Wow I finally have a few spare minutes to type a new chapie. My life was
insane for a while. Last week my school put on its annual art show, so I
was there till 5:00 every day, and at the show on Thursday I was there till
8:30. Then Saturday was my birthday party, so Friday I was cleaning, and I
was sick. So this is the first chance I've had to write in a while. So
please forgive me for the lateness of my update. I'll give birthday cake to
all of you who review.
Lawyer: Disclaimer. Me: Sharkfood. Lawyer: (gulp) nevermind. Me: That's what I thought.
Chapter 8: Drowning
The three stayed still for a while, staring after the departing ship. Finally Elizabeth turned with a sigh and began to walk down the beach. Jack moved away from the water's edge and sat down. Then he started to take apart the pistol he had retrieved.
"It needs to dry or it won't work," he said to the island in general, for Kay wasn't really listening. He looked up at Kay. "Come sit luv," he said.
Kay hesitated. Her instinct was to stay away, she couldn't get too close. Then with a sigh she gave up and went to sit next to him. They three were going to die anyway on this island, what did it matter now if she got close or not. Besides the island wasn't very big she argued with herself. She couldn't get very far. The point was made not long after when Elizabeth came trudging along the beach to find the footprints she had made when she had started walking.
"Not very big, is it?" Jack asked rhetorically, putting his pistol back together.
"If you're going to shoot me please do so without delay," she snapped. Kay glanced up in mild interest. Elizabeth's mouth was compressed into a thin line.
"Is there a problem between us?" Jack asked.
"You were going to trade Will for a ship!" Elizabeth snapped, eyes flashing.
"We could use a ship," Jack pointed out. "The fact is I wasn't going to tell Barbossa about bloody Will in exchange for a ship because as long as Barbossa didn't know about bloddy Will I had something to bargain with, which now no one has. Thanks to bloody stupid Will!" Jack added in a sour voice.
"Oh," muttered Elizabeth. "Well he still risked his life to save ours!"
"Ha!" Jack stood up and walked off. Elizabeth followed, and Kay trailed behind, forgotten for the moment, which was perfectly alright with her.
"But you were marooned on this island before, weren't you? So we can escape in the same way you did then," Elizabeth was shouting.
"To what point and purpose young missy?" asked Jack, exasperated. "The Black Pearl is gone. Unless you have a rudder and a lot of sails hidden in that bodice," he sighed. "Unlikely. Young mister Turner will be dead long before you can reach him," he finished in resignation.
"We have to do something," Elizabeth insisted.
"Off you go then, let me know how that turns out," Jack said, irritated.
"But you're Captain Jack Sparrow," Elizabeth continued to protest. "You disappeared from under the eyes of seven members of the royal navy, you sacked Nassu Port without ever firing a shot. Are you the pirate I've read about or not?" She moved to stand in front of him. "How did you escape last time?"
Jack sighed, then moved Elizabeth out of his way. "Last time I was here a grand total of three days, alright?" He bent over and lifted a trapdoor. "Last time I was here the rum runners who used this island as a cache came by and I was able to barter passage off." He jumped down into the cellar. "From the looks of things here, they've long been out of business. Probably have your bloody friend Norington to thank for that," he said, emerging from the cellar with three bottles of rum.
"So that's it then?" asked Elizabeth in a cracking voice. "That's the secret, grand adventure of Captain Jack Sparrow? You spent three days lying on a beach drinking rum?"
Welcome to the Caribbean luv," Jack said and handed her a bottle. He passed one to Kay as he passed her on his way to the beach. Kay watched him go, then turned her attention to the bottle in her hands.
"I can't believe him!" Elizabeth cried. "He won't even try!"
"What do you suggest that we try to do?" Kay asked her quietly. Elizabeth turned to her, desperation in her face. Kay felt her heart go out to the girl in spite of herself. She, more than anyone knew the pain of heartbreak and helplessness. She wrapped her arms around her chest, clutching the bottle to her.
"What happened to you?" Elizabeth asked her quietly, shocked at the absolute misery behind Kay's eyes.
Kay looked up in surprise. She snorted, trying to make light of the situation and failing. "You're the second person to ask me that today," she said quietly, and glanced back at the beach at Jack. Elizabeth followed her glance, a little startled. Before she could say anything Kay started walking back. Elizabeth followed, walking until the water swirled around her ankles before turning around.
"Are there any truth in those other stories," she asked Jack.
"Truth?" asked Jack. He pulled his sleeve above his right wrist, revealing the brand and tattoo that Kay already knew were there. Then he pulled up his left sleeve, revealing crisscrossing scars that ran up his arm. Then he pulled his shirt down, revealing several bullet scars. "No truth at all," he said bitterly. Kay stood staring at him, mutely stunned into silence. She realized that she wasn't the only one with a painful past. The realization was rather stunning.
"We have to do something," Elizabeth said again, but this time she sounded defeated.
"You're right," Jack said. He raised his bottle. "Here's luck to you Will Turner."
With a defeated air Elizabeth walked up and sat on Jack's other side. She opened her bottle and took a sip, shivering as the liquid burned her throat.
"Drink up me hearties, yo ho," she muttered.
Jack turned to look at her, surprised. "What was that?" he asked.
"Nothing," Elizabeth replied. "Just a song I learned when I was a child, when I actually thought it would be exciting to meet a pirate."
"Let's hear it," Jack said.
"No," said Elizabeth.
"We've got the time," Jack pointed out. "Let's have it."
Elizabeth twirled the bottle in her hands, thinking. Then she turned to Jack. "I'm going to have to have a lot more to drink."
Jack took that as a challenge. "How much more?"
Kay stopped paying attention. Those two, or Jack at least, were going to get themselves drunk. That was all she needed to know, because that was what she herself was planning to do herself. There had been a time or two other than this when her emotions got out her control. Those times she had resorted to alcohol to blur her edges and to dull the sharpness of the emotions and memories. It had worked then. She hoped it would now. Kay tugged the cork out of her bottle and took a swig. If she couldn't bar off her emotions she would drown them. She would drown out the memories.
Elizabeth: It was now well after nightfall. Elizabeth and Jack were dancing around the fire singing, (rather off key) the pirate song that Elizabeth had started earlier. Kay was still sitting by the fire, she hadn't moved except to help start it and to get a few more rum bottles.
"Really bad eggs," Jack sang out, then collapsed in the sand next to Kay. Elizabeth flopped down next to him on his other side. "I LOVE that song," he slurred. "When I get the Pearl back I'm gonna teach it to the whole crew. And we'll sing it all the time," he declared.
"And you'll be positively the most fearsome pirate in the Spanish Main," Elizabeth said.
"Not just the Spanish Main, luv. The entire ocean, the entire world. Wherever we want to go, we go. That's what a ship really is you know. Not just a keel, and a deck and sails, that's what a ship needs. What a ship is, what the Black Pearl really is, is freedom," he finished quietly. Elizabeth saw Kay glance at him, then close her eyes and turn her head before taking another swig of her rum.
"It must have been terrible for you Jack, stuck here," Elizabeth murmured, cuddling closer to Jack. She saw Kay wince.
"Oh yes," Jack said. He crept one arm around Elizabeth, the other around Kay, pulling her closer. "The company, however, is far better than last time. The scenery has definitely improved." Elizabeth was starting to feel uncomfortable.
"Mister Sparrow," she said suddenly, pulling away. "I don't think I've had quite enough rum to allow this kind of talk."
"I know exactly what you mean luv," Jack said. He picked up his bottle.
"To freedom," declared Elizabeth, lifting hers.
"To the Black Pearl," Jack said. They clinked bottles, and Jack drank, Elizabeth pretended to. She was starting to feel giddy anyway and she had only had about half a bottle. She didn't know how Jack was still awake. She no sooner thought that than he collapsed backwards, asleep. She smirked, her plan finally worked. Now she could collect the rest of the rum barrels and start a bonfire. She stood up, and Kay joined her, swaying slightly. Elizabeth wondered just how much the other girl had had to drink.
She walked back to the trap door, Kay following. As Elizabeth started carrying out rum barrels, Kay went down and came back out clutching another two rum bottles.
"How much have you had to drink?" Elizabeth asked incredulously.
"Not enough," Kay told her bitterly. "I can still think and feel." She trudged back to the beach, Elizabeth watching her depart with a confused feeling. That girl looked as if she had suffered for most of her life, and was just living because there was nothing else to do. Elizabeth had seen the looks she had given Jack all throughout the day. It was obvious she cared for him, but it was as if she was afraid to. She watched as Kay finished another bottle, than collapse in the sand next to Jack. Elizabeth decided to leave her the other bottle she had grabbed. She had more than enough here for what she needed. But she ached for Kay, and wished that she could do something to help her. But the girl refused to get too close to her, and from what Will had told her, she refused to get too close to anyone.
With a sigh, Elizabeth went back to work.
Kay: Kay woke the next morning with her head throbbing painfully. This had to bet the worst hangover she had ever had. Last night it had taken more to get herself drunk than she had thought, and as a consequence her hangover was bigger. She also noticed with a twinge that she had failed to drown her emotions, they were still just as sharp as ever.
Kay opened her eyes, then groaned and shut them tight. The sunlight hurt something fierce, and made her headache bigger. She slowly rolled over and staggered to her feet. Shielding her eyes from the sun, she stumbled down the beach. She dipped her bandanna in the water, then put that over her eyes. It helped with the headache. When her head stopped throbbing enough for her to move around easily she moved under the shade of a tree and sat down, retying her damp bandanna into her hair. She heard yelling from down the beach and turned to look. Elizabeth had, apparently, used all the remaining rum to start a huge bonfire. Kay wondered that she hadn't smelt the smoke when she got up.
She started fingering her locket. The cold metal was comforting in her hand. She opened it to look at the pictures of her parents again. Silent tears began to roll down her cheeks. She missed them so much. She sat alone on the beach, staring down at her open locket, and wondered why the world had chosen to torture her.
Jack: Jack stormed down the beach muttering under his breath.
"Must have been terrible for Jack, must have terrible. Well it bloody is now!" he screamed back down the beach. Elizabeth either didn't hear, or heard and ignored him. He turned around, and saw a ship with white sails, far off, but obviously sailing their way.
"There'll be no living with her after this," he muttered. He turned with a sigh and saw Kay sitting under the shade of a tree, holding something in her hands and crying silently. (A.N. I'm not sure how long it actually took the ship to reach the island, but I'm using artistic license to drag out time so bear with me here.) Jack walked over to Kay, who didn't notice. He saw what she was holding, an open locket, with the pictures of a man and a women. Thinking hard, he recalled them as Kay's parents. He had watched her say goodbye to them in that dream.
"They're yer parents?" he asked quietly. Kay snapped her head up with a gasp, clutching her fist around the locket. Then she groaned and put a hand to her head. Jack knelt down in front of her, recalling the bottles of rum he had seen littering the campfire area. He knew he hadn't drunk that much, and Elizabeth definitely hadn't had more than a bottle, if that. "How much did ye have to drink?" he asked her quietly. Her slight groan was answer enough. Obviously too much. He sighed. Drinking was obviously a last resort to dull whatever pain she was trying so hard to hide.
He reached over to her clenched fist and coaxed her fingers open. Kay stared again at the pictures of her parents. She wanted to close the locket and forget. Forget them, forget her past, and forget her pain. But no matter how hard she tried she couldn't. Tears welled up again that she was powerless to stop. Jack reached over to brush them away.
"What happened to them?" he asked gently.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Kay said quietly. "You have no idea who I am. If I told you where I'm from you'd think I was crazy."
Jack smiled. "I don't," he told her. "I heard ye talkin to Will." She glanced up, surprised. "I know yer from the future. I believe that." Kay swallowed. Jack decided he knew how to get her to open up. "Ten years ago I was standin on my ship, talkin to a friend of mine, when I look down and see a girl starin up at me," he started, settling himself in the sand in front of Kay. Her eyes were wide open. "The girl looked to me like a ghost, I could see right through her. When I asked my friend if he could see her he said he couldn't." Kay had started to chew on her lower lip. "That night when I went to sleep, I dreamed I was in a strange house, and I watched that same girl for a few minutes, as she said goodbye to her parents. I saw her again a few days later, stadin in the rain at a funeral. And the next night," here he hesitated. "The next night was the mutiny. I was stranded here. The next day I discovered the rum cache, so that night I was drinking on the beach, back where we were before," he gestured in the general direction. Kay was following his every word almost desperately. "That girl was you Kay. I saw you the last time that night, until back when we met at Port Royal." Kay swallowed hard, closing her eyes.
"I had dreams like that too," she admitted quietly. "I recognized you when I saw you on the docks that day." She looked at him suddenly. "That's why you brought me with you, when though Will got you out of jail. You knew who I was." Jack nodded. Kay brought her knees up to her chest and clutched them tightly.
"So what happened?" Jack asked again. He didn't need to elaborate. They both knew what he was asking about. A while passed. Jack almost thought Kay wasn't going to say anything, then she finally spoke.
"I was 16," she said, in a voice devoid of all emotion. "16. My dad's boss was hosting a party for his employees and their families, so my parents were going to be gone all day. It was winter, and while they were gone it rained. Then the temperatures dropped, and the water froze." Kay's voice started to crack slightly. She took a deep breath before continuing. "They decided to come home a bit early. No one knows exactly what happened. They were on an overpass, and another car hit them, running both cars off the road. They slid on the ice, right over the side." She swallowed again. "The cops said they probably died on impact." She wasn't loosening up at all, in fact she was becoming more tense and turned inward, hiding further behind her walls. But she continued. "I was taken to a foster home. There were three other girls there. Kia, Lennet, and Marie. We became closer than sisters in time." She smiled slightly at the memory. "Then everything went to hell. Kia developed cancer. She fought it, and after a while she went into remission. Things started to go back to normal." She shivered, grimacing at the memory. In a choked voice she continued. "No one knows how it happened. But Lennet fell down the stairs. In the fall, she broke her neck. Shortly after that Kia's cancer came back. She couldn't fight it this time." Kay was choking down a sob. "She died, too, only a few months later. I went to college with Marie, we didn't want to leave each other. I met a boy, Daren. He was a year ahead of me. We started dating. Over Christmas he died in a skiing accident." Kay became quiet for a few minutes, fighting back tears, before continuing on. "That summer Marie and I went to the beach. She was caught in a riptide. She drowned before the lifeguard could reach her." Kay suddenly became self-accusing. "It's my fault! Everyone I get close to dies. I've lost everyone I ever cared about." She began to sob, clutching her knees tightly.
Jack moved forward and gathered the sobbing girl to his chest. She fought for a moment, but he refused to let her go.
"Ye poor girl," he whispered. "Ye poor, lonely girl." Kay stopped struggling, and clung to Jack like a lifeline, sobbing hard. Ten years of grief snatched her up in a whirlwind and tossed about as helplessly as a feather in a hurricane. Jack held her gently, her only solid anchor in the storm of emotion that had been let loose. After a long time her sobs finally subsided to a quiet crying. Jack gently stroked her hair.
"It wasn't yer fault," he told her. Kay made a noise of protest. "It wasn't," Jack said. "It's not yer fault that yer parents crashed, or that yer friends died, or anything that happened here." She needed to hear this. She was going through life blaming herself for everything bad that happened to anyone. She needed to stop. But someone had to first convince her that she was wrong, and that was going to take time. "None of it was your fault," Jack told her again. Then he simply held her while she lay limp in his arms, exhausted from facing down years of pent up emotions.
After a while Kay pulled away and slowly stood up. Jack stood too, and glanced out at the water. The ship had reached the island, and a rowboat had just about reached it. He gently guided Kay back to the campfire, where Elizabeth was waiting. She took a startled look at Kay's red eyes, and tear- streaked cheeks and opened her mouth, but Jack silently raised a warning finger. She gave him a puzzled look, and he shook his head. Elizabeth narrowed her eyes, she didn't entirely trust him, but she knew that Kay did, so she let the matter rest.
The rowboat reached the beach then, and all three of them walked down to meet the soldiers who had been sent to fetch them.
Whew. That took a while to type. That was a hard chapter to write. Hope you like it! Again, cake to all those who review! Hey, is there a shark missing? Dragon: burp (innocent look) Me: sigh...
Lawyer: Disclaimer. Me: Sharkfood. Lawyer: (gulp) nevermind. Me: That's what I thought.
Chapter 8: Drowning
The three stayed still for a while, staring after the departing ship. Finally Elizabeth turned with a sigh and began to walk down the beach. Jack moved away from the water's edge and sat down. Then he started to take apart the pistol he had retrieved.
"It needs to dry or it won't work," he said to the island in general, for Kay wasn't really listening. He looked up at Kay. "Come sit luv," he said.
Kay hesitated. Her instinct was to stay away, she couldn't get too close. Then with a sigh she gave up and went to sit next to him. They three were going to die anyway on this island, what did it matter now if she got close or not. Besides the island wasn't very big she argued with herself. She couldn't get very far. The point was made not long after when Elizabeth came trudging along the beach to find the footprints she had made when she had started walking.
"Not very big, is it?" Jack asked rhetorically, putting his pistol back together.
"If you're going to shoot me please do so without delay," she snapped. Kay glanced up in mild interest. Elizabeth's mouth was compressed into a thin line.
"Is there a problem between us?" Jack asked.
"You were going to trade Will for a ship!" Elizabeth snapped, eyes flashing.
"We could use a ship," Jack pointed out. "The fact is I wasn't going to tell Barbossa about bloody Will in exchange for a ship because as long as Barbossa didn't know about bloddy Will I had something to bargain with, which now no one has. Thanks to bloody stupid Will!" Jack added in a sour voice.
"Oh," muttered Elizabeth. "Well he still risked his life to save ours!"
"Ha!" Jack stood up and walked off. Elizabeth followed, and Kay trailed behind, forgotten for the moment, which was perfectly alright with her.
"But you were marooned on this island before, weren't you? So we can escape in the same way you did then," Elizabeth was shouting.
"To what point and purpose young missy?" asked Jack, exasperated. "The Black Pearl is gone. Unless you have a rudder and a lot of sails hidden in that bodice," he sighed. "Unlikely. Young mister Turner will be dead long before you can reach him," he finished in resignation.
"We have to do something," Elizabeth insisted.
"Off you go then, let me know how that turns out," Jack said, irritated.
"But you're Captain Jack Sparrow," Elizabeth continued to protest. "You disappeared from under the eyes of seven members of the royal navy, you sacked Nassu Port without ever firing a shot. Are you the pirate I've read about or not?" She moved to stand in front of him. "How did you escape last time?"
Jack sighed, then moved Elizabeth out of his way. "Last time I was here a grand total of three days, alright?" He bent over and lifted a trapdoor. "Last time I was here the rum runners who used this island as a cache came by and I was able to barter passage off." He jumped down into the cellar. "From the looks of things here, they've long been out of business. Probably have your bloody friend Norington to thank for that," he said, emerging from the cellar with three bottles of rum.
"So that's it then?" asked Elizabeth in a cracking voice. "That's the secret, grand adventure of Captain Jack Sparrow? You spent three days lying on a beach drinking rum?"
Welcome to the Caribbean luv," Jack said and handed her a bottle. He passed one to Kay as he passed her on his way to the beach. Kay watched him go, then turned her attention to the bottle in her hands.
"I can't believe him!" Elizabeth cried. "He won't even try!"
"What do you suggest that we try to do?" Kay asked her quietly. Elizabeth turned to her, desperation in her face. Kay felt her heart go out to the girl in spite of herself. She, more than anyone knew the pain of heartbreak and helplessness. She wrapped her arms around her chest, clutching the bottle to her.
"What happened to you?" Elizabeth asked her quietly, shocked at the absolute misery behind Kay's eyes.
Kay looked up in surprise. She snorted, trying to make light of the situation and failing. "You're the second person to ask me that today," she said quietly, and glanced back at the beach at Jack. Elizabeth followed her glance, a little startled. Before she could say anything Kay started walking back. Elizabeth followed, walking until the water swirled around her ankles before turning around.
"Are there any truth in those other stories," she asked Jack.
"Truth?" asked Jack. He pulled his sleeve above his right wrist, revealing the brand and tattoo that Kay already knew were there. Then he pulled up his left sleeve, revealing crisscrossing scars that ran up his arm. Then he pulled his shirt down, revealing several bullet scars. "No truth at all," he said bitterly. Kay stood staring at him, mutely stunned into silence. She realized that she wasn't the only one with a painful past. The realization was rather stunning.
"We have to do something," Elizabeth said again, but this time she sounded defeated.
"You're right," Jack said. He raised his bottle. "Here's luck to you Will Turner."
With a defeated air Elizabeth walked up and sat on Jack's other side. She opened her bottle and took a sip, shivering as the liquid burned her throat.
"Drink up me hearties, yo ho," she muttered.
Jack turned to look at her, surprised. "What was that?" he asked.
"Nothing," Elizabeth replied. "Just a song I learned when I was a child, when I actually thought it would be exciting to meet a pirate."
"Let's hear it," Jack said.
"No," said Elizabeth.
"We've got the time," Jack pointed out. "Let's have it."
Elizabeth twirled the bottle in her hands, thinking. Then she turned to Jack. "I'm going to have to have a lot more to drink."
Jack took that as a challenge. "How much more?"
Kay stopped paying attention. Those two, or Jack at least, were going to get themselves drunk. That was all she needed to know, because that was what she herself was planning to do herself. There had been a time or two other than this when her emotions got out her control. Those times she had resorted to alcohol to blur her edges and to dull the sharpness of the emotions and memories. It had worked then. She hoped it would now. Kay tugged the cork out of her bottle and took a swig. If she couldn't bar off her emotions she would drown them. She would drown out the memories.
Elizabeth: It was now well after nightfall. Elizabeth and Jack were dancing around the fire singing, (rather off key) the pirate song that Elizabeth had started earlier. Kay was still sitting by the fire, she hadn't moved except to help start it and to get a few more rum bottles.
"Really bad eggs," Jack sang out, then collapsed in the sand next to Kay. Elizabeth flopped down next to him on his other side. "I LOVE that song," he slurred. "When I get the Pearl back I'm gonna teach it to the whole crew. And we'll sing it all the time," he declared.
"And you'll be positively the most fearsome pirate in the Spanish Main," Elizabeth said.
"Not just the Spanish Main, luv. The entire ocean, the entire world. Wherever we want to go, we go. That's what a ship really is you know. Not just a keel, and a deck and sails, that's what a ship needs. What a ship is, what the Black Pearl really is, is freedom," he finished quietly. Elizabeth saw Kay glance at him, then close her eyes and turn her head before taking another swig of her rum.
"It must have been terrible for you Jack, stuck here," Elizabeth murmured, cuddling closer to Jack. She saw Kay wince.
"Oh yes," Jack said. He crept one arm around Elizabeth, the other around Kay, pulling her closer. "The company, however, is far better than last time. The scenery has definitely improved." Elizabeth was starting to feel uncomfortable.
"Mister Sparrow," she said suddenly, pulling away. "I don't think I've had quite enough rum to allow this kind of talk."
"I know exactly what you mean luv," Jack said. He picked up his bottle.
"To freedom," declared Elizabeth, lifting hers.
"To the Black Pearl," Jack said. They clinked bottles, and Jack drank, Elizabeth pretended to. She was starting to feel giddy anyway and she had only had about half a bottle. She didn't know how Jack was still awake. She no sooner thought that than he collapsed backwards, asleep. She smirked, her plan finally worked. Now she could collect the rest of the rum barrels and start a bonfire. She stood up, and Kay joined her, swaying slightly. Elizabeth wondered just how much the other girl had had to drink.
She walked back to the trap door, Kay following. As Elizabeth started carrying out rum barrels, Kay went down and came back out clutching another two rum bottles.
"How much have you had to drink?" Elizabeth asked incredulously.
"Not enough," Kay told her bitterly. "I can still think and feel." She trudged back to the beach, Elizabeth watching her depart with a confused feeling. That girl looked as if she had suffered for most of her life, and was just living because there was nothing else to do. Elizabeth had seen the looks she had given Jack all throughout the day. It was obvious she cared for him, but it was as if she was afraid to. She watched as Kay finished another bottle, than collapse in the sand next to Jack. Elizabeth decided to leave her the other bottle she had grabbed. She had more than enough here for what she needed. But she ached for Kay, and wished that she could do something to help her. But the girl refused to get too close to her, and from what Will had told her, she refused to get too close to anyone.
With a sigh, Elizabeth went back to work.
Kay: Kay woke the next morning with her head throbbing painfully. This had to bet the worst hangover she had ever had. Last night it had taken more to get herself drunk than she had thought, and as a consequence her hangover was bigger. She also noticed with a twinge that she had failed to drown her emotions, they were still just as sharp as ever.
Kay opened her eyes, then groaned and shut them tight. The sunlight hurt something fierce, and made her headache bigger. She slowly rolled over and staggered to her feet. Shielding her eyes from the sun, she stumbled down the beach. She dipped her bandanna in the water, then put that over her eyes. It helped with the headache. When her head stopped throbbing enough for her to move around easily she moved under the shade of a tree and sat down, retying her damp bandanna into her hair. She heard yelling from down the beach and turned to look. Elizabeth had, apparently, used all the remaining rum to start a huge bonfire. Kay wondered that she hadn't smelt the smoke when she got up.
She started fingering her locket. The cold metal was comforting in her hand. She opened it to look at the pictures of her parents again. Silent tears began to roll down her cheeks. She missed them so much. She sat alone on the beach, staring down at her open locket, and wondered why the world had chosen to torture her.
Jack: Jack stormed down the beach muttering under his breath.
"Must have been terrible for Jack, must have terrible. Well it bloody is now!" he screamed back down the beach. Elizabeth either didn't hear, or heard and ignored him. He turned around, and saw a ship with white sails, far off, but obviously sailing their way.
"There'll be no living with her after this," he muttered. He turned with a sigh and saw Kay sitting under the shade of a tree, holding something in her hands and crying silently. (A.N. I'm not sure how long it actually took the ship to reach the island, but I'm using artistic license to drag out time so bear with me here.) Jack walked over to Kay, who didn't notice. He saw what she was holding, an open locket, with the pictures of a man and a women. Thinking hard, he recalled them as Kay's parents. He had watched her say goodbye to them in that dream.
"They're yer parents?" he asked quietly. Kay snapped her head up with a gasp, clutching her fist around the locket. Then she groaned and put a hand to her head. Jack knelt down in front of her, recalling the bottles of rum he had seen littering the campfire area. He knew he hadn't drunk that much, and Elizabeth definitely hadn't had more than a bottle, if that. "How much did ye have to drink?" he asked her quietly. Her slight groan was answer enough. Obviously too much. He sighed. Drinking was obviously a last resort to dull whatever pain she was trying so hard to hide.
He reached over to her clenched fist and coaxed her fingers open. Kay stared again at the pictures of her parents. She wanted to close the locket and forget. Forget them, forget her past, and forget her pain. But no matter how hard she tried she couldn't. Tears welled up again that she was powerless to stop. Jack reached over to brush them away.
"What happened to them?" he asked gently.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Kay said quietly. "You have no idea who I am. If I told you where I'm from you'd think I was crazy."
Jack smiled. "I don't," he told her. "I heard ye talkin to Will." She glanced up, surprised. "I know yer from the future. I believe that." Kay swallowed. Jack decided he knew how to get her to open up. "Ten years ago I was standin on my ship, talkin to a friend of mine, when I look down and see a girl starin up at me," he started, settling himself in the sand in front of Kay. Her eyes were wide open. "The girl looked to me like a ghost, I could see right through her. When I asked my friend if he could see her he said he couldn't." Kay had started to chew on her lower lip. "That night when I went to sleep, I dreamed I was in a strange house, and I watched that same girl for a few minutes, as she said goodbye to her parents. I saw her again a few days later, stadin in the rain at a funeral. And the next night," here he hesitated. "The next night was the mutiny. I was stranded here. The next day I discovered the rum cache, so that night I was drinking on the beach, back where we were before," he gestured in the general direction. Kay was following his every word almost desperately. "That girl was you Kay. I saw you the last time that night, until back when we met at Port Royal." Kay swallowed hard, closing her eyes.
"I had dreams like that too," she admitted quietly. "I recognized you when I saw you on the docks that day." She looked at him suddenly. "That's why you brought me with you, when though Will got you out of jail. You knew who I was." Jack nodded. Kay brought her knees up to her chest and clutched them tightly.
"So what happened?" Jack asked again. He didn't need to elaborate. They both knew what he was asking about. A while passed. Jack almost thought Kay wasn't going to say anything, then she finally spoke.
"I was 16," she said, in a voice devoid of all emotion. "16. My dad's boss was hosting a party for his employees and their families, so my parents were going to be gone all day. It was winter, and while they were gone it rained. Then the temperatures dropped, and the water froze." Kay's voice started to crack slightly. She took a deep breath before continuing. "They decided to come home a bit early. No one knows exactly what happened. They were on an overpass, and another car hit them, running both cars off the road. They slid on the ice, right over the side." She swallowed again. "The cops said they probably died on impact." She wasn't loosening up at all, in fact she was becoming more tense and turned inward, hiding further behind her walls. But she continued. "I was taken to a foster home. There were three other girls there. Kia, Lennet, and Marie. We became closer than sisters in time." She smiled slightly at the memory. "Then everything went to hell. Kia developed cancer. She fought it, and after a while she went into remission. Things started to go back to normal." She shivered, grimacing at the memory. In a choked voice she continued. "No one knows how it happened. But Lennet fell down the stairs. In the fall, she broke her neck. Shortly after that Kia's cancer came back. She couldn't fight it this time." Kay was choking down a sob. "She died, too, only a few months later. I went to college with Marie, we didn't want to leave each other. I met a boy, Daren. He was a year ahead of me. We started dating. Over Christmas he died in a skiing accident." Kay became quiet for a few minutes, fighting back tears, before continuing on. "That summer Marie and I went to the beach. She was caught in a riptide. She drowned before the lifeguard could reach her." Kay suddenly became self-accusing. "It's my fault! Everyone I get close to dies. I've lost everyone I ever cared about." She began to sob, clutching her knees tightly.
Jack moved forward and gathered the sobbing girl to his chest. She fought for a moment, but he refused to let her go.
"Ye poor girl," he whispered. "Ye poor, lonely girl." Kay stopped struggling, and clung to Jack like a lifeline, sobbing hard. Ten years of grief snatched her up in a whirlwind and tossed about as helplessly as a feather in a hurricane. Jack held her gently, her only solid anchor in the storm of emotion that had been let loose. After a long time her sobs finally subsided to a quiet crying. Jack gently stroked her hair.
"It wasn't yer fault," he told her. Kay made a noise of protest. "It wasn't," Jack said. "It's not yer fault that yer parents crashed, or that yer friends died, or anything that happened here." She needed to hear this. She was going through life blaming herself for everything bad that happened to anyone. She needed to stop. But someone had to first convince her that she was wrong, and that was going to take time. "None of it was your fault," Jack told her again. Then he simply held her while she lay limp in his arms, exhausted from facing down years of pent up emotions.
After a while Kay pulled away and slowly stood up. Jack stood too, and glanced out at the water. The ship had reached the island, and a rowboat had just about reached it. He gently guided Kay back to the campfire, where Elizabeth was waiting. She took a startled look at Kay's red eyes, and tear- streaked cheeks and opened her mouth, but Jack silently raised a warning finger. She gave him a puzzled look, and he shook his head. Elizabeth narrowed her eyes, she didn't entirely trust him, but she knew that Kay did, so she let the matter rest.
The rowboat reached the beach then, and all three of them walked down to meet the soldiers who had been sent to fetch them.
Whew. That took a while to type. That was a hard chapter to write. Hope you like it! Again, cake to all those who review! Hey, is there a shark missing? Dragon: burp (innocent look) Me: sigh...