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The footsteps were slower this time, and she could have sworn the cells were quieter now, emptier now. Sadness tends to make all surroundings seem worse off than they really were, and there was no denial that the little private was sad. Though she was loathing admitting it, she was very upset over the fate that would befall the only prisoner in these vast cells. Despite this, she did her best to keep a straight face, clutching the tray of food steady in front of her. Maybe it would be best if she just dropped it off and left.

But when Private Minnie stopped at that particular cell, her will was easily broken. There behind the bars sat Captain Mickey Mouse, his back to her, calmly flicking his red yo-yo back and forth, as usual. Strange that it had been the only item he had asked to keep when they captured him, but no harm was seeing in letting him have that small entertainment. Hearing her footsteps, he turned his head back to get a glance at her and smiled, a glint of gold flashing from one of his teeth. "Dinner already?"

She hesitated, but nodded. "The last one." Her voice was quiet, almost inaudible, stepping up to the cell and sliding the tray in to his side. As always, the meal wasn't much, just leftover slops and a glass of dirty water, as no one bothered to save anything relatively healthy for a prisoner's meal.

Still the pirate picked up his fork, and took a bite. "Guess we'll be there soon."

Another nod from her. In only a few hours, they would arrive at the N.A.V.Y. prison to await his trial and subsequent execution. "Before the sun sets, most likely." She mumbled, eyes cast downward.

He wiped his mouth with the back of his arm, and resumed playing with his yo-yo. "Time flies when yer havin' fun. How long's it been?"

"A month… more or less." Minnie hadn't kept track of the time either, though she did agree that it had felt all too quickly. A month filled of visits to this prisoner, talking with him, getting to know him. Her friends had warned against these visits, but she had been so confident that perhaps she could get valuable information out of him. Instead, he had gotten information out of her, of her family and her dreams, and now the very thought of sending him to the gallows was enough to reduce her to tears. Shuddering and swallowing the urge to do so now, she began to sit down, her back to his own. "Y-You know… I've been thinking."

"Aye?" Though bars blocked them, they could still feel body warmth from each other.

"Maybe, when you get there, you could try to… to make a deal." She smoothed down her uniform was she tried to articulate her argument. "Give up information on people you've worked with. Then, then, then maybe they won't…"

"Hang me?" He finished, knowing she wouldn't be able to. A grim chuckle followed. "Oh, turtledove, I could give them entire ships filled with men of me ilk, and they'd still tie me up."

"But it's not fair!" She hadn't meant to shout that, but it came out loud none the less. Already this conversation was so vastly different than their usual talks. That little nickname would cause her to blush, and he'd tease her about it, and they'd have a mock fight, trading stories as he taught her new yo-yo tricks. But now she was just fighting an urge to cry, banging her head back against the bars. "You're not like the others! Y-You're different!"

He seemed to catch the fight she was giving herself, and made gentle shushing noises. "Don't cry now…"

"Y-You're nice, and sweet, and you've never murdered anyone, a-all you did was steal - "

"And commit treason." He 'walked the dog'.

"A-and commit treason…"

"And kidnapping." He 'went around the world'.

"I'm trying to help you!" She snapped, kicking her legs a little in the air in her frustration. "You don't deserve to die! You're a… a good pirate!"

"No such thing exists." But he did pause for a moment, slowing down his tricks in contemplation. He then sighed, a little heavier than normal. "Still don't understand how a sweet thing like ye winds up workin' in the N.A.V.Y." He shifted a little, looking back at her again. "More like… yer the kinda lass men would fight to protect over. The fair princess."

"Princesses don't do anything." She sniffled, shaking her head. "They just… wait around for the knight to come and save them. I wanted to be the knight. I wanted to do the saving. But… but now I really am a princess, because I can't do anything about this. I-I'm just… weak, and useless…"

"Don't go sayin' such things." He clicked his tongue to his teeth, reprimanding her. "Ye don't suit the role, but ye still got it fair and square. Yer why I'm in here, after all… gave me a fair beatin' and all." A chuckle came in good memory. "I think it's gunna be one of the easiest robberies in me life, and then this small one comes up, tellin' me she's puttin' me under arrest…"

A weak smile came upon Minnie's frame. "You were my first capture."

"Doubt I'll be the last." Then, rather uncharacteristically, his voice went into a low murmur, soft and soothing. "If I could… I'd steal one last thing."

She rolled her eyes, amazed he could still joke and speculate, even when his own death was less than a day away. "And what would that be?" She laid one hand flat on the floor, the other one used to wipe away what few tears that had escaped. "A ship, or a crown, or a…" She trailed off as she felt a hand slither out from behind the bars and take a hold of her own. As he gently squeezed her hand, the silence in the lower decks was deafening.

Though he hadn't said another word, the intention was obvious. Now the tears could not be stopped by any means, and Minnie shut her eyes tightly, whimpering as she became overcome with emotions. In one month, this criminal had snuck his way into her heart, capturing her entirely, and twisting all of her preconceived notions of what pirates could be like. Pirates were supposed to be bloodthirsty, merciless, and evil straight to the core. Mickey was nothing of the sort. He was more like a mischievous boy with great power than a real threat to anyone.

Though she was engaged to another man, Mickey had done more for her in that short span of time than Mortimer ever offered. He listened to her troubles and worries, and offered solutions to them. He encouraged her dreams, and admired the devotion she had to her family. He had proven he had wit and intelligence, charm and kindness, and would often do anything to get a smile out of her. Had he been any other profession than a pirate, maybe fate would have been kinder, and it would have been his ring she would be wearing instead. In any other lifetime, they could have found happiness together.

"Turtledove." He whispered, and locked his fingers in between hers.

Slowly, tentatively, with pain and joy and conflict, she squeezed his hand back. "Say… say my name."

Without any hesitation at all, his next breath contained it. "Minnie."

She took her time to open her eyes. "Mickey."

It was a good thing she opened her eyes, or she would have assumed the sudden quake of motion all around her was just her aching heart. But since she could see all around her, she could see the quarters rattle, the key-ring nearly falling off its hook on the corresponding wall. Before she could register what happened, the quake happened again, along with sounds all too familiar off the distance.

"Cannon ball fire!"In an instant, Minnie was getting up, the mood killed. "We're under attack!" As she stumbled to get back on her feet, she caught sight of Mickey with the fork in his mouth, and her agitation was sudden. "How can you eat at a time like this?!"

He seemed ready to give her a cocky reply, when the fork was dropped, and he began to clutch his throat. The pirate began to fall over, harsh coughing emitting from him, and the blood began to drain from his face. It was soon obvious to Minnie what his ailment was – Mickey was choking! More canons boomed off, and Minnie looked rapidly from the door out, to Mickey, back and forth, trying to make a decision. It didn't take long for her to lunge for the keyring, figuring she'd very speedily help Mickey, and then go help her sisters in arms. "Hang on!"She jammed the keys into the cell door, and swung it open after hearing the resounding click.

Almost tripping over herself in her fear of his pain, Minnie got behind Mickey, holding him as best she could, trying to do the Heimlich maneuver. Three tries into it, she pleadingly tried to see his face. "Are you okay?"

Mickey gasped for air, his shoulders hitched, and, with his tongue partially out, breathed "Thanks."

Sighing with relief, Minnie stepped back, but once she had let go of him, the pirate moved in a blur. Faster than she could understand what was happening, he had grabbed his yo-yo, and in one swift jerk, it appeared to come to life all on its own, swirling itself around Minnie in hundreds of circles, binding her in a silver string until she was entirely covered, from her ankles to her knees. Losing her gravity, she fell right onto her back, and as she moved, she realized this wasn't string, or at least not ordinary string. It refused to break, and it was metallic to the touch. She was completely bound, and could not free herself.

Mickey loomed over her, wearing his winning golden smile, and when the toy finally stopped moving, he reached to grab the red circular bit. She heard a mechanical click as it snapped off, and he pocked it in his jacket. "Nifty what they can do these days with a few clinks and clanks, aye?"

Minnie stared up at him, speechless for the moment. As realization dawned on her, so did anger. "You..." He had faked choking so she would unlock the door… and, then, as her body shook with fury, the yo-yo. "You…" He had kindly asked to keep it since day one, and Minnie had obliged. "Y-Y-You…" He had been planning this ever since he first went behind these bars. "You… BILGE RAT!"

Mickey raised his eyebrows at the insult, getting down on one knee. "Ouch. What happened to callin' me by name?"

"You tricked me!" She screeched at the top of her lungs, hoping the other privates could hear her screams over the roar of the cannons. "All this time, I thought you were different, but… but you're worse!" She kicked her feet, despite what little good it did. "I hate you, hate you, hate you! You big fat liar!"

He tipped his hat up just a smidge in surprise. "Liar? When did I ever lie?" Ignoring her attempts to bite his arm, he picked up her wrapped body, cradling her against his chest. "Not once have I ever told ye an untruth. I just had no plans to ever… die."

"You used me!" She tried to pull her head back, but there was no space to do so. "And I'll never forgive you!" Every single pure feeling she ever had for him churned and frothed inside of her, building into rage she had never thought nor didn't think she was capable of feeling before. "If you get out of here, I swear I'll hunt you down and drag you back myself!" The last word even contained a hint of spittle.

However, he wasn't threatened at all. In fact, judging by his warm eyes and lopsided grin, he had enjoyed her accusations. "I wouldn't expect any less…" Then with the silkiest of caresses, he dragged the back of his hand down her red cheek. "…turtledove." Once the hand reached her chin, her tilted her head upwards, ran his thumb across her trembling lips, and…

… was interrupted by a cannon blast directly into the cell.

The wall behind them was now broken wood and dust, blocking their vision for a few good moments. When sight was restored, a third figure was now standing in the debris, clutching two small hoverboards at his sides – small mechanical devices that traveled short distances over the air. Whoever this was had mostly likely ridden right behind each cannon ball, trying to find Mickey. As Minnie blinked hard, she recognized the figure as one of the pirates from the museum robbery where she had 'met' Mickey – a tall, lanky buck toothed dog, donned in greens and oranges.

"Ya big Goof!"Mickey grumbled, deeply annoyed, and dropping Minnie like a dead weight. "Did ya have to go and kill the mood like that?"

The dog merely handed over one of the boards, ignoring his captain's anger. "Ship's waitin' on ye, cap'n! Sorry we're late, Pete's always lousy with directions."

"Excuses excuses…" Mickey mimicked Goofy's pleasant tone, stepping onto his board.

"Minnie!" Came several feminine shrieks from the stairways, as other privates began to head for the source of the explosion. Private Daisy managed to reach the cell first, but the men had already jumped into the sky, sailing away on their boards. So she focused on what she could, kneeling down to try and find a way to cut the metallic yo-yo rope. "Minnie, are you okay?!"

Minnie glared hellfire at the wall, paying no mind to her friend's aide. Instead, she yelled as loud as she could make herself, her temper increasing her volume. "I'll get you for this, Captain Mickey Mouse! I'll get you!"

Though the flying men couldn't hear her, Goofy did inquire to her nature, dodging gunfire from the women on the upper decks. "So, what was I interruptin'?"

"Oh, just wait and see." Mickey's good mood was back already, using his board to surf the skies as he spotted his faithful ship just up ahead. "I'm going to make that lass me wife!"