearing a large hat that obscured his face, and baggy clothes.

Marshall's eyes narrowed. "He looks... familiar." He marched over to the latest member of the crew, who immediately stood to attention. "Hello, Captain."

Marshall crossed his arms. "Your posture obviously comes from your Navy background. Why on you on my ship?"

"Captain?" 'Finn' asked, keeping his head down.

"Are you a spy? An assassin? You obviously don't want to see the world, you could have stayed in the Navy."

"Actually, not really. I had duties back home on Duine that I couldn't ignore."

Marshall frowned. "Is that just the national attitude? But you're here now— what about your duties?"

'Finn' shrugged. "I put my affairs in order before I left."

"Glob, I'm not going to kill you." Marshall huffed. "If the Duine Navy bothers me, you'll tell them that we're not so bad." He turned to leave, but 'Finn' said, in a much clearer and louder voice, "I don't know about that, Captain. They might think that you kidnapped me again."

Marshall froze, then turned slowly. He moved closer and took the hat off of his new crew member, letting Fionna's hair tumble down.

He drew her into a long kiss, before breaking away. "You scared me!"

"I know. I'm sorry." She smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"I'm serious. That was not cool." He said, nuzzling her head gently.

"I know, I know. I didn't think it would take you that long to realize I was here though."

"Hey, didn't you have a wedding to go to?"

"I went to the ceremony, yeah. The reception is probably still going on, and I had to leave that behind."

"Well, next time we make port, we can go to another wedding." He smiled.

"Whose?" She asked.

He kissed her gently. "Ours."

"What happened to Duine never accepting you as king?"

"They don't have to know." He laughed.

"Well, you didn't really ask, but sure. I'll marry you." She said, pulling him into another kiss. He picked her up bridal style, before carrying her into his quarters.

*Author's Note* 

There's a second part to this, but you're going to have to wade through all of the alternate endings to get to it. Some of them are sad, some of them are stupid, but all of them could have happened if I changed a few aspects of the story. Except the original ending. The story changed too much for that one.