Jack…what have they done to you?

She clutched the string of metal and wooden beads in her hand, staring wildly around the crowd. He was here. As her eyes darted wildly from face to face, her head felt like it was spinning.

In truth she never expected to see him again. When they took him away in shackles, the men in red uniforms, and he looked back at her smiling his lopsided grin, the gold in his teeth glinting in the light, something told her she would not see him again. Though his expression whispered reassurances, he was always so certain of himself, her heart told her otherwise. Crouching anxiously in her hiding place, it felt like an unspoken goodbye. Nearly a year and a half passed without his appearance or even word and while she was not sad, she had passed that, she was empty inside as though she did not feel but simply was. Until one day, in a filthy bar in Tortuga, she heard rumors of his life. On a hastened journey she returned to the wretched town that had taken him from her. To the busy street where she had seen that roguish face for the last time and that is where she found them. The colorful sting lying inconspicuously among the many walking feet, every passerby unaware of how truly precious each bead was to her.

Her gaze caught on someone and focused. There was a man on the other side of the street and he had a strange look about him but she was unable to place it. She took in a quick breath, her eyes widening in disbelief. His tan was a shade earned only by many hours on a wooden deck neath' the suns beating rays. Dark eyes, a deep mixture of madness and mystery. He wore his clothes loosely while every other man walked constricted by many buttons and starched cloth. And he was staring at her. His mane of dreadlocks was gone replaced by slightly messy, shorter brown hair. The mischievous spark that radiated from him and the disheveled quality had been dulled by captivity, she realized then that was the look he had; like a bird in a cage but his handsome face was unmistakable.

It was Jack Sparrow.

A/N: Take a moment to let the last line sink in before you delve into the explanation.

The background for this fic is actually very interesting. It's a culmination of a few different things, for anyone who's interested. Ok, I found this picture of Johnny Depp that looked just like Jack Sparrow minus the piraty weirdness and I liked it so much I drew the face and shoulders. Then when I was done I was like hmm I wonder what shirt I should give him and I thought well I'll give him a shirt like a normal person would wear in the pirate age but make it all lose (like jack would wear it if he had to). Then when I was done I had a little space on the page to fill so I thought what if someone who knew him saw him in this state like his girlfriend you know the one that every fan girl writes into fics for him. So I drew her expression at the sight of him pure shock. Then upon admiring my work I saw that if she indeed was looking at him like that why would he be looking at her the way he was (he has a very docile/ plain/ unexcited look on his face). Then a thought came to my head from the commercial to the new Pirates movie "Jack sparrow is a dying bread blah blah he must find a place in the new world or perish" girly scream of anticipation. So I thought what if they finally caught him and took him to someone important who said "look you're a really famous example of a pirate so we are going to make you conform to society instead of killing you, cause that threat hasn't worked on any pirates yet, to show all the other pirates that they should return to leading civilized lives. Corse' we are going to be watching you and making sure you don't leave, making sure you don't get drunk of your nut, put beads in your hair, you hippie, or do anything piraty-fun". Hence one and a bit years of that leaves our dear Jack in that state above. Anyone who has read this far should really see the picture since without it there would be no fanfic. If you want to see the picture e-mail me and I will e-mail you the picture

Thanks very much for reading, Luv Seraph