A/N Disclaimer… oh, come on, people, do I have to spell everything out for you? That's really pathetic. I should think that you would be smart enough to know that I don't own anything that you already saw in the movie POTC. Are you happy? Listen, nobody can sue me because I'm dead broke. Last weekend I went to the mall and bought the POTC soundtrack and then spent like three hours wasting the rest of my money in the arcade. So if you sue me, prepare to get all of the money I have left… 27 cents. Kinda pathetic actually, but that's not the point. To Paaje and Blacklabel… I almost died laughing when I read your reviews. You both have succeeded in making very little sense but still being funny… you've earned the cookies and rum. I swear, I almost soaked my keyboard in diet Pepsi reading yours Blacklabel… scalawag tag? Did you just make that up? Haha, that put some weird pictures in my head. Thank god I didn't spill though… I don't have enough money to buy a new keyboard (even though I'm getting another computer for Christmas, hehe! I rule!) And Paaje… a rum slinging soccer match? I'd love to see the look on Jack face… Wasting his precious rum! Also thanks to Orca Girl… your reviews are short and sweet, but they really make my day: D. Also, to my new reviewer! Daroga's Rainy Daae… don't worry, come back soon cuz this story's not going anywhere! You have no idea how good it made me feel to get a review from you… on every chapter! Wow, thanks!
Anyways, I know that you're all waiting for me to update this story, so first let me apologize. The last chapter was really short because I really, really wanted to update for you guys but I have this thing about people reading over my shoulder. It's like… annoying, and also… you'd have to read from the beginning to understand this story, and anybody reading over my shoulder would be totally lost. So I apologize for having to stop abruptly, but it was getting late and all my relatives were hanging over me going "so what is this fanfiction thing?" And it was sooooooo annoying, so I'm sorry. ANYWAYS… my internet does this weird thing where the cable switches on and off so that sometimes during really big storms and it's annoying.
Hey, it just occurred to me that I should probably get on with the story, so… here ya go!
***~***
Anne pressed her ear against the door and listened closely. According to her senses, the normal hustle and bustle on the ship was taken over by a slight panic… obviously nobody else thought that hiding in a cove would protect them from the other pirates.
Anne tried to think… at what time would Jack choose to step in and break up the fight? Then it occurred to her that he might not do such a thing… what reason did he have to step into the middle of a fight? He wasn't the type of person to protect people from pirates. And he didn't even know that Mari and Anne were on the ship. One thing was clear though… if those pirates caught up to them and began battle, Anne and Mari were goners. Who knows what kind of entertainment the pirates would want from the only two women in the vicinity? Not that Mari was a woman yet, but would that matter?
Anne decided that no matter what they did to her, let Mari be alright. She didn't care, she just wanted everything to be alright of Mari.
Would Jack come and break it up if he saw Anne and Mari were on the ship? She didn't think about that… of course he would. Jack was a good man, he wouldn't let the child suffer.
Suddenly Anne had a sour taste in her mouth. What about her? Would Jack just take Mari back and leave Anne to get another ship? She had, after all, wanted to leave, and she had left with Mari and hadn't left anyone any note or anything. It had been a coldhearted thing to do, and she wouldn't blame him if he never wanted to speak to her again.
With shaking hands, Anne drew her dagger out of her boot and ran the blade along her arm, creating a hairline of blood, extending from her elbow to her wrist. The blood flowed freely, and Anne winced in pain.
Still alive, Anne. She reminded herself. As long as you're alive, you can do anything…
Jack noticed that there was land nearby and that the ships were heading for it. There was a shallow cove in sight, and he guessed that the first ship, obviously a merchant ship would try to take shelter there.
Good luck… he scoffed, laughing when he thought that the little merchant ship presumed that it had even the slightest chance of surviving. The odds against it were outstanding. He decided to follow them anyway… at best luck, The Pearl could drop anchor off the island and have the chance of surviving the storm. Maybe.
He squinted at the two ships and sighed, glancing back at the gathering storm clouds behind.
At the way this is going, Anne will be gone by the time we get to Tortuga. Screw these ships, we're in a hurry! Jack shifted a possibility back and forth in his brain momentarily. Could join the pirate ship. Take down that merchant ship and split the booty. Maybe get out of here quicker.
Giving in to reason, he gave the order for his crew to catch up to the two other ships and inform the pirate ship of their alliance. The order was quickly carried out and Jack was conscious of stumbling footsteps behind him. He turned around to see who was there.
Anamaria stood there. One hand at her side, holding her bullet wound, the other hand on the railing of the ship for support. She was watching Jack with a concerned look on her face.
"Jack, how sure are you that that is the right choice?" She asked uneasily. "Can we trust this pirate ship?"
Jack shrugged. "There are so few people you can trust nowadays. So few pirates left so we might as well assume that these are worth trusting. I can't say that I've made the right choice because I can guarantee that there are people who will disagree. This is the way that I think this will work though. We must catch up to Anne."
"You mean Mari." Anamaria pointed out quietly.
Jack looked surprised for a second and then thought about that. "I mean both of them." Jack said. "Anne can't be allowed to leave without her share of the treasure."
Anamaria chuckled. "You keep telling yourself that's the reason, hun."
***~***
Anne needed to know how close the Pearl was before she could make any sudden moves. The whole ship's survival depended on when she decided to show herself. She ran down the stairs and back to the little hole in her cell and peered through, noticing with some shock how close the Revenge was, and that the Pearl was right behind it. She took a deep breath and prayed that they were close enough before turning back to Mari.
"Stay here, honey, and for god sakes don't come up. Get down low, just in case of cannons."
"But…"
"But nothing! If you come up, we're all in danger, and I'm sorry but I just want you to be safe."
Mari looked betrayed, her eyes large and wet with disbelief.
"But… you said I could help! I wanted to help! I wanted to get you out… you said I could be a pirate!" She crouched down on the floor and wrapped her arms around her knees, and for a moment, Anne's heart ached for the sweet little child.
"I'm sorry, Mari, but this is too important." She said softly, but the girl didn't look up, and Anne knew that she had to go soon. Feeling slightly guilty, she crept up to the door and opened it slightly, preparing to go.
"One… two…" She whispered to herself. "Three." But she didn't go. She didn't have the courage. Squeezing her eyes shut, she calmed down, slowed her rapidly beating heart, and took a few deep breaths.
"Ok, Anne, do it now." She took a deep breath and pushed the door open and jumped out as fast as she could. In just three jumps she was at the rigging and she climbed a few steps as quickly as she could. She was halfway to mid-mast before anyone noticed she was there. And by the time that they had organized enough to do anything, she was already at mid-mast, on one of the platforms waving her hands in the air at the Pearl. A sudden gust of wind came, blowing off her hat, and her red hair flew free in the wind as she was grabbed by three sailors closest to her in the rigging. She looked wistfully at her hat, but was mostly preoccupied by the Pearl. Had they seen? What were they thinking?
***~***
Jack wasn't paying any attention to the merchant ship at that time. Anamaria gasped suddenly and grabbed his sleeve, and he turned to look at the ship. About halfway up the mast was a figure, waving around and making a commotion. The wind pushed at the sails suddenly and Jack felt his jaw drop at the sight of the flaming red hair cascading from the figure.
"It's Anne." Anamaria said to him, watching his reaction.
Jack thought for a moment, but it wasn't hard to make his decision.
"To the cannons. I want The Revenge full of holes when we're through with it."
He watched the ship again through his spyglass and frowned when he saw Anne being grabbed and forced down off the mast.
"I don't get it…" He said quietly. "But what I do know is, we're not going to attack that ship."
***~***
Anne was back on deck, and held tightly by three crewmembers. She had a calm look on her face and stared the captain right in the face, chin held high and proud.
"What do you think you're doing, pirate?" The captain spat at her, shaking his head angrily.
"I just saved your life, merchant." She said back, using the same tone of voice.
The captain sighed angrily and turned away from her to stare at the Revenge.
"There isn't anything you can do about this, woman. We're all going to die, whether you start jumping around in my sails or not. So you might as well."
"That's where you're wrong." Anne said, thinking up something to say as fast as she could, and settling on the truth. "Close by on that horizon you'll see another pirate ship, The Black Pearl. When I escaped and took the girl with me, they came after me because… the girl is important. Now that they know that I'm on the ship, nothing will hurt us."
The captain stared at her in disbelief. "That is the biggest load of crap I have ever heard. I knew you were leading pirates straight to us. And now you've admitted it! Nickler, Brown, tie this girl to the mast. Tightly. And don't worry about rope burn… make sure she can't get away." Two men stepped forward and pushed Anne toward the mast. She stared at the Captain before letting out a string of curses that went on forever, pausing only to take a breath, and then continuing.
"My dear lady, don't make this any worse." He paused for a second before turning back to her and smiling softly. "I've got a better idea. Don't tie her up, gentlemen, but keep your knives on her. Maybe we can get out of this alive after all… the girl should be of some importance to the pirates."
Anne took a deep breath and then started again on her curses, glancing briefly at the door to see if Mari was listening.
"Go find the girl, Skip. Bring her up here. She could be of some use." The captain said to another man close by.
"This will do nothing, captain!" Anne told him, her voice still steady and calm. "That Captain Sparrow knows that I'm on his ship, and I'm of value to him to be sure. If I am harmed…" She lowered her voice slightly. "You will pay."
The captain laughed. "You shall not be harmed, miss pirate. I have no doubt that you are important to the Captain Sparrow. But if you don't mind me asking, just how important? Important enough for him to… say, part with some treasure."
Anne licked her lips. "You wouldn't dare." She hissed at him.
The captain considered this. "Oh, I think I would. Money is status, after all, and another bottle of rum in Tortuga."
"Well, you're out of luck then, captain, because Sparrow would soon kill your whole crew. And he can't give you his treasure because part of it is mine."
The captain turned to the Pearl, which was advancing on The Revenge. He grinned. "Well shall see about that, m'dear."
Anne watched with a slow painful horror as the Pearl came close to the Revenge. She knew, of course, that it wasn't her revenge anymore, her ship which she had made her whole life, but still… she didn't want to see it at the bottom of Davy Jones's locker. She had actually fancied briefly that after they were out of this whole mess, The Revenge would be hers once again. But she could see how that would not happen.
Blowing holes in her ship. Her ship. Might as well blow holes in her heart. It was painful, to watch, and she prayed that she could get to her ship before it was gone.
But her attention was drawn to the quiet, pale little girl who was brought up from the hold. She looked at Anne with wide, confused eyes, and Anne smiled to reassure her, but Mari simply looked away.
It was slightly confusing, but after all, Anne had told the little girl that she couldn't help… so it was natural for her to be disappointed.
All they could do was wait.
And watch.