Disclaimer: I do not own anything you recognize from PotC.

A/N: This is another one shot in response to a Father's day challenge from AhiFlame at the Black Pearl Scrolls.

Assurance:

"Do ye think, maybe, you can avoid curses, the undead, and hacking your own hand to pieces for a bit?" Ana chided, as she sat in her captain's cabin using his beloved rum to clean the cut on the palm of his right hand. Stubborn fool had not let anyone dress the wound, and it was becoming infected. Jack was sitting at the table, his head resting in his other hand. He had not looked too pleased when Ana had brought a needle and thread into his quarters and insisted upon stitching up his hand. She had debated teasing him about being squeamish, but decided against it.

Ana paused a moment waiting for some cheeky retort from the pirate captain, but she got no response. Shrugging, she grabbed the threaded needle and lifted Jack's hand nearer to the light. "This is going to hurt," she said, as she began her task.

Jack winced as the needle pierced his flesh, and pulled his hand away from Ana. Lifting his head, he glared at her.

Ana shook her head. "Honestly, you've been stabbed, burnt, shot and who knows what else. I think you'll live through this."

Reaching across the table, Jack reclaimed his bottle of rum. Pulling the cork free with his teeth, he took a long swig of the potent liquor.

"Ready yet?" Ana asked.

Begrudgingly, Jack laid his hand back down on the table, and looked away. Ana finished as quickly as possible, trying not to be too amused by her captain's childlike behavior.

When she was done, Jack examined the stitches that zigzagged across his palm. "Where'd ye learn to do that?" he asked.

"My father was a doctor. He taught me, so that I could help him when he got busy."

"Who was the poor sod ye practiced on?"

"He was," Ana said, smiling at the memory of her father. "One of his operating knives fell off a tray. He tried to catch it and the blade went straight through his hand. He couldn't stitch it up himself, so he told me how."

Jack arched his eyebrow. "Never told me your da' was nutters."

Ana laughed. "He wasn't."

Taking another drink, Jack said, "trustin' 'is daughter to stick 'im with needles. Sounds crazy t' me, luv."

Ana smiled at the irony of her captain thinking someone else was crazy. "What was your father like?" she asked, choosing not to comment on her observation.

Silence.

Turning to face Jack, Ana noticed that the pirate's eyes had darkened, and he seemed to be lost in a memory. He had never offered up any information about his family, a fact which always perplexed Ana. She remembered two parents that loved her, and two big brothers that had always looked after her. Apparently, her captain did not have a pleasant past about which he could reminisce. "Jack?"

"E was a lot diff'rent from yours, I expect," he said, his voice suddenly quiet.

Ana leaned forward and placed her hand on Jack's arm. "I shouldn't have asked," she said, silently hoping that the light-hearted spark would return to the pirate's eyes. To her utter disappointment, his eyes remained black.

Gently pulling the rum from Jack's grasp, Ana poured a bit of the amber liquid in a glass. Handing the bottle back to him, she raised her glass in the air. "Hell with him, Jack," she said. "How 'bout we drink to leaving the past in the past."

The captain's dark eyes locked on to her own. Bringing the bottle to his lips, he drank deeply. "Been tryin' to leave 'im behind for a long time, luv."

Ana put her hand on her captain's face. "You're a good man, Jack Sparrow. If he wasn't, then you have left him behind."

Please. Please, leave me a review before you move on.