I'm not even going to comment, after that cliffhanger, you should just read!

Chapter 6: Don't Grieve For Me

Jack dove to the ground by Celeste and grabbed onto her, pulling her up as the gunshots ceased.

"Celeste, darling, keep your eyes open, don'--"

"I-I'm fine, Jack..." she said. "It just grazed me... But... ouch a lot, still..."

"Let me see it." he told her, moving her hand from her arm to reveal a fairly deep cut on her arm that was bleeding quite freely. He bit his lip in worry and pulled out his knife. He cut a large piece off of the cloth wrapped around his waist and wrapped up her arm.

Celeste coughed. "Jack, I don't feel so good..." she groaned, slipping from his grasp and falling to the ground.

Suddenly, the gunshots started again. Jack lied on the ground next to Celeste, attempting to avoid gunshots. Their horse had run away. Everything was going horribly wrong. He inched close to Celeste and put an arm around her.

"I'm sorry." he whispered in her ear. "I'm so, so sorry." Celeste was turning pale. "Darling, wha's wrong? I can't 'elp if I don' know wha's makin' you--"

Just then, Jack heard footsteps coming near them. He sat bolt upright and looked around. They could take him, but there was no way he was going to let them take Celeste.

Suddenly, Black walked up with another man. The man was aiming a pistol at Jack. Jack stood up.

"'ey, Sparrow!" Black greeted, as if to say, "What a surprise, how nice to see you!" "An' Sparrow's girl! You don' look too good, baby." She didn't even look at him, she kept her eyes closed. "Get up or my friend 'ere will blast Jack's 'eart out."

She struggled to get up; Jack helped her.

"Let go of 'er." Black ordered. Jack reluctantly let go of Celeste. She swayed in her spot, feeling very, very sick; her nerves had gotten the best of her and hit her in the stomach. Black walked up to her and looked her up and down. He looked back at Jack. "Go 'ome, Sparrow, you've lost this one. I 'ave your sister an' she's mine now -- mine."

"I am goin' to 'urt you so bad before I kill you, Black." Jack growled.

"Sure you are." Black replied offhandedly. "You know, Sparrow, when the time is right, I'm goin' to finish your girl. But this isn', as you say, the opportune moment. ...When the time is right, I'm goin' to rape 'er righ' in front o' your eyes."

Jack's anger swelled in him. If his life didn't mean so much to Celeste, he would've thrown it away right now to attack Black -- Black's crony would've shot him, though.

Black chuckled. "Yeah, that'll be a good day." He looked back to Celeste. "It was nice to see you, baby." Black said and placed a hand on her backside and squeezed it.

Jack would've really torn Black apart if he didn't have a pistol aimed at his chest. Celeste hated the feeling of violation and it did not help her stomach; she vomited (unfortunately missing Black).

Black laughed. "Go 'ome, little girl. You can't 'andle this world -- pirates 'ave it rough; get used to it."

Celeste grabbed onto Jack's arm weakly. Just as he was about to put an arm around her, she fell to the ground; she'd passed out. Jack knelt down next to her and scowled at Black.

"The storm's only getting' worse." Black told him arrogantly. "You'd better take 'er 'ome." He snorted and turned on his heel and left. Jack picked up Celeste and looked around -- the horse was gone for good. He looked up at the sky and beheld the black clouds. Lightning flashed and thunder sounded as the rain soaked them to the bone. He looked down at Celeste.

"I'm so... so... so... sorry..." he said to her, even though he knew she couldn't hear him. As worried as he was abou Celeste, he couldn't help but wonder why Black let them go so easily. He set Celeste back down and propped her up against the log. He removed his jacket and put it on her.

'Lot o' bloody good it'll do 'er now, Jack.' he thought bitterly to himself. He picked her up again and held her close to him. He looked around once more and still saw nothing of help, so he started walking back the way they came. He didn't know what would happen, he just knew he had to keep walking. He had to have faith... like she told him...

"Please..." he muttered. "Please let 'er be alrigh'... She's all I 'ave... I love 'er so much... More than anythin' else... Please... please 'elp us..."

Just then, two horses appeared in the distance. As they approached, Jack could see that riding them was Will and Blake. They rode up to Jack and stopped.

"What happened?!" Will exclaimed, looking at Celeste.

"Long story." Jack replied.

"Here, give her to me!" Blake said, riding up next to Jack.

"Sorry, mate, don' trust you yet." Jack told him and handed Celeste to Will. Jack got on Blake's horse and they rode back to the Pearl.

Celeste didn't wake up until the next morning. But when she did wake, she found Jack asleep in a chair next to her, holding her hand. She was in his room, in his big incredibly comfy bed.

"Jack..." she whispered weakly.

He opened his eyes, thinking he'd just imagined her voice, and looked at her; his eyes lit up.

"Oh, darling, you're awake!" he exclaimed.

"Not for much longer." she said quietly. "But I'm okay, don't worry about me..."

"Wait, you 'ave to drink some water." he told her, picking up a glass and helping her take a sip of water.

"I'm sorry we couldn't... find her..." Celeste said and fell asleep once more. She slept most of the day, waking occasionally to have a tiny bit of food and some water.

Finally, in late afternoon, she woke up with a little more energy. Jack felt so terribly guilty for what he had caused her.

"Hi, Jack." she said quietly.

"Oh, 'ey, darling." he said, having his eyes previously fixed to the window and the storm outside. "You want some water?" She nodded and he helped her take a sip of water. She sighed.

"I really am sorry we couldn't find her, Jack." she told him.

"Don' think anythin' of it, love -- it was completely my fault." he replied. "If I 'adn' rushed off into the storm like a fool--"

"You were just worried about your sister." Celeste said. "It's alright."

"Still, though." he continued. "I shouldn' 'ave dragged you out in that... I am so, so sorry, my love. ...But I 'ad faith like you told me I should... I 'ad faith that you'd be alrigh'... an' you are... aren' you?"

"Yes, I'm alright." she replied, smiling. "Just a little weak. ...By the way, how did we escape, exactly?"

"Oh, well, Black jus' kind o'... left." Jack told her. "Don' know why, but 'e did. An' then Will and Blake came an' brought us back to he ship."

"Oh, I'll have to thank them." she said. "...It's still raining?"

"Aye." he replied and she sighed.

"Erm, by the way, I'm sorry about shooting the lock off your door, and yelling at you... and threatening you with a sword..."

"It's alrigh', darling." he said with a smile. "Besides, tha's absolutely nothin' compared to what I caused you..."

"Jack, we're pirates, it happens." she told him. Suddenly, she paused, as the thought of Black entered her mind and what he'd done to her. She placed her hand on her stomach. "Not feeling too well again... Jack, promise me something..."

"Anything, love." he said.

"Promise me that you'll pay Black back for what he's done to us..."

"Death isn' enough to pay 'im back for what 'e did to you." he told her. "An then yesterday... jus' like--"

"Just like I was nothing and he could do whatever he wanted." she interrupted. "Just to rub it in your face."

"I promise I'll get 'im back, love." he said. "When we rescue Jos an' the other girls, I will rip 'is throat out."

"Good." Celeste sighed. She pulled him closer to her and put her arms around his neck in a hug. After a moment, she let go of him and he kissed her cheek. Thunder sounded.

"You want anythin'?" he asked her. "Food? More blankets? More pillows? A kiss? The world?"

She smiled. "I could go for a kiss." He smiled and kissed her.

"Anythin' else?" he asked.

"No..." she said. "Just you." She grabbed onto his arm and fell asleep contently.

Over the next two days, Jack wandered restlessly around the ship when he wasn't taking care of Celeste. He'd given Celeste his room since he didn't want her to move around that much, and he'd taken an empty room near it. He and Sierra had talked quite a bit; they had a lot in common, very similar backgrounds. Sierra had grown quite fond of Jack, actually, but Jack was too worried about Celeste to notice. As it were, Sierra was very experienced with first aid -- another reason to keep her on the ship.

Blake had been helping Jack take care of Celeste (as did Will and Elizabeth) and he had talked to Celeste a lot. They had gotten to know each other better as well. Turns out they were both raised rich, but were unhappy because of certain events happening. Blake had grown quite fond of Celeste in this time, only Celeste was too naïve to really notice it.

One day, after Jack had come up from the galley, Sierra confronted him.

"Hello, Jack." she greeted, exiting her room and shutting the door.

"Good evenin', Sierra." Jack greeted.

"Can I talk to you a minute?" she asked.

"Er, sure, darling." Jack agreed, leaning up against a wall. "What is it?"

"Jack..." she began, searching for the right words, "I promised myself I wouldn't say anything, but... I have to."

Jack looked wary of her words.

"Celeste," Sierra continued, "I don't think she's good enough for you."

"Sierra--"

"Let me speak--"

"Look, I love Celeste. We're happy with the way things are." he told her.

"But," she continued, "we have so much more in common... and she's... not worth your time... or your effort."

"Sierra, don' do this..." he sighed, moving away from the wall. She grabbed his arm.

"Jack--"

"Sierra, I won' linger on this." Jack stated. "I told you: I love Celeste. Tha's it."

"Jack..." she sighed, leaning up against him and pushing him against the wall, "Celeste is not good enough for you."

"Sierra, stop." Jack ordered.

"Oh, Jack, I hope you know..." she continued, "Celeste can never satisfy you. She doesn't have the... qualities I have and she'll never do the things I will..." she slid her hand down his stomach. "She can't do half the things I can. Look, she couldn't know if we just snuck off somewhere... She'd never find out." Jack grabbed her shoulders and pushed her away.

"You're about a year too late, Sierra." he told her and went up on deck.

Later that day, Jack told Celeste what Sierra had said to him; there were no secrets between them. Celeste was furious that Sierra would act like that, but Jack told her not to say anything, as that wouldn't be too polite -- especially since Sierra didn't really do anything wrong. Nonetheless, Celeste was going to keep her eyes open for Sierra's "feelings" around Jack.

A few days later, Celeste had fully recovered and several of them headed out to hunt down Black once more. This time, only Jack, Celeste, and Sierra ventured into the woods.

They rode back into the woods, Jack and Celeste sharing a gray horse named Gunpowder and Sierra riding a brown horse named Chocolate Mousse. The ground was still muddy from the storm and it was still sprinkling a little. The rode through the trees, scanning the woods ahead for a building of some sort. The woods were quiet -- quieter than usual which set everyone on edge. They eventually saw a large building in the distance and rode towards it.

Suddenly, they heard hooves behind them. Celeste looked back and saw several men on horses riding up quickly behind them.

"Ack!" Celeste cried. "Hurry up, we have to beat them there!"

They sped up and rode quickly through the forest, dodging trees and jumping over logs. Celeste looked back to see how far ahead they were.

"Darling, watch where you're goin'!" Jack yelled.

"This horse is smart, don't worry about it!" she told him.

A few moments later, Jack spotted something that alarmed him.

"DUCK!" he yelled.

"What?" Celeste asked, having looked back again.

He took the situation into his own hands and pushed her forward, so that she missed the low branch in their path, unfortunately, he didn't have time to duck...

"OUCH!" Jack yelled, having been thwacked in the face by a small but painful tree branch.

"Sorry." Celeste said, now keeping her eyes on the road ahead.

Finally, the four men behind them caught up to them. They all hopped off their horses to fight and readied their swords. One went after Celeste and one after Sierra -- the other two went after Jack.

Celeste fenced with her opponent with a bit of difficulty since he was rather strong. She dodged behind trees and struck when she got the chance, mostly blocking.

Sierra was having quite a bit of trouble; her attacker was very strong. She fenced as best she could, avoiding strikes and rocks on the ground.

Eventually, Celeste decided to make a break for it. She looked just past her enemy and saw a small river (or large stream -- rather hard to tell) with a log connecting the two shores. The drop into the water from the log was about ten feet. She fenced around her opponent and started to run towards the log. It was a fair distance across and she decided (since the man was pursuing her pretty quickly) to just run across it.

"Going to fall, going to fall, going to fall!" she cried, running across. Sh reached the other side with releif. "Oh, didn't fall." she said to herself with satisfaction, but just as she began to run again, she tripped on a rock and fell face first into the mud. "Until now!" she cried, frustrated. She got up and started to run again. The man was gaining on her; she turned to fight him.

Eventually, she fenced enough to drive him backward and make him fall into the water. She started to run toward the building, but remembered something...

"Jack!" she gasped. She was conflicted on whether to go back and see if he needed help, or to just go forward and check the building for Jocelyn. She decided to go back. She'd had enough trouble fighting one person, let alone two. She went slowly across the log this time, as she did not have as much pressure on her.

She looked around for Jack and finally saw him, leaning up against a tree, clutching his shoulder.

"Oh, Jack, are you alright?!" she cried, running to him.

"Well, er... no..." he replied uneasily. He moved his hand and revealed a long, very deep gash on his shoulder, extending to his upper chest.

She gasped. "Oh, no... SIERRA!!" she called. "Sierra, where are you?!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Sierra called back. She finally found them a few moments later; Celeste was kneeling next to Jack.

"There you are!" Celeste exclaimed.

"Yes, here I am." Sierra replied sarcastically. She glanced at Jack. "Oh, my -- are you alright?!"

"Does he bloody look alright?!" Celeste cried.

"Oh, I don' look that bad, do I, love?" he asked Celeste.

"Of course you don't, Jack," she replied in a babying voice, patting his cheek, "you look very handsome as usual." She looked back at Sierra. "Please go get the horses, Sierra."

"Why don't you get them and I'll stay with Jack?" Sierra suggested.

"Sierra, please, this is an emergency." Celeste told her. "Please go get the horses and avoid turning this into a competition. I don't want to say something I'll regret. When it comes to Jack being in danger, I'm liable to do anything."

"But--"

"Sierra, get the horses before I get my pistol and blow your brains out." Celeste stated calmly, but venomously.

"Be nice, darling." Jack said.

Sierra scowled at Celeste, but obeyed. A few moments later, she returned with the horses.

"Good Gunpowder." Celeste said, patting the horse on the head. "Okay, Jack, you get on first and I'll sit behind you and steer; that way you wont have to worry about holding onto me."

They got on their horses and sped back to the ship. Celeste and Sierra helped Jack aboard and led him to his room.

"Okay, wait here while I get Gibbs." Celeste told him as she helped him lie down on his bed.

"Hurry." he told her, clutching his shoulder. She nodded and ran out of the room; Sierra followed.

"GIBBS!!" Celeste screamed, running up on deck. "GIBBS!!"

"What is it, Missy?" he asked, running up to her.

"Jack! He-he got his shoulder slashed really badly!"

"Bloody -- Miss Sierra, help me get some things from the cargo hold!" he exclaimed.

"Aye, sir." Sierra replied.

"I'll go and stay with Jack." Celeste said and went down to Jack's room. "You're going to be fine, Jack." she comforted, patting his cheek. "Gibbs is going to patch you up."

"I'm afraid we can't jus' bandage this one, darling." he told her, wincing.

"It doesn't matter -- you're going to be fine." she told him. "Er, we should.. Get this off..." She helped him remove his shirt.

"You know, normally, darling, righ' now I'd say somethin' that would make you slap me."

"I know." she replied. "And I almost miss it."

"Miss Celeste, you should leave." Gibbs told her. "This isn' goin' to be pretty."

"I'm not leaving." she replied stubbornly.

Gibbs examined the wound. "It's as I thought." he said. "We're goin' to have to stitch it up."

Celeste bit her lip in worry. She cleared her expression and took Jack's hand.

"It's going to be fine." Celeste said to Jack as Gibbs and Sierra prepared for the procedure. They began to clean the wound; Jack winced. "You'll be fine, Jack." Celeste told him as Sierra threaded the needle.

"Here." Gibbs said, putting a thick piece of cloth between Jack's teeth. Celeste trembled. "Ready, Cap'n" Jack nodded.

Celeste looked away as Gibbs began to sew up the wound. Jack grunted and groaned in pain and tightened his grip on Celeste's hand. Her worry overcame some of the pain and she hid the rest of it.

"It's okay." she comforted, caressing his jaw. She would've been in tears if she wasn't so worried. "Just hang in there." She picked up a cloth and dabbed the sweat off of his face. "You're doing great, Jack O' Lantern"

A few minutes later, the wound was almost stitched up and Celeste had lost all feeling in her hand.

"You're doing great." she comforted. "It's almost over, it's okay."

Gibbs tied off the thread and cut it. He put a piece of cloth on top of the wound and took the cloth from Jack's mouth.

"Alright, Cap'n?" Gibbs asked.

"Glorious." Jack said flatly, his eyes closed. "Thanks, Gibbs."

"O' course, Cap'n." Gibbs replied. "I'll get some bandages." He thanked Sierra for her help and left the room.

"Erm, Jack... you're cutting off my circulation." Celeste told him.

"What? Oh, sorry, love." he let go of her hand.

"It's okay." she smiled. She placed her hands on his face and leaned over, close to him. "Oh, you were so brave, Jack." she said in his ear. "I'm so glad you're alright -- I love you so much." Sierra rolled her eyes.

"I love you, to, darling." he told her. "Thank you for bein' 'ere with me."

"Of course." she replied. "Can I kiss you?"

"Please do, darling." he said.

She smiled and kissed him.

"Somebody's lusty." Sierra mumbled very audibly. "My goodness, can't you even get through a conversation?"

Celeste sighed impatiently and stood up straight. "Do you want some water or something?" she asked him.

"Aye, that would be good." he replied.

"Okay, Sierra, go get him some water." Celeste ordered. Sierra scoffed. "I'm sorry." Celeste offered. "I didn't mean that. I'll go get some water." She left the room.

"Did too mean it." she mumbled. She passed Gibbs as she headed down to the galley and thanked him. While she was down there, she ran into Audra and Angelina -- both eager to hear what happened. She explained it to them, told them to tell anyone else who asked (so she wouldn't have to), got a glass and pitcher of water, and left the galley.

She passed Gibbs once more upon her return to Jack's room and thanked him again for his help. She then proceeded to the door and heard Sierra's voice; she stopped outside, listening. She pressed her ear to the door.

"How can you stand her?" Sierra asked.

"Who?" Jack asked her.

"Celeste." Sierra replied. "She's so... bitter."

'I'm bitter?' Celeste thought angrily.

"She's not bitter, she jus' gets jealous easily." Jack said.

"And she's immature." Sierra continued. "And... inexperienced. I could give you so much more."

Celeste jaw dropped. 'Why, you little--'

"No... Celeste is perfect." Jack said. "Sierra, you're goin' to 'ave to accept the fact that I'm crazy about 'er."

"I'm not giving up on you, Jack." Sierra replied. "I'm convinced I'm the better girl for you." Celeste narrowed her eyes. "What is it that holds you to her, anyway?"

"It's 'ard to explain..." Jack began. "I suppose--"

"It's all physical, isn't it?" Sierra asked. "I thought so. Even though... I still don't see the big deal..." Celeste clenched her fists in anger.

"No." Jack replied simply. "When we first met, she...treated me like a person, not a pirate. I've never met anyone like 'er... An'... I don' want anyone else. Times used to be that I would jus' take any woman who came along," Celeste looked disgusted, "but even now... if I ever got the chance to be with someone else... an' she wouldn' know... I still wouldn' be interested." Celeste's expression softened.

Sierra looked slightly annoyed. "You're really in love, arent you?"

"Who knew it'd 'appen to me?" Jack asked half-jokingly. "I certainly wasn' expectin' it... Celeste is... different from other girls... She's my world -- all I see... She's the only one in my eyes."

"Oh, Jack!" Celeste cried, bursting into the room and running to him. "That's the sweetest, most wonderful thing anyone's ever said!" She leaned over nd kissed him.

"Oh, please!" Sierra groaned, turning away. "Can you keep your hands off each other for one moment?!"

Celeste looked up at her. "Do you mind?"

"Yes, I do, so cut it out." Sierra said bitterly.

"Can I kill her, Jack?" Celeste asked. "Can I please kill her?"

"Now, darling, that wouldn' be very polite, would it?" Jack replied.

"You're right." Celeste stated. "I'm sorry. I'll leave the honor to someone else."

"And you say she's not bitter." Sierra scoffed.

"I'm not!" Celeste exclaimed. "You just make me so angry! I only treat you the way you treat me!"

"Uh huh." Sierra dismissed. "See you, Jack." She left.

Celeste was about to rant on about Sierra, but abandoned the subject.

"Did you really mean what you said, Jack?" she asked.

"O' course I did." he replied, running his fingers through her hair. "You're my girl. My Celeste."

She smiled and kissed him.

Aww. That sounds really painful... having to get stitches with no painkiller or anything... Ouch. Anyway, please review. Hope you enjoyed it.

BTW, if anyone watched the episode of Charrrmed with the pirates and all, here's a tip. Never insult pirate lingo as they did. Observe: "Yo ho!" "Did you just call me a ho?"
'Nuff said.