A/N: Well, we have 2 review! That's two, folks, count em, two! But, we
have hopes for this story, so PLEASE review. Thank you jdjay and Emma
Disclaimer: Yep, we own nothing. WeasleyGirl would like to own Will and Rhiannon would like to own Jack but..nothing doing. Bloody Disney, keeping them all to themselves.they should learn how to share! ..I'm okay, I swear..its just reallly early in the morning for me to be awake.We do own Kate, Katie, and a couple other yet to be introduced characters.
Chapter 4: Temper, Temper
After a week of this roundabout way of living, Kate seemed to be adjusting to life on the ship. Jack thought so at least. He had come to realize that the freer reign she was given, the better off she would be. If she could be left completely alone for at least some of the day, she would have a more positive outlook than without. With any luck, he hoped, she would become basically one of the crew. Kate was definitely getting along fine with Will and Katie, but still wasn't keen on Jack. She wasn't quite as defensive, however and seemed to be getting used to him. She even allowed an occasional touch on the arm or shoulder, but nothing else. He was used to this and could tell if he'd overstepped her boundaries. Granted, that had happened many times the past week so he was fairly used to her warning signs.
"Hey, Kate!" Jack called to her, the sight of Kate walking along the deck interrupting his reverie.
"What?" Kate answered.
"You, me, Will and Katie are going to eat in my cabin tonight."
"And?"
"And what?"
"I mean why are you bothering to tell me this. We eat in your cabin every night."
"Well, I need you to come early. I have something for you."
"Fine," she said before turning to go. As was her new custom, she climbed up the center pole to watch the horizon.
Once she had gotten to the top, however, she looked down rather than up. There, she saw Will and Katie talking. It looked like they were having a serious conversation but she couldn't hear it. The wind was working against her. Before long, she saw Katie turn to leave and Will pinched her on the butt. Kate was surprised at Katie's reaction, she, Katie, didn't say anything to Will but merely kissed him on the cheek and left.
Kate tore her eyes away from the scene below and looked into the horizon. The sky and sea were freedom and as much as she hated to admit it, she was beginning to like it here. Even Jack didn't seem such a monster that he had a week ago. Although, she still didn't enjoy his company, but he seemed to be decent. When the first red showed in the sky, Kate climbed down. She needed to talk to Katie and figure out what was going on tonight.
"Oy, Katie," she said as she walked into their room.
"What?" Katie asked.
"What's going on tonight? Jack made it seem like it was something big."
"I dunno . . . I should remember."
"Remember what?"
"Oh yeah! We get to Tortuga tomorrow night."
"What's in Tortuga?"
"Supplies and a place to sleep that doesn't move."
"Oh."
"Hey, do you mind if I go? I have, er, something to do," Katie finished lamely.
"Go ahead. I'm supposed to meet Jack before dinner."
"Talk to you later then."
"Okay."
~*~
Kate slowly made her way to Jack's cabin shortly after Katie left. She was a little nervous about this whole thing tonight. Nervous and scared. Her knees trembled as she knocked on the door and entered.
"Hi," she said nervously, closing the door behind her.
"Hi," Jack said from the back of the room. "Come in closer," he told her, for she had been lingering at the door as if ready to run at a moment's notice.
Slowly, very slowly, she walked to the center of the room. "Yes?" she asked, tentatively.
"I thought that you might like another dress. I think this will fit, but I had to guess," he said while tossing her a bundle.
"Why?"
"Call it an act of goodwill if you must. I know that you only have that nightshirt and Katie's old outfit and thought you might like something to wear at dinner. It's kind of a rule. Even Katie changes for dinner, even though she hates dresses and the like, but still . . ." he broke off, "Please, put it on."
"Where?"
"Over in that corner. I won't look," Jack told her, pointing to the dark corner.
"Fine," Kate said, grudgingly walking over to the corner. She made the actual changing process very quick out of fear of Jack looking. The dress was pretty old but still nice. It wasn't too fancy, either, which suited Kate fine. She had never been partial to extremely fancy things. The only downfall to the dress was the buttons down the back. She couldn't reach them. Resigning herself to the inevitable, she walked back over to Jack and said, "Do you mind?"
"Not at all."
As Jack reached down to button all of the tiny buttons, Kate felt a shudder go down her back. For the first time, this wasn't a shudder of fear but rather . . . excitement. However, when his hands touched her bare skin on her back, she stiffened.
Jack obviously noticed the change and said, "Sorry," before hurrying to finish.
She didn't answer but tried to ignore the fear rushing though her in waves. He touched her again, between the shoulder blades and again she stiffened. Knowing there were only a few buttons left, she bit her lip and waited for it to be over. When she felt the dress was secure, she whirled around and said, "Thanks."
"My pleasure. Do you like it?" Jack asked.
"Like what?" Kate shot back bewildered.
"The dress?"
"Oh, yes, it's nice." Kate pulled out a thin gold chain that she had from under the dress and left it hanging in front. On the chain hung a locket shaped like a heart.
"What's that?" Jack asked.
"What's it look like? It's a locket."
"May I?"
"What?"
"See it?"
"Oh, sure," Kate said, hurrying to unclasp the locked. "The clasp. It's stuck. I've never taken it off."
"I'll do it," Jack volunteered. When Kate made no sign of assent or denial, he moved behind her. He lifted the thick braid that hung down Kate's back to her shoulder. The clasp had stuck but Jack was able to get it undone quickly. "It's beautiful."
"Thanks. My mum gave it to me. She and my father went to England and brought it back for me. She put their pictures in it, of course. I got it when I was three and haven't taken it off since."
Jack opened the locked and looked at the two faces smiling back at him. "You look like your mum. Except for the hair. Her hair looks curly."
"No, my hair curls, just not that much."
"I'll have to see it sometime."
"Why did you wish me to come early and alone?" Kate asked hesitantly, "Apart from for the dress, I mean."
"I just wanted to talk to you."
"Not again," She hissed, "I've talked myself blue in the face with you and it's still not enough."
"Just count yourself lucky that I am the kind who prefers talking to young ladies rather than doing other things," Jack said, menacingly, "Now, have I made a point or shall I elaborate."
"Oh yes! Thank you so very much! But believe me. I'm grateful that you took the time to ruin my life bit by bit and kill me slowly. But, you, Captain Jack Sparrow are an honorable man!" she spat, "Do you think that I could honestly like you? I will not. I see how you look at me. It makes me sick and I would rather be dead than to let you lay eyes on me. But no, you're doing me a favor. I forgot. Stupid me. Do you think that I don't see how you look at me? You try and make me like you so you can touch me. You think that if you are slow and patient, I will allow it and eventually like you! But, no. I'm lucky! I just love crying at night all alone and praying to die in my sleep. You snake! I hate you! I hate--"
"Enough!" Jack shouted and for the first time, he hit her. Not as hard as he could but enough to shut her up. Kate stared at him in shock, spat out the blood from her mouth onto his feet, picked up her clothes and left. As Kate stormed from the room, Will and Katie walked in.
"Things not going well, Jack?" Will asked casually as he and Katie walked into the room.
"You could say that," Jack grumbled.
"What happened this time?" Kate asked.
Once again, Jack told them what had come of his attempt to win Kate over. He told them how she had been fine until he mentioned talking about her and the explosion that had followed and then the slap.
"You're hopeless, you know that, don't you? If you had stayed away from talking about her specifically, you would have been fine," Katie said exasperatedly.
"Why doesn't she want to talk about herself?" Jack asked nonplussed.
"The more that you force her to tell about her life up until a week and a half ago and the fire, the more you'll make her miss it. The more she tells, the more memories get stirred up and the more she longs for it. So, of course she is going to shy away from topics that remind her of home. And when you goad her, you just add fuel to the fire." She explained.
"Fine. But still. She didn't have to say all of that."
"No, but you opened up the dam inside her and everything spilled out. So now, you've got yourself a right little mess and you'll need a big mop to clean this one up. Plus the fact that you hit her, puts you back to before square one, since when you took her, you didn't physically hurt her."
"Look, Jack, let me talk to her. She reminds me of Elizabeth and maybe I could help," Will supplied.
"Sure, but I need to worry about this now. Talk later," Jack responded hurriedly.
"Anyway, the whole 'I hate you!' thing was probably just anger speaking. I doubt she meant it," Kate said.
"Fine, I don't care anyway," he said testily.
"Liar."
"Fine. What do you know about the whole crying thing? Was that a bluff?"
"No. I was going to wait a bit longer before I said anything but now that you mention it, I did hear something last night. I thought she was asleep and was whimpering but I didn't bother lighting a candle to see. Anyway, she always crawls into bed and doesn't move after that so, she could wait until I'm asleep and cries quietly. All the same, she's good at hiding her emotions, except anger, so who knows what she's really feeling."
"It doesn't matter. I have half a mind to leave her in Tortuga."
"That's another lie," Will said calmly.
"Okay, it is."
"Jack, we all like her, yourself included. In fact," Will said slyly, "I think you like her more than anyone else. We all see how you look at her. No wonder she's worried."
"Look, there's no point in denying that I don't like the kid. She's got more spunk than I've seen in a long time and isn't afraid to show how mad she can get."
"Jack, I think back to when I was 17," Katie began, "And I wonder how I would have reacted, if I was in her shoes, of course. I'd probably be worse. She's very easy to manage when you go about it the right way."
Kate hurried to get as far away from Jack's cabin as possible. She had never been so angry before in her life. She made her way to the front of the ship and looked out into the dark ocean. She couldn't take it anymore. This was it. And though she knew that jumping wasn't the answer, it seemed to be her only escape from a life for suffering. For a long time she stared transfixed by the water below and nearly forgot her plan. She said her prayers and apologies and climbed over the rim and hung on mainly by her hands, her feet only on a thin ledge. Hesitating momentarily, she heard her name being called by Jack and footsteps coming closer. Before he got any nearer, she let go and fell into the water, uttering only a soft scream.
A/N: Ooh, aren't we evil? Cliffie.the nerve. Anyway, we're going to try to update fairly often so check back every couple of days. And PLEASE give us reviews!!!!
Disclaimer: Yep, we own nothing. WeasleyGirl would like to own Will and Rhiannon would like to own Jack but..nothing doing. Bloody Disney, keeping them all to themselves.they should learn how to share! ..I'm okay, I swear..its just reallly early in the morning for me to be awake.We do own Kate, Katie, and a couple other yet to be introduced characters.
Chapter 4: Temper, Temper
After a week of this roundabout way of living, Kate seemed to be adjusting to life on the ship. Jack thought so at least. He had come to realize that the freer reign she was given, the better off she would be. If she could be left completely alone for at least some of the day, she would have a more positive outlook than without. With any luck, he hoped, she would become basically one of the crew. Kate was definitely getting along fine with Will and Katie, but still wasn't keen on Jack. She wasn't quite as defensive, however and seemed to be getting used to him. She even allowed an occasional touch on the arm or shoulder, but nothing else. He was used to this and could tell if he'd overstepped her boundaries. Granted, that had happened many times the past week so he was fairly used to her warning signs.
"Hey, Kate!" Jack called to her, the sight of Kate walking along the deck interrupting his reverie.
"What?" Kate answered.
"You, me, Will and Katie are going to eat in my cabin tonight."
"And?"
"And what?"
"I mean why are you bothering to tell me this. We eat in your cabin every night."
"Well, I need you to come early. I have something for you."
"Fine," she said before turning to go. As was her new custom, she climbed up the center pole to watch the horizon.
Once she had gotten to the top, however, she looked down rather than up. There, she saw Will and Katie talking. It looked like they were having a serious conversation but she couldn't hear it. The wind was working against her. Before long, she saw Katie turn to leave and Will pinched her on the butt. Kate was surprised at Katie's reaction, she, Katie, didn't say anything to Will but merely kissed him on the cheek and left.
Kate tore her eyes away from the scene below and looked into the horizon. The sky and sea were freedom and as much as she hated to admit it, she was beginning to like it here. Even Jack didn't seem such a monster that he had a week ago. Although, she still didn't enjoy his company, but he seemed to be decent. When the first red showed in the sky, Kate climbed down. She needed to talk to Katie and figure out what was going on tonight.
"Oy, Katie," she said as she walked into their room.
"What?" Katie asked.
"What's going on tonight? Jack made it seem like it was something big."
"I dunno . . . I should remember."
"Remember what?"
"Oh yeah! We get to Tortuga tomorrow night."
"What's in Tortuga?"
"Supplies and a place to sleep that doesn't move."
"Oh."
"Hey, do you mind if I go? I have, er, something to do," Katie finished lamely.
"Go ahead. I'm supposed to meet Jack before dinner."
"Talk to you later then."
"Okay."
~*~
Kate slowly made her way to Jack's cabin shortly after Katie left. She was a little nervous about this whole thing tonight. Nervous and scared. Her knees trembled as she knocked on the door and entered.
"Hi," she said nervously, closing the door behind her.
"Hi," Jack said from the back of the room. "Come in closer," he told her, for she had been lingering at the door as if ready to run at a moment's notice.
Slowly, very slowly, she walked to the center of the room. "Yes?" she asked, tentatively.
"I thought that you might like another dress. I think this will fit, but I had to guess," he said while tossing her a bundle.
"Why?"
"Call it an act of goodwill if you must. I know that you only have that nightshirt and Katie's old outfit and thought you might like something to wear at dinner. It's kind of a rule. Even Katie changes for dinner, even though she hates dresses and the like, but still . . ." he broke off, "Please, put it on."
"Where?"
"Over in that corner. I won't look," Jack told her, pointing to the dark corner.
"Fine," Kate said, grudgingly walking over to the corner. She made the actual changing process very quick out of fear of Jack looking. The dress was pretty old but still nice. It wasn't too fancy, either, which suited Kate fine. She had never been partial to extremely fancy things. The only downfall to the dress was the buttons down the back. She couldn't reach them. Resigning herself to the inevitable, she walked back over to Jack and said, "Do you mind?"
"Not at all."
As Jack reached down to button all of the tiny buttons, Kate felt a shudder go down her back. For the first time, this wasn't a shudder of fear but rather . . . excitement. However, when his hands touched her bare skin on her back, she stiffened.
Jack obviously noticed the change and said, "Sorry," before hurrying to finish.
She didn't answer but tried to ignore the fear rushing though her in waves. He touched her again, between the shoulder blades and again she stiffened. Knowing there were only a few buttons left, she bit her lip and waited for it to be over. When she felt the dress was secure, she whirled around and said, "Thanks."
"My pleasure. Do you like it?" Jack asked.
"Like what?" Kate shot back bewildered.
"The dress?"
"Oh, yes, it's nice." Kate pulled out a thin gold chain that she had from under the dress and left it hanging in front. On the chain hung a locket shaped like a heart.
"What's that?" Jack asked.
"What's it look like? It's a locket."
"May I?"
"What?"
"See it?"
"Oh, sure," Kate said, hurrying to unclasp the locked. "The clasp. It's stuck. I've never taken it off."
"I'll do it," Jack volunteered. When Kate made no sign of assent or denial, he moved behind her. He lifted the thick braid that hung down Kate's back to her shoulder. The clasp had stuck but Jack was able to get it undone quickly. "It's beautiful."
"Thanks. My mum gave it to me. She and my father went to England and brought it back for me. She put their pictures in it, of course. I got it when I was three and haven't taken it off since."
Jack opened the locked and looked at the two faces smiling back at him. "You look like your mum. Except for the hair. Her hair looks curly."
"No, my hair curls, just not that much."
"I'll have to see it sometime."
"Why did you wish me to come early and alone?" Kate asked hesitantly, "Apart from for the dress, I mean."
"I just wanted to talk to you."
"Not again," She hissed, "I've talked myself blue in the face with you and it's still not enough."
"Just count yourself lucky that I am the kind who prefers talking to young ladies rather than doing other things," Jack said, menacingly, "Now, have I made a point or shall I elaborate."
"Oh yes! Thank you so very much! But believe me. I'm grateful that you took the time to ruin my life bit by bit and kill me slowly. But, you, Captain Jack Sparrow are an honorable man!" she spat, "Do you think that I could honestly like you? I will not. I see how you look at me. It makes me sick and I would rather be dead than to let you lay eyes on me. But no, you're doing me a favor. I forgot. Stupid me. Do you think that I don't see how you look at me? You try and make me like you so you can touch me. You think that if you are slow and patient, I will allow it and eventually like you! But, no. I'm lucky! I just love crying at night all alone and praying to die in my sleep. You snake! I hate you! I hate--"
"Enough!" Jack shouted and for the first time, he hit her. Not as hard as he could but enough to shut her up. Kate stared at him in shock, spat out the blood from her mouth onto his feet, picked up her clothes and left. As Kate stormed from the room, Will and Katie walked in.
"Things not going well, Jack?" Will asked casually as he and Katie walked into the room.
"You could say that," Jack grumbled.
"What happened this time?" Kate asked.
Once again, Jack told them what had come of his attempt to win Kate over. He told them how she had been fine until he mentioned talking about her and the explosion that had followed and then the slap.
"You're hopeless, you know that, don't you? If you had stayed away from talking about her specifically, you would have been fine," Katie said exasperatedly.
"Why doesn't she want to talk about herself?" Jack asked nonplussed.
"The more that you force her to tell about her life up until a week and a half ago and the fire, the more you'll make her miss it. The more she tells, the more memories get stirred up and the more she longs for it. So, of course she is going to shy away from topics that remind her of home. And when you goad her, you just add fuel to the fire." She explained.
"Fine. But still. She didn't have to say all of that."
"No, but you opened up the dam inside her and everything spilled out. So now, you've got yourself a right little mess and you'll need a big mop to clean this one up. Plus the fact that you hit her, puts you back to before square one, since when you took her, you didn't physically hurt her."
"Look, Jack, let me talk to her. She reminds me of Elizabeth and maybe I could help," Will supplied.
"Sure, but I need to worry about this now. Talk later," Jack responded hurriedly.
"Anyway, the whole 'I hate you!' thing was probably just anger speaking. I doubt she meant it," Kate said.
"Fine, I don't care anyway," he said testily.
"Liar."
"Fine. What do you know about the whole crying thing? Was that a bluff?"
"No. I was going to wait a bit longer before I said anything but now that you mention it, I did hear something last night. I thought she was asleep and was whimpering but I didn't bother lighting a candle to see. Anyway, she always crawls into bed and doesn't move after that so, she could wait until I'm asleep and cries quietly. All the same, she's good at hiding her emotions, except anger, so who knows what she's really feeling."
"It doesn't matter. I have half a mind to leave her in Tortuga."
"That's another lie," Will said calmly.
"Okay, it is."
"Jack, we all like her, yourself included. In fact," Will said slyly, "I think you like her more than anyone else. We all see how you look at her. No wonder she's worried."
"Look, there's no point in denying that I don't like the kid. She's got more spunk than I've seen in a long time and isn't afraid to show how mad she can get."
"Jack, I think back to when I was 17," Katie began, "And I wonder how I would have reacted, if I was in her shoes, of course. I'd probably be worse. She's very easy to manage when you go about it the right way."
Kate hurried to get as far away from Jack's cabin as possible. She had never been so angry before in her life. She made her way to the front of the ship and looked out into the dark ocean. She couldn't take it anymore. This was it. And though she knew that jumping wasn't the answer, it seemed to be her only escape from a life for suffering. For a long time she stared transfixed by the water below and nearly forgot her plan. She said her prayers and apologies and climbed over the rim and hung on mainly by her hands, her feet only on a thin ledge. Hesitating momentarily, she heard her name being called by Jack and footsteps coming closer. Before he got any nearer, she let go and fell into the water, uttering only a soft scream.
A/N: Ooh, aren't we evil? Cliffie.the nerve. Anyway, we're going to try to update fairly often so check back every couple of days. And PLEASE give us reviews!!!!