Author's Note: First and foremost, to get this issue past everyone who'd cry foul, there ARE going to be pairings in this story, but NOT those of the OC variety. I'm set for now on Will/Elizabeth although I may shift into a bit of Jack/Anamaria. As for Aldonza... Well... you'll see.

For your information and all, she was indeed inspired from the character of Aldonza from the musical, Man of La Mancha. I was listening to the CD when I first got the idea from her. I've seen the musical twice, (Once performed by our highschool... heh) but I've never read Don Quixote. I was also inspired by the female lawyer in the movie A Time to Kill. So that gives you all a little background on my creation here. Mmyep. Now, on with the show! (Subliminal Message: I NO OWN POTC)

* * *

Oh, I have seen too many beds,
But I have known too little rest,
And I have loved too many men
With hatred burning in my breast.
I do not like you or your brother,
I do not like the life I live,
But I am me, I am Aldonza.
And what I give, I choose to give.
One pair of arms is like another
It's all the same, it's all the same!

~It's All the Same; Man of La Mancha

* * *

It was midnight on the filthy, over-crowded streets of Tortuga. Every low life thief, every blackguard, scalawag, lecherous pervert, seductress, hooker, prostitute, and every murderous maniac to be sought out could be plucked off those streets. It was a pirate's safe haven, a hellish underworld of nonstop music, drink, pleasure, and violence. To some, it was more than home. It was a place of unending fun, adventure, and chaos. But there was a lot missing. For one thing, the value of a life. A woman could find herself raped to the point of trauma. A man could be stabbed in the back. A newborn baby could be abandoned by its so called mother. But no one would even raise a hand to any of this. It was every man for himself. And to some people, this concept was beyond sick; it was down right terrifying.

"Remember, Rose, no man is to be trusted. Get all payment in advance. And no sweet talk. These aren't the type who want your vulnerability."

"Al... Aldonza, I'm scared... I don't think I can....

"Of course you can. You like eating, don't you?"

The timid young Rose swallowed the lump in her throat as she slowly proceeded from alley into the streets to walk amongst the crowd. She glanced about, fear flickering in her dulled hazel eyes. "Why am I here? Is this what it's come to? The pathetic little runaway who could've had a real husband who owned a real house? Why did I make this choice..?" The minute she realized she was muttering to herself, she noticed a drunken middle aged pirate slumped against the wall staring at her with a lecherous smirk and lust glazed eyes. His loosely laid form was clad in torn leather, covered in dirt and spilt booze. His stomach was what stood out the most, as it was largest beer belly she'd ever seen on a man. "Oh God... is this what I've sold myself to? God help your foolish young lambs..." she whispered, taking a few steps back. "I can't do this! Aldonza, Aldonza! Where are you?!"

* * *

"I can't believe I'm finally doing it! I'm going to marry her, Jack. I'm going to marry Elizabeth!" Will was practically bouncing in his seat. Never before had Jack seen the pirate's son in such a nervous boyish state. How old was this kid again? He raised an eyebrow.

"Aye... This we've confirmed lad... for the past half hour. Have some rum, lad. That's an order."

"Wh-what?! I'm just a little nervous, that's all... besides, you know how she feels about that drink. It wouldn't be right!"

"Well right now ye be embarrassing me. Besides, a place with these kinds of scalawags is no place to be drawing attention to yerself, lest you're looking to be ravaged." Will reclined back into his seat, his hands fumbling with the napkin on his lap. "And I daresay," Jack continued. "...that would spoil the wedding." In a way, Jack was being honest. Compared to everyone else in the club who wasn't female, William was probably the youngest and most clean cut of them all. With his fairly well groomed brown hair pulled into a low pony-tail, his skin paler than most of the other men from his work inside the forge, his clothes plain and for the most part clean... He was no nobleman, but he was no pirate either. Quite frankly, as Jack was forced to note, Will was the prettiest boy there, and Jack knew plenty of scurvy sea dogs who wouldn't hesitate to take some sort of advantage on that.

Will slumped his back a bit, leaning his elbows on the table. His eyes scanned the room. A couple of nasty looking pirates were leering at him, but mostly it was the usual madness. Two tables down had turned into all out fisticuffs. One drunken pirate swung what was left of a bar stool at another. The audible crack from the impact was either wood or bone, as Will figured it. He winced and glanced away. At the other end of the room, one especially wealthy (or perhaps lucky) pirate had two of Tortuga's infamous prostitutes hanging on either of his arms and one that clung to his lower leg. Will's head snapped away from the sight in disgust. Why he ever let Jack bring him to Tortuga even for just the shortest amount of time was beyond him. Of course, Jack felt just dandy, as if he was right at home, and Will could tell. "So, remind me why we had to come here?"

"Food, entertainment, beautiful women- How else would ye rather spend your last moments as a free man? Makes fer one hell of a bachelor's party, eh mate?"

Will's eyes widened. "That's why you brought me here?!"

"What other reason there be? Now let's find you some nice young strumpet to bide some-"

"Are you absolutely daft?!"

Jack paused a moment, studying Will's face. "I really wish people would stop sayin' that 'bout me." He made an extravagant gesture with a wide sweep of his arm. "C'mon Will. Yer not gonna sit there all night like a prick, are you?"

"Oh yes I- ...Wait a minute..."

* * *

Rose had never felt so humiliated in her life. The nice, harmless peasant girl now dressed in the gaudiest of outfits, her child like face painted over with caked on hues of rouge and ebony on the lips and around the eyes. Her soft blond hair had become greasy and stringy from the sudden lack of hygiene from her newly acquired street life. She didn't like this game all of a sudden. It seemed easy enough until now, where she faced the world as if in some sort of hellish masquerade. She stumbled her way into the pub, tripping over her own feet. Of course this attracted the stare of every sleazy man in the vicinity. She stood back up all the way and smoothed out the skirt of her long slinky dress. "Great... they're all just staring... now what?!"

"Well well, look at that dame, lad! She's perfect for ye. Has both yer bad coordination and lack of humor," said a particularly roguish pirate to the blushing young man that sat uncomfortably next to him. Rose turned her head sharply, starting to blush as well. "Wh-what do I do..?" she accidentally asked aloud, just loud enough for Jack to here her. He lifted one hand and beckoned her over. She slowly stepped towards their table. "Err... you don't want me. I'm just a new girl, and I have no clue what I'm doing, so please don't hurt me, I'll just be-"

Jack smirked. "Sit."

Rose nodded dumbly for a second and obeyed. Jack looked her up and down. Awkward, scrawny, greasy hair... a runaway. "Without being to bold, lass, might I ask who recruited ye? Or are you by your onesies?"

"T-Tobias... Tobias Parcher..." she answered nervously, her fingers clenching the edge of her seat.

Jack propped his elbows up on the table and tapped his fingers together, a dark look clouding over his eyes. "Toby, Toby... Figures. That man has less knack for his so-called trade than a swine fer navigatin.' He hasn't recruited anyone that successful since he picked up Aldonza. But back then even she-"

Will furrowed his brow. "What the hell are you rambling about now?!"

Rose glanced down at the table sadly. "I just need some money. I got to make it somehow... And if Tobias, or Toby, or whoever the hell he is can give me that chance, I'll take it... Does it show how desperate I've become..?" Her eyes glazed over with the mist of newly forming tears.

"What's yer name, darling?" Jack asked in a slightly more sympathetic tone.

"Rose..." she choked out.

"Interesting..." If one was to look at the pirate at that moment, they would swear to see the very gears of his needle sharp mind at work. Not that Jack was in the very least readable, nor would he ever reveal what he was thinking until the opportune moment. He merely smiled at the young whore and held out his hand. "Pleasure, love."

She reached her own small hand in a jerky and hesitant manner, leaning forward slowly as if afraid his would lash out and grab her if she wasn't careful. On the contrary, she found the grip of his callused hand to be rather comforting. "And you're-"

He grinned a toothy grin that proudly displayed his many gold teeth. "Captain Smith," he introduced so casually that even Will almost ignored the blatant lie.

The moment they shook hands, Will rolled his eyes. "Give it up, Jack. There are at least fifty people here who could identify you."

"And up to now, whelp, she was not one of them!" Jack hissed through clenched teeth. "And besides that, it's Captain! I swear, a bleeding plank could catch on faster than ye."

Rose's eyes widened. "Y-you can't p-possibly mean... you're not..." her voice hushed to a whisper. "C-captain Jack Sparrow... are you?"

"Pardon my dishonesty. Nothing against you personally, of course." He let go of her hand and leaned back into his seat.

She withdrew herself back into her seat very quickly, staring at her hand as if it had just touched the cloak of Satan. "You're not going to hurt me, are you? Please... I'm just a girl, I don't know what I'm doing... I swear I-"

Jack let out a huff. "Apparently there's been gossip."

Will smirked. "Apparently. So what have you been up to, Jack?"

"Nothing..." Jack's gaze shifted up to the ceiling and he proceeded to hum a little pirate tune to himself.

"Liar."

Suddenly, a shadow loomed over their table. Rose smiled. "Aldon-!"

"Shut up." She turned her attention to Jack. "You've got a lot of nerve, Sparrow."

"Well, well, well. Speak of the devil. I'm sure I had just mentioned your name somewhere in this conversation. Something about Toby's tactless tactics..." That usual laughing expression came over him. Sly one, Jack was. He knew just how to get on anyone's bad side purely for his own twisted amusement.

Aldonza frowned and nodded her head towards Rose. "Is this how you get your kicks? Psyching out rookies?"

Will gaped, almost sorry he had bothered looking. There above them was the most diabolical looking woman he'd ever seen. She was sleek with short ebony hair, a cat like figure, and thin chocolate colored eyes that reminded Will of a serpent. Not to mention, of course, that she was wearing a somewhat tight and especially low cut red dress. Aldonza noticed his reaction immediately. "Something wrong, sweetie? Like what you see?" She leaned forward giving Will a perfect display of her cleavage. Will yelped and nearly fell back from his seat. Jack burst out laughing and rose chuckled into the palm of her hand. Aldonza folded her arms. "Who's your lady-friend anyway, Jackie boy?" she asked with a smirk.

"'Scuse me?" Jack said in a drawn out way that could only mean one thing.

"Oh, sorry. Captain Jackie boy," Aldonza corrected, not in the least bit amused.

"Almost there, love. Moving on, this be William. William Turner."

Aldonza's expression suddenly morphed to one of near shock. "Turner?! You're shitting me!"

"No, nay, never. Would I lie? Nice wording, by the way. Very lady-like."

"Erm..." Will interrupted. "You knew my father..?" he asked, his tone somewhat skeptical.

"Of course! Who didn't know Bootstrap back in his day?" Aldonza spat as if it was the dumbest question she'd ever heard, resentment dripping from her voice.

Jack nudged Will. "She's just a little brought down on account of when Bootstrap was alive and kickin', she was as seductive as a twig." Will pushed the pirate away from him.

"So my father was well known around here after all?"

"Are you daft or just plain slow? Everyone in Tortuga knew about the original crew of the Black Pearl. God, we all thought they'd do it. Bring back that treasure from Isla de Muerta. Then we got news of the mutiny. A damn shame for a young captain, right Jack?"

"Oh, go on. You tell my story so well."

"But Will, you weren't there, so you wouldn't know. Here in Tortuga, a bunch of us was rooting for Jack and his crew. No one ever suspected Barbossa. It was a bit of a shock, but then... It only became stranger. Stories about the Black Pearl turning into a ghost ship, the devil's ship, filled with monsters and lost souls of that crew your father was part of. Rumors of Jack escaping from that island Barbossa and his crew left 'im on. One little treasure hunt suddenly became local legend. And what set Bootstrap apart was that role he played..."

"Role..?" Will asked, intrigued.

"His rebellion, the sacrifice," intervened Jack, a sorrowful look captivating the pirate's gaze for no more than a mere few seconds. "Well, I can't say that the news is anything ye've never heard before, but it never seems to get old, now does it?"

"I wish I had gotten to know him better... all I can remember are like... like pictures in a book..." Will rested his chin in his hands, smiling sadly.

"Pity..." Jack and Aldonza muttered in unison, then proceeded to shoot each other a somewhat intrigued glare. Rose looked completely lost.

"Umm... so... what does Turner mean again..?" she asked dumbly. Everyone but Will simply shook their heads. Will simply smiled.

"It's the name of my father, and mine as well."

"And let's not forget the soon-ta-be Mrs. Turner and all the little Turners runnin' bout the forge," pointed out Jack.

A devious look crossed Aldonza's face. "Oh! A bachelor!" How perfect, how delicious... Not only was he something to look at, but he wasn't yet married. The whore had her sights set. Like a predator locking onto its prey, her mind was set. Will Turner, she thought. Son of Bootstrap, alliance of Sparrow... She licked her lips just enough for the young man to notice. Tonight, you will be mine!

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Author's Note: This is the part where I ask for feedback, and you all oblige.