CHAPTER SEVEN

The door creaked slightly as I opened it and stepped into the captain's quarters. This would be my new room for the remainder of my journey on this ship. It was a small room, but larger than any other room I had seen so far. It consisted of a rather mid-sized bed, which could be seen right as I stepped into the room, a door directly at the foot of the bed, which I presumed to be the bathroom, a desk and a chair on the left with a small window above it, an inkbottle, a quill, and loads of paper set on it. The desk had six drawers, three on either side, all of them fairly sized. I would look at their inhabitants later. On the right was a small closet with a room divider in a corner next to it, probably for one to change if someone else were in the room with them.

I decided that now would be a good time to bathe, since I had not bathed in nearly four days. I went into the bathroom, looked around, and smiled with satisfaction. I was completely lined with white tiles, which were, surprisingly, not stained in the least. The bath and the towels were the only things that were not white. Two tan-ish green towels were draped carelessly over the sink, which had a mid sized mirror hanging over it and was right next to the bath. The bath was a striking thing to behold. Unlike everything else in the bathroom, it was completely covered in grime, stains, and other filth. I suddenly felt somewhat ill at the thought of bathing in that. I wondered how my father could. I concluded to ask him right then. Upon making that decision, I turned on my heels and walked briskly out of the bathroom.

When I found my father, I tapped him on the shoulder and asked right away, "Father,"

"Yes, love?"

"Why is the bath filled with disgusting filth?"

"Well, love, I never bathe there." He said plainly. This response shocked and appalled me.

"Where is it that ye do bathe, then?" I asked warily.

"In the sea," he replied as though it were granted.

"In the sea... In the sea..?" I decided that no father of mine would bathe in the ocean alone, that was just unseemliness, and though cleanliness is not a pirate's priority, he could not die from some disease of filth that resided on his body, "Father, you need to come with me."

I led him to his quarters and showed him the mess his bath was in.

"Bloody 'ell, love, what did ye do?!?"

"I did nothing, YOU never clean this bathtub!" With that I found a rag and soap and handed them to him, then bid him farewell for the time being and warned him that until this tub was spotless, not only would he not leave this room, but he would not eat either, and since I was helping to cook on the ship, I knew very well that with a little persuasion of the head cook, I could keep to this threat easily.

"Wait a minute!" he cried confusedly, "No woman will command me! I'm Jack Sparrow, greatest pirate ever to sail the seas!"

"Ahhh, but I am no ordinary woman..." I said slyly. He looked at me with that same confused and drunk face, "I am Rose Sparrow, daughter of the greatest pirate ever to sail the seas... And I want to take a bloody bath!" and with that, I turned around and marched out of the room, leaving him to finish the job I knew he would finish. He was a softhearted man for his little girl, and I liked that very much.

Three hours later

I stepped warily into the bathroom to see how my father was coming along and to see if he had Chaman helping him, for I could not seem to find him anywhere else on the ship. I knocked on the bathroom door, walked in, and "AAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

"AAAHHHHHHHH!!!" I spun around, running into the door, and with a throbbing head, ran out of the Captain's quarters and out onto the deck and didn't stop until I reached the helm. I stood there panting and trying to forget what I had just seen. While I was still in shock, someone tapped me on the shoulder. I gasped and whipped around. My father stood before me with a smile creeping up his face. He swallowed a snigger and cleared his throat.

"Ahem. So, lass, what is the screaming I heard coming from me quarters?" he asked as if he already didn't know.

"Chaman... You finished and didn't tell me, and Chaman, he... and I... You...!" I hit his arm somewhat playfully, but still a bit disturbed that he didn't find the time to tell me that he had finished the bath and Chaman had decided to bathe, both of them well aware that I could walk in at any given moment. Just then, Chaman strolled out of the Captain's quarters as though nothing had happened, as though he was completely unfazed... How this could be I had no idea.

"Chaman, I hear me daughter walked in on ye bathin'," My father called jokingly.

"That she did, captain, that she did."

"Yes, I did, and I see no humor in this at all! Do you realize I have just seen you... seen you in the... in the.... in the bath tub!! Never have I seen a man in such a state in my entire life! I never intended to either! Thank you, father, for WARNING ME!!!"

"Oh, come now, girl," Chaman said, a grin creeping up his face, "Are you meaning to tell me that ye never wanted te see me without me clothes? Never?"

"NEVER!" I shouted, offended that he would think of me that way; that Chaman would think of me as nothing but his little slut. With that, I slapped him hard across the face and stormed into the captain's quarters and slammed the door, not caring for his or my father's response.

I sat on the bed and untied my long braid, letting my dark brown hair fall to my waist. I then shuffled into the bathroom and drained Chaman's old bathwater and filled a bath of my own. I washed my hair, brushed and braided it again, and proceeded to wash my entire body. It felt good to be clean again, and I felt so serene in the hot soapy water, so I just sank into the bubbles until nothing but my head and shoulders were showing and my feet were on the edge on the other side of the tub. It was there that I fell asleep, lost in my own thoughts.

I woke up and gasped, the water was freezing. I wondered how long I had been asleep and how I had not drowned. I reached for a towel and got up, wrapped it around myself, and walked silently into the bedroom. I locked the door, dropped the towel, and walked on my toes over to the bed, as not to make a sound. Before I got into te bed, I noticed that it was unmade. I reached out my hand to pull the covers off the bed and arrange them properly when something underneath them shifted. I gasped audibly and whoever it was woke up with a start. The intruder pulled the covers from their face and it was... him I could recognize those purple eyes anywhere. I tried to scream, but no sound would pass my lips. I tried again, and by that time he had gotten up and was standing right in front of me. He put his hand over my noiseless mouth and threw me on the bed. My head hit the wall and I cried out in pain. He shook me to silence me. I screamed and screamed and bit him. I tasted the blood in my mouth. It was cold. I screamed one final time and he shook me again.

"Rose! Rose, wake up, wake up, lass!" my father was shaking me and I woke with a start. It had been a dream. It had only been a dream. Indeed he hadn't found me. He most likely never would. I buried my face in my father's shoulder, unfazed by my nudity, and cried.

"Rose, it's alright, darling, it's alright." He soothed and picked me up out of the icy water, careful not to look at the rest of me, and wrapped me up in a towel. He carefully carried me into the bedroom and set me on the bed. I was still crying, so he sat next to me and wiped the tears from my face with his thumbs. He hugged me and I clutched him around the waist, crying, tremors shooting through me every so often. After about half an hour, I had calmed down and he broke the embrace and looked at me.

"Wha' was that, love?" he asked, "I thought is had only been a bad dream, but it appears to be more than that."

"No, no, it's nothing, just a dream, father, that's all," I assured him, not wanting to tell him the awful truth.

"If yer sure," he said.

"I'm sure," I re-assured him. With that he got up and began to make his ay toward the door, "Father?" I called.

"Yes, pet?"

"Please, don't let me be alone." He looked at me with a confused expression, but complied. He sat down on the bed and I lay down.

Jack's POV

She lay on the pillow I had stolen especially for her. I made sure she had the best. I had known all along she would be sleeping here. Her eyes fluttered as though she was trying to fight sleep. A battle not even the greatest can win. She slowly drifted off, but when I got up she bid me come back, so I did, and I sat with her until sunrise, after she had long since fallen asleep again. I had just been watching her sleep, her hair so much resembling mine in colour, her little face on the soft pillow, her full, pouty, rosy little lips barely parted as she inhaled and exhaled deeply, her little hand still tightly clutching mine. I carefully took my hand and got up to leave, but before I shut the door, I looked back at her. This was my little girl and I knew nothing could ever keep me from her again. Ever.

End Jack's POV