Disclaimer: Don't own it, won't ever own, haven't got a notion to either!

Journey To The Past

By: J.L. Dexter
Rating: PG-13 for violence, language and sexual reference.
Summary: Jack's decided to take a break from raiding for a while, but the port he's docking in hold's more story than expected as Anamaria's past catches up with her and Jack. A letter from Port Royal arrives requesting Jack's presence and find out who is taking that long walk down the aisle.

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Jack paced the shore, his hand waving about wildly as he talked to himself. "Jack me boy, ye are a bright one. Ye just turned Ana down and you've only been with her- for oh, a year!" he exclaimed smacking his forehead.

The pirate captain stopped and stared out at the horizon, a small frown upon his face. "What have ye done, Jack," he whispered. He pulled something from his pocket, his thumb caressing it gently. It rightfully belongs to her and no one else. We both know that.

"Aye, it does." So then why are ye standin' here like a cur? "I don't know." Bloody good answer mate, no one would ever suspect ye of being indecisive. "Belay that talk, mate." Well this is a wonderful predicament ye got yourself into. Now what?

Jack quirked an eyebrow and muttered, "Great, now I'm bloody talkin' to meself." He stared at the box in his hand and then tucked it away. "Guess I can't stay out here all day. Ana would surely have me head if I just left her," he sighed as he headed back for the cave.

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Ana winced as she sat up, a hand gingerly touching the back of her head. "Blasted rock," she grumbled as she wiped blood from her arm, a scratch having been placed during her fall.

Grabbing the lantern, Ana pushed herself to her feet when she noticed a strange boulder beside her. Recognizing it as the one she tripped over, Ana kicked it softly with the toe of her boot and cursed. She halted when she saw the rock move and crouched down placing a hand on its rough surface. Giving it a small push, Ana jumped back in surprise when the boulder moved again, this time exposing a small makeshift hole underneath it.

Now that's odd, she thought as she brought the lantern close to peer inside the unearthed cavity. Her eyes picked up the flash of something shiny in the light and she absently fished her hand in the dirt, searching.

When her fingers barely touched something smooth, she leaned forward and gripped it firmly bringing it into the light. Ana made a face at the object; an old leather-bound book with a latch. Dust and dirt covered the book's binding as the latch kept what was inside hidden. At the bottom of the book she could just barely make out some letters that were too faded from age to read.

Something about the book intrigued Ana as she used a nearby rock to bust the lock, the pages finally being freed from their confines. Thumbing through the pages, Ana came across a single entry near the front making her frown.

A journal, she mused. Her fingers traced the eligible writing as her eyes skimmed the passage, her lips twisting in sadness. A name at the bottom caught her eye causing her to drop the book with a gasp. Father's.

Ana closed her eyes, her memory flooding back. Yes, she remembered. He did have a book he always carried around with him. He was always writing in it, kept it hidden. Not even mother dared to read it.

Pushing the thoughts away, Ana reached for the book once more, her curiosity getting the better of her. As she thumbed through the pages, a name scribbled on a page grabbed her attention as she read over the writing.

…My good friend Jack paid a visit today. It's so great to see him again; it has been too long. Lad has grown so much and he's turning into a wonderful captain from what I have heard. Good friend, good lad that Captain Jack Sparrow- fearless man to the end. He does seem to get bent out of shape when someone refers to him as just plain old, Jack Sparrow. Quite entertaining to watch though I might add…

Ana slammed the book shut, the tears threatening through her anger. How could he? He's known all along.

Angered and hurt, Ana stormed from the cave, the book still tucked firmly in her grasp. From the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of white coming toward her. Jack. Her anger was fueled at the sight of him as she turned from him, her brisk steps taking her farther away.

"Ana? Where are ye goin'?" Jack was shouting as he walked after her.

Ignoring him, Ana reached for her horse's reins as she shoved the book into the saddlebag and started to climb on to the horse's back. Jack finally caught up with her and grabbed her pulling her back to the ground. She glared at him, her eyes glossed with tears.

"What's the matter?"

Ana's eyes narrowed as she asked, "How long have you known?"

"What?"

"How long have you known? Were you not going to tell me?

Jack cocked his head ever so slightly. "Ana, I can't know what you're talkin' about if ye don't tell me what I did wrong."

Ana shot him a glare and finally shoved the book at his chest. "There, that's what I'm talking about, Jack Sparrow!"

Flipping through the book, Jack found his name mentioned in several of the entries. "It belonged to my father," Ana told him indignantly. "He wrote about you, Jack! He knew you, and you knew him."

There was a long pause as Jack closed the book and stared at her. After what seemed like eternity to Ana, Jack answered, "Aye, I knew your father."

"Why didn't you tell me? Did you not think that it mattered either?" Ana would have continued had Jack not stopped her.

"That's not how it is, Ana."

Ana pulled away from him. "Then how? What other way could it be?"

Jack took a ragged breath. Like to see how you're going to get yourself out of this one, mate. "Look, I knew your father Ana. I won't deny it. He was a good man," he paused. "A good pirate."

The dark skinned woman moved back in shock. "What did you just say?"

Instead of answering her, Jack took the liberty to explain his side of the story, in what he hoped was a good way to not find himself being slapped in the end. "I knew him. I did some business with him time to time."

"What kind of business?" Ana interrupted with mild anger in her voice.

Jack shook his head in disgust at the business Ana was referring to. "Not any of that kind. Tradin', buyin', sellin' goods- honest business Ana. He was a pirate, your father. And he was my friend. But ye have to believe me… he loved ye and your mother, very much. When he met your mom, he gave up the life of a pirate and never looked back."

He saw a bit of reassurance flicker over Ana's eyes at this and he pressed on with his tale, starting at the beginning. "I was born in England and lived there 'till I was 10. The high society life just wasn't for me, so I hired on as a cabin boy of sorts on a vessel headin' for Jamaica. Little did I know what kind of vessel it was that I had happily signed my life away to. It was durin' my time onboard that I met your father. Mostly everyone called him Gunner- but to a select few of us, he was Thackery. It was also then that I met Bill Turner, who, surprisingly, was Thackery's childhood friend."

Ana cut in. "You mean to tell me that, my father and Bill Turner were best friends?"

"Aye, they were. I became the third man so to speak. They treated me like a younger siblin' they did. Always lookin' out for me an' such. It was those two who taught me everythin' I know. Both good men an' wonderful pirates. Of course, ole' Bill had a wife back in England, and he never once shut-up about her. Thought Thackery was gonna thunk him one good time and send him overboard. Now Thackery, bein' well liked with the captain and all, was allowed shore leave back to England often. His parents, mind you, civil and wealthy nobles, thought Thackery was away so much on business. If only they knew. It was durin' one of his visits, that ole' Thack discovered his parents were movin' to Port Maria. So Thackery stuck around and helped with the crossin."

Jack stopped to catch his breath and slid a glance to Anamaria who seemed lost in thought as she concentrated on something in the distance, her eyes blank. "Then what?' she asked without looking up at him.

"Well, not much happened, except that Thackery came back to us and occasionally visited his parents. But as luck would have it, I think Bill finally got to him with all his talk about missin' that wife of his. On one visit to his father's estate, he met a woman, Lenae, who was a slave under his father's care. Well, Thackery found himself leavin' the crew more and more just to visit with this woman and then finally one day, he asked her to marry him. Thack's father was furious that his son would marry a low, good for nothin' slave, but Thackery loved her and married her anyway. So his father packed up and moved back to England and was never heard from again. Held grudges that man did. So Thack settled down, and thus began the beginning of a new life for him and his bonny lass. And then," Jack paused to see if he still had Ana's attention. Seeing he did, he went on.

"And then ye came along. Thackery was indeed a proud papa that night. I was twelve and Bill an' I were both there to share in his joy, I'd never before seen a man so happy as Thackery was when he held ye. Wantin' to show off his new treasure, he let me hold ye an' I won't forget what ye did."

Ana looked up then, a mixed expression of nostalgia and sadness on her face. "What did I do?"

"Ye smiled at me. Ye didn't smile at Bill or your papa, but ye smiled at me. And I remember thinkin' to meself how beautiful ye were, how ye had a lovely smile even as an infant- and I also remember thinkin' how ye were gonna break my thumb with that iron grip of yours," Jack recited with a chuckle. "But most of all, I knew I'd do anythin' for ye, Ana. Ye weren't my daughter, but I knew anyway. I made a promise to your father that night. One I am still keepin'."

Ana opened her mouth to ask what the promise was but Jack was faster as he started talking again. "Well Bill and I went back to our captain and I gradually began to take Thackery's position. Eventually I became first mate and then when the captain died unexpectedly durin' a raid, I took over his command. The Black Pearl then became mine. As much as I enjoyed being captain, raidin', pillagin' and lootin', it felt like somethin' was missin'. That somethin' bein' your father from my crew. I visited Port Maria a lot after ye were born and to tell the truth, I never got tired of comin' to port and seein' ye standin' at the docks waitin' on me. Ye were always there, it was like ye knew when I was comin' and ye would stand there and wait for me."

Ana gave a slight smile. "Come to think of it, I do remember standing there waiting for you. But it was so long ago I had forgotten."

Jack nodded slowly. "It was nice knowin' there was someone waitin' for me all the time. Ye were a wild one that's for sure. Ye used to drag me all over the place, always havin' somethin' new and excitin' to show me each time I came to visit. I can't count all the times I got stuck baby-sittin' ye. But it was an experience I won't soon forget, watchin' ye grow up and turn into a beautiful lady. Took after your mother, ye did."

Ana nodded. "Father said the same thing. Said I didn't inherit any of his traits, just my mother's."

"That's not true either. Ye inherited his intellect, his desire for adventure and his passion for life. Your mother's looks, but your father's personality. Couldn't have asked for a better combination than that," Jack assured.

"What promise did you make my father, Jack?"

Jack frowned and turned his gaze to the ground. "I promised him a long time ago, that should anythin' happen to him or your mother, that I'd look after ye. That was before I was marooned. And then Barbossa betrayed me and left me to die on that forsaken island. It was only after I escaped there that I discovered Port Maria had been destroyed and that there were no survivors. I thought ye all to be dead. And then I met ye in Tortuga. Ye looked so familiar and ye had the same name. But I couldn't be sure. Then ye told me about your past and I knew I had found ye, that ye had managed to escape alive. But I was afraid to say anythin' out of fear that you'd leave and I wouldn't be able to find ye. I had promised to protect ye, so I kept my mouth shut."

"So you stole my boat to protect me? By how? Making sure that I didn't leave Tortuga? Make it easier for you to find me, is that it?" Ana asked, a hint of teasing in her tone.

Jack waved his hand defensively. "No, no. I borrowed your boat to find me ship, so I could come back and get ye… and then protect ye," he quickly added as an afterthought.

Ana rolled her eyes. "How convenient," she stated with sarcasm. "But one thing."

"And what would that be?"

"You left me Jack," Ana whispered. "Long before you were marooned, you left me. You stopped coming and I began to wonder if I had done something to drive you away."

Jack reached for her hand as his other pushed the hair from her face. "No, Ana. Ye didn't drive me away. On one of my visits, your father told me that, ye were betrothed. I didn't think they still did that here, but I guess some still did. He was afraid ye would be rejected 'cause of your heritage."

"You mean because my mother had been a slave and he was an Englishman," Ana corrected.

"To put it simply, yes. So he had arranged this marriage for ye, with some kid ye grew up with. He was older than ye, but ye two were best of friends. Ye always seemed so happy when ye were him," Jack remembered. "But for some reason, I didn't trust him. And I told your father how I felt about it. We got into an argument and he said that ye were his daughter and he would do what he thought was best for ye and that I shouldn't be getting' into other people's personal business. So I left. Kept watch from a distance, at least until I was marooned. And of course, ye know the rest of the story from there."

"He may have been a little naïve, but Derrick was a good person, Jack. He saved me all those years ago," Ana stated sadly.

"I know and I was wrong about him. But it didn't change the fact that there was somethin' uneasy in the boys eyes that unnerved me."

Ana laughed. "Yeah, he had that air about him time to time, but he was a gentleman."

"I'm sorry I never told ye, Ana, it's just, well…" he trailed off unsure of what to say next.

"It's all right Jack, I understand. Thank you for telling me the truth." Anamaria gave him a comforting smile as she embraced him, his arms wrapping around her protectively.

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A/N: Look! A LONG chapter! This story is halfway over, not much more left to it now except a visit to Port Royal, a surprise meeting with Will and Elizabeth and some shocking news from Norrington. Oh and a lot of kissy-face (for my good friend, Jackfan2)

So Ana's past has completely been revealed with Jack's help of course. Betcha never saw that one coming, did ya? Something new, not yet done- hope it was new any how. If not, oh well, we can't all come up with new and exciting ideas.

Shout-out for the reviewers-

Jackfan2, Kingleby, Cal, Special Eddie- Thanks you guys!