Part 2, Chapter 3
Wow! Two updates in the space of a month? I'm impressed with myself!
-
Jack and I finished our meal in silence, both lost in our own thoughts.
As we ate, I kept finding myself staring at him. He'd hardly aged at all. I remembered the rumors of his immortality, and snorted. I'd dismissed them as ridiculous, but I could certainly see now where they came from.
"What is it?"
Bloody hell. He'd caught me staring. "Nothin'. Just thinking."
" 'Bout what?"
'"None o' your business, that's what."
Jack raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.
"I oughta go see how Jody's doing." I said, standing.
He nodded. "Good idea."
"You ain't gonna argue?" I asked.
He looked me in the eyes. "No. In fact, I think we oughta try an' get along. It ain't doin' Jody no good to see us fightin' all the time."
I was surprised to hear that, especially coming from him. I still wasn't sure if I could forgive him- but on the other hand, my lies to him were so much worse than everything he'd done, and he seemed to have forgiven me. Besides, not arguing with him every second we were in a room together would be a welcome change. I nodded. "Alright. Sounds good."
-
Jody was downstairs with Gibbs. They were sitting at a table in the corner of the room, and I walked over towards them. When Jody saw me coming, she quickly wiped her eyes- but even without that telltale sign, I could tell that she'd been crying.
I sat next to Gibbs. "Honey…" I said to her, putting a hand on her arm. "I wish you would tell me what's bothering you."
She shook her head, pulling away. "I'm not goin' back to Port Royal, Mum. I wanna stay with Dad."
"Sweetheart, I know you do, but it just isn't safe-"
"But Dad an' Gibbs were keepin' me safe! I'm telling you, Mum, I'll be okay."
I shook my head. "Jody, I know what that life is like. I've lived it. And it's no life for a fifteen-year-old girl. Maybe when you're older-"
"Older!" she exclaimed. "An' when will that be? When I'm eighteen? Twenty? When I'm old enough I don't want to go anymore?"
"Jody, it's not-"
"Yes, it is. That's what you're thinking, isn't it? You'll jus' keep me close till I've grown out of it?"
I was silent, mostly because a part of me had hoped that.
"Mum…" her voice was gentler now. "Can't you see that I won't? This is who I am now."
"Nonsense, Jody." I said sharply. "A couple weeks on the account isn't enough time for you to decide that."
She avoided my eyes when she said, "But Mum… I've always known. In fact, I always planned to go someday, when I was old enough. Dress as a boy an' get passage to Tortuga or Nassau or somewhere, an' join up on a pirate ship. These past couple weeks with Dad… that just confirmed it," she looked up at me. "Mum… this is what I wanna do with my life. It makes me feel… free."
I sighed. "Freedom has a price, Jody."
"You of all people, you can't understand? You were on the account too. Dad an' Gibbs said you loved it!" Jody's voice took on a wheedling tone. "You were first mate of the Pearl. The finest pirate ship in all the Caribbean, everybody says so! You don't miss that?"
"It was a long time ago." I said heavily. "I was young."
"I know it's dangerous, I know it ain't gonna be easy. I understand everything, Mum."
"No, you don't." I said. "You don't know the reality of it. You don't know what it's like to be wounded in combat, or to have to kill a man to save your own life. It's an ugly life, Jody. Especially for a woman. Jack an' Gibbs can't look out for you all the time."
"I can take care of myself!" she said.
"Said like one who never 'ad to." Gibbs remarked. Jody turned to him angrily, and he added, "Your Mum has a point, lass. You both do."
It was my turn to glare at him.
Gibbs looked uncomfortable. "I'm fond o' the both of you. I ain't takin' sides or nothin'. Not as o' yet, anyway."
"Fine." Jody sighed. "Long as you ain't against me."
"I want what's best for you, lass. But I want you to be happy, too."
"Yeah, well that's more 'an Mum wants."
"I want you to be safe." I protested.
"No, you want to spite Dad. An' you can't stand that I like his way o' life better than I like yours!"
I was silent for a moment. "You don't know what my past is with your father."
"Fine then. Tell me," she said, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms.
I sighed. "Like I said, I was young, and naïve too. I didn't know Jack too well, but he appealed to me. There was just somethin' about him. I figured nothin' would come of it. I'd heard enough about him to know what sort o' guy he was. I weren't lookin' for romance or anythin' anyway- but there was just something about 'im, something that intrigued me despite everythin'."
"So this was before you sailed with him?"
I nodded. "Aye. I only knew him a few days, but… well, like I said, he intrigued me. Then one night, me an' him an' Gibbs, we decided to make a tour of all the taverns in Tortuga, to try an' decide which one had the best home brew." I smiled at the memory. "We all got pretty sloshed- me less 'an either of them, though. Jack started talkin'- told us all manner o' things, stuff he prob'ly wouldn't have spilled if he were sober. It really put things in perspective, y'know? He didn't say much, but what 'e did… he ain't had an easy life, that's for sure. But anyway, I guess that's when I fell in love with him."
"And then he stole your boat." Jody said.
I smiled, nodding. "That he did."
"And when he came back to Tortuga, you gave 'im what for." Jody said, grinning now. "An' then you became his first mate, and then there was the whole thing with Barbossa and his cursed crew!"
I nodded, Jody's good humor infectious. "Aye, that's how it was, though I weren't around for most o' the excitement. Mostly I got left with the ship, an' of course I was I the brig of the Pearl for some o' the time."
"But you were in the battle. You were in command of the Interceptor, weren't you?"
I nodded. "Aye, though in truth me, Gibbs, Will an' Elizabeth were kinda all comin' up with ideas an' putting 'em to use however we could. An' then we lost the battle, o' course."
"But it all turned out okay in the end." Jody said. "You took command of the Pearl, an' then you rescued Dad from hanging in Port Royal."
"That we did. Despite bein' told to keep to the Code an' all, none of us could leave Jack to be hung. It were just wrong, an' we all knew it."
"Dad never said what happened after that."
"Truth is, there ain't much to tell. That's about the end o' the whole adventure. After tha', it were just the boring stuff- coming 'ere, restocking, then goin' off an' doin' some raiding for a while."
"Yeah, but… I were conceived at some point durin' all that, weren't I?" Jody asked.
I cleared my throat. "Ah… aye, that you were." I said, rubbing the back of my neck nervously. "You see… you gotta understand that I was young, Jody, an' I weren't thinking-"
"If you're tryin' to break it to me gently that I weren't planned, don't worry," she interrupted. "I kinda figured that much. I just wanna know what happened, is all."
"If you're lookin' for some heartrending story of a great, timeless love, I'm afraid you're gonna be disappointed, luv," a familiar voce spoke from behind me.
Bugger. He would show up. I thought uncharitably.
Jody's face lit up, however. "Dad! Mum was just tellin' me-"
"I 'eard what your mum was sayin'. 'Ow bad did she slander me?"
I turned on him angrily. "I did no such-" I broke off, though, when Jack winked at me. He'd been teasing, and I blushed, embarrassed.
Jack had brought rum for me an Gibbs and I took my pint gratefully. Before coming back to Tortuga, I'd not had rum in fifteen years. I couldn't believe I'd done without.
Jody was eyeing us with a look that belied mischief. "Mum? Can I have some?"
"No." Jack and I said in unison.
I expected her to press, but she just grinned and said, "Okay. You gonna tell me any more, then?"
"Jack's right." I said. "It ain't romantic in the slightest."
She looked disappointed. "So you two weren't in love or nothing?"
"No. We weren't." I said, hoping Jack hadn't noticed the emphasis I'd placed on the 'we'.
He glanced in my direction, but said nothing.
"So you didn't even have a relationship or anything?" Jody asked.
"Nope." Jack said.
"You never loved her, Dad?"
Jack sighed. "Well, I- I mean… your mother's a wonderful woman, no mistake. We just… weren't in love at the right time."
I frowned at him, wondering what he meant by 'the right time'. Jack just took a sip of rum and held my gaze, his deep brown eyes full of a swirl of emotions.
Without warning, I felt a my face flush and a flare of heat in my abdomen. When he looked at me that way, it was as though I was young again, as though the past fifteen years had never happened. When he looked at me like that, all I could remember was the night we spent together.
And that was when I realized that I had fallen back in love with Jack Sparrow. Strangely, my first reaction wasn't anger or frustration. It was pure joy- yes; I loved him. For one glorious, innocent moment, that was all that mattered.
Then real life crashed back in. I couldn't love Jack. That was ridiculous. After all I'd been through because of him? And we'd only just been reunited, and had argued for most of the time. He probably hated me! Yes, I told myself, nodding mentally, he probably did.
But I remembered that look, and wondered. One thing was for sure- I still wanted him
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Reviews? Sorry this chapter's a bit short, but this seemed like a pretty good way to end it.
