Okay, you guys can shoot me. I am soooo sorry. I cannot put into words how sorry I am. : ( But hopefully this chapter's worth the wait. Probably not, considering it is very short. *le sigh*

A/N: If I could, I would take my notebook to school and work on this fic non-stop. But as it is, I only have the time after doing homework and everything else my life consists of to do this. Stupid high school.

Disclaimer: If I owned Jack Sparrow…um…*is shutting up* No, I still don't own anything.

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Nothing Gold Can Stay

Chapter Four

Natalie stared across the vast blue waters. It was oddly soothing and she would have loved to watch forever, but something was tugging at the back of her mind.

"Will?" He looked away from the rigging at her. "That man, Barbossa you called him.."

"Yes?"

"Is he the Captain?"

"Um..er-well, no." He busied himself by picking at the railing of the ship.

"No?" Natalie repeated, frowning. Will looked back up, his dark eyes troubled, and nodded. "Well, then…who is the Captain?"

Will opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted by a older, stocky man. "Miss Turner," he said gruffly. "the Captain wishes to see you."

"The Captain?" Natalie repeated, looking over at Will. Who also repeated, albeit a bit nervously, "The Captain?"

"Aye, the Captain," the sailor said slowly, annoyed by the repetition. (A/N: Repetition can be fun!)

"Fine," Natalie stepped forward. "Take me to this Captain."

The sailor grunted and started walking, and Natalie followed. A thought struck Will and he grabbed his sister's arm, spinning her around. "Hold up there, Pintel." Pintel rolled his eyes and waited.

"What is it, Will?"

"I just wanted you to remember that going to see the Captain…of this here ship. And, uh," He paused. "and that you are my sister. So, just please…don't be 'mleah(A/N: *rolls eyes at self* Nice vocabulary skills, no?)' with him. Alright?"

"Oh Will, you worry too much." Natalie said, shrugging. "He's a captain of a ship, and I'm just a sailor's sibling; what harm could I do?" With that, she turned and Pintel lead her towards the Captain's quarters. When they were gone, Will turned back toward the water.

"What harm could you do?" he whispered to himself. "Plenty."

~*~

Natalie followed Pintel through the ship. If Will wouldn't tell her who the captain was, was there something about him she wouldn't like? What was wrong with this captain? Is he a pirate? she found herself asking, then had to stifle a laugh. Will, on a pirate ship. William Turner, a pirate. Yeah, like that was ever going to happen.

Pintel opened a door and motioned for Natalie to go in. She did and he closed the door behind her, not coming in himself. She stared at the door for a moment, before turning to face the captain. And as she did, she saw, sitting in the large chair, eating an apple, the person she least expected.

"Sparrow?!" Her mouth hung open, and he bit into the apple, smirking.

"G'mornin', Turner," he said around a mouth of fruit. "Fancy seein' you here. So lovely of you to join me. Come, sit down." He motioned to a spare chair.

Natalie stood where she was. "Y-You're the captain?" she choked out, still disbelieving. Jack nodded, smiling at her tone. "Wha-How did you become Captain?"

"Well," he said slowly, leaning back and propping his legs up on the desk, crossing them at the ankles. "I'm not enitrely sure meself…"

"I would think William would make a better captain than you," she remarked, finally walking to the desk.

"Oh…don't try to beat around the bush, Turner," Jack said sarcastically, smiling still. He took another bit from the apple and chewed it thoughtfully. "Bill? Captain? Hmm…He's far too true of heart to be captain of this ship."

"Isn't that what you want in a captain?" Natalie leaned forward on the desk, and Jack glanced at her, then examined his fingernails, ignoring her. "Apparently not." She stood upright and put her hands on her hips. "I guess one of the qualities is being a cocky bastard, one you've got down perfectly."

Jack still ignored her, so she turned and made to leave. It wasn't until she reached for the door Jack spoke again.

"Oy, Turner," Natalie turned around slowly, her eyes narrowed. "If you'll be wanting a change of clothes, grab that stack right there," He pointed to a pile of folded breeches and a shirt on the floor. "And you know, I'm only supplyin' those because you're Billy's sister. In any other circumstances…" He paused. "No, in any other circumstances, you wouldn't be here." Grinning, he swung his feet off the desk and stood up. Natalie stared at him as her walked toward her.

"You expect me to wear those?"

"Yeah," he said simply, as if it was completely obvious. He now stood in front of her, and looked down at her. Natalie was rather short compared to him, though not as tall as Will. She glared up at him, her jaw set. "Now," he bent over to pick up the pile of clothes. "Take these," He shoved them into her arms. His smile suddenly faded. "And get the bloody hell out of me quarters."

Jack opened the door and gave Natalie a good shove. He slammed the door and walked back towards the desk. He absently started to talk to himself. "Why do you call him William, woman? Call him Bill, for Christ's sake. Bill. Bootstrap. Anything other than William. And as for Bill…why bring her? Why torment me? How long do you expect me to keep her on board, William?"

"Um, Jack?" Jack jumped at hearing the voice. He turned around to see Bill.

"Bill..hi." Jack leaned on the desk, regaining his relaxed air. "Or should I call you William?"

Bill rubbed the back of his neck, seemingly uncomfortable. "Jack, please don't make this any harder than it already is."

"Billy, You know I wouldn't dream of doing that." Bill raised an eyebrow, dropping his hand to his side. Jack smiled. "Come now, don't worry yourself. I'll manage…somehow. Even if it does cost me my sanity."

Rolling his eyes, Bill opened the door. He turned back to Jack, halfway out the door. "Thanks for lending her the clothes."

Jack shrugged. "They weren't mine. No big deal."

"Thanks anyway, Jack." He walked out and closed the door behind him, leaving Jack by himself again.

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End Ch.4. Very short. I know. And I'm sorry.

Notes about this chapter: I find my vocabulary atrocious. Don't mind the times when there are stupid words. Yes. Ahem. Anyway. I find Jack talking to himself amusing. It came to me halfway through typing this chapter, and I thought, Hell, why not put it in there? Hmm…Was going to have Natalie find out she's on a pirate ship in this chapter, but I decided that needed it's own chapter, and cut this one short.

Replies to reviews!!

Manda Costoulas - I'm not giving up! *points to new chapter you just read* For now, at least…

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MrsPitt - Hehe, thanks for that ego-inflating review. I love them, even if I don't need them. And in Once Upon a Time In Mexico, Johnny didn't die, but he did- er *is shutting up*

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