This is a shorter chapter, sorry! ;_; But the last one will be long, promise ^_^
Pearl
Chapter 4: SwordPlay
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The next morning, she woke up feeling stragely comfortable. She opened her eyes slowly and realized that she was wearing his shirt- without thinking she inhaled deeply. Oh, it smelled like him- masculine and dusky, mingled with the familiar air that she knew to be the scent off the ocean. Secretly she thought that she would like to keep the shirt... she heaved a sigh as her thoughts said NO. Changing back into her own clothes, which by then were completely dry, she folded the shirt over her arm, intending to give it to Jack.
On deck, she squinted towards the sun, which was just over the horizon. She noted Gibbs giving a few orders. She approached the wheel and was surprised to find Anamaria still there.
"Where's Ja-" she began, then caught herself. "Where's the Captain?" she asked. Anamaria rolled her eyes.
"Still sleeping. If you can wake him, you'll have accomplished a feat that no one aboard the Pearl has been able to do," she added with a small grin. Pearl returned the smile and headed towards Jack's quarters. Rapping on the door, she waited a few moments before opening it. There was, of course, no answer. She found him asleep on his side, facing away from the door, stripped down to his shirt, pants, and that bandana he always wore. She noted the empty bottle on the floor- picking it up and sniffing she made a face. Rum.
"Well Captain," she said softly as she approached the bed, "You had better have already slept off that hangover, or what I'm about to do will not agree with you whatsoever." Shaking him slightly, she tried to be kind at first.
"Jack? Jack?" she said softly. "Jack?" she increased volume. "Jack!" No response. He muttered a bit in his sleep, but that was all. All right, he asked for it... she leaned as close as she dared to his ear.
"JACK!" she screamed as loud as she could. He bolted upright, spinning towards her. Seeing her sitting up on her heels, on his bed, a look of pure confusion mixed with anger passed over his face.
"What?!" he cried. "Bloody woman! What was that for?!" He closed his eyes, trying to block out the slight headache that he had. The amount of rum that had been left in that bottle wasn't nearly enough to get him good and drunk, much less give him a hangover. However, being shouted at upon waking up was not a pleasant experience. She smiled smugly.
"Well, looks like I've accomplished the feat no one else on the Pearl could," she said proudly. He shook his head, muttering 'bloody woman' a few more times. She took the opportunity to look around his cabin. Swords and random gold pieces were scattered on the walls. A wooden vanity graced the area between his bed and the door, again with gold medallions strewn across it. A thought occurred to her. Standing and moving towards a wall, she took down the sword she liked the most. She began attaching it to her belt when he stopped her.
"Pardon, love, but what are you doing?" he asked. As if he couldn't see for himself.
"I require a sword," she stated. "Mine was taken... along with my ship," she concluded decisively.
"And you figure you can just take one of mine," he stated, gesturing to his walls. "Just like that."
"Well... yes," she replied, meeting his eyes. Bad move, Pearl, her mind said. There was some unspoken challenge in those brown pools... oh Lord, he had beautiful eyes. "If... if that's all right," she found herself adding.
"Oh, it's perfectly all right, love," he said, moving between her and the door. "Just one thing..." He slowly, carefully drew his sword. He smiled at her and gestured as he spoke. "If you want to keep it, you'll have to win it." Her eyes lit up and she, too, drew her sword. It made a beautiful metallic ring as she brushed it against its sheath. She caught his eyes and held them as they touched swords for the first time. They were even more intense when he was concentrating. Her memory fell back to him, standing in the rain, at the command of the Pearl. Her loss in concentration nearly cost her a step, she stumbled a bit.
"Careful, love," he warned with a cocky smile. She smiled back- she wouldn't lose. Swinging her blade through the air, their swords touched again. Back and forth, the paced the cabin. She spun once so that her back faced the door; they switched places.
He couldn't remember being more excited, feeling more attracted to a woman in his life. Why now, why swordfighting? She was beautiful, so incredibly graceful, and perfectly precise with every move she made. Their blades touched again. With every metallic noise that echoed in the small quarters, he felt more drawn towards her. Close-range fighting was not his forte, he prefered to stay a blade's distance away from the opponent and let the trusted end of his sword do the work. But he was getting closer to her, and her to him.
She noticed that he was continually stepping towards her. Their pacing had become less back-and-forth and more just moving towards one another. She swung again, blades touched, and electricity flowed between the two. Their eyes met again, and she fought for breath. There was such heat now in his brown eyes... Attempting another side-step, one she had never been good at, she lost her balance and fell towards him.
He spun her quickly and, in a breath, had his sword near her throat. She was breathing heavily, pressed up against him. His mouth was near her ear, his left hand holding her close to him.
"Caught you now, love," he whispered. She could have melted as his warm breath tickled her ear. He moved the sword slowly, hypnotically, blade flat against her skin, down, near her collarbone, then back up towards the red cloth he had been itching to tear off for days. "Do you know what to do, love..." he continued. "If an opponent has you in this position?"
Her mind was completely off the subject of swordplay. "This... position...?" she repeated breathily. Stop, she said to herself. He doesn't love you. He only wants you. Jack exhaled against the side of her neck. He could smell her hair, and it was driving him insane. He had to stop. He told himself to stop. To think.
"You... you spin," he said, jerking his head up from it's place, nearly at her shoulder, and moving his left hand from its place on her flat, smooth stomach. "Spin to your left, push his arm away with your left shoulder, and catch his side with your blade." Immediately, he removed his sword, sheathed it, and hurried to his bedside to put on his boots. She stood, transfixed for a moment. Water brimmed in her eyes. Wiping it away quickly, she briefly touched the cloth tied around her neck. She was right to swear off all men. She was right to swear off love. She hurried out the door, sheathing the sword as she went.
Jack looked after her sorrowfully. "Bloody idiot," he said to himself, turning. A single drop of water hit the floor before he wiped the rest away.
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For the next day and a half, she had barely spoken to him. Giving directions to the most likely course the Tiger had taken was all she said. She ate with the crew, retired early and was up and busy before he awoke. She didn't come in to wake him up again, which was just as well, seeing as he had run out of rum with which to drown his sorrows. She took any order he gave her and performed it flawlessly, but did so without speaking to him. On the second day, he couldn't stand it. It was ripping his insides apart.
They were alone on the prow, he was steering and she was gazing forlornly over the side. They hadn't had a glimpse of the Tiger yet, and he suspected she was beginning to think she'd never see it again. A sudden thought struck him, and he called to her.
"Pearl?" She turned to him soundlessly, as if waiting for an order. "Would you take her for a moment?" Her eyes widened slightly. She knew very well that no one touched the wheel except the Captain himself and, on special occassions, Anamaria. He didn't trust anyone else to steer. Still not speaking, she moved and took the wheel from him. He studied her as she did this- no trace of emotion. Just a cold front, the same she had been putting up since their little bout of swordplay. He couldn't help but smile sadly- Pearl steering the Pearl. He didn't know what to say to her.
'I'm sorry I was this close to making mad love to you?' No.
'I'm sorry I'm so terribly attracted to you, want to go to my cabin?' Definitely not.
'I'm sorry that I'm in lov-' Wait, wait now. Just a moment Jack. Hold yourself right there, mate. You are not going to think what I believe you're going to think. Oh yes I am, he retorted. He wouldn't have been tearing himself apart for the last day and a half if he didn't. This... this was like a breakthrough! But she doesn't love you, bloody idiot! He scolded himself.
He was in the middle of this heated discussion with himself when she spoke. Finally.
"Captain," she stated, voice wavering a little. He turned towards her expectingly. She stared back at him. He looked front and grinned from ear to ear.
"We've caught up."
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A/N: Short chapter, I know... Last chapter coming up! Wow, this flew by... 0_0
