"Don't forget about me, now." Benjamin said to Kris. "I may be retired, but I could still teach you quite a few things about piracy."
Kris laughed and hugged him. One of the many ways she wasn't like other pirates; she showed affection when needed. "No need to worry 'bout that, now is there? I'm sure we'll be back to torment you in a while."
Benjamin nodded and patted her on the back. Mia was no where in sight; Kris figured she was just inside moping. She did that every time she left, it was sort of like a tradition. Kris would say she's leaving and Mia wouldn't talk to her until she left.
"Tell Jack I said goodbye." Benjamin said, tapping his foot on the dock.
Kris looked up at the ship and yelled "Benjamin says goodbye!!" at the crew. They got numerous replies back.
"Well," she said, climbing up to the deck, "I'm off. Goodbye!"
She waved to him as they pulled out of the port, sailing straight towards the still rising sun. She stared at her childhood home almost dismally before it faded into the distance, getting smaller and smaller until there was no trace of it on the smooth waters…
Kris shook her head, and pushing back the usual feelings of regret she always got from leaving, and went straight to work.
* * *
Mia's stomach lurched as the ship rose up onto another wave, and came down with a deafening crash. For the fifth time in a row, Mia wished she could just die. Anything was better than this torture… Up, down, up, down… She felt light-headed, she was dizzy, and she was bathed in a cold sweat that hadn't left her in two days…
What had she been thinking? Stowing away on a ship, what a stupid thing to do… She hadn't even been on a ship before! Oh, why did she think she could handle this…
Her original plan had been to stow away on the Black Pearl, which proved to be easy enough, and hide inside one of the rowers, also done, striking fear into the slimeball's heart by creeping around at night and stealing his things, writing on his walls and such. So much for that. The first night Mia had managed to stand long enough to walk around the ship, she had succeeded in stealing Jack's hat (something she was sure he would be angered by) but the thing stank so badly that it just made her feel even more sick. So for the next two days, she had lay underneath the rower, hiding from the crew and wondering how much more of this she could take. She'd heard that you can get sea-sick your first time being on a ship, but Mia had never imagined it would affect her, let alone be this bad…
Mia could remember wanting to be a pirate when she was a child. No, she could remember yearning to be a pirate. The stories her father told about his ship and sunken treasure had always charmed her. But if her father's stories charmed her, Kris's stories amazed her. Stories of battling the legendry Captain Hubbs, who's crew had been rumoured to have been turned into a flock of gulls because they stole a sorceress's treasure. And Mia's favourite story, the one about Kris's first ship and how she and Amara had stowed away on a pirate's ship when they were 13 and almost being sent into the depths of Davie Jones's locker for it. They had both made it seem so glamorous…
Mia could no longer see any light coming from the cracks of her rower, it must be night time. The worn planks of the ship's deck creaked and groaned beneath her as she heard someone yelling orders to the crew… She heard the crew as they walked past her hiding spot, one by one heading inside… To a nice, warm bed and a fitful sleep… what she would give to be one of them right now…
All was silent. The ship's rocking became less violent, yet the absence of its lurching movements just made Mia feel sicker. A gull squawked from somewhere among the ship's deck, she could hear a soft wind rustling the sails…
Mia was sure that all the residents of the Black Pearl were inside in their cabins. Maybe getting out of this overturned rower would help her stomach, surely to stand up and breath in some fresh air would do her some good.
With great difficulty, Mia pushed the rower up and slid out from underneath it. Ah, fresh air… It was so, so, sublime to be out of that rower, away from that hat and the rotting planks of the boat's interior… She stood up and gripped the rail winding around the ship's deck for balance. She could barely stand in her condition, yet she still tried to walk. She stumbled aimlessly towards the mast, hoping the center of the ship wouldn't be so bad. She was wrong. She could see a figure way up in the crow's nest as fatigue overcame her… she couldn't stand, her legs were as useful as rubber, her bones like jelly… Someone yelled at her, but she couldn't hear. She couldn't think straight… God, just let me die… get this over with…
The last thing Mia could remember before she blacked out was slumping to the ground, in front of a grimy pair of boots.
* * *
"Back to your old ways, I see." Jack commented from his wheel. Kris just shook her head and continued scrubbing.
"You're the worst perfectionist I've ever seen." He said again, studying his compass.
"I can't help it if I'm the only one who knows how to scrub a deck without getting tangled in a pile of rope." Kris replied, trying to hide the smile that had snuck its way onto her face. She couldn't remember being this cheerful in a long time.
"By the way, where are Bill and Brett?" Jack asked. "And Amara?"
"Bill and Brett are in Mexico." Kris replied, getting up and standing beside him as he steered. "We can pick them up if it's not too much of a problem. And Amara just recently got married."
"Really. Amara? I never would have though she of all people would tie the knot."
"Better believe it." Kris replied. "She only knew the man for a month."
Jack shook his head. "Why am I not surprised? Anyway, you wouldn't mind taking over for a while, would you luv?"
"Sure." Kris replied, slightly surprised. She'd only been behind the wheel of his ship a couple times, both of which he had other things to do.
"Thanks Luv." He said, before stepping down and walking towards the cabins.
Kris would have wondered what he was up to, had it had been anyone else other than Jack and she hadn't been so preoccupied with actually being behind the wheel of his ship.
* * *
Mia awoke slowly, first feeling something soft beneath her. Then the throbbing sensation returned to her body. She slowly opened her eyes, not wanting to wake up but afraid of what might happen if she went back to sleep…
She opened her eyes and saw someone staring back at her, his face just inches away from hers.
"AAAAHH!!!!" Mia yelled, jumping up. She immediately recognised the man standing before her. "JACK?! What the hell?!"
Jack jumped back. "Whoa, sorry Mi. Just tryin to see if you're awake."
"Well I am!!" Mia screamed. She was now fully awake, and aware of her surroundings. She had been lying on a small couch in the middle of what seemed to be a sitting room. For a split second she thought she was in a house, but the soft rise and fall of the floor and the smell of the salt air told her that she was still on the ship.
"What the hell am I doing here?" she asked.
"I don't know. You tell me." Jack replied, taking on his usual persona and beginning to pace the room. "You show up on my ship, three days after we leave mind you, and you ask me why you're here. That doesn't sound right, now does it?"
Mia opened her mouth to object, but Jack kept on going.
"As you may have heard, most pirates who find stowaways on their ships usually kill them on the spot, something I've had experience in. Mind you, none of them had ever succeeded in taking my hat. Now there's something that could really boil my blood." He leaned on the table in front of the couch Mia was resting on, his face yet again inches from hers. Mia couldn't tell if he was lying about anything he said, but she didn't dare object to any of it. Instead she stared him straight in the eye, making sure her face was void of any emotion whatsoever that could get her into trouble.
"I'm sure you can understand why." He said, smiling his gold-toothed smile. "Now what do you think I should do about you, Mi? I won't kill you, no, that wouldn't be very nice of me now would it? But I could send you off the side of my ship, that way I couldn't be sure if you lived or not. Or maybe we should send you out in that rower you were hiding under and see how long you can fend all by your whatsies, without any food or provisions. How does that sound?"
Mia continued staring back at him, scowling. "You are one disturbed man if I've ever met one."
"Maybe so, but just remember you are on this disturbed man's ship, Mi."
"More like rowboat." Mia spat back. "I'll bet this creaky hunk of driftwood couldn't make it through the smallest of storms, even with the captain Jack Sparrow behind the wheel."
Jack frowned. "Touchy little thing, aren't you?"
"Three guesses where I got it from."
"Well, Mimi-"
"Mia!"
"Mia, I'll let you rest in here until I think up something good for you." Jack said, standing up and walking towards the door. "Don't try to get out; I've locked the door, unless of course you want to take a tumble out of the window. And if you have to, well, if you get sick again, kindly aim it away from the furniture. Savvy?"
Mia didn't answer, but instead stared at the floor.
"Well then, I'll be seeing you around then. Goodbye." And he walked out of the door, leaving Mia to wallow in her self pity.
"Back so soon?" Kris said as she heard the familiar sound of Jack's boots coming from behind her. "And I was having so much fun."
"Easy to amuse, aren't you?" Jack said, grabbing her and dipping her down, kissing her passionately on the lips.
"Hello." Kris said, surprised. "What's that all about?"
"Nothing." Jack said, returning her to an upright position. "Just happy to see you."
"Ok." Kris said, smiling again. That didn't happen everyday.
"And I want my ship back." Jack joked.
"I should have known." Kris said, moving over and letting him take his place at the wheel. After all, it was his ship.