A/N I really don't own anything. 

Also, I really don't know where I'm going with this.  Hmmm.  A bit of writers block, sorry I haven't updated recently, but I've been working on another story, the Mushy
Mind of Captain Jack Sparrow.  Anyway, If you'd like to read a story that has more to do with the Bonny family, read Emily Knibbe's story, which she hasn't got posted yet, but I'm hoping it will be soon… (get your butt moving, Daggergirl!)

Anyway, I didn't realize how many reviews I'd gotten until I checked my account… 61, wow, kewl.    Rock on ppls, you all gets to be my hero for the rest of the day (which should last another three hours, so enjoy it while you can)

Anyway, on with the story. 

***~***

A/N Ok, never mind, I have no ideas at the moment. 

Give me a moment while I rack my brain. 

*racking… racking… racking…* I will be with you momentarily, give me just another sec to think…

Ok, for real now, I'll try and get back to the story. 

***~***

Nope, no ideas whatsoever.  Hang on… 

Ok, I'll try, I swear!

I'll be with you in the moment; I need to go read my last chapter.

Ok, I have an idea now, but I'm sorry if this chapter is short. 

***~***

            Jack sat in his cabin and made a decision.  He knew that he couldn't just wait around any longer… they were wasting time.  And if Anne was really gone, like Anamaria had kindly pointed out, then they would have to find her.  She could be halfway across the ocean by now! 

            But why should you go after her, Jack?

            He couldn't decide what the answer to that was.  Anne leaving was like his hat leaving.  It was something that he had grown so used to that he felt insecure and self conscious without it… and he had grown rather attached to his hat. 

            But he also had to get Marissa back.  How could Anne do something like that to Tawny?  Tawny's whole world is a fragile balance… the girl could very easily commit suicide soon if she really is as unstable as Anne said.  It's not right to do that to a person; you do not take away love. 

            From what I've heard of Marissa, she would make an excellent pirate. 

            But too young to be taken away, especially when her sisters future could hang in the balance.  Yes, it was most certainly the wrong thing to do, taking Mari away like that. 

            So you have to go get them back, Jack.

            So where would they go?  He wondered.  If I were Anne, what is the first thing that I would do? 

            Oh, that was possibly one of the hardest things he ever had to think about.  Anne was always unpredictable, so how could he predict her? 

            She would find a ship, he decided.  But not just any stolen ship.  If you're going to stick with a ship and call it your own, it's something you have to earn.  Not steal.  If you were going to steal a ship, there would be a number of different places to head. 

            But to hook yourself up with a ship in rather nice condition; she would go to Tortuga. 

            Jack pondered this for a moment… would she really take that child to a place like that?  A men's paradise?  Pirate haven, whore central? 

            Well, he couldn't see it happening.  Anne wouldn't ruin the girl's shallow view of the way the world works, just like that.  But Tortuga was the only place that he could think of that would work.  He remembered that the longer he wasted time, the farther away Anne was getting, so after lingering only a moment longer, he stood up and walked out on deck, grasping the helm and staring at the sky.  Without waiting a moment longer, he turned to his crew, and gave the orders. 

            He was alone now. 

            But he could do it. 

            ***~***

            Anne was thinking almost the exact same thing.  What kind of an experience would Tortuga be for Mari?  She felt herself overcome with guilt and shame again; she wasn't sure if what she was doing was right. 

            What would Jack be doing at this very moment?  She thought.  I wonder if he thinks I'm coming back. 

            But thinking of Jack only made her think of Tawny, and she couldn't handle that.  How could she have let Tawny down like that?  How could she have fallen so far? 

            But Anne wasn't about to back down.  Sitting around in Port Royal would mean that Mari would end up the same as Tawny; dreaming of the open sea, but too attached to land to think freely.  Anne hadn't had the chance she needed, but she felt that Mari deserved it. 

            I'm only doing what I think is right for Mari.  She convinced herself, humming a bit while keeping her eyes on Mari, who was following the cabin boy around in the rigging. 

            This is a good opportunity for her.  Anne told herself again.  But then she sighed and gave up.  You can tell yourself that forever, Anne.  This isn't right, and you know it.  Stop being selfish.  Turn the boat around.  Drop your pride into the sea and be done with it. 

            Anne watched Mari a little longer and then realized how foolish she was being.  Mari was having fun; Anne just wanted her to have fun.  If Mari wanted to return, Anne would take her back. 

            But for now, this chance was exactly what the little girl needed.  And she needs to learn what the world is really like so that she can make up her mind about being a pirate. 

            Finally convinced, Anne decided that if she thought about this any longer, she would turn right around and go back.  She couldn't turn back now… she couldn't do that to Mari.  The little girl's hopes were high and her spirit bright.  Anne had already disappointed enough people. 

            You could just screw them all, Anne.  Take Mari back and leave again… be free. 

            Anne smiled softly to herself. 

            "Not this time."  She said, slowly and softly so that nobody would hear except herself.  "A pirate's life for me…"  She muttered, carefully turning her attention back to getting the ship on course.  "I won't mess all of their lives up this time.  Mari deserves her chance." 

            Mari's POV:

            Anne is watching me again.  She's been watching me all morning… I don't know why, maybe she's worried about me or something.  But why would she be worried?  The crew is friendly and I won't fall off the rigging…

            I told Jacob (the cabin boy) about Daniel and Tawny and Sam, and daddy.   Jacob is my friend, he told me what shrouds are, and he showed me the lines and the rigging, and we took our lunch up and ate in the crows nest. 

            I like this ship, but I think Anne wants to leave.  Oh, well.  I have to stay with her cause I ain't got nobody else.

            Jacob is nice.  But he won't tell me everything about the ship.  He said he doesn't hafta cos I'm a girl, and I shouldn't be doing that stuff.  Then I told him that I'm going to be a pirate when I grow up, like Anne.  And Captain Jack Sparrow.  At first Jacob laughed, but now he says that if I really want to, I might be able to.  But he said it's harder to be a girl pirate, so I will have to work hard. 

            Jacob said that one day he's going to have his own merchant ship, and he's going to sail all over the whole world and bring people stuff.  I said that he could, and he said he might.  But he said that if I ever become a pirate, I'd better not attack his ship, cos he'll kill me. 

            I said okay. 

            I told him about mama, when she disappeared.  I know she's not coming back.  I heard daddy talking to Tawny, and they don't think she's coming back neither.  Daddy says that she's not my mama, but I think she is, because who else is going to be my mama? 

            Well, when I told Jacob about how mama disappeared, he got all quiet.  And I told him about how Tawny is sometimes, and he says she's sick. 

            Well, she ain't sick.  I know what sick is, cause Sam see's sick people all the time.  Sick means you got to stay in bed and hafta take yucky medicine, which Sam says is good for you, but it's really nasty. 

            Jacob says it's a different kind of sick.  I say, there's no such thing.  Sick is sick, and Tawny ain't sick. 

            Jacob is real smart.  But he don't know about this.  He don't know everything.  He's wrong.  He don't understand. 

            Jacob showed me how to pull the lines so the sails unfurl.  Then he said that I probably could be a pirate, cos I learn real fast. 

            That made me real happy. 

            Then I saw Anne watching me again.  It's actually kind of scary… have I done something wrong?  But I know I haven't.  Anne is real scared about something… she hardly talks and is sad all the time now.  I can't think of why… but all I know is, I wish she could be as happy as I am.  When you climb all the way up, into the rigging, you can see forever, into the sky.  Before, you could still see Port Royal way off, but now it's gone and there's just blue, blue, all around.   

            The puffy clouds go by and you feel like you're flying, like a bird, cos you're so high up… maybe if Anne came up, she'd feel that way to.  But when I asked her, she said no, she had a job to do. 

            I want Anne to be happy like me. 

            But I miss Tawny, and Sam and Daddy. 

            But mostly I miss Daniel.  We're not always the same, because he doesn't want to be a pirate, but he's so nice all the time, and he understands.  Like, he doesn't want to be a pirate, but he knows I do, and he understands, and even used to run around with me and Tommy when we went down to the docks. Daniel was always serious, but I was glad when he came with us.  I miss Daniel.  I told Jacob, and he said yeah.  That's all, just yeah.  I asked him if he had family.  

            He looked me right in the face and said yeah, and I asked him where his family went. 

            He said that his daddy and mommy were killed by a big fire in the ocean on a ship.  But that he had a sister who ran away. 

            I thought about that, and Jacob reminded me of Daniel for a moment.  Poor Daniel, I wonder what he thought of all this. 

            What was her name, I asked Jacob, and when he told me, I almost choked.  Her name was Danielle, he said. 

            Well, that sounded so much like Daniel that I was convinced that we were meant to be friends. 

            And then Anne was watching me again. 

            I hope we get there soon.