Author's Note—Hi again! Sorry I haven't updated in a while, but I've had a big case of writer's block, and haven't been able to write anything! If this is lame, please don't blame me; it ain't my fault. None of this will be a dream, because I feel if I do make last chapter a dream it will be all screwed up, some I'm just gonna go with it. I thought about the idea for a while, but it didn't seem to fit, in my opinion. REVISED THE 3 POV AT THE BOTTOM, DUE TO THE FACT THAT I MISSED WHERE I MESSED UP THE PRONOUNS,AND SOMEONE WAS KIND ENOUGH TO POINT IT OUT FOR ME.

Chapter 4—The Pearl

You open your eyes groggily, blinking as you try to adjust to your surroundings. You seem to be in some sort of cabin, large and spacious, and the bed is a good one. Putting a hand to your head to try to stop the pounding in it, you vaguely recall last night's events. "Why did I even go with him?" You moan to yourself, unaware that you aren't the only one in the cabin.

"Go wiv who, luv? Me?" Jack gives you an all too innocent look from his perch on a stool beside your bed. You give a yelp of surprise and scowl at him, wondering how long he's been watching you. You voice this thought aloud to him.

"Watchin' you luv? I only just got 'ere. Ye dropped like a log las' nigh' when we just set sail, so I brought ye down 'ere, along wiv Barbossa's 'elp. 'E's th' lad we freed from the brig, providing he 'elp us crew this ship."

As he mentions the ship, you suddenly recall how big this thing is! "Jack, how do we sail a ship this large with only three people?" You splutter at him, wanting him to try and see sense. "We can't sail a stolen ship this large without a crew you idjit! Did you not think of this before hand? Where are we gonna get a crew to man this thing; where are we gonna get the provisions we need so that someone can cook for us? You have got to be the worst captain I've ever seen." You shake your head as you say the last part, unaware of the look of hurt that flashes across Jack's features.

"Got tha' all figured out too, luv. Barbossa said he knows where we can get a crew of reasonable size, and a fairly good one at that. As fer cookin' and food and rum an' all tha', well….I was hopin' ye could cook fer us luv."

"Me cook? You have got to be kidding me Jack. I burned beans for god sakes! Any crew that would eat my cooking would be far better off without me, I can tell you that."

"Well…we can always get someone who knows how ter cook and be a doctor and so forth when we gets our crew at Barbossa's place."

"And where is Barbossa's place?" You ask coolly, quirking an eyebrow at Jack. His hesitates for a moment, and you can see the flicker of doubt in his eyes.

"Errr…he ain't really told me yet luv, only that it's North o' Tortuga, and we're headed straight for it. We should reach it in a couple of days at best."

"We'd better," you grumble, "else wise I'm gonna create me own crew of sea creatures! Now, what do ye want me ter do? I can do work y'know, and I want to be of some value on this ship. Say….First Mate?" Your eyes are hopeful as you look up at Jack, and you clasp your hands together in front of your chest for good measure. "Please?" Fluttering your eyelashes at Jack you try one more meager attempt at begging before Jack can give you his answer.

"Luv, ye don't have ter beg. I knew that if ye came wiv me ye'd be me First Mate, regardless. We always talked together about leavin' Tortuga together, so why would I not give you the position ye deserve? I'm Captain," you interrupt him in mid-sentence.

"Why are you the Captain and I can't be the captain, huh? I want to be a Captain too!"

"Luv, ye have trouble wiv yer brothers. Ye think I'd let ye captain a crew?" He shudders at the thought and you punch him playfully in the arm. "Now come on; we have a lot o' work ter do if only us three have ter crew this boat-ship," he corrects himself, "before we can get a proper crew. Now up ye get luv, and we can go and do work. Lots and lots of it!" He grins and gets up, leaving your cabin without a backwards glance.

"Oh jolly; work. The amount a normal sized crew for this damn ship would have, spread about over three people! Why am I Jack's friend anyways?" You mutter to yourself as you climb out of the large bed you slept in, it nailed to the wall like everything else in the cabin. Stalking out of the cabin muttering you wonder why you couldn't have used your sense and not climbed the rope onto the ship. A voice inside your head tells you you haven't got any sense, and you crush it angrily, it only contributing to your foul mood. God, you hate work!

The morning sun beats down on the back of your neck as you haul on a rope, using all your weight to pull it and adjust it. Sweat drips down your back, chest and face, and as you wipe a hand across your brow you scowl at Jack, who is, at the moment, not doing anything at all. His back turned to you he's looking out to see in the bow of the ship, looking through a looking glass. Dropping your end of the rope, which you have just fixed properly, you stalk over to him.

"Why aren't you doing anything?" He turns around at the sound of your voice. "You'd better have some kind of explanation Jack, because while you stare at the pretty waves I have to break my back tugging on ropes!" Barbossa looks over from whatever he was doing, then bends his head and continues working. You didn't like the guy, but if he could get you a crew you'd be happy.

"Because I'm the Captain, and what I say goes. I like the sound of it-Captain Jack Sparrow. Don't you like the sound of it?"

"No, you lazy cow! Okay, it sounds lovely Jack, can you just help me? I can't do everything with just Barbossa!"

"Captain Jack." He reminds you and shoves the looking glass into a pocket, and heads past you to the wheel. Shaking your head you follow him, muttering under your breath again.

"Is there anything to eat on this ship? I'm hungry and haven't eaten since yesterday!" You complain as Jack fixes your course, and as he inspects the sails. Trailing behind him you make a pitiful sight, and you can see Barbossa laughing at you, but hiding it well, as you whine behind Jack.

"Yes there's food, but not a lot of it, luv! Go and get some from the galley if yer so hungry! Just stop complainin'!"

You smile at him. "I'd knew you'd warm up to me at some point." Leaving a confused Jack in your wake you turn on your heel and all but run below decks and to the galley.

"Food." You sigh happily as you munch on some bread, slightly stale but good enough. At least there weren't any weevils in it; you hated weevils. Drinking some rum to wash down the bread and the apple you were about to start on, you lean back in your chair and put your feet up on the oaken table, you don't notice Barbossa enter.

"I see yer enjoyin' yerself." You jump at the sound of his voice in your ear and your chair tips backwards, allowing you to fall with it, landing sprawled out on top of it and glaring up at Barbossa from your seat on the floor. "Comfortable position, aye? I never knew the floor was so soft and cushy." You scowl and clamber up, righting your chair and resuming your comfortable spot with your feet up.

"It's food. Asides, I don't have ter do work when I'm eatin'. Jack can't force me to. It's like me break." You smirk at him and bite into the apple. "Want one?" You motion to the bowl of apples in the center of the table with the arm holding the bottle of rum. There seemed to be plenty of that aboard.

"No. Jus' came ter say that th' Captain wants ye. Somethin' about dallying all day when we have a huge ship to crew wiv only three people. Best git out there ter do some more work, aye?"

"And what about you?" You say glumly, tipping your chair forward and back on all fours. "Are you gonna sit about and laze all day and eat, whilst I slave on ropes twice my weight?" Maybe it was an exaggeration, but you didn't care. You always exaggerated things.

"I'll be grabbin' somethin' small and goin' back ter work, providing there is something left fer me ter do." You scowl at him-it seems you've been doing a lot of scowling aboard this boat-but get up and leave anyways, slamming the door hard behind you.

"You wanted me, Cap'n?" Laughter edges its way into your voice when you pronounce Cap'n, and you hope Jack didn't notice it. It's still hard for you to imagine Jack as a captain, considering his manner and all. But he did seem like a good captain. But then again, you haven't been on this ship long enough to judge.

"I'll make you a deal luv. Ye don't have ter do as much work as Barbossa and me if, and only if, ye do me something special."

"And what's that?" You cross your arms over your chest, waiting. Jack grins at you again before continuing.

"You go up to the crow's nest and search fer land! That way me 'n Barbossa dun have to do it and you can get out of workin' hard! Satisfied?" He crosses his arms over his chest and waits for your answer, smiling slightly.

"Okay…." You say slowly, wondering why he was giving you this job when he could make you haul on ropes or something. You glance back at Jack as you wander off towards the Crow's Nest.

You lean against the side of the Nest as you gaze out to sea, your eyes following the gentle movement of the waves as the bow crashes through them. A gull wheels overhead, its cry echoing in your ears. So peaceful up here, you think, closing your eyes and smiling….

The sun lowered in the sky, but still you're standing in the same spot you were hours ago, leaning against one side of the Nest. Your eyes are shut, and you're smiling peacefully as you sleep, the warmth of the sun beating against your face. It never occurs to you that with the warmth of the sun and the boringness of this job that you could fall asleep. Yet you have fallen asleep, and you can't really change that.

Jack glances up from his work, which was, incredibly, staring at the compass he has found and trying to determine if you're on the right course. It seems strange to him that you've been standing in the same spot for hours now, in the same position. "Barbossa mate, make sure we be on th' right course. I'm gonna go an' see wut yonder lass is up ter." He waves a hand in your direction, and as Barbossa grins over at Jack he turns and marches over to the Crow's Nest.

Upon climbing the ladder and stepping into the Nest, Jack makes a face halfway between a grimace and a grin. He rubs his head while looking at you standing there sleeping. Reaching out a hand he shakes your shoulder roughly, jarring you awake. "Wha' the..!" You shout, drawing your cutlass and waving it around, Jack narrowly dodging the blade. Trying to blink the sleep from your eyes and wake up properly at the same time, you honestly have no idea what in blazes your doing.

"Stop it!" Jack lunges in and grabs your wrist, holding it so that you can't potentially danger him anymore. "I asked you to look fer land, not fall asleep!" His hand tightens on your wrist and you wake up fully from the pain of his fingers digging into your skin. You wrench your wrist out of his grip and return your cutlass to its rightful place. Glaring at Jack you mumble something incomprehensive. He merely stares at you till you finally say something else.

"I didn't say nothin' of importance, Captain." You smirk slightly, but erase it from your face quickly.

"I asked you to watch fer land, not fall asleep and lean upright in a semblance of doing so! I was counting on ye ter do a good job!" Jack leans against the side across from you, watching for your reaction. You merely shrug and say that if he wanted a better job done he could've done it himself.

"…Besides, there ain't a thing in sight, 'cept for birds, water and even more water!"

Jack sighs and shrugs in finality, as if he's made a decision about the whole matter. "Luv, since ye can't watch fer land, yer going t' go an' lower th' anchor."

"Why?" Curiosity edges its way into your voice, but you try to smother it quickly. You know Jack will probably make you work extra hard for dozing off, but that can't be helped really.

"Coz we're gonna rest fer a while, since we've made great progress already. Asides, th' rigging needs ter be fixed afore we go on again, and I want ye ter do it all ourselves. I think me 'n Barbossa deserve a break, aye? Now go on, git down there and lower th' anchor."

"By meself?"

"Aye; by yerself." You shake your head but turn and begin to climb down the ladder, glaring at Jack as you do so. "Ye'll git o'er it luv. Mayhap next time ye'll think before ye fall asleep, aye?" His voice drifts down to you as you descend the stupid ladder.

The anchor splashes into the water as you finally manage to lower, and as you turn you can see Barbossa watching you again. You shudder, even though it's not cold; the guy just gave you the creeps. Turning away from him you begin to do what Jack told you to do, no matter how much you hate it and how much it hurts your hands.

An hour later-it seemed like an eternity- you've finished all your work. Wiping sweat from your brow you sit down on a nearby barrel and look around, wondering if there's anything to drink. Well, of course there is, you think, we're pirates after all, and pirates always have rum. Can't live without it. You grin and get up, and trudge down to the gallery.

After drinking deeply from one of the flasks-you've just claimed it as yours, and you'll be damned if Jack says otherwise-your eyelids droop, and you realize it's been a long day. Yawning and not bothering to cover your mouth you head over to your cabin, and as you close the door you smile slightly. At least now you could sleep without getting yelled at and assigned extra work.

Climbing into your bed, which was built into the flooring like everything else, you yawn once more and can feel your eyelids falling as soon as your head hits your pillow. Sleep consumes you in a moment, and yours dreams are ones you'd forget in the morning, but pleasant nonetheless. Unaware of it, you're smiling as you sleep.

3 POV

The cabin door creaks open and slides shut again. Jack looks around, noting how dim it is, and then sees the lump in the bed. He shakes his head, but he can't blame her; it was a long day after all, and he did make her do a lot of work. But she had to learn to pull her own weight on this ship, if they wanted to make it to wherever Barbossa said they were going to get a crew.

Ever so slowly he tip-toes over to her bed, watching her as she sleeps. It was eerie for him, watching her in the darkness of the cabin; her with that peaceful smile plastered on her face; he could only begin to wonder what she was dreaming about. Bending his head slowly, he whispers "Sorry I made ye work so hard luv, but ye 'ave ter learn ter pull yer own weight 'round 'ere. G'night." He kisses the top of her head gently, turns and swaggers back out, as quietly as he had come in.

Author's Note—I'm changing the way I set things up; I hope it looks better. Okay, I'm terribly sorry it took me so freaking' long to write this, but I was busy, couldn't get on the computer, and had the biggest case of writer's block ever! It was so hard to write this chapter because I didn't know what to write….oh well; at least I have a chapter to post! Please review, alrighty? I'd love it if you did!