Author's Notes: This chapter is in the *Present* and it's a fairly short one.
Jack: Thought ye said yer weren't doing this anymore?
Me: Well, Otherhawk has been really nice, you won't leave me alone and I'm trying to hide cos I just looked at my study books and then bolted in terror! Anyway, what are you still doing here?
Jack: I'm captain Jack Sparrow, luv
Me: And?
Jack: And ye know ye want me t' get the girl, instead of bloody Norrington
Me: Well, yes but...
Jack: But nothing luv, ye keep going and make sure I gets me girl, savvy?
Norrington: I don't think so, Mr Sparrow. The girl...
Jack: She has a name y'know mate, and she's MY girl!
Norrington: *ignoring Jack* As I was saying, the girl is about to marry me, if our dear author would just GET ON WITH IT!
Me: There's no need to shout mate
Jack: Yer soundin more like me everyday darlin!
Norrington: Indeed!
Me: Quit arguing you two, I'm trying to think!
Jack & Norrington: Just write the chapter already!
Jack: An you, dear reader, don't forget to review. That way, I'll get me girl, savvy?
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#6 – You just left?
Jack lapsed into silence as, for the first time, he fully considered the implications of his actions. Would things have been different in his life if he hadn't let her leave? Would he have been through everything he had, if he'd fought for her, there and then? Or would her Uncle have hunted them down to get her back? He doubted the arrogant, petty little man would have gone to so much trouble...
"So ye jus left 'er there?" Gibbs demanded, interrupting Jack musings.
"Didn't have a choice, mate," Jack admitted, his voice sad.
"But ye liked 'er didn't ye? An she obviously didn't wanna stay an 'ave marry Norrington. So why didn't ye go after 'er?"
"It wasn't that simple. I couldn't just take her, much as I wanted to." Taking the bottle of rum from Gibbs, he downed the last few mouthfuls and shoved the empty bottle back at Gibbs. "It's bloody empty."
"I'll go get some more then eh?" Gibbs laughed, grinning wickedly.
"Aye, you do that," Jack agreed. He watched the older man stagger to his feet and off towards the hatch, lurching form side to side with the movement of the ship. "Things are never that simple, mate," he murmured quietly. Fifteen years after the day he watched her leave, he still couldn't understand how a slip of a girl had managed to steal his heart so easily. He'd followed his old Captain's advice, and sure enough, Jack had never been short of female company. But none of them, whore or not, had ever owned him like Ashanae had. He saw Gibbs staggering back towards him, a bottle of rum in each hand, and smiled to himself.
"Ere ye go Cap'n," Gibbs slurred, thrusting the full bottle at Jack.
"Thanks." Expertly uncorking the bottle one-handed, he took a long swig and sighed happily. Yes, this was definitely where he belonged; at the helm of his beloved ship, drinking rum and enjoying his restored freedom. If only she were here to share it with him...
"So, ye were gonna explain why ye couldn't take her with ye?" Gibbs said bluntly, taking several long pulls from his own bottle.
"Yes, I was, wasn't I?"
"Aye, ye were."
"Well, she was engaged to bloody Norrington for one thing. Seriously need to find the bloke a girl, so he'll stop trying t' steal someone else's," Jack laughed, thinking briefly of the whelp and his strumpet. "Funny," he thought suddenly. "It took him seven years to make Captain, and another eight to make Commodore. What title will he hold ten years from now, I wonder?"
"Nah, let the bugger rot!"
"That's not exactly fair, now is it, Gibbs? Poor bloke just needs t' find the right girl."
"Yeah, sure." Gibbs didn't sound convinced at all. "So what else stopped ye?"
"Well, I was only First Mate back then. Not Captain, like I am now. An this was before I got the Pearl, back when I wasn't exactly well off."
"So?" The expression on his face told Jack that Gibbs didn't understand what he was driving at.
"So, her Uncle's ward or not, she was still a high born lady. She had her own fortune; not a particularly large one, but money nonetheless."
"Ah! So ye sayin she wanted fine dresses and the like?" Gibbs guessed, taking another swig of rum.
"Pretty much, yeah."
"Did she ever ask ye for such things?" the older man asked suddenly, displaying a shrewd insight Jack hadn't believed he possessed.
"Well..." Jack paused, the slender bottle halfway to his lips. Finally he shook his head. "No, she didn't. During the five days we worked to repair the Explorer, she worked right alongside the rest of the crew. Never once complained bout it, neither. She earned a lot of respect doing that, while her prissy little cousin sat in my cabin and refused to lift a finger to help."
"So, what happened then Cap'n? Did she die or somethin? Cos the prig wasn't married when we sailed t' Port Royal seven year ago," Gibbs observed shrewdly.
"No, she isn't dead, at least not as far as I know," he denied, his tone uncertain. "She could be dead, by now. She wasn't exactly in the best of trades, last time ye saw her, was she?" A quiet voice asked in his mind. "No, I'd know if she was dead," he answered it firmly. "Ah, but would you?" the voice persisted. "Yes, I bloody would. Now shut up!" he demanded. He suddenly remember the conversation he'd had with Ash, about talking to yourself being the first sign of madness. "Guess I shoulda told her the second sign was hearin someone answer, eh?" he asked the quiet voice in his mind, but it remained silent, for the moment.
"Cap'n?" Gibbs queried after a few minutes of silence.
"What? Oh, yes. No, she didn't die Gibbs. She did something far worse..." His voice trailed off for a moment as he once again lost himself in his memories.
"Like what?"
"She followed me… to Tortuga..."
*************
Jack: Oi! No cliff hangers allowed darlin! Unless of course their name is
Barbossa and they happen t' have a rather sturdy rope around their neck!
Me: Jack! That's not very nice!
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