Chapter 3

Authors Note: MILAGROS- one of my best friends who JUST joined fanfic.net. Her stories are really good, no Mary-Sues here, I swear on pain of death. Anyway, enough of my advertising, onto the story!

15 years ago

This was it. Jack knew that this would be the last time he'd be able to taunt the army, it wasn't entirely his fault they hated him though. Hunger drove a man to risk life and limb; Jack was past starving.

It had been so simple in the beginning, a stolen roll, pocketed fruit, or anything else that happened to catch his eye. The townspeople eventually noticed the lean, sailor-looking, parentless lad and from there it had all been downhill.

He'd gotten constant warnings from the head magistrate, if he was caught stealing he'd rot in debtors prison. Jack had lived on his talent and relied only on himself for as long as he could remember. The threat they imposed served no merit.

Having been taken by a bondsman at age thirteen, he'd managed to escape and had lived on this small town ever since. He didn't want anyone to take him in, nor did they seem inclined to do so. His luck was running out and the stakes couldn't be any lower.

There was no way for him to make money, the only thing he understood was the ocean. Before his father passed he had taught his son everything he knew. How to read the wind, clouds, and ocean, what the levels of salt in the air signified, how fast and hard a ship could be pushed, but most importantly; how to ride out a storm.

There was no call for sailors, but whether or not they would hire a boy whose clothes hung off him because of hunger was doubtful. He was never one to complain about life, so he took what he could get and swore to have his own ship to be Captain of one day.

Things might seem hopeless now, but the future held anything he wanted, so long as he was willing to work for it. Nothing was impossible, improbable maybe, but it all came down to odds.

Now he was dressed in the brown woolen robes of a clergyman. Only the tip of his brown boots showed underneath and he had the hood drawn up to cover his face. Even with his clothes on underneath he could feel the coarse lining of the material.

The magistrate had conducted a search for him, the local shopkeepers had put up a fuss when a relatively valuable time piece went missing. It hadn't been him, but he wasn't about to stick around to let them know that.

He grit his teeth at the near unbearable feeling of being stifled and continued walking. It was just about midnight he had nowhere to go… so he wandered. By chance his gaze fell to the stable-doors. Light illuminated a woman who looked too old for her thirty-two years. She didn't avert her eyes or look away like the others did.

She tipped her head to the side and opened the door a bit wider. He hesitated, was that an invitation to enter or was she just tired and not seeing him at all? She smiled softly as if sensing his indecision and beckoned for him to come over. He knew who she was, but their paths had never crossed.

He had heard word of the woman who gave out care to those who needed it, Jack was too proud to go begging. He'd much rather starve than face refusal from someone who had too much money to begin with. She was the owner of the stable, and he wouldn't go crying to her door for help.

It had been she who initiated the introductions, not he. That made all the difference in the world in his book. Her eyes were a dark shade of blue, hair light brown in the light framed a pixy-like face. The only way to distinguish how old she was could be told in the cerulean colored depths.

Fatigue, weariness, but understanding sparkled there, most wouldn't have noticed; Jack Sparrow didn't classify himself with the rest of society. His trade included looking for that which otherwise wasn't visible to the eye.

The extra bulge in a pocket of a coat, how much gold would be in said pocket, the cost of the purse of coins in a lady's bag. Just the fringe of lace on women's dresses told him how expensive it was, how much they had to spare, and whether or not more was in a ready supply.

"Marie McRyn." She said in way of greeting, "What's your name?"

"Jack Sparrow." He said put on edge a little by her kindness. The people he knew weren't nice unless they wanted something, even though she didn't seem like that kind of person, years of having life lessons implemented into his mind were hard to break.

"And have you eaten yet tonight, Jack Sparrow?" Marie saw the wariness in the boy's golden-brown eyes. She also noticed how he stayed partly submerged in shadows as if he often lurked there to hide. Hide from what, she wondered, what had put the guarded barriers up on his expression.

"No, not recently…" Jack replied, then added after a minute, "Ma'am."

The politeness with which he spoke said more than he could ever have told her. There was intelligence in his manner, the way he carried himself suggested that he had once lived on the ocean.

"Well come on inside then and get warm, I'd best close the door against the chill." She observed how his eyes narrowed slightly at that and wanted to put him at ease, at least for one night he could have a place that was warm and peaceful. "That is if you don't mind…"

He shrugged as he stepped inside to the pleasant smell of hay and saddle leather. Occasionally the soft neigh of a horse would be heard, and the stamping of a hoof against wooden plank, but other than that it was quiet.

"Beef stew be to your liking?" she inquired over her shoulder as she led him up the middle corridor to the back rooms.

"Aye." He said looking around, there were brown-wood names on the stable doors, one caught his notice instantly "Archilles?"

"You know the myth?" she asked hiding the surprise she felt that he knew how to read.

"I may have 'eard of it." He replied nonchalantly, "Trojan war, he was the best warrior in the entire army, his mother called in a favor from the gods, he was blessed in the river Styx save for one place on his heel. That's how he was killed, because of that one weakness."

"You know your legends." She praised unlocking the stall door. "Archilles, named because on the right foreleg… you see? The white mark right above the hoof."

"You'd make quite the story-teller." Jack admired her inventiveness.

"I've been known to tell a tale or two." She motioned to the table and three chairs in a corner. "Sit, I'll bring you out a bowl." She left leaving him nothing to do except what she had ordered.

The meal was one of the best Jack had ever tasted. After he had eaten two bowls of the hearty stew, she led him into her room already having decided to let him have the bed. She wouldn't be able to get back to sleep tonight anyway, she always had her daughter to bunk down with.

When she returned, however, she found him curled up, on the floor, at the side of the room she had shown him into. A tender expression crossed her face as she covered him with a blanket. Touching one of the braids in his hair motherly she left the door slightly ajar before blowing out the lantern.

So had started the beginning of a tentative friendship between the two. Jack made sure never to come near when her daughter was awake, for some reason he had decided that it was better not to publicize the whole thing.

Marie was the adult figure in his life that filled the void his father had left him with. She fussed over his wounds despite his assurances that he was fine and she always had a meal ready for him. The only thing she hadn't been able to do was convince him not to sleep on the floor. It was a point of stubborness in Jack that she hadnt pushed, the bed was off limits, it was her place to sleep. She needed it much more than he did, he was used to sleeping on the cold hard cobblestone alleyways, the warmth that came through the floor was no hardship to be endured.

His curiosity was never sated, he loved hearing Greek, Roman, and Irish myths. The one of Hercules had kept him spellbound for two nights in a row. Upon seeing some of her drawings, he had asked her to mark something permanent for him.

Thinking of what would suit him she took out the needles and black ink. She had only done this a few times, having learned it from a friend, but once the picture was in her mind she didn't hesitate.

Jack saw the image form and couldn't have picked better himself. A sparrow flying away from the sun over waves of the ocean, only she had made it so the bird would always fly back to him. The sparrow always had to fly back.

Authors Note 2: Yes, that last sentence or so was a Johnny Depp quote, but I think it fit, no? I couldnt resist, mates, it was just the most opportune moment and who am I to pass that up? ...

"Jack?" she asked one night as he was about ready to sleep, "Here, take this and go find your future."

"What? What are you talking about, Marie." He asked sitting up, "I can't take your money."

"Yes, you can." She insisted. "With the promise that once you've found what you're looking for you'll come back for my Ana."

"Your daughter?" Jack had only had to meet the lass twice, for some reason he didn't want to tarnish Marie's name by letting others see him. He knew that they'd get the wrong idea and her business would be ruined. Her daughter especially, he didn't know what she would say so he made sure to avoid her.

"Yes." Marie knew of the illness that plagued her body, she also knew that it was inevitable her death come before Ana would be old enough to run the stable herself. "I know that I can't ask you to stay. Not with the ocean raging in your blood, but when it's settled… come back to her. Will you? At least to make sure she's safe?"

It was a mother's plea and the only thing in a very long time that had touched Jack's nearly blackened heart. He had known that she was sick, the way she coughed so much, and how she tried to hide how cold she got in the evenings.

Granted that he wasn't here every night, but he made it a point to stop in at least once or twice a week to see how she was doing. He always managed to bring something for her to cook, it was the least he could do.

"Aye, I'll do as you've asked." He tucked the money inside his pocket vowing to half of it behind when he left in the morning. He'd miss her, but she alone knew how much he wanted to leave and go find the unexplored. "She'll be fine, I won't let anything happen to her. I swear on pain of death I'll come back."

He bought passage on a ship the very next day, despite the stares of the people onboard he was able to help out to work off the rest of the wages needed. When pirates attacked the ship he joined the crew without a second thought.

Marie had given him the key to his future, he'd never forget her for that. He sent her trinkets from everywhere he went and made sure there was enough for her to support her daughter as well.

Ten years later he had escaped death three times, and made his way back to the small town with the intent of keeping his promise. Had he known that in the same town the key to his future lay waiting, it's doubtful that he would have changed course.

Authors Note 3:
smarti-terri: thanks for reviewing! I hope you like the story so far…

Pirateprincess91- I'll get to reviewing your stories next. You found nothing wrong in the last chapter, means I'm doing something right. Lolol. Review you soon…

AhiFlame- Scout? Cool name. A little warped in the mind, hahaha, reminds me a little of life in general, eh? And good thing is, you CAN be her. I don't write Jack/You fics, so any female characters in the story that you like… make her you. Why not?

Kungfuchick- im glad that you've enjoyed it so far! I update as fast as humanely possible. Muhaha. Tonights Angel though, boo-hoo, not sure how much more I'll get typed. sigh

Dawnie-7 : a special on eunuchs? Sounds interesting, I'll have to see if there are reruns. No, I am NOT a XXX movie watcher. Honestly, the things that go through your minds. Tsk tsk.