Annamaria rose from her bed, and immediately got bored. Heading to Port Royal to drop off Elizabeth was not her idea of fun. Getting crazily "intoxicated" (pretending to be drunk was even more entertaining) with Jack and dancing on top of bar counters- that was her idea of fun. But she got dressed anyway and headed down to the mess hall, where Cotton, Gibbs, and all the rest were gobbling their spoilt porridge. She winced. She´d been a pirate since she was relatively young but could never get used to the food. "Hey, Gibbs!" she called.
"Aye, Annamaria?" Gibbs twitched involuntarily. He felt a great sense of gratitude toward Jack and Annamaria, who seemed to be the only crew members who would even look at Gibbs square in the eye. But thought they tolerated his presence, it didn´t shake the fact that they still found him incomprehensibly disgusting.
"Uh, would you mind accompanying me to find Jack? I need to ask him something regarding our arrival in Port Royal." Annamaria picked up a rock-hard biscuit and slipped it in her pocket. "But firs´ we need ta find me mum. Where did she slip off to?"
"I´m right here, swee´ Anna," Marcella said, appearing behind Annamaria and hugging her from behind. "Where is me co-captain?"
"We´re trying to look for him," Annamaria told her. She gently shook off her mother´s gesture of affection and faced her. "I´d say that he´s off shagging Elizabeth or something," she added, immediately regretting her words.
Gibbs´ face crumpled and he exhaled a gust of foul-smelling air. "On second thought, maybe I better not join ya, Anna."
"No no, I was only joking, Gibbs. . . it´s all right." Annamaria patted him instead of clapping him, like she would normally.
Marcella, sensing tension, busied herself with adjusting her linen shirt and cinching her beautifully woven belt that she had tied artfully around the baggy shirt. She´d prefer to go topless like she had on the shores of Boriquien so many times before, but what could she do? The men on this ship were not accustomed to this captain. "M´dear, I´ll be right back," she said to Annamaria, who nodded, and went off with Gibbs up to the deck.
Elizabeth, hearing footsteps up the creaky wooden stairs, wiped her eyes and dashed into Jack´s cabin. But not before she stole a glimpse of her two loves below, splashing about in the water. Apparently her departure hadn´t made Jack or Will emote oddly. She quickly dashed in, and pressed against the space between the door and wall. Sure enough, Annamaria slammed the door open and Elizabeth was securely hidden.
"Jack?" Elizabeth heard Annamaria bark. Through a tiny hole in the door, Elizabeth watched Annamaria gingerly poke the lump of blankets and hiss, "Gibbsy, he ain´t here. Where the hell is he?"
Elizabeth went rigid. Gibbs. Gibbs. Joshamee Gibbs was near her. Without Jack by her side. She started shaking. She gripped her hands, making indents with her nails. She could get through this. Gibbs wouldn´t hurt her. Annamaria was there.
"Well, maybe he just went to visit Will in his bunk," Gibbs suggested. Elizabeth sighed with relief and then crept out and into Jack´s bed. So soft, so comfortable. She pulled the blankets round and settled in, pulling Jack´s pillow under her head. But it was heavy. Elizabeth sat up and emptied the pillow- some feathers and empty rum bottles fell out. She shook her head. That´s why she loved Jack- he always stayed the same under any circumstances.
"Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate´s life for me," she sang softly and made Jack´s bed. "We pilfer, we plunder, we rifle, we loot. Drink up me hearties, yo ho. . ." In considerably better spirits, Elizabeth twirled out of Jack´s room and smack into Cotton. "Ooh! Mr. Cotton, apologies!"
"Any port in the storm," his parrot replied.
"Yes, well," Elizabeth murmured and went down to Mick and Layla´s room. She had a question for them.
Jack was done with swimming in near silence with Will. "Willie, ´s go find Liz an´ round up the crew- we have to start sailing fer Port Royal soon. Elizabeth isn´ in great shape right now."
"Yes," Will agreed. He went silent, as if in thought. "Jack?" he finally asked.
"Yeah?"
"I still love Elizabeth." Will bowed his head and grabbed the rope and started rappelling himself up the side of the Black Pearl, apparently not needing a response. As he fell onto the deck, he sucked in air and tried to blink saltwater out of his eyes, wiping them.
Annamaria ran up the stairs again and found Will with red eyes. Dammit, if that man cries one more time, I´ll go mad. "William, d´you know where our dear cap´n is?"
Will sniffled. Why can´t I move on? he asked himself as his beautiful new companion helped him to his feet. "He´s down there. . . he, me, and Elizabeth were swimming." Without a parting word, he stumbled downstairs.
Annamaria exhaled sharply. She leaned over the edge and hollered, "JACK! C´mon up here! I gotta ask ya something!"
"Coming," Jack replied. He shimmied up the rope and hopped onto deck, coiling the rope and dropping it next to him.
"When are we to make berth in Port Royal?" Annamaria asked.
"Soon. Tomorrow night at the latest," Jack said. He noticed Will had disappeared yet again. He decided to pretend not to care.
"All right," responded Annamaria. She turned to leave and paused.
"Jack?"
"Yes, darling?" Jack said casually, wringing out his dreadlocks, stripping off his soaked shirt. AnnamariaÕs breath caught in her throat. It´d been so long since she´d seen Jack shirtless. His tattoos and permanently tanned chest and muscles- oh God. Will, Will, Will. Keep thinking about Will. For the love of whatever is up there.
"Annamaria," Jack teased, twisting up his shirt and snapping it at her. Droplets of water landed on her, getting in her mouth. She closed her eyes and savored the tang- it was Jack´s taste.
"Nothing. I was just going to ask where Will was," Annamaria snapped, returning to her bitchy mode.
"I haven´ seen ´em," Jack shrugged. Annamaria glowered at him and stomped downstairs.
"Chris´, what has gotten into my crew?" Jack asked himself and laughed a little bit. "Talkin´ to me onesies. I really have cracked." He tossed away his shirt and went to his bunk. He needed a good nap.