Chapter 5

(JACK'S POV)

Jack hadn't been sure what to do with damn James Norrington when he had discovered that he had come back to the land of the living, but he had gone to see the man in any case, to keep his father's suspicions out of his way, because he had been curious… And he also suspected that it had to do with Calypso.

Of course, said curiosity had died when this one had almost rolled his eyes at seeing him. Even if Jack had gotten used to betrayals, it still hurted him to some extent… After all, he had almost expected that the man would be too honorable to sink 'so low' and Jack hadn't thought on paying him attention, thinking he was safe. So, obviously, he couldn't almost keep his tone when speaking the first time and shooed Elizabeth as soon as it was possible.

The moment she left, he got down to business.

Jack found out that the other was alive thanks to Calypso (And, there! Should he even be surprised by it?) and the lad, and that dear Lizzie had offered him to work on her ship...

At that, Jack couldn't avoid a snort… As if Norrington could become a pirate. The betrayal that had directed at Jack had only been caused by vengeance and grief… They were powerful motives, but not enough to turn someone into a pirate. And, in any case, he had an idea on what he could do with him, in how to use him. It was a better idea and it would be a win-win situation for both… If everything went well.

Funnily enough, James seemed surprised that he was been so comprehensive, but…

"Yeah, well… It's not like she didn't save me." he said.

Jack, however, smiled at that.

"Ah, but you saved her first… So that has already been paid." And this one opened his mouth but closed it once again. Jack then decided to let him know his plan and prayed it would work "However, you did betray me."

"Only because you cost me my position, two ships and almost my life." He looked angry.

"I never told you to follow me through a hurricane, dear Norrington," Jack replied, in a tired tone "And the other one was destroyed by Barbossa, so really…"

Norrington looked horrified and he sighed.

"... What do you want, Sparrow?"

"Captain" he said immediately "And I'm thinking of something like reestablishing you in the Caribbean and, when you have the position you want the most, I can get my price."

"And that is…?" Norrington put his head on the pillow.

"You, my dear ex-commodore, are going to obtain me a letter of marque."

What he didn't mention was that it was the only way that he could think of that would meant to give up his freedom, somehow. It wasn't as if Calypso had been of much help and, in fact, she hadn't told him how or when to lose it; besides, as much as Jack hated it, it was a good chance to avoid a possible death at the hands of a powerful goddess that wanted to take revenge for her imprisonment.

The moment that he had pronounced his price, Norrington's eyes almost came out.

"A letter of marque… For you?" he asked, wary. Jack smirked and James shook his head "Never mind that… How the hell do you pretend on getting it?"

"... With some lies here and there." He shrugged "It doesn't have to be Port Royal… It could be The Bahamas or the Cayman Islands… The important thing would be to convince the people that you never betrayed anyone. After all, it's not like anyone was there except for Jones' crew and Beckett's little puppet, who is dead. Easy peasy."

"I'm almost afraid it's not going to be that easy." he warned, but still sighed. "Well, I can't think of a reason to say no and I have nothing to lose, apparently."

"Ah, that's so much better." Jack smirked at that.

'Not like we had a lot of options here, right, former commodore?' he thought to himself.

"So, when do we live?" he asked.

"Uhm… We might have a problem with that part." he grimaced.

"Oh, god."

"We… Well, actually, I have to ask Elizabeth to take us to Tortuga and then get a ship." he answered vaguely.

"I can't believe you lost your ship again. You are without a doubt the worst pirate I've ever heard of."

"But you have heard of me." he smiled "Don't give your brain a headache with this… We'll get what we want."

"Well, Captain… That at least makes one of us sure of it."

• ──────────── ✾──────────── •

Sure! Ha! He would have laughed if it wasn't because he had wanted Norrington to take him seriously… If he was honest with himself, he was gambling and deciding to avoid a goddess as much as it was possible and, since the opportunity of choosing a side had appeared literally in front of him, it was better to take it quickly before a possible death would turn into a nearer future to himself.

He knew, or at least he imagined, that trying to appease her or to make another deal with her wouldn't work, mostly because said goddess was Calypso and, if she had wanted a better deal, she would have done it before she was released.

As it was, he had learned from Jones that he could try to avoid destinies or fights, but he would find them in the end anyway and, if Calypso was like him (or worse), it was best to end that situation as quickly as possible.

When Jack went down to find Elizabeth, he saw her in a conversation with his father in the living room that was at the end of the corridor. They were leaning over the table and it was then when Jack was able to see a big book opened. By the size of it, he imagined that it was the Pirate Code.

'So our king is interested in the political part of our life.' he almost laughed, but shook his head.

Despite Elizabeth's flaws, Jack knew that she was fair and was usually a believer of the law, even when she preferred more freedom than what she would have had if she had stayed as a Governor's daughter.

He smiled to himself, remembering the first time he had truly met her… Perhaps she hadn't known, but Jack had seen in her eyes what she really was in that godforsaken island: A pirate through and through. Maybe not the most common, maybe not as ruthless as some of them (not that he was any different), but a pirate nonetheless. She hadn't doubted herself when she had used the same rum to get him drunk and make a signal… She hadn't even blinked when she had accepted the Commodore's hand in marriage to save dear William… Yes, he had admired her for it and each time he had met her, she had surprised him even more.

So, even though he was a bit bitter with her for sending him to his death, he respected her and, even though he had chosen her as King for his own plans, he knew that it had been a good choice if, in a close future, there would be another assembly.

"Jackie." His father greeted him with a nod, interrupting his thoughts "How is that mate of yours?"

"Alive." Jack shrugged at that and turned to Elizabeth, more interested in her "So then, dear Lizzie, when are ye leavin'?"

She raised an eyebrow "Why, Jack?" This one just smiled mysteriously at her before she gave up. She wasn't known for having a lot of patience "In four days, why?"

"I need someone to take me and my friend to Tortuga to acquire a ship" he winked at her.

"Let's see if I get it right…" she huffed, astonished, staring at him "James is going with you to Tortuga and you want me to help you get there."

"It's just a little stop. Then you can go runnin' to Singapore or whatever ye want." he said, ignoring her tone.

"And why would I help you?" She crossed her arms.

'And this is why she maybe deserves the title as King.' Jack thought, with a smile.

"Well, there's the issue of ye-know-what and also I'm helpin' ye-know-who... " he elaborated with a flick of the wrist. At that speech, he could see his father raising his eyebrows. "But, if ye don't care for that, let's say that I'll only owe you one if ye help me with this."

This one took a deep breath, but nodded "Alright, we have a deal. Don't forget that you'll owe me for this."

"Of course, Lizzie luv, don't ye worry about that."

• ──────────── ✾──────────── •

Luckily, with that fixed, the rest four days were quite peaceful… The crew of the Empress passed the time preparing the ship for the journey, with Elizabeth leading, and Jack used those days to be in the pubs, though he had to use them as little as possible, since he didn't want to end without money.

On the other hand, the good former commodore had taken advantage of the first two days to rest a bit and had gone out of the house only to train a little. Once he got better, he spent most of the time exercising or helping the crew get ready, since he was going with them.

In one of the days, Jack had seen him with Elizabeth, arguing quite loud, and he imagined that it had to be because they were working together on the same side. Jack couldn't blame her for it… Most likely she had expected that the other would work with her, since she was more trustworthy and surely she would be more honest with him, or as honest as it was possible for a king and a pirate lord. Life was truly amusing.

In that moment, it was the last day and everyone was already going up the ship. Jack passed through some members of the Empress' crew, with his things in his hands or hidden in his coat, and headed aboard when he was stopped by Elizabeth.

"Just for you to know, I hope that you'll work and you'll sleep with the crew." she told him, her arms crossed against her chest. Then she looked up over him and raised an eyebrow "The same to you, James. You're not going to have any special treatment."

And she turned hastily to her first mate.

"I wouldn't have expected less from her." Jack muttered, annoyed "If it wasn't because I need her…"

"Would it kill you to act like a civilized person until we reach Tortuga?" said Norrington in frustration, behind him "It's not like we have another ship, do we?"

"Unfortunately." Jack sighed.

They both breathed out and went towards the ship, leaving their things (or rather, Jack's things as the other had almost none) below deck and returned upstairs to the main deck just as Elizabeth was climbing up.

Although Jack hated it, he had taken out his hat and had saved it with the rest of his effects (not counting the map and his compass, which were close at hand and hidden) so that it didn't appear that he was trying to mutiny against their captain.

"Alright, weigh anchor! Dong Zhao, I want you at the helm, set way to Tortuga… For those that have not met me on the way to the Devil's Throat, know now that there are three shifts in this ship. Tai Huang will tell you when you'll have to work. Now!" she shouted "I want movement! Look alive, men!"

"Aye, aye, captain!" everyone said at the same time.

While those who already had a job went to their chores, Jack followed the other few men, realizing that Norrington was also following them, who were going towards Tai Huang, whom he recognized from his trip when he was in Davy Jones' locker. The man seemed to recognize him too.

"Ah… Jack Sparrow, what to do with you?" he said, smirking.

Jack was about to reply 'captain', just out of habit, when Norrington stepped on his left foot and Jack contained a groan, forcing a smile.

"I'm sure you'll think of something." He was able to say.

This one took it on consideration "I guess that I'll put you with the boatswain, on the second turn. He's at the mast; you go and tell him that."

Jack thanked him as neutral as he could, he patted Norrington on the back and went to see the boatswain, who was with another person… He supposed that now they were three.

The boatswain didn't speak when Jack finished on telling him that he was going to work with him… It almost had made him think that he could have been mute… If it wasn't because he had spoken to Tai Huang in Chinese, bothered that he had to deal with two foreigners that couldn't speak anything in their language. The other just told him to handle it.

"Actually, I do speak Chinese. Although, it's possible that it's a bit rusty." Jack winked at the boatswain, who was looking at him as if he had grown a head "In my defense, the last time I was in China, I was definitely younger."

Despite that he obviously looked surprised, the boatswain seemed to decide that it wasn't the time to get impressed and told him about the work (telling him to translate that order to the other man) and said that it would be good for them to get acquainted with the ship.

Jack took that as his moment to leave and started to prowl around the ship, always avoiding the quarterdeck, as that was the captain's and helmsman's territory.

He hoped the trip to Tortuga would be short, in any case. The situation he was in didn't help his mood at all and he only had a single bottle of rum with him, as the Empress only carried rice wine and shouchuu, both of which had never been much to his liking (although, he supposed that the Japanese one was a bit better in that case).

Oh, how much he hated his own situation… He hoped he could find something in Tortuga and improvise from there to achieve all his goals, no matter how little he liked it. After all, he wanted to get the Pearl back and, perhaps, once he would find the Fountain of Youth, he could then worry about angering goddesses if he chose that life again.

He rubbed his mark unconsciously and sighed. Gods, he really needed rum.

• ──────────── ✾──────────── •

&&& A.N.: Well, during these times it's going slower because I lost the old version, as you already know and it's taking my time to actually re-do it again, as I'm doing it by translating from the Spanish version... In any case, I know last chapter was longer, but when I started this story, I went to modify the first ones so everything would be later connected and I don't want to include too much drama XD I like my hurt-comfort/drama stories, but I know I can rather extend them a lot, so I decided to focus as much as possible for me.

Btw, I don't know if you realized that this is the second time Jack desires more rum hahahaah JackxRum, the relationship everyone knows (?) XD

Speaking of drinks, the asiatic drinks mentioned here are the only ones that I've tried and, in this case, Jack's preferences are my preferences ^^" Though I have never been someone to complain too much about alcohol, as I don't drink that much.

Anyway...

Some good news is that around the 7th chapter of this story you'll finally meet our 'little' villain.

As always, favs, follows, kudos, and mostly reviews/comments are very appreciated :)

A special thanks to Fanfiction-Queen25, sillystring-rox-the-earth, Ellerosse and Lily Borja for following this story ^^ I really appreciate your support!

Have a nice day and we'll see each other next time! &&&