A/N1: Wow! Thankees for all my reviews! *Huggles every single reviewer* I'm glad you are all enjoying this so much!

A/N2: Yes, this one is a tad bit longer than the others, but without making a bunch of really small chapters, or one MEGA huge one, there's no other way to do this, really. Either way, I hope you all like!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            How dare he? How bloody dare he? Leah was pacing one of the two rooms they had rented, a horrible affair, actually, with a bed on the far side that appeared as if its sheets hadn't been washed for the good part of a year. She had absolutely no idea how she would ever be able to sleep in it, and briefly considered taking the floor… Until she realized that it appeared worse.

Not that she would be getting any sleep it seemed. She was too infuriated to even consider slipping into unconsciousness at the moment. How dare he? She'd finally calmed down somewhat in regards to her situation, and Sparrow had just had to prove the fact that he was a complete scoundrel! The slight amount of alcohol she had consumed was now having barely any effect on her being, and did absolutely nothing to quell her temper. How dare he?!

Her hands yet trembling in her rage, Leah suddenly froze, her pacing halted. All anger slowly trickled out of her body only to be replaced with fear. Footsteps in the hall, heavy ones… She was once again reminded of that scene in the bar downstairs, when that brute had almost succeeded in doing only God knew what to her. And she was also reminded of the fact that absolutely anyone could simply come into the room; the door was unlocked. It was impossible to lock. She was very simply trapped up here and almost completely at the mercy of anyone who decided to come on up and find some amusement for the night. What if that man was angry… what if he came back? There was no possible way she could fight off anyone with a sword, even if she had been a fully trained fighter. And on top of that, she wasn't exactly wearing something that would discourage a possible assailant…

Her heart beating, breath quickening, she breathed a sigh of relief and slumped against the wall beside the doorframe, relief coursing through her, and subsequently followed by fresh broiling rage, some anxiety thrown in. The footsteps had faded into the distance. Oh, if only Sparrow hadn't done that earlier, she would not be in this situation! If he hadn't proved himself a complete wretch, she would be down there in the company of both him and William, and both of them had swords.

Yes, she blamed Will as well. Of course, he held no fault in the matter, but when one is angry, these rationalities do not hold very well. He had been there; he could have done something, could he not?

After another few minutes in which Leah's anger continued to flourish, about ten to fifteen minutes from the little debacle down in the bar, more footsteps were heard. She was frightened for the smallest of moments before she recognized the loud, obnoxious voice that accompanied them.

Crossing her arms and glaring at the door, she waited for the two to enter the room, standing before the doorway. It was, of course, opened without delay. "Ah, Leah darling! Feeling better, I see?" the pirate of the two said the moment he'd entered the room. Will simply gave him a glanced before stepping in, leaning against the doorframe.

"Miss Swann," she corrected, her voice pure poison, "You will address me as Miss Swann, understood?"

"Perfectly," he replied, and swaggered past her, lying down calmly on the bed. Her mouth nearly dropped to the floor at his utter audacity. Did his previous behavior and her utter rage not bother him in the slightest?

"We should get some sleep," Will told them, changing the subject and addressing a subject that she had been thinking about on and off for the last few minutes.

Jack Sparrow, of course, sat up at that and looked towards Will. "You need to live a little more, mate." Obviously, he wasn't the least bit tired, and has apparently cleaned up a bit from the rum she had spilt over him.

"No, I believe we should go to sleep," Leah countered, whirling about to face him.

"All right then," Sparrow said, leaning forward. "Who, then, gets to share a room with you, luv?"

Leah blinked, looking at him as if he was completely insane. "Why would I need to share a room with anyone? You and Will here (She of course motioned to him) may share a room, and I-" It was just then that something occurred to her… She'd just been scared out of her wits by footsteps walking down the hall, and if someone did decide to peek in later that night, her completely alone and defenseless wouldn't exactly be the best thing to find. "Oh."

"Oh," Sparrow agreed.

"I shall share a room with you," Will volunteered. Inwardly, Leah thanked him. Neither of the two had any desire to find out what would occur if she ended up sharing a room with the pirate captain for the night.

But then, something else occurred to her, as in how utterly awkward it would be. He was in love with her sister, for the love of all things Holy! And no matter how angry she was, how angry she was with either of them, she still had empathy within her and would not allow either one to sleep on the floor while she had the bed. And she absolute refused to lie down on the dirty floorboards of this place.

And, on top of all of that, she was simply tired. She'd been sleeping badly before this wonderful adventure she was now on, and she was simply exhausted. "Actually… Will," she began, turning to face him, "I think… I shall share a room with this thing," she said, motioning to Sparrow with her right hand.

"Why exactly would that be?" a voice from behind her questioned.

"Yes, Miss Sw- Leah, I don't think that would be a very good idea…"

Completely ignoring the man on the bed, she kept her gaze focused onto the blacksmith. How was she to explain this, the fact that it would just be too uncomfortable? Of course it would still be a bit of hell with the pirate, but Will was in love with her bloody sister for goodness sake! And even her own mind could see the utter absurdity of this, but it was simply how she felt. Secondly, she felt that one of them should keep an eye on this pirate; they could not trust him to be here in the morning, not for certain. They needed to keep an eye on him. And, there was something more to it, something she could not seem to identify. A fascination with the man, the man who seemed so free of society's rules and regulations. Could she be envying him? It was a mix of all of this, a mix of these many thoughts jumbling through her head, all mixed in with the anger she still felt at the pirate. How to put this to words? It was impossible, unless she wanted to bear every thought and emotion she felt to both of them. "I- Just, trust me on this, Will. We can't fully trust him to be here in the morning, anyway. Someone is needed to make sure he doesn't abandon us."

"First off, Miss Swann," a voice interrupted, and this time, Leah did turn to face its speaker. Sparrow was now sitting on the edge of the bed, feet on the floor, not watching her with a very amused or happy countenance. "I gave you y word, and as much as your gentlewoman mind would like to doubt it, it is worth something, savvy? And secondly," Getting up, he swaggered over, "How do you know I would share a room with ye, darling?"

Leah gaped as Will watched the man incredulously. "You do realize," she pointed out, regaining herself, "that you were the one who suggested I share a room with someone."

"Well personally," he said back, "I thought you wouldn't want a visitor in the night to see you in that wonderful getup you have on."

"You were the one who made me take my actual clothing off, you-"

"Would you two stop?" Will suddenly demanded, putting his actual blade in between the two of them. Leah, glaring, backed up. "You two are like five year olds, and if any of us want to be objective in Elizabeth's rescue, we do need sleep.

"Leah, Jack's right. You aren't sleeping in any room by yourself."

Swallowing, her mind raced to work around this. Once again, he just had to prove what an impossible… oh, she couldn't think of a word that was horrible enough to describe him! She was so very close to just sharing a room with William, but another part of her, the one that enjoyed challenges… Oh, how she hated that part of herself. That was the same part of herself that refused to conform to the image of the proper noblewoman that she should be, and instead made her crave more. It was the same part of her that sent her nightmares at night.

"Young William here is right," Jack agreed. She looked up at him, surprised. "Fine, I shall room with and protect fair maid here. All right with all?" Well, that had been strangely easy…

"Agreed," she said before they started inexplicably arguing again.

"Fine," Will said, and sheathed his blade, starting to leave, his hand on the doorknob… before turning back to face them. "Jack, if you-"

"I promise to be the perfect gentleman," he swore.

Nodding Will left the room to the other one they had rented down the hall, shutting the door behind him. The two of them were now alone.

"You better be the perfect gentleman, pirate," she snapped, and walked over to the bed, cringing as she touched the foul sheets.

"It's really not as bad as it appears, luv," he consoled, although it really was only a little bit of comfort to her. She was still furious at him.

"You stay on your side of the bed, and I shall stay on mine," she ordered, getting in and staying as close to the edge of the mattress as she could. It really wasn't all that terrible, now that she was lying down in it, but she would not give him the benefit of agreeing with him. Besides, for all she knew, she was simply in denial about the bed.

Before long, she could feel him get in the bed beside her, and heard his "Sweet dreams, luv." She ignored it, but could not quite get comfortable about the position she was now in… Almost unwillingly, she edged closer and closer to the edge of the bed…

And fell to the floor with a whispered curse word. Gravity had, of course, won out because of her foolishness and discomfort, and had sent her toppling to the unluckily hard and solid floor, her elbow and funny bone smashing into it. Pain radiated up and down her arm. Bloody hell! This was a bloody bad day!

Looking upwards, she saw Jack Sparrow's face, one eyebrow arched, looking down at her, appearing just a little amused. Yes, this was all so very amusing. "You all right there, Leah?"

"Yes," she said, cynicism dripping from her words, "Of course, I'm bloody fine!"

"Long as you're sure."

Ignoring his expression or even the fact that he was on her side of the bed, she began to get back up onto the thing and under the covers, cursing herself for her carelessness and stupidity. This time, fuming at not only Sparrow here but herself as well, she did not fall off of the bed, but gradually managed to calm. Then, feeling just a little sick, Leah Swan fell into an uneasy sleep.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Now, remember… click that little review button and… REVIEW!!! They keep me from tearing out my hair and writing them for myself in my own BLOOD!

Dimonah: I shalt not tell ye when she falls for Jack, but I'm thinking, however the timing works out, ye might be surprised… Or perhaps not so. ;)

Cherish: *Blushes* Thankees! Yousa rock too, reviewing and all! And she can hold her own. :P

Suzzie: lol Feisty, eh? Well, I suppose one could put it that way… ;P

TriGemini: Same goes to ye as does for Dimonah. Exactly when she falls for Jack can be determined by you, yourself. But thankees for the lengthy review and I'm very glad you like! Hoping this chappie is up to thy standards!

Katherine: Who DOESN'T love Jack Sparrow? I mean, raow! ;) And glad ye are enjoying, matey! Keep up the reviews!

Ipzy: That's quite all right, I'm a bit of a lazy bum myself, or else this would be up sooner! Bot to my credit, I was trapped at a friend's house for two days because of now! :P But, I like thy reviews! DON'T STOP REVIEWING! *Huggles the reviews and never lets them go*

Leah: 'Tis one of my favorite names, Leah! (nice name, btw. ;) ) Hope ya continue enjoying and reviewing!

Kat: lol Yes, I realize 8 chapters would be a bit of a hassle to read through… But I am so honored that you took the time to! And that you are going to continue taking the time to! Thank you! Thy comments mean a LOT!

Shanelover: Yes, bye bye dear rum. You went to a grand ol' cause though! ;)