Chapter 1

"Pardon me." A twenty year old Jack Sparrow said somewhat sarcastically as he stepped aside to let a very large man and a hooded figure by on the narrow streets of Tortuga. He cold see plainly that the hood covered a woman, a young one, rather small, and slender. He decided it might be a good idea to follow them, perhaps get to talk to her. They went right where he figured they would go, a very popular pub. He waited a few minutes after they had entered then followed. His eyes briefly scanned the room before making his way to the edge of the bar.

"Hey Cutie. Can I 'elp ya?" One of the floozies stepped in front of him, blocking his path.

"I'm afraid not today," he said, quickly side-stepping her. He managed to avoid further obstacles and sat down not too far from the group.

"Bartender! Gimme a shot of rum!" He called. As the drink was placed in front of him, someone roughly grabbed his arm.

"Excuse me," already the man's voice was slurred from alcohol. He nodded over at the hooded girl beside him. "Would ye watch that?"

Jack's face broke into a small smile.

"Of course mate."

"If she gets 'urt ye get 'urt." The smile vanished. "I'll be back." The floozy who'd tried to get him only minutes before appeared over the big mans shoulder.

"C'mon up to me room!" She whispered seductively into his ear as she wrapped her white arms around his neck from behind, letting her hands drift down his huge chest. The man looked at her appreciatively.

"Like I said, I'll be back." And the two disappeared up the stairs. Well, he wouldn't be back for a while. Jack slid over to the stool next to the girl.

"Ello there." She looked at him over a veil that hid all of her face, but her eyes. Which he could not see because of the poor light.

"Are you the one he found to look after me?" He detected a hint of disdain in her voice.

"I take it ye don't be liken da arrangement?"

"Tis pretty obvious."

"Would you like to go to a quieter, brighter, part of the pub with little or no people? Then you kin take off that hood an I can feel like I'm talkin' to a person instead of a sheet." She nodded. Jack gently took her arm and led her to a very secluded part of the pub. (the one he took Mr. Gibbs to) Once she was seated he took a flint from his pocket and moved about the room lighting candles and oil lamps.

"Now isn't that nice?" he asked turning towards her. He caught his breath, she had removed the veil and hood, reveling one of the most beautiful girls he'd ever seen. She had long chestnut hair that shone with auburn highlights in the lamplight. Her creamy skin was smooth and unblemished, save for a tiny beauty mark in the outer corner of her left eye. Her eyes were the color of emeralds, and were fringed with looong dark lashes.

"No wonder they made you don a veil," he breathed. Her face became indignant.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"No, no. That's not what I meant! This is Tortuga luv, a pirate haven. Many of these men could not be trusted in the presence of a girl with your beauty." He explained. "I take it you're not a pirate?"

"How do you figure?" Her voice held a hostile sarcasm.

"Well, for one, I only know of a few woman pirates, one's dead, the other two, well you're far too pretty to be either. Two, those two women I mentioned, I'm not even supposed to know are women, considering having women on board is supposedly bad luck. Though in the few cases where I've been put in a situation like that have proved that theory wrong. And three, your accent betrays you, luv. You've had a proper upbringing'. Some eunuchs daughter are you? Perchance a gov'ners?"

"Well I see there's no fooling you." Her tone of voice was slightly angry and he decided to brush it off.

"Care to tell me what a fine, high-bred lady such as yourself is doing in such a place as Tortuga?"

She fixed her eyes on the flame of the lamp on the table in front of her.

"I was taken captive after pirates attacked the ship I was on,"

"Just you?"

"I was the only woman on board. They didn't see fit to kill me like the rest." Her voice held no resentment as he thought it would. Just pain, grief, and listlessness.

"When I was young I always dreamed of being captured by pirates...It's not as romantic as I thought it would be..." She sneered, and somehow he knew she'd give anything just to be back where she belonged. She looked up, meeting the young pirates eye. For the first time in weeks she saw compassion in someone's eyes. She was slightly pleased at how his rich, chocolate brown eyes looked when he let the hardness fall away. She examined the young man more carefully. His skin was brazen from working in the Caribbean sun every day. His long black hair was pulled back into a ponytail. He had a dark goatee and mustache, and surprisingly, straight, white teeth. There was a red bandanna wrapped around his head, with some kind of a red and black insignia on it. When he finally moved from her gaze she saw muscles ripple from beneath his poet shirt which was ripped a few inches in the middle, reveling the same bronze skin as his face. He was wearing black pants and soft black leather boots, a red sash was tied around his waist. There was a cutlass strapped to his side and a gun attached to a belt across his chest. As he turned she saw the flash of a small golden hoop in his earlobe. He was very...She shook her head, this was not the kind of man she should be falling for. Not after what the pirates did to her.

Jack felt himself flush slightly at her open scrutiny. She must have realized that she was being rude in staring, for she dropped her gaze back to the tabletop.

"What's you name?" He asked after several minutes of silence

"Melia." (Ma-li-ah) She murmured a but hesitantly.

"Never heard of that one before. What's the origin?"

"In Greek mythology, the god of the ocean, Oceanus, had several thousand nymph children. Melia was his first and favorite nymph daughter."

"All right then."

"My great-grandfather used to tell my mother Greek mythology to out her to sleep when she was a child. She loved the story of Oceanus..." Why was she telling him this? He was a pirate!

"So much that she named her first child after his." Jack finished for her.

"Mmm-hmm. What's your name?"

"Jack Sparrow." She dropped the mug she was holding, letting it crash to the floor in a thousand pieces and slowly turned around to face him. He'd never seen such horror as that on her face.

"You...you're not related to the Golden Sparrow, are you?" The Golden Sparrow was a notorious Spanish pirate, so rich in plunder he'd earned the name.

"What would you say if I said I'm his only son?" She became indignant again.

"You couldn't possibly be. You've a heart. You're.....kind. He....he might as well be made of the metal he covets so. Cold, hard, the root of all evil."

"Why do say you such things?"

"The Golden Sparrow killed my father."