That night, Tazz stayed in Jack's room, wrapped up in a blanket. She didn't want to leave; she knew she was safe where she was. Jack had been checking in on her every now and then.
But Tazz soon grew restless in her confines. The bundle of energy she was, being stuck in a room was maddening! Getting up off the bed and setting the blanket down, she walked to the door.
It opened in front of her face.
Jack peeked in and at seeing her up, he grinned. "All better, I see," he surmised. "Ready to come back on deck with everyone else?"
Tazz nodded eagerly. "Yep. There's only so long I can stay cooped up." She fervently darted past Jack and bounded on deck. Ana Maria looked up. "Well well, look who's back." She smiled at Tazz. "Feelin' okay?"
Tazz winked and without a word, sprung up onto the mast ladder to the crow's nest, swinging herself up into it.
Ana Maria laughed. "Guess so."
The view was wonderful. Port Royal was lit up like a Christmas tree, lights flickering all over. A vague smile crept across Tazz's mouth and she leaned against the mast. "Say goodbye and look the demon in the eyes, it's the last time you'll see the sunrise, there is no hope ti find, deep inside an evil mind, and where the nighttime falls, you'll be falling down into the dark."
"Interesting. What is it?"
Tazz smirked at hearing Jack's voice behind her. "It's a song from one of my favorite bands. They sing about vampires..." She turned as Jack clambered into the crow's nest. "Why are you spying on me?"
Jack looked at her innocently. "I would never!"
"You just were."
"No, I was merely... looking out for your well-bein', love..." Knowing fully well Tazz wasn't buying it, he hastily switched subjects. "Ye got a nice voice, love."
Tazz smiled. "Uh, thanks." She tilted her head to the side a ways. "Why do you call me 'love' so much?"
Jack shrugged. "I call every girl 'love'. Habit."
"I see." Tazz
leaned over the nest's bucket-like rim and watched the reflection of
the lights on the waves. "Man, this is nothing like home,"
she said to no one in particular.
"Where is your home?"
Jack asked.
"Larken, New Jersey," Tazz answered. "It's a city right on the Atlantic Ocean. Fine town, don't get me wrong, and a nice view, but I just got so bored with it after ten years. It got monotonous. I wanted to go find something new and exciting, but now that I have it, I want to go home." She sighed. "I just don't get it..."
Jack scratched his head. "Grass is always greener on the other side, love. People want what they can't have, but eventually they have to decide what they want more."
Tazz looked over her shoulder at him curiously. "Never expected you to be a philosopher."
"I'm not, I know how to talk to people."
Tazz looked back to the hypnotizing waves. "I don't know what I want more. Back home, I get into brawls almost twice every damn day. Staying alive, that's easy, but actually living, that's the hard part. I mean, I'm an outcast in Larken, a troublemaker with no real purpose. Here I'm somebody. I can have fun without worrying about who will see me.
"But home is home," she continued. "Once you have it, you can't forget it no matter what you do. As awful as Larken seems, it's where I've lived half my life. I can't just run off and leave it behind me. It's impossible." She looked at Jack again. "You know what I mean?"
Jack nodded, even though he had no clue what this girl meant. "Yeah, love, I gotcha."
AN: Again, that you all my loyal readers! But I have one special note! Lady Aura is feeling very lonely in her review section. And Aura is who made me want to write a pirate fic! C'mon, if that's not incentive to go read The St. Andrew's Sisters, I don't know what is. So show me and her some generosity and check out her story. It's VERY VERY VERY good!
