A Piece of My Heart by LostInMySanity

Disclaimer: I own nothing, I'm just a loser with no good ideas.

Chapter Three:

Jack stood at the ship's wheel, trying to appear the arrogant, drunk pirate that the crew expected. Softly to himself, he sang his favorite song, "Yo ho yo ho a pirate's life for me." Tears floated into his eyes, he tried to hold them back with blinks, "That was her favorite song..." He whispered. He and she had had a lot in common. Completely inseparable, he had no idea what had happened that would make her do what she did. It was so hard to carry on everyday, thinking about what could have happened to his daughter, his pearl. She would be sixteen now, that is if she were still alive.

"What did I do wrong?" He asked himself rather loudly. He slammed his hand on the ship's wheel. He thought of that night eight years ago, peering through the hole and seeing her with a bag over her shoulder, leaving a piece of paper on the dresser. He kept that letter in his pocket, remembering what it said exactly.

Daddy,

I have to go away for awhile, but I'll come back, I promise. Take good care of mommy; make sure she doesn't slap you too much. I know this is hard, but you have to understand. You have to believe...and move one. I'll come back for you.

With love,

Pearl.

"Cap'n, is something wrong?" Gibbs looked at his captain with concern.

"Nothing's wrong Gibbs, back to your duties..." Jack choked out.

"Do you want to sing the pirate song?" Gibbs grinned at Jack, unconvinced that there was nothing bothering him.

"Gibbs...get the hell out of my face right now before I punch you...right in your diddly squat!"

Gibbs didn't need telling twice.

Pearl sat at the table, eating her stew; it was the most food she had eaten in eight years. Being a little girl on the streets didn't get you much food. She was quiet throughout dinner, as were everyone else. Joseph was gazing at her in admiration, shocked that she didn't tell his parents that he had talked to her. Pearl could read his face, so she leaned over to him and whispered in his ear, "It'll be our little secret..."

"What secret?" Will asked, a curious expression spread across his face, the fire of excitement in his eyes.

"Can't tell ya, it's a secret," Pearl didn't dare tell him, she didn't want to lose Joseph's trust, when it may be all she had in this world right now. Will looked at her, he wanted to strangle her, you could tell, but, the toughness of a pirate was in Pearl's blood. She shook her head at Will.

"Is everyone finished?" Elizabeth asked. She wanted to stop the confrontation, it was tearing her apart. When everyone nodded, she suggested the living room for some cake, "The dishes can wait," She smiled and everyone went into the living room while she got the cake.

When everyone was settled, Pearl was burning to ask questions. So she hastily spoke up before anyone else could, "Do you have any stories about my father?" She asked both Will and Elizabeth, as she chewed on her stale cake.

"Boy do we ever," Elizabeth said. She told Pearl everything, from saving her life to the medallion to getting stranded on the island to him almost getting hanged and the happy ending the came with it. Pearl laughed and gaped and gasped all in the right parts. Her father was a variety of sorts, shocking and funny. She loved him so much.

"And then of course, there's Will's part of the story...don't forget, I wasn't with your father for awhile," She said pointedly to Will. Pearl gave him a begging look, trembling with excitement of what had happened in Will's story.

"Elizabeth, can I see you in the bedroom for a moment?" He said, instead of telling the story. Pearl's expression quickly faded to a frown. She now sat there as Elizabeth nodded and they made their way to their room.

"You wanna listen?" Pearl heard that faint voice in my ear again...Joseph. She smiled, "Kid, you'd make a good pirate," She followed him toward the bedroom.

"Don't you think this is a little hard for her?" Will said to Elizabeth, more so stating than questioning.

"Of course it's hard for her Will; she hasn't seen her family for eight years, she's curious to know about her father, so I will tell her about her father!" She exclaimed at Will. Pearl knew that they were talking about her; it was a little bit too obvious.

"I can't see why she would love her father so much, he did abandon her!" Will shouted, that was it, Pearl had to do something. She opened the door, not caring that it was rude. She had already been eavesdropping anyway.

"HE DIDN'T ABANDON ME!" She shouted, perhaps too loudly, "I-," She looked at the wall, as if ashamed to look them in the eye. "I ran away." She said softly.