A Little story...
A little story...
Title: The Sea Fairy
Fandom: Master & Commander
Characters: Jack & Brigid
Rating: G
Word Count: 400
The Sea Fairy
by gillianinoz
"Adm'ral Jack! Adm'ral Jack!"
Admiral Jack Aubrey turned with a smile at the curious little form running across the deck towards him, followed anxiously by her constant shadow, Padeen.
"Adm'ral Jack." Brigid stopped in front of him and planted her hands on her hips. She was wearing her nankeen trousers and blouse, and her short jacket, all painstakingly sewn by Killick to fit her tiny frame. "Adm'ral Jack, will you plait my hair for me? Padeen's fingers are too big and Papa never does it right."
Jack's heart melted at the demanding pose, the sturdy, pointed little chin. How like her father she looked when she frowned; the only time she did resemble Stephen.
Jack lifted her onto a lashed cask and deftly plaited the spun gold strands, ignoring the smirks and downright doting grins on the hands around him. Killick, Brigid's other shadow, had made some excuse to be on deck and hovered by the rail, trying to look busy. When Jack was done he accepted her hat from Padeen - an actual straw hat, not a bonnet, woven for her by Padeen, complete with a ribbon embroidered with Surprise - and placed it on her crown.
"Now then, let's see," he said, planting her back on the deck and staring down at her sternly. Brigid clasped her hands and looked up at him anxiously. "All shipshape and Bristol fashion," he pronounced, and she beamed.
"Adm'ral Jack?" she said confidingly, and Jack bent his head to listen. "I'm to be a sailor when I grow up!" she announced.
"Are you indeed?" Jack said. "Are you sure you wouldn't rather be a sailor's wife?"
"Like your father," Killick said, sotto voce, then dropped his bucket of potato peels as a distraction.
"No," Brigid said firmly, and there was that stubborn chin again. "I'm to be a sailor, like you!"
"I'm sure you'll be a fine one then," Jack said, giving in as he nearly always did at that Maturin chin. "Let's get you started. I'm sure Killick will be happy to show you the ropes, ey, Killick? A little splicing and some knots?"
"Which it is Sunday," Killick protested, but at the Admiral's lifted brow he gave in and stomped down the deck, reaching out a hand for Brigid's. She skipped off by his side, a sea-fairy in a straw hat, with Killick's inaudible grumble an accompaniment to her merry chatter.
Smiling, Admiral Aubrey lifted his glass and turned back to his view of the wide, blue sea.
Fin