Kinda short chapter ahead... but it's important. So either way I hope you enjoy it!

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Now, on with the chapter!

Chapter X.

Isabelle wasn't sure what changed over the next few days, she just knew that something had changed. Mainly because ever since that little birthday party on the deck of the ship, she no longer felt like a prisoner. The attitude of the crew seemed to change, she was no longer just the posh, rich woman they kidnapped for money; she was the woman who sang to them and didn't look down her nose at them.

It seemed that was the reason they didn't like her at first, because they just assumed that she would be repulsed by them - and in a way she still was - but she had to be honest that she longer thought that every single time she saw them. To her they were just people; after this long, that's all she could see now.

She had heard several of the crew members' stories, and from what they'd told her, none of them picked the piracy life. Some of them were ex-Naval officers, such as Gibbs, who were eventually dismissed form their duties and had no other way of living. Some had families to support and the time away was worth it if it meant feeding their wives and babes. Then there was those who had lost everything; who had everything precious in life and it was taken away from them in a cruel twist of fate.

She didn't know why she ever thought they were the worst. Why they were called thieves when people like her had taken away so much from them. And for what? For extra stables and the ability to change bedrooms on a whim?

But there was still one person who's story she didn't know; the one she was the most curious about.

'So, what is your story, Captain Sparrow?' Isabelle questioned as soon as she stepped next to him at the helm. His turned his head to regard her with a raised eyebrow.

'What do you mean?' He replied and she smiled softly as she sat down on the nearest barrel.

'Your story on how you became a pirate. I've been learning the rest of the crew's and they're all tragic; forced into a lawless life because of law itself. I want to know what got you to be the captain of The Black Pearl.'

'It's not that interesting. Trust me.' He stated and she knew straight away that she didn't believe him; didn't see how a man as fascinating as him, couldn't have an interesting story.

'I don't believe that for a second, Captain Sparrow, and I know you don't either.' She insisted, but he still didn't start to tell her his story. She bit her lip and looked around herself for a moment, before deciding something that she may - probably - end up regretting. 'If you tell me how you became a pirate… I'll tell you my story. Answer any questions you have; and I know you have them. I've seen them in your eyes.' She wagered, watching as an almost dangerous smirk grew on his face.

Oh yes, she was going to regret ever offering that.

'But first,' she continued, hoping to distract him from whatever wicked thoughts that were running through his mind. 'Tell me your story.'

He gave a small huff before looping a piece of rope around one of the spokes on the wheel, tightening it so it kept steering the ship in the one direction. He moved over and sat down on the barrel beside her. He took a moment before starting, almost as if he was arranging his thoughts; what to say and what to avoid.

'I was born to a pirate. Captain Teague's his name; Teague Sparrow… he had an important job protecting this book… the set of rules on being a pirate.'

'There are rules on being a pirate?' Isabelle jumped in, cutting him off because that was the strangest thing she ever heard. She thought pirates lived lawless lives; doing what they want, when they want. To find out that they had created their own set of rules to abide by was a little… strange.

'Aye.' He answered, not elaborating on what they are or why they are there or how the came to be like what Isabelle wanted him to, instead he continued with her first request; his story. 'I actually ended up breaking one of the rules; to be honest I can't remember what one,' he admitted with a small smirk and Isabelle instantly knew that he was lying. He remembered very clearly what rule he broke, he just wasn't going to admit it. 'So, I was cast out of my home. Never wanted to be a pirate anyway, so I joined the East India Trading Company. Made a name for myself; made my way through the ranks and became captain of my own ship; The Wicked Wench. She was incredible. '

A warm smile broke onto his face and Isabelle found her lips tugging into one to match it.

'The work wasn't too bad, but what changed was when they asked me to transport slaves. I couldn't do it, so I released them halfway into the journey, on a little island that couldn't be found unless you knew where it was. I was captured by them not long after that, thrown in prison, branded a pirate and waiting to be executed. But my boss, Culter Beckett decided on a little bit of more torture. He set my ship on fire, and I had to watch her burn and sink.' Jack admitted, his voice laden with a mixture of his resentment for Beckett and his sadness of having watched his ship burn.

'I broke free, though, swam out to try and save her - as stupid as that sounds. But I ended up getting trapped under the water and nearly drowned. I think I did actually.'

'Then… how?' Isabelle questioned as she looked at him with a raised eyebrow, because he was certainly alive and was not a ghost. She knew there were things out there; witches and the suchlike, but she didn't think anyone could bring people back from the dead.

'Made a deal with Davy Jones.' He muttered and he heard someone gasp at the mention of him, because you weren't supposed to on a ship at sea. Apparently. Jack rolled his eyes. 'Oh shut it, I killed him years ago.'

Isabelle stared at him with wide eyes and raised eyebrows.

'Okay, long story short. I made a deal with Jones, got my ship raised, renamed her The Black Pearl, got a crew, my first mate led a mutiny and cast me on a island. Got off the island, spent near enough ten years trying to get her back, got her back, shot the bastard, then had my debt with Jones to settle. Ended up getting sent to his Locker with help of the governor's daughter of Port Royal, got brought back from the Locker, started a war against the EITC, killed Jones to save a whelp and his missy, he became the new captain of The Flying Dutchman and I ended up killing Beckett. Simple.'

She just continued to stare at him, trying to comprehend everything he had just said; trying to follow it and figure it out. But despite that, there was one thing she still didn't understand.

'You're trying to tell me you don't find that interesting?' She questioned, her voice dripping with her astonishment. 'You've been through all of that, and you have the nerve to say that your story isn't interesting?'

She shook her head with a small scoff, unable to understand how he didn't think his life was interesting. Banished by his family, lived on the straight and narrow until he disobeyed for refusing to transport slaves; made a deal with Davy Jones, lost and then recovered his beloved ship, killing the man that stole it, before killing Jones himself and the man that destroyed his life to begin with; Beckett. How was that not interesting. Isabelle would've given most of her possessions for a life half as exciting as his.

He shrugged, letting her know that he still couldn't see the excitement from it, but maybe that was just because he had to live through it. The years without the Pearl, the years obsessed with Barbossa, then finally getting her back just have her taken by the Kraken; him with it. Months in the Locker, coming back to fight the EITC in their pathetic war against piracy. Going back to Shipwreck Cove; picking Elizabeth as King; losing Will… all of it was too much and too tiring.

'It sounds interesting and fun, but it was horrible to live through, love. Trust me.' He muttered and she looked away from him then, looking down at her hands.

'I know that feeling.' She informed softly, not looking up from her hands; her nails were usually perfectly manicured, but now they were cracked and broken. Her hands dirty again despite the fact she had bathed recently. 'Everyone thinks your life is perfect and you know it's far from it, and you just can't convince them otherwise, because they've gotten this idea in their head and it won't budge, no matter what information you give them.'

'So, your turn, love. What's your story?'

'I was eighteen when I met Matthew… I caught his eye straight away and he started to court me. But it was strange.' She took a deep breath in, biting her lips and swallowing hard, trying to arrange her thoughts. 'My friends were being courted as well, and their man was always trying to spend time with them. Matthew was different… he liked spending time with me, but he didn't plan the next visit for weeks. I normally had to pressure him into seeing me sooner, and after being with him for so long, I realise that was his plan; to make me needy… make me beg.'

She swallowed again.

'I loved him, and in a way I still do, but I am not in love with him; there's a big difference, isn't there?' She sighed and ran a hand through her hair, turning away from him and looking out on to the deck, watching the crew carry out their orders, non of them were even watching Isabelle and Jack talk. 'Maybe a year after we married it happened. I just realised that he wasn't the man he was before; that he was never the man I thought he was. And since then, I've - rather foolishly - been making up for this lack of love with dresses, and redecorating the house, and just spending his money; overcompensating.'

A smile broke onto her face as she turned back to Jack, but it didn't reach her eyes, for they were brimming with tears. But she was determined to not let them spill.

'I was never the one for parties. I was never the one to spend money on frivolous things. I can't look in the mirror and be pleased with the person looking back at me anymore; I can't be proud of what I see. I try helping the lower classes but instead of being praised for it, I get admonished. That's why I'm trying to get Ariana to marry someone for love; not propriety or to raise her family's status. I know what it's like to do "the right thing:, and it's never pleasant. I do not want her to have that life.'

She locked eyes with him, her brown eyes looking into his, but when she noticed the look in his eyes, she was immediately curious.

'What?'

'Look, it's all fair and nice to be looking out for your friend and wanting her to be happy, but start thinking about yourself. If I've learnt anything from this life, it's that living the life you want to live is the most important thing. Not what people think you should live, or whether you've always lived that way. It's good to be selfish.'

She smiled softly at him, and before she knew what she was doing, she was leaning closer to him, inching towards him until her lips brushed up against his lightly. When he didn't pull away, she pressed them more firmly and let her eyes flutter shut.

It lasted for only a brief moment because the second the thought that she hadn't kissed Matthew for this long in such a long time, she had to pull away.

Her eyes widened the second she realised what she had done, and she immediately shot up from her barrel, her hands clamping onto her dress' skirt. She shook her head from side to side before she looked back at Jack.

'I did not do that. That did not happen. You forget it!' She hissed before she turned on her heel and headed straight for the cabin. She walked into the side cabin and threw herself onto the bed. She buried her face in the pillow and allowed it to smother the loud scream that erupted from her.

She rolled over the minute she was finished and threw her arm over her face.

'You're an idiot, Isabelle.' She muttered as she removed her arm and looked up to the ceiling of the cabin. Her eyes traced the wood as she worried at her lower lip to stop herself from screaming again, because someone would hear her this time. She sighed deeply and closed her eyes tightly, lines appearing at the corner of her eyes at how tight she was shutting them.

'Such an idiot.'

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Until next time my loves!

~Charlotte.x