A/N I do not own anything. Oh, wait! I do own Tawny. (but I might not get that far in this chapter)
Thanks to those who have consistently been supportive so far… I know I'm repeating myself, but really, I do appreciate it! I'm way overdue for thanking you guys, but I'm sorry that I don't have time to do it now, because I'm on a deadline to finish this chapter by tonight. I hope I can make itJ
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Anne glanced at Jack. He shrugged.
"It might blow us off course. I know we rode the storm before, but we can't afford to lose time with Ana…"
"You're right." Anne said. "But we might lose more time if we just wait out this storm."
"Beg pardon." Gibbs said, interrupting us. "I never said this was going to be a little storm. Not just your average storm. Can't you feel it? The air is heavy, and the clouds dark. Dangerous, this one is. I don't want to wait it or ride it. We'll have to fight to keep control."
Anne set her mouth in a determined scowl.
"What port are we going to?" She asked Gibbs, leaning over the map.
"Well, I figured we could get the best doctor here-" Gibbs started to say, gesturing to a spot on the map. Anne shook her head.
"Too far. What's the CLOSEST port?" Gibbs eyed Jack nervously.
"Port Royal, Jamaica."
"The Pirate Haven?" Anne said. "Very well, that's where we'll go. We should reach it just barely before the storm hits, and I have a friend…"
But she stopped talking when she saw the look on Jack's face.
"What's your problem?" She said.
"Well, we have friends there… who… well," Jack started, but then stopped, glancing away, at the dark clouds gathering.
"What kind of friends?" Anne asked suspiciously.
"The kind who are very close, but long overdue for a visit and who will make me take a bath and put my rum away, and who will be mad at me for staying away such a long time."
Anne grinned. "Oh, that kind! Well, I shall have to meet them."
She turned the wheel just a little and the sails swung around in a totally different direction. Jack looked nervously at Gibbs.
"Anne, I really don't want to go there…"
"Well, we do things we don't want to do sometimes, don't we?" She said, not meeting his eyes, instead turning and searching the horizon.
Jack grabbed her by the shoulders and spun her around.
"I really don't want to go there!" He said furiously. Her green eyes smoldered under his glare.
"You can yell as loud as you want, Jack, but it changes nothing." She said calmly, shrugging his hands away from her. "Now listen up, and listen closely." Jack's eyes followed her as she walked around the deck, speaking as she walked.
"There are times when you do things that you don't want to do, but you do them anyways, because what you want doesn't matter. Anamaria could be in danger, Jack, and your ship could be torn to shreds, but you won't consent because of your stubborn little wants? No, I'm afraid it doesn't work that way. WE all have little demons that haunt us, but that can't keep you from doing what needs to be done. I walked into Nassau with my head held high, regardless of what I feared about it. I think the very least you can do is dock at Port Royal, for Ana's sake." Anne turned to look at him again, and he found that he had absolutely nothing to say.
"In fact," She continued. "I have a friend in Port Royal who I can get to help Ana somehow, and you will never even have to show your face if you don't want to. Let it just be said, though, that if that happens, I will not hesitate to label you as a coward."
Jack smiled now. "Ah, and we can't let that happen, now can we? Fine, I agree with you. This must be done. GIBBS! We set sail for Port Royal! Keep the ship on a steady course."
The sky grew considerably darker, but it was a great ease to everyone's mind when the ship pulled into the dock just before the winds really picked up. Jack seemed considerably worried about the British Navy, but Anne was privately laughing at him.
"Got to be careful, love…" He said, glancing around.
Anne pulled him in the direction of the dirtier places in town.
"I have a friend I want you to meet." She said.
"Sure." He muttered. Anne pulled him into a tavern and immediately began searching the place. She walked up to the bartender.
"Anne!" The man said, smiling, instantly recognizing her.
"Marc." She said warmly, smiling back.
"Can I get you anything?"
"Ah, The Captain Sparrow will have a glass of rum, but as for me, where's Tawny?"
The bartender seemed to notice Jack for the first time. "Oh! Captain Jack Sparrow? It's a pleasure to meet you! I have two little tykes that have heard all about you, and one pretends to be you sometimes." The man handed Jack some rum, and Jack took it with a smile.
"Well, what can I say? I am Captain Jack Sparrow, after all." He winked at the man before downing the rum.
"TAWNY!" Marc, the bartender called.
"I'm here, I'm here, da'." A door opened, and a girl stepped through. After she closed the door behind her, she walked lazily over to the counter and inspected Anne and Jack. Her eyes widened when she saw Anne.
"Anne! Geez! What's it been, four years? Me da' said you might not be coming back this time!" She grinned and Jack saw that she had perfect rows of teeth. "But I knew you would."
Jack inspected the girl closer. She was chewing some sort of gum like substance, which she snapped every few seconds. She was very pretty, long tawny locks flowing to her waist and curling wildly. Her eyes were a rich light brown with little gold flecks swirling in them. Jack wondered what she was doing in a tavern; she wasn't wearing the right clothes to be a bar wench; black cutoff pants and a light green blouse, a belt around her waist with a cutlass and a dagger hanging off it. Black boots that came just above her ankles, showing a considerable amount of skin, improper for a woman. Her face was framed with two black streaks running through her hair, and her hair had a green bandanna over it. She wore gold hoop earrings, and had an assortment of bracelets and rings. However, around her neck was a simple silver chain, with nothing on it except a slim little gold band, a ring. He wondered why she didn't wear it. Then he realized that Anne was talking.
"Me an' the Captain, we've been in a spot of trouble these past few weeks, and that's why I haven't been in awhile. That brings me back to what I wanted to say… I have another friend on the boat, and she's hurt real bad. I figured that Sam could take a look, what do you think, Tawny?"
Tawny snapped her gum. "I guess he might take a look… but Sam ain't been feelin real well these past few days, so I don' know…" She looked at the bartender, Marc. "Ain't that right, da'?" And Jack realized that Marc was her father… how many other children did he have besides his two little tykes and Tawny?
"So…" Anne said. "Should we bring Ana here, or can Sam come to the ship?" Tawny shrugged.
"He can come. I'm pretty sure. Ya'll should go back to that ship and we'll see ya tomorrow." She shrugged again and snapped her gum.
"I'd love ta chat, Anne, but I'm workin tonight." She grinned at Jack. "See ya Captain." And she walked confidently out of the tavern and outside.
"Working?" Jack repeated to Anne.
"She hangs around the blacksmiths. He's not supposed to teach her, because she's a woman, but he lets her hang around and he always ends up showing her how to do stuff anyway. And she gets to improve her swordfighting skills."
"I like her accent." Jack commented. Anne laughed.
"She desperately wants to be a pirate. But she couldn't bear to leave her family."
"Family?"
"Her dad, her older brother Sam, who wants to be a doctor, and the twins, Daniel and Marissa. The twins are seven, but Daniel is shy and quiet, and Marissa is… well, she's like a smaller version of Tawny. Actually, the resemblance is quite scary. Marissa wants to be a pirate. She likes to pretend she's you."
Jack grinned. "I figured it would be the boy pretending to be me, but a girl is good too."
"Yes, well, Tawny is quite something… I don't know, she reminds me of you, I guess."
"Me?"
"Jack… I just want to tell you… she's not a very stable person sometimes. Don't you dare take advantage of that. She may be quite willing to jump in bed with you, but if you do that, it will honestly hurt her, so I'm telling you right now, be careful. Just… try to get along and be nice. Her brother Sam could probably help Anamaria."
"Yeah sure." Jack mumbled.
So I think we should go back to the Pearl now, alright?"
"Yeah, okay."