Returning back home

A/N: The horrors of writer's block! Sighs I tried my best; let me know how this chapter turned out. Thank you to everyone for the reviews. I greatly appreciate them!!

The sea air blew Charity's golden curls, making them flutter about her face. Her pale skin was ruddy and streaked with the salt of dry tears. She leant over the side of the ship, gazing down at the waves crashing below. Her emerald eyes flickered up and down the deck as she glanced over her shoulder. Jack was twiddling with the wheel and Will standing not to far away from her, no doubt stressing about Elizabeth. He glanced over at Charity and she glared at him before huffily turning her scorching gaze back upon the sea.

Will walked up beside her and Charity twitched away from him. "You're not as angry with Jack and I as you should be, Charity," Will said, watching her.

Charity's eyes whipped from Will's and then back to the ocean. "I'm furious with you and that...pirate!" she snarled.

Before Will could say anything, Charity pushed herself away from the edge of the ship and faced him. "Was your father really a pirate?"

Will paused, "Jack said he was." His voice sounded bitter and disappointed.

Charity bit her lip, "If I tell you a deep secret, do you swear that you won't tell a soul?"

Will looked at her, "Of course. What do you want to tell me?"

Charity took a deep breath, closed her eyes and finally uttered her secret, "My parents were pirates too."

Will gazed at her, apparently confused, "Weren't your parents the Marsters?"

Charity shook her head, looking devastated, "No, they found me in Port Royal when I was five. I was really born in Tortuga. My parents were Montgomery and Anna Williamson. They were both pirates."

Will stared at Charity in amazement, "Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"Oh, Will! Do you think for one second that I would still be here if I had told people that I was a full-blooded pirate?"

"I can see your point," Will said, looking down at the crashing water below.

"And now we are returning back to my home," Charity said, gazing glumly down at the water.

X

The Interceptor entered the cove in which Tortuga was nestled. Charity watched, as it grew closer, her green eyes narrowed. For the umpteenth time, Charity closed her eyes tightly, wishing that when she opened them, she would be safely back in Port Royal. However, when she reopened her eyes, she was, once again, devastated to see that she was still aboard the ship. She took a deep breath, knowing what was coming.

The ship suddenly stopped and Charity was jerked from her dismal reverie. She looked around. "What is going on now?" she demanded.

"We're dockin' 'ere, love," Jack drawled, getting ready a longboat.

Charity sighed, thoroughly disgruntled. Before long, all three of them were rowing toward the shore of Tortuga. Charity shivered, remembering when she was five and she herself had fled Tortuga. She bent her head, not daring to look around her. The sky had darkened and night was falling. The scene was almost identical to the one when Charity had fled. Now, she was returning, only now she was older and pregnant.

The longboat bumped against the shore and Charity gritted her teeth before leaping out. Already she could hear the loud sounds of laughter and shouting. Jack, looking most pleased, led the way, Charity and Will falling into step behind him.

"So this was you home before?" Will asked, gazing around with his eyebrows raised, skeptically.

"Most unfortunately," Charity growled back.

"Don't listen to her, lad," Jack said turning around to look at them, "If every town were like this one, no man would ever feel unwelcome."

"No jest there," Charity sniped, looking around at Tortuga's inhabitants with distaste.

A group of women stood nearby and Charity felt a hot flush on her face. There was no mistaking the low morals of the women, or what they did for a living. I can only thank God that I found a much better life in Port Royal, she thought, shrewdly.

The women glanced over at them and Charity bent her head, feeling most ashamed to be back in the pirate port.

"Scarlett!" Jack exclaimed, stepping forward.

The red head smiled and then slapped Jack, hard, across the face. Both Will and Charity wrinkled their faces in grimace. The woman glared and flounced away.

"Not sure I deserved that," Jack said. "Giselle!"

A slight, blonde woman approached and cocked her head, "Who was she?"

"What?" Jack said, cocking an eyebrow.

The blonde woman slapped him, just as her red haired companion had. Charity smirked slightly; she, herself, felt somewhat inclined to do the same thing to Jack, but she resisted the temptation.

"I may have deserved that," Jack said, gingerly touching his face.

"I'm sure you did," Charity spat, heatedly. "Now, can we please leave? What are we doing here?"

"We are 'ere, love, to pick up an able bodied crew to rescue dear Ms. Elizabeth," Jack replied, leading Charity and Will through Tortuga's filthy streets.

"Perfect," Charity replied, coldly. "And you couldn't wait until The Royal Navy set off to rescue her? You had to come here and pick up some, most likely, drunk pirates to rescue Elizabeth? Good Lord, I'm never going to make it out of this mess alive now!"

"You know, Ms. Charity, darlin', you have such a dismal outlook on pirates even though you're one yourself," Jack said, in a bored voice.

Charity bristled but, wisely, held her tongue. A mutinous scowl formed on her mouth and she crossed her arms. I'm no pirate. I chose the life I wanted to live. Just because my parents were pirates doesn't mean that I am one. Does it? Charity's thoughts confused and distressed her. She wasn't paying attention and only snapped out of her thoughts when she walked straight into Jack.

"What are we doing now?" she asked, eyeing her surroundings. "Why are we standing outside a pig sty?"

"There is an old friend of Jack's in there," Will whispered in her ear. "Jack said that this man can help us find a crew so we can rescue Elizabeth."

"And the reason we need pails of water?" Charity began, as Jack passed her and Will a pail of water.

"Well, we need to have the man awake before we question him, don't we, love?" Jack answered, stepping into the sty.

Charity rolled her eyes, heaved a sigh and followed suit. The smell from the sty made her grimace and wrinkle her nose. A man was sleeping on the ground, his head resting against the large, pink, body of a pig. Jack raised his pail and tossed the water in it all over the sleeping man, making him jerk awake and splutter.

"Curse you for breathing, you slack jawed idiot!" His eyes widened as they fell upon Jack. "Mother's love! Jack? You should know better then to wake a man when he's sleepin'. Its bad luck."

"Ahh, fortunately I know how to counter it," Jack replied. "The man who did the waking buys the man who was sleeping a drink; the man who was sleeping drinks it while listening to a proposition from the man who did the waking."

The man paused for a moment, then smiled, "Aye. That'll about do it!" he hauled himself to his feet, just as Will and Charity raised their pails and threw the contents all over him. They both looked at each other, quirking an eyebrow.

"Blast, I'm already awake!" the man snapped

"That was for the smell," Will said, while Charity nodded in agreement, wrinkling her nose in disgust.

X

Jack and the man, who had introduced himself as Gibbs, led Will and Charity to one of Tortuga's many taverns. Jack and Gibbs got themselves some rum and made their way into the corner of the tavern, leaving Will and Charity to stand nearby, against a column.

Jack paused and turned to Will and Charity. "Keep a sharp eye."

"Keep a sharp eye!" Charity snorted. "On what, may I ask?" She slumped against the column and crossed her arms, disgruntled. She watched Will out the corner of her eye, feeling slightly sympathetic towards him. "You're really worried about Elizabeth, aren't you?"

Will nodded and Charity spoke up again, "You needn't worry. Elizabeth is smart, she can take care of herself." Her voice was full of defeat: even her features registered it.

Will gazed at her, "You don't want to be here," he remarked, smiling faintly.

Charity nodded, wearily, "You aren't wrong there. I'm just worried. What is going to happen to us? What if I die before I can have the baby?"

"You aren't going to die, Charity," Will said in a confident voice.

"Here's hoping," Charity muttered, under her breath.

She lingered close to where Jack and Gibbs were, hoping to over hear what they were saying. However, she didn't over hear anything, apart from a line Jack murmured to Gibbs. "Let's just say it's a matter of leverage."

Her face darkened and she stepped away, not sure she wanted to over hear anything further. A smile spread over her face as a woman approached Will, laughing and leaning against him, drunkenly. Will smiled nervously and sidled away, just as an elderly pirate staggered over and grabbed the woman's arm, leering drunkenly at Will, the two of them staggered away.

Charity's smile faded and she pushed her way through the crowd. The smell of dirt, sweat, rum, smoke and unwashed bodies made her stomach turn. The sickness from being with child mixed with it, and Charity retched as she fell onto her hands and knees, outside the tavern, in the shadows.

She panted; tears of frustration and sadness glinted in her eyes. The bitter, acidic, smell of her sick made her throat tighten and she stood up, sucking down mouthfuls of fresh air. She trudged through Tortuga, absent-mindedly. It wasn't until she reached the blackened remains of a house, that she realized where she was.

Even though it had been many years since she'd been in Tortuga, she could still recognize her former home, not that it could be called that now. It had been burnt down, and all that remained was blackened timber. She dropped down beside the wreckage, curling up in a fetal position. Everything she had known was gone. As sleep made her eyelids grow heavy, she spared one last look the ruined house where she had spent her young childhood years.

X

An insistent hand shook her shoulder. Charity whined and jerked away. "Not yet, Andrew," she mumbled.

"It's not your husband, Charity. It's Will."

Charity's eyes snapped open. She was curled up beside the ruins of her home; the charcoal from the burnt wood had stained her clothes. Will was kneeling beside her, looking at her in concern.

She sat up and rubbed her head, smearing more charcoal on her skin. "Oh, Will. I must have fallen asleep. I was feeling ill so I took a walk and ended up back here. My old home," she added.

Will looked at the ruined house. "This was your home when you lived here?"

Charity nodded, looking at the wreck sadly. "Come on," Will said, helping her to her feet. "Gibbs has found a crew."

Charity allowed Will to led her down to the docks where they joined Jack and Gibbs, in front of a line of scruffy pirates.

"Feast your eyes, Captain. All of them: faithful hands before the mast. Every man worth his salt, and crazy to boot," Gibbs said, proudly.

"So this is you able-bodied crew?" Will asked, with a hint of disappointment clouding his voice.

"You see? This is what comes of putting your trust in Jack Sparrow," Charity breathed coldly in Will's ear.

Jack evidently didn't hear Charity's cutting remark. He paused by one disheveled pirate. "You sailor," he addressed him.

"Cotton, sir," Gibbs filled in.

"Mr. Cotton, Do you have the courage and fortitude to follow orders and stay true in the face of danger and almost certain death?"

"Mr. Cotton. Answer, man!" Jack barked, when Cotton didn't respond.

"He's a mute, Sir," Gibbs supplied. "The poor devil had his tongue cut out so he trained the parrot to talk for him. No one's yet figured out how."

Charity, Will and Jack recoiled, their faces taut in a grimace.

Jack made to walk away and then turned back to Cotton. "Mr. Cotton' parrot, same question."

"Wind in your sails! Wind in your sails," the parrot squawked, shrilly.

"Mostly, we figures that means, "yes"," Gibbs said.

"Course it does," Jack replied, turning to Will and Charity. "Satisfied?"

Charity snorted in reply. "Well you've proved they're mad," Will replied, his voice ripe with skepticism.

"And what's the benefit for us?" a woman's voice rang out, from further down the line.

The trio edged their way down the line, to where one of the pirates was standing, their face shielded by a large, fashionable hat. Jack reached out cautiously and swept the hat from the figure's head, reveling a dark-skinned woman with long black hair.

"Anamaria," Jack said, with gusto.

The woman slapped Jack, hard, making his head snap around. Charity stumbled back in shock, although a grin started to creep across her lips.

"I suppose you didn't deserve that, either?" Will said, looking questioningly at Jack.

"No, that one I deserved," Jack admitted, while the woman nodded in agreement.

"You stole my boat," she snapped.

"Actually-" Jack began.

He was cut off as she slapped him again. "-Borrowed. Borrowed without permission, but with every intention of bringing it back."

"But you didn't," she contradicted.

"You'll get a better one," Jack said, brightly.

Anamaria pointed her finger at him. "I will," she answered, in a threatening tone.

"A better one," Will said.

Jack nodded, "A better one."

"That one," Will continued.

"What one?" Snapped Jack. Will pointed to The Interceptor. "That one?"

"No!" Charity said, stepping forward. "The Interceptor is a ship of the fleet. You can't just pawn it off!"

"Aye, that one," Jack told Anamaria. He turned to Charity and shrugged half-heartedly. "Sorry, love. You've been over ruled."

Charity's face drew back in fury, but she refused to complain further. Instead, she retreated and crossed her arms, angrily.

"What say you?" Jack addressed the crowd.

"Aye!" they cheered and started towards the ship. Anamaria snatched her hat back out of Jack's hands, before following the crowd.

"No, no, no, no. Its frightful bad luck to bring a woman aboard, sir," Gibbs said, in a worried voice.

"It'll be far worse not to have her," Jack replied; looking up at the sky, before following his, now, crew.

Both Will and Gibbs glanced up, scanning the skies as well. Charity remained, frozen like a furious statue, a mutinous expression on her face. Gibbs, eventually followed Jack and his crew while Will remained beside Charity. He held out his arm for her to take.

"What?" Charity asked coldly, looking at his extended arm.

"We need you help too, Charity," Will said.

She looked at his pleading expression and sighed, rolling her eyes. "Curse me for being so soft-hearted," she grumbled, taking Will's arm.

She chanced a look back over her shoulder, saying a silent farewell to the remains of her childhood home. Her eyes traveled over The Interceptor, floating just offshore, knowing, deep down, that she was in this for the run now, and there was no turning back.