Chapter 4

A Change Of Heart

Jack was sitting peacefully at the table in the stateroom, his legs up and sifting through pages of tanned paper with lots of writing on them then tossing them to the floor.  Diego, Reeves and Cooper appeared as the door flew open fiercely.  Jack let go of the papers and looked up.

"Come on, Sparrow."

"Come where, Longjohn?"

Diego smiled, and Jack cleared his throat out of embarrassment.

Cooper and Reeves came over and seized one of Jack's arms each, and lifted him out of the seat.  They dragged him outside, the darkness finally hit him and they shoved him to the edge and onto the plank, balancing over the water.

Miranda made her way through the group with a lantern in one hand and sword in the other.

"Well, we're here!" She explained, pointing the sword at his chest, "This is the island you spoke so much about when I was part of the Pearl's crew.  You said you made up the ingenious plan to flee the island the last time you were left here."

Jack turned and squinted to see the island in the not too far distance.  It was quite small, white sand beaches, and a large forested area at the right side.

Jack looked back at Miranda quickly.

"No! Please no, not again!"

"What did I tell you, Jack!?  I'm sticking to the promise!  These people want to see you gone so I am granting them this one request"

"Please luv!" Jack pleaded, "Don' be a Barbossa!  I was only kiddin'! I didn' make up the plan to get off the island last! Will's lady Elizabeth did! She was there too!"

"There was a girl with you?" Miranda demanded.

"Yes, but we didn' do much.  She was too hardnosed! Honest! She even scorched all of the food and the rum… Uh oh… Now you certainly can't leave me there!"
"It's not like a pirate such as yourself, Sparrow to be pleading for his life.  Why bother when the people you are begging are pirates themselves?"
"Indeed, Diego." Miranda replied, her sword edging closer and closer to Jack.

"You know, you're right.  But I wasn't speaking or begging to you at all Diego.  I was requesting Miranda for my life, for I know her, and something like that is undeniably not her forte."

Miranda glared at him and handed Jack his pistol, belt and compass.

"Yes, but Jack, that's the difference between me now, and me back then.  I would never do it back then, but right now is no exception."

The look on Jack's face seemed that he didn't really want to understand what he'd heard.

Miranda looked at her crew once more, eyed them as they motioned for her to continue what she set out to do.

Miranda shut her eyes hard, and opened them again.  She let out a small sigh, and mouthed some words to Jack.  She clicked her fingers and pointed at him; Diego stepped out in front and grabbed Jack to turn him facing out toward the island.

"If you manage once again, another miraculous escape, don't come searching for me, Jack.  It will not just hurt you alone."

There was no answer.  Diego drew his pistol and dug it into his back, as Jack raised his arms into the air.

"You can have one last say." Diego explained.

There was silence for a second once more.

"Listen Miranda.  I don't think you truly are aware of the reason for leaving you asleep that day.  Whenever I was sleepin' you would come and wake me up cause you were so ecstatic about bein' a pirate.  What you gotta realise is… I'm a pirate.  A filthy, malicious and traitorous pirate and mate! I didn't have the heart to wake you!  I really hope, luv, that you discover that reason, why… before it's too late."

Another moment of silence followed and it was very tense.  It seemed as if Miranda was in deep thought.  Diego took over angrily, and shoved the pistol into Jack's back, much harder.  Jack as a result, stumbled forwards to the very tip of the plank, wobbling and trying to retain his balance.  He looked back sadly and let himself fall into the water.  Miranda sighed with relief and watched as Jack swam toward the island in the moonlight.

"Goodbye, my dear Jack Sparrow." She murmured, and Diego stepped down from the plank.

"Good bloody riddance!" He laughed, and turned back to the edge, "I'M BIGGER AND BETTER THAN YOU, SPARROW!! AND I ALWAYS WILL BE!!"

He laughed and looked back.  Miranda eyed him strangely and looked him over curiously.  Cooper and Reeves began to chuckle to themselves.  She patted him on the arm stupidly and nodded.

"You wish, dear Diego, you wish…"

Diego blushed and pushed past her, heading to the cabin.  Miranda stopped smiling and went back to what Jack had said.  Cooper and Reeves, still laughing smuttily stepped beside their captain who was watching the sea and the island.

"Is he gone capt'n?"  Reeves asked, containing his laugh.

"……Alas, he is."

She turned around and waved her hand to the crew.

"We're departing, now."

The crew scrambled all over the ship, taking their posts.  Reeves wiped the tears of hilarity out of his eyes and became serious.

"Are you alright capt'n, maam? You seem concerned."

Miranda shook her head.

"No pirate.  I'm alright.  I achieved what I set out to do.  I can request nothing more."

She left them and headed to her own post at the wheel by herself.  Reeves saw something wrong with her.  Cooper on the other hand was still laughing, his hand over his mouth to muffle the sound.  Reeves glared at him and slapped him in the back of the head.

"Do you think she's upset?"

Cooper nursed his head, and smiled up at him.

"About the 'Longjohn'?" He snorted, making rabbits ears.

"No!..." He also turned to look out to sea, "I can't picture our Governor behaving in such a way, but it's out of me hands..."

Cooper burst out laughing once more, and once more, Reeves hit him violently over the head.

"Oh, shuddup, you dirty ol' bastard!"

Completely ignoring the pain in his head, Cooper continued to laugh.  

"What do you imagine she meant by that 'You wish' line?..."  Cooper asked, trying desperately to stop laughing.

Reeves brushed his own hair back.

"I dunno…"

He shoved Cooper onto the deck, flat onto his side, but it still didn't stop him from cackling.  Instead Reeves headed up to be with his captain.

The waves crashed and boomed, and the lightning was streaking across the dark musty skies.  The Corsair sailed on through, the waves battering the tough exterior and splashing up on deck.  Much of the crew were out, holding their ground, and fighting against the rain, wind and water in order to make it back to Tortuga before the citizens returned home.   Miranda couldn't bare to be outside, and instead ordered Diego to navigate as she sorted through the tributes for the families and citizens that had agreed to leave the island for that day.

She sighed and took up her quill to finish signing another paper, when something caught her mind.  She paused and stared at the page.  Her eyes wandered the writing on the letter, and froze on two words.  Jack Sparrow.  A faint tear caught the corner of her eye, and she wiped it away, continuing to sign. 

At that moment, the door swung open and Diego, soaked to the bone, stepped in and took deep breaths as if gasping for air.

Miranda looked up from what she was doing, and put her quill down.

"Diego?"

"Capt'n," He began, puffing and panting, "This is getting outrageous.  Our men can't hold this much longer.  We have to find a nearby shoreline and stand for the night."

Miranda sighed, and stared at him.

"But we promised to be back by arrival time."

"I get the message, but you have to see that this is foolish."

Miranda rose from her seat and left the papers on her desk.  She paced back and forth behind her chair, her finger to her lips.  The lightning outside continued to flash and crack.  Obligated to do so, Diego waited for an answer.  She stopped and looked up at him.

"What would my father do… better yet, what would… Jack Sparrow do?"

"Capt'n, surely you can't compare Sparrow's competence to your own.  He is as inept as he always was." Diego replied stubbornly.

"Listen, Diego.  I was on that Black Pearl for five entire years, with Jack as its Captain.  I think I know a bit or two about how he handles such situations."

Diego groaned murkily and shook his head.  Miranda battered the corner of her deck with her fist, trying to think of what to do.

"We don't have a lot of time.  I suggest we head to shore…"

"No!" Miranda snapped, and Diego moaned, "I want to remember something that he told me."

Diego stormed in and took Miranda's seat at her desk without her really noticing, to wait.  He tapped his fingers impatiently on the wood, hoping that it would make her hurry up.  Miranda leant down over the desk, her head drooped and her eyes closed.

"Damn it!" She bellowed, "I don't know what to do!"

Diego stopped tapping and looked up happily.

"Going to shore then?"

Before she could answer she opened her eyes and saw the skull necklace hanging down from around her neck.  She tugged it off and held it closer for a look.  There was a long silence, as Miranda's eyes wandered the skulls and the room.  Without warning she slapped her hand down on the desk, causing Diego to jump a little. 

"Oh my! I remember now!"

"Not about Sparrow, please…" Diego mumbled quietly so she couldn't hear.

"There was one other thing that he explained to me about the meaning of this.  Sure he told me that each skull represents the pirate code, but he ended by telling me that the one meaning for it entirely was…"

She paused to think again, and saw Diego listening intently.

"Was…?"

"…A bond.  The tie between the Captain and his Student.  In other words, me and Jack.  He meant it that way all along and I never saw it. Now I understand what he was telling me about.  I understand.  I know the reason why.  I figured it out, Jack"

"You what?"

Miranda smiled and put her necklace back around her neck.

"Diego, get back up there and turn this ship around, immediately!"

"YOU WHAT!?"

"You heard me, pirate! Turn around! We're going back to that island!"

"But Capt'n that's suicide! We'll sail directly back into the eye of the storm!" Diego cried, and Miranda glared at him seriously.

"Believe me Diego, it's worth every mile."

He got up angrily and took to the exit.  Before leaving the room, he turned and looked back.

"I don' see what bringin' that deserter back will do for any of us!"

"Who ever said it had anything to do with you?"

Diego stared at her, annoyed and frustrated.

"Give me a good reason why I should agree."

"If you wish to see it in a way that only you yourself can understand, I have stooped to Jack's level by deliberately stranding him on the island.  When I realised what he meant by the meaning of this necklace, when he left me on the island that day, asleep, he was only keeping to the promise that he had put down.  That is to look after one another.  By leaving him there and never coming back, there would be no reason for me to keep this necklace and the value attached to it."

"Just because Jack said such a thing to you, what? Ten years ago? It doesn't have to apply now.  What makes you think that you should keep that value?  Why not change it? It is that simple, capt'n."  Diego replied.

Miranda shook her head, ending the conversation.

"Go Diego.  Take us back there before it's too late."

Reluctantly Diego turned to leave.  Miranda watched as he closed the door unhappily behind him.

She sat in her chair and smiled to herself about what she had just discovered.

Perched in the stairway to a small, dark and damp cellar surrounded by the white sands of the beach was Jack.  He snatched up a bottle, one after another and threw them across the sand outside.

"Empty…Empty…" He chanted as the bottles flew out of his hands.

He looked up at the new morning blazing sun shining down on him and wiped his forehead.  He brushed himself off and got up off the stairs.  He gazed out over the sand at all of the glass bottles lying there.  Taking a deep breath he shielded his face from the sun and took off down the beach to search the trees for coconuts.

"Miranda, Miranda, Miranda."  He mumbled, dragging his feet in the sand.

Out of sadness, he stopped where he was headed and sat where he was standing, overlooking the ocean.  It was the small long end of the island where the beach rises up over onto a high cliff.  The wind picked up and waves could be heard clearly, crashing against the rock face.

Jack shook his head and stared in silence out over the sea, his arms around his knees and leaning forward.  Instead, he gave up and lay back on the sand.  The moment he did so, the Corsair could be seen just on the horizon, sailing toward him.

Diego stormed out onto deck and perched the telescope to his eye, looking toward the island.  Miranda followed, looking rather angry and sad at the same time.  She shoved the telescope away from him and Diego glared at her.

"You know, Miranda.  I'm beginning to believe that you are the one that is incompetent!"

The crew around them gasped.  Miranda pointed at him.

"As your Governor I demand you cease this nonsense at once!"

"What? Me!? Me, nonsense?!  What about you!?  It was after all your plan to come back here for Sparrow!  I'm not the one who has gone mad! It's you Miranda!"

"Tell me, Diego!  Why is it that you hate Jack so?"

He built up his words and opened his mouth before speaking.

"Why? Why? Being confined on a ship with him for over five years has made your mind soft! You can't see the simple fact that Jack is a pirate, just like you and me!  He steals for a living, Miranda.  He makes his money off selling stolen goods, plundered from stray ships!  He shoots any man that dares defy the name of his own!  He never bathes!  He never says anything polite!  And lastly, he is always drunk!"

Miranda paused.

"How is that any different from the way that you live and act every day, Diego?  You're a pirate too, just the same as him.  You steal maybe more than he does.  You kill more people I'll bet.  You don't have a nice bone in your body and the last time I saw you drunk, you couldn't even say my name without hiccuping and falling to the floor."

Now Diego paused to think.  She leant over him and looked him up and down.

"That's it then." He continued, "He's not worth the name of a pirate."

"Quite frankly, Diego.  When was the last time you had a bath?"

Diego frowned and glanced around at the others.  He put his hand on her shoulder.

"I think I'm aware of your reason for actin' this way."  He explained, Miranda stared at him evilly, "You're a woman.  You don't understand what it means to be a pirate."

Miranda nodded in a sort of agreement, but pulled his hand off her angrily.

"Are you saying that I should be punished for having compassion and loyalty?"

Diego nodded and Miranda snatched the telescope from him.

"Then perhaps you should punish Jack as well, because unlike you, I know him better, and Jack is a good, compassionate and loyal man.  The oath on this necklace made me realise that."

He laughed at her comment.  Miranda took the telescope and peered through it over at the island.  Jack had finally seen the ship and was standing there waving his hands for them to see.  She smiled and looked behind her to Reeves and Cooper, who knew immediately what to do and went to lower one of the longboats.

"Oh, compassionate is he? Am I the only one who seems to recall when you explained to him about that necklace, he didn' seem to wan' to remember at all.  I don't see why he's loyal either, why, because he left you on your own when you had no place to go."

"You never listen to me, do you Diego?  I think that you are the one that doesn't deserve to be a pirate."

Diego laughed sarcastically.  He stepped away from her at a fair distance.

"Fine." He laughed, "Fine.  I suppose if my Governor doesn't seem to think that I am worthy, then so be it.  Let me tell you this.  When Sparrow begins his little game, don't come back beggin' me to be your leverage because I'll just say I told you so and leave it at that."

"Oh, I won't need to.  Believe me.  Compared to him you are a mere speck of sand on a beachside.  Even if such a thing did happen I would not come seeking for a toffee-nosed bastard such as you, Diego.  Now piss off and leave me alone."

Both Miranda and Diego fell silent.  She shoved her way past him and ran up the steps to the ship's wheel.  Diego leant over the side rail and watched as the boat went out to collect Jack.

For the time being, the two of them eyed each other out, not saying another word, even though they knew they wanted to.

As she saw the boat on its way back, she ran happily down to the deck below.  Diego stopped her in her tracks.

"You know, I'm thinkin'?  About the Black Pearl.  What did you do with it?"

"Why should I tell you? You don't have the courage to steal Jack Sparrow's maiden ship."

"My pure hatred of him has countered that problem, Miranda.  Now where is it?"  He demanded.

"A few days ago I might have told you the answer.  But it's come to a point where that ship is important to me.  Because it is important to Jack."

Diego sighed angrily and seized her arm. 

"You are beginning to even sound like that lunatic and it's disturbing me.  You have your great ship, The Corsair, and now that Sparrow is coming back there be no point in you keepin' the Black Pearl."

"Ahhhh, that's where you're wrong, Longjohn my dearly departed friend," She replied, smiling cheekily, "The Black Pearl alongside this could be the makings of our own fleet of pirate ships.  Jack's still the captain of the Pearl, and there is no way you are getting past me to obtain it."

Diego thought for a second and tossed Miranda aside.

"Isla De Muerta!  That's where it is, ain't it? It's the only place we know of that it would be safe!  You made a mistake Miranda!"

"You would be right Diego, but seeing as you don't have a ship to call your own, unless you flap your arms and fly away I don't see how else you are going to get there."

The crew that were listening went back to what they were doing, but still listened to what was being said.  Diego tapped his chin and quickly reached around and drew his pistol.  He aimed it at Miranda.

"Oh, I found a way."  He smiled.

Miranda knew that he wasn't kidding and looked around.  Neither of the other pirates were carrying pistols as her code had prevented this.  She held out her hands to beg him not to do it.

"This will get you no where, Diego.  You really think that stealing a ship with a crew of twenty-seven and their Governor as Captain they would tolerate it?"

Miranda was right.  Diego looked around him as many of the crew members leapt down from the shrouds and ran over to his side ready to fight.  Still, he pointed the gun at Miranda.  Two of the men jumped forward and seized his pistol and tossed it over his head into the water.  Diego struggled as four pirates held onto him tightly, not letting him escape.

"Let him, go." She ordered and they did as she wished.

Diego grinned, and strolled forwards.

"I don' care if you are the Governor of Tortuga, the only great pirate city in the Caribbean, and I don' care that you are the Captain of the largest and fastest ship in the Caribbean.  You're still a woman, and being a pirate is not something that a woman is good at."

Jack stepped up and snagged Diego's sleeve.  He pulled him over to the railing edge and looked him up and down.

"Especially you!" Diego snapped, "You're the most incompetent pirate in the Caribbean!"

Jack nodded, and scratched his chin.

"Ahhh, you might be right," He began, "But there's something about you that dishonours the name of pirate, and that's disloyalty mate.  I don' know how you can name yourself a pirate when you can't even be dedicated to your fellow buccaneers."

"Well, well, a change of heart I see, Sparrow?"

"Unlike someone such as yourself who has the coldest one in history."

Diego smiled and laughed to shake off what he was saying.

"Now what are you going to do with me?" He chuckled.

Jack pondered on it and pointed to the side of Diego's face.

"Well, you have a… there's somethin' there, just there on your face…"

"Where?"  Diego gullibly said, turning his head to let him look.

"No, no, it's just ther…."

Jack reached out and whacked him in the side of the head with his fist, causing Diego to flop over the sideboard and into the water.  The crew and Miranda ran to look, and began laughing uncontrollably at him, especially Cooper.  Diego's head bobbed to the surface.  He was spluttering and splashing about.  He swam over and banged on the boat's hull.

"Ha, ha!" He yelled, "Very amusing! Now drop me a line!"

"There's some rum an' food on that island over there.  Why don' you go and have a peek?"

Diego stared up at Jack revengefully, and Jack leant over the railing glaring back happily.

"Get a hint, Diego!  We're mutinying you, you dickhead!  Now, be the man you are and go and get yourself hammered now that no one loves you, savvy?!"

The crew laughed once more, and without question, Diego turned and swam to the island.

"He's gonna starve."  Jack stated and Miranda laughed.

He turned happily and glared at Cooper before turning his attention to Miranda.

"Alright, foremost question.  Why'd you return for me, luv?"
Miranda came closer innocently, and brushed her hands down his arms.

"You already know the answer to that question."

"And that would be?"

She smiled and took hold of his hand.

"I know you know for one simple reason.  When I told you years ago about how my father was a fine pirate, I lied.  I didn't wish to tell you this, but my father was a sexist.  He may have taken me with him and attached to me the name of Sparrow, but it all began when I begged if I could be a pirate, just like him.  He repudiated me and always howled about how I was a woman and I was feeble and useless.  Eventually he had enough of my request and attempted to kill me.  In order to make it seem like a suicide, he pushed me off the cliff in Port Royal bay, that same day that the Black Pearl was there.  Fortunately I survived and swam to take refuge on your ship without your crew realising.

I never saw my mother again.  My father never cared for me.  When you let me in as an affiliate of your crew and told me that you'd look out for me, you were at last the only person in my whole life that cared about me.  You cared about what I did and where I went.  You cared about how I felt.  Even when you seemed to want to toss me overboard, there was always something within you that made you recall your own code."

She stopped talking for a second, let go of his hand and pulled off the necklace.  She played with it and looked at him again.

"When you gave me this, my entire life changed.  What you told me proved the way I felt, and knew that for once someone fancied my company, pirate or not.  Whatever anyone tells me, whatever anyone thinks of you and what you do, I don't get concerned.

I don't believe them.  I don't care.  You are my hero, Jack Sparrow and nothing in the entire ocean can compare to my love for you."

Jack was slightly dumbstruck.  He smiled at her and took the necklace from her fingers.  He rubbed it softly and thought deeply for a moment.  Miranda waited for him to say something.  Cooper and Reeves, standing not too far from them were elbowing each other suspiciously and smiling.

"We know what she mean, aye?" Reeves mumbled to Cooper and Cooper nodded stupidly.

Jack dangled the necklace and reached over to put it back around her neck.  He brushed her face, his fingers running through her long, red hair.

"The amusin' thing is, you're right.  Equally, you've given more admiration to me than any man, nor woman ever, nor member on my crew.  You forgave me for one mistake after another, and it earned you my recommendation to be a real pirate like you always wanted.  I always knew that your father was a sexist.  He used to bag about your mother when we would make agreements to trade.  Sorry, I didn' tell you, luv, but I figured you didn' want to talk about it.  It was terrible what he did to you, but now you have me.  You have your crew, you have my crew to be there.  I hoped for years and years that this trinket's meanin' would finally make you see."

"It did."

"And why? Because you are a pirate.  You find the answers to things in the simplest of items, right down to a solitary piece of treasure.  Because that is the real pirate's code.  To grasp the best out of life.  I'm proud that you finally discovered that.  I'm proud that you were once the greatest apprentice ever, who turned into a grand pirate.  The best thing is that you're mine now… forever."

Miranda smiled at him more that ever, and Jack swept his fingers over her lips.  He brushed her hair back, took the hat off her head, threw it to the floor and kissed her passionately.

Some of the crew began whistling and cheering.  Reeves and Cooper wiped the tears from their eyes and clapped their hands with glee.

"Diego wishes...!" Cooper cried, repeating what Miranda said, "Diego wishes to all hell now!"

Reeves laughed and turned to look out where Diego had swam to.  As a small figure walking up and down the beach, Diego could be seen.  Reeves waved Cooper over to watch.

Jack's hands fell to Miranda's waist and held her closer.  They looked at each other and smiled.

"Have you made your point yet?" Jack asked.

She nodded and played with his hair.  Without realising, he took hold of her pistol and put it into his own belt.  When Miranda stepped back she realised that it was gone, and spotted the two that he had.  She shook her head and smirked.

"You're still the master swindler!" She stated, as Jack handed her pistol back.

"That I am."

Reeves waddled over to her side and tapped her shoulder.

"Capt'n…"

Miranda raised her hand for him to stop.  She bent down to retrieve her hat, and pulled the feather out.  Jack watched her put the hat onto his head, take off the black coat she was wearing and put it around his shoulders.  He glared at her, and she saluted him.

"Capt'n Jack Sparrow, what say you?"
Jack pulled the hat down onto his head, and slipped the coat on.

"The Black Pearl!"
Miranda approached him and kissed him on the cheek.

"No.  New captain of the Great Corsair."

Jack was dumbstruck.  He gazed around at the people on the deck.

"The Corsair?" He began, "Me? No, no, Miranda, you can't just surrender your post like that."

"But that's what I wish…"
"…Alright then!" Jack quipped before Miranda finished her sentence.

Instead she turned around to the men standing there and cleared her throat.

"Men!.... Women… Today I am officially passing my command onto Mr. Sparrow.  I am no longer your captain…. Nor your Governor."

The people gasped and Jack seized his chest in shock.  Miranda turned and looked at him again.  She took one single ring off her finger, closed her eyes and held it out to him in her hands.

"You don' mean…"

"Jack Sparrow.  Our newly appointed Governor of Tortuga!"

The men said nothing, for they were too were in a state of shock.  Reeves eyed her.

"You can't do that! As our Governor…"

"My last order was to make Jack our commander.  He well deserves it."
Jack took the ring and put it on.  He smiled and strolled leisurely up the stairs to the wheel.  He took a long look around at the ship once more, just as he did when he first boarded.  He rubbed his hands together and glanced to Miranda, who looked happier than she had before.

"What was it that you wanted to tell our captain, Mr. Reeves?"

Reeves was in such shock that he had to snap out of it before replying.  Miranda pointed to Jack, to direct his question to him instead.  Reeves looked up at him.

"Capt'n, it seems there be another ship afloat just around the brink of the island there!"

The people ran to look.  He was right, there was another large ship floating there.  It was about half the size of the Corsair, and about the same colour.

"THE PEARL!?" Jack snapped, leaning over the sideboard for a better look. 

He waved over the telescope and peered through it at his former ship.

Miranda appeared beside him, squinting to look over.

"What's going on?"

Jack watched as small figures onboard the Black Pearl were forcing a person off the plank.  The splash was a giveaway.

"They're marooning someone too… Lucky bastards."

Suddenly the people aboard the ship began waving and shouting to them.  Jack lowered the telescope and pointed.

"Mr. Gibbs?"

"It's them?" Miranda asked.

"My crew." Jack replied, smiling.

He peered through the telescope and continued to watch.  The person that had been marooned swam to shore and flopped up onto the beach not too far from where Diego was walking.

"Damn him!" Diego yelled, pacing up and down the shoreline, "Damn! YOU'RE NOT A PIRATE!  NOT COMPARED TO ME!"

While he was pacing, something, a noise stopped him in his tracks.  He could hear more screaming, and it wasn't coming from the Corsair where he was facing. 

He ran around the beach, looking for the source, and skidded to a stop when he saw.

A young woman, about his age, was standing in the shallows, screaming out to a ship about a mile away from them.  She had long blondish brown hair, and her face was beautifully smooth and clean.

She was also wearing a white shawl, but seeing as she was drenched; it caused it to be transparent.  Diego blushed when he spotted her.  When she stopped screaming and turned to run, she noticed Diego standing there staring goggle eyed at her.

"GREAT, JUST GREAT! NOW YOU'VE LEFT ME HERE WITH A GRUBBY OLD MAN! THANK YOU, YOU LANDLOVERS!"

Diego coughed and pointed at her figure.  She put her hands on her hips angrily.

"What?! What is it?!"

She finally looked down, screaming to cover herself up.  He face went red, and Diego came over to her.  He put his arm around her shoulders and led her into the shade.

"Let's go and find somethin' to cover you up while you dry, won't we?" He told her, sounding rather different.

The girl blushed and nodded.

"I'm Qahira."

"Diego Longjohn."
Qahira's eyes widened and looked him up and down to make sure.  She smiled and reached up to wipe the hair out of her eyes, as Diego led her into the forest and out of sight.

Aboard the Corsair, Jack laughed and lowered his telescope again.

"What's wrong, Jack?"
He shook his head.

"Perhaps Qahira will conquer that son of a bitch."

"Qahira?" Miranda asked.

"An assassin.  One of the finest in Tortuga.  But the woman is a shrew."

Miranda laughed, and took a hold of him arm.  He looked at her and smiled.  The Black Pearl was sailing towards them.

The crew aboard the ship ran to the bow and watched as it came closer.  Jack waved to them and they waved back.  As the Pearl came up beside the Corsair, its crew ran to the edge and cheered and whistled. 

"Capt'n, we'd be much obliged to have you back!" Gibbs yelled across at them.

Miranda glanced at Jack.  He put his arm around her shoulder and shook his head.

"Not this time.  I be the capt'n of the Corsair now!"

Gibbs looked disappointed.  He eventually smiled and turned to him own crew.

"Who shall be our capt'n then?"

"You! Mr. Gibbs! You know your place!" Jack cried and Gibbs laughed.

"Right, capt'n! But will we ever see you again?"

Jack and Miranda looked at each other.  They smiled and turned back.

"Oh, I'm thinkin' that you'll see us around again.  You will after all be the first of our fleet!"

Gibbs saluted Jack and Miranda and clapped his hands together.  He barked orders at the Pearl's crew and waved to them.

The Pearl sailed off, and Jack sighed.

"That's the third time I've seen a man sail off with my ship.  But this time I have good reason to."

He gazed around at the deck, and raised his hand in the air.

"Get to your posts men! Turn us around! We're going back to Tortuga!"

The crew did as they were told and scrambled all over the deck to be where they were supposed to be.

Jack let Miranda go and took his place at the wheel once more.  She joined him, and shoved her way to the wheel, so he had to reach around her to steer.  Instead he put one hand on her waist.  Miranda took a deep breath.

"Bad luck to have a woman on board! Pah!" Jack snapped, and spun the wheel violently, "It's more a case of what woman it is!"

Miranda stopped it and continued his position on steering.  She closed her eyes and rocked back and forth.

"Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me!  We pillage, we plunder, we rifle and loot!" They both began to chant out loud and in unison, "Drink up me 'earties yo ho! We kidnap and ravage and don't give a hoot! Drink up me 'earties yo ho! Yo ho yo ho a pirate's life for me! We extort, we pilfer, we filch and sack! Drink up me 'earties yo ho! Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me!"