"Ready or not, here I come!"

The small blonde had found the ideal hiding spot; behind a large shelf of books in her father's study. Innocent green eyes peered around the corner, waiting for the man now dubbed as 'It'. Her little hands clutched the sides and she quickly ducked behind as said man sauntered into the room.

He looked behind the drapes and underneath the desk before putting his hands on his hips, questioning look passing through his grey eyes. Without another word he left the room.

The Baron's daughter looked out from her hiding spot and giggled to herself. Once she was sure he was gone she hopped out from behind the cherry oak shelf and she scurried under the desk. Belladonna was known for doing that occasionally during their Hide-and-Seek sessions.

The man entered the room again and smirked, "Alright my little Rose, I saw that, I know where you are so just come out." Of course this was a complete lie…but it got the little blonde all the time.

She whined disappointedly and crawled out, "Aw, Lieutenant Norrington, how do you always find me?"

The Navy official smiled and tapped his head, "I am omnipresent."

Bella pouted and crossed her arms, "I am tired of this game."

Norrington shrugged, "You were the one who suggested it, I was only going along with your wishes."

The eight year old sighed and pouted some more before walking up to the man and taking his hand, leading him from the room. The Lieutenant allowed himself to be lead through the entire party going on in the ballroom and then out through the large glass doors that lead into the spacious garden. This was another ritual of hers. She would lead him out here, make him sit on the usual bench and tell her stories about the constellations in the sky.

Tonight was no different; she smiled up at him when they reached their usual bench. He chuckled and sat down, patting his lap. Bella eagerly climbed onto him and settled herself into his lap, idly feeling the familiar blue material under her fingers.

"Who is out tonight?" she asked, turning her head to look at Norrington questioningly.

The Lieutenant shifted her around before pointing and connecting a box with his finger, "Pegasus."

Green eyes blinked up at where he was pointing, "The Horse God…right?"

The Navy Official nodded, "Very good, yes. Son of whom?"

"Uhm…P-Poseidon," she said, having a little trouble saying the word.

He pat her head and she beamed, "You remember his story?"

"He…helped Belle…Bellero…" she frowned.

"Bellerophon, but you were close enough."

Green eyes followed his fingers again as he traced another constellation she wasn't familiar with, "What is that one?"

"That is Andromeda."

"Who is that?"

"Andromeda was the daughter of Cepheus and Cassiopeia, the king and queen of Aethiopia," he explained, "Cassiopeia was very narcissistic and boasted that she was of equal beauty to the Nereids, who were sea nymphs, known for being illustriously beautiful."

The little blonde listened intently, staring up at the twinkling stars.

"This made Poseidon angry and he sent a sea monster to destroy both man and beast. An oracle told them that there were would be no peace until the king gave his daughter, Andromeda, to the monster so they fastened her to a rock on the shore."

Bella's eyes widened, "That is so mean! Poor Andromeda…"

He smiled softly at her innocence, "It is alright; the sea monster did not get her."

"Really?" she asked, green eyes lighting up as she turned to face him.

"Yes. She was saved by Perseus and then they were married." He left out the part that Perseus was already betrothed to Phineus.

"They lived happily until her death, wherein she was made into a constellation."

She smiled brightly, "That is so nice! I want to be a constellation!"

Norrington chuckled at her and slid the girl from his lap, "Perhaps one day, my little Rose."

Bella was snapped back into reality by a slap across her face. She yelped, tears stinging her eyes.

"I was talking to you, Captain," the voice sneered and the blonde refused to look up.

What had she done to deserve such a fate? She had been a good Captain to her crew, hadn't she?

"What…did you want, Darren?" she asked breathlessly.

She was shackled down in the brig of her own ship; The Deadly Rose.

Now at 28 Belladonna had become a Captain of her own ship. The memories she had were of her happier childhood where she was still innocent to the workings of the world. She had been disillusioned to that rather quickly once her First Mate decided to mutiny on her. Well, really, she had lost that innocence earlier than that but she had blocked that from her mind, not wanting to remember it because the pain was almost too much for her to bear sometimes.

'Still,' she mused, 'anything would be better than this.'

Bella had the feeling she would definitely not be the same if she lived through this torture. She was now a very broken woman, in more ways than one. She must have done something wrong and this was fates way of paying her back.

"I asked if you wanted to live."

Dull green eyes shot up to the man's face, "W-what?"

"You want to live, right, Bella?"

The woman shamefully nodded her head, lowering her eyes to the floor once more.

"Ah well, then I shall grant your wish," her traitorous first mate replied.

There was something that Bella didn't like in the depths of his eyes. It spelled danger for her, but she was too weak to try and fend him off as he bent and let her go.

"Stand up, lets go Captain," he said, mocking her title again.

The blonde sighed loudly and stood on very unsteady legs. Reluctantly she followed his lead, walking shakily up the stairs and out onto the deck…where the rest of the crew was waiting for her.

Apparently they seemed to think she deserved whatever befell her by the rude comments floating through the air to Belladonna's ears. For a moment the blonde thought that Darren was going to go against his word and kill her when a pistol was shoved in her face.

"Here…it is your parting shot," he said with a smirk. He pointed to a lifeboat and pushed her over to it, despite the fact she was clutching her side in pain, bleeding on the deck below her. Bella sighed reluctantly and climbed inside.

"See you in another life, Belladonna."

She managed one last malicious glare and snarled, "I hope that when you die, the devil himself rips you limb from limb then puts you back together so he can do it over and over again."

His eyes narrowed before the man unceremoniously let go of the rope, reveling in her cry as the lifeboat fell into the water.

It was any other day on the ship known as The Black Pearl. A rather normal day, considering the fact its Captain had a penchant for getting into trouble.

Said Captain was currently lounging in his cabin, hat over his head as he slept. Well, he wasn't totally asleep, merely…resting his eyes as people often say. The knock on his door completely thwarted any plans of a full-fledged nap, however.

"Ah, what the devil do you want?"

"Cap'n Sparrow…we've spotted somethin'…"

With an agitated groan Sparrow swung his legs over the side of his hammock and slipped out, wavering slightly as he stood. Jack opened the door, giving his first mate an expectant, if not annoyed, look.

"If you disturbed me…to tell me you've spotted land…I swear to you—"

"No sir, not land…something floating in the water…a lifeboat."

Jack arched an eyebrow, "Anyone on it?"

"We aren't sure, want we should reel it in?"

Sparrow stepped out dramatically, "Of course, of course…bring her in."

Gibbs called out the order and the plan set into motion. Jack lounged on a barrel or two, waiting for his crew to bring said lifeboat on board. If anything, it could be used for something productive.

"Th-there is someone inside, Cap'n!"

As soon as the boat was brought on board the contents were spilled onto the deck. The blonde rolled out, landing on the ground, green eyes opening suddenly; wide but unseeing. She held the pistol in her hand and abruptly shot off the one bullet she had, hand trembling. Jack flattened himself against the mast as the bullet flew by him and imbedded itself in his ship.

"Now, look here!"

It was too late though, because the girl's eyes had slipped shut and she passed out, falling to the deck once more. The crew stood around her, blinking down at the blonde who had suddenly turned up floating in a lifeboat. Her long hair was knotted and there were parts that were stained with blood. Speaking of blood, her clothes were covered in it and one of her hands was inside and underneath her shirt, clutching her side.

Jack pushed some of his crew aside to stare down at the blonde on the deck. He looked at her, face serious but still very questioning, who the hell was this?

Kneeling, the Captain went through her clothes pockets, blinking as he shifted her shirt up to reveal, not only a nasty looking sword slash on her side…but also a branded 'P' on her hip. He idly traced his fingers over it with a slight frown.

"Hm…now that's interesting…"