"Hey, Frenchie?"
Frenchie turned to look at Ed, who was gesturing at him from the door of the captain's cabin. "Yes, Captain?"
"Can I talk to you for a sec?"
For a moment, Frenchie was reminded of another, darker morning. A fake smile, a storm, so much blood.
He shuddered and shook his head, trying to erase the memory from his mind. Everything was fine. Ed's smile was genuine, and the sky was clear, with not a single cloud in sight.
"Morning, Captain," Frenchie said as cheerfully as he could. "What's up?"
For some reason, Ed looked weirdly… nervous today. "Could you, uh… could you come inside, please? It won't take long."
Frenchie blinked. That was… concerning. "Yeah, uh, of course," he stammered, trying to hide his own nervousness. "Lead the way."
But when he closed the door of the captain's cabin behind them, Ed just stared silently at the floor. After a few moments, Frenchie cleared his throat a little awkwardly. "So, um… What did you want to talk—"
"Stede and I are leaving," Ed suddenly blurted out, and Frenchie stopped in his tracks.
"What?" He must have misheard that. He had trouble processing speech sometimes, like his ears and his brain just didn't want to cooperate. Right, that must be it. "Sorry, could—could you repeat that, please, captain?"
Ed sighed. "That's the thing. I'm not the captain anymore, and I… I don't think I can be a pirate anymore, either. I talked to Stede, and… We're leaving. Not right now, of course, but soon."
Frenchie stared at him, open-mouthed. "But—But you're the captains!" he protested before he could think better of it.
"Not anymore. We'll be innkeepers," Ed answered with a small smile, and all at once, Frenchie's protests died away. Ed looked so… happy. So relieved, somehow, much lighter than Frenchie had ever seen him. It was almost like he was glad he didn't have to be a pirate anymore.
"That—That sounds nice," Frenchie said softly, and Ed visibly relaxed.
"It does, doesn't it? It's going to be so great! I will cook the seafood and Stede will be the cocktail man, and we're thinking 'Jeff's Inn By The Sea' for a name, y'know, cuz—" He cut himself off, ducking his head. "Sorry, you don't want to hear all that."
"No, no, it's—," Frenchie stammered. "It's okay, it's just that… What's going to happen to the ship when you're gone?"
"Oh, yeah, right," Ed nodded. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about. Stede and I decided that we want to give the ship to you all, and that you should be the new captain."
The—No, that had to be his hearing again. There was no way the captains would put him in charge, especially not when there were so many more capable people on board. "Me? Why would you want to make me captain?"
"Well, you were my first mate," Ed explained as if this was completely obvious. "And you were quite good at it, so—"
"Good?" Frenchie interrupted him. Ed couldn't be serious, could he? "My time as first mate ended with you dying! You can't just make me captain!"
Ed let out a deep sigh. "Look, I know this isn't how these things usually go, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't mutiny this time, but if you'd rather—"
"No!" Frenchie shouted so loudly it made Ed flinch. "Sorry. That's not what I meant. It's just… Why me?"
At that, Ed smiled for some reason. "Well, I wasn't lying when I said you were a great first mate. Ha, great first mate, that rhymes." He chuckled before continuing, "You took care of the crew. You did what you thought was right, even when I obviously disagreed, and you were ready to face the consequences. You're going to be a fantastic captain."
Frenchie didn't know what to say. "That—That's very nice of you, captain, but I really don't think—"
"Frenchie," Ed interrupted gently. "I understand that this is a lot. But Stede and I have talked about this, and we both agree that you are the best choice. And you know what they say, right?" He patted Frenchie on the back and grinned. "The best captains are the ones that hate being captain."
Frenchie sighed. Ed was probably right about that. And yet… "I really don't know if I can do this. I hate change."
To his surprise, Ed nodded. "Yeah, me too."
"What?" Frenchie asked. "Just yesterday, you said you would die of boredom if nothing interesting happened in the next ten minutes!"
Ed snorted. "I did, yeah. But it's like—I get bored so easily, but at the same time, I hate it when something unexpected happens, y'know? I hate routine, but I also need my routines. Does that make sense?"
"That—" Frenchie thought for a moment. "Yeah, it does. But for me, it's more about the routine. Sometimes I wish everything could just stay the same forever…"
Ed hummed in agreement. "You remind me a lot of myself when I was younger, y'know?"
Frenchie stared at him. "Really?"
Ed nodded. "Yep. I never wanted to be captain, either. But after Hornigold and the mutiny…" For a moment, Ed had a faraway look in his eyes, the same one he got when he talked about Izzy. "Well, I didn't really have a choice. But I got used to it eventually. Maybe too used to it, actually." He grimaced, then tried to smile reassuringly at Frenchie. "You'll get used to it, too. And you won't make the same mistakes I made, because you're smart and adaptive and capable, and you have a crew who loves you. I'll know you take good care of them, and the ship. You just need a bit more confidence."
All of a sudden, Frenchie felt tears welling up in his eyes, and he swallowed hard. "That's lovely, capt—" Ed shot him a look. "I mean, Ed."
"There we go." Ed grinned. "Don't worry, though. Stede and I will stay long enough to show you the ropes."
"Wait, what?" Frenchie gaped at him. "Why didn't you start with that?"
Ed laughed. "Would have made my pep talk a lot less effective, wouldn't it?"
That… actually made sense. And maybe he had needed it—needed someone to tell him they truly believed in him.
"Alright," Ed said, standing up with a groan. "I'll leave you alone now. Let you get used to your cabin in peace."
"My—What?" Frenchie called after him.
"Well, it's the captain's cabin, isn't it? And you're the captain."
Frenchie just stared at him, open-mouthed. "I'm the captain," he whispered, trying the words out for the first time, surprised at how nice they felt in his mouth.
He closed the cabin door—his cabin door—behind Ed and smiled. "Go, Frenchie."