Secrets

Camilla needed not to be alone in the dark cellar amongst the damp air and the beginning of moist floorboards, for William returned that very night. As most of the crew had gone to sleep and slept soundly, being rocked by waves which the ship floated upon, William sneaked away and went below to where he had last seen her; However she was not hiding in the same place. He alit his lantern with a match he had snuck into his pocket earlier.

"Camilla?" he whispered, wondering where she could be as he skimmed around the room with his eyes.

The top of a barrel was lifted slightly as she peeked, and as she had made sure it was him who had called her she lifted it up further. He went to her and relieved the cap of the barrel from her hands thus she could use them to pull herself out of the barrel.

"How'd you fit in there?" he wondered, as he thought the barrel to be quite small, on the other hand she was not very big either – considered she was a young woman.

"Sometimes it's convenient not to be bigger than I am." She smiled.

He nodded understandingly. As she stood before him with a proud composure, she barely reached his chin. Still, he wondered what the hell exactly had compelled her to sneak aboard a pirate ship alone.

"I can see what you're thinking!" she whispered angrily and he blinked.

"You can read my thoughts?" he asked, now alarmed.

"No! I can see by the look in your eyes that you think me weak."

"I do not –"

"I am not helpless." She disputed.

"Nor do I believe you to be." He said, now rather anxious.

"Good." She said.

William raised his brows. "and since you aren't helpless I don't think you will be needing this..." he said and took out a sapless piece of bread from one of the pockets of his trousers.

The girl stared at them in awe with a longing gaze in her eyes as her mouth began to water; she swallowed. "You saved those for me?" she asked, still whispering.

William nodded. "If you want them, their yours." He said just as quietly.

Now she was the one to look anxiously guilty. "Thank you." She said as she took them from his outstretched hands.

"You're welcome." He said, now looking rather smug as they sat down together on the floor. Camilla began to indulge hungrily, stuffing pieces she had split apart from the bread into her mouth.

"You've not eaten since you came aboard?" he asked.

"No." She said, her words heard as a mumble due to the food which was muffling the sound. "I supposed... I could..." she said while chewing and eventually swallowed. "last a week or two - given this stash of beverage"

This place did store a lot of rum.

"D'you know if this ship's going to make port anywhere soon?" she placed another piece of bread in her mouth with a curious expression on her face.

"I don't know." He admitted. "We're going to find my father, since he is authoritative enough to rescue my mother. – she's been imprisoned by the royal navy for affiliation with pirates." He explained quickly, touching only the overall important subjects of the story and not details.

"Who's your father?"

"He's Captain of the Flying Dutchman." William said proudly, delighted to speak of his father.

"Oh Toss!" she said, with a smile; she did not believe him for a second.

"It's true!" he claimed.

"Your father is the Captain of the Flying Dutchman? Ferrying the souls of those who die at sea to the other side?" she smiled. "Adorable."

"I'm not a liar!"

"Hush your voice!" she whispered angrily.

He closed his mouth sourly.

"I've heard enough stories in the tavern about 'Davy Jones' by drunken sailors, thank you." She took a bite out of the bread, it crunched dryly at the pressure of her teeth.

"My father's not Davy Jones..." He said and began to explain, thoroughly, mostly of all which his mother had told her, yet he remembered very well the first time he met his father; The man he had heard extravagant stories about, depicting him in his head as a hero to admire and idealise.

"I was nine years old when he came sailing our way." He said, whilst Camilla listened. She did not appear taunting in her gaze anymore, she was listening carefully, never interrupting. "I was singin' a song which my mother had taught me. She had told me that when you sang it pirates came, and so I sang it for I wanted my father to come as expected." He smiled, feeling rather foolish when telling it aloud. "We stood on this cliff... and as I watched the horizon I saw this green flash - taken aback I saw my mother smiling, and that's when I knew it all to be real. The bedtime stories were more than stories, and my father was real. I saw his ship come sailing toward us, and I ran to the beach below as fast as I could!"

Camilla let out a small giggle as she could imagine him very clearly in her head, as if she had been there.

So he told her of the first meeting with his father. How strange it had felt, and yet as natural as it could be, to meet one's father for the very first time.

"My mother needed only say to him that I was his son, and he embraced me as if he had been serving as my father for whole of his life,"

"He had." Camilla suddenly said. He turned his head to her as her face was closer than it had been before. "Even though he were at a distance, not even knowing of you, still does not mean he did not love you. Blood is a strong bond."

"I suppose so." He said, mystified.

"He carried his love within, it was there even if he did not know of it until he met you."

William nodded, thinking that was a way of looking at it which was not to his discomfort. "Anyhow, he left at sunset. Saying 'Goodbye' to my mother and me before he went back to his ship - which he was bound to. I held onto him for as long as I could, asking if I could come with'im. He said I could not, and I haven't seen him since."

There was a long silence. Neither of them coming up with the right thing to say as they were both individually effected by the telling.

"Once every ten year' " Camilla said after a while, dwelling upon the thought.

"Yes." He nodded, while also in deep thought.

They had been sitting there for several hours now and William in truth did feel rather tired, his eyes beginning to close in a drowsy manner more frequently for every minute that passed by.

"I think I'll do good in finding my sleep now." He said, and began to risea from the floor.

She gazed up at him from where she stayed put, her ankles peeking out from under the maroon-coloured skirt of her dress as her legs laid bent. "Goodnight Mister Turner."

"Goodnight." He said, commencing to have feelings of appreciation towards her – her wall of aggressiveness towards a stranger had now began to open a small passage for a possible friend.

William furrowed his brows as he tried to remember before he spoke. "What's your last name?" he asked, concluding that he had not learnt it.

"Flores." She said.

"Camilla Flores..." he tried the name on his lips then they curved into a smile of content.

The girl smiled back. Then, before he left, she abruptly asked: "Under whose command are we sailing?" suddenly coming up with the question, thinking she ought to ask due to her mere curiosity.

"Captain Jack Sparrow." He said without much thought.

Her well-shaped dark eyes glimpsed with surprise and she did not answer with words for she had none, she only nodded and he left thereafter to climb up the stairs. The girl had heard many various stories of the pirate who called himself 'Captain Jack Sparrow'.


Once again locked into a dismal little cell, now not below ground but below deck, Elizabeth let most of the time pass by thinking of her son, whom she thought were at home in their little cottage in the small village she had now sailed away from against her will. Their cottage of a house was sincerely placed close to the sea, and she wondered if he perhaps had seen the ship depart.

Two days had now passed. After further hours of restlessness and agonising thinking, she heard steps coming down below to where she was placed and thought it must be someone who was giving her a piece of crust to eat, merely to keep her alive and at her senses. When she caught sight of the man she saw it was Groves who made his way closer, greeting her courteously by taking off his hat.

"Missis Turner."

She only glared at him, quite rudely in fact.

If he was, he did not expose being offended, only smiled mildly and then looked around him to search a chair which he soon found and placed in front of her on the other side of the bars; he sat down.

"I understand if you are not on the finest of terms with me at the moment." He admitted. "However, I would like to express to you that it was never my intention to hurt you personally. – I signify only my intentions of tracking down Sparrow is behind all of this, since it is that the law needs and wish to retrieve him, and as do I. – You were once a lady to be protected and honoured as the Governor's daughter, as Commodore Norrington's fiancé, and then you turned to pirating and became a valuable piece in this path of eliminating that which is not of righteous character." he stopped speaking of words to stare at her intently. Elizabeth managed to stare back, merely to show she was not scared by his words which continued to threaten when reaching her ears.

"and you believe yourself to be of righteous character?" she asked, imposingly not agreeing to what she was asking.

"I do." He said solemnly, yet with very mild eyes towards her. Not intending to come across as harsh to her anymore.

"Then we have very different beliefs of what is righteous and what is not."

Theodore Groves simply nodded and left it at that, to Elizabeth's surprise.

"He used to speak of you." He began to say.

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes at him in a questioning manner.

"James Norrington..." he explained. "he was not much for words between the men when it concerned women, yet he could mention you now and then to me. – He spoke very fondly of you, sincerely."

Elizabeth was listening to every word he said now, and she saw no practiced harshness in the features of the man before her, she heard no threats, only saw kind eyes of a man she had seen by James Norrington's side for years.

"He was a good man." She said. "Righteous, in the end."

"He fell due to piracy, due to pirates." He informed, firmly, yet not angrily as one might suspect. He seemed as saddened as her when thinking of the man.

"He fell due to Beckett's deeds, and he had chosen a side to believe in - he realised that the side which claims to be good and righteous, who prides in being the hero, has a dark side, and is not at all as good as it claims to be - The other side admits to all the wrong deeds, and does not cover itself with a veil as the other one does so gallantly."

"Piracy is guilty of its killings, tortures, rapes, stealing –"

"And you are not?" she asked. "Your gallant men are no more merciful to captives than those you call pirates, only you do it in the name of the King... you know this to be true, not all men are as righteous as you believe yourself to be... and even you imprisoned me, and threatened to hang my son, that is a torture of the most dreadful kind I must have you know."

Groves did not agree to this nor objected, he simply stared at her, his eyes now softened once more and then a little smile tensed the corners of his lips. "I would like to offer you a more comfortable stay in my cabins." He let his eyes roam about the dismal cell. "It's a lot more pleasant than this cell, I assure you." He rose from his chair.

"No, thank you." She said.

"My only reason for offering you such is due to Norrington's words of praise about you." He observed her features reveal of reaction and when they stayed as they were he said his final words for this night. "Suit yourself."


Weeks went by, and every day William sneaked away to the rum-filled space of below to speak with his newly gained friend to give her whatever was left of his own dinner, or what he had been able to snatch from other crewmen. They spoke of trivial things, they spoke of other serious matters, and found themselves to enjoy the other's company more and more for each gathering.

"There ya are, William." Said Jack as he saw him ascend the stairs of below and emerge in the broad daylight. "Ye see, this is where I need your help." He said as he came closer, walking across the deck.

"My help with what?" young William asked, quite stunned – he would finally be given a more important duty.

"I need you to..." he hesitated to say it, knowing it would sound unappealing. "die." Letting it slip out in a given approach.

"You need me to what?" the boy was baffled. He was not the only one, the men of the crew which were listening appeared quite astounded as well.

"To die." Jack repeated as if was the easiest thing in the world. "Now It sounds a lot worse than it is." He said, knowing himself to be lying.

William stared at the man as if he thought him to be completely mental.

"You see..." he walked closer to the young lad and the smell of Jack's breath caused the boy to take a few steps back, to which Jack followed whilst he spoke: "Your father is on the other side, bound to ferry them souls to where they belong as they've died at sea – and if you do want to see yeh father, you want to get to the other side, and the only way to get there is to die."

William felt his back touch the railing and he was forced to stop in his tracks. He thought of what Jack Sparrow had told him and blinked as a strand of hair fell in his eye.

"I'll simply..." he began to which Jack felt eager to nod slowly. "die." William finished and the Captain lowered his chin encouragingly.

"and while you're there you need to fetch something which will not only help you in getting back, but also return your favour to me – once you get back."

"What would that be?"

"I'm glad you asked... It's a rock, or more of a ruby-like rock, which is located on an island which moves somewhere between this world and the next. It is essential you get it."

"Once I get there how will I know where exactly on this... island, I will find it?"

"You'll know once you get there." He grinned. "Ready?"

William nodded resolutely.

"No!" the irascible voice of a young woman was heard.

Camilla had been listening to the conversation up on deck by peeking up from under the trapdoor where she was hiding and now felt the need to reveal herself to stop this madness.

Two wrinkles appeared between Jack's eyebrows and he turned his head to the girl who came storming towards them on steady feet.

"William don't do it!" Camilla yelled, and William did not know if she really cared for his life or if she merely cared for being alone on this vessel without anyone bringing her food.

As she stopped in front of them Jack eyed her while distraught by the sight; his plan had not involved a girl popping out of nowhere.

"You cannot let this man convince you into killing yourself! pinche idiota…" she mumbled what were obviously bad names in Spanish. "Do you lack a brain?" She said.

"Who's that?" Jack asked William who rapidly went from being angered into feeling rather sheepish as he swallowed, avoiding the other man's gaze.

"Camilla Flores." She answered his question to William promptly, taking on a position which made it visible she did not lack in confidence.

"Ah!" Jack said. "now would you be so kind as to shut it! Whilst we attend to these serious matters which you have no part in."

"You pendejo! Trying to lure this innocent boy into madness..."

William gave her an angry look. "I'm not a boy!" he exclaimed, taking a step towards her.

"You certainly do act like it!" she said, stepping closer to where he was standing as well.

"I know what I'm doing!"

"What? Listening to him!" she hinted at the Captain who seemed confused by this sudden play in front of him.

"As a matter of fact -" Jack began, though Camilla's voice was louder as she continued heatedly and he took a step back to avoid a discussion which clearly belonged to the young ones.

"You're naive to believe anything he tells you!"

"You're the one being naive!" William yelled back. "Thinking everything would go your way if you simply hopped on any ship."

"You have not heard of all the terrible stories I've heard about this man!" she said.

Jack Sparrow frowned.

"Well I've heard stories too!" William protested. "In which he's a good man."

"I'm starting to like this fellow." Jack said to Mr Gibbs with a smile.

"Sad te be killin' im then." Gibbs said.

"We all have to make sacrifices now an' then." Jack responded.

"Fine!" Camilla let her hands into the air as if she was giving up, only taking notice to William's words. "You do whatever you want! – I can't make up for your stupidity."

"Finally!" Jack exclaimed and walked closer to William. "Now let us get on with this... and you don't happen to know Angelica, do you?" he turned to Camilla who was casting with her hair angrily, trying to move it out of her face in frustration.

"No." She said.

"You could be sisters you know." He said with a smirk and then his eyes narrowed, as if he memorized something troublesome. "and I'd still choose the dog." He mumbled, remembering these particular ladies of beauty and wild temper to be far too much for him to handle during a long period of time.

Everyone around him did not catch nor understand the meaning of his mumbling if they had, and so he quickly moved on to his other sentence.

"do you wish to see yer father?" he turned to William.

"I do." William said earnestly.

"Good." Jack said shortly, with a bright expression on his face. Within the two seconds that passed he swiftly took out his pistol and hit William in the head before he knew what was happening, with the end of it, causing him to fall backwards over the railing with his head first into the blue water.

"No!" Camilla exclaimed as she ran to the railing right in time to see him hit the water, completely unconscious. "He's going to drown!" she shouted accusingly at Jack.

"Yeah." He breathed. "That's the very point missy."

She meant to strike him and he ducked for her angry fist and took a step back as two other pirates seized her.

"Take her to the hold." He said. "We're not in need of a... her." he finished, uncomfortable at the thought of not knowing what to do with her exactly.

Camilla thereafter screamed, kicked and eventually bit one of those holding her. He shrieked in agony and let go of her. She kicked the other one in the leg and ran towards the railing, jumping in after William. They could hear her hit the water.

Several men of the crew, including Jack, Gibbs and the two other which had been wounded by her outbreak, peeked over the railing. They did not spot her, even after minutes of waiting she did not return to the surface.

"Well that settled itself quite nicely, didn't it?" Jack said rather merrily.


Author's note: I'm sorry if I did not use the expressions in spanish right. Please let me know if they need to be corrected.