The oceans calling

Chapter 3: Setting sail

A/N: short I know but I fit everything in the chapter that I wanted to and didn't want to take it any further. Sorry for the wait but know that I always finish a story. Thanks for reading, please review.

Rebecca loved to sit and look upon the night sky, time passed quickly when she did and it always gave her a sense of peace. Since Will returned with a key to her room she had confined herself inside, leaving Will in his room across the hall and Jack down stairs to drink all the rum he wanted. It sickened her a little to see good men and women become the worst of people from just the drink but then again she envied the way they were all happy. They were doing what they wanted and didn't have any other care in the world. It was pure freedom. The thoughts brought tears to her eyes especially as she thought to what her father would think about her recent actions. Or her informality towards Will, Elizabeth and now Jack. The list seemed to be getting longer – not that she minded.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard the creek of her door being opened and a certain pirates head peaked round to surprisingly see her sat on the ledge of the window instead of in her bed. "Rebecca love, you alright?"

"I'm fine" she quickly wiped the wetness around her eyes away but Jack saw this and knew something was bothering her. He stepped in and closed the door quietly before joining her on her perch, facing her. "Thought I'd check on ya. So what's troubling your pretty little mind?"

She gave him a blank look but didn't answer. She wasn't completely sure herself what specifically was plaguing her mind.

"My mother used to look at me and see her reflection. My father looks at me and sees a queen. I look at myself and...all I see is a blur" her eyes shifted to meet his gaze that was locked to her "Tell me Jack, what do you see?"

There was something deep down that was bothering her but he wouldn't press the matter too much. "I see a beautiful young woman that holds a lot of potential in her life, savvy?"

"Potential for what?" she laughed at his response "To wake up every morning, dress in the most expensive and really annoying dresses, prowl around like I own everything, dine with the governor and then go back to bed" she shrugged

"That what it's like livin under the king's rule, is it not? That why you don't trust me?"

Her head shot at him that he knew she didn't trust him but then again it wasn't really that hard to tell, considering how things had played out so far. "My mother…was killed by pirates when I was 6 and since then, my father has taught me to detest pirates. But it's confusing. I look at you and I don't see a pirate"

Jack was getting more and more intrigued as she spoke. The words were riddles and her mind was a maze to which she could not find an exit. He leaned closer to her. Becca's eyes feeling heavier as she spoke "I see an adventure and it scares me. It's like everything I've ever known as been put into question, like its one man that's driving my life"

"That would be the king, Rebby" she felt her heart rise at the nickname that he had used. Her eyes growing.

She laughed as she spoke "Like that nickname do ya?"

"It is fitting considering you're rebelling now" he gestured to her attire "Whether it be for a short time or not" she smiled at him before resting her head against the wall behind her and slowly closing her eyes. He sat there watching her for a bit, his heart aching for a reason that he wasn't sure of. He had just mentioned her rebelling for a short time but he had to admit that being a pirate suited her quite a lot. She fit well into the part and he enjoyed having her as company. She moaned in her sleep which got his attention.

A kind smile formed on his lips as he quietly stood and wrapped his arms around her form, picking her up bridal style and carrying her over to the bed in the centre of the room. His grip tightened on her as he realised how comforting it was to be holding her close to him. He slowly set her down on the bed and covered her delicate form with the sheets. She groaned from the new warmth but did not stir from her sleep. Flashing his few golden teeth with a kind smile, Jack moved quietly to the door and left swiftly being careful not to make any loud noises on the creaky floorboards.

"Feast your eyes, captain. All of them, faithful hands before the mast" Gibbs spoke as the four of them moved down the line of sailors that he had managed to gather and talk into Jack's new crew the previous night. Becca squinted her eyes as the blazing sun lit everything up so much that her eyes were still trying to wake up from her deep slumber that Will had awoken her from that morning. She barely had time to properly wake up before she had to equip herself with her weapons again and procure herself some food before searching for the pirate and blacksmith on the dock with Gibbs. "Every man worth his salt and crazy to boot" jack stopped a small bald man that was waiting for some sort of orders to be shouted out.

William, however, did not look as pleased and was more concerned on just getting going already instead of inspecting men. "So this is your able-bodied crew?" they then carried one walked down the line of men.

"They're sailors Will, pirates, be glad we are actually going after the Pearl" she scoffed him for thinking less of these men before really knowing them. Jack then came to a stop at an older man with a dirtied moustache and beard and a purple bandana atop his brow. A yellow and blue parrot sat on his left shoulder staring straight forward at the inspecting captain. "You, sailor!"

"Cotton, sir" Gibbs answered with the pirate's name.

"Mr Cotton, do you have the courage and fortitude to follow orders and stay true in the face of danger and almost certain death?" Cotton instead of answering the blabber that came from Jacks mouth looked over to Gibbs "Mr Cotton. Answer, man!"

Gibbs stepped forward to explain the silence that the pirate was giving to Jack. "He's a mute, sir. Poor devil had his tongue cut out; so he trained the parrot to talk for him" Cotton opened his mouth to Jack showing his lack of tongue to which Sparrow cringed at and stuck his own tongue out "No one's yet figured how" the captain then moved to carry on down the line of pirates that had volunteered but stopped and thought to himself for a moment before turning back to the mute pirate "Mr Cotton's parrot, same question"

"Wind in your sails! Wind in your sails!" the parrot repeated to answer the question to which Jack, Will and Becca gave blank faces to. Rebecca quickly nudged Will with her elbow getting his attention "Told you some pirates have parrots" she giggled.

"Mostly we figured that means 'yes'" Gibbs tried clearing up the whole situation.

"Of course it does" Jack hen turned to Will "Satisfied?"

"Well, you've proved they're mad" Will didn't seem too impressed. Jack looked to the brunette for her reply. "If they're mad then I hate to think what we are" she smiled at them both which earned a wink from the pirate. His golden teeth showing slightly.

Just then all of their attention was alerted to sound of another women who didn't sound too pleased. "What's the benefit for us?"

Jack narrowed his eyes and slowly crept his way over to the source of the voice. He stopped at a small woman that had her face covered by a large hat. Becca laughed as Jack's face was a little cautious as if he already knew who it was. Rolling her eyes she saw that he was going to avoid the whole thing so stepped in and took the hat off for him revealing the young face of Anamaria. Her hair fell down from where it was tucked into the hat. "Anamaria!" Jack tried to smile at her but her unhappy look said other things. Immediately she raised her hand and slapped him hard a small red mark appearing on his cheek. Will seemed a little annoyed and how many women have recognised the pirate and slapped him for something he had done.

"I suppose you didn't deserve that either"

"No, that one I deserved" the pirate looked quite embarrassed now especially as he avoided eye contact with Rebecca.

Anamaria agreed with him on that part nodding "You stole my boat!"

"Actually..." he was cut off from explaining by her slapping him across his cheek again

"I can't wait to hear this story" Becca stood with Anamaria, giving her hat back and waiting for the pirate to say something. Jack's cheeks flushed red seeing as her arms were crossed and her eyebrows raised. "Borrowed. Borrowed without permission, but with every intention of bringing it back"

"But you didn't!" her voice was raised as she shouted at him.

"You'll get another one"

Again Rebecca rolled her eyes, all this hassle over one boat that was long gone and not coming back. Taking a long guess she would say that it was probably sunk and at the bottom of the sea. Anamaria raised her hand which Jack flinched away from, hoping he wouldn't get slapped again. "I will"

"A better one" in the interest of speeding things up and setting sail sooner rather than later Will joined the conversation.

Sparrow liked the idea of being defended for once "A better one!" she emphasised hoping to spike her interest.

Will then leaned forward and pointed to the Interceptor that they had docked out further from the reach of thieving pirates. "That one"

"What one?" Jack was a little confused as to which boat he was talking about and so followed his gaze to the ship they were currently using that he needed to captain. "That one?" he wasn't too pleased with the idea and his voice sounded a little annoyed but he soon turned back to the women as Rebecca coughed to gain their attention. Meaning that he should go along with it.

"Aye. That one. What say you?"

"Aye!" everyone shouted out in unison before preparing to row out to the ship and make way.

Gibbs was actually amazed that Jack was allowing her aboard as well as Rebecca, though he didn't know about Becca so he was only guessing here. "No, its frightful back luck to bring a woman aboard, sir"

At the comment Becca kicked the older man in his shins making him hunch over and groan "Excuse you, but the luck must be ten times worse to have a lady aboard as well" his eyes widened as he scanned her completely and then turned to Jack. Though the pirate only nodded to confirm that it was true. Before following after her as she made her way to the smaller boats and they rowed over to the Interceptor.

Hours into their voyage and the wind blew hard though everything else seemed calm. Rebecca had watched the others working to prep the ship but soon took her place at the bow of the ship, overlooking the open sea in front of her. Closing her eyes she took in a deep breath of sea air that seemed to calm her nerves. She could hear the moaning of the men behind her as they pulled on the ropes and let the sail fall to catch the wind and drive the ship. She could feel the sea air against her skin which made her relax even more, if she wasn't careful she would probably fall backwards.

The sound of footsteps approaching her alerted her that she was no longer along but she kept her eyes closed all the same. "What's your interest in me?" she didn't need to be a genius to work out that Jack had joined her. His feet were heavier than Will's and the smell of rum filled her nostrils as soon as he was next to her.

"What makes you think I'm interested in you?" his voice was cocky as he was trying to be sly.

"The minute you see me alone, you're always there" slowly she opened her eyes to help them adjust to the light of the day and then turned to him. His gaze locked on to hers. "I may be a lady but that doesn't mean I can't take care of myself"

The pirate raised his hands in front of him "I didn't say anything"

Becca shook her head at him before turning back to look at the open the ocean "You didn't need to Jack. I travelled to Port Royal as a teenager and throughout the time that I have spent there, I've seen the way people look at me" her head snapped around to fix on him again which made him jump a little but he was more surprised at how intuitive she was about everything. Some people just saw the world as it was and that was that but with Rebecca she saw more than what was in front of her, she saw the hidden meanings in everything. "But you…not one person has looked at me the way you do. It's like everything I thought I knew has been put into question" jack didn't say anything to her. He didn't quite understand everything that she was feeling. Her gaze then moved from his face down to his arms where she remembered the 'P' that was burned into his skin right below his tattoo of the sparrow.

"Did it hurt?" it took him a moment to realise that she was referring to his pirate branding.

He lifted the sleeves of his shirt and jacket to reveal it to her. Slowly she got a better look at it, reaching her hand out to his arm but stopped a moment realising that she would be intruding on his personal space. Though he nodded to her and held his arm out to her to show that he didn't mind. "Felt like it was being burned into my brain as it marked my skin" he shuddered as he felt her smooth fingers sketch the scar. Her touch making him relax on the spot considering that a storm was on the way which meant that it was going to be a tough next couple of hours.

"How did this happen to you, Jack?" she sighed knowing that there were more men and women out there marked as pirates that had escaped the gallows.

"I was doing what I thought was right" she looked at him curiously "As part of the East India Trading Company I was tasked with retrieving people from the island of Kerma and transporting them to Cutler Becketts slave traders but I chose to save and liberate them instead. I was hunted down by his men and marked for life for my crime" Rebecca instantly snatched her hand away from him, water beginning to build up in her eyes that she tried to hide from him. His sleeves fell down as his arms fell back to his side, he wanted to question why she reacted as she did but before he could say anything more to her the brunette moved away heading back to the stern of the ship. "There's a storm approaching" his voice made her stop instantly but not turn around. "It would be best if you remained in the cabin, we don't know how violent it will be" she nodded even though he wasn't looking her way and carried on with where she was going leaving the Captain alone.

A puzzled look written all over his face. She had reacted strangely to his story, whether it was because of the slaves he saved or something else that set her off.

"Hey, you okay?" Will stopped her before she could enter the captain's cabin. Obviously he could see that something was bothering her and she had a feeling that he had been keeping an eye on her ever since they had left Port Royal. She wouldn't say anything about it knowing someone having her back could be quite useful in times like this especially around pirates.

"I'm fine" the young blacksmith glanced to where Sparrow was stood. This confirmed her suspicions as he had been watching both of them when they were stood talking with each other. "Is he getting to you?"

"Will, I'm fine. I can have a conversation with a pirate if I want and when I do I don't need you presuming that something is wrong and jumping to conclusions that will only make this journey harder than it already is. Now if you'll excuse me; I'm tired" with that she moved away from him and closed herself in the cabin. Seeing the bed at the far side of the room she made her way over and lied down. It took a while as she was constantly thinking about her family and the way Jack became marked as a pirate. It seemed to haunt her mind now and further questions entered her brain but her eyes closed slowly and sleep over took her.