Shadows Of The Heart

Chapter Two: Closer When He's Gone

Disclaimer: Do not own PotC.

** A/N: I know a lot of you want to see some Jack- oriented romance, but love doesn't happen in a day. Ok, well maybe it does sometimes, but I don't believe in love at first sight. Especially for Ana Marie. I want to make this look like it kind of evolved, but I will definitely give you a crumb this chapter. ^ - ~ **

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What had she been thinking?

Her first month as captain had been a complete disaster! Could she possibly be losing her touch? Had she spent so long under the orders of a captain that she had forgotten how to be a captain herself? No, no, it wasn't that. She just didn't enjoy it anymore.

Ana Marie slumped in a chair in her cabin and placed her face in her hands, elbows resting on a small table in front of her. She did have more fun under the orders of Jack, and as much as she hated to admit it, she really was starting to miss him.

The longer she went without seeing him, the more she thought about him. And thinking about him led to... feelings... that she didn't really want to have. She didn't love him. Of course she didn't love him! No one but a fool would fall in love with Captain Jack Sparrow. But she'd be lying to herself if she didn't at least admit that she was attracted to him.

"Well that's normal, isn't it? Fer a woman te be attracted te an 'andsome man." She murmured to herself.

Yes. Of course. That's all it was. A silly infatuation that would end in time. Just not soon enough.

She really shouldn't worry. In fact, perhaps she would find a man to take her mind off Jack. Permanently.

She stood up with concrete resolve, almost sending her chair backwards. Rolling the sleeves of her white shirt up to her elbows, she strode across the room and out onto the moonlit deck.

"All hands on deck!" She ordered, waiting patiently as the banging around below her grew louder and her crew eventually surrounded her. "Set the sails! We head fer Tortuga!"

She marched up to the helm and took hold, whipping out her compass and spinning the wheel to the right direction.

Her crew was slow and reluctant to get started, setting sail while only half awake. Her first mate, a tall brunette only a couple of years younger than her, yawned as he joined her beside the helm.

"Captain, can' this wait till mornin'?"

"No!"

He almost jumped, startled at her shout. "A- an emergency, then?"

Ana Marie looked at the young man, Nathaniel, who had been her first mate before for three years. Three years, and he still called her 'captain'. She had never thought about it before, so it had never bothered her. But after her adventures with Jack, it did. The crew of the 'Black Pearl' never called Jack 'captain'. Well, perhaps they did the first few days, but it quickly ended. They were so comfortable that they didn't have to.

They were like family.

"Yeh, Nat, sumthin' like tha'."

Sure, she could get romantically involved with one of her crew, but... she just didn't feel any sort of attraction towards any of them.

But in Tortuga, there certainly had to be SOMEONE she was attracted to. He'd probably be another drunkard-dirty, and smelly, and untrustworthy, but... Okay, she just wouldn't think about what he might be like. She wouldn't forgive herself if she backed down and spent the rest of her days in her cabin.

So Tortuga it was.

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Now the best place to look for a boyfriend is definitely NOT a bar, but if you're a pirate, it's really the only one.

Ana Marie looked around the filthy room anxiously. As the only daughter in a family full of boys, she had no idea how to go about this "courting". Sure, she knew what men liked (many thanks to her brothers), but... how do you get one to court, or even notice, you? Do pirates court? How does one "flirt"?

Ana Marie walked over to the bar and slumped into a stool, her chin resting in her palm. What to do? Maybe if she just sat here... yeah, like some sap was just going to walk up and start a conversation.

"Is this seat taken?" (**A/N: The oldest line in the book started here! ;p **) Caught completely off-guard, Ana Marie turned to see the handsome blond pirate standing beside her, indicating the stool right next to hers. She glanced around quickly to make sure he was really talking to her, and then shook her head, smiling.

"Nah, mate. 'Ave a seat."

He smiled at her seductively as he took a seat. Still looking at her, he motioned to the bartender.

"Two drinks."

'Well that was easy.' Ana Marie thought. 'Now what?'

"So wha' do ye call yerself?" He asked.

Ana Marie relaxed a little, deciding to let this man do all the talking, who seemed to at least know what he was doing.

"Ana Marie. An' ye?"

"Ana Marie." The man repeated. "What a pretty name." He rubbed his clean- shaven chin. "Name's jackal-eyed John. But tha's jes wha' me crew calls me. Ye can call me John."

"John i' is, then." The rum came, and Ana Marie took a large gulp to loosen her nerves. Vaguely she tried to remember why she was doing this in the first place.

"Ye a captain, huh?" She asked as her mug came down. She noticed he hadn't touched any of his rum yet.

"Aye. Of a beaut o' a ship. Call 'er de 'Gold Seeker.' What 'bout ye? Ye go' a ship o' ye own?"

"Aye, on'y recently, tho. De 'Interceptor'. Near fas' eno' te catch de 'Black Pearl'.

"De 'Black Pearl'?" John grinned. "I 'eard tha' ship's go' a crew o' zombies."

"Aye, it did. Bu' ol' Jack now, 'e an' 'is young friend, Will Turner, dey recaptured de "Black Pearl' an' defeated captin Barbossa."

John chuckled. "Ye say I' lahke ye was der."

"Ah was." And with that Ana Marie set off on the tale Jack liked to call 'The Curse of the Black Pearl', and before she knew it, found herself outside with the man she had just met. They were walking down an alley, laughing at one of captain Jack's retold antics, when suddenly their path was blocked by a dark figure.

John and Ana Marie both stopped laughing as they saw the man. Ana Marie looked around, only to find more figures coming out of the shadows to surround them.

John chuckled. "Sorry, luv. Ahm afraid this is whar our date ends." He said as he joined the other men's side.

"Wha--?" Ana Marie cried out as two men grabbed her from behind. John started for her, but she swung her foot up hard, catching him in the face. He grabbed his nose as he stumbled back, and Ana Marie hooked her right foot around one of her captor's ankles, trapping him. With her now free arm, she punched her other captor. Wiggling out of his grasp, she backed into a corner and surveyed her odds. Five to one. She fumbled as she pulled her knife out of its sheath, but by the time she had it ready, one of the men knocked it out of her hands and struck her across her jaw. She flew sideways, tumbling over crates and barrels. Blinking the dots from her eyes, she picked herself out of the rubble and searched for her knife.

Ana Marie dodged another punch, and grabbed the guy's arms as it swung out. She twisted, and flipped him over her back, and then gave a swift kick to his temple once he hit the ground. Busy doing this, Ana Marie didn't see the guy behind her come up to kick her in the back. She slammed into the opposing wall, and another guy used her knife to stab at her. She quickly rolled away from it, and caught the blade in her shoulder. Ana Marie cried out in anguish, and kicked the offender in his genitals, who fell to the ground in pain.

With her back against the wall, she looked for the last three. Seeing nobody else in the alley, Ana Marie assumed they had left. She turned the corner, only to be close-lined by one of the waiting men.

From the ground, Ana Marie barely heard John in her almost unconscious state.

"Pick her up."

Ana Marie felt herself being dragged up by both arms. The vision of the man in front of her was hazy.

"Ye know, ye women are really more trouble tha' yer werth." She heard the click of the hammer of a gun being pulled back. "On'y good fer one ting."

'This is the end.' Ana Marie thought. 'This is the worst way to die.'

"Three 'gainst one? Tha's no' very fair." Ana Marie's heart sped up as she heard the familiar slur. " 'specially 'gainst a lady."

John turned around to meet Jack's fist, and he fell instantly. The two men dropped Ana Marie to charge Jack, who quickly stepped to the side and tripped both of them. He kicked a crate at the bottom of a stacked pile, so that it went spiraling down the alley and the crates piled on top toppled over the trio of pirates, burying them.

"Well." Jack exclaimed as he brushed imaginary dust from his hands. "Dey won' be getting up fer awhile."

Ana Marie smiled, and before she could control her impulse, grabbed the sides of Jack's face and drew him in for a quick, fierce kiss.

Realizing what she had just done, she drew her hand back and struck him across the face. Jack stumbled back, his hand nursing the place where she slapped him.

"OW! Wha' was tha' fer?"

"Ye were late!" She lied. Jack laughed, and then hooked an arm around her shoulder.

"Es good te see ye too!" Jack steered her out of the alley and towards the port. " 'Ow 'bout a game o' cards on me ship. Te celebrate a meetin' o' ol' friends."

Ana Marie rolled her eyes. "It's 'mazing te me, Jack, 'ow ye kin jes come outta a fight, an' act lahke i' was nothin'."

"We kin celebrate tha' too!"

"Aye." She sighed. "Ye'd celebrate anything, so long as there's rum."

"Well o' course." Jack grinned. "So 'ow 'bout it? Rum an' cards."

"Aye, Jack. Why not?"

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Yay! Fight scene! Yeah, you just knew he was going to pop in right at the opportune moment. Okay, any questions, just ask.

And if your wondering about the kiss, it was more of a thing friends do, like a thank-ye-fer-savin-me thing. That's why there was no tongue, and Jack didn't comment about it.

**Quotes**:

"Ow! What was that for?"

"You were late!"

-- John Wayne (Jackie Chan), and Lynn (don't know her name, but she was in Crouching Tiger); from Shanghai Knights.

**Next chapter**:

What exactly goes on during a game of cards between drunken pirates? More pirate fun with the oh-so-quotable Jack, that's what!