-1Wonderful Life
Chapter Twenty: The Opportune Moment
Jack trudged through the clear Caribbean water, his head hanging down, his lips pursed in a frown. He shook his hands to rid them of the ropes that had previously bound them. Turning, he chewed his bottom lip, watching his Pearl, along with Hazel, sail away without him. He stole a glance at the woman next to him, wishing with bitterness that she was on the ship in Hazel's place. At least with Hazel, the company was entertaining. With Elizabeth… who knew how she would be. "That's the second time I've had to watch that man sail away with my ship," he murmured, more to himself than to Elizabeth. He turned, then, walking the familiar footsteps to his secret lair of rum.
"But you were marooned on this island before, weren't you?" Elizabeth asked, following him. "So we can escape in the same way you did then."
Jack's brow furrowed as he turned sharply around. Last time he escaped, Hazel was taken from him for five years and he was branded forever as a pirate. Not that he minded being a pirate forever, but he didn't want the whole world knowing that he was. "To what point and purpose, young missy?" he asked rather roughly. "The Black Pearl is gone and unless you have a rudder and a lot of sails hidden in that bodice –" he used both hands in an outward motion, looking at her chest with a tilted head, "unlikely - young Mr. Turner will be dead long before you can reach him." He stopped, and then, to himself, he whispered, "And Hazel will be gone before I can reach her…" He stopped at a palm tress and knocked on it three times, before walking a few steps out, and jumping up and down a few times.
"But you're Captain Jack Sparrow!" she exclaimed. "You vanished from under the eyes of seven agents of the East India Company. You sacked Nassau Port without even firing a shot. Are you the pirate I've read about or not? How did you escape last time?"
The last time? Jack did not want to think about it. He disappointed himself when he let Hazel and himself get marooned on the island. He looked at Elizabeth, trying to control his anger, his palms flat, in a stop-like motion, his lips curling into a sneer. "Last time… we were here a grand total of three days, all right?" Jack was agitated. "Last time-" Jack opened a secret cellar door, his eyes lightening at the thought of rum, "…the East India Trade Company decided to pay this spit of land a visit. Hazel managed to barter my freedom, and in exchange, had the lovely opportunity of meeting you." He smiled dryly at her, and grabbed a bottle of rum for himself.
Elizabeth glared at the man before her, her lips trembling in anger. "So that's it then?" she asked, her voice high and shaky. "That's the secret grand adventure of the infamous Jack Sparrow? You spent three days… lying on a beach, fucking Hazel and drinking rum?!"
Jack narrowed his eyes at Elizabeth, stopping dead in his tracks. It took everything in himself to stop himself for slapping her across the face. What made her speak so lowly of Hazel?! As if she were any better. He bit his lip though, and buried his anger down into the pit of his stomach until the opportune moment. "Such foul language coming out of a lady does cast an ugly affect on one, hm?" he asked dryly. Elizabeth's mouth opened to argue, but he quickly changed the subject. "Welcome to the Caribbean, luv," he managed to say, shimmying with his shoulders to emphasis the point. "I suggest getting drunk as fast as you can. It truly passes time quickly." Taking a long gulp of his rum, he swaggered off back to the beach.
Back aboard the Pearl, Hazel was taken down below down, and placed in the same brig as Will. She forced a smile towards him, and he returned the favor. The crew was across the way, in another brig, all standing idly, whistling. Some whittled with scraps of wood, while others tried to sleep. Hazel sighed, and took a seat, leaning her back against the side of the ship. Her knees were up to her chin, and her arms encircled them. Resting her cheek along side her knees, her mind began to wander.
Oh, Jack, she thought with a frown, her heart clenching in pain. Separated again, it would seem. Why were they always separated? Couldn't they do anything without being marooned or torn apart or whatnot? It wasn't fair. Distance always seemed to get in the way of actually forming a real relationship. A deeper friendship. An intimate bond that only the two of them shared. She smiled gently, as she remembered how he asked her to be his first mate. His eyes were dark and pleading, his lips pushed to a pout. How could she say no to a face like that? And yes, she was very thankful to know that she was the only one to have Jack's trust. In all honesty, she had no idea how she had acquired and didn't want to divulge those thoughts any deeper than she already had, in fear that her overanalyzation of the subject would cause her to act different and result in the loss of his trust.
It had been a while, but she finally admitted to herself that she had feelings for Jack. Admitting to herself of these feelings scared her, however. She didn't like to be vulnerable with anybody, no matter who it was. The idea that someone could use her feelings against her scared her. She trusted Jack, but at the same time, he was Jack fucking Sparrow. He admitted pirates don't fall in love- Was this love? Hazel couldn't say for sure. She had never been in love, really. Andrew Classen was a clear case of infatuation, although, at the time, she felt that she was in love with him. But the feeling she felt with Jack was different than with Andrew. It was hard to explain, but with Jack, she didn't feel the exhilaration or the dizziness or the stupidity, the high feeling that came with infatuation. At times, she would feel her heart skip a beat, and there were times when she smiled a bit off center because of this unknown feeling, but her feet were firmly planted on the ground this time. She felt no high feeling, nor no stupidity. She felt like herself, and yet a bit different at the same time.
Sighing again, she switched directions of her head so she was glancing away from Will and towards the entrance of the brig. And now look; Hazel was going to be sent back to Beckett, and who knows if Jack could escape the island again. Especially with such company as Elizabeth. Her nose scrunched in annoyance at the slightly older girl. How could Will love her? She was so annoying, and always managing to do dumb things like falling off a cliff and getting captured by pirates. I mean, who does that?! she thought in contempt, shaking her head and rolling her eyes. And now she was with Hazel's Captain Sparrow, deserted… on an island… alone. Hazel's head snapped up and her legs stretched out. The sudden movement from her caused Will to flinch a bit.
"Are you all right, Hazel?" he asked her softly.
Hazel nodded as she pulled her knees back to her chest. Elizabeth may be a fool, but she wasn't stupid. An attractive man, alone on an island. She had to admit, that was practically every girl's fantasy and Jack Sparrow was the icing on the cake. The notion of sex on the beach seemed unsanitary to Hazel… and yet romantic at the same time. Obviously, she had never had sexual pleasure, and nor had Elizabeth. But what was stopping Elizabeth from letting go of her inhibitions? She glanced up at Will, and asked, "Hey Will, can I ask you something?" He nodded, moving to sit next to her, and leaned his head next to hers so she could ask a bit more privately. "What makes you think that Elizabeth is the one you could give your trust to?"
Will was silent for a moment, his eyes staring hardly at the floor of the ship, deep in thought. "I've never really considered it," he said after a moment. He looked at Hazel. "I mean, it just happened. I never really thought, 'This is the girl I choose to love, to give my trust to', you know? I didn't choose this; it just happened, really."
"Yes, but do you ever get nervous that she would find someone better along the way?" Hazel asked, her insecurities evident on her face.
"She's surrounded by people that are better than me," Will said with a smile. "Commodore Norrington, lieutenants, soldiers. Everyone is vying for her attention, so even the slightest piece of herself she freely gives to me, I cherish it." He paused. "I love her knowing that possibly she does not love me back. But… it's a risk I'm willing to take, because her love is what I want. More than anything. And that, to me, is worth fighting for. That, to me, gives me confidence that, at other times, I would never have." He tilted his head, looking up at the ceiling, taking everything that he said in. "Does that make sense, Hazel?"
Hazel shrugged, the feeling of doubt and lack of self-control on Jack's part not going away. "I guess," she mumbled back to him, and then to herself, "but that doesn't make me feel any better."
"We're devils and black sheep and really bad eggs." Jack and Elizabeth's drunken voices pierced the air as they danced around a burning fire, rum bottles in their hand. "Drink up me 'earties yo ho! Yo ho, yo ho a pirate's life for me." Laughter errupted at the back of Elizabeth's throat as Jack nearly tripped over himself, and yet managed to steady himself. Even drunk, he still remembered when he taught this song to Hazel. She didn't learn any of it except the chorus, and yet he had more fun with her than now, despite their fight.
"I love this song!" he exclaimed, raising his bottle in the air in a mock-toast to the stars. "Really bad eggs! Ooh." That time, however, he could not steady himself in time, and tripped over his two feet, falling on his ass. Elizabeth plopped down next to him, a look of drunken expectancy in her eyes. "When I get the Pearl back," he began, looking at her, "I'm gonna teach it to the whole crew, and we'll sing it all the time! Maybe Hazel will finally learn the words this time."
"Hazel couldn't learn the words?" Elizabeth asked, bursting out into tiny giggles. "But it's by far, the easiest song in the world!" Her smile met her eyes, and Jack watched her. In a way, she looked a bit like Hazel, with darker hair, darker eyes, and a flatter body. "Oh, Jack," she said.
"Captain," he corrected, his fingers pointing to the sky. "Captain Jack."
"You'll be positively the most fearsome pirate in the Spanish Main," Elizabeth said, quickly and firmly.
Jack shook his head. "Not just the Spanish Main, luv," he said, taking another gulp of his rum. "The entire ocean. The entire wo'ld." His eyes drifted over the sea, his thoughts not just on his beloved Pearl, but on her. "Wherever we want to go, we'll go. That's what a ship is, you know. It's not just a keel and a hull and a deck and sails; that's what a ship needs but what a ship is…what the Black Pearl really is… is freedom." His eyes connected intensely with Elizabeth's, passion evident in his voice.
"Jack- Captain, sorry," Elizabeth said, her eyes staring at the vacant horizon. "It must be really terrible for you to be trapped on this island." Her voice was somewhat sympathetic, and Jack glanced at her.
There were a million things Jack could have said suggestively. And why not? He was on an island with a drunk, pretty girl. Opportunity was there, and he bet if she had only one more bottle of rum, she would give in. Yet, all he said was, "Oh, yes. I've been lucky to have company both times, though." He sighed, suddenly depressed. He let Hazel get taken away from him again. God, she must hate him. He wasn't that dependable, was he? She doesn't deserve you, son, he thought to himself. She deserves someone like… Will. The name flashed in his mind so quickly that he nearly dropped his drink. Hazel was on the Pearl with Will, her best friend for five years. Sure, the whelp was crazy in love with Elizabeth and Hazel was too stubborn to like somebody who threw a friendship away so fast… but he also knew how much Hazel disdained Elizabeth, and if the opportune moment presented itself… why not just take a tumble with the whelp just so she could? He'd kill Will. Literally. With his bare hands. He didn't care if Hazel seduced him or whatnot, but if anyone touched her, he'd go crazy. She was his, not anyone else's.
So, did this mean that Jack loved her? Jack shook his head at such notions. He felt as though she were his responsibility, and was quite protective of her, just like she was his sister. A sister with emerald eyes, full lips, and a body with so many curves… Okay… so maybe he had a slight feeling of affection for the girl. Maybe she was more to him than other girls. Maybe he might even decide to peruse an actual commitment of sorts with her. And maybe, just maybe, he loved her. A teensy bit. As much as a freckle on her cheek. That's it. Did he just admit he loved her, even slightly? With that, the infamous pirate captain's eyes rolled in the back of his head and his body fell flat. He was unconscious, either from his sudden realization or his excessive drinking habit, or maybe a bit of both.
Hazel and Will had fallen asleep slightly, their heads resting against each other's, their mouths both slightly ajar. It was as though they were brother and sister. A noise, almost like somebody falling down the stairs, caused the two to wake up. When they glanced at the what lay before them, Hazel suppressed a laugh. Apparently, Pintel and Ragetti were going to come and mop the floor of the brigs, and Ragetti accidentally tripped the shorter Pintel with the mop, causing him to fall down the stairs. He started snapping at Ragetti, who followed him closely behind, only causing Hazel to go into fits of coughing, masking her laughter.
"What's all the ruckus?" Pintel asked the crew, staring suspiciously at Hazel, who plastered an innocent look on her face, shoving her arms behind her back.
When no one of the crew gave him a reply, except AnaMaria's obvious roll of her eyes, the two began mopping the brig floors. Hazel watched intently, a mischievous smirk apparent on her face. "Hey," she said, "you missed a spot, mates." It was odd, hearing mate out of her mouth, but Hazel paid her accent no mind.
Pintel just glared at Hazel, who blew him a kiss back, winking while doing so. He turned back to mopping, along with Ragetti, intentionally splashing a bit of the mirky water onto Hazel. A frown plastered her face. "Not fair," she said, dramatizing her sorrow.
"Awwk, shiver me timbers!" the parrot upon Cotton's shoulder squawked. Hazel jumped a bit; she had forgotten the bird was even there.
"Cotton 'ere says you missed a bit," Gibbs chided to Pintel, causing him to glare again. This only caused Hazel to laugh aloud, her throaty laughter contagious so that the crew chuckled along.
"I can't wait to get rid of the lot of you!" Pintel exclaimed, and then his eyes narrowed at Hazel. "Especially you."
Hazel pouted, her eyes wide and green. "Oh, but we were just getting to know each other, luv," she said, causing the crew to snicker even louder.
"Don't know how Bootstrap put up with you," he muttered to Hazel, causing Will's ears to pick up a bit.
"You knew William Turner?" he asked quickly, all joking aside.
"Ol' Bootstrap Bill," Pintel said, stopping his mopping and turning towards Will. "We knew him. Never sat well with Bootstrap what we did to Jack Sparrow, the mutiny and all. He said it wasn't right with the Code, and opted not to join our lot. That's why he sent off a piece of the treasure to you as it were." He furrowed his brow in contempt as he continued. "He said we deserved to be cursed and remain cursed."
"Stupid blighter," Ragetti added.
Hazel put a hand on Will's shoulder. Gone was the mischief from her face, only replaced by malice and sincere hatred. "Good man," Hazel reiterated lowly, glaring at the two before her.
"Well, as you can imagine that didn't sit too well with the Captain," Pintel continued, all thoughts of mopping abandoned.
"That didn't sit too well with the Captain, at all," Ragetti said with a dark smile. He nudged Pintel a bit, leaning against his broom. "Tell him what Barbossa did."
Pintel glared up at Ragetti, his yellow eyes hard with annoyance. "I'm telling the story!" he said, then looked back at Will. So, what the Captain did, he took out a pistol and shot Bootstrap dead on the spot, in front of Jack and the lass." He motioned to Hazel. "The last we saw of ol' Bill Turner. He was sinking to the crushing black oblivion of Davy Jones' Locker. 'Course it was only after that we learned we needed his blood to lift the curse."
"Now that's what you call ironic," Ragetti said.
"Oy!" a voice exclaimed, and in minutes, Barbossa made his appearance. He threw a key at Pintel, his cold eyes staring at Hazel. "She needs to get dressed!"
Hazel glanced down at herself. "Aren't I already dressed?" Her lips moved without even the slightest realization of her common sense. She hid that fact though, boldly staring in Barbossa's eyes.
"Yes, well," Barbossa said, a malicious smile evident on his wrinkly face. "After we lift the curse, we will be naught but humans, and seein' as how you were engaged to Lord Beckett, we might barter you off in exchange for a pardon." His brow raised with suggestiveness. "So, ye be needin' ter look good in hopes he'd still take you back. Catch my drift?" His eyes glanced at Will. "And bring the boy up too. We're nearly there."
Jack woke up to his nose twitching with the foul scent that was smoke. His head pounded, and he groaned as he picked himself up off of the hot sun. The fire that was small and inviting was now big and cackling. How the hell…? His head cocked to the side as he noticed a white figure throwing a box into the fire, met with a small explosion. This resulted in the figure jumping a bit, but unfazed. Jack's eyes narrowed. Elizabeth… He clumsily made his way over to the girl, nearly tripping over himself, but managing to stay upright. "No!" he exclaimed. "Not good! Stop! Not good!" His eyes looked at Elizabeth with such wonder… and yet a feeling above annoyance, yet less than hatred. "What are you doing? You burned all the food, the shade!" His eyes widened. "The rum!"
Elizabeth nodded, unfazed by the rum being sent to its death. "Yes, the rum is gone."
Jack was now actually pouting, his anger lost to his utter sorrow. "Why is the rum gone?" he asked.
Elizabeth was firm with her answer, obviously expecting Jack to ask her that question in the first place. "One, because it is a vile drink that turns even the most respectable men into complete scoundrels," she said, using her fingers to emphasizing the point. "Two, that signal is over a thousand feet high." She threw her arm out in the direction of the fire. "The entire Royal Navy is out looking for me, do you really think that there is even the slightest chance that they won't see it?" She looked at Jack expectantly.
Jack just furrowed his brow together, still not comprehending the situation. "But why is the rum gone?"
Elizabeth rolled her eyes and sat down on the sand, staring intently out at the horizon. "Just wait, Captain Sparrow," she said surely, not even looking at him. "You give it one hour, maybe two, keep a weather eye out and then you will see white sails on that horizon."
Jack's anger now fully reappeared as he stared harshly at her back. He grabbed his pistol, and pointed it at her, but stopped, thinking better of it. He walked off to be by himself. As long as he had rum, he was utterly fine with being stranded for a bit on a tiny little island… but this witch, this she-devil, took that away from him. "Must've been terrible for you to be trapped here, Jack," he started, now mocking Elizabeth and accentuating his body movements to make his imitation that more accurate. "Must've been terrible for you?" He looked at her, yelling in her direction, "Well it bloody is now!" His eyes caught the sails of the Dauntless, and he sighed, his shoulders slumping. "There'll be no living with her after this," he murmured.
Hazel stood rigidly at Barbossa's side. She was back at Isle de Muerta, the island she probably could easily is the place she hated the most out of the whole Caribbean. On her was the same exact dress that Elizabeth had word before, yet it was too small for her. Her breasts were smashed against her chest, her lungs contracting a bit more hard than usual. Her hair was done in a simple half-up, half-down style, and a frown was on her face. Will was bound next to her, over the chest of coins. Barbossa was on her other side, waiting for his crew to quiet so the ritual could began. Hazel gazed helplessly out at where she and Jack used to be, Jack unconscious at her feet. Now would be the opportune moment for a rescue, she thought. Come on, Jack. Come on…
Jack and Elizabeth were both led to the Dauntless. Elizabeth and her father, as well as Commodore Norrington struck up a heated conversation. Jack drifted in and out of it, his anger for the loss of rum dissipating and worry replacing it. Worry for his ship, worry for Hazel. If anyone touched her, whether it was that whelp, or Barbossa, he would castrate them. No one would touch his darling if he could help it, and now his worry caused him to push for the movement of this ship to the Isle of Muerta. To rescue his crew. To rescue his ship. To rescue... Her.
"But we have to rescue Will!" Elizabeth exclaimed, causing Jack to pay attention.
"I think a hostage was taken as well," he put in. "Female. About this high. Blonde hair. Green eyes." He tilted his head. "I believe her name is… Hazel."
Governor Swann shook his head at Jack. "No," he said firmly, then turned to Elizabeth, his arms extended. "You're safe now. We will return to Port Royal immediately, not go gallivanting after pirates!"
"Then you condemn him to death!" Elizabeth exclaimed, turning her back on her father's arms towards Norrington.
"Them," Jack added. "You condemn them to death."
"Hazel engaged into piracy, long before I ever knew her. If I would have known her affiliation with you, I would not have allowed her my hospitality. There is no loss when it comes to her," Governor Swann said hardly at Jack. His eyes softened when he saw his daughter's face. "The boy's fate is regrettable, but, then, so was his decision to engage in piracy."
Elizabeth's brow's shot up in surprise. "To rescue me!" she exclaimed. "To prevent anything from happening to me!"
Jack decided to take this another way if the urgency to save Hazel was shadowed by the urgency to save Will… which, also seemed to be failing. "If I may be so bold as to inject my professional opinion," Jack said, looking at Commodore Norrington. "The Pearl was listing near to scuppers after the battle. It's very unlikely she'll be able to make good time. Think about it. The Black Pearl. The last real pirate threat in the Caribbean , mate. How can you pass that up?" His eyebrows wiggled mischievously.
Norrington rolled his eyes. "By remembering that I serve others, Mr. Sparrow, not only myself," he replied stiffly.
"Commodore," Elizabeth said, almost in a soft, pleading tone. She had mastered it quite well; it would melt any man's cold heart. "I beg you, please do this. For me. As a wedding gift." Her eyes enveloped Norrington's, and he could not speak.
"Elizabeth," Governor Swann said, staring at his daughter with curiosity and even hope. "Are you accepting the Commodore's proposal?"
"I am," she said, a small smile on her face.
"A wedding!" Jack exclaimed, a cheery smile on his face, revealing his gold teeth. "I love weddings! Drinks all around!" He glanced around at his audience, seeing that they did not share in this particular excitement that Jack did. He extended his arms. "I know," he murmured. "Clap him in irons, right?"
Norrinton took a step toward Jack, his eyes hard. "Mr. Sparrow, you will accompany these fine men to the helm and provide us with the bearing to Isla de Muerta," he instructed. "You will then spend the rest of the voyage contemplating all possible meanings of the phrase silent as the grave. Do I make myself clear?" His hands were curtly behind his back.
Jack winced, but forced a smile. "Inescapably clear."
After an hour of sailing, Jack, Norrington, and numerous amounts of the Royal Navy went over to the island, floating just outside of it, in the long boats. Jack's heart was beating intensely. He was so close to his girl. His ship, he Pearl, was in the corner of his eye, and yet she was hidden inside, like a treasure he needed to find.
"I don't care for the situation," Norrington said lowly to Jack, breaking the pirate captain from his thoughts. "Any attempt to storm the caves could turn to an ambush." The commodore looked back at the rocky island.
"Not if you're the one doing the ambushing," Jack said, his mind thinking quickly. He had to get in there. "I go in, I convince Barbossa to send his men out with their little boats. You and your mates return to the Dauntless and blast the bejesus outta them with your little cannons, eh?" He placed a hand on Norrington's shoulder, yet didn't take his eyes off of the island. He knew she was in there; he could feel she was in there. "What do you have to lose?"
"Nothing I'd lament being rid of," Norrinton said dryly, peeling off his arm. "All right then. Go on."
Jack slickly climbed out of the boat with no further instruction and made his way toward the island, a plan already formulating in his mind.
Author's Notes: Thank you so much for all your lovely reviews! Please continue with them! How did everyone enjoy At World's End?