THE SINGING SPARROW

Author: Becca
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: You/Jack
Categories: Action/Adventure, Romance, Angst

Disclaimer: I don't own PotC or any of the characters.

Summary: You are a singer in one of Port Royal's taverns, but want to make something more of yourself, follow the story to see whether your dreams will be reached...

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CHAPTER 1

You look out across the dimly lit tavern, a small shudder of disgust coursing through your body. You watch as your workmates pick off the best of the bunch, leading them to the stairs up to the bedrooms. You have been working here for two months but can’t help but still feel a wave of nausea come over you as the gentlemen (could you honestly call them that? They looked like fat, ugly pigs!), are lead grinning by the beautiful women, who have had to succumb to this kind of business, being born into this kind of life. None of the women in the tavern had had decent upbringings, none except you, and you had thrown yours away. You stare in disgust at the whores, laughing and flirting with the men, trying to suck every penny out of them as possible. You do respect that this is their only means of making money, but you; you could never stoop to that level.

You had been brought up to respect others, yourself, your body. You had given yourself to one man in your life, one man you had truly, deeply loved. Jonathan. Jonathan had been the love of your life, you had been childhood sweethearts from the age of ten, and you had eventually (although out of wedlock), given yourself to him. He loved you, you loved him, and there was nothing more to it. You had thought that you would never be separated, and you were even planning to get married in fall, but then things had gone wrong. Jonathan had become very ill, no doctor knew what was wrong with him, and your parents had forced you to stay away, for fear that you would catch the same disease. You remember the last night you were able to see him. He had been lying on his bed, his skin deathly pale, and hot fever coursing through his body. He had laughed at anything and everything, and you couldn’t help from crying as he did so when you told him so emotionally that you loved him. He was delirious you knew, but it had hurt so much. You remember staring at his usually bright green eyes, looking grey and emotionless, and his soft blonde hair, clammy and ruffled. You had gone to kiss him, but your parents had intervened then, grabbing you and pulling you away, kicking and screaming. You learned a couple of days later that he had died, and couldn’t help but feel an enormous wave of anger towards your parents. They hadn’t let you say goodbye, not properly, and you had heard from the doctor that he had become quite lively and comprehensive towards the end. You felt like you would die of a broken heart, a constant ache left in your chest. You had fled then.

You had run away from your home in the much more refined part of Port Royale, and had found yourself alone in the rougher district, no money, no friends, no nothing. You couldn’t stay where you were, you despised your parents now, they had taken you away from the man you loved, and for that you could never forgive them. You couldn’t bear to see the places you had been with Jonathan, for every time you were reminded of him you would begin to sob uncontrollably. That was when you had come to stay at the tavern come brothel, not really knowing what you were going to do. You had been asked on several occasions to become what some would call pleasurable company, but you would not succumb to the life of what you called a dirty whore. So you had given into another kind of entertainment, one that wouldn’t make you feel dirty and used. Singing. You had got your beautiful voice from your mother, who you remembered often singing lullabies to you as a child, and you had enjoyed singing in front of people yourself, as you grew older. Now you used your voice to earn a living, and although it wasn’t the most well paid job in the place, it was enough. Your parents had looked for you briefly, but would never go down to the dirty taverns and whorehouses, and so they had given up after a week. So here you had waited until you had enough money to go away, far away, perhaps to England, where you could really make something of yourself. The only question in hand though, was how.

As your song finishes you get up off of the piano, and smile sweetly at the gathered crowd, applauding and cat calling. You turn away and stalk towards the back room of the tavern, reserved as a bathroom/ dressing room. You look at your face in the mirror, you despised the fact that you had to cover your face with powder and make up, you already knew you were beautiful, in a normal not astonishing way, but what was wanted was the astonishing way. You look at your painted lips, and smile, whispering softly, "Tonight."

Over the past week you had managed to form a plan. For the night you would pretend to be a whore, and you would try to attach yourself to a sailor of some sorts, getting him to take you on board his ship. At that point you figured you would try to get away from him, acting as though you didn’t want to go through with it, which you actually really didn’t, and would hide on board, making him think that you had gone back to land. You would then wait until the ship reached its destination, and get off, ready to start your life again.

You had already observed the full tavern for a likely victim, and you had found a man who seemed suitable. He had had his eye on you ever since he got there, and you smiled and batted your eyelashes at him, making him think he was in with a chance. He wasn’t particularly handsome, and had a large belly protruding out of his un-tucked shirt. His face was grimy and covered in scars, and his hair looked grey and greasy, slicked back from years of remaining unwashed. He looked dumb though, dumb enough to let you onboard and not make too much of a fuss when you would run off. He didn’t look like he would have the energy to run after you.

You turn away from the mirror and take your full purse from the bureau drawer, where you had stashed and collected all your earnings. Placing the purse inside your bodice – somewhere you were sure no one would go, because if they did they would have hell to pay – you head out into the crowded tavern, scouring the crowds for the gentleman you had selected. You see him sitting on a stool in a corner, and you sidle over to him seductively, sticking your chest out so he would get a full view of your considerable cleavage. You sit down next to him, and place your hand lightly on his knee.

"Are you looking for some company tonight?" you whisper softly in his ear. You have to stop yourself from gagging at his pungent odour, a strong smell of sweat, grime, rum and the salty sea air. He smiles at you and takes your hand in his own.

"If your offering luv." He says with a smile and a wink. You stand up, and lead him outside, "Are we not goin’ to the bedrooms?" he asks quickly.

"No, sorry but they’re all full tonight, I was hoping that maybe you could provide somewhere we could go to spend the night, a ship maybe. You look like someone with a ship, a captain to be sure, fine and handsome, very strong too..." you whisper, the words dripping off of your lips like sickly sweet honey. He smiles at you, obviously pleased with this compliment.

"Aye, I shall take you to me ship then." He says, sliding his arm around your waist. Yet again you have to keep yourself from shuddering, anything like that would tell him that you were not pleased with the arrangement, and although he looked it, he was not so dumb that he would accept your company then. You head down the road towards the harbour, but are surprised when he stops you in the middle of a clearing, surrounded by bushes.

"Why have we stopped?" you ask sweetly, rather confused and bewildered.

"Sorry luv, but I don’t have a ship of me own, I am but a lowly sailor on another mans ship, a man who does not take kindly to us bringing whores aboard, no offence..."

"What do you propose then? We do it here?!" you ask, laughing at your own suggestion. Your smile fades as you realise he isn't laughing, just mildly grinning as though he agrees with your suggestion.

"That’s the idea." You gasp suddenly as he comes close to you, trying to kiss you. You push him away, disgusted.

"What you think you’re playin’ at?!" he asks incredulously.

"I’m sorry, I have to go..." you say, turning to leave. There is no way that you are going to let him get his dirty paws on you. You gasp as he grabs your wrist.

"Look luv, I am paying for this, so you better go through with it," he says sharply, chucking some silver coins at you. He pulls you forwards sharply and you trip, falling to the ground. He crouches on top of you, pinning your arms down with his knees.

"I don’t want to do this..." you gasp, wriggling as hard as you can to break free.

"It ain't right for a woman to start leadin’ a man on, that ain't fair now is it, so shut up and do as your told!" he says with a smart slap to your face. He takes out a knife and starts cutting your dress open, you feel the blade gently graze your skin, but not so much that it cuts in. You wriggle and squirm, trying desperately to get free of the mans grasp, but he is way too strong. Finally you manage to get an arm free and you push him off of you as hard as you can. You go to stand up but he grabs at you once more, pulling you back down. He starts cutting at your thighs with his knife and you scream as loudly as you can, but no one seems to hear. You are about to pass out from the pain when you hear a sudden crack, as though a bone has been broken, and you gasp, fearing that it is one of your own. You watch as the man slumps off of you, his eyes rolling in their sockets, and you have just enough time before your vision goes blank, to see a gentlemen kneel down next to you, putting his hand against your cheek.

"You all right luv?" He says gruffly, and you smile weakly, feeling now that you are going to die. You can feel a pool of some sort of sticky liquid surrounding you, and you know that it is your own blood. You feel yourself fading in and out of consciousness, and the next thing you know you are rising up off the ground, strong arms wrapped around your waist. You feel yourself being carried, and catch occasional glimpses of the moonlit sky. Your head lolls backwards, as you do not have the strength to keep it up. You come to a halt and you hear low voices. You can smell the now stronger aroma of the sea, and figure you must have reached the harbour.

"Gibbs, ye know the cap’n aint taking no passengers, even if they are pleasurable ones." A strong male voice says and you feel like grimacing, however you do not have the power to do so, as you are barely even conscious.

"Aw come on, look at her, she’s gonna die if we leave her!" you hear the gruff voice say, seemingly that of Gibbs.

"Go on then, but the cap’n aint gonna be pleased." At that your mind and body give in to the strong overwhelming darkness, smothering you like a blanket. Your eyes close, and your last thoughts are that they will not open. You are going to leave this world, your hopes and dreams unrecognised.

* * * * *

CHAPTER 2

You slowly open your eyes, although it seems much more difficult than usual, your lids feel heavy, and your head sore. You are greeted by a strong, bright light, shining directly into your eyes, and you wince as the harshness of it stings. Putting your hand up, you shield yourself, and open your eyes once again, this time able to actually keep them open. You sit up carefully, but fall back again quickly, a sharp pain running through your thighs, making it very difficult to put pressure on them at all. From your lying position you take in your surroundings, as hazy as they are. You seem to be resting in a hammock, swaying gently to and fro, and you can see several other, unoccupied hammocks hanging around you. Once again you tenderly try to sit up, but as you do so the whole room seems to lurch and shudder sideways, flinging you from your resting position, with a loud thump on the floor. You scream in agony.

"Oh st!" you hear a familiar gruff cry, as somebody comes rushing into the room. They seem to be quite damp as they pick you up, but that is all you sense before yet again being enveloped by the blanket of darkness. What seems like moments later you come to the world of the conscious, and you open your eyes slowly. Yet again you are lying down, but this time on something much firmer and much more comfortable.

"I told ye it weren’t safe to leave her in a bloomin’ "ammock!" an incredulous but muffled voice cries, it seems to be that same gruff voice you had heard earlier.

"And I told ye no passengers!" another voice says, this time somewhat younger, and slightly slurred.

"An’ wha’ did ye propose I do. Leave "er to bleed to death! Not even you Jack would be so cruel." An eternity of silence seems to pass before the other voice responds.

"Very well, there’s nought we can do about it now. Go get some more bandages Gibbs, she’s started bleeding all over again, and I really don’t want me sheets all mucked up."

The haze from your eyes seems to have lifted slowly but surely, and you can just make out two figures standing close by. You watch as one of the figures - the shorter and stouter of the two - leaves the room, and the second figure seems to come into focus more as it gets nearer. The figure is that of a man, 5ft 10 maybe. He is dressed in an off white shirt, an open grey waistcoat and grey trousers. His hair looks long and matted into dreadlocks, beads and other bits and pieces streaming from it. You can just make out his face as it comes closer, tanned skin, dark charcoal rimmed eyes, wholly quite attractive. You feel the bed sink next to you, and a rough but gentle hand stroke stray hairs away from your face.

"What... where am I?" you say somewhat shakily. The figure seems surprised at your sudden jolt back to the world of the living, and takes his hand away quickly.

"Welcome to the Black Pearl luv." The figure says cautiously. "I am Captain Jack Sparrow, and you have been left in me charge for the moment whilst Gibbs runs to get some bandages for those wounds of yours." You frown momentarily, unable to recall where or why you even had any wounds.

"What wounds?" You ask, voicing your confusion.

"The gashes up your thighs!" Jack says dumbfounded that you didn’t already know. Suddenly the events of last night come to mind. Wait... how long have you been here?

"How long have I been here?"

"Not long. Gibbs brought you in last night, in a right state you were, can’t say you’re looking much better..." You scowl at the last comment. You realise you may not be looking your best, but he didn’t have the right to point that out and make you feel a fool!

"Well, I wouldn’t have thought you’d look too great if somebody had tried to rape and kill you!" you spit at him. You are amazed that in the incredibly short time you have known this Jack Sparrow guy he has managed to make you so angry.

"Now, now. We don’t want you getting into a temper do we?" he says, more of a statement than anything else. "Just you remember that I am doing this out of the goodness of my own heart, there isn’t any advantages to me whatsoever... that is unless, maybe when you’re feeling a bit better..." you eye him sharply, but remember what you must look like from his point of view; powder all over your face, lipstick spread thickly over your lips, no wonder he mistook you for a whore, after all, that was what you were pretending to be.

"Well, in spite of my appearance Mr..."

"Captain." Jack hastily corrects you.

"Captain," you repeat sharply, "I am not a whore."

"You sure look like one..."

"Under any other circumstances I would have been offended, but your reaction is the one I desired, although off of someone else. I was pretending to be a whore."

"An’ why would any woman pretend to be a whore?" Before you can regale him with your plans, the other figure, one that you now know to be Gibbs, steps back into the room.

"Ah! I see you’re awake luv!" he exclaims walking steadily over you, bandages in hand. You smile at him and lie there silently as Jack gets up, letting Gibbs take his place. "Was quite a pickle I found ye in, glad ye alright now though!" he says merrily.

"Gibbs, would you man the wheel for me, Anamaria has been on it for ages, I’ll attend to the young lady’s wounds." Jack says. You are shocked by this sudden gesture, as is Gibbs by the sound of his response.

"I...err... I can do it sir... don’t wanna be troubling you any further..."

"No, it’s fine. If the lady is to be spending time in my cabin, then we may as well get better acquainted." Jack replies briskly, motioning for Gibbs to leave. Gibbs looks to Jack inquisitively but he leaves. You stare at Jack, then clap a hand to your mouth as you realise what has just been said.

"I thought the boat was moored! Why would anyone need to man the wheel if the boat is moored!" you exclaim.

"Ship, she’s a ship if ye don’t mind, and no, we are not moored."

"But why? Where are we going?"

"Not sure as of yet, Tortuga maybe, maybe further a field. Wherever the wind, which seems considerable at the moment, takes us." You glare at him, utterly startled by your own shortcomings. "Now, to see to those wounds..." You eye him warily as he lifts the blankets away from you. He tentatively takes the bandages away from your legs, and gasps as he sees an undoubtedly horrific sight. Anxious as to why his eyes have gone so wide, you try to sit up and look yourself, but yet again wince in pain.

"Now, now, those wounds have already opened up a fair bit from your fall, we can’t have them open anymore or your legs’ll fall off." He firmly places a hand on your shoulder and pushes you back into a lying position. You stick your tongue out of him, he annoys you so much, the way he is so patronizing, and the way he acts as though he is all hard done by, when it is you who could be dead right now! He walks across the room and gets a small porcelain bowl full of water, a couple of cloths, and a bottle of a substance that you find unmistakeable.

"Rum?" you whimper as he walks over to you. A large grin spreads across his face.

"Of course, can’t have you getting an infection, or your legs actually could fall off!" You shake your head quickly, imploring him not to touch you with it. "Now come on, it’ll only hurt a little." He says, dabbing at your cuts with one of the cloths soaked in water.

"I don’t want it to hurt at all!" you whisper through gritted teeth.

"Now that I can’t promise. Just squeeze this and you’ll be right as rain." He hands you a pillow, and realising that there is nothing you can do to stop the inevitable pain that is about to ensue, you grab it, firmly placing it over your face, in a tight grip. You scream into it loudly and dig your fingers in as you feel the hot burning sensation on your tender skin. Ignoring your cries Jack continues, until all the cuts have been cleansed.

"That wasn’t so bad now was it?" Jack says softly taking the pillow away from your face. You can feel tears welling in your eyes, but bite your trembling lip, trying to stop them from falling. He just looks at you, a mixture of pity and concern in his eyes. He begins to wrap the fresh bandages around your legs, and as he lets them rest upon the bed you feel somewhat calmer, now that the original stinging sensation has subsided.

"Thank you." You whisper, but he just grins, taking the soiled bandages and putting them in a makeshift waste bin, made from an old empty barrel.

"So, ye never told me why it were that you’re dressed like a whore." You tell him of your plans, your life as an upper-class lady, and the loss of your only love. You tell him how you had become a singer in a tavern, and as much as you could remember of the incident that had gotten you into this sorry state. All the while he just sits there staring at you, mouth slightly ajar and eyes wide so that he resembles a surprised fish.

"Like I said Captain, thank you for your help."

"Pleasure is mine. You’re not bad company after all." You smile at him weakly, and close your eyes for a moment, just to let them rest. You were asleep not so long ago, but you already feel quite tired. You open your eyes quickly as you feel warm breath coming close to your face.

"What... what are you doing?" you barely whisper, as you feel Jacks lips lightly brushing your forehead. He seems startled by your sudden reaction and sits upright, but quickly regains his composure.

"Just saying good night luv, don’t worry, wasn’t gonna try anything, not with the state you’re in." you glare at him for a moment but feel too weary to utter a retort. With that you watch him leave the room, and you drift off into an empty and dreamless sleep.

* * * * *

CHAPTER 3

You wake up early the next morning; you know this to be so because it is barely light from what you can see through the window. Still fearing the searing pain in your thighs you lay there, you know that it's pointless to sit up, and you really don't want your wounds to open so that they have to be cleaned again, especially not by that god-awful man, Captain Jack Sparrow. He really seemed to know which of your buttons to push to get you really annoyed, and you felt that that kind of thing really did amuse him. He was definitely no gentleman, but then again, what did you expect from a pirate, which from the look of him he quite blatantly was. Looking out across the room the only light visible is that of a slowly rising sun, peeking its way through some soft clouds, all the candles have gone out.

You see a figure nestled on the floor, and you can see that it is that of Jack. You watch as his chest rises and falls, and you listen to some funny incomprehensible words, falling from his soft, sensual...lips. Where did that come from? You remember with a slight shudder, (or was it a shiver?) his kiss. It must have been a shudder you think as you remember his comment afterwards. How you would love to actually have a look at yourself in the mirror, see what everyone else was seeing, but you really don't want the absolute pain that would come with getting up. Looking out across the room you remember a beautiful lullaby your mother had sung to you when you were a child, and you start to sing it. As you finish you find yourself calm and sleepy, and you gently drift off to sleep once more, the sounds of Jack's gentle snores quite comforting.

"Wake up!" a cheery voice greets you, and you open your eyes with a start. "Got ye some brekkie, cook made it special for ye." You are greeted by the kindly face of Gibbs, and you smile at him as he hands you the food, taking it back again though he looks at you quizzically. "Mmm, not sure how to do this, tis bad for ye to eat lying down, you're gonna need to sit up." You groan and look around the room.

"What's the time?" you ask, surprised at the sudden brightness of everything, it seems like only a few minutes ago you had fallen asleep.

"Tis midday pet." You nod and try to lift yourself up, pushing yourself from the comfy mattress with your hands. ""Ere, Jack, give us a hand!" Gibbs yells as you see a figure walk past the cabin door. Jack steps in and looks at you, you can tell he is amused by the absolute pain that is written right across your face, but as your hand gives way you fall back, biting your lip as you feel like screaming.

"Come on then," he says, his amusement faded into a tone of annoyance, or maybe... concern... no, you had never been very good at working out what moods people were in, especially not Jack, but... by the look on his face, you could see anxiety in his eyes as he placed his hands firmly under your arms, and gently lifted you up, carefully leaning your back against the head board.

"Thank you." You say somewhat breathlessly, it seemed to have taken a lot of your energy to just move, something you had always taken for granted before. You hated this, you hated feeling like an invalid, and you hated the fact that you had to rely upon other people's help. You had thought you had left all that behind when you had runaway from your home, but no, here you were again, people bringing you breakfast, helping you out of bed, or at least into a different position. Admittedly it was nice for them to do it, it quite obviously wasn't in their nature, and Gibbs especially was being very sweet. Gibbs passes you your breakfast and you take it hungrily, not having eaten in over a day.

"Bacon, eggs, and sausages," he says gleefully. "Cook made it especially, rest of us got bread and cheese." You smile at him and offer some of your breakfast, but he shakes his head. "No, no miss, it's for ye, we live with bread and cheese all the time, tis coz your injured an' all. Anyway, have jobs to do so I shall be leavin' ye to it."

"Thank you." You say once again and he smiles as he leaves. You watch as Jack does the same, but as he's about to go out the door he turns to you.

"Beautiful voice you got luv, you shall have to sing for me sometime, keep me entertained." He says with a wink and a grin. You blush, and stare at him as he walks out, closing the door behind him.

"I thought he was asleep!" you exclaim silently.

Hastily eating the breakfast, something that you welcomed whole-heartedly, you gaze around the room, now that it is much easier to see you can get a better idea of your surroundings. The room has been decorated in quite a stylish fashion, with a lot of dark wood, mahogany maybe, and beautiful swathes of fabrics all over the place. Gold's and deep purple-reds, teamed with soft creams. You can see an ornately carved dresser sitting not far away from you, and on top of it, a large mirror. You try to push yourself in every direction so that you might be able to catch a glimpse of your reflection, but to no avail. Resolutely you decide you will get out of this bed, you may not have been in it that long, but longer than you ever anticipated staying in bed for in your whole life.

Tenderly you swing your legs around to the side of the bed, and pushing yourself forward your feet touch the cold wooden floor. Biting your lip, and ignoring the tears you push yourself up. Standing timidly your legs feel quite weak, but you hold onto the bedpost and manage to keep your stance. As you find your legs getting used to having weight upon them once more, you slowly and carefully take a tentative step, all the while holding onto the bedpost. The first step out of the way you brace yourself for the next, knowing that you wont be able to support yourself on the bedpost any longer. Gingerly you step forwards, and although it seems to take forever you manage to make it across the room.

You stand in front of the mirror and gasp as you see your reflection. Your face is all red and blotchy, your eyes puffy, and your dress, your ripped dress, stained in dried blood. You see a bowl with water in it atop of the dresser, and you rip off a piece of the fabric on your dress. Soaking it in the water you wipe your face. Pleased with the final result you grab a comb and run it through your tangled locks, trying to make them look a bit better than before. Then you look down at your attire, it is certainly not very pretty in the state that it is in, although it had been your best dress. You slowly look through the drawers of the dresser, but you only find shirts and men's clothing, undoubtedly belonging to Jack. Suddenly the ship lurches and you find yourself stumbling backwards. This time luckily you do not fall, but fly across the room, gently banging into the cabin door.

Looking out the window you see the crew scurrying about, and the ocean. It is a beautiful sight, waves rolling along, the beautiful greens and blues, and you swear that you just saw a dolphin, jumping and dancing through the water. Suddenly you gasp as you see Jack, and his face turns towards you, his eyes wide with surprise. Hastily he heads towards the door, trying to open it, but you are leaning against it, and it opens inwards. You don't really want him to see you, although your face and hair looks much better, your dress looked disgusting, and it was torn in some very revealing places.

"Step away from the door woman!" Jack calls to you, but you shake your head fiercely. "If you don't step away I will knock it down, and you don't want me to do that!" he says.

You can tell that he will, and you step away, not wanting a broken door on your conscience, as it would really have been your fault, you have already caused enough grief to the crew without making the Captains quarters susceptible to the elements. He storms in and grabs your wrist, but at this the ship lurches once more and you stumble backwards once more. Luckily Jack grabs you, placing his hands firmly on your waist. Slowly he pulls you towards him, and he tentatively picks you up. Walking across the cabin he places you on the bed, a mixture of annoyance and concern in his eyes. "Now what did you go getting up for?" he says gently. You look away.

"I... I look awful. You all look at me as though I am some god-ugly whore, and I don't like it. I wanted to see the state I was in, and when I did... well it had to be changed. I need something to wear, other than this..." you reply quietly. Gently Jack places his fingers under your chin and turns your head towards him. Looking deeply into your eyes, which you find quite awkward, but in a nice way, he replies.

"You don't look ugly, and you don't look like a whore." You smile at him weakly, somewhat disbelieving his words. It was he who had pointed it out the night before; you don't see why he would have changed his mind now. "I was just playing with ye luv," he continues.

"I know I look a mess Jack, there's no need to lie."

"I may be a pirate and all, but I wouldn't lie to you, there would be no point, I get nothing out of it." He says with a smile.

You feel yourself becoming captivated by his eyes, gazing deeply into yours. He leans forwards slowly, and you can see him glancing at your lips, licking his own hungrily. You want him to kiss you now, you completely forget about the way he aggravated you before. You place your hands lightly upon his shoulders, trying to bring him closer; it's been a long time since anyone has gone to kiss you without paying you first, and the thought of it is incredibly enticing. You look deep into his eyes and are about to close yours when suddenly he pulls away, and you are left staring at him. He seems shocked by himself, or maybe... disgusted?

He gets up quickly and not saying anything, leaves. You sit there wondering what is going through his head, and you are also finding it difficult to figure out what is going through your own mind. You almost kissed the man that you thought you despised. You almost kissed a man! You had never thought you would be able to kiss another man, not after Jonathan. He had been the love of your life, and he had had his life taken away from him. You had sworn that you would live your life in mourning for him, but now...? Now you were feeling something, some kind of affection for another man...?

"Ye finished your breakfast I see!" a cheery voice suddenly breaks your train of thought. You smile as Gibbs enters the room and picks up the empty plate. "Jack said you got out of bed, silly girl, you could've done yourself even more damage!" he says scolding you, but you see that he doesn't particularly mean it, as there is a small smile tugging at his lips, and a twinkle in his eye.

"I wanted to see what kind of mess I was in... I feel really, dirty." You say, looking down at your dress.

"Aye, well we would've removed that dress of yours but we figured you wouldn't have wanted a stranger stripping you of your clothes, wouldn't have been decent of us, so we left it. I can go ask Anamaria if she has any clothes she can lend you, she's not a very feminine woman, so it won't be all petticoats and skirts, but it'll be clean." He replies sympathetically.

"Oh, could you ask her, I would be very grateful!"

"Sure can, will be back in a mo." with that he leaves, and you smile, contented that at least now you will be able to look half decent. A few minutes" later Gibbs returns with an olive-skinned woman, with long black hair held back with a red bandana.

"Hello," you say to the woman, presumably Anamaria, and you offer your hand for her to shake.

"No need for formalities round here luv," she replies cheerily, "I'm Anamaria, I shall be providing you with a wardrobe!" you smile at her, she seems quite friendly, and you laugh as she pushes Gibbs out the door, telling him "it wouldn't be right for him to be in the room when there were a lady changing." As the door shuts you notice that she has brought in a whole bundle of clothes.

"A wardrobe indeed!" you exclaim as she picks up a dress from the top of the pile. She holds it up and you look at it in distaste. It is a hideous number, all pink and frilly, with lace and poufs all over the place. "No offence but I don't want to look like a complete meringue," you say laughing, and are glad when she doesn't take offence, but just chucks the dress across the room.

"Jack can have that, he likes frilly things all over his floor, or so it seems. I always seem to find some dress on the floor when I come into the cabin when we are moored, usually they are also accompanied by some naked prostitute in the bed though..." You grimace at the thought of it. Your opinion of Jack now lowered considerably.

"He gets around a lot then?" you ask, hoping not to sound like you really care, which of course you don't, hmm, maybe that is a small lie... anyway.

"He's Captain Jack Sparrow luv." She says, mimicking his voice perfectly. "Yeh, he gets a few women, you have to admit he's quite an attractive fellow, not that he's the kind of guy I would go for, but a lot of women would."

"Mmm, foot loose and fancy free..." you mutter.

"Aw, he's not all bad, once ye get to know him. Still owes me a ship though..." you continue chatting for a little while longer, and choose a few outfits from the pile Anamaria brought in. Eventually you decide to change into a simple long dress. It is a plain pale blue colour, with no detailing or ruffles, perfect for lounging about in bed in, which you will undoubtedly be doing for the next week or so. Anamaria helps you to stand up, and it takes both of you to take your current dress off.

"That guy cut you up bad." She says, eyeing your bandaged thighs. You have to say you don"t feel particularly comfortable getting changed in front of her, but you know you would find it twice as difficult trying to do it by yourself. Eventually you manage to get into the new dress, glad of the clean, soft fabric against your skin. You are surprised that Anamaria was providing you with dresses, after what Gibbs had said you thought you would be getting breeches and shirts, and you decide to voice your question.

"Gibbs gave me the impression that you weren't err... very feminine, yet you have these dresses." You say, particularly eyeing the pink frilly number on the floor. Anamaria laughs a little and looks at you with a glint in her eye.

"So that's what Gibbs thinks of me eh? Well he's right; I am not what you would call a feminine woman. I stole all of these from a stall in a port a while back, don"t know why, they looked like they might fetch a pretty penny if I chose to sell them on, which is what I was originally planning to do. However it seems that you are going to be able to get some use out of them, and I don"t think I actually will get around to selling them, we don't stop in port long enough really what with Jack and well most of us really being wanted criminals."

"Well I can give you some money if you like..." you say hastily, not wanting to put Anamaria out of pocket. You grab your little purse which you had previously removed from your bodice and placed on the bed, but as you go to hand Anamaria a few coins she stops you.

"No, no. There's no need for payment, I'm glad to get rid of them really, they're just taking up space in me cabin." You smile at her gratefully, and she picks up the rest of the dresses and puts them into a rough pile. There is a small knock on the door, and you call for them to come in. A rather sheepish Jack steps through. You smile at him, although rather awkwardly, and he seems pleased with your new appearance. Noticing the tension between you both, Anamaria eyes you, but hastily picks up the pile of remaining unwanted clothes and leaves, shutting the door behind you both. Carefully you sit down on the bed, and are quite surprised when Jack sits down next to you.

"I just wanted to apologise, for earlier," he says quickly, not looking at you.

"It's fine." You say without feeling, still feeling a bit sore emotionally from the news about Jack and his women.

"I... just..."

"Don't worry about it. It's fine. If you wouldn't mind I am feeling kind of tired now, and I would like to be alone." Jack nods silently and gets up. He goes to help you under the covers, but you push him away. "Thank you but I can do it myself." He merely looks at you, a mixture of confusion and maybe hurt across his face. You climb under the covers and turn away from him. You know that he has left as you hear the door open and close once more, and with that you feel tears start to stream from your eyes. You had no idea you could feel so hurt over something so little that it was actually nothing. He had almost kissed you, so what? It obviously didn"t mean that much to him, he sleeps around with women all the time, why should it mean anything to you? But it did, and you can't help but feel a small pang of longing in your heart.

* * * * *

CHAPTER 4

A week has passed since you first arrived on the Black Pearl, and you have barely seen Jack after your incident. After the almost kiss things had gotten extremely awkward, and it was extremely easy to spot the tension between you both, as Anamaria quite often pointed out. You had barely even seen each other, just when he would go to bed late every other night when Anamaria would take the wheel. On the nights when he did not come to bed you admitted that you worried, but the seas hadn't been too rough lately, and although it would take a bit longer for you to get to sleep, you would eventually drift off. You didn't know where Jack went to sleep in the day, for he did not come to his cabin. He had to sleep at some point when he had been up all night, surely he didn't go through the whole day awake, and only go to bed that evening. What did you know though, you knew nothing of life at sea, how things worked on a ship were completely out of your minds grasp.

You would often pretend to be asleep when Jack came in, but occasionally would try to speak to him. The only words really mumbled though were of no interest; it was basic polite conversation that you could have had with a stranger on the street. Eventually you gave up on really talking, you would mutter goodnight and get the same response, no emotion or feeling behind it. Gibbs had undertaken the task of re-dressing your wounds now, and although the man was very kind and gentle, you still strangely felt yourself longing for Jack's gentle touch, his witty banter and flirtatiousness. Wow you think to yourself one evening as you are lying in bed, I have managed to deduct all this and I have barely spoken to the man. You are seriously beginning to believe that you try to read way too far into people, and come to a conclusion that all your aspirations about Jack Sparrow must be wrong. You had been thinking of him as quite a nice fellow, very attractive (that was still undoubtable as much you hated to admit it), but now after a week of near silence you are beginning to find the man insufferable, and basically quite petty. All you had done is try to kiss him, and he had originally been the one to lean in, but now he was acting as though you had betrayed him in some way, and you just could not figure out what was going on inside his head, as much as you did try to question it.

A soft but sharp rap at the door interrupts your musings and you lift your head expectantly as you call for the person to come in. Gibbs walks in merrily, and you look upon the man quite fondly. He has become quite a father figure to you, and for that you are grateful. Late at night you do recollect your family, wondering what they are doing now, do they even miss you? Do they wonder where you are? If they did then they didn't show much sign of it. For months you had been away, and not once had you heard of them looking for you. Wow they would get a surprise now if they found you on a pirates ship, the Black Pearl no less. Then again, they would have been quite startled had they found you singing in one of Port Royale's most seedy and illicit tavern come brothels.

"Glad to see you're looking cheery today." Gibbs notes as he sees the smile on your face. "Noticed you'd been looking a bit down in the mouth for the past few days." You sigh but give him a smile, trying to assure him that you are fine.

"Just feeling a bit... cooped up." You say mildly, searching for the right words. "Do you know if the Captain is planning to dock anywhere at any point?" you add, somewhat more unpleasantly. The thought of the captain making you feel quite uneasy. You are very much aware that you are indeed a passenger on his ship, and an unwanted one at that. You hope that you will be able to get out of here as soon as possible.

"Ah yes. I take it you haven't been much of a seafarer lass. No, I have to admit being on a ship can seem a little...confining." You smile at him; he took the words right from your mouth. "I do believe that the Captain is planning to dock in a nearby port, Port Jacob. You muse silently at why many of the Ports seem to be named after men. Maybe they were noblemen of sorts, the people who originally founded the town; whatever... it doesn't really matter as long as you can get off of this bloody ship and away from that darned Jack Sparrow. Other than that brief and very fleeting moment of attraction that you had had for him a few nights back, you hadn't thought of him in a very positive light. He had originally come across as being rude and arrogant, and although you did change your opinions of him for a short period, those same feelings had resurfaced. You are surprised though that the man can make you so vexed, but some people just seem to have that effect on you. "I brought you a present." Gibbs pipes up, and you look at him in surprise.

"A present, for me? Whatever for? It should be I thanking you for your kindness, giving you some sort of present."

"Naw, I like ye luv, ain't nothin' more to it than that, am doing this coz I like to help ye, ye like a daughter to me." You smile at the sentimental fool, but agree with the situation. Like you had mused earlier, he had become like a father. Stepping over to the bed where you recline he sits down gently. "I found this, and I thought about you being in here all day, no one in particular to talk to. I know Anamaria and I pop in every now and again but like ye know we have our jobs to do as crewmembers, and you must get lonely. I have noticed that Jack isn't being too hospitable." You inwardly grimace at the thought, but keep smiling, trying not to let on that what Jack does affect you in way, shape or form.

"Captain Sparrow has been kind enough to let me stay in his quarters and in his bed whilst he has to sleep on the floor, I believe that that is plenty hospitable enough." You say, trying to make sure that you don't send any tone of emotion in your voice. You don't want Gibbs getting any ideas as to you liking or not liking the said captain. Gibbs nods but doesn't seem too sure, but shrugging it off he takes out a book he had been holding under his jacket.

"Like I were saying, I found this below and figured maybe you could write some of your thoughts and stuff in it, when you got no one to talk to. Have it as a kind of diary." He hands you a book and you caress the soft brown leather cover. It has no writing on the cover, and as you look inside you see that the pages are blank too.

"Oh Gibbs that is a lovely thought! Thank you so much!" you exclaim, touched by this show of affection.

"Aw, 's nothing luv." He replies blushing, obviously embarrassed slightly by your excited response. You give him a hug and he places his hand gently on your shoulder, plainly feeling a bit awkward by the situation. "Well err... I had better go... things to do an' all that." He says hurriedly heading towards the door.

You smile at him as he gives you a slight wave as he steps outside. Looking around the room you see a desk with parchment, bottles of ink and a few quills scattered upon it. Now that your wounds seem to be finally healing up you find it much easier to move around, and you occasionally get out of bed for a quick wander. Only around the cabin mind you, and only when you know no one will see you, you don't particularly want to repeat the same incident as before.

Gently you pull the covers off of you, and swing your legs gently over the sides of the bed. Taking tentative steps across the room you reach the table. You sit down on the chair placed in front of the table, and open the book at the first page. Opening an inkbottle, and dipping a quill into it, you begin to write; Dear diary, you start, but hastily scratch it out. Diary always sounded so formal, you needed to feel like you were talking to a person, not a book. You remember the name of your maid when you were living with your parents. She had been one of your only friends, and although there was an obvious social barrier, you had confided in her often, and she had listened eagerly. She had never told anyone your secrets, and you had come to consider her as a great friend. She had been the only one to agree with your turmoil when you had not been allowed to see Jonathan, and she had held your hand as you wept when you found that he had died. She had been the only person you had missed when you had left, and now you felt that she would be the only one who would listen to your thoughts. With that thought in mind, you begin to write.

'Dear Emily, I haven't spoken to you in so long, and I feel as though my heart is about to burst with the amount of pent up emotion I am holding. I am on a pirate ship Emily, a pirate ship! The ship itself is beautiful, although I have barely seen it. A lovely fellow brought me aboard, Gibbs is his name, he saved me from being raped and killed. As you know my dear Emily, I was working as a singer in that awful tavern/brothel, and I got so weary of it. I tried to escape, but an evil pig of a man got in the way. That's how I have ended up here. Gibbs and Anamaria are the only people I have met so far, and they are both lovely people. Them and the captain. Captain Jack Sparrow. That man, god, there are no words I can use to describe him, he makes my head feel all hot and bothered at the thought of him. He is an insufferable, intolerable, incorrigible, vile, disgusting wretch! I cannot believe how that man infuriates me! I realise I am a guest on his ship, and he has been kind enough to allow me to sleep in his bed whilst he remains on the floor, but, I don't know, he just aggravates me so. He is so dismissive, he barely speaks to me, and to think, I found the man mildly attractive! Well, he still is attractive in the visual sense, but his personality is lacking. I almost kissed him for Christ's sake that is it. He had been very nice to me up until then, although he had made quite a few wisecracks and crude comments, but nothing I couldn't handle, and then, when I go to kiss him, he runs like a bat out of hell! Am I really that vile? I don't think so. He has no moral fibre to him whatsoever. I have heard about him having prostitutes and whores waiting for him in every port. I can't say it surprises me, he is a pirate after all, but after our original meeting, I thought he might be different to the rest. Oh dearest Emily, I am so confused. All I wanted was to escape Port Royale, go to England and make a life for myself, how my plans have been thrown astray...'

Suddenly there is a tap on the door, and you hurriedly finish writing, promising that you shall write again soon. Hastily you snap the book shut and dive across the room and into bed, placing the book under the pillow.

"Come in!" you call, and hope to god that your face doesn't look as red and flustered as you feel after your initial panic. You really don't want anyone to find what you have written, especially not Anamaria, you know she would have laughed her socks off if she found out that you had almost kissed Jack. Speak of the devil; Jack pops his head around the door, looking at you inquisitively.

"I heard some scuffling about." He says raising an eyebrow questioningly. You look around you quickly, trying to come up with an excuse as to what all the commotion was. Not finding a source of inspiration you just shrug your shoulders. "Ok, well I would like to get changed if you don't mind. I have been wearing these same bloody clothes for a week now, which even I find disgusting..." you can't help but smile. So much for the ruthless, devil may care pirate he was supposed to be. He was actually worried about cleanliness.

"Don't let me stop you Captain." You say, almost sounding cheerful. You had almost forgotten your resentment towards him at the thought of his apparent disdain for being all grimy.

"Well ye kind of are actually. I didn't think ye were particularly interested in ogling at me goods, but if ye really don't mind I shall continue to get changed..." he replies with a grin. Blushing at his implication, and even more so as he starts to unbuckle his belt you cover your eyes with your hand.

"Well in all honesty I hadn't thought of that, but yes I would rather refrain from having to "ogle at your goods" as you so tastefully put it." You say feeling rather embarrassed at your own stupidity.

"Fine, fine. Well I am not about to go and get changed on deck, so you're just going to have to look away I'm afraid." His voice has a lingering sense of levity about it, and you're finding it quite difficult to wipe the small smile from your lips, trying your hardest to remain stern and nonchalant. A few minutes pass, and your treacherous eyes are starting to get the better of you, and you are finding it incredibly trying to stop yourself from peeking through your fingers. As much as you hate to admit it, the man with clothes on is incredibly appealing, and the thought of him without his clothes is enough to make you blush. "Ok, well I am all done so you can quit restraining yourself from gazing at my charming physique."

"Mr Sparrow I do hope you are not implying that I would actually have the gall to look at you whilst you were changing!" you cry opening your eyes, now remembering your distaste for the man.

"Calm down luv! I just happened to notice your eyes twitching, maybe I miss-perceived it, but really, I wouldn't blame you at all." With a small grin he walks away, leaving you feeling rather embarrassed and flushed.

Smiling to yourself you take the book you had hidden under the pillow out, and read through what you have written. Reading your original description of Jack you feel a slight pang of guilt, he wasn't all that bad really, but you leave the entry as it is. There is no point in tearing it out, a diary is supposed to encompass all your thoughts and feelings at the time you wrote the entry, and you are not about to just forget about your previous emotions, even if they had changed a little now. No, you could make another entry, telling Emily of your new thoughts upon Captain Jack Sparrow, and you would definitely do that soon, but for now, you were feeling quite hungry.

Your stomach starts to grumble at the proposition of food, and you are glad when someone knocks on the door. "Come in!" you call once again. This time Gibbs pops his head around the door, and you look at him in absolute delight as you see he is holding a tray of what looks like meat, boiled potatoes and vegetables.

"Lunch is served milady." He says with a grin, placing the tray in your lap.

"Oh Gibbs thank you so much, I am absolutely famished!" you exclaim, quickly grabbing a knife and fork and proceeding to dig into the meal. Gibbs smiles, and talks to you as you eat.

"I see ye've found a use already fer the book." He says, nodding towards the book that lays pages down next to you, luckily so that he cannot see the writing.

"Oh, yes... you were right, its wonderful for writing down my thoughts and feelings, like having a permanent friend in here." You say, hurriedly closing the book and placing it behind you. Gibbs just smiles at your obviously worried action.

"Don't worry, I weren't gonna look see what ye've written, I know its personal an' all that." You smile at him thankfully, you feel a bit guilty at thinking he might try to read it, but quickly dismiss it, after all, you can never be too careful around pirates, even kind ones like Gibbs. "Well, I'm going to head to the galley and get some lunch for meself. Shall pop in on ye later, an' I'm sure Anamaria will be around too."

"Thank you, really, for everything. You have been ever so helpful and considerate, and you saved my life. I don't know how I can ever repay you, but I will, I promise, somehow." Gibbs seems a bit uncomfortable at your heartfelt words, but smiles nonetheless.

"Oh, and I thought I would tell ye the Captain says we shall be docking tomorrow, so ye shall be able to go back to dry land, not that I wont be sad to see ye leave." He adds as an afterthought.

"Oh, well then this will be one of my last meals with you. I cannot thank you enough for your hospitality." You begin, tears almost forming in your eyes. You cant help feeling rather disappointed at having to leave the Pearl, but it would be nice to get your feet onto firm dry land again. You are somewhat unsure of what you will do once you get to Port Jacob, but you are sure you will be able to find some way or another of getting your life together. If the worst comes to worst you can always try to get onto another ship and make your way to England as you had originally planned.

"Well, like I said, I had better be leavin' ye, shall be back this evenin' with your dinner." You nod in appreciation, and watch Gibbs as he leaves. You continue eating, trying to make some kind of plan of action for when you get to Port Jacob. You are definitely healthy enough now, and you will be able to take care of your wounds yourself as they have almost completely healed. Tomorrow. Tomorrow you shall be saying goodbye to everyone, Gibbs, Anamaria, and of course, Captain Sparrow. Although you hadn't gotten to know him, you knew you would miss him, even if your feelings hadn't been too pleasant before, today he had made you see him in a different light. He hadn't done anything special in any way, but his light heartedness had made you see that he wasn't one to hold a grudge for that long, and wasn't so petty after all. Once you have finished eating you place the tray on the floor, and make your way over to the table with your journal. Sitting down you begin to write once more.

* * * * *

CHAPTER 5

You place the worn diary besides you, and gaze around the room. Hours must have passed without you realising, as the light is starting to dim, and shadows are being cast across the cabin. You get up from the bed and find a box of matches. You walk around, lighting several candles around the room. Looking around you once more you can't help the sinking feeling in your heart that you are going to have to say goodbye to the place tomorrow, it had become quite homely, and the luxury of Jack's cabin was much better than you had been used to since you had run away from home. Sighing you walk to the door of the cabin and look out. The sea is quite calm, waves barely breaking as they move along gently across the ocean. Clouds cover the sky, threatening rain, rolling black and thunderous.

You decide that you are going to have to see the whole ship, at least once before you leave. Wrapping an overcoat Anamaria had provided around you, you step out the door, taking in a sharp breath as the cold wind hits you, causing your hair to spray in every direction. Stepping out and closing the door behind you, you go to the railing around the ship, and peer overboard. Looking down into the ocean you can see the greens and blues becoming more faded and grey, as the sky gets darker in the small light of dusk. You see movement in the water, a shoal of fish swimming gracefully against the current, all moving in the same direction so that they look like one big mass of black; you cannot see their colours in the dim light, and as you stand there you find the light ever decreasing, until the sea looks almost black, like a deep dark ink all around the ship.

Making your way along the deck towards the helm you hear laughter coming from the galley below deck. Somebody seems to be playing a fiddle, and you can hear the noises of people moving about, dancing it seems. Looking down the steps you see light coming from a door, but you suddenly feel a bit embarrassed and shy, and decide not to go down there, you have not met many of the crew, and you are unsure of how welcoming they would be. You carry on walking, and stop abruptly as you see Jack standing behind the wheel, looking out into the horizon. You feel uneasy about breaking the silence that now seems to have enveloped you, the laughter from below now having faded into a dull noise in the distance, however, you do not want to seem like you are spying on Jack in any way, so you decide to speak up.

"How long have we got to go?" you call out, and see Jack flinch at the sound of your voice. He turns to you, a look of surprise and bewilderment clearly plastered across his face.

"What are you doing out here? I thought you were supposed to remain in the cabin." He calls back. You step towards him and close the gap between you, standing right next to him at the helm.

"I thought that I should like to see the whole ship, at least once before I disembark."

"Oh, she's beautiful isn't she?" You can hear the affection in his voice; he must care for the ship dearly.

"She is." You whisper. Looking out into the distance you can see land, twinkling lights of a town sparkling against a black mound interrupting the smooth surface of the outstretched ocean.

"It shouldn't be long now. We are going to go slowly though, it looks as though the winds are picking up a bit, and we don't want to risk damage. We should be in Port Jacob by morning. I suspect you are glad to be leaving all of this, you don't seem like much of a seafarer."

"No, I am not, but I wouldn't say that glad was the right word to use."

"And what word would you use then?"

"I don't know." You sigh. "I have enjoyed my time here, to some extent it has been... tedious, I generally don't like being waited upon in bed, but I am very grateful for your hospitality, truly I am."

"'S nothing really luv."

"I am sure you'll be glad to be back in your own bed!" you say jokily.

"Aye, have to say the floor isn't the most comfortable place to sleep..."

"I know, I am ever so sorry Captain to put you out like this..."

"Now come on luv, there's no need to be calling me Captain. It's Jack, ok. You have been here long enough to have earned that right." You blush slightly, not really understanding why, but you continue to gaze out towards the looming horizon.

"Well Jack," you begin rather uncomfortably, "I think I shall make my way around the ship, and back to the cabin. I shall let you get back to... well whatever it is you call it." You are kind of stuck for words to describe exactly what Jack is doing, he is not driving the ship, he is sailing it, but somehow that sounds odd.

"I'm sailing." He says simply with a smile. You look up at his face, he is a few inches or so taller than you, and you can see a glint in his eye. He seems to be looking at you quite fondly. "If ye like, I shall accompany ye around the deck." With that he extends his arm to you, and you entwine your own with his. "Gibbs!" he shouts, and within a few seconds Gibbs comes rushing over, an anxious expression on his face.

"Yessir?" he says, seemingly out of breath, you can't help but grin at his flustered expression.

"I am to accompany the lady here on a guided tour of the ship, 'twould be appreciated if you could man the wheel." Jack says matter-of-factly.

"Certainly. Nice to see you are out and about." Gibbs replies, the last bit obviously towards you, the worried expression now having been replaced by a soft smile. You smile back and Jack proceeds to lead you away. You walk steadily together around the ship, he points out the technical names of parts of the ship, and tells you about some of his adventures. You laugh, and listen in amazement as he goes into detail about his exploits, you can't help an overwhelming feeling of awe as he tells you the number of times he had escaped the gallows. You had heard of Captain Jack Sparrow before, and the tale of the cursed Black Pearl, but you hadn't known much about it. As you ask him why he is not turning into a skeleton under the moonlight as you have heard, he laughs.

"That's all in the past now luv. The curse has been lifted, must be a year ago now, and we are normal pirates once more. I was the only one to suffer the wrath of the curse, all though it wasn't that bad, kind of funny really. Nice knowing that I couldn't die and all, but I'm glad to be back to my old whole self." He laughs and twiddles the two braids in his goatee as he talks, its quite a captivating action, and you find yourself staring at him as you come to a halt as you reach the cabin. All the while you look at him, his fingers playfully stroking the braids and the beads dangling from them, you can't help your attention being drawn to his lips. You remember with a small shiver the night when you tried to kiss him, and are embarrassed when Jack glances at you inquisitively, but are glad when he mistakes the shiver for cold.

"Best get you inside now that you've had the grand tour." He says, wrapping an arm around your shoulders and guiding you into the cabin. He lets go of you and you take off the overcoat and place it over a chair. You then walk over to the bed and sit down, you notice that you left the diary out, and you hurriedly push it under the pillow. Luckily, Jack doesn't seem to have noticed, he actually seems to be studying the contents of a cupboard he is kneeling by. You are startled when he curses and stands up, but you decide not to question the matter. However Jack offers you an explanation. "No rum." He says simply and you can't help but laugh. Even in the few days you have been on the ship you have noticed one of Jack's greatest affections being for the said substance.

"Well like you said, we'll be getting to land soon and you can stock up and drink to your hearts content." You say smiling, and are pleased when his gaze rests softly on you, a smile lingering on his lips.

"Yeh, I shall just have to wait until tomorrow. A whole night without rum though, what is a man to do..." he raises an eyebrow suggestively and you feel your face become hot and flushed.

"Captain Sparrow, I really don't think that is appropriate!" you say, trying defiantly to regain composure, but failing miserably as your crimson cheeks seem to be worsening.

"Aw, come on luv, the hard part is all over and done with, I've got ye into bed already..." he raises his eyebrow at this point, which is quite true, and continues, "ye did promise to repay my hospitality in some way..."

"I certainly did not..." you exclaim, not remembering saying any such thing.

"Well Gibbs said ye did..."

"Well I said that to Gibbs didn't I. I would like to repay your hospitality but I don't believe that that is the best way to go about it."

"Fine, fine. A man has got to try hasn't he. Being stuck on a ship with a load of men, well and Anamaria, but she doesn't count, it gets... lonely, if ye know what I mean."

"Yes, I know exactly what you are saying, but I have heard about your antics, and I am sure your hunger shall be satisfied as soon as you get to Port Jacob by one of your floozies." As soon as the words left your lips you regretted them, here you were trying to be friendly, and you had to go and throw that bloody fly into the ointment. Why should you care who Jack went with, it wasn't like you fancied the man...

"Hmm." was the only response Jack gave instantly, and he just glared at you for a few minutes. Finally he spoke again. "Well I shall ask Gibbs to come and call for ye in the morning when we are moored. We shall be doing so in a bay just outside of the main port, as the Black Pearl would easily be recognised by the officials, and ye shall be taken across via a rowing boat. I shall bid ye good night." With that he walks out the door, shutting it firmly behind him.

You sit on the edge of the bed, somewhat bewildered by the awkwardness that had befallen upon your friendship once more. You hear a knock at the door and you look up expectantly, hoping that Jack has come back so that you can apologise for what you had said. Instead though Gibbs' cheery face peeks round the door, and he steps in with a tray.

"Nice beef stew for ye today! Dumplings too, and a warm fresh roll!" he says, and places the tray in your lap. "I can't stop I'm afraid, just thought I would bring you this. Hope you had a nice little walk around the ship." You smile appreciatively and start to eat.

"Thank you Gibbs." You say between mouthfuls. "I shall be especially sorry to leave you, you've been the dearest friend I could ever have wished for."

"Aw, now don't go getting all soppy and emotional on me, I don't know how to cope with teary women." Gibbs replies with a chuckle, patting you on the shoulder fondly. "Now, I have to go, I shall come and call for ye when we get to the port in the morning."

You smile at him as he picks up the tray from lunchtime and walks out the door, giving you a little wave as he leaves. After eating your dinner you place the tray on the floor and climb under the covers. You think about how you are going to be saying goodbye soon and your eyelids become heavy. You slowly fall into a dreamless sleep. You do not stir when Jack comes in a few hours later. He looks down on your sleeping form and whispers goodnight, pulling the covers up over your shoulders and kissing you gently on the cheek. You wrinkle your nose as one of his braids tickles it, but you do not awake. Jack walks out of the room again, and stands by the railings of the ship, looking out across to Port Jacob, now quite close. He smiles half-heartedly, thinking about how he is going to have to say goodbye to you. Although you had been a bit of a pain in the arse, and could be quite snobbish at times, he had become quite fond of your company, and was sorry when he thought about how he had been so petty and missed out on it for the past few days. Sighing heavily he stands there, just looking out into the distance.

CHAPTERS 6-10

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