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'These people really should find something better to do.'

'An' you really outta control your temper.'

They'd been in the Brig of the Pearl for an hour now, during which barely anything was said. Now Tara was bored and Jack felt it was time to tell her off.

'And how would you like me to do that when that – that – that – HAG, for lack of a more offensive term, is purposely driving me to the brink of homicidal tendencies!'

Jack leaned back on the wall next to her as she made a strangling motion in the air.

'You've a'ready got homicidal tendencies, need I remind you of your little … "weapons supply" at the bottom of your bag?' Jack replied glancing at Will in the furthest corner of the cell. Liz was leaning on his shoulder watching Tara and Jack wearily, but with a slight smile on her face.

'No, you needn't,' Tara muttered back, 'and let's keep our voices down, the last thing we need is for them to find a murder blade and a bunch of daggers.' She stretched her legs out before her and crossed them at the ankles.

'You talk 'bout them as though they're flowers,' said Anna from across the room.

'Well I've never gotten flowers, so forgive me for doing that!' Tara snapped.

'Haven't you had a thousand men at your feet before?' Liz asked curiously. 'You said you had, surely at least one of them gave you flowers.'

Tara wrinkled her nose. 'Yeah, right, like a bunch of dead men would suddenly rise from the dead to go out and find me flowers in the middle of the war … I don't think so!'

'A thousand dead men at your feet!' said Liz in shock. 'Where were you? A slaughter house!'

'Please … they were the bad guys,' Tara muttered, shifting slightly as though it were an uncomfortable subject, 'they tried to attack our camp, but Master Jin wouldn't have it so he sent out our army.'

'You trained with an army?' asked Jack incredously.

'I'll tell you the story sometime,' Tara said simply. 'Besides, the point is, if I do have temper control issues, it's for a good reason.' There was a sudden silence as someone came done the stairs.

'Oi! You two, Sparrows!' It was Bullet. 'The Capt'n wants a word with ye!' He unlocked the door and stood back, waiting for Jack and Tara.

Jack stood first and offered Tara a hand. She sighed and took it, raising herself from the floor. As they left the cell Bullet prodded her painfully in the back.

'Ow! What was that for!' she cried angrily.

'For whackin' me on the head with that damn bottle!' Bullet spat.

'Oh, well, I'm sorry I managed to give you a concussion,' Tara said clearly, 'I was really aiming for a more, brain damage angle … Ouch!' He'd prodded her again.

' 'Ey, leave the girl alone!' shouted several of the crewmembers. At that moment, Tara had decided to stomp on Bullet's foot with the heel of her Stiletto boot. He squealed like a girl and grabbed his foot, jumping up and down in pain.

'What's goin' on down there!' Another crewmember of the Wanderer had appeared at the foot of the stairs looking at the scene apprehensively.

Bullet continued to hop on one foot, swearing and muttering under his breath. Jack quickly wiped the entertained grin from his face and glanced at Tara who'd done the same. Without a further fuss, Bullet and the newbie took them upstairs.

xXx

'Come in, sit down.' Cross used the same cheery voice that she had when she spoke to the two of them the first time.

Jack took his seat at the table in the Captains Quarters and Tara sat beside him, watching Cross mistrustfully.

'Come now, Tara, why the suspicion?' Cross asked, reading her mind.

Tara's eyes narrowed. 'What do you want? You've got the pendant, and the treasure, what more do you need?'

'I'll tell you what I didn't need,' Cross said politely, 'I didn't need the pendant, or the treasure, they were just … a bonus.'

'Bonus t' what?' Jack asked.

A sinister smile appeared on Cross's face. 'You know Tara, your place in this goes deeper than you think … much deeper.'

Tara frowned. 'My place in what?'

'In my plan,' Cross continued, 'you see, four years after your birth, I was seeking a place on the crew of your father's ship, the famous and marvellous Black Pearl. He didn't give it to me. He betrayed me, he rejected me, and I thought, "why not repay the favour?" So, some time after that, I commissioned my own ship, which, believe it or not, is sailing alongside this one, and I thought, it'd be enough. But it wasn't, and one night, about four years ago now, I stumbled across a group of people in a tavern, small place, that tavern. They were talking about a fire, one in which a man died. Apparently, his wife and child survived. The wife's name was Holly Swann.'

Tara sat up a little straighter at the mention of her mother's name.

'I thought that odd,' Cross continued, 'the name was so familiar and for, almost two years, I pondered over it. Then one day it came to me. Holly Swann, was the arranged wife of one Jack Sparrow.'

At this Cross looked at Jack, who shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

Tara's mouth fell open at the revelation. So that was the issue!

Cross started speaking again. 'But the wedding never happened, did it Jack? A month before the date, Jack Sparrow was called away to America, his parents passed away. Before leaving, Jack Sparrow gave Holly a gift, a pendant, of a diamond and pearl, and a black pearl, at that.

'He intended to return and marry his love before the years end, but all didn't go as planned. Instead, he returned a year and a half later only to find that the woman he'd left was now a mother. Believing the child wasn't his, he left Holly to seek his fortune elsewhere, so he commissioned a ship, and named it the Black Pearl …

'But the child was his, and this I found out. I also discovered that the girl's mother had died as a result of her injures in the fire two years prior, and that the girl was to be sent away to Kingston to live with her Aunt. Then I realised something, the girl must have the pendant, by now, she must know who her true father was. All I had to do was follow her and she'd lead me straight to him. And she did. We arrived in Kingston, just in time to see them together, but something was wrong … she could see the Wanderer. She wasn't meant to …'

There Cross paused to take in the effect of her words and take a breath. She commenced once more. 'This wouldn't work, we couldn't take her then and there,' she looked at Jack, 'you'd just found out who she was and we therefore doubted whether you'd go after her if she was kidnapped, so we waited. Two long years we waited, until finally the time came. We took the girl and made it seem that it was only in interest of the pendant; you fell right into our trap.

'You became attached; sure it may have taken a while, but you did. You started thinking of the girl as your daughter, and soon, there'd be nothing you wouldn't do. Do you understand now?'

Tara said nothing; she sat still letting the truth sink in. But Jack spoke up. 'Seems t' me you're jus' givin' us a history lesson.'

Cross nodded. 'Perhaps Tara wanted to know the truth. For sixteen years she waited for it. I know what it's like, waiting for something you so desperately desire, and I've been working for so long to acquire it. Now infamous, but it's better that way, because I waited for twelve long, exhausting years to obtain it … this …'

Something in Tara's mind clicked into place, and it rang through her head like the beating of a hammer. 'The Black Pearl,' she said in realisation her voice rising, 'you waited for twelve years, just to get the Pearl!'

'Yes, and now I have it,' Cross said with pride, she turned to Jack, 'and you didn't even put up a fight because you thought I was out for your precious daughter.' She cackled in a witch-like way then a serious look returned to her face and she turned to Tara. 'Your father owes me.'

Tara glared at the woman, ignoring the horrible sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. 'My father owes you nothing.'

Cross's eyes narrowed. 'Bullet! Stephens! Get them out of my sight …'

The disclaimer was meant to say NoVa!

Kaaaat, I won't rest till you write me a very looonnnnng review!

I like Shine, it's not by Shannon Noll, it's a remake.