A/N: A new chapter is here! Two days late isn't too bad, right :P
Chapter 21: Running away
"I asked you a question." Nathan's voice had dropped to a dangerously low pitch. Sylvia could feel the side of her face burning from where he had hit her. She wanted to put her hand to it but found she could not move. Her hands seemed to be stuck to the floor, her body frozen. She could hear her breathing as if it was coming from someone beside her, sharp and quick like a frightened animal. Nathan grabbed her arm and pulled her up to her knees; she looked up into his face and immediately regretted it. He could see her fear and she could see his cold eyes, the eyes she had created. His fingers were digging into the muscle of her upper arm so hard that she felt tears spring into her eyes but she said nothing. There was a strange part of her that was sure that this was what she deserved.
"Where have you been?" Nathan repeated, "I won't ask again." Sylvia felt strength course through him and knew she would stand no chance if he hit her again. Her arm was going numb as Nathan's grip cut off the blood supply. A feeling of utter helplessness washed over Sylvia and she went strangely limp as if every strong feeling she had once possessed had drained away from her.
"Why won't you answer me!" Nathan demanded his face reddening. He took hold of Sylvia and shook her. Their eyes met and instead of his cold ones Sylvia saw instead two familiar brown ones in their place.
"Stop it!" She tried to break Nathan's hold of her and although she did not succeed he did stop shaking her. Sylvia took several deep breaths and felt strength enter her body once more. She did not understand why she had seen Jack in that moment but it didn't matter, he had reminded her that she had a reason not to give up.
"Let me go." Why Nathan obeyed her Sylvia was not sure but she thought it was probably because he knew she could not escape from him. Sylvia backed away a few paces, her arm throbbing. Nathan was watching her, he wanted an answer and she would have to give him one. She had one chance to get it right, one chance to save herself.
"I didn't want to tell you…" Nathan shook slightly and Sylvia saw the colour in his face deepen even further.
"I didn't want to tell you that I have been seeing a doctor." The change was immediate. Nathan's jaw went slack, and the red in his cheeks gave way to yellow.
"What do you mean?" He was not ready to believe her but Sylvia had bought herself some time, and time was all she had needed to create what she needed.
"I've been seeing a doctor," she said as she let her hand come up to the side of her face which she knew must be marked from Nathan's strike.
"Why?" Nathan asked sharply. His eyes followed Sylvia's hand and he felt a stab of guilt as he saw it lie against the red mark on her face which would soon turn into a bruise. Sylvia cast her gaze away from him. She looked suddenly upset. His stomach lurched and he rushed forwards.
"What's the matter?" he asked desperately. If something was wrong with Sylvia he would never be able to forgive himself for laying a hand on her. Sylvia reluctantly accepted his touch but she could feel her skin crawling.
"What's the matter Sylvia?" He took hold of her arms again but in a very different way than a few minutes before. He was now gentle and concerned. Sylvia felt sick to think of how quickly he could change, she wanted to pull away from him and run but that was impossible.
"I thought…" She broke off dramatically. Nathan bought her words hook, line and sinker. He held his breath.
"I thought I might have been with child." For the second time in as many minutes Nathan's face paled. Sylvia closed her eyes. This gave the impression she was deeply miserable plus the darkness was calming to her aching head.
"A child?" Nathan asked weakly.
"I've always wanted children," Sylvia said her eyes still closed, "But…" She trailed off; in truth she did not really know how to end that sentence. She did not think 'But I don't want children with you' would have gone down too well.
"Oh, I…I didn't know." Sylvia opened her eyes to see Nathan's face was a mixture of regret, and shame. She did nothing to assist him.
"I didn't want you to know, I didn't want anyone to know." She pushed past her husband and hurried into their bedroom, shutting the door behind her. Once she was there her legs gave way and she collapsed onto the bed, utterly drained.
Jack paced the cave floor. He knew Sylvia had said she was not coming but every minute was driving him further into madness. Finally he decided that he could not just stay in the cave and wait for her, if she could not come to him then he would have to go to her.
He was careful, much more so than usual. He stuck to the shadows and the streets where few ventured. Jack knew the places which most avoided. He saw marines roaming the streets and he eyed them cautiously but they did not put him off going closer to the dock. It was not hard to spot the ship Sylvia had spoken of. 'The Pride of the Sea' was written in black letters along one of the largest ships in port. Jack smirked; it was nothing to the Black Pearl. He found a spot where he could wait and watch the ship without being seen himself. It took a few hours but finally his patience was rewarded. Two people appeared, a man and a woman. Jack recognised Sylvia at once despite the fact she was wearing a hat, the brim of which cast her whole face in shadow. Jack felt a slight twinge of unease but forgot it as his eyes wandered to the person next to her. He was taller than Sylvia by about a head and he wore a pompous uniform which did not begin to hide his slightly weak build. In fact, Jack thought that he looked rather idiotic. He had floppy blonde hair that blew absurdly in the wind and he walked stiffly like he had a board nailed to his back. So that was Nathan, Sylvia's husband. If Jack had not been so consumed by jealously he might have noticed that Nathan was almost his exact opposite of him and he might have realised that Sylvia had deliberately chosen Nathan because of this. She would never have been able to bear being reminded of Jack's physical presence only to have to see someone else appear again and again.
They passed quite close to where Jack stood, Sylvia the furthest from him. They were walking slowly and each step grated on Jack as if they were walking on him rather than on stone. He wanted to casually walk out and whisk Sylvia away while that stupid looking husband of hers was forced to watch. To further Jack's torment they both stopped and looked out to sea. Nathan pointed at something which Jack could not make out and then he bent down and kissed Sylvia's cheek and whispered something in her ear. Jack did not even realise he had stepped out into the sunshine; he did not seem to be in control of his own actions any more. It was fortunate that neither Nathan nor Sylvia turned round and saw him; they simply walked on unaware of his presence at all. Jack was about ready to walk right up to them when someone called his name. He looked round startled, he had not heard anyone approach.
"By the powers! It is you!" Jack located the voice's owner at the precise moment that said owner decided to launch himself forwards. Much to Jack's surprise and displeasure, Joshamee Gibbs, his first mate, was actually hugging him.
"What the bloody hell do you think yer doing!" Jack demanded as he tried unsuccessfully to escape Gibbs' clutches. When Gibbs did release him Jack backed right up against the wall of the nearest building in an attempt to prevent any such thing happening again, his hand was ready to grab his pistol, he was that determined not to allow Gibbs any closer. Gibbs however did not seem to read these signs, his face had split into a huge grin which, despite Jack's best intentions, did melt away some of his annoyance.
"We've been right worried about ye Jack," Gibbs informed his Captain, "We been hearing tales o' a pirate keel hauled and…" His eyes went down to the bandage on Jack's arm. "By the looks o' things it were true." Jack pulled his arm behind his back; he did not like the way Gibbs was staring at it.
"We went t' the prison as soon as we heard o' course," Gibbs continued, "Only t' find the place in chaos. Seems someone got there first an' ye were nowhere t' be found. I won't lie t' ye Jack, we were beginning t' fear the worst."
"No such luck," said Jack flippantly, "I'm still 'ere."
"Don' ye try t' be light with me Jack, ye've had it rough, I can tell from yer eyes." Jack blinked. He felt slightly disconcerted at the thought of Gibbs knowing things from his eyes.
"Well, I be fine now," he said quickly to draw the topic to a firm close, "How be the Pearl?"
"She be missing her Captain," answered Gibbs solemnly.
"Aye," said Jack. He did not need to say that he was missing her too, Gibbs already knew that. He could probably see it in his eyes; Jack almost shuddered at the thought.
"Jack?"
"Aye?"
"I be glad t' see ye." Gibbs' dark eyes were sparkling strangely.
"No ye don't!" said Jack in alarm, "I be fine, do ye hear?" He spread his arms wide and grinned.
"Ye didn' really think anyone could get rid of Captain Jack Sparrow that easily, did ye?" He grinned and Gibbs joined in. They both knew that he had thought just that, but Gibbs knew not to dwell on the subject. He was just happy to see his friend alive and well.
"I want the Pearl made ready t' sail." Jack's command cut through Gibbs' thoughts.
"Aye," he said, "Should take a week or so, Cap'n."
"I want her made ready to sail by tomorrow." Gibbs gave Jack a questioning look but when Jack did not respond to this he voiced the question out loud.
"Why the rush Cap'n?" Jack did not answer at once; he seemed to be considering his words. In the end he decided on the truth but only because he didn't have the energy to lie.
"Sylvia is here an' I'm going to be taking her, savvy?" he said. Gibbs eyes widened, his eyebrows shooting up as high as they would go. Sylvia was here? That explained a lot.
Sylvia pulled the brim of her hat down even lower as someone looked in her direction. The shadow disguised the bruise that had sprung up over night. Nathan had not said one word about it; he had not even asked her if she was ok. Sylvia wondered what he would have done if she had told him where she had really been. Her head gave a painful throb at the thought. It was true, Nathan had been nicer to her but that was only because he thought she wanted a child. He believed all her sadness and distance to be grief to be for the children she had yet to conceive, he was happier now that he felt he could understand her. Sylvia wondered how it was possible to be arrogant enough to believe you knew how a person felt and why.
They were supposed to be meeting another couple at a wonderful garden Sylvia had briefly seen on her way to see Jack. It was an engagement Nathan had been reluctant to cancel; it had been his idea for Sylvia to wear the hat so she could accompany him. He did not want anyone seeing the bruise any more than Sylvia had wanted to be hit in the first place. As Nathan talked to the other husband and wife couple, the names of whom Sylvia had forgotten as soon as they had been introduced, Sylvia wandered off slightly. She felt like ripping the hat from her head and letting people see what Nathan had done to her but what good would that do?
Sylvia stretched out her hand and her fingertips brushed the petals of the flowers. It had been a long time since she had seen a garden to rival this one. She stroked a pale yellow bloom, her fingers lingering over their softness. Her mind was a million miles away from the duty of a wife, a million miles away from anything that could connect her to her husband.
Jack was watching her from his position of secrecy. Unfortunately that position seemed to be right by the bush that was attracting the whole garden's worth of bees but Jack did his best to ignore them and this became easier as he watched Sylvia coming closer. Her husband and the other couple had wandered quite a distance away now; they did not seem to have noticed that Sylvia was not with them. Sylvia began to hum softly, her hand trailing through the bushes and stopping to stroke the flowers she liked the best. Jack stood up as she drew closer. Sylvia stopped right in front of the bee attracting bush and watched the busy little workers collecting pollen. As she continued to observe them her mind began to wander and her gaze unfocused slightly. That was when she saw them, two dark, kohl rimmed eyes that were looking right at her. She gave a loud shriek of surprise and leapt backwards.
"Sylvia? Is everything alright?" Jack ducked down again quickly. Nathan was hurrying over, and he could see the other couple looking over too.
"Oh..." said Sylvia her eyes looking everywhere but where Jack's eyes had been, "Oh yes." She laughed lightly. "I was startled by a bee." The others all laughed but Jack noticed that Sylvia's smile kept fading. As Nathan led her away she shot the briefest of glances back in Jack's direction but kept on walking.
"Jack?" Gibbs waved a hand in front of his Captain's face.
"What?" asked Jack breaking out of his reverie. He was on the Pearl but the initial joy at being back on his ship had long since worn off. All he could think about was Sylvia; he would have found it a lot easier if Gibbs hadn't kept interrupting him.
"Welcome back t' the land of the living," his first mate said with a smile. Jack did not look amused. Gibbs composed himself.
"What do ye want?" Jack asked a little irritably.
"I want t' know if yer alright Cap'n," said Gibbs, "Ye haven't been yerself, ye've barely said a word to the crew. AnaMaria…"
"Jus' make ready the Pearl." Jack stood up and walked away leaving Gibbs staring anxiously after him.
Seeing Jack had shaken Sylvia and she kept looking around as if expecting him to be just out of sight. If Nathan noticed this behaviour he said nothing. In fact they barely spoke to each other all day. When Sylvia announced she was going to bed she cringed when she heard Nathan say he would come too. She felt his eyes on her as she undressed and as soon as she got into bed he was all over her, his kisses plastering her face. Nathan had no idea that what he was doing was giving Sylvia no pleasure; he had no concept of what made another person happy if it was not identical to how he felt. As Nathan's kisses went lower Sylvia felt her whole body tense with revulsion. She could not go through with it.
"No." That one word brought Nathan's attention to a stop. "Not tonight."
"But dear, if you want a child…"
"I said not tonight." Nathan was silent for a moment and Sylvia began to hope that he had given up but she was mistaken.
"I…er…I really think it's your duty." Sylvia's mouth went dry.
"My duty?" she repeated and she swung her legs off the bed. "I know about the maids."
"W-what?" Nathan stammered.
"I know about Florence and Clara and Arabella," said Sylvia who suddenly no longer felt cautious about saying such things. What did it matter now? Why should she lie to protect his feelings any more? Beside her Nathan was opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water, it was not a pleasant sight.
"How did you? I mean…I never…but how did you?" Nathan was babbling and Sylvia knew that if she had ever doubted what she had heard that she had it confirmed now.
"Are you…are you going to tell anyone?" Sylvia almost said 'everyone' but she held her tongue.
"No."
"Oh." Nathan's hands were twisting the bed clothes. Sylvia slid back into bed.
"Goodnight Nathan."
Nathan had lain awake for about an hour before finally falling asleep. He was snoring now but that was not what was keeping Sylvia awake. When she finally drifted into sleep she was haunted by dreams of broken promises and the Black Pearl with its great sails on fire.
As soon as the sun was up Sylvia left a message with one of the maids that she was going out. She almost ran through the town, only stopping because there was a fierce stitch digging into her side. She walked more slowly not paying attention to anything around her. When someone grabbed her arm, she almost screamed before realising that she knew who was behind her.
"Sorry luv, didn't mean t' scare ye."
"Jack, what are you doing here?"
"Lookin' fer you actually," said Jack who had let her go but was still very close.
"No, not here Jack, someone might see." Jack completely ignored her. He leaned in to kiss her but Sylvia pulled away.
"Not here," she said again, "Come on." She grabbed his hand and pulled him to somewhere where they were less conspicuous. There she stopped and got a good look at him. Sylvia noticed that Jack looked a lot better today and she was about to remark on that fact when she remembered something else, a pair of eyes looking through a flowering bush.
"Why were you spying me?"
"I wouldn't call it spying exactly," said Jack evasively, "More researching."
"Researching?" Sylvia asked sceptically, "Did you find out anything interesting?" Jack smiled wickedly.
"Aye," he said, "Yer husband looks like a…
"Alright," said Sylvia sharply cutting him off, "I already know how you feel." She wished she could see Jack properly, but she was wearing another hat which obscured her vision slightly and she dared not take it off. Jack appeared to be thinking along the same lines too because he was eyeing her hat with interest.
"Do ye wear a lot of hats?" he asked.
"Yes," Sylvia answered quickly. Jack's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Hats can hide a lot of things." Sylvia saw his hand come up to remove it from her but she stepped away.
"I like them," she said swiftly her heart in her throat. Jack opened his mouth to say something else but reconsidered. Sylvia tried to count slowly to ten to stop her racing heart from taking control of her.
"Can I kiss you now?" Jack asked. There was no way Sylvia could have said no to that. She closed her eyes as Jack's hand found her face. It was the wince that gave her away as Jack's fingers accidentally touched the bruise beside her eye. Quick as lightening Jack had moved his hand upwards and whipped the hat right off her head. Sylvia turned away but it was too late, Jack had seen.
"Yer bastard of a husband did this t' ye, didn't he?" The hand that had removed the hat was now crushing it as anger surged through Jack's body. Sylvia looked like a startled deer. Her eyes were darting around as she tried to look for an escape route. She had never wanted to run from Jack before but now she was ashamed; ashamed that Nathan had hit and that she had been powerless to help herself. Or maybe she wanted to run because she saw in Jack the same anger she had seen in Nathan moments before he had hit her. The gentle hand on her shoulder came as a complete surprise and she jumped, every nerve on edge.
"Sylvia, I'm not going to hurt you." Jack watched Sylvia gradually relax. What kind of man would strip a woman of her strength? What kind of a man would use his strength against her? Jack's hand caressed Sylvia's neck easing out the tension. He wondered how long it had been since her husband had touched her like this if he ever had at all.
"Jack," Sylvia gasped as he tilted her backwards and treated her to what she truly deserved. He could tell from the way she felt limp almost as soon as his lips touched hers that pleasure had overtaken her.
"I'm never going t' let anyone hurt you again," he whispered softly. Sylvia sighed.
"You can't protect me from everything."
"Are you doubting me?" Sylvia opened her eyes. She remembered a time long ago when Jack had asked her the very same question. Those had been the happiest days of her life, and sometimes she had dared to believe that those days would never end but they had, all too soon.
"I wish I didn't have to go back to him."
"Ye don't have t' go back," said Jack leaping upon her words just as she had expected him to.
"But the Pearl's not ready to sail, I would be putting you in danger." Jack made a dismissive noise and Sylvia knew what he was about to say.
"There is no danger because you're Captain Jack Sparrow." Jack looked at her.
"Seems you've finally caught on," he said with a wink. Sylvia felt the corners of her mouth lift into a smile.
"Stay with me luv, don't go back to him." Sylvia hesitated. Staying with Jack was foolish, it was risky, it was selfish but she wanted to, she wanted to so much it was hurting.
"Ye've been unhappy fer too long luv." Jack could see that he was winning, Sylvia's resistance was gradually wearing away but to seal the deal he had one more trick up his sleeve.
"Maybe ye don't want t' stay," he said sounding doubtful for the first time, "Maybe yer not sure about being with a pirate…" He had to stop speaking then because Sylvia had leapt upwards and straddled her legs around his hips. She kissed him holding nothing back.
"Is that answer enough for you Captain?" Jack considered this.
"Ye might want t' make it a bit clearer." Sylvia kissed him again and then hugged Jack so tightly he had to fight to breathe.
"Ok, ok. I get the message," he said breathlessly. Sylvia laughed and put her legs back on the ground. Now it was Jack's turn to take her by surprise. Before she had time to ask what he was doing Jack had unsheathed a knife from his belt, unhooked her dress and cut her corset away from her.
"There'll be no more of these for a start," he said tossing it away. Sylvia took a deep breath while Jack surveyed her.
"There'll be no more dresses either, ye'll end up overboard in one of those things."
"Fine with me," said Sylvia feeling a rush of exhilaration. It was really happening, she was really running away.
"You ready t' go to the Pearl?" Jack asked.
"Not yet." Sylvia raised up her left hand and removed the gold ring from her finger. She held it for a moment and then she closed her eyes and threw it as far as she possibly could. They both heard it bounce once on the rocks and then there was silence. Sylvia looked at her hand. There was a pale band on her finger but that would fade with time.
"Now I'm ready." Jack took hold of her ring free hand, kissed it once and then proceeded to lead her to where his ship was hidden. It was only then, as they walked in silence together, that Sylvia considered what she was leaving. Her possessions meant nothing to her, not even her diaries. They were merely a reminder of an unhappy time she would rather forget. She certainly would not miss any of her clothes or fancy jewels, all the things that Nathan had thought meant something to her. Then there were the people. Sylvia thought about each one of the people on the ship in turn and knew she would miss none of them. She thought of Nathan waiting for her to return. Well, he was welcome to his pick of the maids. She squeezed Jack's hand, he was her new life.
A/N: Not a cliffhanger this time :) I hope you enjoyed it!
Been a sad week for me as I had to have my beloved rabbit, Fudge, put to sleep :(
I have a rough plan for the next chapter but that's all, I shall aim to have it out in a week's time (but no promises, savvy?)
