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The Mistress was good in a storm, but this one was a monster.  Waves crashed against her hull, spilled sea water over her decks which poured into the holds below.  The crew yelled the First Mate's commands between one another as they scrambled to tuck the sails away lest the wind whip and tip the whole ship over.

 

Captain El stood her ground by the helmsman, telling him when to give, when to pull, when to hold on.  She knew storms; she'd lived through enough to not be afraid.  This would pass soon enough.

 

Her eyes cast over her crew, fleeing around the deck like ants in a puddle.  She made a mental note of the ones who were doing good work and would perhaps receive praise later - if they lived.  Her eyes, however, failed to find a particular member of the crew – the newcomer, her love, Jack.  Where was he?  Worry fell over her, her eyes searching quicker, could he have fallen overboard? He had never been on the open sea before, though she thought his experience in the vast emptiness of space would have prepared him enough.

 

A crack of thunder and flash of lighting lit up the sky; "WOOOOOOOO-HOOOOOOOOO!"

 

The Captain looked up, the fierce rain splashed into her eyes and blurred her vision, but she saw the source of the scream well enough - it was her Lad.  He was up in the crow’s nest, arms open wide to the storm, letting the rain spatter his bare chest.  She smiled, his wild nature seemed to feed this monstrous storm and his energy was the very heart of it all.

 

Lad was free now, with her, away from the troubles of the wide galaxy he'd left behind.  The rain soothed him, the wind blew away his worries, the lightening eradicated his darkness and the thunder was louder than any of the incessant voices in his head.  The storm was his salvation, his freedom, his new life.  The calm that was to follow would be the most peaceful of all.