Chapter 8

"Will, and for what do I owe this spontaneous visit to?" Jack asked mockingly. Why would Will be turning up here? How did his whelp friend get on his ship and receive a cabin to sleep in? Where was he when all this happened? And this brings an earlier question to mind, how much did he have to drink last night?

All these questions were floating around his mind unanswered. As if that were not enough to occupy his brain for the time being, he found another part of him still thinking about Emma. He still didn't comprehend her or why she did what she did. She never seemed to think before she acted, and maybe that was how she lost her memory in the first place, by being careless.

That was another thing, why couldn't he stop thinking about her?

It's not like he was in love with her. Captain Jack Sparrow does not fall in love. He simply lusts for women and then when they are through moves onto the next one. That had gone well for him over the past ten or so years.

No, there was only one love for this pirate, and it wasn't for a woman. His love was for a ship, his ship, the Black Pearl. He knew every inch of her, understood how she worked, and she had never let him down. It was she who gave him his freedom and that, according to him, was the best gift a person could ever receive.

And why the hell was he taking time out of his precious life to think about all of this? He felt like he was turning into a Eunuch, like Will, and that scared the living daylights out of him. His mind was for thinking about plots to steal large amounts of money, rum, strumpets, rum, killing people, rum... Get the point?

It must be important, Jack thought, for Will to follow me all the way here. He doesn't even like Tortuga, thus proving the previous statement. What could be so imperative?

Oh dear god please don't tell me that Elizabeth got herself kidnapped again, he prayed, three times I have had to save her arse and what do I have to show fer it? She burned me bloody rum!

"Jack," Will said, looking around for more of his crew. You never knew if somebody else was listening. "Can we talk in private?"

"Aye, mate. Follow me." Jack turned around and went back the same way he came. He opened the door, took a bottle of rum out of the chest by the wall, and sat down at the wooden table. He took the cork out of the bottle and started drinking. After all, there's no better way to cure a hangover then to drink more, right?

Will carefully shut the door behind him and sat down in a chair adjacent to the one the pirate captain was sitting in. Will's expression turned to a serious one and he looked at Jack.

Jack, with his head back guzzling the rum, got the feeling that eyes were on him so he put the bottle down and looked at Will, who was in fact staring at him. Jack decided to fool with him. "What? Is ther' something on me face?"

"I was waiting for you to finish so you could pay attention." Will explained, growing more impatient as time wore on.

"Well, on wit' it." Jack said. He was interested in what the blacksmith had to say. "I know ye didn't come all this way to stare at me."

He shuddered at the thought and then focused his attention on the man donning his favorite brown and white outfit.

"One thing before I began, Emma's memory has not come back yet, has it?" Will asked, doubting that it would have.

"No, it 'asn't." Jack answered. Then he thought. "Or at least not that she's told me."

"Ok- Yesterday when Elizabeth came home from her father's, you know the governor, she told me that there was this girl named Amelia, about eighteen or so, and she was supposed to be staying with him for a couple of months as part of a present from her uncle, the governor of Port Isabel, who happens to be close friends with the governor." Will said, taking a pause to regain his breath.

Jack took another drink of the rum and prepared himself for the rest of the story.

"Well, the second day of her time there she went missing. Apparently she went for a walk and never came back. You can imagine the governor's distress at this situation. How will he be able to break the news to his old pal that he lost his niece?"

Will paused for dramatic effect then looked at Jack and saw the expression on his face, waiting to hear what it all had to do with him.

"How is this your problem, you might ask?" Will added, clearing his throat. "Elizabeth has come to believe that Emma is Amelia."

Jack sat there and all his first thought was 'I was right! I knew she was raised by rich people, that explains her attitude and eating habits.' After gloating about how perceptive he is, he then came to another realization: he had to take her back.

Not that taking her back was much of a problem; it just seemed all so sudden. It would take about a day or two out of his Tortuga trip, but he could always extend it. He supposed Will was going with them and then Emma -or Amelia- could return to her high class society.

Then he actually felt bad for Amelia. She must really have had bad luck to begin with and not remembering who you are must be hard to cope with. But then again, Jack thought, it was her fault about all the stupid decisions she made.

"So, ye expect me t' take 'er back, is that it?" Jack asked.

"Yes, the sooner the better." Will replied.

"How do ye expect me t' explain t' me crew that I've got to cut their stay? I imagine they won't be too happy. It may even cause a mutiny."

"We will talk to Emma, I mean Amelia, and see what she wants to do. But we have to take her back, Jack. How about you talk to your crew and whoever wants to stay here can and then you'll be back in a day. You don't need everyone to steer this ship to Tortuga." Will suggested.

"S'uppose so." Jack considered. "We can leave first thing in the mornin'."

"That'll do." Will replied. Then he stretched out his arms and stood up. "I'm going to find myself something to eat and I believe you have your own things to take care of."

Jack nodded and after finishing his bottle of rum stood up. He let Will out of the room, and left himself after he got out another bottle of his favorite liquor. With his hat cocked slightly forward, Jack proceeded up the stairs on to the deck.

He took in a large breath of fresh sea air, muttered some words to crewmembers as he pasted them by as they were coming and going, and he made his way over to where he saw Amelia standing with her little white dog close by.

She looked so beautiful there, leaning on the railing, with the wind blowing back her hair... Wait, did he just think that?

'Jack, you are definitely losing it!' he thought. He walked over and stood next to her. He was waiting for her to talk first, which he thought she would because of her whole 'Elizabeth' attitude lately, but to his surprise she just stood there barely acknowledging his presence. It looked at if she was in a trance.

The truth was, Amelia had been standing there staring at the ocean for several minutes. She was thinking about how beautiful it was, when a memory hit her.

FLASHBACK

"So, excited about the journey?" she heard a voice asked her.

She turned around and saw a man behind her. He was dressed in a red and white uniform and had the look of curiosity on his face, as if he was trying to read her mind. Her eyes first laid upon his short curly blonde hair, his strong face structure, crystal blue eyes, and then moved down to his muscular body.

Looking up at him straight in his blue eyes, she replied "Yes, but I'm rather uneasy about being on a ship for a week."

"If you need anything then don't hesitate to tell me. I doubt that we will have any problems and today the wind is moving in the direction we are, so it will move us swiftly and perhaps even cut off a day of traveling."

"That is nice to know." she said, placing Nevado down and holding on to his leash as he walked around a little. He then began barking at the man.

Ignoring the dog and looking at her, he added "Follow me and I will show you to your cabin. Your belongings are already there for you."

END FLASHBACK

Then she was back looking at the ocean and all she could think about was the flashback. Who was that man? Obviously he was a member of the royal navy, one look at his uniform could tell you that, but why was she with him? And why did she get the feeling when she pictured him that she knew a lot more about him then she thought she did?

So she thought hard and long. Then it came to her, she had drawn a picture of him only two days ago! That still did not answer her questions, but at least one memory coming back to her was a good sign and that meant that there would soon be more to follow.

She smiled; soon she would no longer have to question everything. Life is much easier when you know what your life is and who you are. But when she did find out and returned home to wherever she belonged, then it would be like nothing ever happened and surely this 'little bump in the road', as one could call it, changed her in some way, if not for the better.

It had been a rough trip, she even had to admit that one, but it was an experience that she would never forget, even if she tried. It's kind of hard to forget about being on an infamous pirate ship with one of the most notorious pirate captains of that time. Especially when they are getting angry with you because you knocked two of their crew unconscious, but he only knew about the first one (thank god).

As she was standing there it wasn't until she heard someone gulping down something that she looked to her left and noticed that the captain was standing there drinking his rum. How long had he been standing there?

Jack took another swig of rum and then holding the bottle in his left hand, looked at Amelia. "I need t' have a word wit' ye." he told her in a more serious fashion then she was used to hearing him speak to her in.

"Alright Captain Sparrow." she said, wondering what he could possibly have to talk to her about that would actually cause him to be completely somber for once, without being angry. She turned slightly so that she could look at him with her right arm still leaning on the railing and she opened her eyes to what he had to say.

Before he spoke he offered her some of his rum, at which she replied "No thank you", and then he began. "The Eunuch here," Jack said, referring to Will. "has come to inform us that he found out who ye are. Yer real name is Amelia and ye are the niece of the gov'nor o' Port Isabel. We are takin' ye back to Port Royal first thing tomorrow morin' where ye where supposed to be stayin' wit' the whelp's father-in-law, Governor Swann."

"Oh, I guess it all makes sense then." Amelia replied quietly.

"What does?" Jack asked, having no idea what she was particularly referring to.

"Well, I remember sailing to Port Royal with soldiers of the royal navy." she explained to him. "Certain things are starting to come back to me."

"Aye, well good fer ye then." he responded, forcing a smile. "I'm off t' take care o' some business."

She nodded and watched him walked over and lower down a boat for him to row to shore in. Before he got in he turned around again and looked at her, pointing a finger towards her. "Don't even think about leaving this ship."

She had to laugh, but she held it back. If only he knew that she already had... but that was yesterday and for some reason fate was throwing her some luck. Then she smiled as in acceptance of his order and watched him get down in his wooden boat and row himself to the shores of Tortuga.

Pretty soon she would be back at Port Royal, doing whatever she was supposed to be doing there with whomever she was supposed to be doing it with. She sighed, her life had never been up to her, instead an endless line of doing things that others told her she was expected to do.

That thought made her think about pirates, Captain Sparrow in particular. As they sang in their song that she had stuck in her head for the longest time, they don't take orders from anyone other then their captain. They get to spend their life according to their own terms, do whatever they wanted to do. Certainly that type of freedom would be appealing to most people, but not everyone was cut out for that sort of life.

Jack, on the other hand, was the perfect type of person for that life. He made it all look so easy, as if the life of a pirate was invented just to fit him and fit him it did. It fit him like a suit perfectly tailored for some rich British governor. Yes, pirating was definitely for him.

"Come on Nevado." Amelia called to her dog, clapping her hands together. She proceeded down the stairs and back to her own cabin with Nevado following her. She closed the door and sat down on the bed, remembering the first time she ever sat down on it.

That time she felt so out of place and she looked it too, but now as she sat there it felt as if she was leaving a place that she was beginning to call home. She knew that was strange, with all the mishaps on board she experienced, but it's like your first couple days at a new job. You are learning the ropes still, so you make some embarrassing mistakes, but after working there for a while you get the hang of it and leaving to go to a new job seems so odd because you feel like you just settled yourself into the place.

That was sort of how Amelia felt towards that ship. She never really got to spend any time with the crew though, and she guessed they would not want to after hearing what she did to Johnny, but you never know. AnaMaria seemed to find the incident pretty amusing.

She took the comb out of her pocket and starting brushing her hair with it, which had become a mess after sleeping on it and everything. Holding it, she remembered her aunt giving it to her when she was ten, and slowly more and more memories were filling her mind.

She started to remember everything, her life, when she got to Governor Swann's mansion, the walk she took through Port Royal, all up to now. It was like a shock to the system, as if someone suddenly decided to give her back her memory at this particular time. Like the stars had this whole occurrence in store for her all along.

So there she sat, contemplating her life and everything that was going on, while Jack made his way to the Faithful Bride. It was easy for him to spot his crew, they were always a large loud group of pirates and whenever anyone of them saw him enter they would call him over to their table.

This time when he walked in he spotted them first, and headed for them. When they saw him they shouted "Cap'n! Join us!" and offered him a chair and a mug of rum. Jack delightfully sat down and took a large gulp of the rum in front of him. Everyone seemed in such a good mood, if he didn't know better then he would of thought they just stuck gold or something, but he knew that they must be glad for a break. They were doing exactly what that one verse of a song they sang said:

When we come into town to spend all our spoils,

A good time will be had by all.

We'll all head to some pub to get drunk off our arses,

When we're there, there ain't no last call.

I'll get rum for meself and buy ale for me friends,

And a great deal of loot on the wenches I'll spend.

When the money's all gone it's off to sea again

To trade cargo for cannonball.

And how could he argue with that? Jack grinned, he was pleased to see his crew in such high spirits. Then he scanned the table for his first mate. He saw him at the other end of the table drinking some ale. His attention turned for a second when one of the wenches refilled his mug and when he looked back Gibbs was gone. Where did he go?

Jack was tilting back to take another drink when he felt a hand on his left shoulder and almost spilt the rum on himself. "Damn! Ye almost made me spill me rum!" He looked up to see who the culprit was. "Gibbs, just the man I was lookin' fer."

"What did ye want, cap'n?" Gibbs asked, grabbing another chair and pulling it over by Jack's so they could talk.

Jack explained everything to his first mate, and told him to tell the rest of the crew whoever wants to stay can, after all the ship would be back in two days or less, and whoever wants to help has to be on the ship by the next morning. Gibbs nodded and then Jack stayed a little longer till he had his fill of rum.

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A/N: Please review, and once again thank you all!

captainme- Yeah, me either, lol.

TriGemini- Thanks. Our Emma/Amelia is getting a bit more daring.

Janna Hawkins- Lol.