Author:
Tenucci
Traslation: Redgie
Rating: PG13 / R
Summary: Jack tries to get rid of his awkward thoughts and Elizabeth realizes that she has a new, serious problem.
8.
Jack marched in his cabin back and forth as he drank more and more rum. The Captain quickly set on fire to cigarette, though he didn't smoke much in these days. Now he was ready to try anything for making him feel better. The problem just seemed to be that nothing helped nowadays. Only thing what brought former and much yearned unconcerned feeling was deep, meaningless drunkenness.
Jack saw in his mind Elizabeth with Will, passionately rolling on the bed, more passionately than ever with Jack. And Jack wanted to throw up. His Elizabeth making love with another man! Intolerable! The girl belonged just to Jack's bed, not anybody else's!
Oh hell… Jack sat on his chair and blew the smoke of the cigarette out of his nose as he sighed deeply. He stubbed out the cigarette on the table and burnt his fingers to the sparks. Jack cursed and shook his hand. Then he drank huge swig of rum and got up and continued the walking as he felt that his head would explode soon.
What can I do? How can I make this stop!? I don't want to think of that woman anymore! This isn't funny anymore…
Then somebody knocked on the door.
"Whatever is your matter, I'm not interested," Jack snarled. However the door opened and First Mate Gibbs stepped into the room. Jack glanced at the comer and growled: "I said it already, I'm not interested."
"Cap'n… What's the matter with ye?" Gibbs closed the door behind him and drank from his pocket flask.
"Nothin'", Jack said and sat on the edge of his bed. "I'm just… little tired… too much rum."
"Ye are never tired… at least because of rum. The rum keeps ye on the run!"
Jack glanced his First Mate worse than plague abscess and yelled: "But now I am!"
They both were quiet for a moment.
"It's because of Elizabeth, aye..?" Gibbs said carefully. Jack's gaze turned to the older man, who had magnificent sideburns.
What the hell? How did he know? Who else knows?! Do they all know..? Jack was quiet as questions mixed in his mind. Gibbs sat with the sigh onto a little chair. Jack looked at somewhere faraway with shocked look on his face.
"Will was right, Jack. His suspicions weren't just paranoia and fiction", Gibbs pointed out and stared at the shabby carpet. "I saw ye with Miss Elizabeth at Tortuga."
Jack was quiet as he leaned his elbows to his knees. He glanced at Gibbs from the corner of his eye. Could I trust to that old drunkard? Then he finally said tiredly: "Aye… You are right."
Gibbs sighed deeply and said: "I guessed it a long time ago. I just couldn't believe that ye could be so twisted."
"Twisted!?" Jack yelled and sighed vapidly. He moved on the bed awkwardly so that the old legs of the bed creaked lightly against the floor.
Gibbs raised his brows meaningfully and fixed his position. The candlelight made dark shadows to his face. Then he asked: "What is between you two, Jack?"
Jack sighed more vapidly and said grumpily: "Well, what do you think..?"
Gibbs didn't say anything, just waited for the answer. Jack rolled his eyes as he snorted and then said: "I have shagged her twice and grasped of her breasts every time I had a chance. Savvy?"
Jack didn't dare to tell anything about his deepest feelings and tried to hide them as he talked about Elizabeth like she would have been be like any other lady which Jack had shagged.
For some reason, Gibbs wasn't so convinced.
"Jack," The older man began and hawked a bit nervously. The Captain clearly wasn't, at least now, ready to hear some advices. At least from the man who was lower in the rank order of the ship.
Anyway, Gibbs said calmly: "I have been married for many years. I am older than ye… and maybe a bit wiser in these things."
"You are?" Jack mocked and emptied his rumbottle. "I couldn't have guessed!"
"I know ye quite well and I know, Jack, that a woman hasn't confused yer mind before." Gibbs said cleverly.
"I'm not confused!" Jack protested and felt himself quite uncomfortable when Gibbs began to hit dangerously close to the truth.
"I know how it's like to fall in love with a woman", Gibbs said almost compassionately.
"I'm not in lo…" Jack began angrily, but Gibbs interrupted him.
"I saw ye at Tortuga. I saw when ye kissed Elizabeth middle of the street, without caring who will see ye. And then I knew that our old Jack has fallen in love."
Jack sighed heavily and he couldn't say anything anymore. What could he say to that..? All what Gibbs had just told was true.
"This is bad thing, Jack…" Gibbs said. "Elizabeth is engaged with Will. Ye play dangerous game. Ye both play."
Jack grimaced when he heard again that Elizabeth was Will's fiancée. He already knew that very well. Then he said: "You're not going to tell to the others about this..?"
"Yer secret is safe with me", Gibbs said and bowed a little towards Jack like sign of dependable man. "But we have to do something. Ye have become very strange… or stranger than before. Everybody speaks about it, Jack… They aren't pleased. I fear… mutiny."
"Mutiny," Jack repeated skeptically. "You must be kidding."
Gibbs stared at Jack's eyes and Jack realized that the man was serious. The Captain looked outside of his cabin windows and didn't see anything, because there was utterly dark. It was cloudy and he couldn't see the line where sea ended and the sky began.
Then Jack said as he decided to believe Gibbs at least for now: "I see… and what could we possibly do now? That witch has enchanted me and I really don't know how to get rid of her."
"Ye have to start to act like the Captain once again… Act like ye are interested about yer ship and benefits of the crew."
"I am interested about them…" Jack murmured.
"But ye are more interested about Elizabeth", Gibbs said.
xxx
A moment later, Jack came out of his cabin with Gibbs behind him. The members of the crew drank or slept lethargically on the deck or under it. It's was very late night, but Jack didn't care about it when he shouted: "On deck, ye scabrous, drunken dogs! Scurry! Scurry on! I want movement! All men to yer stations!"
Everybody looked stunnedly at Jack. Was the Captain awake? Not drunk or passed out in his cabin? The men were used to it that Gibbs told the orders while the Captain wandered around the ship like ghost as he couldn't care less where the ship was sailing to. Rough and dirty faces stared at the Captain, who stared strictly back as he stood with his arms folded and his coat lapels fluttering in the sea wind.
Before nobody even moved, Jack shouted more angrily: "Bloody hell, are ye deaf?! Am I the Captain of this ship or not?!"
Jack wanted to make sure that nobody wouldn't threaten his place as the Captain of the ship and nobody would even dream of questioning his authority.
That made major part of the crew to jump up and rush to their works as they stumbled on each other. For the rest worked the phrase: "Those who don't agree with me will go to a little night swim! We haven't used the plank awhile!"
"Captain, are we finally going to a treasure hunt?" Pintel asked as he rushed down to the cargo hold.
Jack was quiet for a moment and then answered: "You could put it that way… We are going after my missing life. We shall take the course towards the Pantano River."
Jack looked that everybody did their jobs and then he went over to Gibbs, who was at the upper deck with Cotton. Mute helmsman blinked his sleepy eyes and waited for the orders from Gibbs, who examined the map and the compass.
"A little to starboard", Gibss said to the helmsman and then turned his attention to Jack.
"Do you think that it helps me?" Jack asked with low voice.
"For going to starboard?" Gibbs asked a bit confusedly.
"No moron! Your idea!" Jack yelled and wrenched the map off the hands of the First Mate.
"Oh that… Aye, me thinks so." Gibbs mumbled a little embarrassed. "If somebody will get ye out of that situation, only person for that matter is certainly Tia Dalma", Gibbs reassured. "She has medicines for all kind of things! She can make for ye very feisty magic potion and that woman disappears from yer mind so, that ye don't know anymore who is Elizabeth."
Jack sighed again at that night which felt like eternity. He wasn't superstitious and he didn't know no-one who would be as superstitious as Gibbs. But now Jack hoped that the tricks, which weren't from this world, would help him to get away from this torment. He was ready to try everything. He would never want to hurt that way like Elizabeth had hurted him at that night.
"I'll go to me cabin", Jack announced silently. "I want notification immediately when we have reached our destination."
"Aye, Captain."
xxx
At the time of sun rising the Black Pearl reached the waters of a little island. The ship anchored near wide river called Pantano and a boat was set down on to the waters. Sides of the boat reflected sunbeams with colors of purple and orange and pirates had loaded the little boat with oars, water and muskets. That was all what Jack and Gibbs would need at their journey to the island.
Soon the two of them had settled to the boat and the crew looked at them surprised. Gibbs grabbed to the oars with his hands which were covered with vesicles and calluses and began to row towards the river which leaded to the dark rainforest.
Jack sat at abaft and stared at the island with unexamined look on his face. Would the answer for his problems be there between the palms and trees?
xxx
Gibbs rowed forward on the river which was surrounded by thick jungle. The island was inhabited of people with dark skin and they had built houses over the water to the huge trees. It was early morning and thick mist floated all around, making the place ghostly. The sound of thousands of dropping waterdrops broke the silence.
Sometimes the men recognized a dark shadow between trees which then disappeared as it moved slowly away from them. For a moment, Jack stared after the disappeared character and woke from his thoughts when he saw the familiar house. It was built to a tree, over the water like other houses of the island. They had arrived at the front door of Tia.
xxx
Jack jumped off the boat to the stairs of the house and Gibbs stayed to guard the boat as he wished luck to Jack. Jack swallowed and shinned up the stairs. It was always daunting to him to come visit to Tia Dalma. The woman had powers that Jack didn't quite understand. He would never guess what that woman could do. Jack's opinion was that women were unpredictable and if that woman had supernatural powers, it would be wise to be extremely careful.
Women, Jack cursed silently and then knocked on the door. He opened the door without waiting for the answer, because he knew that he would never get one.
xxx
Many kind of glass jars with their strange contents greeted him right at the doorway. Jack recognized part of the content: eyes, human fingers and tentacles preserved to disgusting liquid. Charmingly awful, Jack thought as he swallowed and didn't want to guess the contents of the rest of jars.
Big, white snake had wrapped around a tree which grew from the wall and the snake showed his tongue hissing. Farther inside of the house was dark-skinned woman, who sat behind a table and examined something which suspiciously seemed like guts.
Jack hoped that Tia wouldn't use those creep contents of jars to him and in spite of all; he created his famous and charming smile to his face when Tia raised her gaze to the comer.
Tia's face brightened too when she saw familiar pirate standing there in front of the door. The woman stood up gracefully and walked towards Jack.
"Jack, my darlin'!" Tia Dalma greeted and smiled with her black lips. "What wind blew you here so early in the morning?"
Tia had undefinedly colored, dark dress and her hair was thin dreadlocks. She spoke strongly with Jamaican accent and sometimes Jack had difficult times to understand what she said. Tia walked to Jack as she smiled and kissed the cheek of the Pirate Captain. Jack wrapped his arms around her waist as he gave her gently kiss on her cheek. Long time ago, they had been lovers, but then started to walk their own paths. But the friendship remained.
"I need your help…" Jack said and let go of the woman's waist.
"I could guess that…" Tia said as she pouted her big lips and went back to her chair. "Come to sit with me and tell what I can do for you."
xxx
They sat down and Tia offered rum for Jack of the carafe. Jack grimaced as he felt drunkenness humming inside of his head and twisting in his stomach… Still he took a sip from his glass.
"So you grimaced to the rum", Tia said. "This must be serious. Well then… tell me what's the matter with you?"
First Jack was quiet because talking about this matter was something new to him. He didn't know how to start.
"Well… I know this certain… girl… woman…" Jack stammered and felt nervous, what he hasn't felt after he was a young lad. Damn, how difficult this is! "And I…"
What the hell is matter with me? Jack cursed in his mind. I'm like some adolescent whelp, who will blush when he hears a word: "Woman".
"You are in love with her", Tia calmly finished his sentence. "Oh my Jack." Tia smiled so gently that Jack wanted to throw up.
Jack raised his glance to Tia Dalma's dark, understanding eyes and suddenly he didn't try to hide his feelings, just let them show on his night black eyes. Tia understood the seriousness of the situation when she saw Jack's tired and sad eyes which were so playful and mischievous before and now the torture that he felt reflected from his eyes.
Tia frowned as she seemed helpless and then said quietly: "You really are in love, Jack. Really, truly in love."
"I guess that is what happened to me…" Jack said miserably and acted like he had talked about a serious illness. And for the first time, he admitted that he had fallen in love with Elizabeth.
"Tia, help me", Jack begged with desperation in his voice. "I want me life back!"
"Jack", Tia tried to reassure him. "Tell me the whole story. I need to know, so I can give you advices. Who is that woman? Perhaps someone from Tortuga..?"
"Oh no", Jack flailed his hand in the air understatedly. "Not even close… all those lovely wenches aren't like her."
"Who is it?"
"That woman is outstanding. The daughter of the Governor of Jamaica. Aristocratic and so on… and all the women of the world, she was the woman I fell in love with!
"So you say…" Tia frowned. "Is she..?"
"Elizabeth…" Jack said the name quietly and softly as he caressed the word in his mouth. "I'm sure that you remember her…"
"Yes, I do." Tia said stunnedly. "But isn't she engaged with that nice young man, who also visited here. Was his name… Will… Turner…?"
Jack grimaced. Will here and Will there… Does Tia have to praise that little whelp too?!
"That's the truth," Jack said harshly after a moment of silence. "They are engaged and getting married when we arrive to Jamaica. Just few days anymore and they are married. And I take them there… voluntarily. I just want to turn me ship around and avoid the shores of the Port Royal as long as I can…"
"Oh Jack…" Tia sighed heavily with her voice full with sympathy. "It must hurt you really badly… Believe me, I know."
Jack took a sip of rum. Then he said: "If I haven't involved with that woman, I wouldn't be at this kind of poor situation…"
"What do you mean by 'involved'?" Tia asked suspiciously.
"Well, what do you think..?"
"Jack, I have many times forbaded you not to seduce engaged women to your bed." Tia looked strictly like a mother who scolded her son.
Jack looked at woman's glare and said then: "I know, I know… but… I just couldn't resist. I just wanted to get her. She mixed up me mind… and it has been even more mixed up after that."
"And then what happened..?"
"I started to think about that night… started to think about her… and I wanted it again…"
And Jack told the whole story. Once he had started, he couldn't stop. Tia listened him patiently when he told how Elizabeth had sneaked to his thoughts more often and often. Jack told how good it had felt to hold her in his arms and how bad it had felt to see her leaving with Will under the deck, to the bed.
xxx
"Jack Sparrow, you certainly are ladies man when you don't recognize the obvious signs…" Tia Dalma said when Jack finished his story.
"What bloody signs?!" Jack asked astonishedly.
"The girl clearly cares about you. You are an idiot if you haven't realized it yet."
"I have thought about it", Jack said quietly as he ignored the fact that Tia called him as an idiot. It wasn't the first time. "But it is hard to believe when she runs between me and that whelp's beds!"
Tia smiled gently and looked at Jack eyes as she said: "Funny pirate, what do you think I can do about it?"
"I don't care! Do something! Give me some potion or hit me head, anything! I am ready for everything, ready to eat some… bloody bats' eyes and guts of a rat as long as I get rid of this damn feeling..!" Jack yelled in despair.
Tia laughed: "What you have heard? There is no cure for your 'sickness'."
"What! No cure at all?!" Jack was terrified. Jack wouldn't thank Gibbs for this idea… Bloody hell.
"I cannot give you some magic potion…" Tia said and rose up.
She walked to the closet and took a rumbottle because Jack had already emptied his carafe. Jack drank greedily for his despair.
"Love is the greatest power of the world and I am powerless against it", Tia said as she sat again on her chair so that the hems of her worned dress rustled.
"But what the hell do I do?" Jack asked alarmed and waved the bottle in his hand.
"That girl clearly cares about you. You just have to find out does she care about you just as a friend or as a lover… and show your own feelings."
"Maybe she has some feelings, but she doesn't want to hurt Will. Elizabeth will hang on that whelp entire of her life." Jack said sadly.
"You have to find out, Jack… That's the only advice I can give to you."
xxx
Elizabeth woke under the deck at the crew's sleeping place. She squinted her eyes in the dark and noticed that it was morning already. Other members of the crew weren't sleeping anymore.
Elizabeth leaned to her elbows and looked at Will, who slept next to her. The man slept on his side with stupid smirk on his face. The girl felt herself cheap and thought that she was at a wrong place.
But she had come here at night with Will, though Jack had asked her come to his cabin. All this theatre with Will had happened just and only because of Jack. How stupid and childish! Why can't I just be honest to myself and the others, Elizabeth wondered, but knew the answer.
Once again Elizabeth felt aching on her temples. It was her companion every day. Too many thoughts… too many worries. My head can't stand this much longer, Elizabeth thought and got up slowly from her bed as she began to get dressed.
xxx
Elizabeth walked to the galley as she felt herself really hungry. She didn't eat much in these days. There seemed to be fruits and dry bread… and of course many bottles of rum. The crew needed to get their sips of rum right at the morning, so that the bad feeling wouldn't surprise them in the middle of a work day.
At the same time, Elizabeth noticed Jack sitting at the table as he scatterbrainedly chewed a piece of an apple.
Elizabeth's heart missed a beat. What would the pirate thought about her after yesterday..? Or did it affect him any way? At least Elizabeth believed she had hurted Jack's manly ego when the girl had left with another man. That was something, but she would have wanted to hurt Jack's feelings if that just was possible.
"Morning, Jack…" Elizabeth said bashfully and sat opposite the Captain. The man scowled at her quite uneasily and very grumpily, but still answered to the greeting.
"Well…" Elizabeth began as she tried to think something to say. "I noticed when the ship turned in the early morning..."
"Oh, have noticed that", Jack said mockingly and with the cold voice. That kind of voice which Elizabeth has never heard Jack to talk with. She felt herself abominable, almost dirty.
The girl lowered her gaze and mumbled with red cheeks: "Jack…"
"How was yer lovely, premarital sex night?" Jack continued sarcastically with his eyes lightning angrily. "You must be exhausted…"
Jack turned his gaze and silently looked something endlessly interesting spot at the ship's hull.
"Jack, please…" Elizabeth inhaled offended as tears formed to her eyes. "Don't talk like that… you hurt me."
At that moment, Jack almost shouted: What about me, you bloody bitch!? You hurt me too by letting that whelp to fuck you!
Jack became angry again and squeezed his hands into fists. He turned on his chair because he intended to leave. Elizabeth sobbed quietly. Jack got up without caring about it and saw Will coming towards them.
"Oh bloody hell", Jack cursed with low voice and sneaked quickly to stairs of the galley and that way to the deck as he was reluctant to see Will's morning greeting to his fiancée.
Elizabeth stared after Jack and gave half-smile to Will, who began to ask what Elizabeth wanted to eat for breakfast and how had she slept. But Elizabeth couldn't think anything else than when was the last time she had seen Jack as in himself and what was the reason for that why he had been so different lately.
xxx
After that morning Jack and Elizabeth didn't meet each other at all. Jack consciously avoided Elizabeth, turned away if he saw the girl walking towards him and sneaked to somewhere else. Elizabeth was shy and she didn't dare to talk with Jack because he clearly was so angry. They didn't even greet each other anymore.
And Will had became a nuisance. The young man was constantly with Elizabeth and the girl didn't have time for her thoughts. She should have just talked about the wedding and their endlessly happy life. Sometimes Elizabeth would have liked to scream right in front of Will's face that her heart was farther from Will than the North Pole was to the South Pole.
xxx
They had sailed from Tortuga for over a week towards the Port Royal when one morning Elizabeth woke next to Will. The girl opened her eyes and when the light from the stair hole shined to them, her stomach turned around and it forced Elizabeth to get up and ran to the deck.
Elizabeth puked over the rail to the sea as she grasped convulsively of the dark wood under her fingers. She coughed when nothing came up anymore, but still she would have liked to throw up but her stomach was completely empty.
It was very early and there were few men on the deck. Men looked at the girl strangely. The girl didn't bother to care about them, just leaned against the rail as the dizziness span her mind. The nauseous feeling didn't disappear and Elizabeth tried to focus on the fresh sea air which blew to her face.
After a moment, she have the courage to rose up as she still felt herself weak, but the puking and fresh air had made her feel better. The girl staggered with carefully steps under the deck as she just wanted to lie down. She met Pintel, who laughed pitifully: "Now you got that seasickness, lass… though we have been at sea for a long time… Poor lass…"
Elizabeth tried to smile and continued her journey to the bed, where Will still was in deep sleep. Elizabeth pulled the blanket over her and turned her back to Will. She shivered and she got goosebumbs on her skin.
What's the matter with me..? The girl wondered fearfully. Am I sick..? I didn't feel good at yesterday either, but it wasn't like this… what is this..?
At the same time Elizabeth figured out something… Her brains worked hardly as she counted the days. She realized that she hasn't had her monthly bleeding, which should have come come several days ago. The bleeding had always been very regular, because sometimes Elizabeth almost could have said the exact time when it should start. However the sea life had messed her calculations.
Cold, ruthless fear crushed Elizabeth's chest as she laid there. She wasn't stupid. She knew exactly what it might mean if the periods were late and didn't felt good at days… and especially at the mornings.
Oh god… Oh my god… Elizabeth panted silently and felt a little cold sweat on her neck. What if I am… pregnant..? Oh my god… what I'll do?
Cross-swelling questions swelled inside of Elizabeth's mind and she lay stiffly on her bed as she withdrew herself into smaller. She didn't hear the voices from the deck and the smell of the bilge made her feel sick again.
Sometimes she got up from the bed, walked in circles and then lay down again… Thought and turned the thing inside of her mind, which began to feel more realistic possibility. It was true, Elizabeth knew and counted the days in her mind over and over again.
Finally Elizabeth fell asleep as she was exhausted and slept long to the day.
