SayDee: So, I didn't exactly update soon, I've had major writer's block and a serious lack of inspiration. *sigh* Oh well...Glad you liked it.
jeyke: Yup, Jack makes all things good again, doesn't he? :) Of course he's coming back! What kind of a PotC fic would this be if JACK suddenly disappeared?
Raine: I did not kill off the main character! At least not the two main ones! At least she didn't brutally die out in the middle of etherium! Apart from the man she loved! Grrr...
Master Lizard: I know, I know, I know. Kill off the baby, what a way to go, blah dee blah. No I'm not really this insensitive. Babies rock.
Nosilla: Yeah, I hate killing things/people off, but it had to happen so Melia and Jack could be together. Thanks for reviewing!
iluvjcksprw!!: So many people are upset with me for killing that baby off. Sheesh. I'm glad you liked that Jack part, I worked hard on it.
Bakura Lord of the Soulless: What the heck's an E.A.? I'm glad you like it though. Thanks so much for reviewing!
Liy@h: I'm sorry honey. But Melia l....Never mind.
Chapter 16
Treva cleared her throat and Melia's head shot up. She stared at her for a moment, refocusing her thoughts, before reaching out for the small chest in Treva's arms. Treva made sure the heavy chest was secure in Melia's hands before backing out of the room. Melia set the chest on her lap and still cradling Pearl in one arm she opened the latch with her free hand. Inside were several odd bits and pieces of clothing, materials, thread, a few needles, and a pair of scissors. She dug around until she reached the near bottom. She pulled out a length of pure white cloth. It had once been a table cloth that had been in the middle of a drunken brawl between two customers and had been ripped almost in half, completely unmendable. Treva had almost thrown it out, but Melia stopped her, putting it away to save for something. She'd made a few tiny dresses from it, but there was still more material left than she would ever need. She dug around in the chest for scissors, a needle, and thread. If she couldn't dress her baby in already made clothes, she'd make a dress.
She measured and cut and sewed and cut some more, and within a hour and a half she had a tiny, pure white dress and bonnet for Pearl to be buried in. She slipped the dress on the stiff, cold baby. and wrapped her in a soft, wine red, velvet, baby blanket that had once been part of an old dress she'd found on one of her walks. She dumped the contents of the chest out on the bed and took her own pillow and without a moments hesitation she cut it open, creating padding for the chest. She took a large scrap of pale pink satin a used it as lining, tucking the untrimmed edges under the feathers. She lifted Pearl up and took one long look at her, tears spilling over her eyelashes and onto her cheeks. She laid her down in the chest and kissed the baby's cool forehead before closing the lid. A dry click let her know the lock was secured and the thought struck her that she was packing away her baby. The tears flowed freely as she stood up and walked down the long hall, and then down the stairs.
In the stillness of the night she crept past where Treva and the other girls were talking. She walked outside into the cold, damp air. She walked deep into the island's small forest. Once she reached fairly level ground she knelt down and taking a large stick, she began to dig. She dug until there was a small, deep hole. She wanted to make sure that the small grave was deep enough so to keep wild animals from taking her baby. Once it was several feet deep, she placed the chest inside the hole, kissing the lid of the chest. She began to slid the soil back in place, packing it down hard. She found two sticks and using a strip of cloth from the bottom of her nightgown, she fashioned a cross, plunging it into the hard ground, slivers of wood catching in her fingers.
She spent the wee hours of the morning knelt in front on the crude, wooden cross, face buried in her hands, sobbing as if her heart would break. Only after the sun had peaked over the horizon, lighting up the sky like a ball of fire did she rise and head back to Treva's. Her body was shivering, but she felt no cold. In fact it was hot, oh, so hot. Her head throbbed and her hands shook. Her eyelids felt as though they weighed ten pounds each, and she fought to remain conscious. She was inside the town now. She willed herself to stay awake. She was almost there. She was so tired. Get to Treva's and you can sleep. She thought, and she moved on. Each step was a struggle. One moment she was light headed, the next every hair weighed fifty pounds. Keep moving. She was beginning to lose her sense of direction. She was so tired. Before she could stop herself, she crumbled to the ground, unconscious. That's how Meg found her, fifty feet away from Treva's, almost two hours later, still unconscious.
*************************************************************************************************************************
Jack stared at the ceiling. He had not been able to fall asleep at all that night and it was getting close to morning. He had already gotten up and walked around the ship twice, but with no avail. He was tired, exhausted in fact, but everything that he normally used to get to sleep was not working. He thought back, trying to find something he had missed before when he was going over ways of falling asleep. He remembered when Melia had shared his quarters with him. When she had been sleeping on this bed and he was lying on the uncomfortable floor. How he had loathed her at the beginning. Loathed her feminine ways aboard his ship. Loathed her delicate accent compared to his brutish rogue. Loathed her dainty eating habits. Loathed her intelligence, which occasionally far exceeded his own. Loathed her in almost every aspect, but loathe had quickly turned to love. As the days had wore gone on, he began to believe there was no way he could ever live without her. The months he had were almost unbearable, and more than once he feared he would go absolutely insane. He thought back to the nights when she was lying within arms reach on his bed. When their late night talks and adamant discussions made him forget the crew talking just beneath his head. When, in the stillness of the night, Melia's soft breathing lulled him to sleep.
They would reach Tortuga the next day. He had summarized that they would be in port by late afternoon, if not earlier. He couldn't wait to see Melia again. He imagined her smiling, laughing. He imagined her thoughtful, attentive look as she listened to him relay his voyage, and the way her face would light up and her eyes would sparkle like two emeralds when she told him every little thing that had happened to her over the months. He couldn't wait to see the special smile she saved just for him. Couldn't wait to hear the sound of her voice. To see the sun catch the reddish highlights in her hair. To be in her presence. To hold her in his arms again, even if it was for just a brief instant. He couldn't wait.