Sorry, peeps, about the lateness of these last few chapters. I've been very busy this summer. But I'm nearly done with the story. Here ya go, mates!
Disclaimer: Me only own Rachel and her story!
==============
The fire blazed through the midnight sky, the heat and the warmth, the yellows, reds, and oranges. Sparks floated on the wind and died before they hit the sandy ground.
Elizabeth's eyes reflected the glow. Tears burned her cheeks, but disappeared under the heat of the flame. I want to be home. I want to be with Barbrossa. The conflicting thoughts twisted her stomach into a sickly knot. Why would I betray him? I don't know what happened, but how could he accuse me? Another tear evaporated off her cheek. "I love him." There she'd said it.
"Whom do ya love?" in a nearly undecipherable moan.
She jumped; she hadn't realized he was awake. "The-the captain." She didn't turn to meet Sparrow's kind brown eyes.
"Are ya talking about me?" His eyes lit up at the thought. "Cause ya know I wouldn't mind..."
"No!" she snapped, then calmed her voice as she swiveled to the sea again. "The captain."
"Oh." Jack sat up, pressing the heels of his hands into the sand. "Nickolas."
"Nickolas?" She glanced at him then back to the ocean. "Nickolas Barbrossa?"
"Aye." He nodded. "I'd think you'd know." He stared at the lovely image, fading in and out of his drunken vision.
"He never told me his first name," she said faintly, hugging her knees to her chest.
Jack squinted through the black. She looked so familiar. "Wait a minute!" He pointed his finger at her.
"What?" She met his eyes.
"I knew I recognized." He slammed his hand back into the gritty earth. "You're-you're that Rachel girl."
"What?" she repeated, a little more angrily.
"Yeah, don't ya 'member our midnight dance in my cabin?" His eyes grazed her body. "In fact." He pulled her face to his and slipped his tongue into her mouth.
She pulled away, wiping her lips of the wonderful-tasting poison. "Why does everyone think I'm Rachel?!" she spat.
"Ya aren't Rachel?" His hand was still on her cheek.
"No." her eyes went to the ground. "But sometimes I wish I were."
"Why is that, love?" His hand brushed through her locks.
"Everyone seems to think so highly of her." She risked a glance at him, but then looked back at the sand.
"No, not everyone," he assured her. "In fact only two people thought great of her. Actually, one. Your love."
"Still," she sighed.
"Your aunt was a beautiful woman. Impossible to ignore, like you." He titled her face up toward his. "The two of ya are easily confusable and ya both won the love of a very cold man."
"Only because I look like her."
"That's not true." His brow furrowed.
"Them why am I here?" She gazed into his eyes. "He said that Rachel betrayed him and that he wasn't going to let that happen again."
"He's still caught up on that?" Jack muttered, hanging his head. "Not that he doesn't have the right."
"Hung up on what?" She touched his chin and their eyes locked once more. "I have the privilege to know."
He gulped. Her eyes seemed to hold so much concern and she hadn't even heard the hold story. "Your aunt would have probably lived to see your day, see the ocean the way it was meant to be seen. Had it not been for me."
"I don't understand." Her lips pursed in confusion.
Falling back onto the sand, Sparrow told the story of her fine look- a- like. Elizabeth nodded and showed signs of anxiety in all the right places. But somewhere, deep inside, a hate started to boil. A hate toward this man who claimed to be the captain. A hate toward this man who claimed to be the one hurt. "And now," he ended. "We're stuck on this bloody island wile both yours and Rachel's love becomes alive again." He smiled at her gently. "Well, we best be off to sleep." He said through a sudden yawn.
"Yes." She smiled back, but only out of courtesy and pushed herself up. "Goodnight."
"Night." Jack situated himself comfortably in the sand and watched her disappear into the palm trees.
=================
Dun Dun Dun!!! We all know what happens next, don't we?! Well, I hope you enjoyed it! There's one more chapter to come. It will be posted by he end of the summer. (I hope; it's my goal at least.)
