Are You *Sure* This is What We're Looking For?

By: The Megs

Chapter One: Of Breakfast and Premature Alzheimer's

Disclaimer: *incoherent mumbling* Oh.. that doesn't work does it? Dammitall. Alright then, noneofthecharactersaremine, so there! Now you can't sue me.

Author's note: If this sucks, it's not my fault. Blame my muse.

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Captain Jack Sparrow blinked once, rubbed at his sleep-filled eyes, and rolled over on his bed aboard The Black Pearl. He groaned once, then caught a whiff of something.. a familiar scent. if only he were awake and coherent enough to place it. Slowly he sat up, and was suddenly struck full-force by the recognition that something was burning.

"Dammit woman!! Not the bloody rum again!!" he yelled, running full-tilt out of his cabin in only a pair of shorts he had slept in.

Anamaria stepped deftly into his path, stopping his flight for fear that if he had indeed run into her, he'd have a pretty little blush on one cheek, and it'd be much more painful than the powdered kind.

"Now don't ye be worryin' none Captain, you aren't on that godforsaken island anymore and the only thing ye be smellin' is breakfast. Burnt a bit to be sure, but breakfast nonetheless."

Jack let out a long sigh of relief that quite by accident changed into a yawn somewhere along the way. Apparently he was still fairly tired, and that last little bit of action had been brought about only by the adrenaline rush caused by the need to protect his precious rum. He turned slowly to eye Anamaria more closely, as if seeing her for the first time. This in no way made her feel anxious, as he seemed to make a habit of doing this. Maybe he never could quite trust his crew and had to reaffirm their loyalty to his own mind, or maybe he was just an odd one and it was a strange little habit of his. Either way, it didn't really matter.

"What's the next port we're coming into?"

"Why Captain, don'ye remember? Ye gave the order yerself, we'll be stopping by Port Royal. I think too much time at sea has made ye more daft than before, if at all possible." she remarked, with a short laugh.

Yes, that was the plan, after all! A surprise visit to see some old friends, and to enlist the aid of a certain blacksmith-turned-pirate, if all went well. It had been a full year and a half since he had last been back to that port, and he felt that a visit was long overdue.

"Well then Will Turner," he said, mostly to himself, "hope the missus'll let you out of the house for a bit."

"Captain?" Anamaria interrupted carefully.

"What is it then?"

"You're still in your nightclothes sir."

"Oh. right.. Umm. Watch the helm for me wouldja love?"

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William Turner's attention was sharply focused on the task at hand, which, at the moment, happened to be a very fine sword-in-the-making. The red-hot metal sparked with every blow, but it was taking shape quite nicely, it'd have a deadly edge to be sure. Because of this endeavor, he never heard the door to the shop open and close, never saw the looming shadow creeping up on him. Due to this, the unmistakable feel of a cold blade touching his back ever so lightly startled him much more than it should have, and he whirled and parried several times with the unfinished blade before he realized that his would-be attacker was none other than his old friend.

"Jack!! What are you doing here? It's been ages!"

"That's Captain Jack, mate, and I've come with a proposition."

"A proposition? Is that all? You bought Gibbs a drink with his proposition."

"Aye, that I did, but I didn't wake you when you were sleeping."

"That may be true, but you did startle me somethin' awful, and I think that's worth *something*."

Up until then the men had spoken very seriously, but as Will's last sentence Jack broke into his trademark grin.

"Alright then! Don't be such a spoiled little boy, let's take a trip to the local pub, though I'm sure it just won't be the same as Tortuga, and we'll talk over a pint or two."

"A pint or five you mean" Will pointed out, smiling.

"Aye, and the breakfast of champions it is!"

"Even when it's past midday?"

"The cook burned me breakfast this morning."

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End Chapter One.

AN: Please don't kill me if it's not to your liking, and I promise the next chapter will be better, I just had to set the scene and what have you in this one!! *uses her muse as a less-than-human shield to protect against flames*