Chapter 26.

That same night, Angelica and Jack lay restless next to each other in Jack's bed. Neither of them spoke. Their minds wandered to Sophia, and when they did, they stayed there.

Jack was being consumed by feelings of guilt. He couldn't help but blame himself for his daughter's death. After all, if he had stopped her, or killed the mermaids faster, or if he just hadn't fallen, she would still be alive right now, sleeping in her bed on the Black Pearl.

Deep down inside, he knew it was nobody's fault. It wasn't even Sophia's fault. But in times of desperation, in times of loss, people seek something or someone to blame. And for Jack, that someone was himself.

The worst thing was, though, that he thought Angelica blamed him too. She didn't look him in the eye anymore, she didn't speak to him directly and even right now, as they layed next to each other, she refused to touch him. She had turned her face away from him and pulled back her hands every time Jack tried to hold them between his.

Jack knew she was still awake. He heard her irregular breathing.

''Angelica?'', he whispered softly.

There was no answer.

Jack hesitated a few seconds before he whispered her name, but again, there was no response from the other side of the bed.

''Angelica, please, talk to me'', Jack whispered as he rolled onto his side.

She turned her body away from him, Jack looked straight at her back.

With his eyes, he traced the motive in her linnen blouse, but after a while, he ran out of patience. He couldn't stand the silence, the rejection. He wanted to hold her, console her because he knew she wanted and needed that. And he did too.

Jack grabbed her shoulder and turned her around, onto her back. Angelica's head immediately turned towards him. She shook his hand off her and sat upright in the bed.

''Don't touch me'', she hissed. Whenever she got upset, her Spanish accent came through more than normally. It was her tell, so Jack knew she was getting emotional.

''Why not, Angelica? Tell me why I cannot touch you, why you won't let me console you or kiss you. Tell me what's going on in that head of yours, please'', Jack answered softly as he changed into an upwards position.

Angelica clenched her jaws together. ''I have nothing to say to you''. She layed down again and turned away from the confused man sitting next to her.

But very quickly, that confusion turned into frustration. Jack knew something was bothering her. And he knew that she secretly blamed him for the death of their daughter, but he wanted her to say it. He wanted to hear it from her mouth. He needed that confirmation, though he very much feared it as well.

''Now ye stop it, dammit!'', Jack called out, and again, he turned Angelica onto her back, who immediately sat upright again.

''With what, Jack?!'', she answered angrily.

''Do you blame me, Angelica? Do you blame me for what happened?'', Jack asked.

Angelica didn't answer. She just stared at Jack, her lips pressed tightly together. Suddenly, she raised from the bed and grabbed her pillow.

''I'll sleep below deck'', she hissed.

As she turned around and walked towards the door, Jack jumped to his feet, quickly walked towards her, grabbed her wrist, and pushed her against the wall.

''Tell me. Talk to me'', Jack hissed.

''Get away!'', Angelica yelled as she angrily tried to push him off.

Jack didn't give in. He kept her exactly where she was as he pinned her hands against the wooden wall.

''Tell me'', Jack growled. ''TELL ME!''.

''WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO SAY, JACK?'', Angelica immediately screamed at him.

With a loud bang, Jack punched the wall right next to her head. Angelica flinched, but the anger in her eyes didn't dissapear.

''TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK. SPEAK TO ME''.

'"FINE'', Angelica screamed. She roughly pushed Jack away from her.

''IT'S YOUR FAULT. MY DAUGHTER. MY GIRL. SHE IS DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU''.

Angelica walked towards him and slapped him on his chest, again and again as she screamed at him. ''YOU!''.

She started pushing him, against his desk, then against the bookshelf, towards the corner of the room.

''YOU MIGHT AS WELL HAVE KILLED HER YOURSELF''.

Jack froze. He suddenly didn't feel her hands coming down onto his body, he didn't feel her pushing him against the wall, over and over again. He could only hear her words echo through his head. You might as well have killed her yourself.

''HER BLOOD IS ON YOUR HANDS''.

Jack felt his heartbeat quicken. A vein in his foreheads started to throb.

Yes, he wanted her to tell him the truth. But the fact that she accused him of murdering their daughter, HIS daughter, his baby girl that he loved more than anything in the world, it made him furious. More than furious. Jack felt infuriated.

''YOU KILLED SOPHIA!'', Angelica screamed. ''MURDERER!''.

Suddenly, Jack woke up. He unfroze. He felt Angelica's hands beat down on his chest. But her words hit him harder and immediately, all of his anger, his sadness, his grief, he let it all out. He snapped.

With a furious growl, Jack swung around, clenched a fist and punched Angelica straight in the face.

She fell down onto the floor and immediately put her hand on her nose. Her big, dark eyes, filled with shock and disbelief slowly looked up at Jack.

Blood dripped from her nose, over her lips, onto her white blouse.

''Oh.. no'', Jack nudged out.

After a few seconds, Angelica slowly rose from the floor. She had her fingers pressed to her nose, completely silent. No tears, no yelling, no aggression.

''Angelica, please just-'', Jack started, but she raised her hand as a sign to stop talking, and Jack shut up.

''I- I'm just..'', she started softly. ''I have to go''.

Without saying another word, she turned around, grabbed her boots and walked out of the room. Jack did nothing to stop her.

He knew what he'd done. He knew he was very, very wrong. And as soon as his fist hit her face, his anger had dissapeared. Right now, all he felt was grief. His daughter was dead and he'd punched the woman he loved.

He'd lost the two people he cared most about within ten hours.

TTTTTTTTTTTTTT

Sophia felt two strong hands gently shake on her shoulder. A voice, first soft and in the distance, became louder and louder until finally, she understood what it was saying.

She recognized the voice. It belonged to the young boy on this island. Sophia just didn't recognize the name he was calling her. He was calling for 'Anna'. She wasn't Anna. After a few seconds, she finally realised he really did mean her. She'd told him her name was Anna.

So Sophia slowly opened her eyes and rolled onto her back, looking straight into a smiling face.

''Well, look who's awake'', the boy mumbled with a smile.

The sky was dark but clear, filled with bright stars. Sophia could hear the waves roll ashore quietly and calmly. The soft summer breeze was warm, palm trees rustled in the wind.

''Hello'', Sophia answered softly. Her throat felt raw.

''You fell asleep again'', he explained. ''I thought you'd might like something to eat. My mom and I made dinner''.

Sophia nodded slowly. ''And something to drink, please'', she added.

The young man laughed. ''Come on, I'll help you up''.

He carefully placed his hands around Sophia's wrists and pulled her up from the warm sand. She'd layed there for hours, in the sand, covered in nothing but a white blouse and a blanket. He or his mom must've put that on her.

Sophia felt as if she hadn't walked for years. It felt weird to stand up. The wound in her side burned and her legs felt like jelly.

Luckily, the boy had wrapped his arm around her waist and supported her that way. They walked through the warm sand, both with bare feet until finally, their surroundings changed. Sophia felt grass under her feet and plants replaced the beach.

Just a few feet away from the beach was a small cabin made of bamboo and palms. Sophia'd seen it before, but only by day. This was.. well, simply beautiful.

All around the cabin, in the trees surrounding it, hung small lights. In front of the cabin stood a little table with two chairs and Sophia smelled a mouth-watering smell coming from the window.

''This is beautiful'', she exclaimed with big eyes.

''Thank you'', the boy answered. ''I built it myself, everything is homemade''.

Sophia recognized something about him. Something about the cabin, the island, the woman. Something was very, very familiar, but she didn't know what.

Before she had the chance to ask, the blonde woman came walking out the cabin with a giant, wooden bowl of food in her hands.

''Time for dinner!'', she smiled as she put the bowl on the table. ''Will you help me with the meat, please?''.

Her son nodded and quickly dissapeared into the cabin.

''Oh and bring another chair!'', she called after him.

''Sit down, dear, you must be hungry'', she then said to Sophia. Sophia smiled and slowly sat down in one of the chairs. ''It's not much, I know, but we've got to make due with what we have. It's potatoes and carrots, mashed together''.

''And swine!'', the boy added as he put a plate of meat on the table. His mother laughed, poured three cups of water and sat down.

''Dig in!'', he said.

As soon as their plates were filled, Sophia started eating. She felt like she hadn't eaten in weeks. When her plate was empty, she immediately filled it again, and ate that too.

Neither the boy or his mother said anything about it.

When Sophia finally stopped eating, she drank two cups of water, and then looked at the two people sitting around the table with her.

''Thank you'', she said. ''It tasted great''.

The woman laughed. ''Well.. I try'', she answered.

Again, Sophia noticed the strange accents. British. She knew because Will was British too, and he spoke in exactly the same way.

''So, Anna, what happened to you?'', the boy suddenly asked.

Sophia looked at him and sighed. ''It's a long story'', she confessed softly.

Both people smiled widely. ''We have all the time in the world'', he said.

So, impowered by those words, Sophia told them everything. She told them about the two ships that were under attack of mermaids at Devil's Cave. She told them about the monsters, what they looked like, how they sounded. She told them about all the men that they lost and finally, she told them how one single mermaid dragged her overboard, away from her parents and her friends.

''After that.. I can't remember'', she said.

The woman and her son looked at her in utter disbelief. Explosions, a sacrifice, monsters, it almost seemed like some old fairytale.

''Well.. it explains the wounds in your side'', the boy said, and Sophia laughed softly.

''So you're a pirate then'', the woman said, and Sophia confirmed. ''With what ships did you sail?''.

Sophia laughed. ''They're strange ships''.

''Well.. I've had my time of being at sea'', she answered.

Sophia looked at the woman, curious about what that meant. Had she been a pirate, too? Maybe she'd travelled.

''We sailed with the Black Pearl and the Flying Dutchman'', Sophia finally answered.

As soon as she said that, both faces in front of her drained. They turned pale as a sheet. The woman brought her hands to her mouth and looked at Sophia in shock.

''Did you sail with Will Turner?'', the woman asked. When Sophia looked up at her, she saw tears shimmering in her brown eyes, and suddenly, she realised who the two people in front of her where.

The woman was Will's wife, Elizabeth Swann, a former pirate that had been left on this island when her husband became captain of the Flying Dutchman. The boy was nineteen year old Caleb Turner.

''Oh my God, you are his family!'', Sophia called out.

Caleb seemed confused, but Elizabeth understood everything. She understood that Sophia had sailed with her husband, that she knew who they were and that Will had talked to her about them.

''Yes! Yes, I'm his wife!'', Elizabeth said as she put her hands over her mouth. ''Do you know him? How is he?''.

''He's doing great, he's planning to come here in less than a week'', Sophia answered with a wide smile.

''Oh my God'', Elizabeth stammered.

''WOAH! What is going on here, who are you? Why do you know my father?'', Caleb suddenly asked.

Sophia laughed in pure joy. These people were Will's family, which meant that she could trust them. Which also meant that Will would be here soon, and he could bring her back to her parents!

''My dad's ship sailed with your father's ship for a very long time. They're great friends. Will is like family to me'', Sophia explained.

''Who is your father?'', Elizabeth called out immediately.

''Captain Jack Sparrow'', Sophia answered proudly.

''Jack has a daughter?!''.

Sophia couldn't help but laugh because of the disbelief in Elizabeth's eyes. ''Yes. Angelica's my mother. And Will.. Will is amazing. He's told me all about you''.

''Well, you know who we are, then!'', Caleb laughed. ''Any friend of my father is welcome here''.

Elizabeth still stood watching in disbelief. She couldn't wrap her head around the fact that Jack and Angelica had a daughter.

''How old are you?'', Elizabeth asked after a while.

''Seventeen, almost eighteen. And my name is Sophia Sparrow''.