Hey everyone! Thanks so much for the reviews, I superly appreciate it. I'm just gonna go ahead and jump right into this chapter, no authors notes, *shocker* since it's kinda late and I want to get as much done before bed as possible. LOVES!


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Novialeigh sat, staring at the wall, the tears pouring down her cheeks. "Perfect..." she mumbled. "Simply perfect." She began tearing furiously through the books pages, searching for something amongst her father's sketches that would tellher where he was, where she could find him. 'He wouldn't leave me like that, he couldn't, I don't believe it for a second...' she thought, stopping mid-thought train as her eyes fell upon a weathered, hand drawn map, on an old parchment scroll. The only legible thing to her on the map was the large X over a small island, the rest was in what looked like... gaelic?

"Jameson!" she exclaimed, clamping her hand over her mouth as soon as the words escaped. She'd wake the entire houseif she kept yelling with every pea-brained idea that popped into her head, and she knew it. But Jameson never stayed in the servant's quaters. Unbeknownst to Mr. and Mrs. Jennings, Jameson had been leaving in the middle of the night for ages, sneaking down to a little pub in town as soon as he knew the house was asleep. Novialeigh has bumped into him once as he was coming in late one night, and the pleading look in his eyes caused her to promise to keep her secret, and she had never regretted it for a moment.

And now she knew where she could find him.

She jumped up, pulling on her cloak from the wardrobe and pushed open the shutters to her windows. Peering out among the grounds for any signs of life, she was thankful there were none, and that the moon was bright. She climbed out onto the tree growing beneath her window, stepping down from branch to branch carefully until she was close enough to the ground so that she could lower herself down, without risking any unwanted rips or stains on her dress.

Tiptoeing across the moonlight lawn to the dusty road, she knew there would be no avoiding the mud as she ran as fast as her legs - and her dress, and her corset- would allow towards the center of town. Passing the old, abandoned blacksmith shop, she peered down an alleyway, totally dark save for the lights coming from inside the most lowly pub in all of the Caribbean, save for all of Tortuga, of course.

'The Widow's Despair' was hardly a place for widows, and even more unlikely to be found inside was a public display of despair. Here dwelled the most despicable forms of life, late at night, leastways, the kind Nova's mother had warned her about in hushed whispers when she was a small child. She glanced around, making sure no one had seen her creep down the alleyway, and pushed open the pub door.

The loud shrieks of laughter from drunken whores, the crack of wooden tables and chairs being broken over heads and backs, the low mumble of chatter underneath the more obvious noise, all rushed to greet her with the smell of rotten hay, sweaty clothing, and rum, and she felt herself go dizzy for a moment, trying to figure out how she would find Jameson in this crazy place. She pressed herself to the wall, trying to remain as unseen as possible until she spotted him, his crazy, rust-colored curls pulled back to the nape of his neck.

"Jameson! Jameson, wait!" She tried to push herself through the crowds to get to him, but the brute force of drunk sailors was entirely too much, and as she dogded a swinging mug, she tripped on her dress, landing with a loud "Omph!" on her chin.

"Wot have we here, lads?!" yelled the voice of - another female? Novialeigh looked towards the voice, pushing herself off the ground, trying to dust herself off, but it wasn't any use. The woman smiled at her a genuine smile, and smirked at the three men beside her. "Look a' tha'! Pretty little thin', innit she?" Novialeighs eyes went wide as the men smiled amongst themselves. "Aww, now see wot ye damn fools have gone 'n done! She's scared! Come on, luv, this way..." She grasped Nova's arm and pulled her towards the bar. "Are ye drinkin' somethin'?" She went behind the counter, waiting patiently for Novialeigh to say something.

"No... I'm not here to drink, actually, I'm looking for someone!" she yelled as loud as she could, and the woman smiled. "Who ye lookin' for, lass? Not another one lookin' for Sparrow, hmm? Seems to be the most sought-after gent in the place!" Nova's eyes went wide. Sparrow - the pirate captain that the Commodore was talking about earlier! She gasped with surprise, but shook her head. "No! I'm looking for..."

The realization that Jameson was probably not the name he was using at the pub, for fear of someone finding out who he was, hit her like a ton of bricks, and she looked as though she might cry. "Oh, hun, wot's the matter? Tell me your name, and who it is yer lookin' fo', and I'll try my best to help ye find them, eh?" Novialeigh looked up quickly. "I'm looking for a man, about this tall-" She gestured here with her hands. "He's got curly hair, always pulled back to his neck, he's thin... he's..." She sighed, her lip quivering. But the woman smiled. "Aye, girlie, I know the man, come on... may as well be lookin' for Sparrow with as much luck as ye might be havin', but we can try, eh?" She pushed the swinging doors again, grasping Novialeigh's hand in hers and pulled her over to a dark table, all the way in the corner of the pub.

"Heav, please, I'm trying to have a serious conversation here!" The man at the table pleaded, looking at Novialeigh and the woman. "First off, mate, that's Mistress Heav to you, if you're goin' to be an impudent blister, and secondly, this fine girl came 'ere lookin' for you! All on her onesies! Now don't you feel the fool!" Heav, as the woman was called, spun on her toes, heading back to the group of men that seemed to follow her everywhere, and Novialeigh could only stare at the man, wide-eyed.

"Well, what is it then, I haven't got all night..." He wiped his hands on his breeches, pushing his mug towards the other man that at the booth, a wide-eyed, dredlocked, grinning man, smiling lewdly at Novialeigh. "Oh, come now, Will... she doesn't look so bad!" The second man offered, holding his hands out defenselessly.

The man he called Will rolled his eyes. taking back his mug, staring into the bottom of it. "We've no more rum, Jack." Jack sighed, calling back the blonde woman. "We'll be havin' two more of these, luv..." He held up his mugs to her, and she took them, smirking sarcastically at him as she pushed her way through the rowdy crowd to refill them. Nova could only stare silently - this was the infamous Jack Sparrow, the only man she'd heard anything about (save for Thomas) since she'd come to Port Royal shortly before Elizabeth's wedding. Wide-eyed, she tried to think of something to say to them, anything, when someone tapped her on the shoulder.

She spun around quickly, only to be grabbed by the shoulders firmly by a crazed Jameson. "Miss Nova, wot in bloody hell are ye doin' here?!" He gasped, staring on at her incredously. "I was looking for you!" she exclaimed, bursting into tears, throwing her arms around his waist. "Father's gone, he's left, that's what the package was, his journal!" She continued to cry, bringing confused stares from Jack and Will and a tighter hug from Jameson. "Shhh, Miss... can't go on tellin' the whole world yer business..." He peered down at her, and she brought the journal out from the folds of her skirts, holding it out for him to take. "It's the last page..." she whispered, trying to control her tears. "I can't read it, but I thought maybe... maybe you could, and then you could tell me what it says, and I could find him!" She babbled hysterically, and he took the leatherbound book from her hands.

Jack's eyebrow went up immediately, and he nudged Will with his elbow. "I'm wondering meself wot that book says..." he whispered to no one in particular, but Will heard him fine, and watched Nova and Jameson with a hawk's eye.

Jameson, flipping to the end of the book, sucked in his breath sharply as he saw the map. "Aye, Miss Nova, 'tis Gaelic... Isn't sayin' anythin' in particular... somethin' about..." He squinted, having a great need for glasses and another great need for the money to buy them. "A tiger in waitin'? Not really makin' any sense..." He closed the book, puzzled.

But Jack and Will understood it perfectly, and Jack jumped up, walking half-crooked to where the two stood. "Might I have a look at that, luv?" he said, giving Nova the most persuasive smile he could muster. Nova practically melted where she stood, and could hardly manage to nod as she handed the book to him. "Forever grateful... Nova, wos it?" She swallowed, nodding. "Y-yes... Novialeigh... Nova is fine too, I suppose... I..." she started mumbling under her breath, trying not to stare at the two chunks of onyx he had for eyes, and he chuckled until he came to the map at the end of the small book. Then he sucked in his breath slowly.

"Miss... this map... how came it by you, hmm? That is, if ye aren't offended by my prying...?" She shook her head vigorously, but bit her bottom lip just the same, not sure if she should tell him of all people. "I... err... my father sent it to me... but I'm not sure what it means... or why I'm supposed to have it..." He eyed her warily, then the map, then her once more, and Jameson protectively placed his hands on her shoulders. Shrugging him off, she took note of how Jack was eyeing her map, and inhaled slowly, shakily. "Captain Sparrow, I... tell me what you know about this map..." she said slowly. He cocked his head to the side, raising an eyebrow. "Wot is it exactly that makes you think I know something?"

Shaking, she took a step forward so that he could hear her better if she spoke quietly. She stood up on her tiptoes, hardly believing herself as she moved his dredlocked hair aside to whisper in his ear. "You've not been breathing normal since you laid eyes on it..."

It was true. Jack knew exactly what this map was, and he knew how bad he wanted it. Apparently, so did Nova. Will snorted into his mug as he took another long chug, slamming it down bitterly. But no one was paying any mind to Will in the corner, and that was perfectly alright with him. Jack eyed her suspiciously as she leaned back on her heels, and smiled guiltily. "Alright, then, luv... you think you've got it all figured out... wot could I possibly want this map for?" He dangled the book by its back cover, waving it in front of Nova's face. She watched it, her eyes going back and forth, and then she looked to him, peering into his eyes, and he was almost shocked by the conviction in her stare. "I couldn't tell you, Captain..." she said softly, and looked down. He closed the book and folded his arms over his chest, still holding tightly to it.

"I can however tell you this..." she said, raising her head slightly and taking another step towards him, all but backing him into sitting back down at his table, which he did. She leaned down, trying not too look at him to much as she whispered. "There are men in this town out to kill you, Captain Sparrow..."

He stared blankly at her for a moment, then Will, then Nova again before both he and William burst into a humored bout of laughter. She could only stand shocked, puzzled as to why they were laughing at the news. "Miss... if you haven't noticed yet... I'm Captain Jack Sparrow... there are men in ev'ry town out t'kill me!" He grinned before turning back to his friend and his rum. However, Nova was not turned away so easily.

"You still have my book!" She exclaimed, crossing her arms over her chest. He turned his head slightly to the left, eyeing her up and down, a smug smile spread wide across his face. "Aye, miss, so I do. Your eye is sharper than I thought, my hat goes off to you." And this he did, holding it to his chest as he dipped his head, placing the hat back and again going back to his drink. "Mr. Sparrow, I'd like my book back!" she spouted angrily. But this time, he turned the whole way around, staring at her. "For starts, luv, it's Captain Sparrow. CAP-TAIN. And for seconds, I can't give you this here book back, not with the map still in it... my deepest apologies, you do seem like a fine young child." He said sadly, as though he were telling someone they had lost their child in a horse-and-buggy accident. He watched her reaction closely, awaiting a blunt slap across the face, but Novialeigh would not start a fight unknown to him. "For starts, Captain, the book is mine. For seconds, I am NOT a child." He chuckled at her. "You're as much of a child as ye appear, lass... but I'll give ye the fair chance to prove me wrong... Since neither of us is willing to let the map from our hands... and you don't know what this here map entails, and I do... and you're obviously unhappy about somethin' on the horizon, or ye wouldn't have risked comin' here o'er this said map..."

He paused, watching her face. She knew what was coming, he'd ask her to go away with him, she'd say yes, of course, and they'd sail off into the sunset. She would find her father, and she'd live happily ever after away from her mother and Thomas. She looked at him expectantly, and he smiled. "I say ye'd do well to come with me, follow this map wherever it may lead ye, lass, and never return... bloody hell, worked out just fine for me..." He took another chug from his mug, and went back to going over the map, running his finger over the lines penned carefully in black.

"And I say I'd do well enough without it..." She snatched the book from his hands quickly, ripped the map from the back, tossing it over her shoulder as she ran for the door, Jameson not far behind, leaving Will and Jack to ponder how in the hell the barmaid had gotten Will and Jameson confused in the first place. "Twister of fates, ye are, luv!" He smiled drunkenly at Mistress Heav, picking the map up from its resting place on the floor before heading upstairs to the small room he and Will had rented for the night.


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Anyway... ok, so I should say right now that Captain Jack Sparrow is in no way Novialeighs property, and Novialeigh is not a self-insertion bit... no way no how... lol... Cpt. Jack is happy enough belonging to dear sweet Memory Untainted. *waves at the ever so happy couple* Now, as far as self-insertion goes, I'm Mistress Heav... short for Heavily... DUUUUUUHH!!! I love stupid people. It's heartwarming really. So yeah, that was chapter three. I'm not too sure how much I like it, but it'll do for now... story is starting to pick up! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY! Everyone do a dance! W00t!

I'd do reviewer's notes, but unfortunately, I'm typing this up on an internetless laptop to be saved on a floppy. Reviewers, you know who you are, so give yourselves the due credit you deserve! Cheers, mates! *raises her glass in a toast*

And when the wind hits my sails...I'm gone

~Bonnie Pirate Lass~