Thank you to my reviewers very inspirational, ozlady80 great to see you again as always... and Alyss Madigan thank you for your review as well. I think I forgot to mention that I try to grasp Tia Dalma's accent.. any tips, comments, or advice on the that would be great full... I am also trying to stick with the time line as much as possible I may be a little off on some of it but it was easier to do it this way... Thank you again and I am glad you are enjoying the story... And please keep up the reviews... :) This chapter is mostly a flash back...
I walked onto shore. I felt so free I could have cried. I found a small area under a bridge that I could hide from all the commotion as the Black Pearl's pirates raided and pillaged Port Royal. I decided to wait there until dawn. I soon fell into the first restful sleep that I had, had in a long time...
I had heard of a new trade, the East India Trading company, was hiring people to do their bidding. Pirates to be more specific. Intrigued I sought out this trade, I had heard of the man who ran it and sought him out as well. Cutler Beckett was his name, he employed me on the spot. A couple of months after he had 'hired' me I became disgruntled with the lack of freedom I had.
"Beckett, I'm not sure I want to do this anymore." I said, as I walked into his office. I soon realized it was occupied and he was in a 'meeting.' The man he was in a meeting with turned to face me. It was the Jack Sparrow kid from years before. I had heard the ridiculous stories that involved him through people either on Tortuga or from Tia.
"Ms. Delahaye, you must wait outside." Beckett said sternly. Sparrow looked at me the same way he had all those years ago, wonderment and awe mixed in with recognition.
"It's fine Beckett. The lass has expressed disinterest which is similar to my case. Let her stay." Sparrow said, his eyes never leaving mine.
"Fine, sit." Beckett said to me. I walked forward and stood next to Sparrow.
"I'll stand." I said.
"You still work for me." Beckett said in rebuttal, wanting me to obey him.
"Aye, I do but I can kill you faster than you can draw your own sword." I said, Beckett sat down.
"Sparrow, if you loose me another shipment of slaves I will personally terminate our agreement and yourself. Do I make myself clear?" Beckett said as if I wasn't standing in the room.
"Aye, well Beckett, I refuse to comply." Sparrow said, with a sly smile.
"Fine. McGee!" Beckett yelled out to the young solider standing at the opposite end of the room.
"Yes, Sir." he responded anxiously.
"Set the Wicked Wench on fire." he said.
"Yes, Sir." he responded again and left. The blood in Jack's face disappeared. His smile faded to a panicked frown.
"Wait! what?" Jack finally muttered.
"As for you, Jacquelyn, I have had it with the headaches you have cause me." he said and turned around to the fireplace behind him. I walked forward a bit thinking he was turning his back on me. Jack grabbed my arm and pulled me back as Beckett turned around with a hot iron shaped in the letter 'P'.
"Both of you hold out your arms." Beckett said.
"And if we refuse?" I said at the sudden betrayal he had shown to Jack and I.
"Then I call the authorities, tell them of your piracy and you will be hung within the hour." Beckett said with triumph.
I looked up at Jack in somewhat of a panic. If we were branded, we would be known for the rest of our lives as the pirates that we were.
Jack held out his arm first. His tanned skinned exposed.
"See Jack knows when to obey." Beckett said, as he pressed the hot iron on Jack's skin. The heat made the skin sizzle as it burned. Jack held back a yell or two. His face contorted and winced at the pain.
"Now, Jacquelyn, your turn." Beckett said as he released Jacks arm and he put the iron back in the fire. He picked another one up and walked over to me. Jack stood there cradling his now burned arm.
I reluctantly held out my arm. I sucked in my breath as I felt the heat radiating off of the hot iron. As soon as it touched the skin it started to sizzle. I screamed unable to contain it as Jack had. Beckett smiled as he lifted the iron and placed it back into the fire. I cradled my arm as Jack was.
"Now get out of my office." Beckett said. Jack lightly nudged me to the door.
"Oh, Beckett, I don't obey. This isn't the last time you've seen Captain Jack Sparrow." Jack said as we walked out the door. We walked down to the docks and stole a small boat and set sail to Tia Dalma's place.
Tia Dalma was waiting for us outside of her place, knowing of our arrival, and led us inside. We walked in and sat down at the table in the middle of the room. Jack and I had been mostly silent the whole trip here, not really knowing what to say to one another.
"I dold you do not do make dealings with Beckett. But no, Tia Dalma knows noting." She said frustrated at the two of us, as she rustled around in the other room.
"Now da both of yous are branded of de pirate sign." She said walking back into the room we were in. She had all sorts of bowls and plants in her hands. She set them on the table and sat down, mixing the herbs and making a paste.
"Der put that on de burn." she said handing Jack the bowl of pasted herbs. Jack rolled up his sleeve and slopped a bunch of the paste on to his arm. Tia Dalma started to Tsk at him.
"Here let me do it." I said grabbing the herbs from Sparrow and his arm. I gently rubbed the paste into his burn, he winced a little in protest but said nothing.
"You have to rub it in a little. To make sure there is no infection." I said trying to explain the little pain I was causing him. He nodded then hissed as I pressed a little harder into his wound. I looked up at him and he was staring at me again. Not sure of what I should do I stared back.
"And dey finally met." Tia Dalma said breaking the contact.
"What?" I asked her, as I let Sparrows hand go and grabbed the cloth Tia had set aside for a wrap. I gently wrapped Jacks herb covered wound paying less attention to Tia's superstitions.
"Noting." she said, and continued to make ointments and pastes. I rolled my eyes at her and got started on pasting my arm. Jack tied my arm up just as I had his.
Tia Dalma let us stay the night and rest. I slept in my regular room, Jack slept on the ground next to me. When I woke the next morning Jack was gone. Tia gave me her odd smile and told me to wait. I did so... for 3 years.
On the night of the third year, someone was coming towards Tia Dalma's place. With the little light it was hard to see, I could see the silhouette of one man. As the man came closer his features became more prominent. It was Jack.
I couldn't help but smile. I don't know why but seeing him was so refreshing from the last couple of days, let alone years. I barely knew this man but I felt like I had known him my entire life. I tied the boat to the small dock, and he came onto the dock.
"You came back." I said, as we stood there in the dark.
"I got my ship back and I want you to be part of my crew." he said.
"Your crew?" I questioned him with surprise.
"Yes, I'm sailing to Tortuga after I get done here, to look for a crew. This just happened to be on the way." he said trying to cover up his tracks of actually wanting her abroad the ship.
"What's your ships name?" I asked, he gave me a confused look. "You can tell everything about a ship by its name. Tia taught me that." I said.
"She's called the Black Pearl. She's a black ship with black sails, and she is a beauty." he said admiring his ship in his mind. I nodded at his request, and got my things. Tia Dalma acted like she already knew everything that was going on.
Jack and I began sailing to Tortuga, by the time we had gotten to the ship it was already night fall. Yet he assured me he knew we were going in the right direction. We sat on the deck of the ship drinking a bottle of rum, passing it back and forth as if it was an oxygen life line. We were telling stories about our lives since we didn't know each other all that well.
"You dated Angelica? As in 'I'm Angelica daughter of Blackbeard the pirate'?" I asked him, intimidating Angelica's whiny voice.
"Aye, I did. She was a wonderful lass, but it didn't last. It ended horribly." he said taking a gulp of the warm rum.
"How?" I asked.
"Her father found out and came abroad my ship. Challenged me to a duel saying I stole her daughters innocence." he said, as my laughter interrupted him.
"Innocence? Innocence?" I asked in disbelief. "She lost her 'innocence' when she was 15, to the caterer of her party." I said still laughing at the whole innocence part.
"You were friends I take it?" he asked.
"Hardly. More like mortal enemies. You know that scar on her arm? That was a duel that she insisted upon." I said laughing at the memory and chugged the rum and handed it to Sparrow. He started to laugh at the thought of Angelica and I fighting.
"You are a surprise, Jacquelyn." he said wrapping his arm around me. I leaned into him suddenly realizing how cold I was.
We sat there and stared at the stars and drank our rum.
"Ah, I'm so glad I'm back on the sea. Free." I said, slurring my words just a little.
"Aye, I know what you mean lass." Sparrow said moving so I was closer to him. I looked up at him the faint glow of the lantern, a feet or two away, made him look more tan than he was. He looked down at me and smirked. I smirked back at him as he leaned in and pressed his lips against mine.
I awoke from my dream with the sunlight hitting my eyes, it was dawn. I let out a sigh at the memories that my dream had portrayed. Those memories coming from 7 years after I had first seen Sparrow. Dreams and memories were the only things I had to remember him by. He died so many years ago, when Barbossa marooned him on that god forsaken island.
