"So what was that dream about?"

Ash turned her head to stare at Jack, amazed. After they recovered from their activities in bed, they had dressed and gone on about the day as normal. Ash had gone through both breakfast and lunch, and Jack did not mentioned it again. She thought he had forgotten it. Apparently not.

"You won't give up until I tell you, will you?" she asked, more admiring of his stubbornness than she was irritated.

He sent her a grin and shook his head. Ash wrinkled her nose, pouting a bit, before looking down at the main deck where the crew worked. Here by the helm, there was a better breeze that stirred her golden hair gently. She tilted her face up into the wind and took her time deciding how to word her answer. Jack seemed to guess she was gathering her thoughts and waited patiently.

"It was a dream about you," she said slowly, "You were uh well, it was from before. When you found out my secret. Sort of mixed in with what would have happened if the fire from before had got me."

She turned her head quick to look at him, and saw his expression change.

"It was just a dream, Jack," Ash added quickly, "It doesn't mean anything."

"That's a lie," he responded tightly, "Are you really going to stand there and tell me dreams have no meaning, wizardess?"

Ash grimaced. He was too sharp to be fooled.

"Alright, no, I can't say that, exactly. But I can tell you it wasn't because I'm still having bad feelings over what happened."

"Oh really? You have some other interpretation?" Jack asked, a touch sarcastically.

"As a matter of fact, yes. If I were to interpret this, I'd say the whipping was a sign of unfinished business. I would say that's most likely the business I have with Declan and finishing him. Being burned in the fire to me says I could be letting my temper get out of control. It would make sense for these two things to be related, since thinking about Declan makes me pretty angry, and ten times more eager to kill him."

Jack didn't respond for the longest time.

"You made that up," he said at last.

Ash threw up her hands, frustrated.

"I did not, baka!"

"Starfish," Jack shot back at her.

Ash dropped her arms and blinked at him.

"What?"

"Well, if you get to call me something, I'm calling you starfish."

"Why?"

"Because you hog the bed at night and spread your limbs out like you're a starfish," Jack said, smug with his cleverness.

Ash's mouth opened and closed for a few times.

"I do not!"

"Aye, you do."

"Do not!"

"Do."

"Jack, I do not – what are they doing?"

This last part came out because she had caught sight of the crew walking around deck in their bare feet. Jack snorted in amusement.

"Your miraculous escape story inspired them," he said, "They've been trying to pick things up with their toes for the majority of the day."

"As you serious?"

"As a hurricane."

Ash shook her head, lost for words for perhaps the first time in her life. Jack looked at her from the corner of his eye for a while before speaking again.

"Listen, love, about what Fitzy called you..."

Ash looked at him and tilted her head to one side curiously. She waited, but he did not look inclined to finish. Then she realized what he was talking about and laughed slightly.

"Oh, Jack. I was the one he insulted. I'm not bothered by it, there's no need for you to be either."

"Well, I was... just thinking... what if you – we – were, you know..."

Ash stared at him, bemused.

"Were...?" she prompted after a few moments.

Jack grimaced, as if he was in pain, then rushed on.

"WhatifIweretogetyouaring?"

It took Ash a minute to detangle the hurried sentence, then she felt her face heat up.

"Are you suggesting," she said slowly, "that we get married?"

"No, no, no, not all the way to – " Jack made a flapping, rolling sort of hand gesture, "More like asking an opinion."

"Oh. I see," Ash said neutrally, then turned to look out at the sea.

Jack shifted on his feet while her back was turned, then stopped immediately when she turned back to him. He took great care to make a show of looking out at the sea and the deck ahead.

"I'm not really sure of the point of that," Ash replied at last, very carefully, "I think just to do it because of a remark from Fitzy would be a poor reason. And um, no offense Jack, but ah... I don't think I'm ready for that. Or if I ever want to. We're together, aren't we? Isn't that all that matters for now?"

Jack nodded his head up and down several times very quickly.

"Yes, absolutely!" he enthused, "My thoughts exactly!"

Thank you, he privately thought to whatever lucky star had been following him all these years. Ash was smirking at him.

"Why did you ask then?"

"Well, as I've mentioned before, I am incredibly sensitive to the female creature, and as such, I have noticed over the years that they do expect certain things. Especially after certain activities and ah... things."

Ash gave a little snort of amusement.

"I don't know if you've noticed Jack, but I'm not exactly the sort of female you're used to dealing with," she said dryly, then softened her tone, "I expect nothing from you."

Jack glanced at her quickly, then away.

"Not even if certain complications arise?"

Once again, Ash stared at him, puzzled. He made a gesture, and suddenly she understood. She burst out laughing.

"In case I get pregnant?" she clarified.

Jack nodded, words stuck in his throat. Ash laughed some more.

"Oh, Jack. Don't you think I've thought of that already?" she asked, smiling.

"Er..."

"Of course I have," Ash went on, rolling her eyes and smiling, "I drink a certain kind of herbal tea every day to prevent just such a thing, okay? You have nothing to worry about. Honestly, Jack. I'm not ready for a husband, let alone a child. I don't want to settle down anytime soon, if at all."

Jack smiled, relieved. He loved his little wizardess, so clever and beautiful, even when she was laughing at him. Ash was thinking that him not thinking of this until now was precisely the reason you never left such things up to a man. A child could have already been conceived in the time it took for him to mention this, since sex only needed to happen once for such a thing to occur.

"Right," Jack nodded, "Good, then. Bit of bad news though – we're going to have to stop soon so Carver can make repairs. Blasted Fitzy blew several holes through the hull."

"What is with you two anyway?" Ash wanted to know.

"Fitzy was part of the first crew I ever had," Jack explained, "But it wasn't until later I found out he had been a spy for the Royal Navy the whole time, hoping I'd lead him to dear old dad. Also, I may have taken his spyglass."

"May have?" Ash smirked.

"Well, I'd borrow it from him often. One day I just didn't give it back. This was before I was a pirate, you see, so I figured I needed such things more than some pampered aristocrat."

Ash's brows shot up in surprise.

"You weren't always a pirate?" she asked softly.

Jack took a long time to answer, staring out at sea grimly.

"No," he said at last.

"But – "

Ash bit her lip as her mind whirled for a second. She had just always thought... his father was a pirate, so...

"What happened?" she asked after a long pause.

"The East India Trading Company happened," Jack said shortly.

Ash's aqua eyes widened. She opened her mouth to say something, then looked away. The same group had been responsible for her turning pirate, she realized. She had been fleeing Japan when they caught her and the Yakuza members, which led to Captain Teague rescuing her, who then brought her to Shipwreck Island, and it was there she met Jack. True, she had chosen to disguise herself as a man to get aboard his ship and therefore turn into a pirate somewhere along the path, but the chain of events wouldn't have taken place without the EITC. She would have gone somewhere else in the world, anywhere else, and wouldn't have met Jack at all. Probably would have set up a shop and sold her services as a wizard, healing people, interpreting dreams, generally solving problems. Looking at Jack, Ash realized how little she knew about his past. While she had been cooped up in Japan most of her life, he had been traveling the world, having adventures. And if Fitzwilliam had been among the first crew he ever had... Gibbs mentioned a betrayal by someone called Barbossa... people had been betraying Jack for a long time apparently. No wonder he reacted so badly to finding out she was not who she had pretended to be.

"Jack," she said softly, then paused before going on, "Would you tell me sometime? The truth behind the stories?"

Jack blinked as he turned his head to look at her.

"No one's ever," be began quietly, then shook his head and seemed to change what he was going to say, "Aye, love. Be glad to."

They made port within the next couple days to make repairs on the ship, then they were off again. Over the next couple weeks, Ash made plans to occupy herself. She asked Renzo to teach her Italian, and requested Jack resume her sword fighting lessons. At night, Jack told her stories of his past. When she found out he was fluent in both Spanish and French, she asked him to teach her French. Though the majority of his tutelage included swear words and suggestive phrases, they made progress. As she learned more about his past, especially the many, many women he had encountered, her mood plummeted. The way he described these women, the gestures he made, the light in his eyes when he spoke of them, it disturbed her. But she had learned to make her face blank as slate since she was a child, and she kept her expression that way during story time. She hardly ever spoke as she listened to him, except to ask an occasional question. Jack found he quite liked having someone to unburden himself to, someone to know the truth of things. People never asked him for the truth. Stories, yes. But even then, they didn't really listen. They'd interject at some point and talk about their own tales. Ash was the perfect audience, if a little subdued. They finally docked in Barcelona, and were picked up by the local authorities almost immediately.

"What is the meaning of this?" Ash spat as they were all put into jail cells, "You have no cause to arrest us!"

A tall man dressed in fine clothes entered the room and stared over at her.

"I know who you are – you're the pirate who robbed the presidio, yes?"

The shock that flashed across Ash's face was all the confirmation he needed. She scrambled to cover her mistake.

"You're mistaken! Me and my... partner," here she glanced at Jack, before turning back to the official, "Are here for the festival, and the dancing competition."

It was lucky she noticed the posters all around town as they were dragged here. While she didn't understand Spanish yet, she had been gobbling up Italian lessons from Renzo, and noticed quite a few words in Spanish and Italian were similar. She'd seen enough to surmise what was taking place at the end of the festival. The well dressed official lifted one brow.

"You can dance?"

"No," Jahir muttered under his breath.

Ash wished they were in the same cell so she could kick him.

"The judges will be the...ah... judges of that, yes?" Ash smiled.

The official's chocolate brown eyes moved over them, hard as stone. Ash kept smiling at him while the rest of the crew tried to look as innocent as possible.

"Very well. But my men will be watching throughout your stay here. We do not have proof yet of your criminal activity, but if you do anything against the law, you will be right back here. The same holds true if you are found to be lying about your dancing skills."

Great. They were released, and none of them spoke until they were well away from the building they had been taken to.

"They didn't even recognize me," Jack said, miffed.

Ash rolled her eyes.

"You should be thankful your notoriety hasn't quite reached here," she said with more bite than she intended, "Or perhaps they have no interest in the reward money they'd get for turning you in."

Jack frowned at her.

"And now we'll be watched while we're here," she went on, "How are we going to find the guy we're looking for now? Especially with some stupid dance contest to prepare for at the end of the week!"

"We be doomed," Jahir moaned.

Ash turned to glare at him. Renzo quickly stepped between them.

"Just because this lumbering bear has no grace, it does not mean all is lost, capitana!" he said, "I will teach you both to dance!"

With a huff, Ash walked away.

"You're welcome," Renzo told Jahir, who made an obscene hand gesture at him in return.

Jack rushed after Ash, leaving the crew behind.

"Ash," he called, reaching out to grab her arm, "Love, come on – "

She abruptly yanked her arm out of his hold before he could do so much as blink.

"Don't call me that," she hissed.

Jack blinked. He thought he had been imagining her surliness recently, but apparently not. He racked his brains, trying to recall what he could have done to upset her, but he drew a blank. Only one way to find out what this was about. But he was starting to wonder if he wanted to, or if he should just go hide somewhere until this hissy fit of hers blew over.

"Why? What have I done?"

Ash huffed and folded her arms, refusing to look at him.

"You use that nickname on all women," she said, "Why? It's just a word, what does it mean? What's the point?"

"You knew I had many former lovers before we started anything," Jack said slowly.

"What I didn't know was you actually loved a few of them."

How true could his love for her be? Especially with others in his heart? Was it selfish of her to want to be the only one he loved?

Jack was starting to realize what this was about, but very carefully did not react too strongly.

"I thought I did," Jack said quietly, "I could have loved a couple... but it wasn't until I met you that I realized what real love is."

Ash sneered.

"How charming," she said scathingly, "I suppose you expect me to believe it?"

"What would you like me to do to prove it to you?" Jack asked patiently, "Carve out my heart and hand it to you?"

Ash glared at him, but didn't answer for the longest time. She couldn't detect a trace of sarcasm in his suggestion. But he couldn't be serious. Such a thing... well, she knew better than to say anything was impossible. But it would certainly probably kill him. She didn't want that. All the breath went out of her in a great whoosh of a sigh, and she rested her forehead against his chest.

"I'm sorry," she said at last, "I guess I'm just... feeling inadequate. I mean... a princess, Jack? From a secret African island kingdom? A ferocious lady Pirate Lord? A daughter of an English governor? They're probably all stunning and grand and... how can I compare?"

Jack didn't know what to say. Perhaps it didn't matter. She wouldn't believe words. He could tell her she was beautiful and he loved her until he was blue in the face. It wouldn't change a thing in her heart, he knew that. So he had to find some way to show her. It wasn't going to be easy. For now, he only wrapped his arms around her and held her, right there in the middle of the street, not caring who else was around or if they stared or what they were thinking. After a moment or two, Jack steered her to a nearby eating house for a meal. She ate sullenly, letting the chatter of the people around her go in one ear and out the other. But Jack chuckled at something a passing server said, and Ash looked at him questioningly.

"Apparently one of the other patrons mentioned Mexican food isn't so good," he murmured, eye twinkling, "The server was telling another server how she felt compelled to slap said patron."

Ash blinked.

"They do know this is Spain, not Mexico, right?" she asked.

Jack shrugged.

"Seems the Spanish hate being mistaken for Mexicans," he replied.

Noted, Ash thought. The Spanish hated her enough already. At least the Spanish authorities did. All the Spanish pirates she'd ever met had no problems with her. This is what you get when you rob a presidio and take all their spices, Ash reflected. It made sense to her that they would lay the blame for that at her feet, since she was the one that looked to be leading that particular venture, and she was the one that stayed behind to shoot at the guards to make sure the crew got away. Never mind that Jack was the actual captain. No, to the Spanish, it was all her fault, because she was the one they had seen the most. When they finished their meal, they took a stroll around the town, Jack asking the locals if anyone knew of Hernando Calderon. When he finally turned to Ash, stone faced, she braced herself for bad news.

"Hernando is dead," he told her.

Ash bared her teeth and cursed in French, some words recently taught to her by Jack himself, as a matter of fact. He nodded and praised her diction. Which was a direct contrast to Renzo in her Italian lessons. Apparently, Ash couldn't make her Cs hard enough when she spoke Italian. Whatever the hell that meant. But her French accent was effortless and beautiful, according to Jack.

"But he has a son," Jack went on, "Felipe."

"Why does everyone originally involved with this bloody map have to be dead now?" Ash grumbled.

"Maybe because it's dangerous?" Jack quipped.

Ash scowled and elbowed him in the ribs. Jack chuckled. With the sun going down, they returned to the ship. Ash made dinner, and after the cleanup, she had her first dance lesson with Renzo. Jack was busy elsewhere, so he would have his turn with Renzo after her. They went through the steps of the dance countless times, with Renzo criticizing her body posture almost constantly.

"We have a lot of work to do," he mused after their allotted time was up.

"It is so quick," Ash protested, out of breath.

"Passion, capitana! It is all about passion!" Renzo stressed, "Quick, clean movements, proud body alignment, heat, fire!"

"I can't imagine Jack moving the way you do," Ash said after gulping down some water.

Come to think of it, she couldn't see herself moving the way he was pushing her to. Not in a million years, never mind by the end of the week.

"Well, it is true I am fantastico," Renzo said modestly, "But worry not! By the time I am finished with the two of you, the audience will cheer for you until they go hoarse!"

Ash shook her head as she left the room they had commandeered for the dance lessons. He was a dreamer, that was for certain. She was so worn out, she yawned as she shucked off her clothes and left them where they fell on the deck. She crawled into bed and was asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow. She didn't even notice when Jack came in a couple hours later and laid himself behind her. He was as tired as she was, and was asleep in a few minutes.

The manacles were tight around his wrists, the sun relentlessly hot as it bore down on him. Fitzy had caught up with them and taken over the Black Pearl. Smoke burned his nostrils, making his eyes water. His crew lay dead on the deck or captured. Fitzy himself stood by the mainmast, a handful of Ash's golden hair in his fist. Jack watched as Fitzy shoved Ash against the mast and kissed her. He saw her struggle, and Jack lunged to get to her. But two Royal Navy sailors caught him and held him back. As Jack watched, Ash stopped struggling and actually kissed Fitzy back. Jack's jaw dropped.

No, he thought, It can't be.

Fitzy ripped Ash's clothes off and dragged her over to the rail and bent her over it as he undid his pants. Jack's eyes were wide as he watched Fitzy and Ash, he tried to scream but couldn't. Ash was moaning and begging Fitzy for more, not to stop. Jack was trembling as he listened to her, noises she previously made for him she was now making for Fitzy. It wasn't right, this was so wrong...

"You see, Jack?" Fitzy grinned over at him, even as he continuously pumped into Ash, "I am better than you. I always have been, and always will be. You are nothing. How could you keep a woman like this?"

Jack's eyes sprung open, his body rigid in the darkness. His mouth was dry, and he could hear his own blood pounding in his ears. He found Ash's small, warm body in the dark and pulled her closer to him. His arms wrapped tightly around her, and he buried his nose in her hair, breathing in her scent. Only then did his heart calm enough for him to go back to sleep.