Chapter Ten – Bitter Accord

"She's not coming with us once Will returns with the ship, I won't have it," Rae spoke to Jack, following him. The sun was now directly overhead as the two of them gathered bananas in the jungle.

"So you'll leave her stranded on this island to fend for herself,"

"Yes," she replied.

"Have some decency Rachel, you know what happened at Snarls'. Did you even talk to her afterwards?"

"We weren't there for long," she argued. "We're pirates, pirates don't look out for each other." She added, as if trying to justify her decision to ostracize Carly.

"And what of you and I? We used to."

"That hasn't changed, Jack," she said, slightly hurt and unable to hide it from her voice. "But she isn't even helping us gather food, like she doesn't even care,"

"If she were here beside us you'd be telling her to piss off anyway."

He had a point, Rae thought, although she didn't want to admit it. Jack piled another bunch of bananas onto her arms. Being stubborn had always been, and would forever be, her blessing and her curse.

"Fighting with her is pointless, and quite honestly it's bloody irritating." Jack continued.

"She's bloody irritating,"

"I doubt she cares for you much either, love,"

"She likes you." She said, watching him intently, waiting for his response. He stopped walking and looked back at her, raising an eyebrow.

"Is that was this is about?"

"Of course not Jack," she snapped defensively, "You honestly think that I would – "

They were interrupted by the distant sound of splashes and a woman shouting commands. Hurrying through the jungle, they reached the beach and saw a ship just off shore and its crew approaching the sand in boats.

"It's the Pearl," Jack recognized the shredded sails at once. They noticed that Carly, who was now greeting the woman who stood from the first boat to reach the shore, had managed to get the fire up and running again. Rae was impressed.

"Anamaria," Jack smiled at the woman when she and Carly approached.

"Captain Sparrow," Anamaria smiled as well and shook hands with the pirate, "How is it you've wound up on this island? Were you not in Port Royal?"

"Aye. Unfortunately plans changed. Bloody stupid Will's taken our ship," he grumbled.

"The Contentious," Rae spoke proudly of her ship, and then turned to Carly, "I see you've resurrected the fire,"

"I thought I'd make myself useful." Carly responded with a slight attitude in her voice. A man joined them and stood by Anamaria. Rae caught the attitude in her voice and slung it back at her.

"Well in that case why don't you – "

"Carly," Jack interrupted to introduce the man. "This is – "

"Mr. Gibbs?"

"Excellent guess," Jack said, confused.

"Do you remember me? Carly," she asked the man. He analyzed her for a moment before something clicked in his mind and he realized who the young woman was. He smiled warmly at her as if they were old friends.

"Miss Carly," he nodded, "Haven't seen ye in ages,"

"No, not since you sailed from England with my father and sister,"

"Aye, Elizabeth." He glanced down at his feet. "I'm sorry, by the way,"

"About what?"

"About her. Couldn't believe it when I found out. And poor Will, having been engaged to her an' all. Mark my words, Snarl's going to pay – "

"She was Will's fiancée?" By the looks of it, Rae and Jack were quite taken aback as well. Jack thought back to how much Carly had reminded him of Elizabeth.

"Well, that explains it then," he said, more to himself than to the crowd. Everyone's eyes were fixed upon him, wondering what was going on in his head. He looked around at them, realizing he was the center of attention. He turned to Anamaria and changed the subject. "We'll be needing a ship back to Corcova,"

"Aye. We'll be needing to stock up on food before heading out, and patch up a few leaks on the Pearl," she replied.

"Let's get a move on then," Jack said, and led Gibbs, Anamaria, and Rae towards the jungle.

"Wait, go back to Corcova?" Carly wondered why nobody else seemed to think the idea was insane. "Have you completely lost it? We barely escaped last time, what makes you so sure we'll make it out alive this time?"

"We are not going to let Snarl go free!" Captain Sparrow growled, spinning around to face her. "Besides the fact of Elizabeth, we need to rescue Will. You can join us or you can't, the choice is yours, but keep in mind that Snarl will not stop until he is dead."

She considered the choices. If she stayed behind, she would be stranded on the island, alone until another ship came by. Snarl would not be happy that she had escaped, and would surely be sending someone after her, either to kidnap her or to kill her. If she accompanied them on the Black Pearl, she would eventually have to face Snarl again, but at least she would have Jack and Rae's help. Well, Jack's help, anyway. She wasn't so sure about Rae rising to the occasion to help her anytime soon. The latter of the two choices wasn't much more promising than the first, but it was better at least.

"When do we leave?"

"We leave as soon as possible. Tomorrow I imagine." Jack said. Her decision surprised him. Secretly, he was glad she had chosen to stay on their side.

-----

Mr. Turner stood aboard the deck of the Contentious and gazed out at the waves that seemed to be picking up speed. He was staring into the ocean when a peg-legged pirate came up behind him.

"Mr. Turner, there be the shore," he spoke in a dry voice.

"Good. I'll be going myself; you'll wait for me here. Keep watch for any Royal Navy ships." Will ordered and sent him away back to his duties. He paced back and forth along the deck, maybe out of nervousness, until he plunged his foot into a bucket. He lost his balance and fell, spilling dirty sea water along the deck. A pirate holding a mop a couple yards down the deck began to laugh, covering it up with a coughing fit and quickly returning to his work. Will glared at him.

"A pirate's life for me," he said sarcastically.