Disclaimer: I tried to lure Jack into my house with rum, but Disney got in my way, so he's not mine.

AN: Here is the sequel to Call of Freedom! I hope that people like it, and that it was worth the wait. Please let me know how you all like it by reviewing! Oh, and for an image of what Rose's engagement ring is based on, please visit my bio page and click the link I have there. It's a jewelry/art site with Pirates of the Caribbean products, and they also have lots of Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter stuff, too, if you're into those genres. Enjoy, and please review!

Chapter 1: A Pirate-Like Engagement:

Letting the sea air sweep over and around me, I felt like I was flying. Never in my whole life did I ever dream that I could be this happy, and with Jack's arms wrapped around my waist, I was sure that this wonderful euphoria would last for a long time.

"So you like being up here at the helm, hmm?" Jack murmured into my ear. The heat of his breath on my skin caused me to shiver with pleasure, and I could feel him chuckle behind me. "Careful, darling; if you keep moving like that, you're going to make certain soft parts of me not-so-soft very soon."

I blushed and turned my head to glare at him, my brown eyes meeting his own. "Well, you shouldn't act all seductive while I'm trying to focus," I replied before turning to face forwards once more. "Especially when I'm trying to learn how to steer the Pearl!"

"Trust me, luv, you're doing just fine without having to keep your eyes forward," Jack whispered into my ear, distracting me once more. "Besides, there are miles and miles of ocean before us, and no islands or reefs nearby. Therefore, I think I can afford to distract you." He kissed the spot right between my neck and shoulder. "Hmm…in more ways than one."

A contented sigh escaped my lips as my hands loosened on the helm's spokes. "You're just happy that I moved back into your cabin!" I replied in a husky voice as his lips moved upwards to land on my earlobe. "And that we're sleeping in the same bed again."

"Aye, that, too," Jack chuckled as he kissed the curve of my ear. "Never thought I'd get you to agree to that so soon."

I couldn't help rolling my eyes in annoyance. "Well, you did just propose to me, and had given me your solemn pirate promise to marry me," I said, turning my head to give him a kiss on the mouth. "Besides, how could I refuse the infamous Captain Jack Sparrow when he practically begged me, on hands and knees, I might add, to share his cabin with him?"

He looked offended. "I most certainly did not beg on hands and knees!" he declared, frowning. However, since I could see his mouth twitch, I knew that he was only playing with me.

"You most certainly did!" I said, grinning up at him. I held my right hand up to my forehead in a dramatic manner. "I can almost hear you now: 'please, luv, I'm begging you to move back into my cabin! I can't live without seeing you wake up beside me every morning!'"

Now it was Jack's turn to roll his eyes, his hand reaching to pull mine down from my forehead. "I never said those words. What I said was that I needed you beside me, just so that the crew wouldn't put their dirty mitts on you when I wasn't looking," he huffed. "And no, I can't bloody-well wake up in the morning without knowing that my woman is beside me, in my bed, every night and every day."

I quirked an eyebrow at his words. "Your woman, hmm?" I said, putting my free hand on my hip as I faced him.

"Aye, my woman," Jack growled as he leaned in, his lips hovering over mine. "And you are my woman…never doubt that, darling."

"Hmm," I said, a grin forming on my lips. "I'm Jack Sparrow's woman. I think I like that."

"I know I do," Jack whispered before his lips descended to press against my own.

A few moments later, we pulled apart to catch our breath. I sighed and leaned against Jack's chest as he positioned his hands on the helm, taking over where I'd left off. It's funny that, now that we're engaged to be married, Jack's allowed me to take up his precious position at the helm. Until today, only Mr. Gibbs, Mr. Cotton (and parrot), and occasionally Barton had taken the helm while Jack was resting or elsewhere. It appeared that Jack wanted to groom me to be either his co-captain, or a person in a unique position on the Pearl. Whichever it was, I had no idea, but the crew seemed to accept it with very little difficulty.

In fact, the crew had seemed downright giddy since the night Jack and I had gotten engaged…

The moment Jack had asked me to marry him, I was sure that I hadn't heard him correctly. I'd thought it a trick of his, a way of trying to worm his way back into my heart after what had happened in Tortuga. There he was, hovering above me as I lay trapped underneath his body, when he'd then asked me the last question I'd ever imagined coming out of his mouth.

"What?" I asked, staring up at him in shock.

"Marry me," Jack repeated as his right hand came up to idly run up and down my side.

"Jack, that's not funny," I said in a calm voice, though on the inside, I felt slightly panicked at the situation.

He couldn't seriously be asking me to be his wife! After all, Jack Sparrow is not the marrying kind of man. If I've heard it once, I've heard it a dozen times: Jack Sparrow is not the sort to settle down with one woman. Even if he loved me (which I very much doubted he did), he could not possibly want to actually make me his wife; a mistress of some sort I could imagine, but a wife? Not likely!

Jack's deep brown eyes bore into mine, as serious as I'd ever seen them. "Do you see me laughing, darling?" he asked in a soft voice, his hand still moving up and down my body.

"No," I whispered, blushing slightly. I couldn't help but enjoy the touch of his hands.

"Then I'm serious," he replied, his hand going to my face to caress my cheek. "I love you, Rose, and I want you to marry me."

I gulped very audibly. "Jack…" I trailed off, unsure as to what to say.

"Rose," he whispered back as he leaned forward and kissed me, oh-so-gently, on the mouth.

For several minutes we lay there, kissing until we were out of breath, resuming once we'd caught enough of it to continue. Finally, Jack pulled back and stared into my eyes.

"Marry me," he whispered as he moved to kiss my cheek. "Marry me," he said again, kissing a different spot, this time on my neck. "Marry me." Another kiss, this one on my shoulder.

"Jack," I weakly protested as he moved to kiss my lips once more. "Jack…"

"I was stupid, darling, and I admit it," he said, lips hovering above mine. "I let a whore lead me away from you, my real love, and I freely admit to being a foolish man caught up in a past I want to forget. I want you to make me your pirate husband, as I want you to be my bonny pirate wife."

I bit my lower lip, suddenly unsure about the whole thing. Could I trust him after what had happened in Tortuga? I knew that Jack was popular with women, but seeing him walk off with that prostitute had shown me how his world worked. Did he really want me to marry him, or was he doing this to win me back into his arms, if only for a little while?

'But he said that he loves me,' I thought. 'Has he ever said that to anyone else?'

Well, that thought actually made me wonder. Gazing up into his eyes, I could see that his feelings were true, but how long would he stay loyal to me before racing off the next time we pulled into port? How long before the pirate part of him showed itself once more?

"Rose." Jack's voice brought me back from my train of thought. "Rose, let me show you how much I need you with me." He shifted a little on the bed and pulled out his compass. "Do you remember what this does?"

I gave a hesitant nod. "It doesn't point north. You said it's supposed to point towards whatever the person holding it wants."

"Actually," Jack said, rising up to a sitting position and beckoning me to do so as well. "It points to whatever a person wants most in the world…what they desire in their deepest heart-of-hearts and want so desperately to find."

He held out the compass and we both looked to see what it would point to. For a moment, nothing happened; the needle merely hovered in one spot, slightly twitching from one side to another. Then, all of a sudden, it began to spin wildly, causing me to gasp in surprise. Never had I seen a compass move this way, or at least, a normal compass move this way.

"Wait for it, luv," Jack whispered as we both stared at the spinning compass needle in his hands.

To my surprise, the needle slowed…then pointed straight at me. My jaw dropped as I stared at it, the needle not wavering one bit as I leaned in closer, trying to see if there was some sort of trick to it.

"It's no trick, Rose." One of Jack's hands removed itself from the compass and reached for my left hand, currently lying limply on the bed. "A voodoo priestess gave it to me years ago, and as long as its holder knows what he-" Jack grinned, "or she wants, the compass will direct them to it."

He then gently placed the compass into the palm of my hand and released it so that I was in full possession of it. Together, we once again watched it spin. Sure enough, a moment later, it was pointing straight in Jack's direction.

"Oh, my God," I whispered, my eyes lifting up to stare into Jack's. "It worked…you were right!"

A soft smiled pulled at the corners of Jack's lips. "I usually am, luv," he said, reaching up and removing the compass from my fingers. "Now, about our previous conversation…"

I shifted uncomfortably on the bed, turning my head away so that I didn't have to look him in the eye. "Jack, I…I'm not sure if we should…if it's a good…"

As I raised my left hand to my temple to fend off the confusing feelings swirling within my heart, I felt something cool and hard on it. Pulling it away, I saw a gold band around my left ring finger. Flipping it over to look at the other side, I gasped at the beauty of the piece of jewelry sitting there.

A black pearl the size of a large pea sat on top of a yellow gold band, the edges of a cup formed underneath the pearl in the shape of waves, securing the pearl to the ring. Elegant gold filigree twisted up and over one side of the black pearl like a tidal wave, the tips of the wave decorated with tiny white diamonds that sparkled in the candlelight of the cabin. It was exquisite, and I couldn't help but admire it, turning it back and forth just to see it shine.

"Well, what do you think?" Jack whispered into my right ear.

"It's beautiful," I softly replied. "I've never seen anything like it!"

"Nor will you," he declared, sitting up so he could put his chin on my shoulder. "I had it specially made for you in Tortuga. It cost me a pretty penny to get the goldsmith to craft it so quickly, but seeing as your eyes are shining like the gorgeous jewels they are, I'd have to say it was worth it."

I looked at the ring again. To have so perfect a black pearl, and to have such wonderful craftsmanship done on such short notice would have cost Jack a fortune. Also, the symbol of the black pearl didn't escape me; it was Jack's ship, after all, and obviously something that meant a great deal to him. For him to give me such a ring meant that he truly wanted me to be his in every way possible.

Jack pressed a passionate kiss where my neck met my shoulder, and I sighed. "Alright, you win," I said, turning to look him in the eye.

He grinned, gold teeth glinting in the light of the cabin. "Oh, good!" he declared as he pounced on me, pinning me to the bed once more. "I do so enjoy winning."

Without waiting for my reply, he pressed his lips against mine, a smile still event on his mouth.

The day after Jack had proposed, I had casually walked up on deck with my new ring on my left hand. It was, to my surprise, based on a ring Jack already wore, only his had a black onyx instead of a pearl, and had a sort of flowery design instead of an ocean-based one. Still, I felt special knowing that Jack loved me enough to get me a ring that was so like his own, though still had its own uniqueness; it showed that we were similar, but different at the same time.

Of course, Mr. Gibbs had been the first one to notice that Jack and I were acting all 'loving' towards one another again, and when he saw the glimmer of gold on my hand, he'd let out a huge yell of joy. That yell, in turn, attracted the attention of every crewman on deck, and they all rushed to see what the first mate of the Black Pearl was so happy about. Gibbs had merely held up my left hand and shown them the ring in reply. After that, a party had begun, then gone on for two days while the crew celebrated their captain falling in love and getting engaged.

Later on, the crew helped move all of my things (including my dear cat, Ivory) into Jack's cabin…without asking me first! I'd put up a fuss about it, but Jack had looked at me with pleading puppy-dog eyes and I had given in; besides, I'd missed waking up with his arms around me. He had also given me his solemn vow to keep his distance and not go any further than touching, claiming that he'd wait until after we'd married, or until I was comfortable with the idea of performing "nightly activities" with him. I, however, was determined to not do anything with Jack in the bed (besides sleeping) until after we were married, but with him trying to seduce me all the time, it was a hard battle. Although, Jack was gentlemanly enough that, if I told him to stop, he did, which I was (on occasion) very thankful for.

However, there was one little flaw in my waiting until after marriage to officially share a bed with Jack: he wanted to wait at least six months before even planning the wedding.

"Jack, tell me again why we're waiting so long to get married," I softly said, lifting my head off of his chest to look at him.

My future pirate husband pressed a gentle kiss to my forehead. "I'm just waiting for the opportune moment, luv," he replied. "Nothing wrong with waiting for something good, now, is there?"

"You mean you want the crew to be sure that they want me as your wife and leading lady," I retorted in a teasing voice, leaning my head back down on his chest and smiling.

Jack chuckled into my ear, the warmth of his breath caressing my skin and making me sigh and shiver in pleasure. "But of course, my dear, dear fiancée. I mean," he removed one of his hands from the helm and wrapped it around my waist, "a crew that is happy with my choice in Captain's Wife means that they are a happy crew. A happy crew makes a more hard-working crew, which, in turn, makes my job as Captain easier. Savvy?"

I sighed and rolled my eyes even though he couldn't see me do so. "Savvy, Captain," I said, smiling.

"It's Jack, darling," he said, pulling me closer as he steered. "You're to call me 'Captain' under serious circumstances or," I could hear him grinning, "at night during certain…occasions in our cabin."

Pulling back, I looked up at him with false shock. "Why, Jack! Are you asking me to play certain indecent games with you on our wedding night?" I gasped while widening my eyes.

"Oh, and after it, too!" he answered, winking at me. "It'll be tons of fun, mark my words, luv."

"I have no doubt about that," I said, rolling my eyes before pressing a kiss to his cheek. "Now I've got to be off to fix lunch for the crew before they get cranky and send Gibbs down to do it."

I blew him a kiss before walking off towards the galley.

'I'm the luckiest man alive,' Jack thought to himself as he watched his fiancée vanish below decks.

He didn't know what he'd done to deserve her, but whatever it was, he was glad he'd done it! Seeing her every morning and night was reward enough, but adding the fact that they were getting married seemed as though all the treasures of the world were now in his possession. Besides, his crew loved her and approved of the match, they just needed to adjust to the idea of their Captain being hitched to one woman. With that currently going on, there was nothing to stand in his way of wedding Rose.

Grinning, Jack sighed and went back to steering his ship towards the horizon.

AN: But of course, bad things do happen (wink, wink). Please review! Thanks!