I'M BAAAAAAACK! Woo! Ok, finally, I have a reason to continue my life/update my fics. Same thing. I must give INFINITE thanks to Johnny'shumiliatedgrape who has inspired me to keep posting! EVERYONE SHOULD READ HER FANFICTION! IT'S GREAT! Anyway, THANK YOU, BUDDY! I also must thank DAFTLIKESPARROW who is always wonderful and inspiring - even tho her computer is evil and wont let her review! I love you, man! And i love your dog! Anyway, enjoy!
Chapter 2: You're Not Here
The next day, Jack went into town (hesitantly, as he didn't want to leave Celeste) to get something for Celeste to eat. Whilst there, he ran into Celeste's mother.
"Oh, good day." she greeted. "Is Celeste here?"
"No." he replied.
"You should talk to her about forgiving me." she said.
"You know, all she wanted was to 'ear you say you're sorry." Jack told her. "She can't forgive you for what you did, but she can move on an' maybe start somethin' new."
She didn't reply for a moment. "…Say, are you alright?" she asked. "You don't sound like you did the other day."
"No, can't say that I am alrigh'. Can't say that I'll ever be the same, really." he said. "Commodore Norrington is dead. 'e's the reason Celeste an' I can stay 'ere."
"Oh, no - that's terrible."
"Yes, it is." he agreed. "Problem is, you shouldn' shock pregnant women."
"What do you mean?" she asked warily.
"Celeste lost the baby last nigh'." he said emptily.
Her expression faltered. "I want to see her." she stated.
"No, it's not a good idea righ' now." Jack told her. "She's under too much stress as it is. She's blamin' 'erself for the whole thing."
"Why would she do that?"
"Because she blames 'erself for everythin'." he replied.
"She does?" she asked. "She never used to do that."
"Well, she does now." he told her. "From what I can tell, 'er stepmother drilled it into 'er."
She paused. "Well, when can I see her?"
"When she's ready." Jack said.
"And when will that be?" she asked.
"When she is." he replied sharply.
She sighed and nodded. "Well, I'm terribly sorry for your loss… If there's anything I can do, please tell me."
Jack nodded. "Good day, madam."
"Please, call me Jennifer." she said.
"Good day, Mrs. Richardson." Jack bid, tipping his hat, and left.
On his way back, he ran into the guards Murtogg and Mullroy.
"Oh, Mr. Sparrow." Murtogg greeted. "How are you today?"
"Could be better." Jack replied.
"Sorry to hear that." Murtogg said. "And how's that wife of yours?"
"She, too, could be better." Jack told him. "Er, what's bein' done about Commodore Norrington's murder? Is someone tryin' to solve it? My wife was very fond of the Commodore and would like to know anythin' about the case."
"Yes, a Mr. Flynn is being called to work on the case." Mullroy injected. "He was sent for immediately after we found out about the murder. Such a pity…"
"Aye, Mrs. Sparow and I owe Commodore Norrington our lives, really." Jack told them. "She's takin' it really 'ard."
Jack went back to the ship and returned to Celeste.
"I brought you some bananas." he told her, sitting down on the bed.
"I'm not hungry." Celeste stated.
"Darling, if you don' eat, you won' get better."
"I'm not hungry." she insisted.
He sighed. "Please eat somethin', sweetheart - you've 'ardly eaten anythin' all day."
"I'm not hungry." she repeated.
"You'll get sick if you don' eat." he told her.
"Maybe I deserve it." she said.
"Darling!" he exclaimed. "You do not!"
"…Well, I'm not hungry." she stated. "I want to see Anne. I want to know how she's doing."
"Why don' you eat somethin' an' I'll send someone to get Anne."
"Jack, if I eat, I'll get sick on you - you want that?" she asked bitterly.
"I'm sorry, love, I jus' want what's best for you." he told her. "Don't be angry at me."
"I'm not, Jack, I'm sorry, I just feel terrible and I don't want to eat - please don't make me." she said pleadingly.
"I'll never make you do anythin' you don' want to do, sweetheart." he told her. "I'll send someone to get Anne for you, savvy?" She nodded. "I'll be back in a few moments."
A few moments later, Jack came back in and sat down next to Celeste.
"Alrigh', Anne should be 'ere in a little while." he said.
"Thank you." she replied. He put his arms around her. She sighed. "What's wrong with me, Jack? …What's wrong?"
"There's absolutely nothin' wrong with you, darling, don' you dare think there is."
"Will and Elizabeth…" she said, thoughts just dawning on her. "I wonder how Will and Elizabeth are doing… They must be taking it pretty hard… they've known Commodore Norrington since they were young…"
"Well, I'll tell you what," Jack told her, "'ow 'bout tomorrow I get Will and Elizabeth to come an' visit you? 'ow does that sound?"
"That sounds good." she replied. "Yes, I want to see them."
"Alrigh', then, tomorrow." he sid.
She gazed into Jack's eyes, thinking. "You know, Jack, regardless of anything that's happened, I'm glad I became a pirate. I'm glad I left home and took a risk… I mean, for all I knew, you could've been a terrible pirate who could've done… anything to me. I figured if I was going to get raped or something, I could defend myself… wrong on that one…"
"'ey, Black didn' play fair." Jack injected.
"Yes, but who does?" Celeste asked. "Anyway, I'm glad I took that risk and just left. I was surprised, though, how very nice you and your crew were. Everything I'd heard about pirates had been atrocious - I didn't expect such nice people… And I hope you know that I wouldn't trade my life now for anything in the world, even with all the bad things that have happened… I love it and if I had it to do over, I would go through everything all over again."
"Same 'ere, love, same 'ere." he replied. "Except, maybe I would've tried to get to you a little sooner."
She smiled. She reached up and outlined the features of Jack's face with her fingers. "Everything in the world I need is right here."
"Likewise, sweetheart." he told her sincerely and kissed her.
Anne came to visit and she talked to Celeste grievously. She was very depressed about her uncle's passing and prayed that the investigator could solve the case and find Commodore Norrington's murderer. The next day, Will and Elizabeth came by and were grieving for Norrington as well. Unfortunately, they hadn't found out about Celeste's miscarriage until then, which heavily added to their grief.
Celeste and Jack spent every spare moment together for the next five weeks. Jack was hesitant to leave Celeste's side even to go to the market, so he sent someone in his stead. Usually, it was Anamaria who went, but she didn't mind. She knew how much Jack cared about Celeste and really thought it was rather sweet.
One day, a letter arrived for Jack. He read it with an expression of concern on his face.
"Who is it from, Jack?" Celeste asked him.
"Me ol' friend Rob Henderson…" he told her, "'e wants me to visit 'im. But… I don' know if I'm goin' to… I mean, 'e was a great friend o' mine, but… 'e doesn' live in Port Royal…"
"Where does he live?" she asked.
"In a little town about a week's travel away." he replied. "All on land - can't get there on ship." Celeste didn't reply. "…I really think I should go…" he glanced at her. "I don' want to go, necessarily, but I really think I should…" Celeste remained silent. "I don' 'ave to, but…"
"No, you should." she told him. "You're wasting too much time with me - you should go."
"I'm not 'wastin'' time with you - it's not 'wastin'.'" he said. "I'd rather be with you than anywhere else in the world."
"Well, nonetheless, I think you should go if you want to."
So it was decided. Jack would leave the next day. He arranged a carriage and everything and was going to leave early in the morning. Unfortunately, he would be gone for three weeks. That night, Jack asked Celeste if she was really alright with him leaving. She expressed her true opinion.
"Oh, please don't go, Jack!" she sobbed into his chest. "I don't want to be without you for three weeks! I couldn't stand going to sleep and waking up alone!"
"Darling…"
"Please, Jack!" she pleaded. "Don't leave me!"
"Baby, it's not like I'm never comin' back." he reasoned. "I jus' 'ave to go for a few weeks. I'll be back sooner than you know - I promise." he kissed her head.
"Well, I know, but… uhhh!" she whined.
"You know, I'm not goin' jus' to go." he told her. She looked up at him questioningly. "Rob's dyin."
She paused. "…Well, you didn't tell me that…" she said. "…Wow, I just whined like a complete fool… I'm sorry, you go, then. I didn't know. That's important and… you need to go. I'm perfectly fine wit it."
"Good." he replied. "I'm glad." She smiled and hugged him - only problem was, her smile was false.
"Celeste." Jack whispered in her ear. "Wake up, sweetheart, I 'ave to leave in a little while." She stirred sleepily while his words slowly sank in; when they did, her eyes shot open and she sat up. "'ey." he greeted with a smile.
"When do you have to leave?" she asked.
"In about a half hour." he replied.
"Oh, why didn't you wake me earlier?" she asked sadly.
"You looked so cute - I couldn'." he told her. She threw her arms around him and sighed.
"I'm going to miss this." she said, clinging to him tightly.
"Me too, love." he replied gently. He placed a hand on the back of her head and put his other arm around her. "You'll never leave my thoughts, Princess."
"And you'll never leave mine, Jack O' Lantern."
They stayed in each other's arms until Jack had to leave, and Celeste clung to him all the way up on deck.
"I'll be back before you know it." he told her. She clung tightly to him, desperately not wanting to let go. After a moment, though, she did let him go. "I'm goin' to miss you terribly, you know that, righ'?"
"I'm going to miss you, too.." she said dispiritedly. "A lot…"
"I love you, Celeste."
"I love you, too, Jack." she replied and they kissed.
A few moments later, most of the crew had gathered to see Jack off.
"Alright, alright, you don't want to chew each other's faces off." Sierra said, coming up to them.
Celeste ignored her and gave Jack a final kiss and then released him so he could bid farewell to the crew. After all the crew had said their goodbyes, Jack looked back at Celeste and tipped his hat. He turned and set off down the docks. Celeste watched him get into a carriage and drive off and watched the carriage until she could no longer see it
Jack, from his seat in the carriage, looked back at Celeste until he couldn't see her anymore. He leaned back and sighed.
Celeste returned to her room with nothing to do but read.
For a few days, Celeste kept to herself, since Jack had made Gibbs promise that he wouldn't let Celeste leave the ship as she, according to him, still needed to rest. One day, she sent someone to get Anne - she had a plan.
"Anne," Celeste said to her, "I would love to get out and do this myself, but Jack made the entire crew promise that they wouldn't let me leave the ship - he says I need to rest. And I suppose I do, but it's awfully annoying to stay out of the town's goings-on. So, what I'd like you to do is find Inspector… what was it? Flynn? Yes, Flynn. So, find Inspector Flynn and ask him about the case. I'm sure he'll tell you since you are Commodore Norrington's niece. So, just ask him what they know about the case and what they don't know."
"Alright." Anne agreed. "Why are you so curious?"
"Well, my uncle Arthur was an inspector." Celeste replied. "I actually know quite a lot about solving murder cases."
"Were there a lot of murders in Ruby Falls?" Anne asked. "I mean, it's such a rich town."
"Well, that was back when we lived in Rosalia." Celeste explained. "And there were quite a few murders in Downtown Rosalia. I learned a lot from Arthur and I'm actually fairly confident that I can contribute to this case."
So it was set. Anne would snoop around and get some information from Flynn while Celeste sat, bored, in her room.
After Anne left, Celeste went to her window and opened it. It started to rain. She breathed deep the fresh, crisp smell of the rain and thought of Jack… She stared out at the horizon.
'Jack… you promised you'd be back before I knew it… well… I know it…' she thought. 'So, please… come home soon…'
Over the time of Jack's absence, Celeste had constant nightmares and no one to comfort her. She would dream about Jack never coming back, or coming back and then leaving her for good. She would always wake up crying. The only comfort she had was Blackbeard and Shakespeare, their two stuffed bears. She was left alone too much, but the crew didn't do anything, since they really didn't know how Celeste worked; also, they felt it was better to leave her alone - they didn't want to disturb her. Being left alone was not good for Celeste at all. When she wasn't concentrating on a book, she was thinking about the baby and blaming herself or thinking about Jack. She remembered that Jack told her it wasn't her fault, but… how could she not think so? Thinking about it with no comfort from Jack, and thinking about Norrington's death, and Jack being gone, she cried herself to sleep every night. How could it not be her fault? How couldn't she be responsible? She was the one carrying the baby inside her - no one else had any control. There was no blame to be put on anyone except her.
Elizabeth visited often and Will as often as he could, but the time she needed someone was on those horrible nights. One night there was a thunderstorm. She wasn't scared of the thunder like she used to be, but missed Jack's warm arms to retreat into. She realized that she was being spoiled, whining over Jack being gone, but she needed him - she really did.
The separation hadn't been smooth for Jack either. He found his mind drifting off at times; many times while he was in a conversation. He talked endlessly about Celeste to anyone who even hinted to his home life. He, too, had gotten terribly used to falling asleep and waking up with Celeste near him, which was not easy to forget. He hated falling asleep and waking up alone. Being without Celeste was killing him - especially since he knew she was probably at home blaming herself over the loss of the baby. He knew she would blame herself and wished he could be at home to comfort her. He missed her more than he thought he would - he thought he'd be able to handle it - he was wrong. He didn't realize how much it hurt to be so far away from her. If he could just feel her hair or the touch of her lips… He wanted to go back home so badly, but he had given his word to his friend that he would stay for a week. He would be glad, though, when he could hold Celeste again.
Jack's absence felt like an eternity for both him and Celeste. The day he returned would be of great relief to both of them.
Celeste sat in the dining room, gnawing on a banana. It was evening and almost time for dinner, but she didn't want to eat - she was satisfied with the banana. Just then, Anamaria burst into the room.
"Celeste!" she exclaimed. Celeste looked up hopefully at her. "He's back." Celeste smiled. She jumped up and dashed out the door.
Jack was standing at the side of the ship, talking to Sierra.
"JACK!" Celeste cried.
"Princess!" he exclaimed, holding out his arms. She ran to his embrace and he picked her up and spun her around.
"Oh, I'm so glad you're back!" she told him, clinging tightly to him.
"I'm glad I'm back, too, love." Jack said.
"I missed you so much!" she exclaimed. By then many crew members had made their way over to greet Jack as well.
"I missed you too much, darling." he told her and they kissed.
"Oh, great, we're really going to hear it tonight…" Sierra muttered very audibly. "Hope it doesn't carry to my room."
"Celeste heard this and pulled away, blushing. "How rude…" she mumbled.
Everyone welcomed Jack back home and eventually went back to what they were doing.
Celeste and Jack pressed the palms of their hands against one another's and she leaned up against him.
"So, were you a good girl while I was gone?" he asked playfully.
"Of course." she replied, smiling.
"Didn' see any other men, did you?"
"If you didn't see any other women."
He paused. "Wait… so… is that a no?"
"It'd better be a no!" she exclaimed.
He laughed. "Jus' teasin' you, darling." After a moment, Celeste spoke.
"Did you have a good time visiting your friend?" she asked.
"Not really." Jack replied truthfully. "I mean, it was good to see him again and I was glad I could see him before he died, but… I missed you so much, I couldn't concentrate much. …By the way, are you feelin' any better?"
"Yes, much." she replied. "Anamaria said that I can go back to normal life now."
"Tha's good." Jack said. "I thought you were goin' to go crazy jus' sittin' at 'ome all the time." he paused. "Gibbs!" he called and Gibbs came over to them. "Gibbs, you didn' let my wife leave the ship, did you?" Celeste sighed impatiently.
"Of course, not, Cap'n." Gibbs replied. Celeste smiled back at Gibbs so Jack couldn't see her. He had let her off the ship. She'd begged to go shopping or just get out, really - she was going crazy.
"See?" Celeste said to Jack as Gibbs walked off. "Your girl always behaves."
"'e let you off, didn' 'e?" Jack asked.
"What? No. Why would you think that?"
"Because my girl never behaves." Jack told her, smiling. "She always does exactly what she wants."
"Why, Jack, you offend me." Celeste replied.
"You little liar." he said, smiling, and picked her up.
"I'm a liar and you're overprotective." she told him, smiling as well. She put her hands on his cheeks. "I missed, you, you pirate scoundrel."
"I missed you, too, you little brat." he replied, smiling still. She kissed him.
"Shall we go to dinner?" she asked.
"Good idea." he replied, and they headed off to dinner. They ate dinner in the galley since they hadn't prepared the dining room - they didn't know exactly when Jack would be back, after all, and Celeste wasn't eating on a regular schedule.
At dinner, Jack told everyone of his visit to his friend and how good it was to see him after such a long time. Rob was eternally grateful that Jack came, and Jack was glad of that and didn't really regret going, even if it was painful to be away from Celeste.
After dinner, Celeste and Jack slipped off to their room. Celeste sighed and looked up at Jack. "Don't ever leave me like that again." she told him. "You were gone too long. I didn't like it. When you think about it, we've never been apart for that long the entire time we've known each other."
"I know." he said. "I didn' enjoy it either, love, but I couldn' 'ave taken you with me."
"I know." she replied as they put their arms around each other. "What matters is that you're back now." She kissed him.
"Shiver me timbers, did I miss that." he sighed. She laughed. "Lot of other things I missed too…" he said, pulling her closer.
She smiled. "Like what?"
"Like… the Pearl, Will and Elizabeth, the-"
"Jack!" she scolded. "That's not what you're supposed to say!"
He laughed. "Well, anyway, actions speak a lot louder than words." he said and leaned in and kissed her. They both lied down and wrapped their arms around each other.
"I'm so glad you're home." Celeste told him, hugging him tightly.
"So am I, sweetheart." he replied, hugging her tightly as well. He ran his fingers through her hair. "An' now I'm never lettin' you go."
She smiled. "Whatever made you think I was going to let you?" He smiled as well and kissed her.
weep Anyway, I hope you liked the chapter! Promise I'll post more soon! Luv Cara! REVIEW PLEASE!