Oh wow. Sorry for the delay in updating. I had this written a little while ago and never posted it because I wanted to add more. It's really short, and I'm sorry to present you all with such an awful piece of writing. I'll probably end up redoing it. But in the meantime, enjoy! I'll have this back on track and be updating a lot more now, thanks for reading!

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The form of the Black Pearl stood shadowy in its spot on the docks as Sam and Jack approached it. For the first time, Samantha was actually able to appreciate the sheer grandeur of the vessel. It towered magnificently over her head, completely black against the dusky purple and blue streaked sky. The masts were thrust so high that it looked as if the silver moon was caught in the rigging, and lights behind the portholes turned the glass into sparkling yellow-green circles.

"What is it, lass?" Jack asked as Sam halted behind him. His voice was unusually quiet.

"It…it looks like something out of a book," Sam said, wonder in her eyes, "Out of a fairy tale."

Jack looked at her for a long time. Sam could not decipher the expression that his gaze held. Finally, he tore his eyes from her and walked away, back up the rope ladder that led to the deck.

Sam followed quietly, the soft sound of the splashing waves filling her ears. Once on deck she looked over the side, out into the open ocean. The navy blue waves were rolling gently, peaked with silver from the moon.

A tear made its way down her muddy cheek. Everything seemed so perfect right now, as impossible as that could be. But tomorrow she was going to be thrown aboard some other ship manned by two horrible men with no notion of what was going to happen to her. Would she ever get to see her family again? Would she even make it through this secret plan to live to tell anyone?

The tears came faster now as she leaned over the railing, falling like a shower of rain into the deep sea below.

"How many tears was that?" came the soft voice of Jack from behind her.

Sam tuned around. She wasn't even alarmed at his way of sneaking up on people anymore.

"What are you talking about?" she asked, trying to make her voice sound dignified, but it only came out sniffly.

"I said, how many tears was that?" Jack repeated, "For every tear that raises the ocean you get one wish."

Sam gave her best effort to chuckle. "Nonsense," she said dismissively, wiping the water off her face, "I wasn't crying."

Jack looked at her, his expression once again unreadable. "Shame," he said after a while, "I would say that you could do with a good cry, love, not to mention a few good wishes."

And with that, he turned on his heel and began to walk back to the helm.

"Jack Sparrow!" Sam cried, a little hysterical now, "This is all your fault! You and your stupid ship and stupid crew and stupid plan!"

Jack stopped in his tracks, turned around and walked back, his steps hard, a blazing fire now in his eyes.

Sam recoiled, half expecting him to hit her, but all he did was grab her arm and drag her back to the railing, opening his arms to the night.

"You see that?" he said to her, still gesturing, his voice deep and strong, "All that out there. I don' care about the plan. It's my fault I got caught up with Gary and Lenny and I'll admit it. I don't give a damn about the plan, or the money or anything. It's not what I'm about, lass," he continued forcefully, "The sea, the waves, the salt, the breeze, I'm a part of it. When you're out here, everything in the world seems so right, even in the midst of a giant storm. It's about never knowing what's going to happen, never knowing who you're going to meet, it's about creating your own destiny, it's all that matters, and it's the only thing worth living for."

There was a silence broken only by the lapping of the waves. Jack's face was still towards the ocean, his profile dark and handsome, his hair blowing in the wind.

Sam felt as though someone was squeezing her throat. She could hardly breath; hardly speak as she looked at the Captain.

"That may be," she said, her voice shaky, "If you have no home waiting for you somewhere else."

Jack turned his head, his eyes filled with a sadness so absolute that Sam began to cry again.

"But you wouldn't understand," she said, turning and leaning on the railing, "I have a family and a life I need to get back to, and that's the only thing worth living for right now."

Jacks reply came so softly that the end of it melted into the whisper of the wind. "The only thing?"

There wasn't anything for Sam to say. She turned away and sat down on a pile of ropes near the helm. She wasn't going to admit that she was scared and nervous. Jack had a kind of unreachable power that she found she couldn't deal with when he was acting like a vicious pirate, and now that he was acting human, she was even more scared of the power he wielded.

"Good night, lass," Jack said softly, starting down to his quarters without even looking at her.

He was gone in a split second, as quiet as could be.

Sam clenched her teeth together angrily and squeezed her eyes shut. She would have liked to yell and accuse him some more, but at the same time she wanted to reprimand herself.

She fell back onto her bed of ropes and sobbed silently, the tears flowing down her cheeks even as she fell asleep.