Hello, everyone! :) 7/17/03

I'm going to try and reply to every review I get, but sometimes I miss some. If I haven't replied to your review, I'm terribly sorry. Please be patient, you'll most likely see a reply in the next chapter I submit. Speaking of which, here are some reviews from the prologue that I missed.

Killer Queen: Thank you! And Johnny Depp IS DEFINITELY HOTT!!

Iarejedi: Thank you! I'm going to try for at least every other day, but so far I've put a chapter up every day, so we'll see how long that lasts.

EmeraldSeraph: Thank you! I run into that a lot, too! I'm glad you like it! Yea, sometimes I skip ahead when I'm reading and then go back and read the rest. I'm anxious to get to that part too, but I have so many ideas that it'll just have to wait. I'll try my hardest to please! :)

Here are some from my first chapter:

Kalithja: Don't worry! Jack gets a little pay back in this chapter and the next few!

Special thanks to NightShadow12 for talking with me hours on end and staying up till the wee hours of the morn to help me write. Thanks for your ideas and help with this chapter especially! I love you, hun!

Thank you again to all my reviewers! You keep the creative juices flowing! I can't wait for more reviews! :)

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The next morning, somewhere before dawn, Jack was rudely awakened by something hitting his face. Opening his eyes, he came face to knot with a rope. It continued to whip him across the nose with the sway of the boat. Sighing, he stood up using the barrel he had been sleeping against as a support. He twisted this way and that, cracking his back and stretching his muscles. Sleeping on a hard wooden floor is stressful for the body.

"Blasted female," Jack muttered before he made his way down the stairs and to the lower deck. He opened the door to his room, fully intent on giving her a piece of his mind, but was stopped dead in his tracks at the sight that greeted him. There, on his bed, lay Gale sleeping peacefully. She had curled herself under his coat so that the only things peeking out were her head, hands, and toes. He hair was dry and had become wild looking. The lengthy brown tresses spilled out over his pillow and hung over the side of the bed. She lay on her side, knees tucked tightly to her chest. He watched as she breathed evenly through slightly parted lips.

He walked up to her, moving quietly so as not to wake her. He didn't want to take the chances of facing her wrath or hearing her God awful screaming again. He stood by the edge of the bed for a few seconds, taking it all in. This would probably be the only time she wouldn't be screaming or throwing things at him, so he was enjoying the moment. Leaning over, he brushed a stray tendril away that had fallen over her face while she slept.

Looking around the room, he noticed that someone had come in the room after he had left and cleaned up all the spilt wine, glass, and vomit from the floor. Her bloody dress and undergarments had been taken out. It appeared as if last night had never happened, save for the sleeping evil on his bed.

"Time te wake up, love," Jack said, trying to wake her gently. Gently, unsure at first whether or not he should, he planted a chaste kiss on her forehead. She responded with a few incoherent mumbles before she rolled over, her back now facing him. After realizing his first approach hadn't worked, Jack walked to the end of the bed and put his hands underneath the mattress. "Up ye go, missy. Days a-wastin'!" With that said, Jack flipped the mattress, sending Gale rolling to the floor in a heap of limbs and cloth. Quite satisfied with his work, he smiled and sauntered out of the room, Gale staring dumbly at his back. Jack didn't hear any screaming until he had reached the upper deck, and by then he had reached safe grounds. At least, for now, anyway.

After the screaming had finally died down, he turned around just in time to see Gale emerge from below. She was glaring at him with a face any other man would cower beneath, he was sure. But he was not just any other man. He was the Captain Jack Sparrow, and he'd be damned if he let a woman push him around on his own ship. Well, anymore than she already had. He simply returned her glare with a seemingly innocent smile. The smile dropped from his face quickly when Gale stalked up to him, shoving her finger in his face.

"What you just did, Captain, was completely uncalled for! You could have simply just shook me awake." Jack stared cross-eyed at the finger in his face before pushing it aside with his hand.

"If ye'll recall, love. I did try a gentle awakenin', but ye be the one that slept through it." Jack smirked triumphantly as he watched her chest puff up in anger. He was starting to enjoy watching her get flustered. She was pretty when she was angry, if she wasn't throwing things at him, that is.

"Are you insinuating that I am lazy?" Dropping the smirk, Jack feigned an indifferent look.

Shrugging, he replied, "Maybe."

"How absurd! I am most certainly not lazy, Captain Jack Sparrow. I was merely overwhelmed with, with," Gale began waving her hands about as she searched for the word she was looking for. While she was doing that, Jack thought he caught a glimpse of something on her right wrist. His eyes went wide as he recognized what it was and silently cursed himself for not noticing it before. "with everything that has happened in the past twenty four hours! I'm exhausted and-"

"A pirate." Gale stopped her ranting for a moment to look at Jack quizzically, who was staring intently at her.

"What?" she asked. His staring was beginning to make her uncomfortable.

"A pirate." Gale looked at him as if he was losing his mind.

"Are you daft? Of course you're a pirate!" Jack took a step closer to her. The urge to step away from him was becoming difficult to ignore for Gale. His staring and sudden change in demeanor was frightening her.

"No," he said before he roughly grabbed her right wrist in his, holding it in a vice-like grip. "You, Gale." Gale's eyes widened and she tried to get away from him, but his grip only tightened.

"I-I don't understand what you're talking about." Gale's protests were ended when Jack pushed her into the nearest wall, keeping her from getting away.

"Don't play games with me. I saw the mark on yer wrist, an' I want te know what else ye're hidin' from me." Gale glared at Jack, despite the fear welling up inside her.

"I never hid a thing from you. You just never bothered to ask." Gale held her breath, waiting for his response.

"Well, now I'm askin' ye," Jack said as he turned away, freeing her from his grasp, and back to the helm. "How did ye manage te get that tattoo?" Gale let out a breath she wasn't aware she was holding before she walked past him and leaned against the edge of the ship.

"My father was a pirate." Jack turned to look at her with a surprised expression.

"Ye don't say?" Gale glared at him.

"When he found out that my mother was pregnant with me, he found some way to slip himself back into society without anyone knowing a single thing. He did it all right under their noses. Either that, or he bribed someone high up. My mother died giving birth to me." Jack looked at her with sympathy.

"I'm sorry for yer loss," he said. He was surprised when Gale just smiled.

"Don't be. I never knew her, so it was hard for me to miss her. I always wondered what it would be like to have a mother, but my father was enough. I didn't need anything else."

"When did ye find out? That ye was a pirate, I mean."

"I've known what I am my whole life, but I didn't get this tattoo until I was twelve. My father gave it to me for my birthday. He did it himself. That was when he promised me that he would take me out to sea one day, and we'd never come back. As you can see, plans have changed." Jack noticed the change in her voice so he quickly changed the subject.

"How did ye manage te hide it from all them rich folk?" Gale shrugged, and he could see the pain recede slowly from her eyes.

"Gloves and a lot of face powder." Jack chuckled and Gale smiled at him.

"So, Gale, how old are ye?" Jack asked as he took a swig from a bottle of rum he had lying next to him.

"I'll be twenty one in a week." Jack promptly spit the rum out of his mouth and turned to her in disbelief.

"T-twenty one?" Gale raised an eyebrow as he stuttered with the number.

"Yes, that's what I said. Twenty one in a week. Is there something wrong with that?" Jack shook his head before he turned away. Taking another gulp of his rum, he pondered that over in his mind. He had originally thought she was sixteen or seventeen, but twenty one? The thought had never crossed his mind. He decided to say something quickly before she started thinking he was crazy.

"It's nothin'. It's jist that ye're a bit old te be startin' te sail only now."

"I beg your pardon! For your information, Captain, I do know how to sail a ship. My father showed me how." Jack set the bottle down and turned to her.

"That may be so, but tis a wee bit different when the ship actually be movin'." Gale scoffed at him, but he only turned back to the helm, choosing to ignore her.

"I can sail a ship and I'll prove it to you!" With that said, Gale marched up to Jack, pushed him to the side, and took hold of the helm. Before Jack could stop her, she jerked the ship sharply to the right. Composing himself quickly, he pushed her away from the helm and jerked them to the left and back on course before any real damage could be done. When he was assured that all was well, he straightened up in anger and turned to Gale.

"Bloody hell woman! Are ye tryin' to kill us all?" Jack screamed, but Gale only rolled her eyes.

"Alright, so it's a little different when you're actually steering the damn thing."

"Bloody right it's different!" Jack turned back to the helm and wrapped his arms around it, petting it gently in smooth, rhythmic circles. "Tis all right, my darlin'. She won't hurt ye again, I promise ye." Jack turned to her, glaring, but Gale only rolled her eyes again.

"Unbelievable. If you're so great, why don't you teach me?" Jack whipped around to look at her with the most appalled look on his face.

"Good God woman! No! Ye've scarred poor Pearl enough as it is! Do ye want her traumatized fer life?" Gale resisted the urge to slap her forehead.

"Well, if you would teach me, then I wouldn't 'scar' your precious pearl!" Jack turned away from her, pondering the thought for a moment. He couldn't believe he was actually considering it.

Turning back to her he asked, "If I teach ye how te sail, what do I get out of it?" Gale shrugged in response.

"What do you want?" When she saw Jack's grin she regretted saying that. She narrowed her eyes at him and replied, "Anything but that. Keep it in your breeches." Jack clutched his heart and put on a hurt expression.

"Ye wound me, woman."

"Gale! My name is Gale! G-A-L-E! Do I need to spell it out for you?" Jack stopped faking the pained heart and turned back to the helm.

"Wouldn't matter if ye did, love. I can't read." Gale scoffed in disbelief.

"Right, and I suppose you're going to tell me you can't write either?" Jack glared at her before he turned away again, but he didn't say anything. Realization dawned on Gale and she put a hand to her mouth.

"You really can't, can you?" Jack turned to her, still wearing a sour expression.

"That's what I said, wasn't it?" Jack asked, sarcasm evident in his tone. Gale looked at her foot as if she was thinking. When she looked up again, she smiled at him.

"I have an idea, if you're up to the challenge." Jack eyed her for a few moments, dwelling on whether or not to listen. Finally, he decided that he would.

"Go on," he answered. Encouraged, Gale took a few steps until she was only a foot away from him.

"If you teach me how to sail, than I'll teach you how to read and write, savvy?" Jack smiled at her first try at talking like a pirate. The word fit coming from her mouth, and the accent rolled off her tongue easily. He took a step closer to her until there was only a few inches between them.

"If ye manage te teach this ol' pirate how te read an' write all proper, I'll do more than jist teach ye how te sail. I'll teach ye how te be a pirate." Gale smiled triumphantly.

"So we have a deal?" Gale put her hand out in front of her for him to shake.

"Ye've got yerself an accord." Jack grabbed her hand and shook it to seal the deal. When Gale went to take her hand back, his fingertips trailed over her hand and lingered longer than necessary, leaving little tingling shockwaves where he had touched her. Rubbing her hand against her side to rid it of the tingling sensations, she walked past him and to the entrance to the lower deck. She was halted in her decent of the stairs by his voice.

"First lesson tomorrow. Bright and early." Nodding, Gale left him to himself and went back down to the lower deck.