This chap gives a little background and explains the last chapter a little.  Enjoy!!

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Charlie checked the urge, as Jack did, to rush Barbossa and slit his throat.  Memories flashed before Charlie's eyes, clouding her vision, making her lose all sense of reality.

She felt the distinct sting of her father's handprint on her face, tears stinging her eyes and the fresh gash from his ring.

"C'mon, Lilli!  If you don't hurry up I'll flay you to within an inch of your life, so help me!" 

Charlie, now thirteen and named Lillith Barbossa, ran faster.  She was gasping along side the wagon loaded with gold.  She was dizzy, sick with a fever, and kept falling over.  She wished she could just sit on the wagon, but her father had forbidden it.

"She's a little thief, that one, and'll rob us blind if we give her half a chance" he had insisted.  Lilli gasped for air and ran faster, fighting the spinning that made her run in a wavy line.  When her father's head was turned she felt an arm behind her, gently urging her on.  She turned to the young man, twenty at the most, and looked into his eyes.  He winked roguishly and gave her a cheeky grin, but his eyes betrayed the seriousness of his thoughts.  He fell back a little, keeping a firm grip on the girl's arm.  When they were out of sight of the wagon, the young man hoisted her like a sack of potatoes over his shoulder.  She murmured her thanks as she slipped into darkness. 

When she awoke, she was dry but heard many loud, angry voices. 

"Captain- he took my daughter!" she could hear her father's indignant yell reverberating in the wooden room. 

"Jack- did you take his daughter?" the captain asked, his tone mild but slightly annoyed.

"Aye, sir.  She was dead on 'er feet- she would have dropped from sheer exhaustion had she run another step.  Barbossa wouldn't let her ride on the cart and she's burning up with fever."

Lilli felt her forehead.  She was burning up. That explained why she couldn't think straight and her head was pounding.   She knew, though, that her father would kill her for this, no matter what the Captain said.  Compared to what he'd done to her, it would be true that death was a blessing, but the young girl was determined not to let him win- no matter what.  Fearing for her life, she had jumped from her place on the floor and run to the door.  She had opened it without a noise and closed it just as softly.  She had run like the devil himself was on her heels, and hadn't stopped for a good hour.  Luckily the rain had stopped, so she was just cold.  She had seen an inn, a bright flicker in the hopeless darkness that was her life, and had stumbled into it.  The barkeep, a gentle man in his forties, had been shocked when she had passed out on his floor.  He had given her a room for the time being, until she was better. 

Lilli had woken a week later, gasping for air.  She had found herself lying in a bed in a small room, a washbasin and armoire the only furniture besides a chair that adorned the small room.  A fire crackled merrily in the fireplace, confusing Lilli even more.  Where am I?  Confused thoughts scrambled through her overwrought mind and she was startled when the door opened.  A kindly looking lady had walked in with a mug of tea, smiling at the girl lying in the bed.  She was so small and scrawny that the tiny bed dwarfed her form. 

"Now, dearie, how do you feel?" the woman had asked, handing the poor child the cup of sweet black tea. 

"Fine, thanks, I guess," she had answered, "Where am I?"

"The Golden Carousel" the woman had answered proudly, "my husband and I own it.  We're about three miles north of Port William"

Lilli saw the little map of the area in her mind, and she was amazed that she had covered three miles on her little escape trek. 

"What's your name, child?" the woman had asked, her face sincere in her worry for her young charge. 

"My name………" Lilli had groped in her mind for a name, any name, so long as it wasn't Lillith Ebony Barbossa. Her mind had scrambled for an answer.  Her favorite story growing up had been about Finneus Mac Cumhail, so she decided on Mac Cumhail for her last name.  Her mother's name had been Charlotte, a name she adored, so she chose that for her first name.   She cleared her throat, "My name's Charlotte.  Charlotte Mac Cumhail."

Charlie cleared her mind of the memory.  It was then that she had ceased being Lilli and started being Charlie.  She still remembered the warm couple that had taken her in.  They had let her work for her keep, and she had become as dear as any daughter to them.  She stared at the man in front of her and felt the seething hatred again. 

"Why aren't you dead?" Charlie hissed, her blade going to the hollow of his neck. 

"You can't get rid of me that easily, Lilli" Barbossa chuckled, "Seems that you've turned out fine in my absence, though.  But, if I'd raised you, you'd never hold a cutlass to me throat."

"No, if I had stayed you'd have found a dagger in your heart in the middle of the night." Charlie snarled.  Barbossa turned to Jack and the smile on his lips faltered. 

"How do you bloody do that?" he asked, his annoyance palpable. 

"I told you- I'm Captain Jack Sparrow" he smirked, his own cutlass level with the devil's throat.

"Kill them all" Barbossa ordered, "except me daughter" he added, like an afterthought.  A mad fight ensued, each of Charlie's crew paired with two from Barbossa's.  They fought valiantly, another one of the mutinous crew falling each second. 

"C'mon!" Jack yelled, throwing open the bay windows.  They filed out, Pip, Charlie, and Jack covering the others.  Charlie blocked a well-placed thrust and turned to see who was left.  She motioned for Pip to leave, leaving Jack and Charlie to finish up.  Pip turned to leave when one of Barbossa's crew ran his sword through her turned back.

"No!" Charlie screamed, rushing to the aid of her fallen friend.  She cradled her body, tears stinging her eyes as Pip took a shaky breath

"You're not Lilli Barbossa anymore.  Don't let him turn you into her." She whispered, fighting the blackness clouding her vision. 

"I won't, Pip.  Please don't go.  You're all the family I've got left" Charlie cried, holding the petite woman's hand. 

"I'll save ye a seat and a glass of rum," Pip murmured, sliding into the darkness, "Bye, Charlie"

"Bye, Pip" Charlie kissed the dead girl's hand and turned to the rest of the men.

"You're all dead- mark my words" she said with dead calm.  She threw a dagger at the nearest one, lodging it six inches into his skull. 

Jack stood stunned, amazed at this girl.  Something itched at the back of his mind, but he decided to ignore it for now- they had more pressing matters to attend to.  He climbed onto the trellis, this one covered with lilies, and shimmied down.  He saw Charlie's rather attractive backside following his path and smiled.  She jumped the last five feet and landed facing him, her eyes glowing an eerie green in the low light. 

"C'mon" she whispered, turning to a small path that led into the woods.  They raced through Port Rose to the docks, arriving out of breath.  Charlie scanned the masts for her tell tale pink sails, but didn't see them. 

"Where's me bloody ship?  And where the hell's me crew!?" Charlie slammed the wall with her fist in frustration.  The sound reverberated in the small alleyway they were in and suddenly she heard a wailing, like that of a small child, and she did a frantic search to find it.  She found the babe buried under a mound of blankets, fine except for being extremely hungry. 

The little baby wailed more, driving Jack to distraction.

"Can ye please shut it up?" he asked, pacing.

"Do you have any food for her?" she asked, shooting him a look meant to kill, "Didn't think so, so don't complain."

"It's okay, Angel, it's okay" Charlie murmured; then she began to sing:

Gura mise tha fo eislean
Moch sa mhaduinn is mi g'eirigh

O hi shiubhlainn leat
Hi ri bho, ho rinn o ho
Ailein Duinn, o hi shiubhlainn leat

Ma 's'en clusag dhuit a ghaineamh
Ma 'se leabaidh dhut an gheamainn

Ma 's en t-iasg do choinlean geala
Ma 's na Righ do luchd-faire

The ancient Celtic ballad washed over Jack like the sea over the sand and the child seemed to fell it too, as she hushed instantly.  Her voice was enchanting, enthralling, and mystical.  He didn't understand the words, but the tone and rhythm made the meaning clear enough.  It was about lost love- he had heard enough drunk pirates sing about the one they left behind to know.  He closed his eyes, letting his tired mind rest for a moment. 

Charlie had known no other way to calm the babe, and was startled to see Jack sitting on an abandoned crate listening to her.  His expression was so unguarded, so open, she couldn't help but stare.  She moved to sit with the child, snuggling it closer to her.  It's tiny hands clawed at her shirt, trying to get to her breast to feed.  She regretted that she had no milk to give it.  The little angel dropped off to sleep, finally warm, and Charlie gazed at the sleeping innocent.  She stopped singing and checked her coins, happy to find it twice as full as it had been before her poker game.  She kicked Jack lightly, making him start. 

"What?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.

"You were asleep." Charlie stated. 

"I was?" he asked, confused, "It didn't feel like I was asleep- I just closed me eyes"

Charlie gave a soft laugh.  "That's what's typically called sleeping, Jack"

The sound of his name made him think of how Barbossa had called her Lilli. 

"Why'd Barbossa call you Lilli?" he asked nonchalantly, yawning and rubbing the back of his neck.

"Why does Barbossa kill?  No particular reason at all." Charlie replied, keeping the emotion out of her voice. 

Jack remained silent, contemplating this lack of an answer.  He didn't want to push her and make her suspicious.  Then, like a bolt of lightning, it hit him.  Lillith Barbossa!  Was this the scrawny girl he had saved all those years ago?  Couldn't be!  But…

"Ye wouldn't happen to be Lillith Barbossa, would ye?" he asked bluntly.  Charlie's eyes shot up and locked on his.

"No, I'm not." She said vehemently, "She died a long time ago of a fever." She added quietly, busying herself with the child. 

Jack knew she was lying, but the thought tugged at the back of his mind.  She's not really lying, Jacky boy.  She's not little Lilli Barbossa anymore.  That girl was shy and scared, and the woman in front of you is most definitely neither.  It made sense.  Why would she keep the name of a man that had beat her and probably worse? 

"Of course yer not, luv- I was just wondering if she had fared all right.  I carried her to camp one night and when I was done arguing with Barbossa, she was gone.  Kinda missed her" 

Charlie nearly gasped at these words.  Jack.  Her savior.  Could this man be him??  She wished she could be certain.  She had always regretted not giving him a proper thanks, but now that she had the opportunity, the words failed her.  Is it him?

"I…you saved my life." She whispered, "In more ways than you'll ever know.  You'll always have my loyalty." She offered, her green eyes boring on his, impressing upon him the seriousness of what she was saying. 

"It was nothing, luv.  I just followed me misguided and slightly underused conscience and did what it demanded." He gave her a small smile, feeling happy that she had gotten away and seemed to have prospered. 

"No, Jack.  It wasn't nothing.  It was everything.  You gave me the courage to leave.  You reminded me that there are good people in this world.  You gave me just enough time to get away.  You saved my life." She said, grabbing his arm with her free hand, a rare show of emotion. 

"I'm glad everything worked out for the best." Jack gave a slight cough, the emotions getting to be a little too much for him, "So- what did you do after you left?"

"I ran for three miles and passed out on the floor of the Golden Carousel in a port town.  There I learned how to run an inn, what the term "honest days work" meant, how to be a thief, how to pick locks, and how to beat anyone at poker."

Jack laughed, a pleasing sound that made Charlie's stomach jump.  It was so masculine, but so easy going and soothing.  All the men she'd been with had been the typical men- which had earned them a one-night stand.  She'd never been interested enough to see them the next morning- but she had a sinking suspicion she'd stick around if anything happened between her and Jack, which was dangerous at this point.  She shifted the baby from one arm to the other, having released Jack some time ago, and felt something odd under the babe.  She pulled it out and stared at it.  It was a piece of paper- folded and warm.  Charlie handed Angel to Jack, much to his discomfort, and unfolded the parchment.  She glanced at Jack, and something inside her thought he was incredibly sexy holding a baby.  Once he'd gotten her situated, he actually looked comfortable.  The small smile playing on her lips died when she look at the parchment.  The words made her blood run cold. 

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Lilli dearest –

Your friends are safe, for the moment.  It's time for you and I to collect, so if you value their lives, you'll meet me at The Rusty Screw in Tortuga, three days from now.

Your father,

Commodore Barbossa

Ps.  If you want them to live, I wouldn't arrive with Jack Sparrow

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Charlie cursed loudly, making Jack quirk an eyebrow at her. 

"He's got me crew, and if I don't meet him alone in Tortuga in three days, he'll kill them." She sat down heavily, not realizing when she had gotten up.

"Don't worry, luv- ye've got Captain Jack Sparrow on the case.  He'll not 'arm a one."

"Jack- grow up!  He doesn't care about them and he doesn't need them.  As soon as it's convenient, he'll kill them and me, and you if you tag along."  Jack took the letter and read it, a frown creasing his tanned forehead. 

"What does he mean by its time for you and I to collect?"

"Not important" Charlie answered tersely. 

"I believe it is.  If ye want me help, luv, ye'v got to be straight with me, savvy?"

"It's none of your concern, Mr. Sparrow" she quipped, narrowing her eyes dangerously. 

"Fine" Jack seethed.  He'd bloody helped her and she was being damn stubborn.  Women!  He handed her the child and stormed off, kicking a crate as he left.  Charlie's stomach turned as she watched him go- now she had to face Barbossa alone.  Would she be able to?  But, had she told Jack, could he have resisted the temptation?  All these questions buzzed in her mind as she set about finding food for the babe.

What am I going to do?

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Okay, all done!  The story picks up after this- lots of sailing, etc and sword fights!!  So, please bear with me!

The song Charlie sings is from Rob Roy, a great movie.  It's a very sad song, but the woman in the movie sings it beautifully!

Cheers to all those who love JS!

~ Ro

POTC comes out on DVD TOMORROW!!!

Woohoo!