When the rain comes you blame it on the things that you have done. When the storm fades you know that rain must fall on everyone. But rest awhile…it'll be alright, because no one loves you like I do -Third Day

Morning came with the undeniable smell of fresh rain. Jack rose lazily and kept the clothes on that he had worn during the night. Outside the wind blew steadily and the frustrated Captain woke up enough crewmen to help him tie the sails at half mast. The rain might turn to a full blown storm, but there was no need of wasting leagues when all it was was rain.

"Pardon my sayin' Captain…" Gibbs said, coming up behind Jack while he was looking out over the water, "But this unnatural weather might be contributed t' Nathan bein' aboard…"

Jack sighed, used to Gibbs' superstitions, but thinking the idea of Nathan being the cause of this might've come from another source. Looking at his crewman and friend, Jack said, "Are you capable of warnin' me if anythin' changes?"

Gibbs nodded, "Aye Captain."

Jack nodded and walked towards Ana's cabin, hoping to find her there. "Ana Maria's cabin, sir?"

Jack turned and looked at Gibbs, "Just warn me Gibbs, I don't need anything else." Like a lecture. Gibbs nodded once again and went to help the other crew members with the rigging.

"Got any gray…anything gray?"

A smile appeared on Roberts lips, "There's plenty o' gray things 'round here…depends on what ye want."

James Norrington sighed, "Tea would be wonderful, Roberts."

"Earl gray, I'm assumin'…"

James looked up at the old man, "How'd you guess?"

He shrugged, "Earl gray tea an' rain…it's a familiar scene, Nathan…one I've experienced too many times to remember."

"England," James said, nodding knowingly.

"God bless it."

"Everything but the rain."

Roberts looked shocked as he started a fire in record time and hung the kettle over it, "You don't like the rain?"

Norrington shook his head firmly, "Least of all on a ship."

Roberts laughed richly, "Well, don't worry- not all that common…especially in the Caribbean…right queer weather we're havin'…"

"Think it'll last long?"

Roberts shook his head, "It shouldn't."

Norrington sighed and took a seat on a stool in front of the little bar, "Well, expect me t' stay down here until it does…unless the captain wants me on deck…"

Roberts smiled, "Doesn't bother me one bit."

"Searched high an' low, sir…Nothing."

"You found no signs of the Commodore or anything that would lead us to believe he was there?"

"No sir."

The man frowned, "Where else would he go? He has no where else! It doesn't make sense!"

"And his clothes…what you described, where would he go with those on? No where here…"

"Don't rule that out…no…Norrington is no fool. He's blending in…he's here. He's gotta be."

"Search the town?"

"Quietly. Don't make a fuss- do not attract attention, because that is the last thing we want…Right?"

"Yes sir, of course sir."

Bianca's eyes widened and she quickly got up and started to slip out the door, "Looks like my time to leave…"

The captain was less than happy. He had gotten fed up with the defiance and the secrecy. Of course he had secrets and lies of his own- but they were no business of hers. He was the captain and he had a right to keep things from her.

"I would appreciate if you left my bloody door on it's hinges, Captain." Ana Maria snapped at her captain once Bianca made her exit with no attention from the two pirates.

"I'm thinkin' about takin' it off it's bloody hinges and whackin' you with it!" he thundered.

Ana growled and got up from the bed she was laying on, "What has disturbed you now?"

Jack's mouth dropped and he quickly said, "You lying t' me!"

"Lying?!" she questioned, now a little confused. "About what?"

"I told you to trust me!" Jack said, starting to pace slightly. "But I'm not sure if I have anything but your defiance!"

Ana was about to slap him but he caught her hand, "I'm in no mood, luv,"

She narrowed her eyes and struggled out of his grip. "I have given you nothing but my allegiance, captain." She spat at him.

"How so? When I go out on deck and Gibbs suddenly has a fear of Nathan controllin' the weather. It doesn't take much to raise his suspicions, luv."

"That's because it doesn't take anything!" she yelled at him, "Gibbs is a superstitious sailor, and if you had the sense of a goat you'd know that by now!"

"Oh! So I'm stupid now?"

"No, just daft as heck." She said, crossing her arms and calming a bit.

"Are you tellin' me that you had nothing t' do with Gibbs?"

Ana Maria looked him in the eye, "I'm offended that you would think I would…after I told you…"

Jack suddenly felt like an idiot. Once again, his anger got the best of him and he forgot to think about the person that he knew and cared for. Ana Maria didn't tell anyone about anything. She stayed out of affairs that didn't have to do with her or she didn't have a 'feeling' about.

He sighed, "I apologize…" he said slowly, "I didn't mean to…"

She just stood there, waiting for him to say something intelligent or to admit that he was wrong about her. "To what?" she prodded.

He cursed, "Oh, you know what I mean!" and then swiftly left the cabin.

Ana sighed as she sank down onto her bed, "If only I did…"

"Jeez Nathan, I didn't think you were that queasy!"

Norrington turned sharply, recognizing his name and somewhat getting used to people calling him by a first name that wasn't his. "Who said I was queasy to begin with?"

Bianca grinned, "Ana Maria."

Norrington rolled his eyes, "She hates me." he said somewhat light-heartedly. Roberts merely smiled and shrugged. "Still raining?" James asked Bianca.

She nodded, "Aye. Buckets. I'm amazed the wind hasn't picked up or a storm come. Strange weather…"

Norrington nodded his agreement and nobody said anything until Roberts said, "You two hungry?"

Bianca grabbed her stomach, "No thanks Roberts…" Norrington shook his head, still holding his mug of tea in his hand. Roberts shrugged and then reached underneath the counter and pulled out some cards. He smiled a toothy grin and said, "Ye know how t' play poker?"

James gasped under his breath and Bianca smiled deviously. She snatched the pack of cards from Roberts and said, "C'mon Nathan, an' bring yer money."

James smiled nervously and followed her to a back table. "Uhh…Bianca…my game skills aren't that…well…"

"Great! More money for me!" She said as she started shuffling the deck.

He swallowed, sitting down and trying to get her attention, "You don't understand…I haven't played cards in well…"

"Oh!" she said, seemingly getting an idea or stroke of genius. "A little rusty? Do you not remember the rules? No problem! Rules are for babies."

He almost choked on his own spit, lowering his voice and leaning towards her- feeling a tad bit embarrassed- he said, "I haven't played cards…ever."

Bianca stopped her shuffling only for a moment and then started again, all the while, looking at Norrington's big brown eyes. Narrowing her own blue eyes she asked, "How did you manage that?"

He sat down and shrugged, "We were always busy…"

She nodded slowly, oh yea, somethin's up with you Anderson…I can tell now. As she started dealing the cards she smiled beautifully, hoping to lure Nathan to her. "Tell you what- I'll tell you how to play as many games as you want…no money-yet- an' in exchange…you tell me what else you don't know…"

Norrington raised a brow and watched the face across from him, be careful… his conscience warned. This wasn't only a smart woman, but a beautiful one. "I do believe we have an accord…"

"What the blast are you doin' out here?"

Jack looked up to meet another pair of dark brown eyes. He turned his head back and kept looking at the somewhat wild ocean. He was sitting on the railing on the bow of the ship, how she found him was a mystery to him.

She sighed and rolled her eyes, "Bloody immature if you ask me."

"Well no one is askin' you!" Jack said, as he grabbed Ana Maria's hand and pulled her down to sit next to him. But somehow she got pulled right on top of him and onto his lap. She quickly got out of that situation and sat next to him, flustered, she looked away- hoping he wouldn't see her blushing.

He sighed and said, "I shouldn't have doubted you."

"Yer bloody right," she said, looking up at the rain which was still falling. The Pearlwas having an easy enough time getting to it's destination, but why the rain hadn't stopped when there was no storm in sight, she couldn't figure out. And why she was getting soaked to the bone she also couldn't figure out. "Is that all? We sorta already went over this…"

Jack turned to face her, "I wanted to make sure you got my message."

"I got it alright…but it was no help t' me. I already know how angry you get…and how quickly."

"So I'm human…" he paused, looking over Ana's facial features, wanting to grind them into his memory, as if they weren't there already. "Forgive me?" he asked sincerely but adding his trademark smirk to seal it.

Ana tried to hide her smile by looking away but finally gave up. "Usually I'd answer that with a slap, but it's a little hard t' do it here."

Jack smiled and shook his head, "You always do!"

"Do what?"

"Forgive me…"

She rolled her eyes, a smile still on her lips, "I'm daft to keep doin' it."

His mouth dropped in mock offense and she just smiled at him. He sighed contently, "What would I do without you luv?"

She rolled her eyes, "Well for starters, you'd be dry…"

Within the next two hours Norrington had learned seven new card games and Bianca had learned about "Nathan's" family, why he moved to the Caribbean, and why he decided to become a pirate. He had swayed greatly from the original accord but either Bianca didn't notice or didn't care.

"So…" Bianca said, lining up for the next question as she decided how many cards she needed. The two were playing poker and still without money. "You got a girl back home?"

James paused suddenly, his eyes slowly making their way up to Bianca. Oh Miss Swann, very best of luck to both of you… "No," he answered and quickly put his eyes back on his cards.

Bianca smiled, "Not anymore you mean…" she quickly took the smile off her face and said, "What happened?"

James swallowed. He hadn't wanted to talk to Jack about this, so why would he tell her? But slowly, the words came out of his mouth, "She loved someone else."

Bianca raised a brow, momentarily taking her attention away from her cards, "And you still love her?"

He shook his head, "She's a married woman. I'm not absolutely sure that there was love there to begin with…"

Bianca nodded, "So you let her marry the man of her dreams when you still…liked her?"

James looked up, seeing compassion in the pirate's eyes. He shrugged, "Her choice."

Bianca smiled to herself and nodded, "That's most likely the sweetest thing…"

"What about you?"

Bianca stopped short, looking at him, "What do you mean, what 'bout me?"

"Well…do you have anyone?"

"Obviously not home…" she said, "My town was…"

"Oh...right…"

"There's been one-nights often, but nothing anything special."

Norrington looked up, something in her tone of voice told him she was lying. Like she was guilty or missed something. "No man that's been your…everything?"

Her eyes cut into him quickly, "No. Never."

His eyes widened as the truth became obvious. She had had someone, but just didn't want to talk about it. He could understand that perfectly.

Norrington and Bianca shot out of their chairs like rockets when they heard the sudden cry from above. They had been so preoccupied with what they were talking about that they hadn't even noticed the rocking of the ship had become more violent in the past ten minutes.

On deck night had fallen and James realized how much time he had spent down stairs. He looked across the ship, trying to find Bianca, but she was no where in sight. As he tightened the ropes for the sails, through the rain and the waves that were constantly crashing onto the deck, he saw an island. He wondered if Jack was heading towards the island or not.

Jack frowned and desperately tried to see though all the water that was crashing onto the Pearl He looked at Dead Cay and squinted. "Jack!" he heard faintly on the wind. He couldn't rip his eyes away from the sea or the port ahead of him though.

The voice become clearer when the person actually stood next to him, "Jack! It's Ana Maria!"

The Captain's head jerked towards the owner of this disturbing news. James wasn't the one he was expecting to see. "What 'bout her?" He yelled back. Shifting his gaze between the port and the man in front of him.

"She was up on the rigging and a wave crashed on top of her…she fell Jack."

"Into the water?!"

"No!" James yelled, making sure it got to the Captain's ears. "On deck…Gibbs carried her down to Roberts."

Jack sighed. He didn't exactly need something more to add to his plate. He nodded quickly and told James to get a few men and go down and make sure the gun ports were firmly closed. James nodded and quickly obeyed.

Jack cursed his bad luck and tried his best to navigate the ship to the port, now more sure than ever. Because the sooner he got away from the helm, the sooner he could see Ana Maria.

First light had never been so welcomed. The sea calmed down only an hour before sun up and Jack made port and ordered his crew to sleep. They would go to land whenever they woke up. He told them they were going to be spending three days here, and no more. Then he went downstairs.

He tapped the sleeping Roberts who was sitting in a chair and had his head in his arms on the table. He woke quickly and said, "Storms over?"

Jack nodded, too tired to talk about that. "Ana Maria?" he asked. Roberts pointed to behind the counter. That was where he usually kept his patients (if there was only one) during a storm. In regular weather they would go back to their cabin. Jack nodded and Roberts went to his cabin, only assuming the Captain could handle this.

Jack sighed and slowly went over to the counter and looked around it. There was Ana, lying on a long pad and some blankets. Surprisingly enough the water wasn't all that deep down here. She was close to getting wet, but from the look of her, she looked like she was still drying. Jack on the other hand was still dripping.

He slowly knelt down and sat down against the counter, in the inch deep water, looking at her sleeping figure. She didn't look in pain and Jack only hoped she would be okay. How could things go so wrong so quickly? One minute were smiling and laughing, the next, the storm hits.

It's always calm before the storm…

Jack leaned his head back and closed his eyes, ready to fall sleep and dream of things other than a bloody storm. He slowly opened his eyes back up and grabbed Ana's hand that was close and intertwined his fingers with hers and closed his eyes again. This will do 'til morning.

AN: I apologize for not having an author's thanks, but I just realized that I haven't posted this week yet! AHHH!!!

So yea…Uhm thanks for all the reviews though, I appreciate them!