Chapter 21: Exploding Notes

Conway and his crew stomped back to their camp, wary and annoyed from another long evening in the woods, watching for the Black Pearl, to no avail. They emerged from the woods into the sandy circle of the campground, with tents encircling a large pile of wood and branches.

"Get a fire going," Conway growled at the crew as he made his way over to the tent where he was keeping Jacquelyn, and his son, Nathan. Not that he liked to think of him as a son - definitely not - he couldn't stand the boy. He was a malicious know-it-all who thought he was better than his father because he wanted to be in the King's Navy. As if he would ever have a chance, coming from the background he did, as he was often reminded by his father. And if those reminders weren't enough to control him, Conway reminded him again, more forcefully. Generally, that force came from his fists.

As he neared the tent, he saw a single candle glowing through the opening and assumed Jacquelyn had gone to sleep, with Nathan was most like sitting around in the tent, doing some reading, or whatever he did with those rubbish books he insisted on carrying with him all the time.

The crew members were getting ready to light the bonfire, and Conway pulled the flap of the tent open. His mouth dropped when he entered however, because what he found was nothing near what he expected. The tent was empty, with no trace of Jacquelyn or Nathan to be seen. There was, however, a small piece of parchment sitting on the desk, being held down by a rock. Conway snatched it up as he heard the sound of the fire beginning outside. The handwriting was a messy script, but immediately identifiable.

Good day to you my dear man! You'll be seeing that Jacquelyn is gone, I suppose, and that you've entirely missed your chance for the treasure. Funny old world, isn't it? I'll bet your crew is outside lighting your camp fire as we speak, well, as you read this. Conway looked up from the note, and indeed they were. And, I'd like to say farewell to you, because I've left you a small present in your firewood pile. Three guesses, mate? One, it'll be exploding in about five seconds. Ta!

Conway dropped the paper and raced out of the tent, collapsing on the ground at the site of the roaring fire. He heard a small pop, then a deafening explosion followed by a blinding flash of light, and everything went black.

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Nathan walked along the far end of the starboard side of the Black Pearl, ignoring Jack's request for him to stay inside his cabin. On the horizon, though it was almost pitch black on deck, Nathan was fairly sure he could see the island they had been on, the one he had refused to call home while his father kept him there. He could make out a faint glimmer of light, most likely from the massive bonfire the crew lit every night. Nathan knew coming aboard the Black Pearl could be dangerous, especially if his father pursued them as he expected, but he thought it could be worth the risk to be a part of this famous crew, and just to get away from his father, if not permanently, then at least temporarily.

As he gazed into the ocean, losing himself in the monotonous crash of the waves against the ship, a bright flash on the horizon accompanied by an echoing boom caught his attention. A massive fiery explosion erupted into the air on the island, obviously a blast large enough to kill anyone there. Then it hit him- his father was on that island... Not to say he didn't despise the man, but did he want him dead? He couldn't want his own father dead. Could he? Nathan pushed the thought from his mind, and let primal anger replace it and rise to the surface as he stormed to the cabin of the man he knew to be responsible.

He raced to the center of the deck, past the wheel and straight to the door of Jack's cabin. He made to slam his fists on the door, but he stopped them when they were about an inch away from the wood, remembering the child that was asleep inside. He lowered his hands in defeat, and trudged past Gibbs, who was at the wheel giving Nathan sideways glances as he passed.

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The next morning, Jack stirred from his sleep to find an empty space beside him. It was unusual for Juliet to wake up before him, so he wondered what could have woken her that didn't wake him. He sat up and swung his legs to the side of the bed, quickly pulling his full set of clothes on, and heading for the door. He only made it about three steps, however, before he was lying flat on his face again. He picked himself up off the floor, and turned to see what he had tripped over, only to be met with eyes identical to his, the eyes of Jacquelyn, looking flustered and rather confused. Then her look changed to determination, and she let out a scream, all the while keeping her eyes focused on Jack's. He yelled back in feigned surprise, raising his eyebrows and opening his mouth very wide. Seeing his face, Jackie stopped screaming and began to giggle madly, while turning a bit pink from the excitement.

"Hi Daddy," she said sweetly as her laughter died down. Jack couldn't put a finger on how he felt when she called him that, but a grin stretched far across his face, and he smiled proudly at her.

"'Ello, love! How are you on this magnificent morning?" He stood and bowed to her comically, offering her his hand and earning another fit of laughter from the little girl. Jacquelyn put her small hand into Jack's large one, and together they trotted out the door onto the deck.

As soon as they walked out, Jack could smell trouble in the air. Literally. A heavy smoke scent flew on the breeze, along with a haze on the horizon that was obviously smoke from a fire. The fire from the explosion on Conway's island to be exact, Jack instantly concluded. Juliet wandered about the deck, looking very uncomfortable and sad; the crew members were all but silent as they went about their chores, trying their hardest to ignore the horizon. Even more than the horizon, though, everyone on the ship was trying not to stare at the boy who stood alone in the middle of the deck, with silent tears running down his cheeks. The boy who stood right in front of the Captain, unflinching in his stance.

Jack cleared his throat uncomfortably, and told Jacquelyn to go over to Juliet. He then spun on his heel and headed to the wheel, hoping to avoid a confrontation with Nathan. However, Nathan immediately followed Jack and hit his shoulder. "You killed my father!" Nathan yelled as he raised his hand, smashing his fist into Jack's face as soon as he turned around. Jack recoiled from the shock, his hand immediately pressed to his cheek and eye. Anger flared in Jack's eyes, and Nathan took a deep breath, readying himself for the blow he was sure he'd receive in return. However, he felt nothing, only the rough press of Jack's hand onto his shoulder. He moved his face very close to Nathan's and wielded an unyielding glare, easily backing Nathan into submission. Nathan pulled back from Jack, looking unsure. Jack however, kept his position, and looked Nathan square in the eye.

"You father was dead the second he touched my daughter," Jack said menacingly. Then he turned away from Nathan, and retook his rightful place at the wheel.

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That afternoon, Jack stood with his daughter at the wheel, carefully instructing her about the virtues of steering a ship. And she was loving every minute of it. Juliet watched them from the side, smiling as she realized what a wonderful father Jack would be to Jacquelyn. She then realized, though, that she desperately needed to talk to him about Nathan. She slowly approached Jack, lightly tapping his shoulder. He turned around with a wide smile on his face as he guided Jacquelyn's hands on the wheel.

Juliet smiled and leaned into his neck. "I need to talk to you," she whispered in his ear. Jack followed her to the side of the ship, telling Jacquelyn to keep the wheel in the same position until he got back. He was only going to be about twenty feet away, after all.

"I'm havin' a thought here, love, I think Jacquelyn's really a natural, so-"

"Jack..." Juliet said softly, looking down at the ocean.

"What's wrong, Jules?" he asked genuinely as he wrapped his arm around her waist and tilted her face towards him. She sighed and paused for a moment, then took his hand off her face and into her own.

"Remember how I told you Nathan and I had something in common?" Jack nodded slowly, looking a bit apprehensive. Juliet nodded also and continued, "Well, I thought you should really know. You've seen all the scars on my back, and my arms..." She choked up a bit and looked into Jack's eyes. Jack became angry just thinking about it, and whispered harshly, "If he did that to you, I'll kill him."

Juliet shook her head slowly, and wrapped her arms around Jack's waist. Jack looked like a lost puppy, completely confused about what was going on around him. "Jack, I... I accidentally caught a glimpse of him changing his clothes last night, and I turned away, but I couldn't help but turn back, something on him caught my eye. He... Jack, he has scars and bruises all over, cuts up and down his back, his arms... everything." A tear rolled down Juliet's cheek and Jack quickly wiped it away, resting his hand on her shoulder. She sighed. "I just think we got them from the same person, that's all. So, don't be too hard on him Jack, he's had a rough time, and I'm sure he doesn't know how to feel about his father dying." Jack nodded and sighed, and Juliet quickly kissed him on the cheek, then ran off in Jacquelyn's direction.

Jack rubbed his bruised eye absentmindedly, then sighed and headed back to the wheel. Nathan would certainly be an interesting addition to the crew.

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A/N: Sorry about my awful lack of updating! I've been so busy with school and friends and homework, you all know the deal. ; hopefully you enjoyed this chapter, though. I like the end.. it wont be much longer until the end, 2-4 more chapters is my guess. Thanks for reading, please review!

Dawnie-7: No more subtleties or hints, it's all out in the open now, lol. Some bonding between Jack and Jacquelyn in this one. Is he not the sweetest father? He is. Hope you enjoyed, sorry my updating speed is crap.

Deyna: Yes, of course you can keep me lol! I'm honored ; And thanks very much for the gold star, I put it on a pretty bracelet. Lol. Thanks so much!

Bri: Hey, thanks for reading. Yes, I'm already aware of that mistake, I corrected it in an author's note later on, so if you kept reading, you'd find it, I just havent gotten around to fixing it in the actual chapter yet. Hope you're enjoying if you're still reading.