Disclaimer: I don't own anything except Hope and her crew and ship.
Hope's POV:
I waited until Jack was gone, and then wiped the tears from my eyes with a tissue. Everything was going according to plan... I had made Jack swear that he wouldn't touch my wheel, so that was taken care of, and I had told him enough so that I wouldn't be lying, but not the entire truth. Of course not. I left the past behind me, and...
There was a knock on the door. Now, who could that be? Not Jack, again? I opened the door slowly to find Marcus standing there.
"Luna wants you." He said. I wondered what this was about... but I followed him up on deck. I couldn't believe Luna wanted to speak to me... I had thought that she would want me to stay in my cabin as long as possible so she could be captain. Then I noticed that none of my sailors were doing any work. I took a few steps toward Luna, and felt all eyes on me.
"Lun-" Suddenly I understood, and my words were cut off. Why so soon? I had not planned on this... no, no, no, it couldn't happen so soon! I glanced at the small island they were to banish me on, and realized I was having trouble breathing. I turned back to Luna, and realized someone was tying my hands together. I tried to reach for my knife, but it was gone. Everything was gone, except for my pistol.
I couldn't find word to say. I had not expected... this could not be! My sailors were all cowards! I had not thought there would be action so soon! My only thought was... I must follow the plan.
"Surely you don't mean for Luna to be captain!" I said to one of my sailors, curiously. Luna grinned and nodded, but everyone else laughed and said no, they didn't thing she could captain a ship. Luna turned red and was obviously angry.
"Then who will captain this ship?" I asked them. They all pointed toward Jack, who seemed to be thoroughly enjoying this. I was pissed.
"DON'T TOUCH MY HELM!" I shouted at him. His smile disappeared for a moment. Then he smiled again.
"I won't touch it, Luna will. But I'll give the orders."
I felt calmer. For some stupid reason, when I should have been pummeling his face into the ground, I felt a ton calmer.
"Well, that makes me feel so much better." I told him, stepping toward the edge of the ship. I struggled out of the bindings around my hands, and took a few more steps toward the edge, only to be seized again.
"Let her off my ship." Luna said dismissively. They did not let me off.
"Let her off my ship." Jack said, his voice startling me. I looked up at him furiously.
Sorry, he mouthed at me. I frowned at him, and hoped he could read lips well enough to see my next sentence.
I'll kill you.
He turned away from me, and then I struggled free and dove off the edge of the ship, watching it sail away behind me.
JACK'S POV:
I awoke and found that I was sweating. I tried to remember the dream I had. But of course I already knew. It was what I had dreamed for the past two weeks, ever since I asked to be let off the ship The Red Diamond, in Tortuga. They let me go. But I could still not help dreaming about when I had helped that mutiny. I felt terribly guilty. The poor girl had asked for my help and I had simply laughed at her when she struggled free. But what could I have done? If I had stood up for her, I would have been thrown off.
I kept hoping that Hope would fulfill her promise to come back and kill me. Then at least I would know she had lived. After I had gotten off the Diamond, I had taken a ship to the island that we had left her on. I did not find her there, but wasn't sure what to think about it. Was it good, had she escaped? Or simply been swept away by the sea or something?
So now I had nightmares.
I was now staying in a bar. Well, in the inn above the bar, until I could find my Pearl again. But something told me I wasn't ready to go back to the Pearl.
I went downstairs to the bar and ordered a drink. I certainly wasn't going to go back to sleep, and maybe getting smashed would help. That was when I heard a familiar voice.
"Anybody seen Captain Jack Sparrow? I'm going to kill him when I find him." It was a female voice, and I felt the slightest bit relieved when I heard it.
I heard someone laugh.
"The Captain's always got some wench looking fer him. Listen, lass, tell me why you want him, and then, when ye find him, tell him he owes me some money." A man said. I know I did not really owe that man money, but I had paid him to ask that question to anyone looking for me before he told him or her where I was.
"Well, I'm sorry sir, but you won't be paid back, because when I find him, I really am going to kill him."
I heard nothing but silence for a moment. Then the bartender said
"Well, he's right over there." And I could feel all eyes going to me. I turned around very slowly so everyone could see my face.
I saw Captain Hope standing there, and my god... I never thought I would be so happy to see someone. She looked mighty pissed though. I knew I was going to have to watch myself. Her eyes, unlike when I had first seem her, were burning a hole through me. Someone whistled, but she did not tear her gaze off. Finally, she took a step forward, and then smiled.
"Well..." She began. "Well, Captain... Jack... Sparrow... it seems you owe me a little something."
She picked up a glass of rum and took a sip.
"And what would that be, love?" I asked her, keeping eye contact. She swallowed her rum real fast. Then she threw the glass down on the floor, real hard, so it shattered and little specks of glass flew everywhere.
"DAMMIT SPARROW! You know what it is, and you'd damn well better give it to me!" Now I was confused. What the hell did she want?
"I'm afraid you'll have to fill me in." I told her, not taking my eyes off her.
"AN EXPLANATION WHY YOU DIDN'T DO A DAMN THING WHEN I WAS LEFT ON THAT ISLAND AND INSTEAD SAILED AWAY WITH MY SHIP!"
The whole bar was quiet. I couldn't help but smile. She had always been so calm before, and now she was just yelling and screaming... it was a great reminder that not everyone can keep perfectly sane.
She sighed and sat down next to me.
"Bloody hell, Jack. I know already just why, it's just that... I'm sorry. My ship is gone, and..." She tried to explain, but I already knew how she felt. Same way I felt when Barbossa took my Pearl.
'"It's alright, love, I get it." A few people in the bar went back to their business. I continued the conversation with Hope.
"I haven't done anything but feel guilty about leaving you there. I took a boat to look for you, but... you were gone." I studied her.
If she had been unpretty before, you should have seen her now. She actually had a little scar across one side of her face, and she looked exhausted. And she needed to take a bath. Then again, so did I.
"You look terrible..." I told her, hoping she wouldn't be mad, like most women were.
"Yeah." She said. "I haven't gotten much sleep in a while. I miss the way the sea rocks my bed."
I couldn't miss the perfect opportunity. Oh, it was just too perfect.
"I'll rock yer bed for you." She didn't say anything. She kept her eyes glued to the table we were sitting at, and I could feel everyone in the bar staring at us again, as if they could sense the tension. And I felt bad for saying that. She finally responded, in a not very nice way. Meaning, a very rude finger gesture. But she kept her eyes on the table.
"Look me in the eyes when you say that, love." I said, frantically hoping I could get lucky and somehow manage to say the right thing. But no. She raised her gaze and looked me straight in the eyes, and did the finger gesture again, this time with a flourish.
I was at a loss for words. See, now I did not know what to do. If the people in the bar found out that I would just let her insult me, my reputation might be ruined. But I did not want to get in a fight with her. She seemed to notice my dilemma.
"Hmmm, Sparrow, somebody's asking for a fight, or are you just going to give up?" She asked me, picking up another mug of rum and drinking it.
I didn't know what to do. Me, Captain Jack Sparrow, who always has a plan. Damn, I didn't have a plan.
"Obviously you're giving up." She continued, staring down her nose at me as she finished her mug of rum and ordered another. I watched her with quiet fascination. She was drinking quite a lot of rum.
"Darling, if you don't stop drinking, you'll faint, and then I'll have to give up my bed fer ye." I told her, knowing that if she fainted, I would carry her upstairs and let her sleep on my bed. I did not want that to happen.
"Oh, shut up, S-sparrow, I won't faint but I want t-to know what you're going to do 'bout my insult. Or are you just going to stand there and let it pass you by?"
I shrugged. "Not going to hurt you." I told her.
"s-sh-sure" She said, finishing another tall mug of rum. She ordered another. When it came, she started sipping on it, and I watched with a bit of alarm.
"I think you've had enough, love." I said, moving to take it away from her. She held on tight.
"Nope." She said, and continued to drink. When she finished, she was swaying a little.
"Oohh..." She said, and then fell off her chair. I looked to see if she had fainted, and found with relief that she hadn't, but she was smiling weakly at me.
I realized there was no way she was going to be able to get a room in her condition, so I paid for a separate room for her, and figured she could pay me back in the morning. Then I helped her up to the room, while she kept looking at me uncomfortably.
When we got into the room, I set her down on the bed, and she smiled up at me.
"Thanks." She said lightly and hiccupped. "I really appreciate you helping me." She said lightly, but for some strange reason she didn't sound drunk.
"No problem. I owe you." I told her, and left to go back to my own room.
I slept well that night.
Hope's POV:
Foolish, Sparrow. He had fallen for one of my best tricks. He had bought me a room, and I was all by myself. I was amazed... I had expected him to let me sleep in his room, but instead he bought me my own. Oh well, probably he just wanted to sleep in his own bed.
For a moment there, before he left, I felt a bit guilty, taking advantage of him. I was not planning on paying him back. But he does owe me. But for just a minute, I had stopped pretending to be drunk, so I could thank him and I think he suspected...
Oh well. I had a place to sleep that was important. I hadn't slept well lately because I hadn't had places to sleep. It's that simple. And because I miss my ship.
But I'll get her back.
I will find my ship.