Return to Port Royal

The Sparrow family was getting ready to sail off. They had prepared the Black Pearl with everything they would need to live through at least nine months at sea.

As Marana was loading a crate of food down into the cargo hold, Jack came up to her. He said sadly, "Marana, I know you can hear me, even though you can't speak. I love you, and even though I can't hear your words come from your lips, I can hear them in my heart. I will not let you down. I will fight to the death to make you happy again." He pushed her gently against the wall and kissed her worriedly. Some of the tears coming from his eyes dripped down onto her face. She wiped them away with her finger and went back to loading supplies.

When she went back on deck, she saw her daughters loading their trunks of clothes onto the ship. She heard a voice behind her.

"I'm sorry you're in this poor state, miss." It was Gibbs. She gave him a sad smile. He continued, "Ever since I met Jack, I was loyal to him. And since you're his wife now, I'm loyal to you as well. I will do anything to protect you, and your daughters." He turned and walked away. Marana grabbed another crate from the docks and carried it to the cargo hold.

After about four hours, Marana's back was sore, and her arms were tired, but they were ready to sail off. She leaned on the rail and watched as the crew pulled up the anchor and the sails filled with air. She looked out at the little house, with tears in her eyes, and cried a little bit. She would miss dancing on the beach with Jack, playing with her daughters, and watching the sunset. She would miss having a peaceful life.

Jack walked up behind her and coiled his arms around her waist. He ignored her hair blowing in his face. She had taken her braid out. He kissed the side of her forehead, muttering,

"We'll make a stop in Port Royal."

She thought of her brother, and her two surviving sisters, Sasha and Grace, her twin sister. Both were married. Her other two sisters, Julie and Caroline, were dead. Her mother had died of tuberculosis a year ago, and she knew nothing of where her cousins were. She guessed that she would have to figure out when she saw Grace and Sasha again.

When she went to bed that night, she couldn't get the sound of her voice out her head. She could see herself reciting a beautiful poem for her mother when she was twelve, yelling at her brother when she was thirteen, fighting with her sisters when she was fourteen, arguing with her friend Elizabeth Swann when she was fifteen, yelling at her mother when she was sixteen, and telling Jack that she loved him when she was seventeen. She was now thirty-five, and she used to love dreaming about her old life, when she was a carefree young girl. Now, thinking about that made her sick, because those were the days when she still had her voice. She couldn't get used to not talking. She was always such a chatterbox. She would drive Jack crazy whenever she talked too much.

She got into bed with Jack, with a sick feeling in her heart. He whispered something to her, "I hope you and the baby will be alright for the voyage."

Marana shot up. The baby! It would surely be born by the time they reached the Locker. She started crying. She knew she couldn't handle childbirth again, especially one on a ship, where she had no doctor. With both Desiree and Grace had been born, she had had a doctor. She couldn't stand the thought of arriving in the Locker, either pregnant, or with a new baby. She fell back into Jack's arms and fell asleep.

When she woke up the next morning, they were docked in a familiar place. She got out of bed, got dressed, and went out on deck. Sure enough, they had arrived in Port Royal. She and Jack linked arms and walked down the gangplank that had been stretched out to the dock with their daughters. She remembered where her sisters lived. She decided to find Sasha first.

- - - - - - -

"On, my God, Marana, it's you!" Sasha Larson screamed as she hugged her little sister. When she let go, she shook Jack's hand and gave him a little peck on the cheek. Two men appeared behind her: her husband, Andrew; and her son, Jordan. Marana hugged each of them. Sasha looked expectantly at her, as if expecting her to say something.

Jack took a deep breath and explained everything to them. When he was done, Sasha took both Grace and Desiree into her arms and hugged them. "Oh, Marana, that's terrible!"

Marana stood her ground and kept still as her sister hugged her again. Jack pulled Sasha off and said sternly, "If we are to attempt the voyage before she gives birth, we have to find your last sister and leave soon. We have to bring the husbands and the children, too."

Once Sasha and her husband and son had been told the plan to meet at the docks, ready to leave at seven pm, Jack and Marana, along with their daughters, went to find Grace.

Along the way, as they walked down the dusty roads, Jack held his wife's hand. "Marana, this is already working." She smiled happily. They soon arrived at her sister's house. When Grace opened the door and saw them there, she welcomed them in an explosion of hugs and kisses. However, like Sasha, after she heard the terrible news, she hugged her two nieces and burst out in apologies and sympathy. Jack told them the same thing he had told Sasha: to come to the docks, ready to leave at seven, and to bring their daughter, Marie, along with them.

However, late that afternoon, Marana and Sasha paid a visit to their cousin, Evelyn, while Jack concentrated on getting the Pearl ready for the upcoming voyage.

When the door opened, both women were greeted by a young woman with ebony hair and coal-black eyes. Evelyn Lark's stare pierced right through them. She led the girls into her sitting room without as much as a hello. When they were all seated, Evelyn asked, politely but with an accusing tone, "What do you need of me?" her classy British accent slashed through the stillness in the air. Marana clasped Sasha's hand. Sasha drew in a breath of air and spoke,

"Evelyn, we have come because we need your help."

Evelyn smirked. "Oh, so now it's the little goody-goodys that need my help."

Sasha interjected, "Evelyn, I don't want any of your attitudes right now. A very important part of Marana's life relies on you."

"And what might that be?" Evelyn played with a little strand of her hair and stared into space, as if they were two flies.

"Her voice." This got Evelyn to look up.

"What's wrong with her voice?" she asked.

Sasha didn't let go of her sister's hand. "Her voice has been stolen and locked away in a box, and in order to retrieve it, every living member of the Lark and Sparrow families must make a journey to the land of the dead and find the key to the box."

Evelyn narrowed her eyes, which made her black eyeliner even more visible. She smoothed out her gray dress and said coolly, "No."

"No what?" Sasha was confused.

"No, I will not help Marana."

Sasha straightened up. "And why not?"

Evelyn looked as if she might cry. "Marana has been nothing but an insult to my life!"

Marana wanted to lash out, but Sasha held her back. She said calmly, "What do you mean by that?"

Evelyn's expression didn't change. "When I was a little girl, Marana was about fifteen, and I was about six, and she said something to me that could never be removed from its stoned place in my heart."

Sasha had to really restrain Marana this time. "What did she say, Evelyn?"

"She said…that I was-" she was cut off right then and there. She straightened up. "I do not care to share the details of my personal life with two selfish cousins who care nothing for my happiness and welfare."

Sasha took Marana's hand as her sister calmed down. "Very well, Evelyn…we didn't want to have to resort to this, but you leave us with no alternative." At the same moment, she and Marana pulled out the pistols that they had in the pockets of their dresses. Evelyn burst into tears when they were cocked and pointed at her head.

"What have I done to deserve this?" she sobbed. Sasha pulled her arm back and knelt down on the floor, where Evelyn had fallen.

"Evelyn…" she hugged the trembling girl to her. "We really didn't mean to do that. We were just so preoccupied with the thought of Marana possibly losing her voice forever. I'm sorry, and I'm sure Marana is, too." Evelyn raised her tear-stained face and gave a tiny smile.

"Alright, I'll help Marana." They stood up and hugged gently.

After a long exchange of hugs and kisses between them, Marana took Sasha's hand and pulled her towards the window. When Sasha looked puzzled, Marana pointed out the window. Sasha gasped. The sun was setting.

"Oh, my Lord, we forgot Jack!" She grabbed the hands of her sister and her cousin and they flew out the door. They sprinted down to the docks. Marana pulled away from them when she saw Jack standing on the gangplank of the Pearl. She ran to him and jumped into his arms. He pressed his lips to hers and held her to him as tight as he could. She pulled back, but he just hugged her even tighter. She finally managed to struggle out of his embrace. He stared her down.

"God Almighty, Marana, I thought something had happened to you! I was so worried! Please don't ever worry me like that again!" He pulled her to him again and buried his face in her neck. She didn't try to pull away this time. She just stood their and felt Jack's arms around her. Her arms remained glued at her sides. They reached up and wrapped around his shoulders.

"Mother, Mother, you're back!" Desiree, Grace, and Marana's sister Grace came running off of the ship. (From now on, Marana's daughter will be referred to as Grace Anne, and Marana's sister will be referred to as Grace). She was pulled from Jack and enveloped in three pairs of arms. The little reunion was interrupted by Evelyn's whine.

"I didn't know we were leaving!"

Jack glanced quickly at her while Sasha replied hastily, "Yes, we are leaving, but we have plenty of clothes and food to take you with us. Just get on the ship and stop whining."

Evelyn reluctantly joined the rest as they boarded the Pearl. Marana leaned on the rail as she watched Port Royal sink into the distance. Her hair blew around the back of her head. She barely noticed when Jack came up behind her and coiled his arms around her waist. She tilted her head downward as her hair blew into Jack's face. He leaned down and planted a sweet kiss on her cheek. She looked up into his eyes. He smiled handsomely.

"Marana, I know we've been married for, what, sixteen years now, but I swear, we still act like a couple of love-crazed teenagers sometimes." She laughed at this. Unfortunately, Jack couldn't hear her laugh, since it was trapped in the box, along with her voice. Jack frowned. She looked confused. He leaned down so their foreheads met and whispered, "It's the saddest thing in the world that I can't hear you laugh or talk until we find that bloody key." He stepped back a little and took both of her hands. "But I can still gaze into your lovely eyes and know how much I am in love with you." He pulled her to him and held her in his arms as the moon rose over them.