A/N Okay another chapter. Not a lot happens in this, but it's all leading up to my next chapter. I promise chapter28 has a lot more action and a much better plot. Yay, more action! Anyway, I'm sorry if I'm annoying you by asking if you'd like a rewrite! So I'll stop it now, and try and have more confidence.

Thanks for the awesome reviews, it really makes my day! ^_^

Chapter Twenty Seven.

Life back on the Pearl was amazing. The days seemed to fly by. My arm healed quickly, and no longer did my leg twinge with pain. The sea air re-inflated my lungs, and I gasped in those luscious breaths of freedom, standing at the stern of the ship, watching the waves ripple as we flew through the ocean. She was such a fast, majestic vessel, and it was beyond my comprehension how she managed to stay afloat. Jack tried to explain it to me, but he didn't seem to know any better then myself. Though his explanation had something to do with mermaids, from what I can remember. But his stories were always twisted in some way, though they did make me laugh.

The woman who had seemed so cold, turned out to be Jack's 'girl'. But it seemed my arrival had changed all that. It scared me at first, the idea of Jack and I. After all, if he had given up Annamaria for myself, he must want something out of me. I wasn't innocent, as I had been my first time on the Pearl. But the only relations I had had, were the customary ones with Roberto. I shared his bed because it was expected of me, and for no other reason. I had produced Bobbie, as my teachings as a child, my mother taught me that a married woman's most important job is to have a baby, and be obedient to her husband. The former I had carried out, and the latter to a certain extent, too had been performed. But Jack would want me, just as Roberto had. And I wasn't sure I was ready.

I sat in my cabin that night, trying to read a book I had found propping one of the doors open. It was about witchcraft, a subject I had never ventured upon before. The creaking of the door instantly alerted my attention and I jumped up.

"Dora." Came his slurring, passionate voice.

His voice was soft, and low, but warningly. I dared not refuse it. I stood up, flinging the book aside without even noting my page number!

"Jack." I replied.

He walked towards me, but I got there first. My arms went around his neck, and our faces met in such a passion I had never felt before. And in that second I knew I needed Jack. My heart pounded fiercely, I had been waiting for this moment all my life. I was still scared, nervous, but I wanted it so much.

He led me towards the bed, sweeping the old book aside. It clanged as it fell to the ground. He dropped me on the bed.

"You ready, Dora?" He asked.

From the fire in his eyes I doubted whether my answer would have mattered. The next morning I knew why Annamaria had been so annoyed to lose Jack. But after that night, I craved him, and refused to share him with anyone.

My eyes flickered open in the morning, and they fell delightedly on the sleeping form of Jack.

"Wake up sleepy head." I said, shaking him gently.

But Jack certainly wasn't a morning person. I laughed and gave up, clambering out of bed. I hastily threw on some clothes, and combed back my hair. I tried waking him again, but I suppose only something wrong with his beloved ship would entice him to get up at so early an hour.

I left the cabin, there was not many of the crew around. Gibbs was half dozing by the wheel, watched carefully by the glowering Annamaria. They make such a lovely couple, I thought, with a laugh. And then an idea came to me, if Annamaria found herself another man, I would have Jack all to myself. Yes, perhaps her and Gibbs did look right together. . .

In some ways Annamaria reminded me of Bonny, they both had that seductive air which seemed to get them ahead in life. Bonny had hardly lifted a finger working in our manor, I suppose sharing the master's bed has it's advantages.

"Where's Jack?" She asked.

"Still sleeping." I replied, with a sickly smile. I had let Bonny take Roberto, he meant nothing to me, but I wouldn't let this Annamaria take Jack.

"I wonder what's happened to Bobbie." Annamaria said, loudly, it was aimed at me, but she kept up the pretence that she was talking to Gibbs.

"Aye, poor kid." Gibbs grunted.

It was my turn to walk away, feeling so small. I had no comeback, no argument. I was wicked leaving Bobbie.

I have often heard strong comments of abhorrence against parents who leave their children. Words of disgust and disbelief that they could bring something into this world and then abandon it without grief or remorse. But how wrong is it to judge another on their actions until you have walked a lifetime in their shoes?

Annamaria did not have to make the choice I had too. Then she would know how totally different my love for Bobbie and Jack was. With Bobbie it was the adoration any parent has for their child, with Jack it went deeper, much deeper. He awoke passions in me which I had never felt before, he excited me like Roberto never could. The waves called for me, and I adored everything about the Pearl. I was choosing between calm and storm, a war waging between my head and my heart. In such cases, the heart should always emerge victorious.

And so followed days, and then weeks of bliss aboard Jack's vessel. Nothing could come close to claiming my happiness.

We docked at Tortuga, and Jack introduce me to some of his business associates. There were friendly girls looking for a good time, and I didn't doubt Jack and Roberto had spent many a night with them. I enjoyed Tortuga, it was a place where you could be yourself, and no one cared. But I was not at my happiest until we returned to the sea.

Jack was a feared, dreaded pirate, other ships ran in the wake of the Pearl.

"Now this is called the hilt." He explained.

I stared at him, hands on hip. "I thought you were teaching me how to fight, I know it's called the bloody hilt!" I said, with a laugh.

He grinned. "Very well then." He passed me the sword, and unsheathed his own.

"What? Now?" I laughed, nervously.

"No time like the present."

"I'd love to, but I've got to. . ." I burst out laughing.

He smiled. "Now, this is called the blade."

I tried not to laugh, but it was hard to be serious in Jack's company. "Point taken." I said, softly. "Look Jack, I'll never be able to lift one of these things up, let alone fight with it." I told him.

"Well, I suppose you could always use this." He handed me a little gold bell.

"Oh, how quaint, and how am I supposed to defend myself with this?"

"You ring the bell, an' I'll come an' save yer, savvy?"

"No it's not savvy!" I replied, annoyed. "I'll have a gun, instead."

And so Jack gave me a pistol. It was old, rusty, and didn't fire straight, or when you wanted it to, but it shot. It would help defend myself, and that was the best I could wish for. I gave up trying to learn the art of swordsmanship, Jack wasn't a particularly encouraging teacher, and all my years of tapestry stitching, and reading had taken away my strength. So I learnt how to load and fire instead.

It seemed overly complicated at first, but after a while I got the hang of it. I kept the pistol with me at all times, and it gave me an added sense of security. I also kept the bell, but only because I could not bear giving the beautiful item back to Jack.

Jack still pillaged and plundered his way through the Caribbean, the gold accumulated in the hold beneath the deck. Then places like Tortuga, it seemed to disappear through gambling games and outrageous bets. I chided Gibbs when he bet a thousand shillings he could share the bed of the young Spanish waitress. I was even more annoyed to find out that the other in the bet was Jack.

But Pilar seemed immune to their charm, that or the fact that she could not understand a word of English, either way neither of them won.

"You wouldn't have slept with her, would you?" I asked him, as we sat down.

"Jealous?"

"No, but I'd hate to think of you taking advantage of a vulnerable young girl."

"You were jealous."

I laughed, and fingered the pistol inside the folds of my tatty gown. "Oh if I was jealous, Jack Sparrow, you'd know about it."

When they caught me, my pistol was taken. I'd do anything to see it one last time, to gently caress the rusty barrels, to load and shoot, just one last time. One thing I still have though, that they can never take away. My little golden bell. I am holding it now in my free hand. There is a scratch from the top all the way to the bottom where I dropped it during the eagerness to escape. But other then that, it's perfect. I ring it softly, it echoes around the stuffy prison cell. The guards look up in annoyance, and Thomas stirs in his fitful sleep. But they are the only ones who hear it, Jack is deaf to my bell, now.

A/N Remember as you judge - the next chapter has more action! Anyway, please take your time to review. The next chapter is already written, and I will probably post it either Monday or Tuesday. Thanks for reading!