Pirates of the Caribbean 2: The Return of the Aztec Gold

Notes: This chapter came to me in a dream. It was really quite weird. Well... thanks for the nice comments on the reviews! They are greatly appreciated. And by the by, I spell Elizabeth the way I did because I wanted it to look more old. To me, for some odd reason or another, the 's' looks old to me. And another thing, just in case the italics doesn't work, the stuff in between the *~*~*~ is a dream sequence. So, here it goes.

Chapter Four: Memory of a Storm

The misty air surrounded the ship as Jack followed Anna's words and they made their way to the treasure cave. Anna kept herself hidden from Paul, who was searching for her all evening. She had hidden herself in a prisoner's cell on the lowest deck. She was examining the gold coin again. She pondered on whether the coin was a piece of Aztec gold. Her past had been filled with many ways of her getting a piece of the gold, but she wasn't sure. If it was, she couldn't risk telling Jack, Will, or Elisabeth. She sat in the cell, staring at the coin and rubbing it with her thumb. She tilted her head back against the wall and closed her eyes. She felt herself drifting into a light sleep.

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

"Anna? Dearest? Are you alright?" A voice said. It sounded so faint and distant. Anna tried with all three years she had of her life to reply, but nothing came out.

"Anna, please answer me!" The voice pleaded. Anna realized the voice was that of her mother's. She desperately tried to awaken herself but failed. She heard the voices of others coming. She heard her mother screaming.

"NO! LEAVE ME ALONE! NO!" Her screams faded away as Anna lay there, unresponsive to the outside world and wondering what had happened to her mother. She heard more voices coming back to wherever she was.

"Get the girl!" Someone said. It was a man. A man with a threatening voice.

"Aye,Barbossa!" Another man said. Anna felt herself being picked up and carried outside of wherever she had been before. The location she was then was more comforting because she could again hear her mother's voice.

"Please don't do anything to my daughter! I beg you!" She said.

"Keep your mouth shut, young missy!" Barbossa said. Anna could hear his footsteps on a wooden surface. They must have been on a ship. She felt him getting closer to her. He smelled rotten, like a corpse.

"Where's the captain?" He asked.

"Sparrow is below deck, sir." Someone said. Anna could hear many footsteps clearing a path for a slow steady beat of footsteps from one man alone. She could feel herself being set down on a crate or a set of barrels, she couldn't tell. She could feel someone looking down on her. She felt someone take her wrist in their hand and checking her pulse. The hands were rough, but still gentle. This person laid her arm back down to her side and began to walk away.

"Bootstrap! Take the child below deck! Maroon the woman, but don't kill her. We move to Tortuga and leave the girl there." The man said. Another man stepped up.

"Aye, Captain Sparrow." He said. Many footsteps sounded on the deck and Anna picked out two the came towards her. Captain Sparrow leaned down to her and whispered something in her ear...

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

Anna suddenly awoke. She felt someone looking down on her.

"Good evening." It was Paul.

"Paul!" Anna shrieked.

"I'm sorry if I startled ya miss. I didn't mean ya no harm. I was jus' checkin' to make sure ye was alright." Paul said.

"Where did you get the funny accent?" Anna asked.

"Oh. Ya pick it up with them pirates ya know." Paul replied, smiling down on her.

"Paul, we've only been sailing one day." Anna said.

"Aye. I catch on fas'. What be ye there?" He pointed to the coin, which was still in her hand.

"Oh. Nothing!" Anna replied, quickly stuffing the coin in her dress again. Paul glared at her and she stood up.

"Where be ye goin'?" Paul asked.

"Anywhere but here." Anna said. She began to open the cell door, but Paul stopped her.

"I'd like to talk to you." Paul said. Anna looked him the eyes and gave in.

"Will you give up the accent?" She asked.

"Yes." He replied. They sat down again and Paul looked at Anna.

"Where did you come from?" Paul asked.

"I was born in London." Anna replied, nervously twisting at her dress.

"I thought you came from heaven. When I first saw you, I thought you were an angel." Paul said.

Anna looked at him and smiled softly.

"Paul, you're a charming young man. You are. But I'm not set out to love." Anna explained. His sad eyes drifted downwards to the floor and Anna lifted his chin up to look him in the eye.

"But I never said I couldn't give you a chance." She said. Paul smiled again and so did Anna. She almost thought about what she had said, but decided to square with it some other day.

The morning came sooner than expected. The sky was dark and gray, but the dreary weather didn't dampen Jack's spirits as he steered the ship towards the treasure cave. Anna came out from her hiding place and up to the deck. She was tired and furious with herself as she face Paul to get started with swabbing the other side of the deck. Despite her mood, she treated him with kindness, offering to help him refill the buckets. Jack couldn't help but take notice to this, but neither could Elisabeth. As Jack started over to them, Elisabeth stopped him.

"Umm...Jack!" She started nervously. She gave a nervous grin and led him away from Anna and Paul. She quickly made up a question.

"Exactly how far do we have to go until we get to the treasure cave on this route?" She asked.

Jack glanced at her and raised an eyebrow. He turned and began walking back over to Anna and Paul.

"Wait! You never answered me! Jack!!" Elisabeth chased after him and finally attempted to jump in front of him.

"Jack...just stop and leave them alone." Elisabeth said. Jack looked at her and returned to the wheel. He took out his compass at looked at it for a moment. Then he put it back in his pocket and looked out to sea.

Anna finished her work and went down to the lowest deck again. She found herself staring at the gold coin in such amazement. She let her mind float away into a memory she had of when she was younger.

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

The cloudy sky made no falters in the spirits of the pirates. Sparrow himself carried her in his arms to a place that looked dreary. It reminded her of her home in London in the middle of the city. She had been born in an old factory. Her parents weren't that well off, financial wise.

Sparrow took her inside the dark building. Inside there was a dim light and a lot of elderly people. There was a table in the corner and Sparrow took her to it. There was a young woman sitting in a chair and she had a kind gentle smile on her face.

"Can I help ya'? " She asked.

"Found this one...she needs a good home. Thought this'd be the perfect place." Sparrow replied.

"Aye. Bes' place in Tortuga for the little ones." The woman said. She stood up and took Anna from Sparrow.

"No worries then. She'll be alrigh'." Sparrow out his hands together in front of his face and quickly bowed his head down then up again. He walked out of the building, Anna watching every step he took. He never looked back to her.

~*~*~*~*~*

Anna's memory faded from her mind as she heard footsteps coming down the stairs.

"Anna?" A quiet voice asked.

"Elisabeth? I'm here." Anna said. Elisabeth turned the corner and opened the cell door and stepped in. She sat down next to Anna.

"Quiet is all I really want. I never had it before." Anna said.

"Where were you born?" Elisabeth asked.

"London. Raised in Tortuga. The nights there are wild and mad. Ask Jack or Will. They'll tell you all about it. The people there just don't care about their lives. They drink and fight and do things to the women that are unspeakable and yet some of the women let them. But no matter what I can't change where I was raised. I've learned to square with it." Anna explained.

"Your life sounds a lot more exciting than mine. The most exciting thing that ever happened to me didn't actually happen until I met Jack." Elisabeth replied.

"Its funny. Jack's the one who dropped me off in Tortuga. I suppose if you want an exciting life, you'd better turn to Jack. He seems to change your life..."

"Forever..." Elisabeth finished Anna's sentence.

"Yes..." Anna said. She quickly realized the coin was still out in her hand and she stuffed it back in her dress while Elisabeth was looking away.

Night fell and Elisabeth and Anna had been talking almost the entire day. They had stopped when it began to rain heavily. The rain poured into the bottom deck and they had to move up towards the second deck.

"A storm is on the way! Everyone up here!" Mr. Gibbs called.

"We're coming!" Anna replied. She grabbed Elisabeth's arm and they climbed up the stairs. The wind was blowing harder than they expected and the rain was falling hard and they were already soaked. Lightning flashed and thunder clapped against the sky. Anna quickly ran to tie down the sails. She could barely see and Will had come over to help her. He grabbed the ropes and pulled as tight as he could. Anna tied the rope as tightly to the hook as she could and they were blown by the wind and the water towards the other side of the ship. Elisabeth had been attempting to tie the ropes down on the other side and Will and Anna fell into her and the three of them fell to the deck.

"We can't hold all the ropes at once!" Anna yelled.

"We have to try!" Will yelled back. Before they could get off the deck, a giant wave engulfed the ship and everything seemed to disappear.