Author's Note: Okay, I warned that I wouldn't be able to update until
after March 6, and here I am...Its March 8th! Yay! New chappie. Just as
a brief warning: THIS CHAPTER IS EXCEPTIONALLY HARD TO DEAL
WITH...EMOTIONALLY, SPEAKING. Okay, now that you are all warned...well,
you know now, so don't go flaming me later if you don't like what you read.
But, I hope you will...anyways...
Author Thanks:
Weasley Girl - Thanks mate for the uber-long review...I swear, girl, you don't want to wear yourself out writing too much, eh? Thanks for the review all the same.
Dimonah Tralon - Thanks for the review! Its always appreciated!
Depprulz - Yes, another cliffie...I'm glad you like my story! I hope you enjoy this chapter! Thanks!
TriGemini - Thanks for the review! Enjoy!
movielvr - Thankies for the review! Let me know what you think of this chapter. And if you do send the mafia after me...you'll get them back in very small boxes *grins shiftily* okay, I'm not that mean of a person...I swear...enjoy!
Whipped Cream 0 - I can't find the midget's name! Its really bugging me...grr...sorry!
Piper8188 - Thanks for the review! I'm glad you like my story and the cliffies! Hope you enjoy this chapter!
Last time:
Tomas reached for the mask and pulled it off the tableau. He examined it for a moment before putting it on...
But then....
What's in a Name?
Chapter 14: Partings
Something in the cave exploded and I watched as Jack was thrown a great distance and landed in a part of the river that passed through the cave. I stood frozen in shock for a moment before rushing over to him. Screams of pain filled the cave echoeing strangely off the walls. I saw blood starting to appear in the water near Jack and I knew that I had to help him. I ran over to the river and fought with the current to get to Jack, who was floating on his stomach near the middle. My mind ignored the fact that there were sharks in the river as I waded waist deep in the water to get to Jack.
I reached him after what seemed an eternity and pulled him out of the water. Once I had drug him onto the ground, I turned him over so that I could see his face.
There were fairly deep cuts on his body but that wasn't what concerned me the most.
He wasn't breathing.
He didn't have a heartbeat when I put my head to his chest.
I started to panic.
I turned his head to the side and opened his mouth with one hand before I pressed down hard on his chest, trying to expel the water from him. I hoped that if I could get the water out of his chest, he could make it.
He didn't release the water as I had hoped.
"Don't do this to me, Jack. Don't you dare die on me," I whispered frantically before I moved his head and covered his mouth with my own, trying to breathe for him.
When he still didn't get rid of the water, I pressed down on his chest. All the while saying, "Don't you dare do this to me Sparrow. Don't leave me. You can't leave me. I want to love you. I want to be reminded that not everything in this world is bad. Don't do this to me."
I repeated the cycle of pressing and breathing four times before at last I achieved my results.
Jack let out a long spew of water and opened his eyes slowly.
"Thank God! I thought you were going to die! You scared me! Don't do that ever again," I said quickly before flinging my arms around him and giving him an enormous hug.
After I let go, Jack sat up and spat more water out. "Is everyone else alright, Christy?" he asked.
"I don't know. Colin's fine, he was over by me...I think he passed out though from the blood...I don't know about the others...I just...I thought...I...I...Oh God, I thought that you were going to leave me too!" I said frantically.
"Check the others, Christy. Go!" Jack ordered. "I'll be fine. They need your help right now."
As much as I hated to go, I knew he was right. So, steeling myself, I stood and ran over to the place where the explosion occurred.
Quickly I saw Anamaria lying on a pile of rocks. Hurrying over to her, I saw how badly she was wounded.
One of her legs had been blown off and she was bleeding terribly from it. There was a large cut on her head and her left arm was mangled.
I knelt down beside her and ripped off a piece of my shirt to wrap around her leg. The white fabric of the shirt turned red in an instant.
"Don' bother, lass," Ana said, grabbing my elbow in a weak grip.
I hadn't realized that she was still conscious. "Ana, I have to help you."
"Ye can't help me, lass. I knows I be dying."
Tears started leaking from my eyes as I realized she was right. "Ana. If I can stop some of the bleeding, you can have more time."
Ana shook her head. "I know what's coming. All that has to happen now is for that black shroud to wrap itself completely around me and then I'll be gone."
I sniffed, trying to keep from sobbing in front of the older woman whom I respected and feared. I drew a deep shuddering breath and squeezed my eyes shut. I wrapped my hands around the stump of what used to be a leg and tried to put pressure on it to stop the bleeding. I guessed that the artery in her leg had been cut and realized that she wouldn't be suffering too long.
"Don' cry for me lass. I be a pirate. To die fighting is better than to die at the noose. I always expected to die afore I got ta be old. Its better this way. 'Sides, I gots a love a-waitin' for me in whatever comes next," she said.
My hands felt wet and sticky. I looked down, not realizing what it was. They were soaked in blood but I didn't remove them. I had to help her some way.
"Do ye know why I resented ye so much when ye first came aboard?" she asked in a weaker voice.
"No," I whispered.
"I was once a little like ye. I grew close to the crewmembers, treated them as equals...like ye did. But I got 'urt. They sold me in a slave auction and it took me nearly ten years to escape... I learned the hard way not to be polite or kind to nobody. And I thought that if I gave ye a bad time, then ye wouldn't be 'urt as I was. That ye wouldn't 'ave ta suffer all the pain that I did," she said then she reached down and grabbed one of my bloodsoaked hands and held it in her own at her stomach. "I was a- tryin' ta keep ye safe. Can ye forgive me?"
Tears escaped my eyes as I said, "There's nothing to forgive. You have been great to me. I really respect you and I think that you are a great person and pirate and friend."
The hand clenching mine started to loosen its grip. "Tell Jack that I'm sorry. Tell him...tell him that he still owes me a ship and should remember that cuz I intend on finding him. Tell him to keep his head straight," she added, sounding a bit like her old self again. "Take care of yerself Christina..." she said before her eyes closed for one final time and the hand gripping mine slackened and then dropped.
As I stared down at the form of Anamaria, I broke down into frantic sobs. Clutching her hand in mine, I cried and cried and cried. My heart felt like it was breaking into pieces. My chest ached and I felt like I was dying myself. This was one of my friends...one of my companions...that I had just watched die. I drew my legs up to my chest and rocked back and forth, sobbing hysterically. For Anamaria...for my mother...for my father...for Timothy...for everything that I had lost. I leaned my head down next to Ana's and said in a tear-choked voice, "I'll never forget you. Thank you for everything that you've done fore me. I'll miss you."
My resolve crumpled and I lost the ability to even sit up. I lay sobbing in a small ball next to Ana, I couldn't move. I couldn't think. I knew nothing. I was nothing. My soul detached itself from my body and I floated somewhere above the body of my friend and my own shuddering one and watched as Jack came over, studied Ana and turned to me. I watched from this position above everything as he sat down beside me and lifted my sobbing frame into his lap. I watched as his own eyes, usually so strong, released two tears of their own. I gazed on as Jack rocked me back and forth as the sobs shook my small frame. I knew that he was talking, I watched his mouth moving but I didn't hear anything. Slowly, I floated back down to my own body as I ran out of tears to shed.
With no more tears left to loose, I merely sobbed dryly into Jack's shoulder. My body felt cold and detatched. Shivers racked my body and I tried to get closer to Jack...to warmth...to happiness...to safety.
We sat there for a long time. Or it felt like it at least. Time passed slowly...or did it even pass at all? Seconds were hours, minutes became days and hours became eternity. I wondered if I would ever get up. If I would ever be happy again. If I could be happy again. If I could get up.
The cave grew steadily colder and my shivers became more violent. Jack lifted me into his arms and carried me to one of the rowboats and rowed me silently to the Pearl. I remember staring blankly at the beautiful ship. I didn't really see it, though. I only saw blankness, nothingness. Still silent, Jack helped me onto the deck of the Pearl and led me to his cabin. Colin followed. Jack sat me down on the bed and wrapped me in blankets very tightly. My teeth chattered noisily as I gazed unseeingly at the wall in front of me.
I heard without comprehension as Jack gave an order to Colin. I didn't know what he said...nor what Colin said in response...I didn't know anything. I heard again without understanding the footsteps going away from me and another set coming towards me. I heard the lemur chattering on Colin's shoulder as he made his way over to me before jumping off and leaving my line of vision.
The bed sagged slightly. I managed to turn my head a fraction of a centimetre to see Colin. Silently, he put his arms around me and drew me close to him. I sat, unfeeling, as he embraced me. I knew that he was there...but I didn't know why...I just knew that he was there.
I sat in Colin's arms for a little while. Slowly, I could feel my body more. Slowly, my teeth stopped chattering. And slowly, I regained the ability to think. But that ability made me realized that my hands itched. And when I looked down as I itched them, I noticed that they were caked in blood...Anamaria's blood...Jack's blood.
I screamed. Loud and long, I screamed. I tore from the bed and ran down to the galley. I didn't think at all. I tore off my blood stained clothes and stood shivering as I scrubbed my hands in the basin of water. I scubbed my hands until they were raw and red and the water in the basin was red too...but not with my blood. Colin came up behind me and pulled me away from the basin.
I looked up at him as though in a dream and said, "They won't get clean."
I didn't move as Colin took his own shirt off and guided my arms through the sleeves. I just stood there ...barely noticing that the shirt came down past my hands and thighs...not bothering to thank him for giving me something to wear...not comprehending the words that I knew his mouth was forming. I stared at his mouth and fought to keep standing but finally, I lost the will to even do that.
Colin caught me as I flung myself to his shoulder, sobbing once more. He backed us away so that he could sit in one of the chairs. I buried my head in his shoulder and cried for a long time. I felt him stroking my back gently, soothingly, like a mother would to for a child with nightmares. He wrapped me in his warm embrace until I fell asleep.
~*~
Author's Note - Well, I did warn you all that this is a hard chapter to read...even to write. When I wrote this, I was crying and I'm surprised I didn't short out my laptop...that would be VERY VERY BAD! Anyways, like I said, I did warn you about this chapter...so if your going to flame me, do it about something other than an issue that I warned you about...that would just be stupid if you did do that...anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter...considering what happened.
Check out Pirates of the Caribbean: The Aftermath! Its a really great story and needs some reviews!
Until next time. REVIEW! ~CrazyCanoeingGIT
Author Thanks:
Weasley Girl - Thanks mate for the uber-long review...I swear, girl, you don't want to wear yourself out writing too much, eh? Thanks for the review all the same.
Dimonah Tralon - Thanks for the review! Its always appreciated!
Depprulz - Yes, another cliffie...I'm glad you like my story! I hope you enjoy this chapter! Thanks!
TriGemini - Thanks for the review! Enjoy!
movielvr - Thankies for the review! Let me know what you think of this chapter. And if you do send the mafia after me...you'll get them back in very small boxes *grins shiftily* okay, I'm not that mean of a person...I swear...enjoy!
Whipped Cream 0 - I can't find the midget's name! Its really bugging me...grr...sorry!
Piper8188 - Thanks for the review! I'm glad you like my story and the cliffies! Hope you enjoy this chapter!
Last time:
Tomas reached for the mask and pulled it off the tableau. He examined it for a moment before putting it on...
But then....
What's in a Name?
Chapter 14: Partings
Something in the cave exploded and I watched as Jack was thrown a great distance and landed in a part of the river that passed through the cave. I stood frozen in shock for a moment before rushing over to him. Screams of pain filled the cave echoeing strangely off the walls. I saw blood starting to appear in the water near Jack and I knew that I had to help him. I ran over to the river and fought with the current to get to Jack, who was floating on his stomach near the middle. My mind ignored the fact that there were sharks in the river as I waded waist deep in the water to get to Jack.
I reached him after what seemed an eternity and pulled him out of the water. Once I had drug him onto the ground, I turned him over so that I could see his face.
There were fairly deep cuts on his body but that wasn't what concerned me the most.
He wasn't breathing.
He didn't have a heartbeat when I put my head to his chest.
I started to panic.
I turned his head to the side and opened his mouth with one hand before I pressed down hard on his chest, trying to expel the water from him. I hoped that if I could get the water out of his chest, he could make it.
He didn't release the water as I had hoped.
"Don't do this to me, Jack. Don't you dare die on me," I whispered frantically before I moved his head and covered his mouth with my own, trying to breathe for him.
When he still didn't get rid of the water, I pressed down on his chest. All the while saying, "Don't you dare do this to me Sparrow. Don't leave me. You can't leave me. I want to love you. I want to be reminded that not everything in this world is bad. Don't do this to me."
I repeated the cycle of pressing and breathing four times before at last I achieved my results.
Jack let out a long spew of water and opened his eyes slowly.
"Thank God! I thought you were going to die! You scared me! Don't do that ever again," I said quickly before flinging my arms around him and giving him an enormous hug.
After I let go, Jack sat up and spat more water out. "Is everyone else alright, Christy?" he asked.
"I don't know. Colin's fine, he was over by me...I think he passed out though from the blood...I don't know about the others...I just...I thought...I...I...Oh God, I thought that you were going to leave me too!" I said frantically.
"Check the others, Christy. Go!" Jack ordered. "I'll be fine. They need your help right now."
As much as I hated to go, I knew he was right. So, steeling myself, I stood and ran over to the place where the explosion occurred.
Quickly I saw Anamaria lying on a pile of rocks. Hurrying over to her, I saw how badly she was wounded.
One of her legs had been blown off and she was bleeding terribly from it. There was a large cut on her head and her left arm was mangled.
I knelt down beside her and ripped off a piece of my shirt to wrap around her leg. The white fabric of the shirt turned red in an instant.
"Don' bother, lass," Ana said, grabbing my elbow in a weak grip.
I hadn't realized that she was still conscious. "Ana, I have to help you."
"Ye can't help me, lass. I knows I be dying."
Tears started leaking from my eyes as I realized she was right. "Ana. If I can stop some of the bleeding, you can have more time."
Ana shook her head. "I know what's coming. All that has to happen now is for that black shroud to wrap itself completely around me and then I'll be gone."
I sniffed, trying to keep from sobbing in front of the older woman whom I respected and feared. I drew a deep shuddering breath and squeezed my eyes shut. I wrapped my hands around the stump of what used to be a leg and tried to put pressure on it to stop the bleeding. I guessed that the artery in her leg had been cut and realized that she wouldn't be suffering too long.
"Don' cry for me lass. I be a pirate. To die fighting is better than to die at the noose. I always expected to die afore I got ta be old. Its better this way. 'Sides, I gots a love a-waitin' for me in whatever comes next," she said.
My hands felt wet and sticky. I looked down, not realizing what it was. They were soaked in blood but I didn't remove them. I had to help her some way.
"Do ye know why I resented ye so much when ye first came aboard?" she asked in a weaker voice.
"No," I whispered.
"I was once a little like ye. I grew close to the crewmembers, treated them as equals...like ye did. But I got 'urt. They sold me in a slave auction and it took me nearly ten years to escape... I learned the hard way not to be polite or kind to nobody. And I thought that if I gave ye a bad time, then ye wouldn't be 'urt as I was. That ye wouldn't 'ave ta suffer all the pain that I did," she said then she reached down and grabbed one of my bloodsoaked hands and held it in her own at her stomach. "I was a- tryin' ta keep ye safe. Can ye forgive me?"
Tears escaped my eyes as I said, "There's nothing to forgive. You have been great to me. I really respect you and I think that you are a great person and pirate and friend."
The hand clenching mine started to loosen its grip. "Tell Jack that I'm sorry. Tell him...tell him that he still owes me a ship and should remember that cuz I intend on finding him. Tell him to keep his head straight," she added, sounding a bit like her old self again. "Take care of yerself Christina..." she said before her eyes closed for one final time and the hand gripping mine slackened and then dropped.
As I stared down at the form of Anamaria, I broke down into frantic sobs. Clutching her hand in mine, I cried and cried and cried. My heart felt like it was breaking into pieces. My chest ached and I felt like I was dying myself. This was one of my friends...one of my companions...that I had just watched die. I drew my legs up to my chest and rocked back and forth, sobbing hysterically. For Anamaria...for my mother...for my father...for Timothy...for everything that I had lost. I leaned my head down next to Ana's and said in a tear-choked voice, "I'll never forget you. Thank you for everything that you've done fore me. I'll miss you."
My resolve crumpled and I lost the ability to even sit up. I lay sobbing in a small ball next to Ana, I couldn't move. I couldn't think. I knew nothing. I was nothing. My soul detached itself from my body and I floated somewhere above the body of my friend and my own shuddering one and watched as Jack came over, studied Ana and turned to me. I watched from this position above everything as he sat down beside me and lifted my sobbing frame into his lap. I watched as his own eyes, usually so strong, released two tears of their own. I gazed on as Jack rocked me back and forth as the sobs shook my small frame. I knew that he was talking, I watched his mouth moving but I didn't hear anything. Slowly, I floated back down to my own body as I ran out of tears to shed.
With no more tears left to loose, I merely sobbed dryly into Jack's shoulder. My body felt cold and detatched. Shivers racked my body and I tried to get closer to Jack...to warmth...to happiness...to safety.
We sat there for a long time. Or it felt like it at least. Time passed slowly...or did it even pass at all? Seconds were hours, minutes became days and hours became eternity. I wondered if I would ever get up. If I would ever be happy again. If I could be happy again. If I could get up.
The cave grew steadily colder and my shivers became more violent. Jack lifted me into his arms and carried me to one of the rowboats and rowed me silently to the Pearl. I remember staring blankly at the beautiful ship. I didn't really see it, though. I only saw blankness, nothingness. Still silent, Jack helped me onto the deck of the Pearl and led me to his cabin. Colin followed. Jack sat me down on the bed and wrapped me in blankets very tightly. My teeth chattered noisily as I gazed unseeingly at the wall in front of me.
I heard without comprehension as Jack gave an order to Colin. I didn't know what he said...nor what Colin said in response...I didn't know anything. I heard again without understanding the footsteps going away from me and another set coming towards me. I heard the lemur chattering on Colin's shoulder as he made his way over to me before jumping off and leaving my line of vision.
The bed sagged slightly. I managed to turn my head a fraction of a centimetre to see Colin. Silently, he put his arms around me and drew me close to him. I sat, unfeeling, as he embraced me. I knew that he was there...but I didn't know why...I just knew that he was there.
I sat in Colin's arms for a little while. Slowly, I could feel my body more. Slowly, my teeth stopped chattering. And slowly, I regained the ability to think. But that ability made me realized that my hands itched. And when I looked down as I itched them, I noticed that they were caked in blood...Anamaria's blood...Jack's blood.
I screamed. Loud and long, I screamed. I tore from the bed and ran down to the galley. I didn't think at all. I tore off my blood stained clothes and stood shivering as I scrubbed my hands in the basin of water. I scubbed my hands until they were raw and red and the water in the basin was red too...but not with my blood. Colin came up behind me and pulled me away from the basin.
I looked up at him as though in a dream and said, "They won't get clean."
I didn't move as Colin took his own shirt off and guided my arms through the sleeves. I just stood there ...barely noticing that the shirt came down past my hands and thighs...not bothering to thank him for giving me something to wear...not comprehending the words that I knew his mouth was forming. I stared at his mouth and fought to keep standing but finally, I lost the will to even do that.
Colin caught me as I flung myself to his shoulder, sobbing once more. He backed us away so that he could sit in one of the chairs. I buried my head in his shoulder and cried for a long time. I felt him stroking my back gently, soothingly, like a mother would to for a child with nightmares. He wrapped me in his warm embrace until I fell asleep.
~*~
Author's Note - Well, I did warn you all that this is a hard chapter to read...even to write. When I wrote this, I was crying and I'm surprised I didn't short out my laptop...that would be VERY VERY BAD! Anyways, like I said, I did warn you about this chapter...so if your going to flame me, do it about something other than an issue that I warned you about...that would just be stupid if you did do that...anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter...considering what happened.
Check out Pirates of the Caribbean: The Aftermath! Its a really great story and needs some reviews!
Until next time. REVIEW! ~CrazyCanoeingGIT