A/N: Hey! Yet another chapter from yours truly! Jack's a bit overly dramatic in this one though, just to warn you. He pulls a signature Jack halfway through though, to counteract his over acting. I'd like to thank my reviewers once again, such great comments! *Hands out cookies* I love all of you so much, that I'm going to try and put up another chapter really soon, but with exams.... I don't know when the next chapter will be up. Yours, Merlana~ Disclaimer: Hello, you have reached Merlana's disclaimer, I'm is not here at the moment, so if you'll kindly leave a message after the beep, I will try and get back to you. By the way, if you are calling about Merlana and her POTC story, she only owns the plot. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 4: Fly Away With Me You are awakened the next morning by a strange booming sound outside of your cabin. As you slowly sit up and your mind clears, you realize that someone is knocking on your door. You fall out of bed and throw on your robe.
"What?" You call in a voice thick with sleep.
"Cap'n! A is 'ere to see you." A voice calls from the other side of the door. Stumbling to your wardrobe you pull out your black skirt and a loose white shirt. Quickly putting them on, you run a hand through your sleep-mussed hair. Grimacing, you grab your hat and slam it on your head.
"Aye! Send 'im in!" You call through the door. walks in a moment later. You stand, and wait until he has seated himself in your chair, feet on your desk before you speak. "Good mornin' Comm-" You begin, Jack cuts you off.
"When it's jus' me an' you luv, ye can call me Jack. An' Cap'n will do jus' fine on deck." Jack says, and he smiles crookedly.
"What is ye be wantin', Jack?" You ask, knowing full well that he wants to discuss your accord.
"I wanted t' discuss somethin' with ya." Jack says, and motions you to sit down. "Ye look a bit stiff this mornin' luv. What's the matter?"
"I 'ad a rough night." You say grinning. Jack nods and then winks at you. You laugh and lean against your desk.
"Me crew is ready t' sail fer Port Royal. That be where we're 'eaded. 'Ave you any objections?" Jack asks, taking his feet off your desk and leans forward in his chair.
"Save the most obvious? None." You reply. Jack nods. "We're goin' t' rename this ship today." You say, and searching through the papers on your desk. Jack looks at you strangely and you shake your head. Pulling out a map of the Caribbean Sea, you spread it out on the floor of your cabin. Jack kneels down beside you. "What route are we takin'?" You ask.
"We'll be goin' the long way 'round. I don' wan' t' run inter the fleet. The Commodore's stationed in Port Royal you know." Jack says, and pulling a piece of charcoal from a pocket in the long black coat he's wearing he traces you a course.
"Jack?" You ask. He looks up. "Me ship can't go all the way t' Port Royal without stocking up. Where d'you propose we do that?"
"Aves Island. Lotsa pirates use it as a stock, so a small town 'as built up on the shore. There's a good bar there to." Jack says, and then winks at you. You feign ignorance and Jack shrugs.
"Aves Island, sounds familiar. Why?" You ask. Jack thinks for a moment.
"We're ya ever aboard a ship that chases rum runners?" Jack asks, you think back through your years on the sea and nod.
"Yeah, I was aboard the Creation." You say, and Jack looks dumfounded.
"The Creation? How's that?" He asks. "I was thinkin' that they didn't let women aboard that one at all."
"Women? No. The Captain's daughter? Yes." You say. "Me dear ol' dad was the Captain of the Creation. We 'ad a splendid time cruisin' the Caribbean." You say, your voice dripping with sarcasm. You and your father had never had a very good relationship, he'd always wanted you to be a lady, and so had your mother. You had always wanted to be a captain on a big ship, one that sailed the islands of the Caribbean.
"You father was Captain of the Creation?" Jack asks, his face ashen.

"What's wrong Jack?" You ask. Jack looks about ready to faint, something about the Creation scares the hell out of him. He shakes his head as if to force whatever is bothering him to the back of his mind.
"Nothing." He says firmly and you decide not to press the matter.
"Ye see that painting o'er there?" You point towards a drawing hung on the wall. It's a picture of a large ship, and Jack stands up to go look at it. You follow him over. "That's yer ship Jack, the Black Pearl. I saw 'er one day an' the sight stuck in my mind until I sat down an' drew that."
"You drew that? It's beautiful, she looks almost real." Jack says, fingering the painting. He looks over at you and then something else catches his eye. "Ye like me hat?" He asks, pointing to your bed. You'd thrown Jack's hat onto your bed last night before you'd fallen asleep and it had somehow ended up on your pillow. You blush and Jack smiles.
"Sorry Jack, ye can 'ave yer hat back. I was jus' teasin'." You say. Jack lurches over to your bed and takes his hat back. He jams it onto his head and stands there with a stupid grin on his face. "May I ask why we're headed fer Port Royal?"
"O' course ye may ask, bu' 'tis up to me whether I answer or not." Jack says and you roll your eyes. Jack looks slightly perturbed and then wanders over to your desk again. He squats down by the map and beckons you over. "We're goin' to Port Royal 'cause I wants to see me good friend Will. I 'aven't seen head nor tail of the lad since we fought Barbossa, neither of his li'l wife-Elizabeth." Jack says.
"I've met Elizabeth, when we were children 'er father an' mine were friends. We used to play dolls t'gether." You say, slightly embarrassed about the doll-playing issue. Jack nods his head.
"Ye'll like 'er husband, Will's a good man." Jack says, pulling you close. He gently kisses your lips and you break out of his arms. Jack looks confused and slightly hurt. He looks you in the eye and nods. "That's the way it is to be then?" You nod, not really understanding what Jack means. He stands up and heads for the door of your cabin. You get up slowly and follow him.
Once on deck you call your crew to attention and Jack seems impressed by your ability to control a bunch of unruly men. Then he notices Katey and Ana. He raises his eyebrows. "Three women? Gibbs'll have a field day." He mutters under his breath.
"Alrigh' mates!" You call and your crew quiets down. "This 'ere is
. Ye'll treat him with every respect and courtesy you give me. 'E's the Commodore of our fleet and I expect all of ye to treat 'im as such." You say.
"Aye!" Yells your crew as one.
"Ana! Set me a course fer Aves Island!" Ana salutes you and hurries off to the helm. Katey comes running up to you.
"Cap'n?" She asks. "Commodore." She says, tipping her head.
"Yes?"
"I was wonderin', are we gonna put inter port soon? I'm in need of some stuff fer the galley." Katey asks. You nod.
"We're puttin' in at Aves. Commodore Sparrow says there's a li'l town there, I'm sure they'll have anythin' ye need." You say, and Jack nods as well. Katey inclines her head to the both of you and hurries back to her galley.
"She cooks?" Jack asks.
"Yeah, she's better than me an' Ana and the whole crew combined." You reply. "Katey's been on this ship as long as I've been Captain." Jack looks thoughtful.
"D'you think she'd mind makin' dinner fer me, Jesse, Ana, and yerself tonigh'?" Jack asks. You must have looked confused because Jack continues. "I asked ye to dinner las' nigh', remember? Ye took me hat an' tol' me you'd give it back tonigh' at dinner. Ye asked abou' bringin' someone else, an' I suggested Ana. Then ye tol' me to bring someone as well. So, I chose Jesse, me first mate. Him an' Ana'll get along swell." Jack finishes, and you remember.
"I don' know, ye'll have to ask Katey abou' cookin' yerself. I'll be on yer ship at sunset like I said las' night." You say. "Hadn't you better be getting back to yer ship? Where is that blasted thing anyway?" You ask. Jack doesn't say anything; he just looks at you.
"Tryin' to get rid of Jack are ye?" He asks. You shake your head. "Well then, what be you tryin' to do?"
"I be tryin' to get me ship ready to sail, an' I know ye have one that needs readyin' as well." You say, your voice coming out harsher than you intended. Jack steps away from you and you can see the hurt in his eyes.
"Well, if that's the way ye want it to be, you can consider dinner off." Jack says angrily. "For yer information, me ship is around that point an' I swam." Jack says. You are angry with yourself for taking your fatigue out on Jack and move toward him.
"Jack, I'm sorry. I'm jus' tired is all." You say, silently begging him to forgive you. He just glares at you.
"Ye had yer chance luv." Jack says and takes a running leap off the deck. He dives gracefully into the water and swims away powerfully. You run to the rail and stare after him. Ana comes up beside you.
"What 'appened?" She asks, her voice kind.
"We we're supposed to 'ave dinner tonigh' on the Pearl, but he's mad at me fer snappin' at 'im 'n' now dinner's off. He jus' took off." You say. Ana places a hand on your shoulder.
"Did ye tell 'im you was sorry?" She asks gently.
"Yeah. I did, bu' the idiot-dammed idiot!" You yell the latter out over the water and Ana laughs.
"Jack 'as a heart of gold. 'E's not really mad at ye, an' he'll want ye later. I promise." Ana says, leaving you to your silence.
After a time, you see the Black Pearl coming into view. Jack is at the helm and he's smiling at you. The ship comes close and you can see him waving energetically at you. When you don't wave back his wave falters and he stops smiling as well. Ana looks puzzled at your coldness and raises her eyebrows at you. You ignore her and yell commands to your crew.
"Hoist anchor! I wants us behind that ship!" You yell and the deck is buzzing with activity. Taking your place at the helm of your ship you steer in beside and behind the Pearl. As you follow the Pearl toward Aves Island, you finger the strand of black pearls around your neck. You close your eyes and feel the heat of the Caribbean sun on your face. Surprisingly it feels cool compared to the touch of Jack's hands on your skin. You shake your head and curse loudly. A crewman looks up at you and you glare at him. He shrugs and goes on with what he is doing. Jack looks back at you every once in while but you ignore him and soon he stops looking back at you. "Ana! Take the helm!" Ana nods and you take off for the mainmast. Climbing the rigging you order the lookout down. He nods and hurries off to find something else to do. You sit in the crow's nest and watch as the Pearl cuts through the blue-green water. The sun is hot on your head and your eyes are hurting from the glare of the sea. A footstep sounds behind you and you turn around sword half drawn. A figure, silhouetted in the sun hands you a kohl stick. "Here luv. It helps with the glare." The figure says, and you realize that it's Jack. He climbs into the crow's nest beside you and he puts an arm around your shoulders. You snuggle up to him, and he hugs you tight. "I'm so sorry Jack!" You say, and Jack nods. "It's okay luv. Me temper got the better of me as well." He says. You try to put the kohl on, but find you can't do it without a mirror. "Let me." Jack says and he takes the stick from you and leans in close. You can smell the rum on his breath and as he puts the kohl around your eyes, you realize why Jack does it all the time, it really does help. "Thank you." You say softly. Jack hasn't moved in inch from when he was doing your make-up and you gently brush his lips with yours. Jack stiffens but relaxes quickly and kisses you back. He drops the kohl stick on the floor of the crow's nest and pulls you into his arms. The kiss deepens and you forget about the Commodore, and about the Creation and about anything else that doesn't involve kissing Jack. "Luv?" Jack says, breaking the kiss. You open your eyes to find the rigging below the crow's nest filled with your crew. They are all catcalling and hooting. Jack grins and winks at you, your face flames bright red and you bury it in your hat. Jack laughs and then takes your hand. "Come fly away with me." He says, pulling you out of the crow's nest into the rigging. "Get back to yer duties ya flea-bitten curs!" You yell to your crew and they move hurriedly out of your way. Jack swings through the rigging and you follow him, keeping up, but only just. Climbing through the rigging is not something you do on a regular basis. He is suddenly gone from in front of you and you begin to panic. You feel a hand on the small of your back and breathe a sigh of relief. You are out over the water now, and the Pearl is anchored just ahead. You ship is dropping anchor as well. Jack runs nimbly ahead of you and jumps into the sea. You scream and run out to see if he's okay. You lose your footing and fall into the sea. You hit the water screaming and choke as your mouth fills with seawater. Kicking to the surface you find Jack swimming around you in circles. He's laughing his head off. Punching him playfully on the arm you dunk him and he comes up spluttering. "Don' make me 'urt you luv." He says mock-menacingly. A rope is thrown over the side of your ship and you grab onto it. Jack wraps his hand around it just in front of you and your crew hauls you both out of the water. Jack lands on his feet and then you come flying in after him and land behind him, stumbling a bit forward. Jack falls as you hit him and you land in a heap on the deck of your ship. "Cap'n! White sails on the horizon!" Calls the lookout. Suddenly Jack is on his feet helping you up. "I'd be much obliged if you'd give me a ride back to me ship." Jack says. You shake your head. "Sorry Jack. Not today." You say. Jack nods. "Guess I'll just have to swim." You laugh and Jack dives off the rail. "See you tonight!" You call after him. "Run up the colors! Trim sails and hoist anchor!" You call, striding toward the helm. Jack is back aboard the Pearl yelling orders to his men and you see the skull and crossbones flag come up. The chase is on. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A/N: Yet another chapter...lots happened here. You know; this is the first day of exams, and I should be studying, but...writing is that much more fun. And besides that, it's a bloody snowday! The best part is that the sky is so blue and the sun so bright that if there weren't snow on the ground, I'd say it was July. It's a beautiful day! Hope that chapter was long enough...not that I get complaints...but just thought I'd try my hardest to make this chapter a long one. Read and review...I love checking my email to find another couple of reviews in it, it always brightens my day. So, brighten my day! Review! Everyone who reviews gets a cookie...a big chocolate chip one! Yours, Merlana~ P.S. Thanks to all those people who told me when Johnny Depp's birthday is. It's greatly appreciated! Merlana~