Chapter 6: Heart to Heart

Elizabeth Turner wasn't a patient woman, anyone could vouch for that, and the person who knew it most was her husband Will. "You know that Jack is back in the Caribbean, and heaven only knows where he's been! If he attacks Port Royal, Will, I am not going to be held responsible if he hurts Louisa!"

Will, who had barely arrived back from his ship, sank into a chair. "Elizabeth! Jack may be daft sometimes, but do ye really think he'd hurt Louisa?"

Elizabeth walked out of the lounge room and into the kitchen. "No, I don't think he'd hurt Louisa if he knew who she was, but he doesn't! He hasn't seen her since she was a baby!"

Will sighed, and looked at the ceiling for inspiration. "Elizabeth, she'd tell him, in some way who she was. I know Louisa's acting ability, and she could pull off anything!"

Elizabeth wasn't convinced. "But what if she hasn't 'regained' her memory yet, and Jack attacks the family she's living with? She won't be able to come right out and say 'wait, I'm Will Turner's daughter Louisa'!" Will, giving up, stood up and walked to where his wife was cleaning things, and held her arms so she couldn't ignore him. "She knows to call parley, and Jack is a man of the code. He knows what he can and cannae do in regards to the code!"

Elizabeth nodded. "I know, Will. I just can't believe she's gone!" Will laughed gently, "Elizabeth, she isnae suited for life on land, I hope ye believe me. I'm willing to stake all the treasure I can get in a month that she'll leave Port Royal wit' Jack if he goes there. An' she'll be back afore too long, I can promise ye." Elizabeth nodded. "I hope you're right, Will, but what with my father do if he finds she's gone?"

Will laughed again, "He'll probably think she takes aft her mother, that's all!"

*****

The Black Pearl was exactly how her father had described it, minus the holes in the side where knives and forks, and other various things had been shot through with cannons by the Interceptor, years before.

Jack was immensely proud of his ship, and loved it more than he loved life itself. Although, his children and Anamaria came a close second! Jamie was the type to overlook being thrown overboard, so long as he was able to repay the favour. And he'd found a way to do just that, by holding a torch near the main mast.

Jack was either so scared for his ship, or angry at his son, that he couldn't move. He stood, with a worried expression on his face, as Jamie held the torch close to the rigging. "Will ye apologise fer makin' me take a swim, Da?" he asked, and if looks could kill Jamie would have been dead several times over.

"All right! I'm sorry fer throwin' ye overboard, Jamie-boy, but if ye follow through an' burn the Pearl, ye won't survive the next swim ye take - I promise ye that!" Jack regained most of his composure, and stepped towards his son, almost menacingly. Anamaria only laughed. "Ye got what ye deserved, Jack. But Jamie - if I were ye, I'd put the torch away, m' boy, or else ye'll find yeself in an unpleasant way!"

Jamie laughed, and extinguished the torch in a bucket of water at the ready by the base of the mast. Jack made as though he was going to say something, but changed his mind and walked to the helm. Louisa was standing at the bow of the ship, looking out over the open ocean.

Anamaria walked up behind her, and spoke softly, so she wouldn't scare the girl. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" Louisa turned around. "What? Oh, yes, it is beautiful. But it's more than that... it's so wild... so free." Anamaria laughed, "It's not freedom. It can't take you everywhere, but it's the pathway for freedom. A ship is the freedom, and the water merely a path to follow."

Louisa turned and looked at the older woman. "I've heard that somewhere before... my mother told my father something like that, years ago, when he didn't want to go back to sea. She told me the story when I asked to spend some time at Port Royal.... But she's always said the one thing she worries about most is that my father will find happiness somewhere else, with someone else. When my father is on the sea, he's different. It's as though he leaves everything behind...."

Anamaria laughed softly, and looked at her feet. "I know the feeling. When Jack sets out by himself, and I stay on land with Isabelle, our daughter, I can see the difference. When Bella and I are wi' him, he worries, even if he doesnae admit it, and he cannae be himself. I've seen him in action, lassie, and he's a force to be reckoned with, even if he is a softie underneath!"

Louisa looked down at the water, and bit her lip, unable to phrase the question in her mind properly. Finally, the words fitted together, and she looked back p at Anamaria. "How do you... does he... does it bother you if he... sleeps with anyone else?" Anamaria laughed again, but it wasn't quite as full of life as before. "I know that he has, and I don't doubt that he will always, but ye can tell when a man loves ye, because he comes back. I've taken to classing him as two different people. When he's on the sea with just himself and his crew, he's Captain Jack Sparrow, pirate extraordinaire, and when I'm with him, he's just Jack, my lover, and the father of my children. I'm not going to stop him from being a pirate, and I don't have the right to. It's who he is - part of the package."

Louisa smiled, "I guess my father does as well, even though my mother doesn't know...." Anamaria smiled, "I havenae seen your parents for twenty years, Louisa, but your mother is smarter than she looks. She'd know, she may ne'er mention anything, but she'd know. Jack tried to hide it from me, and if I didn't know him, I wouldn't have had any idea, but I did, and I knew what he was like, and after the initial feeling of betrayal, I realized, I didn't care. As long as it was me he came to when he was hurt, when he was angry, when he was in need of love, then I didnae care. Ye'll know what I mean when you find the person you love, trust me."

Louisa glanced to where Jamie was standing next to his father, then back at Anamaria. "I think I already understand, Anamaria." Anamaria looked in the direction Louisa had, and smiled. "I think we've come to an understanding then. C'mon, we've got a busy few days ahead of us, if we're plannin' on makin' it t' home afore long."

The next few days were busy, and Louisa hardly saw anyone besides Anamaria. Even Isabelle was stand-off-ish, and tried to avoid being in the same room as Louisa. Jack stopped to talk to her occasionally, probing for information over what had changed since the disappearance twenty years earlier.

"Ye tellin' me yer father has a *fleet*, of sorts, an' the island has a whole village?" he asked at one of these sessions. Louisa nodded, "Aye, an' a proper dock an' the like. It ain't as big as th' one a' Port Royal, but it's a real workin' dock, wit' a book keeper an' everythin." Jack thought about this for a minute. "An does ye father charge people t' tie their ship's at the dock?" Louisa laughed, "Only if he don't know 'em. I think ye'd be safe if ye tried to get away wit' not payin'!" Jack nodded, and then walked away without saying anything.

Even Jamie seemed too busy to talk, now. On land he spoke about everything, except how the Pearl had gotten away from Bermuda and what it was like inside the triangle, but on sea, on the ship, he did everything all the time. Even when he was in the crow's nest, he was all business. It was the same with Anamaria, but she at least stopped to talk.

It wasn't until a few days later, when the sails of a ship appeared on the horizon, that any real action started. Even Jack seemed overly excited for a change. "Sail ho!" came the call from the crow's nest, and Jack skimmed up the rigging before anyone could even register the call.

The grin on his face screamed superiority when he touched back onto the deck, and Louisa was the first person he walked over to. "Yer a lucky lass, Louisa, yer father is on 'is way t' save ye!"

Louisa could scarcely believe her ears. "You... you can't be serious... how can ye even see from this distance what type o' ship it is?" she asked quickly. Jack laughed. "Ye've a lot t' learn lass, but I'm tellin' ye, tis the Dauntless that sails in this direction, an' ye'll be meetin' yer father afore long!"

With that spoken, he smiled, and headed back to the helm, yelling orders as he took over the wheel of the ship. "Jamie-Boy! Raise the Jolly Roger, Lad! An' then we'll see if they raise theirs in return!"