Love At First Sip
Disclaimer: I don't own either the Pirates of the Caribbean movies or the Jack Sparrow book series.
Jack Sparrow was restless and bored. The latter of which was an emotion that he rarely ever showed. In his entire 18 years, Jack had constantly been on the move.
When he was about 16, Jack ran away from home. But he called it "liberating himself from the stranglehold of his family's influence." Jack came from a family full of pirates. He had never identified himself as a pirate. Nor had Jack considered himself to be one. But there were things that had happened in the last year-and-a-half, that had set Jack well on his way to becoming a pirate. Whether he wanted it, or not.
Jack's adventures first began when he stowed away to the pirate port of Tortuga. From there, Jack commandeered a boat. It was called the Barnacle. He assembled a crew. But all of Jack's crew had since gone their separate ways.
Arabella Smith, who had, been Jack's first mate, had chosen to sail with her mother, Captain Laura Smith, aboard her ship, the Fleur De La Mort. Jack couldn't really say that he blamed Arabella for picking her mother over him. For the longest time, Arabella thought that her mother was dead. When it was revealed that Laura was still alive, Arabella knew she and her mother had to make up for lost time.
What did make Jack mad, however, was that Arabella loved someone else. His name was "Bloody" Billy Turner. Jack really did not know what Arabella saw in that guy. Billy was rather morbid and depressing. He didn't seem at all the type of person that Arabella would be attracted to.
Arabella was the first girl Jack had ever loved. He would keep loving her until he died. Other lovers would come and go, but Arabella would always have a big place in Jack's heart.
Fitzwilliam P. Dalton, III. What could be said about him? He was the one who had spent the most time with Jack. They had been through everything together. Jack thought he could trust Fitzy, as he called the other boy. He was gravely mistaken. Fitzwilliam had turned out to be as spy, working for the East India Trading Company. No one had heard from him in a long time. Jack could now care less about what happened to his former friend. Fitzy could be trapped within the deepest depths of Davy Jones' locker, and yet Jack would be just fine with that. The way Jack saw it, Fitzy got what he deserved, after betraying he like that.
Tumen and Jean came next. They were very young. No more than 13, at least. But time and time again, they had proven themselves to be worthy sailors.
These two boys were joined by Constance. She was an interesting case. According to Jean, Constance was his sister. But she had been transformed into a cat by the mystic, Tia Dalma. The last Jack heard, the three of them were living in a Mayan fishing village on the Yucatan peninsula. It was unknown if whether or not Constance had become human again. That thought scared Jack. Constance was bad enough as a cat. Who knows what she'd be like as a human.
Last but not least, there was Tim Hawk. He hadn't been a part of Jack's crew for very long. Tim's main mission was to find his family, who he had been separated from. Jack guessed he wished him well with that.
Jack loved when he had been captain of the Barnacle. He had some great, and a few not-so-great, memories. Thinking of them made him feel very sad.
Most days, Jack would spend his time moping around Shipwreck Cove, his home away from home. Life on land just wasn't very exciting. Jack's longing to be out at sea again caused him to go into a deep depression. His behavior concerned everyone close to him.
The person who worried the most was Edward Teague. He was Jack's suspected father, captain of the Misty Lady, and keeper of the Pirate's Code. He hated seeing Jack act this way. He wished there was someway to cheer him up. Then one day, he thought of an idea. But at the time, neither Teague or Jack, could see the profound impact the seemingly harmless act of kindness would have on the rest of Jack's life. Teague knocked on the door of Jack's room.
"Go away!" shouted Jack. Teague opened the door, and walked through it anyway. "I told you, go away!" Jack repeated. He stopped when he saw it was Teague. "Oh, hi, Da", said Jack. "What brings you here?"
"I have something for you", said Teague.
"Really?" asked Jack. His eyes lit up with interest. "What is it?" Teague handed a bottle to Jack, who raised an eyebrow.
"You've never seen a bottle of rum before?" asked Teague.
"I have", said Jack. "It's just that I'm a little confused as to why you'd be giving one to me."
"I want you to drink it, said Teague.
"Excuse me", said Jack. "You want me to do WHAT?!" he asked.
"You heard me, Jackie", said Teague. "I said I want you to drink the rum."
"Sorry", said Jack. "I hate to tell you this, but I don't drink."
"You will if you're going to be a pirate", said Teague.
"How many times must we go through this?" asked Jack. "I'm not a pirate."
"You will be soon enough", Teague muttered, with an all-knowing smile.
"Fine", said Jack. "All right. If it makes you happy, Da, I'll drink."
"Ata boy, Jackie", said Teague. Jack opened up the bottle. He brought it to his lips. He was about to drink, until he opened his mouth to speak.
"If I die", said Jack, "don't come anywhere near my funeral."
"Just get on with it", said Teague. "I haven't got all day."
"Okay", said Jack. "Here I go." Jack brought the bottle back up to his lips. He tilted his head back, and drank. The rum burned as it went down his throat. Jack half-expected that to happen. He had heard stories about the way rum tasted.
"How did that taste?" asked Teague, when Jack had finished drinking.
"It tasted wonderful!" said Jack. "Got anymore of this stuff?" he asked.
"I've got a whole storage closet full of rum in the back", said Teague. "I'll take you to it. Follow me." Jack went with his father. When they reached the closet, Teague turned to Jack. "Now", he said, "you can have as much rum you like. But don't go crazy, and drink the whole closet clean. There are other pirates around here, you know."
"Don't worry, Da", said Jack. "I'll use moderation." Jack walked into the closet. He felt like a little kid in a candy store. Shelves and shelves of rum stretched as far as the eye could see.
"I'll be back in a while", said Teague.
It was about an hour before Teague returned. He found Jack lying on the floor. About 10 bottles of rum surrounded his body. Jack wasn't dead, thank God. He had just passed out. That was an effect of having too much alcohol all at one time. Teague kicked Jack's foot with his boot. Jack instantly snapped awake.
"Where am I?" he asked, in a disoriented voice.
"You're in a closet, Jackie", said Teague.
"Da", said Jack. "I just had the strangest dream. I dreamt I was marooned on an Island with a crazy girl. And she burned everything in sight. Even the rum!"
"I think you've drunk enough for one day, Jack", said Teague. "Come on. Off to bed with you."
Jack went to his room. He would never forget this day. It would live on in his memory forever. For as long as he lived, Jack Sparrow would always remember this day as the day that he fell in love- with rum.
The End.
A/N: 1. Jack is 18 here, because like I said, he was about 16 during the Jack Sparrow book series. And this story takes place from about a year-and-a-half to two years after that. Eighteen is also too young to drink, by today's standards anyway. But this was the 1700's. They didn't have a drinking age back then. I wouldn't be surprised if kids began drinking at a an even younger age. Hence why in one of my other stories, A Birthday to Remember, I had Jack give a bottle of rum to ten-year-old William Turner, III.
2. I really don't know if Edward Teague is the name of Jack's supposed father. It was never mentioned in At World's End. They just called him Captain Teague. But I've seen some people call him Edward. And I like it. Captain Edward Teague. It has a nice ring to it.
3. As we all know, Jack's dream wasn't just a normal dream. It was a premonition. I couldn't help not having him dream about that event. It's my favorite scene in Curse of the Black Pearl. And it fit, with rum playing a big part of this story.
4. The title of this story was borrowed from a line in another one of my stories, called You May Kiss the Rum. In that story, I described the first time Jack tried rum, as being love at first sip.