Here we go, father-daughter bonding. And again, I don't own anything! *sob*

***

A Hard Man To Predict

Jack stands alone at the helm, guiding the ship through the still water. It is another midnight, the same day of the battle. After the death of their captain, the crew of the Hawk were only too keen to surrender, and he simply gave them their ship back and pitched Santos's body into the deep. His actions were not well received, another ship would have been a wonderful thing, but he knows not to wreak havoc on a crew for the deeds of their captain.

Faye is restless. James is still sleeping on her hammock, so she curls up as best she can in a blanket, but there are too many images in her head and too many questions. Finally, she can stand it no more and goes up on deck. The first thing she sees as she steps out into the starlight is the silhouette of her father outlined against the inky sky. He is staring at the horizon, and his mind is elsewhere.

Faye makes her way up to stand by him, and they remain there in a comfortable silence as the Pearl glides on into the dark, towards Port Royal.

'I need to know something.'

He looks at her as if seeing her for the first time. 'Yes?'

'What happened with you and Anamaria? You don't have to tell me, but I'd really like to know.'

'If I don't tell you, you're going to be unbearable aren't you.'

'Absolutely.'

Faye glances up at him, expectantly.

'Go on, I'm all ears.'

'I met her when I stole her ship eighteen years ago.'

Faye blinks with astonishment.

'You knew her before my mother?'

'Yes, but not in the way you might be thinking. The next time I saw her was eight years later when she joined my crew to rescue your Miss Elizabeth. We sailed together on the Pearl for four years. When she knew she was pregnant, she left and unfortunately fell into the clutches of Santos who used James to blackmail her.'

'And that's it?'

Jack nods solemnly. 'That's it. I didn't know about James until she brought him on board yesterday.' 'You're taking it very well.'

'I've had practise.'

The slight slurring in his voice suggests to Faye that he might not be entirely sober. She steps a little closer to him, and catches the slight smell of rum on his breath. Evidently he's not taking it as well as she thought.

'Are you in love with her?'

'What, Anamaria? No, not in love. Sort of a mixture of friendship and convenience, really.' His tone is relatively jovial, but then suddenly takes a melancholy turn. 'She's not like your mother.'

Faye says nothing; she has learned where to leave silences for the other person to fill them.

'I miss her every day, even now. Looking at you reminds me so much of her – it's just something in your eyes and your voice. Everyone can see how much you're like me, but I don't reckon there are many who could see the resemblance between you and her.'

Faye leans in and puts both arms around his neck.

'Thank you.'

'What for?' he says, putting one arm around her waist.

'When I left Port Royal, I had an aunt and that was all. Now I have a father, a brother, and I feel like I've actually lived. Thank you so much.'

His grip on her tightens, and she fights down the girlish desire to burst into tears.

'You don't have to go back you know. You can stay here, sail with me, be a pirate! Why not, it's in your blood. You'll be happy out on the sea, I promise.'

Faye pulls away from him, shaking her head.

'I'm sorry, I really am, but I can't do this. I've taken the lives of two people when I might somehow have been able to avoid it, I've nearly been killed myself, and I've had to worry about the people I love being in mortal danger. Not to mention the fact that one day I might find myself swinging gently in the breeze. I need to go home; I need to have a normal life.'

'You want to go back to sweeping floors and washing dishes?'

She shrugs. 'That's what my normal life is.'

Jack sighs deeply, and turns his gaze back to the unchanging horizon.

'I could have shown you the world, Phoenix. We could have been the scourge of the seas, we could have been rich.'

'Father,' she says, ever so gently, 'my name is Faye. I'm a maid, not a pirate. The only things I could ever be the scourge of are dust and dirt.'

'If this is what you want, love, then so be it.'

--------

After many days at sea, finally the island is in sight. Faye is almost home, it is so close she can almost taste the familiar air. She is in her tiny room, putting her few possessions into her battered case that she stole so short and long a time ago from the Turners' attic.

There is a knock at her door, which elicits a call of 'Come in!' She had been expecting Jack, but it is Matthew instead. As soon as she sees his face, she knows that something is wrong, but before she can even start to speak he has cut her off.

'I'm not going ashore with you, Faye. I'm going to stay here. I've already got the captain's permission. '

Faye is unsure what to think about first. A life without him? Doesn't he love her? He wants to be a pirate? All of these ideas hit at once, producing total meltdown.

'Wha...?'

'I've lived so much in the last few weeks, I can't imagine ever going back to just being an apprentice. I want you to stay too, Faye. Please, stay here with me.'

Faye has never been so astounded in her life.

'And never see my aunt and uncle again? Never see the children? I can't leave Port Royal forever, I thought I could, I thought it was what I had to do, like some kind of quest to find my father. But I acted so stupidly I can't believe it now. I need to go home Matthew. Try to understand.'

There is a deafening silence for a solitary aching minute. The anger and irritation in her voice hurts him more than he allows to show.

'Well, I suppose that's it then. Goodbye, Faye.'

He is gone as soon as he arrived, closing the door carefully behind him. Faye climbs into her hammock, and lets the stifled tears fall.

-------

'Wha...?'

'I'm sorry Jack,' Anamaria tells him, holding James firmly by the hand, 'but I can't bring up my son on a pirate ship. It's too dangerous.' 'But you can't stay in Port Royal! What would you do? Where would you stay?'

'I used to have a good hand with a hammer, back before I sailed under the black flag. If, like you say, Matthew intends to remain aboard, then Will might be needing someone else.'

Jack's mouth opens and closes like a carp. Secretly, Anamaria enjoys seeing him dumbfounded. It doesn't happen often.

'You were a whore before you were a pirate!'

She shrugs. 'What can I say? I'm multi-talented.'

Anamaria stoops, and picks up a shabby bag with the hand that isn't holding James.

'When will you be leaving port again?'

'Probably before six.' His usual confidence is beginning to return. 'It leaves you plenty of time to change your mind.'

'I won't be changing my mind. Just in case I've left anything, I want to know how long I have to pick it up.'

She heads towards the door, towing James behind her.

'Goodbye, Jack.'

James waves, grinning happily, as his mother pulls him towards to prow. Faye is already there, case in hand, watching the ship come nearer and nearer to her home.

'Are you coming too, then?' she asks, noting Anamaria's bag.

'Yes we are. Do you think you could have us to stay for a while?'

'What are you going to do in Port Royal?'

'I was a blacksmith once. I understand that there'll be a position vacant, so I can be one again.' She pauses. 'Just in case you need to know, the ship is leaving at six this evening.'

For her pains, Anamaria is met with an icy glare.

'Why would I need to know that?'

'No reason at all.'

They stand there, untroubled by their men, and watch as the ship docks with all the associated activity that that brings, and as the plank is put down. As her feet touch the sand of Port Royal for the first time in so long, Faye resists the urge to look back. There is nothing to look back to, she tells herself, only things to look forward to.

***

That's really sad...oh no...need more Kleenex!