It's a cold night in London. A young woman sat at the end of the docks. The clothes feel strange against her skin, much rougher than the silks she was used to. Still, these were much warmer than the dresses and gowns she was used to. Instead, she wore a dirty white shirt, a tan waistcoat, a green sash, and dark trousers. Her brown boots were on the docks next to her.
She just sat there, watching the stars as they twinkled in the sky, her feet swinging just over the surface of the water. Suddenly, something brushed against her toes. Curious, she reached down and picked up the floating object. She tucked her loose black hair behind her ear as she sat back up to look at the object. It was a leather tricorn hat.
"Tsukihana! Get back on the ship!" An angry voice shouted. "I'm not done with you for this afternoon!"
"But Granddad!" Tsukihana whined as she stood up.
"Not hearing it." Teague said. "Put your boots back on and get back on the ship or I'll have you scrubbing the deck for another week."
Pouting, Tsukihana pulled her boots back on. She had lived in Shipwreck Cove with her grandfather for ten years. During those ten years, They stayed mostly in Shipwreck Cove, though they did visit Japan a few times. Teague and Tsukihana shared a love for silk and, between the two of them, they owned enough to dress the English Court. She never met her father, but she knew what he looked and sounded like. She heard him talk during the last Brethren Court, even if she didn't understand any of it. And then that afternoon, she had seen Teague talking to him at the Captain's Daughter. Looking over to her side, Tsukihana smiled at the hat.
"Tsukihana, let's go." Teague ordered, pulling her onto her feet.
"Why didn't you introduce me to him?" Tsukihana asked, annoyed with Teague. "I understand waiting for the opportune moment, but I was right there! What if that was it?"
"That was not it. If it were, he would've noticed you staring."
"Then when?" Tsukihana demanded, tightening her grip on the hat. "You told me that I needed to learn English before. Well, I did. Today, you told me to go back-"
"You don't exactly blend in." Teague said flatly. It was true. She was a girl in sailor's clothes. It was bad enough that she was a Japanese girl in London, though if it weren't for the fact that she was shorter than other teenagers it wouldn't be noticeable.
"No one noticed."
"Next time. I promise."
"You also promised to bring whatever your friend told you he had."
Glancing over his shoulder, Teague lifted a journal into the air for his granddaughter to see. "You can look at it later." He replied as he kept walking. "You should be grateful I even brought you along. Part of me wanted to just leave you in Shipwreck Cove with Captain Turner and her son."
Tsukihana pouted at Teague."But-"
"You keep talking back and I'll take you back to Shipwreck Island." Teague frowned, watching his granddaughter from over his shoulder. Part of him regretted bringing her along. The last thing he really needed was a child to keep an eye on.
Tsukihana was ready for this though. She quickly mastered English, and picked up swordplay even faster. She knew how to run a ship and knew the Code by heart. It worried Teague that Tsukihana couldn't remember anything from before she showed up on Shipwreck Island. To him, that meant she could forget everything she had learned in the past ten years as well.
"What's that?" Tsukihana asked, pointing at something under Teague's arm.
"I found something for you to work on." Teague replied with a smirk, as he tossed it at Tsukihana. It was Jack's jacket, semi neatly folded. He then pulled a small pouch out of his pocket and tossed it at her as well. It contained some buttons, a needle, and thread.
Tsukihana gave Teague a confused look. "I don't know how to sew…."
"I know."
A few months later…
Jack Sparrow walked along the shoreline with his compass in his hand. Them rather, since Mr. Gibbs was following him. Jack had no idea where to go, except forward. The compass started acting strange the day before, just spinning and spinning, faster and faster. Then, three hours later, it froze. Now, the arrow refused to move at all. "Huh? I finally broke it." Then he heard twigs snapping in the jungle. He quickly hid behind a large rock and listened.
"Naze furui yagi wa fune ni taizai suru nodeshou ka? Dono yō ni watashi wa atta koto ga nai dansei o mitsukeru koto ni natte nda?"
Jack's eyes narrowed. Japanese? He knew he was lost…but he couldn't be that lost. White Cap Bay was still in the Caribbean. Clearly, this girl is also lost. And getting closer….
"Mā, sore wa kantandatta." Tsukihana mumbled, looking down at Jack. "Anata ga Sparrow nodesu ka?"
Jack stared at this girl for a few moments before standing up. Even though he used to visit Japan on occasion, it had been around nineteen years since his last visit. His memory of the language was rusty at best. Still, he caught the Sparrow part. "I think you mean Captain Sparrow."
Tsukihana smiled at him. "You are not a captain without a ship, jacket, or hat." She smirked at him with a mischivious sparkle in her eyes. Ones that Jack recognized as exact copies of his own. "Dad."
"What?"
"What? Granddad agrees."
Jack cringed. ""Granddad"?"
"You can ask him yourself. He's onboard the Troubadour." Tsukihana said, resting her hands on her hips. That's when Jack noticed the katana on her sash. He knew it was a katana simply by the length of the wooden handle, which was wrapped in worn black leather.
"Oh? And how, pray tell-and this ought to be interesting-, do you expect me to believe-"
"You last saw Teague in London. You had a drink in the Captain's Daughter, where he tried to warn you not to look for the Fountain of Youth. Realizing you're "still a stubborn little rat"-his words not mine-, he pointed out where the fake Jack Sparrow was putting together a crew." Tsukihana replied. "If that's not enough, I'll also mention that he "saved your bloody ass" yet again."
Jack frowned, watching as Tsukihana walked back up to the jungle. This girl had either sailed here with Teague or was part of an elaborate trap. If it was the latter, Jack was very curious. Who could have thought this up? How did they get that information? What part could this girl possibly play, besides bait? If it was the former…
…Jack had no idea how to feel about the idea of having a daughter.
Tsukihana stopped and looked over her shoulder at Jack. "Anata wa kuru no?"
Translations
"Naze furui yagi wa fune ni taizai suru nodeshou ka?"- "Why does the old goat get to stay on the ship?"
"Dono yō ni watashi wa atta koto ga nai dansei o mitsukeru koto ni natte nda?- "How am I supposed to find a man I never met?"
"Mā, sore wa kantandatta."- "Well, that was easy."
"Anata ga Sparrow* nodesu ka?"- "You are Sparrow?"
"Anata wa kuru no?"- "Are you coming?"
*I actually changed Suzume to Sparrow because...well...I'll explain later...Suzume just sounds too cute to me...
This chapter...no this entire story...I had to rewrite the entire story. You see, one day I read it and realized exactly how little I liked it. So, I decided to either rewrite it or just forget about it.
Then one day I'm messaging one of my best friends online and I talked about what would make an interesting introduction to Jack Sparrow's daughter. What I wrote were basically the first two paragraphs of this chapter.
