I have been thinking of updating for quite a long time, and last night the thought kept bothering me, so I got to it this morning when I found that my family had left me alone in the house without telling me.

The PSAT I took last Wednesday was quite easy. I was a bit surprised. When I took it as a 'wise fool' last year, it seemed much harder. I was so worried about it the night before even though it really doesn't mean anything except that it's the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.

I was just struck violently by reality a week ago, when I realized that I would have to start considering college soon. Arg, it practically made me double over in shock.

Enough rambling. I better start writing this.

Quote: "A new idea is delicate. It can be killed by a sneer or a yawn; it can be stabbed to death by a joke or worried to death by a frown on the right person's brow."
--Charles Brower

Disclaimer: Still don't own POTC. Darn.

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Chapter 6: Visitors

Rhia sat down in the corner of the room and replayed the last hour in her head. She watched her father, Evan, grab a large sack and begin stuffing it full of all the groceries she had just bought. "We won't be leaving for a couple days. There's no need to pack the food just yet."

Evan hesitated and pulled out half of the contents and looked up at Rhia, who was staring in confusion. "Just in case."

Rhia nodded and looked over at Jack, who was twiddling his thumbs at the table. She nearly laughed at his discomfort, but distracted herself by looking over at her father again. "What now?"

Evan surprised himself by snorting. "I guess we should start saying our farewells."

Rhia groaned and put her head in her hands. "How?" She rubbed her eyes. "How can we say goodbye to all our friends that we've known since forever?"

Evan shook his head. "It's hard for you, I can tell. But please, now that he knows our whereabouts, he'll be after us. Please get used to it, because this may just have to be a way of life for us."

Jack listened and wished he could let them have a moment. He looked up and found the girl glancing in his direction. He attempted a smile, but he knew it looked like a grimace. "I'm so…"

"Don't." Rhia said, putting up a hand.

"… Sorry." Jack finished.

Evan shook his head. "I am as well." He opened the floorboard and took out his herbs. Throwing them in the bag, he looked out the window. "Maybe you should pack a bag of clothing… The both of you should. Keep them somewhere of convenience, away from the house."

"Why?" Rhia asked, sparing Jack the question.

"We all should. If we need to leave in a hurry."

Rhia stood and wiped her dress free of the packed dirt. Sighing, she said, "All right. Jack, go pack my brother's things for your self and meet me outside."

Jack nodded and left the table, muttering "It's Captain…"

Rhia tilted her head when the door to her brother's room closed. "Did he say something?"

Evan shook his head and went back to checking the house for essentials.

Rhia shrugged and went into her bedroom. She whistled while she packed her only other dress and her trousers that were her brother's when he was younger. 'I meant to make those into a skirt with some velvet… If only I had the time.'

Sighing, Rhia picked up her bag and found she could fit one more thing. She looked around her room and decided her thin cotton blanket would do. She swung her bag over her shoulder and began giggling insanely. 'Oh, I'm ready for war… Have my blanket and everything.'

She kept smiling and left the room, receiving a glance from her father as she walked outside and dropped the bag on the ground. Rolling back and forth on her heels, she contemplated why Jack was taking so long.

"Before you go," Rhia turned and saw her father at the door. "Take this. Please give it to Jake when you go put the packs away."

"What does it say?" Rhia asked, taking a letter from his hand.

"It entitles him to the entire shop." Evan said with a false grin.

"This is terrible, father."

"I know. But we have to do this, for your sake. Please get it to him before the sun sets and the shop closes." Evan disappeared back into the house and Rhia looked at the letter in her hands. 'This is just too sudden.' She put the letter into a pocket sewn onto her dress and sighed impatiently.

After nearly eight minutes, the door slammed shut and she turned around.

Jack smiled and shifted his bag to his other shoulder. He looked at her pack, which was smaller than his. "What'd you bring?"

Rhia looked over at her bag and lifted her head high to keep from being embarrassed. "Everything I'll need. You?" She asked, noticing his bag was full of objects, rather than clothing.

"Same… Where-."

"In the woods. There's an area we can hide these where they won't be seen." She picked up her bag easily and led the way into the trees. She walked past her favorite tree and as she did she touched the area her father carved her mother's name next to his years ago. She turned left on the spot and went to the huge fern and picked up a leaf, finding her journal which she kept wrapped in leather.

"What's tha'?" Jack asked as she picked it up.

"Nothing." She said and put it in her pack. She threw her bag into the hiding area and waited for him to do the same.

Jack shrugged and lightly put down the sack into the bush. Rhia dropped the leaf and wiped her hands. "Does your father know about tha'?"

"No." She said simply. She put her hand on her hip and thought a moment. "I have to take a letter to Jake before sun down. I might as well wrap things up in town."

"Now?" Jack asked.

"Better sooner than later." She reasoned. Rhia turned to Jack and noticed he was looking at his feet. "Do you want to stay here?"

Jack shook his head. "I wouldn't like to make your father uncomfortable with me presence."

Rhia cocked her head and led the way slowly into town. "What do you mean by that?"

Jack put his hands in his pockets. "The conversation we 'ad didn't go too well, an' he is a little bit… I don't know how to put this…"

"Intimidating?" Rhia guessed.

"Precisely." Jack said.

Rhia smiled. "He does that to many people… Men in particular. Don't let it get to you."

"Too late." Jack said. Rhia laughed and he felt himself smiling. He looked behind himself to see if anyone was following them.

Rhia ducked under a low hanging branch and winced when she heard a thump from behind her. She glanced behind and saw Jack quickly stoop under the branch and stand as if nothing had happened. Rhia turned away to hide a smile and kept leading onward to the town. As they neared the edge of the woods, she snuck another glance and saw that Jack was rubbing the back of his head.

"Rhia!!" Came a shrill shriek from in front of her.

Turning quickly, she smiled and embraced Middy. "I need to tell you-."

"Is this him?" Middy asked, staring at the stranger behind Rhia.

Jack smiled and took her hand. "I've been spoken of?" He eyed Rhia. She glanced away.

" Middy, I… Middy! Oh damn it, girl…" Rhia had to grab the back of Middy's dress and pull her away to grab her attention. "Listen, I have something of great importance to discuss with you."

Middy's eyes slowly unglazed, and she stared at Rhia. "Oh." She said as she realized what she had said. "What about?"

Jack smiled and turned away from the two, silently enjoying himself. 'I think I like the effect I have in women… Well… Some women.' He admitted, noting that Rhia hadn't acted like Middy when she first saw him… Although he was unconscious at the time…

"Middy, I'll be leaving with my father soon, and-."

"Will he be coming along?" Middy asked while tilting her head in Jack's direction and sneaking a look at his behind.

Rhia rolled her eyes. "Yes, but-."

"I'll be coming along then, yes?" Middy asked hopefully.

"No. I'm sorry. We're moving to another town, and-."

"Just temporarily, yes?" Middy asked. She opened her mouth in shock as Rhia shook her head. "But, you can't! We were going to grow old here, and our daughters were going to be friends, and our daughter's daughters! And what about-."

"Middy, I'm sorry." Rhia hugged her friend and held back tears that were threatening to fall down her cheeks. "I have to. It's my father, he's retiring from his job, and I have to go with him."

"That is awful. You're not a little girl anymore, though! If you just got married, then you could stay here. What about Jake?"

"Please don't mention him." Rhia said, tasting bile in her mouth.

Jack stepped behind a tree and tried to remain like that so they could have their conversation in what little privacy he could provide without getting lost.

"Rhia, this is ridiculous. You don't have to-."

"Middy. I do have to. It's a bit more complicated than that, but don't worry. I'm sure that eventually we can meet up again." Rhia assured her best friend as much as she could without spilling the truth.

Middy sniffed and wiped her eyes. "I know… When?"

"Couple days at most."

Middy muttered a string of curses. "This is awful." She repeated. "You'll write to me at the very least, right?"

"Of course, though you cannot write me, in case the letters were intercepted." Rhia winced and realized she had said too much.

Middy realized this and her eyes widened in horror. "Oh no. It's happened, hasn't it?"

Jack perked his head up and cursed under his breath.

Rhia caught her breath. "You knew I wasn't my mother's child?"

Middy made a confused face. "N-no. I meant they're coming for your fath-."

"Time to be off." Jack said to Rhia, grabbing her arm.

"But I have to-."

"The sun has begun to set, an' ye told your father you'd get tha' letter to Jake." He said quickly, pointing out the clouds that were turned pink from the sun to their left.

Rhia looked back sympathetically to Middy and waved. Middy just nodded and glanced one last time at Jack's hindquarters.

Rhia shook her head and took out the letter. 'What did she mean by my father… What does she know?'

Jack cleared his throat and Rhia looked up from her feet. Jack had led them quite correctly to the shop and Rhia nearly felt the need to applaud him. "You found it."

"I have quite a memory." Jack jested. Rhia smiled and was suddenly thankful Jack had come with her.

She opened the door to the blacksmith shop and looked around inside. It was dirty and the air smelled sweet to Rhia. The shop was empty and there was slight disarray among the shop that seemed odd to her. "He in there?" Jack asked.

"No. What happened here?" She began to step inside when a voice that made the hair on the back of her neck stand up.

"Rhia, I'm glad I ran into you." Jake grasped her arm and pulled her away from Jack.

Normally, she would have replied to this with a certain violent act, but he was all disheveled and panting slightly. "What's going on? Oh, I nearly forgot. Here's a letter from my father." She handed it to him and he took it with shaking hands. "It entitles you to the entire shop. We're leaving, and it's now yours."

Jake held on to it and shook his head. "This is all too weird. Look I must tell you something." He dropped the letter into his inner jacket pocket and grabbed both her arms. "Some men were here asking for you and your father. I told them to go fu-."

"They're here?" Rhia nearly fainted. "It's too early. We didn't…" She looked at Jack and he was equally in shock.

"That's not all." Jake said, looking down at the ground.

"What?" When he didn't answer Rhia pushed him. "What!? What else?"

"I…" Jake grabbed Rhia and kissed her, only to be met with a knee in the groin.

Rhia spat and wiped her mouth on her sleeve. "You filthy son of a bi-." She continued to curse at him with words that would make a sailor blush, only stopping when Jack put a hand on her shoulder.

Jake recovered slowly, and in a strained voice said, "I'm sorry, I just knew when you heard…." Jake hesitated.

"Well tell the girl already!" Jack said, eager to get Rhia away from this boy.

"Promise you won't hurt me?" Jake asked while standing.

"Sure, whatever." Rhia said.

Jake looked down and kicked some dirt up. "They asked me where they could find you, an-."

"Oh my god! Do you have any idea what you just did?" Rhia asked and turned and began running towards the woods. Jack shook his head at the boy and ran after Rhia.

"I didn't want to, but they were tearing up the shop!" Jake called after them.

Rhia stumbled over branches and hidden roots and looked to her left. Jack was keeping up with her and looked just as worried. She concentrated on the path in front of her and stopped when she reached the house.

She looked around quickly, freezing her gaze on the window. No movement came from inside, so she walked forward.

"Wait!" Jack called and pulled her behind a tree.

"What? I have to tell-."

"Just listen." He ordered.

Rhia obeyed stubbornly, and heard only the barest whispers of conversation. A huge crash startled Rhia and she looked at Jack. "It's not… It's too early."

Someone opened the door and her father was thrown onto the ground. A man in a large white wig emerged from the house and pointed the tip of his sword at Evan.

Jack pulled on Rhia's arm and she pulled back. "No!" She whispered. "You have to help him!"

Jack shook his head. "I can't. I'm sorry, but I promised to keep you safe."

Rhia looked back at her father and winced when he looked up and saw her. He motioned slightly with his head for her to leave, and she bit her lip.

"Quick, while they're distracted." Jack said. He held out his hand and Rhia reluctantly grasped it. He led her back towards where the trees were thicker and closer together.

During this, the white-wigged man stooped over Evan and asked him again, "Where is she?"

Evan looked up and spat in his face. "Bite me."

The man wiped his face and smiled. He said, "Fine.", and then he kicked him in the side.

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Okay, I have to stop there if I want to post this tonight. Just like my other story, I make a bad guy out of men in wigs… Or, more accurately, Norrington. Sorry if you disagree, but you'll have to get used to it. And by the way, that's the most I've ever written for this story.

And sorry, but I don't have time to proofread!

If you want to read a COMPLETELY awesome story, go check out ProudMuggleGirl's Face the Strange It's awesome and I'm in it!! I'd be Oswald, and it is almost an accurate description of how her and me hang out with the exception of the POTC characters. It's in my favorite stories area.

By the way, as an answer to the question last time, my favorite movie without Johnny Depp is 'Timeline' and Lord of the Rings, all the way!!

QUESTION FOR REVIEWERS: How often are you on your computer?

untouchable1400 – Hey, thanks. Sorry for the wait, but it's hard to do two stories at once.

terradaina – Okay, it's not actually very amazing to live on an island. For one thing, everyone is the same, and in a really annoying way. Another thing, is that there is NOTHING on this island. We have to take an expensive ferry ride to get clothing and the gasoline is like 40 cents higher than the state average. And, uh, thanks for reviewing…

blackcharityflint – Wow, a renaissance festival? That's amazing. I've always wanted to go to one.

MiSSZ-SPARR0W – Lord of the Rings Trilogy was amazing. I loved them so much, and there were so many ways to mess it up, but they turned out perfect.

LoloFruit – Yeah, she put it back up as a non-'you' fic, but someone had it deleted because in the summary it said "renovated 'you' fic" Honestly, come people are stupid. Read her new one please!

ProudMuggleGirl – I wasn't planning on death, no. It may or may not happen, but I can neither confirm nor deny the rumors… I haven't planned any of these chapters, so…. Maybe but probably not.

Terriah – Confuzzled is one of my only unique words. Ha! I received this email earlier this week that had words changed by only one letter to make up new words that were really funny…. Maybe I'll post it on one of my chapters…

Savvy TBird – Thanks. I can't believe I waited this long to update, but I had writer's block really bad. Check out my other fic if it suits you.

DarkFaerieyMagick – That's exactly something my sister would say. She watches Dirty Dancing more than any sane person would, and she knows every line and it's really annoying to try to watch it with her around.

Raz 42492 – Okay… I think I accidentally replied to this in my other fic. Meh. It made me look like I had more than I actually did.

ElvenSailorGirl – I never actually thought about the Ana Maria thing as amnesia because she had her memories still. She just turned ditzy, I suppose. Oh my god. Those are all the same things I said for answers to the questions. Yeah, I was in choir and it was relaxing to sing, but my schedule is just too hectic now… ;(