A/N: Well, I lied :P…I said I'd wait until I got nine reviews but I'm updating at (gasp) eight! Tsk tsk, I'm so terrible. Although I'm sure you, the readers, are all rejoicing at my lapse. I just couldn't leave this story! The end has to be told!
JenDraca: Yes…you do know what happens to her :P. However I've added one twist that I don't think I've told you about. Mwahahaha…etc.
Araminta Ditch: That's a cool name by the way, very original…I can tell you like my story by all the yelling ;P. I hope you like the end just as much.
Raidi: Hey, it's ok; I think you expressed yourself pretty well. I'm really glad that my writing touched you, after all isn't that the mark of a good writer? Thank you for the kind words.
Dazzler420: Mwahahahahahaha (coughhackgargle)…ahem, yes. Enjoy the last chapter!
Clematic-chellers: Here we are; the next and final chapter. Don't worry, Nadie will redeem herself...somewhat. Read on and find out!
YeOfLittleMind: I forgive you for your absence , after all, you have a legitimate excuse. And yes, the last chapter was longer, I'm happy you noticed. Thank you for all of your reviews, this is the last chapter I'm afraid, still I hope you enjoy it.
Random Character: You were rambling again, and I'm not sure you entirely understood what you wrote :P (patpat). By the way, Richard is pretty good looking but he's a bratty noble who's used to getting what he wants. Hmmm, you know he is similar to Draco. Weird, I didn't mean to do that. (is confuzled).
Anaknusan: Oh my, Nak! You're having a torid affair with one of my other stories! (gasps) How could you? Lol, I'm glad you like this story too. This chapter is the last one, for I am evil that way. (cackles madly).
Disclaimer: I stand by my comment of "sod off disclaimer".
Oh, quick warning, I will switch between Nadie and Lorelei occasionally. I assure you, there is a symbolic reason for this. Try to guess what it is.
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Jack jumped the tavern's steps three at a time in his hurry to get outside. Behind him, he could hear Isadora cursing and hurling questions at him as she tried to catch up. He did not bother to answer her, he barely gave the barmaid a thought. To him, at that moment, she was a world away.
Had he been in Tortuga, Jack would not have given the gunshot a second thought. In the town of pirates, people shot others or were shot every hour, it was nothing special. Jack had often fallen asleep to the sound of gunfire. However, Port Royal was a separate reality from that drunken violent world. People were not shot very often.
And that scream. A girl had screamed just outside the walls of the Broken Blade.
The common room was nearly empty when he burst into it. The fire had burned low and the few drunken patrons who had been awoken by the gunshot were still looking around groggily. Two skittish-looking bar wenches were desperately cleaning the room, trying to ignore the sound they'd heard. Whatever it was, they had no wish to get involved.
Jack dashed across the room to the door, paying no attention to the nervous girls and the confused drunks. Once outside, he peered through the heavy rain. At first he could see nothing but water and stone. Then, several feet in front of him and to his right, he could dimly see a dark shape.
"Jack, what…?"
The pirate waved a hand at Isadora to silence her. He pointed towards the shape and started to move towards it. As he got closer, the sight became clearer.
It was a man, possibly an aristocrat, judging from the cut and style of his clothing. He was standing over something but Jack couldn't see what it was. The man kicked it suddenly and the thing jerked spasmodically and made a sound between a grunt and a sob. In a flash, Jack understood. The 'thing' was a person, huddled in a ball, with her arms covering her head. It was a girl, barely in her teens. She had red-brown hair and pale skin. She was wearing his clothes.
Years later, when asked about his actions that night, Jack said that he still didn't quite remember what happened or understand exactly why he did what he did. All he knew was that one moment, he was standing there in the rain, trying to figure out the situation and the next he had his sword in his hand, had slashed the aristocrat's face, and was pointing his blade at the man's throat.
The aristocrat raised his eyebrows and stepped away from Nadie. He circled around Jack, ignoring the steel at his neck. Isadora, hurried towards Nadie and knelt beside her. The girl looked blearily up at her old friend. She laid a shaking hand on Isadora's cheek.
"Dora?" She whispered hoarsely, her voice cracking.
The barmaid nodded, her eyes shiny with tears. "Aye, Little Songbird."
The use of her old nickname made Nadie smile through her pain. Isadora embraced her carefully and started attending to her wounds.
Jack and Nadie's attacker circled each other, each holding a sword now and all muscles tense.
"If ye set any store by yer skin, ye'd best be leavin' Miss Lorelei alone."
Richard Devir (for so it was) looked the pirate up and down and smirked almost disbelievingly. "So you are the wench's rescuer are you?" He wiped away the trickle of blood on his cheek with one hand and studied it thoughtfully. "I wonder whatever happened to the 'knight in shining armour'."
"My chain mail fell overboard," Jack quipped.
Richard glanced at him. "I can see that. Though, I suppose in a way it's apt; having the pathetic vagabond attempt to save the whore."
Jack's answer to the insult came as a quick thrust to Richard's chest. The aristocrat quickly side-stepped the blow but Jack was just as fast. He did not let up on his attack. He rained blow after angry blow on Richard. They were evenly matched, however. Richard blocked or dodged every one of Jack's attacks deftly. Each of them moved with ferocity and grace, as though they were part of some macabre dance.
This went on for several minutes, always one gaining the advantage and then losing it to the other just as quickly. Jack managed to cut Richard's swordarm and Richard scored a few minor hits on Jack, but it all came to nothing.
Suddenly, the situation changed. Their blades locked together, Richard took advantage of their position. He twisted his sword down. The pressure was too much for Jack's wrist, and the pirate was forced to let go of his weapon. Richard flicked his wrist and sent Jack's sword flying to land several metres away from him. Jack watched helplessly at his blades flight and whirled around to face his now grinning enemy.
Richard was about to strike the final blow when Isadora crashed into him with all the strength in her slender body. Distracted and angry, he turned on her and started to raise his weapon. He did not have it for long, though, for Jack had used Dora's diversion to kick Richard's sword right out of his hand. The sword landed a hand's breadth from the two women.
At the exact same moment, the two combatents drew a pistol and aimed it at the other.
Caught in a stalemate.
Jack was struggling with himself. He had one shot in his pistol. One shot. Oh, how he wanted to use it to kill the bastard before his eyes.Oh, how he wanted revenge on Lorelei's behalf.
What about your own revenge though?
Jack tried to shake the thought away, but he couldn't. This shot was not meant for Richard or anyone else. Jack had sworn an oath to himself that the only person that would die by this shot would be Barbossa. It was so hard, though, this choice. What could he do? What should he do?
All the while, Nadie was watching. She was sitting up, leaning against the stone wall behind her. Her deep, wise eyes taking in everything. Her gaze flicked from Jack to Richard to Jack's pistol and back to Jack again. And she seemed to understand. Somehow, on some level, she could feel Jack's inner turmoil.
Her eyes turned to the sword-Richard's sword-lying beside her. Her hand hovered over it for a moment. Then, with one last quick glance at the two locked in their stalemate, she seemed to make up her mind. She grasped the sword's hilt tightly in one hand and rose to her feet, the intense pain in her leg and the rest of her body a faraway thing now.
She took a step towards Richard and time seemed to slow to a crawl. Isadora threw out an arm to stop her, but Lorelei gently-but firmly-pushed it away. Richard caught sight of her at the same moment as Jack and turned to face her. She was three steps away when Richard leveled his pistol with her chest, and she was two steps away when he fired.
"No!" cried Jack.
The shot was point-blank and it hit Lorelei full force. Her entire small frame jerked and she staggered. She looked up then, and her gaze caught Richard's. She stared at him in the eye for what seemed like eternity. Lorelei's stare seemed to have a strange effect on Richard, he went pale and his eyes were filled with fear.
She raised his sword over her head then and with a yell she drove it through his throat with all the strength she or Nadie had ever possessed.
He was dead before his body hit the ground.
The whole thing had taken only a moment but it had felt like a lifetime.
Lorelei could no longer support her weight and she toppled over to lie on her side. Jack and Isadora rushed over to her prone form. She was still alive when they reached her but only barely. Jack turned her over carefully and supported her head with one arm.
"Lorelei, Lorelei…" he whispered. He did not know what else to say.
She smiled at him, but it was a different smile now. There was no sadness, no pain, no hint of tears. Only freedom. She was free. She took Jack's rough hand in hers and pushed something small and metallic into it. She said no words, her smile said enough, and she died.
She did not die all at once. It happened slowly, like a rainbow fading. Her body relaxed, her heartbeat and breathing slowed and in her eyes…the light faded away, until it had completely disappeared. And then she was gone.
Slowly, Jack opened his hand. In it was a silver locket, shaped like a bird. He opened it to find two tiny portraits, one of a man, and one of a woman. Lorelei's parents, no doubt. There was something strangely familiar about the man, something that Jack couldn't quite place. He could feel engraving on the back so he closed it and flipped it over. When he saw the words there he nearly dropped it.
Lorelei Arianna Sparrow.
The End
A/N: MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! It's over! I am sooooooooooo evil. (cackles). Now before you ask, Lorelei is Jack's half-sister, they share a father, for those of you who couldn't figure it out. Although, I did leave bucketloads of clues all over the place. If you like you can read the story over again and try to find them.
Anyway, it's over! I absolutely love everyone who has read and/or reviewed this story, your comments were awesome and I'm glad that you liked it so much! Really, I am overwhelmed with the praise I have received. Peace out.