Disclaimer: Do you really think that if I owned this stuff, I would be posting it on a FAN fiction website?

A/N: I had to write a paper for English class, and I made it into a PotC story. Maybe this is a Mary-Sue type of deal, but I'm telling you this right now. JACK DOES NOT LOVE HER! He's just being his normal self in this story. At least, I think he is. OK, now that that's out of the way, here is the story/English paper.

Piracy

Cassandra sat in her bedroom, reading a book. Her vanity's mirror reflected the eerie moonlight on the bed Cassandra was laying on, unable to sleep. In a corner, a small kitten was laying in a basket. Its chest rose and fell with the breeze coming from an open window.

She subconsciously scratched her left forearm, revealing a 'P' engraved upon her arm. She didn't have the faintest idea what 'P' meant and couldn't remember when she got the tattoo.

She turned the page and it suddenly came to her: Pirates. But, she was a duchess, a respectable woman who would never become a—

"Pirate! Open the door this instant!" a soldier yelled fiercely, pounding on the door and making Cassandra's heart stop.

In a second that seemed like an eternity, two men-in-arms broke down the door, dragged Cassandra into her living room, and put shackles on her small, pale wrists.

"But, I swear…I have no idea where I got that mark! I didn't do it! I'm not a pirate, I swear!" she screamed as her auburn hair swept across her sweat-drenched brow.

A mercenary aimed his musket at her heavily-beating heart and said mercilessly, "Tell that to the noose, you despicable woman." Cassandra's emerald eyes looked down at the weapon, then into the soldier's bright blue ones, praying for mercy. She recognized those brown locks. He was her ex-husband.

"You have always had a short temper," he hissed in her ear as she stopped struggling and there was a tense pause, only broken by a calico kitten mew.

It stumbled into the room and Cassandra tried to run toward it, but she was too weak to break through the arms holding her. She stared daggers at the destroyer of her life, and she was lead to a musty, moldy jail cell.

~*~*~*~*~

Cassandra looked up a day later in the jail. She had heard the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs. The criminals in the next cell that were calling a dog who had the keys in its mouth stopped abruptly and hid all of their various things used to get the dog.

The sun beat down on her now dirty dress through the rusty, barred window. Her hair was tousled and pieces of straw were sticking out of it, probably from her bed. Her generous and understanding face was caked in sweat and dirt. Her stomach rumbled.

Here comes another meal, she thought gloomily, mentally crossing off another meal. She was counting down until her appointment with the noose. A few moments later, her eyes revealed a soldier and a man with no mistake by his looks that he was a pirate. No food awaited her.

A crimson bandanna covered his forehead and the beads in his hair clicked as he was pushed to the cell, cuffs on his tanned wrists. His eyes were strangely out of focus and his skinny body was clothed in a loose, cream-colored shirt and hazel pants. His effects were strewn across a belt on his hips and something clacked in his pocket. As he entered her cell, she gave him a questioning look.

"Where's Will when you need him?" he muttered to himself. "What're you looking at?" he snarled, noticing her inquiring look. The strong smell of alcohol was on his breath like the smell of a new start at the beginning of Spring. That voice…she recognized that voice.

"You're that pirate…Jack Sparrow," Cassandra said, puzzled. He grinned, showing several gold teeth.

"It's Captain Jack Sparrow to you, love." That's when she realized where she remembered him from.

"You…you…you pirate!" Pirates are very bad things from where she comes from. Where Cassandra comes from, pirates are seen as just one big nuisance and have no purpose, so therefore, they must be killed. Status was everything and pirates were at the bottom of the social ladder.

"That's what I am, don't—OUCH! Love! What was that for!" She had slapped hard him across the cheek.

"For being a thieving, horrible scalawag, maybe? You got me DRUNK!" It might not have been smart to pick a fight with him. She had heard that pirates are very good at fencing and she had no sword. Maybe pirates had somewhat good morals and knew not to hit a lady.

"Aaah! Now I remember you! I introduced you to rum!"

"Yes, and now I am alone at the gallows for being a false pirate!"

"Hmm, that' s interesting," Jack said with a far-off look in his eyes.

"No, it's BAD, understand?" Cassandra thought that of all people, Jack would understand her predicament. He, most likely, either escaped by the skin of his nose or was caught and then escaped by the skin of his nose.

"Not if my plan plays out," He replied with a glint in his eyes. Cassandra knew it. Pirates always have a plan. "But there's one thing you need to do, savvy?"

"Fine. Anything to get out of here!" Obviously, Cassandra wanted out as soon as humanly possible. She was desperate!

"You have to join my crew on the Black Pearl."

"Not a chance!" She wasn't that desperate! She still had somewhat of a reputation to protect.

"But, you made a promise and you must stay true to your word. It's basic pirate's code, unless you're a dishonest woman. Then, I can trust you to be dishonest…honestly."

"Fine, I'll join your crew. Just get me out of here!" she replied exasperatedly, rubbing her temples. His riddles made her brain dizzy. She lay down on the bed and drifted into the realm of dreams.

~*~*~*~*~

"So, what is your plan, Jack?" Cassandra asked as the midday sun stroked her cheek. She had become considerately brighter…and a lot more curious. Hey, maybe being a pirate wouldn't be so bad…that is if Jack's plan worked and she escaped death.

"Love, all you need to do is stand right about there"—he pointed to a spot—"and look pretty…and that's not going to be hard for you," Jack replied as a smirk played across his face. Cassandra rolled her eyes.

"Oh, come on. You can tell me. I'm part of the plan."

"Let's just say that I want to keep it a surprise, savvy?" A dull thud at the top of the staircase broke their conversation as two commanders made their way down to their cell. They opened the door and that's when the fun began.

Jack sped toward them with his sword drawn and teeth barred. Cassandra ducked down and hid her face into the wall. The guards yelled and shouted, but were unconscious in a matter of seconds.

She stood up and stared, wide-eyed at the soldiers. One took a blow to the head and was bleeding heavily in the temple. The other…she didn't want to know or think about it.

"Was that your plan? To kill the guards when they came to take me to the gallows?" she asked, completely and utter amazed.

"Did you expect anything else from a pirate?" he answered, sheathing his now bloody sword. "You wearing a corset?" She shook her head no. "Good." More thuds were heard. Jack took her hand in his callused one and said simply, "Time to go." And with that they ran!

"Where are we going?" Cassandra asked about five minutes later, clutching a stitch in her side.

"The harbor." They escaped into an alleyway, breathing heavily. A few moments of silence followed them, then—

"I think…I think we lost them," Cassandra muttered. Jack's eyes grew to the size of plates at this, for something bad was behind Cassandra's carmine head.

"Love, I hate to tell yeh this, but I think yer wrong." And they were off again being closely pursued by the British Army.

They got to the harbor quickly and quietly. Jack dashed to the edge and SPLASH! A moment later, Cassandra saw him in the warm water. She backed away. Her worst fear was water.

"Come on in!" Jack yelled. "The water's great! And it's the only way to escape."

Cassandra sighed. A conflict going on behind her green eyes. If she jumped in the water, she would be safe from harm…well, sort of…and have a life in front of her, but she was just too scared to do that. And she might drown. If she didn't jump in, she would die and never have a life of her own…or to that effect, a life at all.

She held her breath, risked the chances of a shark eating her, and jumped, leaving the British Army without two pirates for the noose today.

~*~*~*~*~

"Love, c'mon!" Jack shouted. "Grab my hand!" She did so and they were pulled onto a ship with white sails.

"But, I thought the Black Pearl had black sails," she observed and Jack smiled.

"We thought that since the Pearl has a new owner, it should have new sails. Welcome aboard the Black Pearl, Miss Smith."

"Thank you," she said and then sang softly, "Yo ho, yo ho, a pirates life for me."

~*~*~*~*~

A/N: Yo! Press the but-tizzle on the bottom of the scrizzle, my homeslices, and you'll make the plot-tizzle kit-tizzle happizzle!

Translation: Review and my plot kitty will be happy.