Leaving
“Mary, can you come to my quarters right now?” Lily asks.
Mary looks over from where she is standing next to James, he has been telling her all about sea fables since she showed an interest in them after their tour three days ago. Since that day she has spent more time on deck with James, Sirius, and Pandora then she has under the deck wallowing in sadness in her cot.
It still gets difficult for Pandora to be around pirates and she has still spent hours curled up in her cot, but that has happened less and less as she opens up more to James, who she has really taken a liking to.
“Yeah, of course.” Mary responds and says a quick goodbye and promises to continue their conversation later to James, before hurrying off after Lily’s retreating figure.
She stops outside of her door to smooth her skirt, a loose white blouse that she paired with a blue skirt and a black corset on top. She’s actually found that she really likes dressing like this and doesn’t find the corset uncomfortable anymore.
She takes a deep breath and pushes the door open and is met with Lily standing at her desk, tapping her fingers against the table. Lily meets her gaze immediately and Mary once again feels like she is staring at the other half of her soul. Which is ridiculous because they can’t work, no matter how much Mary wishes they could.
“Please take a seat, Mary.” Lily pushes a chair out for Mary to sit in. Mary quickly crosses the room and takes her seat, anxiously wondering what Lily wants to talk to her about.
“The day you arrived on board we agreed that we would drop off you and Pandora in whatever foreign country we would arrive in next. Well this evening we will be docking in the Hogsmeade province for the night and then the next morning my crew and I will continue on with our journey, I am hoping that leaving tonight works for you because I am already behind schedule and I will not have time to bring you anywhere else.” Lily says, calm and collected.
Mary stays quiet. She knew that her and Pandoras time on the ship would be short and for those first few days she considered it a good thing, but now after becoming friends with the people on the ship and getting to know Lily it feels like the worst thing that could ever happen to her. The words I don’t want to leave, I want to join the ship are on the tip of her tongue but she can’t get them out. She remembers Pandora who has been doing good here but what about when the crew battles another ship and can no longer see her friends, but the people who murdered her brother instead. Also Mary would be found out, it would become inevitable and would put everyone on board at risk when she is found out. The downsides hold back her words. “Okay, I’m good with leaving tonight. If you excuse me I must leave and pack the few things I have and tell Pandora that we will be departing tonight.” Mary says curtly. Lily nods in agreement and starts writing on some papers on her desk.
Mary quickly stands from her chair and bustles out of the room before she starts crying.
A few people try to ask her if she is ok while she is on her way to Pandora but she ignores all of them. When she catches sight of Pandora talking with James, Sirius, and a man named Remus that she had met the day before. She practically runs to Pandora and when she reaches her she grabs her by the arm and pulls her in for a hug.
Pandora immediately responds by wrapping her arms around Mary and holding her close while voicing her confusion “Mary what’s wrong, are you ok?” Pandora asks with concern written all of her face.
Mary shakes her head “I’ll explain when we are alone, but right now we need to pack.”
This seemingly really confuses Pandora because her eyebrows raise so high they might as well be hidden under her hairline. “Packing?! Why are we packing? I thought we weren’t leaving yet?”
Mary doesn’t answer, she just grabs Pandora’s hand and drags her to their cots.
“Mary, tell me what’s wrong.” Pandora pleads when Mary sits her down on her cot.
Mary takes a deep breath, and tries to hold back her tears. “Lily told me that we will be leaving the ship tonight. Our time here is over and we have to leave.” The words stumble out of her mouth quickly.
“Oh” Is all Pandora says in response. They sit in an uncomfortable silence for what feels like an hour before Pandora speaks up. “Isn’t that a good thing?” She doesn’t sound like she fully believes the words.
Mary sighs “I don’t know anymore.”
~~~~~
Time skip to that night
Mary and Pandora had packed all of their things up hours ago and were currently standing on the moonlit deck saying tearful goodbyes.
“I’ll miss you so much.” Pandora chokes out as she wraps her arms around James even tighter.
“I’ll miss you too.” He whispers to her so quietly Mary has to strain her ears to hear it. She watches their goodbye with tears threatening to leave her eyes. She always seems to find herself on the verge of tears recently.
She feels something tap her shoulder so she turns around and- oh. “I just wanted to say goodbye.” Lily whispers.
She looks just as lovely as always except this time Mary notices that her eyes seem to be a bit red and her hair is messier than normal, but Mary doesn’t even care, all she cares about is that she is here. “I’m glad you came.” Mary whispers back just as softly. In the back of her mind she realizes that they are standing so close together that if she leaned forward even slightly they would be kissing.
They stand there, both just staring at the other, waiting for the other to do something. They don’t get the chance because Remus comes up behind Lily and tells her that they need to speak now in her quarters. Lily gives her a regretful smile as she leaves.
Mary stays standing there staring after Lily when Sirius joins her. They don’t speak but stand there in silence until the moment they dock and she leaves.