Chapter Twenty

"Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow. Don't walk behind me, I may not lead. Just walk beside me and be my friend."
-Albert Camus

Captain Jack Sparrow is difficult. He's so worried about his roughish and rough exterior, his reputation as the most feared man in the Caribbean that he has a fit about a simple washing. He hasn't even lifted a finger; I've been the one doing all the work!

He's doing his best to distract me with heated kisses and roaming fingers. "Sit still, Jack," I tell him with a slight laugh as I drag the cloth down his chest. "You're such a pain in the ass."

"Darling," the pirate tries to argue, "If ye don't stop that right now, I'll be forced to take revenge in such a way that you'll not be able to walk for a week!"

I raise an eyebrow at this. "Doesn't sound too bad. Just be sure to take said revenge after I'm finished washing this dirt from your skin."

Jack grumbles in defeat, finally giving up as his protests grow silent and his body relaxes. My fingers sink into his wet hair, scratching his neck and scalp until his eyes fall shut, a deep purr mumbled against my shoulder. "That wasn't so hard," I decide.

Torso clean and arms still with signs of suds, I lean back to take a look at my work. Jack cracks open one eye, curious as to why my fingertips have ceased their scratching. Those chocolate eyes roam over my form, that talented tongue darting out to quickly wet his lips in thought. "When is it yer turn?"

I smile, leaning against his drawn up knee as I reach over to grab the bar of soap. "As soon as I'm finished with you," I comment, lathering the cloth up once more before continuing to wash his legs.

"I feel clean, love," he tells me, "In fact, I feel too clean."

"One can never be too clean, pirate," I tell him in response. "Turn around. I need to get your back."

He gives me a look of warning, his eyebrows raised at my giving him orders. None the less, he still does as I tell him. Grinning slyly, I start by scrubbing his neck and moving slowly down his shoulder blades. "Look at this," I say. "Captain Sparrow taking orders from a woman!"

"Only a soaking wet woman in her starkies," he replies, reaching back to wrap fingers about my leg and pulling me so my legs are wrapped securely around him. I press a kiss to his neck, just behind his ear, sighing happily as his caresses are gentle and relaxing on my thigh.

Jack leans back against me with a slight hum in his throat. "Where do ye think you'll go next?" he asks gently.

I think about this for a moment. "I don't know. Belgium?"

He chuckles, and I feel every relaxed vibration from his chest on my own body. "Why would ye go to Belgium?"

"I've never been there," I explain. "It sounds as though it's an interesting place to be."

"Singapore. Now that's an interesting place to be, love."

I smile. "With all the stories I've heard, it sounds interesting indeed."

He thinks about his suggestion for a moment and then inhales deeply, a frown pulling his mouth downward. "On second thought, maybe ye should stay as far away as possible from that place. Tis not safe, it isn't."

Knowing his thoughts exactly, I drag the cloth lazily up to his shoulder blades and down to his lower back before repeating the process. "Not safe from what, exactly?" I question him with a smile.

"The opposite sex!" Jack exclaims. "I won't deal with that, Andie. Yer best to stay away from any men all together, from Singapore or no."

I laugh. "You're a man, Sparrow. Am I to stray from you as well?"

Said pirate grins that famous grin at me over his shoulder. "All but me. I am an exception to the rule."

"How so?"

He turns around in the tub in order to pull me close to him. The moment he has me in his arms his lips are on mine, kissing me breathless and tasting me in such a perfect way that my toes curl and I forget our conversation all together. "Savvy?" is his only response.

I smile at him. "Savvy." He grins and leans forward to kiss me again, gently. "You know," I say, "I still haven't gotten to ask my question."

"What question?" He pulls me closer, sliding my hair away from my shoulders and breasts so he can pepper my skin with kisses.

I laugh as his beard tickles my flesh and lean back a ways from him. "My question," I remind him. "You said the both of us could ask the other one question and we would never speak of such things again. I never got to ask mine."

"Ye asked yours," he replies, but he doesn't look sincere.

I shake my head at him. "No, I didn't."

Finally, he gives in. "Fine. What's your question?"

I think about this for a moment. "I don't know yet."

He laughs. "Ye never cease to amaze me. One moment, ye banter me about not letting ye ask your question, and when it comes down to it, ye don't even have a question!"

"It's the principle of the thing!"

"Well, come on. Let's have it," Jack presses.

"It's hard to think of one when all I know about your past I've read in books. You never speak of your family or before the Pearl, or..."

His hands are warm and welcome as they drag lazily up and down my back. "Ye don't bring up your past much either, Andie."

"But my past keeps showing up," I remind him. "And yours still remains to be a mystery."

His eyes follow his fingertips as they trace my abdomen before trailing back over soft curves and delicate skin before meeting mine again. "And I'd like to keep it that way."

"Hey," I say, poking him stubbornly in the chest. "This was your game."

He sighs. "Fine, fine."

I watch him for a long moment, contemplating the best question to ask him. Then, with fingers tangled in his wet beaded hair and eyes searching his many scars, it comes to me. "How did you come to be a pirate?"

"Mmm," he murmurs, leaning back against his side of the tub. He pulls me with him, hands wandering and lips pressed in thought. "Always dreamt of going out to sea when I was a lad, darling. Always wanted the freedom of the sea and being the wretch that I am now. Ye do what ye want, ye take what ye want. Me father was a pirate, and I'd heard all the stories about him and his ship. I wanted to be just like him."

"You hadn't met him?"

Jack shakes his head. "No. But I wanted to go out there and find him." Then, he smiles, although his thoughts seem far away. "And when I had my chance, I joined a crew and learned everything there was to know."

"Did you ever find him?" I ask curiously.

The Captain of the Black Pearl grins at me in the most mischievous of ways, pulling me close and murmuring against my lips. "That, my love, is another story for another time."

"Promise?" I smile.

He kisses me. "I promise. Now hand me that cloth, it's yer turn to get washed until yer skin turns raw."

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I take a look at myself in the mirror. My skin is slightly golden from my days spent on the Pearl and my cheeks and nose dotted with freckles. My hair is still the darkest of ebony and straight as a rail, flowing gracefully to my mid-back. The corset about my waist hugs and dramatizes my body's curves, pushing up my bust and tricking the eye into seeing a thin, hourglass figure. The violet dress I am wearing is stunning with it's lace lining and it's low cut collar. The worst part is, being dressed is such a way is reminding me most of my life back in England.

Suddenly, strong arms wrap about my waist from behind and pull me back against a safe and secure chest, familiar lips pressing adoringly to the skin of my exposed neck. "Ready for dinner, darling?"

I nod as Jack gives me a smile in the reflection of the mirror before turning to take a seat at the edge of the bed in order to pull on and lace up his boots. The coal is scrubbed away from his eyes due to our bath, once again reminding me of the last time I was at home. He had come back for me, dressed as a gentleman and ready to sweep me off my pinned down feet.

"Andie?" I look up, turning around to give him a reassuring smile. "Yer doin' it again," Jack tells me.

"Doing what?"

He finishes lacing up his boot and settles his foot next to the other, leaning his elbows on his knees and leaning forward slightly to get a good look at me. "Thinkin' too much."

I turn back to the mirror, patiently taking pieces of my hair and doing my best to start a decent braid. "How do you know I was thinking at all?"

Jack smiles at me. "Because ye always get this far away look in yer eyes."

I don't say anything, just continue with pulling new pieces back and braiding them in with the others. My hair is so thick and long so it sometimes is a bit more difficult than it looks. A maid who worked in my father's home when I was younger had taught me to do such a thing, and I remember working for hours to get it right. My father constantly had company over and I constantly had to look my best. When I was a young girl I had tried so hard to please him. When it was never good enough, I eventually gave up.

Jack raises an eyebrow at me. "What's in that pretty head of yours?" He always asks me this. It makes me smile to know that he actually cares, that he really wants to know what I'm thinking about.

"England," I reply. "My father."

He's quiet for a long moment. It's not often that either of us bring this up. "Do ye miss him?"

I shrug, finally finished messing with my hair. "Sometimes."

"Do ye ever wonder what it would be like if ye hadn't left?"

"Yes," I admit.

"Do ye ever regr-"

Regret. I quickly place a finger to his lips, silencing him before he can finish his sentence. "Hush," I tell the pirate captain. "Don't even dare think it."

He looks at me straightforward, and I recognize the determined look in his russet eyes. He's not going to let this go until he's entirely convinced. "Look me in the eyes and tell me ye don't regret leaving with me. Tell me that ye don't miss that life, your family, even that bastard I tore ye away from. Tell me ye haven't regretted it, even for a moment."

"I thought we agreed to never speak of such things again?"

Jack is silent, but that intense look in his eyes says enough.

Knowing I could never lie to him, not without failing horribly, I look him straight into those dark russet eyes, just as he had said. I don't even bother to breathe. "There are times when I think you'd be better off without me, and I better off without you. Everything with us, with our lives, our pasts, is so complicated-" Jack looks away from me, his jaw set and his dark eyes cold. I put my fingers to the side of his face and force him to look at me, for I am not finished speaking. Not even close. Even when my lips are closed, no sound coming from my throat, I will never be finished with this subject. "I don't regret a thing. Not a goddamned thing. Not even in those moments of doubt."

Then suddenly he's kissing me, his hands crushing my body to his. And I can't recall ever being so happy and heartbroken in my entire life. Every time he touches me, every kiss, every night we make love. . . I know it was all worth it.

88888

If there's one thing I know about this pirate of mine, it's that he never knows when to control himself or when to behave. I turn to give him a look of warning, raising an eyebrow at the mischievous look in his eyes and the ever wandering hand on my thigh. I reach down and place my hand on his, stopping his teasing caresses, but this only seems to press him farther. Maybe it's the wretched pirate in him, but Jack Sparrow can never resist in bringing out my wild side.

"Behave yourself," I manage to tell him with a wicked smile of my own, being sure that Will and Elizabeth Turner and paying no mind to our side of the table. Elizabeth is speaking to one of the servants about something or another, and Will seems to be, well, chuckling at us. It seems my warning has not gone unnoticed as I had hoped. And yet Will does not say a word.

Jack slides his hand from my leg in order to snatch his wine glass from the table top, taking a drink while watching me with that domineering gaze of his. This is a game, and it would appear to him that he has won by that smirk lifting his lips. I roll my eyes, but allow him to rest his stilled palm back on my crossed legs once more.

"Jack," Elizabeth says as she gives us a relaxed smile and takes her seat across the table. "I assume things on the Black Pearl are going well? Getting yourself into trouble, I'm sure."

Every time there is a mentioning of Jack's beloved ship, his chest nearly swells with pride and he gets that vigor look in his brown eyes. That ship is truly the love of his life. "Aye, lots of trouble," he concludes with a grin.

The sound of footsteps interrupts the casual conversation as we look up to see Rodney, the Turner's butler showing him the way. Elizabeth and Will had invited him to dinner and they both smile and comment they are glad to see he could make it. But all I can concentrate on is his disheveled appearance and a strange look in his azure irises. He greets both Jack and I before taking a seat at the end of the table to my left, but he does not meet my gaze.

"Watch crew is on alert, Captain," he says to Jack.

"Ah, splendid," is the response, and Jack takes another drink of wine as his fingers are thoughtfully kneading my thigh once more. "Chester took the dog?"

Rodney shakes his head. "He left her for Andie to take."

Elizabeth raises an eyebrow. "You, Jack Sparrow, have a dog?"

For reasons I don't know, Jack absolutely loathes animals. I've never asked him why, but I'm sure it will come up someday. He made a deal with Chester that Norma Jean could come out of his cabin every once in a while to get some fresh air, until she left Jack a present next to the helm. After that, Norma Jean was to be locked up in Chester's cabin at all times. I think Jack's dislike of animals is humorous and voiced my opinion so by laughing when he nearly stepped in the waste on deck, but he was anything but amused. He said it would have been unfortunate for Norma Jean if he had stepped in it, and took out his pistol to show me exactly what he would have done. I told him he was a black-hearted wretch and lead Norma Jean back below deck so she was not to anger him even more. She has grown on me, believe it or not.

"Course not, 'Lizabeth. I hate bloody animals."

"She's mine," I admit. "Sort of. Belonged to a friend of mine who recently passed away." I found this harder to say than I would have figured. Stanley's passed on. Stanley's dead. It's easier to say in my head than to voice out loud.

"I'm sorry," Elizabeth tells me. She's sweet, she really is, but it doesn't mean she understands. People always apologize when something such as death affects another person. But are they really sorry? I give her a small smile in reply. What else can I do?

"I suppose the monkey did it for you, then?" Will asks Jack.

"William," Jack says in a slightly irritated tone, "If ye weren't a eunuch before, yer going to be one in a moment."

A plate of food is placed before me on the table, next to finely made silverware and my nearly empty glass of wine. "You had a monkey?" I ask Jack, confused by this conversation.

"Barbossa had the monkey," he corrects me, giving the servant that quick twitch of a smile he seems to use so often. I know the name Barbossa from the stories I have read about the Black Pearl and Jack before I had ever met him. He never speaks of Barbossa or the mutiny that took place before the bastard took over his beloved Pearl.. I suppose it's a sore subject.

"And Jack has finally promoted you to first mate," Elizabeth smiles at Rodney. "I was about to do it myself, it took him so long."

Rodney laughs and scratches the back of his neck as though he is embarrassed. He was never good with compliments or attention. But as he lowers that calloused hand back to the table in order to pick up his fork, I notice something marring the tanned skin of his neck; a small bruise that can only be there from one thing with one person.

"Rodney, can I have a word?" I question sternly, signaling out towards the hall.

He gives me a suspicious but most guilty look. "Sure."

Jack raises an eyebrow at me. "We'll be right back," I smile at them, pressing my hand to Rodney's shoulders and leading him out of the dining room. The moment we are away from the others, I give him a little push to show him I mean business.

"What the hell is this?" I snap, moving his collar to make my point.

He takes a step back away from me and adjusts his shirt. "What?"

I roll my eyes at his feigned innocence. "You slept with Kamella, didn't you?"

That guilty look remains, although he is trying so hard to hide it. "No, Andie, I didn't-"

"Don't lie to me, Rodney."

He watches me for a moment and then releases a deep sigh, allowing his shoulders to slump in defeat. "All right," he admits. "I slept with Kamella."

I'm quiet at first, trying not to get angry as I lower my hazel eyes down to my shoes and then back to him again. "I can't believe you."

He narrows those bright eyes at me. "What does it matter to you?"

"Because you're my best friend!" I exclaim. Then, I take a breath, unsure whether or not I should admit what I'm about to. What the hell, I've never been known to hold back before; "And you deserve better."

"That's nice," he comments. "Does Kamella know you think so low of her? She's your friend as well, last time I checked."

"I work with her, it doesn't mean she's a friend. And yes, she knows. She and I haven't really held back when it comes to our feelings about each other," I explain.

"So that's what this is about? You and Kamella aren't getting along and now you're jealous?"

I scoff. "I'm not jealous, Rodney. You don't understand."

He shrugs. "Then explain it to me."

"She only slept with you because she knows it would piss me off!" I tell him. "Your close to me and she knows that her seducing you would get under my skin. And guess what? It worked!"

But Rodney does not looked convinced. "Why do you always assume she's out to get you?"

"You don't know Kamella," I say. "She's sneaky, and two-faced and she'll stab you in the back the first chance she has as long as she gets exactly what she wants. She'll manipulate you, and I don't want that to happen."

He shakes his head at me. "You're paranoid."

"Am I?" I reply. "And what exactly do you feel for Kamella, Rodney? You don't know her very well. You only just met, in fact."

"Don't patronize me. I don't have to be in love with someone in order to have sex with them, Andie. Aren't you the one who explained that concept to me?" And he's right. So long ago he had persisted that Jack was in love with me and I him. But I had only shook my head, in complete denial, insisting that Jack's and my relationship was only a physical one.

Now it's my turn to narrow my eyes most dangerously at him. "You're not the kind of man to go and sleep with any vixen he sees, Rodney. I thought you were more than that. What changed?"

I have never seen him get so worked up over anything. He looks away from me, his body language showing exhaustion. "Nothing changed. Look, Andie, I'm sorry I have needs myself, all right? I'm sorry I can't be perfect."

"I don't expect you to be perfect, Rodney. I just don't want you to get hurt."

"I won't get hurt. You know why? Because I don't feel anything for her. Anything at all," he explains. And he doesn't seem ashamed to admit it.

My brow furrows slightly in confusion. "Then why did you sleep with her?" I ask.

He pushes past me and starts back down the hall. "Let's just forget it, all right? I'm finished discussing this."

And so I let it drop. What else can I do? But if there's one thing I know, it's that there's more to this situation. And I don't care what the hell it is, I'll get to the bottom of it.

"There is nothing left to say to you
That you want to hear, that you want to know
I think I should go, the things I've done are way too shameful.
You're just innocent,a helpless victim of a spider's web
And I'm an insect, I'm going after anything I can get."
"Tangled" -Maroon 5

Yay, an update! I'm really happy with this chapter and I feel things are really starting to pick up again. Sometimes I feel I'm not getting out what I want to say, but I have to admit that I am pretty satisfied with this chapter.

Thanks for all the reviews. I always love and need all the feedback I can get. It's like a drug.

Much love to: Sacred Wolf, Sandragon, VooDooJayneSmith, alonefreehearted, Depps1andOnly, Renajah, genevra, dreadlockedpencil, Andie Anderson, maybethedreamisdreamingus.