Disclaimer: Still don't own the fabulous Captain Jack Sparrow, or the
other characters.
AN: Once again, I think that all homework should be put in a big bonfire and sent straight back to hell. Anyway, here is yet another chapter of my work! Enjoy!
Chapter 6: Time Passes and Things Happen:
As the months passed, Elena felt she couldn't be happier, simply because life on the Pearl was very good to her. While she really didn't fully approve of the crew raiding ships and towns, she had to admit that it was fairly exciting, even though she didn't take part in any of it (Jack had always made sure to lock her down below so that she wouldn't get hurt in any way). However, despite the fact that she didn't participate in any of the raiding, Jack always made sure that she got a bit of something from the gathered goods, whether it was money, gemstones, or anything else of value that could be used to buy or trade for things in the nearest port. Elena always made sure to save up all of the things that she received from the raids, primarily so that she would have something to live off of later in life. While the crew spent their money and treasures on alcohol and women, Elena made sure to store hers in a secret, specially hidden locked box under her bed. She was very glad that Jack had given her the metal box after one of their raids, when she had run out of places to put her share of the booty. She had thought it very sweet of him to do that, considering other members of the crew had also wanted that lockable iron-clad box for themselves. Jack had claimed that Elena needed it more, to keep the crew away from her 'personal effects' (though he seemed to conveniently forget that Annamaria also possessed person items as well). The crew didn't mind; they all liked their red-haired cook a great deal, even though they never told her outright.
However, one of the more interesting things that came about from the raids was the fact that Jack almost always stole books along with the gold, jewels, and treasures. This amazed Elena to no end, and it was due to their shared interest in books that, over the past few months, caused Jack and Elena to form an odd sort of bond. During their free time, the two would meet in Jack's cabin and talk about all sorts of things from the books they had read in their past. Elena hadn't thought of Jack as much of a scholar, but was amazed at how well-read he was. The two would talk for hours about books before duty called them to their separate parts of the ship. After that, Jack would sometimes loan her a book to read so that they would have something to talk about the next day. It was a wonderful relationship, yet Elena didn't realize that she was really falling for the dashing, and intelligent, pirate captain.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
One morning, three months after she'd been brought aboard, Elena felt a hand on her shoulder on her way to the galley to prepare breakfast. The red-head realized that it was Annamaria, and that something had to be wrong for the female pirate to be here at that moment.
"Anna, what's wrong?" she asked, concern settling on her features.
"Lena, you need to come to the crew's eating room, it's important," Annamaria said seriously, gesturing towards that part of the ship. The two women quickly headed down, and as Elena opened the door, she was greeted with a tremendous shock.
"SURPRISE!" yelled the entire crew. "Happy birthday!"
Elena tried to hold back tears. "My birthday?" she asked, amazed at the kindly gesture. "You remembered my birthday?"
"Of course, luv," Jack said, smiling at her as he swayed to her side. "Why wouldn't we remember yer special day?"
"I don't know what to say!" Elena exclaimed. She couldn't believe it. The table held a small crate filled with smaller boxes, most likely her birthday gifts, and there were large bottles of alcohol everywhere. Jack grabbed her arm and steered her towards the head of the table, a seat usually reserved for the Captain.
"Here ye are, lass," he said, holding out the chair for her and pushing it in when she was seated. "Now, luv, what do ye want to do first: eat breakfast, or have some cake and open yer gifts?"
Elena stared up at him. "You mean someone else cooked breakfast and made a cake?" she asked, worried that they might be poisoned from the crew's attempts at cooking.
Jack chuckled. "Don't worry, lass, Annamaria knew what she was doing. She's been working with ye for the past few months, remember?" The rest of the crew laughed as Elena blushed.
"Well, I think I'll open gifts first, and then everyone can eat and drink their rum," she said, smiling. "How does that sound?"
The gift-giving proceeded from there. Most of the crew gave her small things like a few coins, a broach or cloak-pin, and a small kit from which to make beaded necklaces from. However, to Elena, the best gift so far was a large bolt of beautiful, velvety crème cloth from Annamaria.
"I've had it forever and Lord knows that I'll never use it," the pirate woman said, grinning at Elena's expression. "Besides, it'd look better on ye then it would on me." Elena proceeded to stutter her thanks as Annamaria waved it aside. "If ye want to thank me, use it to make a dress and wear it sometime. That's how I'll know ye like it."
Elena nodded and proceeded search for another gift, but finding there was none. "Well, I guess that's everything!" she said, looking around. "Thank you all for your gifts, it was so thoughtful of you!" She gave them a wide smile as she stood. "Now, why don't you all help yourselves to the alcohol and some breakfast while I put all of these lovely things away?" The crew cheered as they rushed the kitchen and the bottles. After Elena had finished stacking up the gift boxes, she headed for her shared room. She then proceeded to gather all of the valuable trinkets and lock them away in her metal box, leaving out the crème cloth, which she stored in a wardrobe that she shared with Annamaria. She had just finished closing the wardrobe when a knock sounded on the door. Opening it, Elena found a grinning Jack Sparrow looking back at her.
She blinked at him. "Did you need something, Jack?" she asked politely. She really wanted to get to the galley and eat before the crew devoured all the food.
"Aye, lass, there's something I need to do," he said, walking in.
That's when she noticed Mr. Gibbs walking in behind Jack, holding a fairly large tray with two plates of food on top of it. After Mr. Gibbs had carefully set the tray and plates down on her bed, he winked at her and left, closing the door behind him. Elena suddenly felt the room get smaller as Jack proceeded to smile at her.
"Alone at last, luv," he said, showing off his gold teeth. "Now, why don't ye help yerself to some food and then ye can open my gift to ye?"
She nodded her head and the two of them polished off their food quickly. After the last bit of sausage and eggs had been consumed, Jack put the stacked plates on a nearby desk and turned towards her, pulling out a small, red box.
"You've been with us for a while now, lass, and now I think that we need to mark ye as one of our crew, without letting others know that ye've traveled with pirates," he said, holding up the box as she nodded. He then handed the box to her. "Open it up, luv."
She did, and gasped at the gift inside. It was a ring with a black pearl on it, surrounded by small white diamonds. The pearl wasn't very large, but it would still carry a fair price.
"Jack, I can't accept this, it must cost a fortune!" she said, awed at such a pricy gift.
"Don't worry about it, luv," he said, smiling at her as he put the ring on her right hand, noticing how perfectly it fit her slim finger. "I got it from a raid," he whispered to her, as though it were a secret.
She chuckled as she nervously pulled her hand out of his grasp, looking at it in the light coming in through the porthole above her bed. "Still, I feel guilty knowing that it must cost so much," she said, turning to smile at him.
"I told ye not to worry about that, luv," Jack chided her. "It's to mark ye as one of my crew, a member of the Black Pearl without branding ye with the 'P' we normally do. If anyone tries anything on ye, we'll hunt them down and tear them a new hole in their head." He took her hand in his. "Now yer one of us pirates, lass," he said, still holding her hand. Elena blushed as he held her hand for a long moment before standing up. "Now, I'm afraid I've got things to do on deck, so I'll leave ye to admire yer gifts. Oh, and I should tell ye that ye have the rest of the day off. Annamaria will take over for ye today." He smiled and bowed before leaving a dazed Elena behind, staring at him with a confused look on her face.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
After Jack had left, Elena stood in the middle of the cabin and stared at the ring he had given her. Did he really mean it when he said that she was a member of his crew? Would they really come to her aid when she needed it? She had only been onboard a few months, and now they wanted her as a crewmember? It was very touching, but she didn't even know if she would stay after her year was up. Then again, did she really want to go back to being on land after experiencing the freedom of the seas? Too many questions crowded her mind. Shaking her head, Elena decided to take a nap. After all, it was her day off.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Later on in the day, Elena woke to the sound of someone else in the cabin with her. Opening her eyes, she saw Jack kneeling next to her pillow, grinning. She smiled at him before she realized what she was doing. Sitting up slowly, she rubbed her eyes, ridding them of sleep.
"Afternoon, lass," Jack said, standing and offering her a hand up and out of bed. "Care to join me for lunch in my cabin?"
She nodded as she accepted his hand, and the two of them headed towards his cabin, where a lovely lunch of fried fish and potatoes awaited them. The two of them then sat down and set into their food. After a quiet fifteen minutes of eating, they were both mostly done with their food, and Jack decided to break the silence.
"Luv, what do ye say to us stopping off in Tortuga for a few days?" he asked as he sipped a glass of rum. Elena looked up at him in surprise.
"Why do we need to go to Tortuga?" she asked. "There must be other pirate drinking holes to go to, why Tortuga of all places?"
"Luv, ye got to understand that Tortuga is the best pirate hangout in the Caribbean," Jack said, leaning closer to her over the table, taking her right hand in his. He rubbed the pearl that decorated the ring on her finger. "I know that ye probably don't like the place much, but the crew needs a bit of rest and relaxation, and that's where they need to do it, savvy?" He looked into her light-brown eyes with his dark brown ones.
Elena nodded. "You're right, Jack," she said, uncomfortable with the thought of returning to a place she didn't really like, but didn't really despise either. Jack didn't help matters by holding her hand. "The crew needs this, and I do need to restock the galley. Tortuga has the best selection of things. We can go."
Jack smiled. "Glad we agree, luv," he said. "Now, did ye ever get around to reading 'Hamlet'? We haven't talked about that, yet."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Three days later, the Pearl pulled into Tortuga's harbors. Elena had never seen the crew look so excited. After they had docked and the crew flew down the gangplank into town, Elena went down below to her cabin to her metal box. As she took up the box and stashed the crème bolt of cloth Annamaria had given her in a sack to keep it clean, she heard a knock on the open door. She turned around and spotted Jack standing behind her.
"What are ye still doing here, lass?" he asked, walking inside. "And what are ye doing with yer treasure box?" He frowned. "Ye aren't trying to sneak away, are ye?"
Elena smiled. "No, I just decided that I might want to buy some things to help make a dress with the cloth Anna had given me," she said. "I didn't know how much such things would cost, so I decided to take it with me, just in case."
"And the cloth?" asked Jack, looking at it.
"Well I can't buy thread and ribbons for it if I have nothing to compare it with, now can I?" she said, still smiling at him. "You really should know these things, Jack."
The pirate captain raised an eyebrow at her. "I'm a man of the sea, lass, I don't do dresses." He looked her up and down, grinning. "Just promise me one thing before ye go."
Elena raised an eyebrow. "What is it?" she asked, suspicious of his grin.
"When yer done with the dress, ye'll show it off for me before anyone else," he said, grinning even wider at her.
Elena blushed. "Well, since you've been so kind to me, I suppose that's fair," she said. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have things to do before we leave town." She rushed out the door, leaving a grinning Jack Sparrow standing behind her. She didn't notice that he now sported a dreamy sort of smile, one that held a great hope of seeing her looking like a goddess in her future new gown.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
AN: Yes, chapter six is done! I promise that a twist is coming up soon, so watch for it! And I'd like to thank everyone for sticking with me through this story and reviewing it. I love you all, you guys (or girls, actually) rock! And PotC won Best Picture at the People's Choice Awards! And Johnny Depp is up for an Oscar! Long live Captain Jack Sparrow!
AN: Once again, I think that all homework should be put in a big bonfire and sent straight back to hell. Anyway, here is yet another chapter of my work! Enjoy!
Chapter 6: Time Passes and Things Happen:
As the months passed, Elena felt she couldn't be happier, simply because life on the Pearl was very good to her. While she really didn't fully approve of the crew raiding ships and towns, she had to admit that it was fairly exciting, even though she didn't take part in any of it (Jack had always made sure to lock her down below so that she wouldn't get hurt in any way). However, despite the fact that she didn't participate in any of the raiding, Jack always made sure that she got a bit of something from the gathered goods, whether it was money, gemstones, or anything else of value that could be used to buy or trade for things in the nearest port. Elena always made sure to save up all of the things that she received from the raids, primarily so that she would have something to live off of later in life. While the crew spent their money and treasures on alcohol and women, Elena made sure to store hers in a secret, specially hidden locked box under her bed. She was very glad that Jack had given her the metal box after one of their raids, when she had run out of places to put her share of the booty. She had thought it very sweet of him to do that, considering other members of the crew had also wanted that lockable iron-clad box for themselves. Jack had claimed that Elena needed it more, to keep the crew away from her 'personal effects' (though he seemed to conveniently forget that Annamaria also possessed person items as well). The crew didn't mind; they all liked their red-haired cook a great deal, even though they never told her outright.
However, one of the more interesting things that came about from the raids was the fact that Jack almost always stole books along with the gold, jewels, and treasures. This amazed Elena to no end, and it was due to their shared interest in books that, over the past few months, caused Jack and Elena to form an odd sort of bond. During their free time, the two would meet in Jack's cabin and talk about all sorts of things from the books they had read in their past. Elena hadn't thought of Jack as much of a scholar, but was amazed at how well-read he was. The two would talk for hours about books before duty called them to their separate parts of the ship. After that, Jack would sometimes loan her a book to read so that they would have something to talk about the next day. It was a wonderful relationship, yet Elena didn't realize that she was really falling for the dashing, and intelligent, pirate captain.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
One morning, three months after she'd been brought aboard, Elena felt a hand on her shoulder on her way to the galley to prepare breakfast. The red-head realized that it was Annamaria, and that something had to be wrong for the female pirate to be here at that moment.
"Anna, what's wrong?" she asked, concern settling on her features.
"Lena, you need to come to the crew's eating room, it's important," Annamaria said seriously, gesturing towards that part of the ship. The two women quickly headed down, and as Elena opened the door, she was greeted with a tremendous shock.
"SURPRISE!" yelled the entire crew. "Happy birthday!"
Elena tried to hold back tears. "My birthday?" she asked, amazed at the kindly gesture. "You remembered my birthday?"
"Of course, luv," Jack said, smiling at her as he swayed to her side. "Why wouldn't we remember yer special day?"
"I don't know what to say!" Elena exclaimed. She couldn't believe it. The table held a small crate filled with smaller boxes, most likely her birthday gifts, and there were large bottles of alcohol everywhere. Jack grabbed her arm and steered her towards the head of the table, a seat usually reserved for the Captain.
"Here ye are, lass," he said, holding out the chair for her and pushing it in when she was seated. "Now, luv, what do ye want to do first: eat breakfast, or have some cake and open yer gifts?"
Elena stared up at him. "You mean someone else cooked breakfast and made a cake?" she asked, worried that they might be poisoned from the crew's attempts at cooking.
Jack chuckled. "Don't worry, lass, Annamaria knew what she was doing. She's been working with ye for the past few months, remember?" The rest of the crew laughed as Elena blushed.
"Well, I think I'll open gifts first, and then everyone can eat and drink their rum," she said, smiling. "How does that sound?"
The gift-giving proceeded from there. Most of the crew gave her small things like a few coins, a broach or cloak-pin, and a small kit from which to make beaded necklaces from. However, to Elena, the best gift so far was a large bolt of beautiful, velvety crème cloth from Annamaria.
"I've had it forever and Lord knows that I'll never use it," the pirate woman said, grinning at Elena's expression. "Besides, it'd look better on ye then it would on me." Elena proceeded to stutter her thanks as Annamaria waved it aside. "If ye want to thank me, use it to make a dress and wear it sometime. That's how I'll know ye like it."
Elena nodded and proceeded search for another gift, but finding there was none. "Well, I guess that's everything!" she said, looking around. "Thank you all for your gifts, it was so thoughtful of you!" She gave them a wide smile as she stood. "Now, why don't you all help yourselves to the alcohol and some breakfast while I put all of these lovely things away?" The crew cheered as they rushed the kitchen and the bottles. After Elena had finished stacking up the gift boxes, she headed for her shared room. She then proceeded to gather all of the valuable trinkets and lock them away in her metal box, leaving out the crème cloth, which she stored in a wardrobe that she shared with Annamaria. She had just finished closing the wardrobe when a knock sounded on the door. Opening it, Elena found a grinning Jack Sparrow looking back at her.
She blinked at him. "Did you need something, Jack?" she asked politely. She really wanted to get to the galley and eat before the crew devoured all the food.
"Aye, lass, there's something I need to do," he said, walking in.
That's when she noticed Mr. Gibbs walking in behind Jack, holding a fairly large tray with two plates of food on top of it. After Mr. Gibbs had carefully set the tray and plates down on her bed, he winked at her and left, closing the door behind him. Elena suddenly felt the room get smaller as Jack proceeded to smile at her.
"Alone at last, luv," he said, showing off his gold teeth. "Now, why don't ye help yerself to some food and then ye can open my gift to ye?"
She nodded her head and the two of them polished off their food quickly. After the last bit of sausage and eggs had been consumed, Jack put the stacked plates on a nearby desk and turned towards her, pulling out a small, red box.
"You've been with us for a while now, lass, and now I think that we need to mark ye as one of our crew, without letting others know that ye've traveled with pirates," he said, holding up the box as she nodded. He then handed the box to her. "Open it up, luv."
She did, and gasped at the gift inside. It was a ring with a black pearl on it, surrounded by small white diamonds. The pearl wasn't very large, but it would still carry a fair price.
"Jack, I can't accept this, it must cost a fortune!" she said, awed at such a pricy gift.
"Don't worry about it, luv," he said, smiling at her as he put the ring on her right hand, noticing how perfectly it fit her slim finger. "I got it from a raid," he whispered to her, as though it were a secret.
She chuckled as she nervously pulled her hand out of his grasp, looking at it in the light coming in through the porthole above her bed. "Still, I feel guilty knowing that it must cost so much," she said, turning to smile at him.
"I told ye not to worry about that, luv," Jack chided her. "It's to mark ye as one of my crew, a member of the Black Pearl without branding ye with the 'P' we normally do. If anyone tries anything on ye, we'll hunt them down and tear them a new hole in their head." He took her hand in his. "Now yer one of us pirates, lass," he said, still holding her hand. Elena blushed as he held her hand for a long moment before standing up. "Now, I'm afraid I've got things to do on deck, so I'll leave ye to admire yer gifts. Oh, and I should tell ye that ye have the rest of the day off. Annamaria will take over for ye today." He smiled and bowed before leaving a dazed Elena behind, staring at him with a confused look on her face.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
After Jack had left, Elena stood in the middle of the cabin and stared at the ring he had given her. Did he really mean it when he said that she was a member of his crew? Would they really come to her aid when she needed it? She had only been onboard a few months, and now they wanted her as a crewmember? It was very touching, but she didn't even know if she would stay after her year was up. Then again, did she really want to go back to being on land after experiencing the freedom of the seas? Too many questions crowded her mind. Shaking her head, Elena decided to take a nap. After all, it was her day off.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Later on in the day, Elena woke to the sound of someone else in the cabin with her. Opening her eyes, she saw Jack kneeling next to her pillow, grinning. She smiled at him before she realized what she was doing. Sitting up slowly, she rubbed her eyes, ridding them of sleep.
"Afternoon, lass," Jack said, standing and offering her a hand up and out of bed. "Care to join me for lunch in my cabin?"
She nodded as she accepted his hand, and the two of them headed towards his cabin, where a lovely lunch of fried fish and potatoes awaited them. The two of them then sat down and set into their food. After a quiet fifteen minutes of eating, they were both mostly done with their food, and Jack decided to break the silence.
"Luv, what do ye say to us stopping off in Tortuga for a few days?" he asked as he sipped a glass of rum. Elena looked up at him in surprise.
"Why do we need to go to Tortuga?" she asked. "There must be other pirate drinking holes to go to, why Tortuga of all places?"
"Luv, ye got to understand that Tortuga is the best pirate hangout in the Caribbean," Jack said, leaning closer to her over the table, taking her right hand in his. He rubbed the pearl that decorated the ring on her finger. "I know that ye probably don't like the place much, but the crew needs a bit of rest and relaxation, and that's where they need to do it, savvy?" He looked into her light-brown eyes with his dark brown ones.
Elena nodded. "You're right, Jack," she said, uncomfortable with the thought of returning to a place she didn't really like, but didn't really despise either. Jack didn't help matters by holding her hand. "The crew needs this, and I do need to restock the galley. Tortuga has the best selection of things. We can go."
Jack smiled. "Glad we agree, luv," he said. "Now, did ye ever get around to reading 'Hamlet'? We haven't talked about that, yet."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Three days later, the Pearl pulled into Tortuga's harbors. Elena had never seen the crew look so excited. After they had docked and the crew flew down the gangplank into town, Elena went down below to her cabin to her metal box. As she took up the box and stashed the crème bolt of cloth Annamaria had given her in a sack to keep it clean, she heard a knock on the open door. She turned around and spotted Jack standing behind her.
"What are ye still doing here, lass?" he asked, walking inside. "And what are ye doing with yer treasure box?" He frowned. "Ye aren't trying to sneak away, are ye?"
Elena smiled. "No, I just decided that I might want to buy some things to help make a dress with the cloth Anna had given me," she said. "I didn't know how much such things would cost, so I decided to take it with me, just in case."
"And the cloth?" asked Jack, looking at it.
"Well I can't buy thread and ribbons for it if I have nothing to compare it with, now can I?" she said, still smiling at him. "You really should know these things, Jack."
The pirate captain raised an eyebrow at her. "I'm a man of the sea, lass, I don't do dresses." He looked her up and down, grinning. "Just promise me one thing before ye go."
Elena raised an eyebrow. "What is it?" she asked, suspicious of his grin.
"When yer done with the dress, ye'll show it off for me before anyone else," he said, grinning even wider at her.
Elena blushed. "Well, since you've been so kind to me, I suppose that's fair," she said. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have things to do before we leave town." She rushed out the door, leaving a grinning Jack Sparrow standing behind her. She didn't notice that he now sported a dreamy sort of smile, one that held a great hope of seeing her looking like a goddess in her future new gown.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
AN: Yes, chapter six is done! I promise that a twist is coming up soon, so watch for it! And I'd like to thank everyone for sticking with me through this story and reviewing it. I love you all, you guys (or girls, actually) rock! And PotC won Best Picture at the People's Choice Awards! And Johnny Depp is up for an Oscar! Long live Captain Jack Sparrow!
