Chapter Fourteen: Jealousy

"Mr. Sparrow, would you lift up your shirt so that I may bind your wound?" Kaede asked in an insisting tone. He had been brought in the tent after being scratched and bitten by a demon. Blood still slithered out of his cuts and punctures. The once white shirt that graced his breast was stained to where it resembled his crimson bandana.

"Can't you just wrap around it, mate?" Jack asked back. Sango was in the room, and even though he had shown more than his chest to other women, he did not wish to take off his shirt. I had been bloody drunk all the other times and acted through a drunk mind, not my own, he thought. Kaede could see why he was being stubborn.

'Sango, go fetch me some water, please."

"Yes, Kaede." Sango got up and walked out.

Jack looked at Kaede, "Did you know what I was thinking?"

"Mm-hmm," Kaede answered as she smiled.

"That's interesting!"

"So, captain, will you now kindly take off your shirt?" Jack slowly moved his uninjured and already wrapped hands under the front of his shirt and took it off. Kaede grabbed the shirt from him and threw it with a pile of other fabric. At that moment, Kagome walked in with a pail of water. Jack's eyes grew wide as he tried to reach for his shirt. To his dismay, he could not reach it.

"Forget about trying to get ye shirt," Kaede said. Jack stopped reaching and sneered at the old woman. "Kagome, I must check on Miroku's wind tunnel. Please dress Mr. Sparrow's wounds."

"Yes, Kaede." Kagome knelt on the floor and took some bandages out of her backpack. Jack watched fearfully as Kaede walked out of the room.

"Oh, bloody hell," he muttered. Kagome took at sponge out of her backpack and placed it in the water bucket.

"Turn around so I can clean your back," Kagome asked politely. He knew not to mess with her, because if she was like Elizabeth, he wouldn't hear the end of it until he did what she asked. So, he turned his back to her. She took the sponge out of its holder and squeezed out the excess water. Then she slowly rubbed his cuts with it. He barred his teeth in pain as a stinging sensation filled his back. Kagome kept on cleaning as she spoke. "Thank you for saving me."

"Don't mention it, love," he said through his teeth.

"You could have died."

"I know."

"Then why?"

"Because I don't like to stand around and watch people getting killed. Tis true I wait till the opportune moment, but I do not stand by without a fight." His voice grew softer as he muttered one word, "Jacklyn."

"What?"

"I said, Jacklyn."

She looked at him and saw something in his eye. A tear, she supposed. "Who is that?"

"Who I am here to look for. A month ago, my ship, the Pearl, left for Japan. My closest friend, Will Turner, and his daughter Jacklyn came with me. I wanted them to help me look for a treasure. When we docked, Will and I talked, and suddenly we heard screaming and rushed to the sound. Jacklyn was hanging from the edge of a well, crying for help. I grabbed her arm and tried to pull her up, but she slipped. I came in after her and landed on Inuyasha with no Jacklyn to be seen.

"She is probably scared to death, and it's my fault. It's all my fault. If I had never asked them to come, this wouldn't have happened. If I wasn't such a selfish man, she would be at home, playing with dolls and various other things. It's my fault, savvy?"

"For one thing, you are not as selfish as you may think. I believe that a man who is willing to risk his own life to save another's, one whom he had never met before, is as unselfish as one can get. And second, you can't blame yourself for a choice they made!" Kagome started to wrap Jack's torso and upper back with linen. She soon finished and picked up the bloody shirt and tossed it into the water bucket.

Jack's mind was processing her words. Though they were true, he still blamed himself. He hadn't waited for the opportune moment; that would have been in another eight or nine years. Jacklyn would have been fourteen or fifteen then; it would have made more sense, but he was too greedy. No matter how many argued against it, he thought he was a selfish as they come. When he knew Kagome was done, he turned to face her.

His eyes were still glazed with tears, and Kagome felt sorry for him. He blamed himself for it still; she could sense it in hi. Then, she did something that neither of them expected. She got up and hugged him. Jack looked very shocked and his eyes grew wide. Through the tent opening came Inuyasha.

"Jack, I…" He stopped suddenly when he saw the two of them. Kagome let go of Jack, and her eyes gazed up at Inuyasha's. His eyes looked like they were enduring pain, not physical but mental.

"Inuyasha, I…" She could not finish, for he had already stormed out. Jack looked at Kagome as her head dropped and tears came to her eyes.

"You love him?" he asked, cupping her chin in his hands.

"No, how could I love that big brat?"

"You're not very good at lying, love."

"I'm not?"

"No. I'll talk to him for you, savvy?"

"Thank you, Jack."

"Captain Jack, love." He uncupped her face as she started to giggle.

"Your shirt should be cleaned of all the blood stains; I'll hang it up on my way out."

"Thank you," he responded as he cupped his lower bandages in between his thumb and other fingers. They both laughed as she took his shirt and walked out.

"Here I am again, getting myself in the middle of another bloody relationship. Damn it all!"