Chapter 8: Let Go The Door

The El Puro would be allowed to sail, minus the contents of its cargo hold, as the crew of the Black Pearl had no real quarrel with the remaining eleven men from the galleon. Thanks to Eliza and Annamaria, the guns had been effectively disabled, and with El Cruce captured and on the Black Pearl, the surviving crew had no reason for savagery. Gibbs was a right respectable man, showing them mercy, but the truth was, Gibbs had merely had his fill of torture and death for awhile and as long as they had the loot, Gibbs didn't really care what the men did next.

Gibbs looked the length of the deck on the Black Pearl and heaved a deep sigh, half of satisfaction, half of weariness. Cotton was swabbing the deck, washing away more blood with each stroke of his mop. A crewman walked past the main mast, where the barely-conscious Hector Ruiz was tied with rope from his ankles to his neck. The crewman swigged from his mug and spat it in Ruiz' face with a laugh, and kept going. Annamaria was standing unnaturally close to Bandy Jim against the railing, examining the bandage where his hand used to be and looking unusually concerned. Jim just stood and watched the girl with a dopey grin on his face. Gibbs chuckled. Strange secrets had been exposed during this latest ordeal.

The smell of fine food wafted from the scullery below, where other shipmates were repairing the hole in its wall. That Old Nance sure was one heck of a cook, thought Gibbs. Even with a superstition as strong as his about women on board the ship, Gibbs was secretly glad when a full search of the El Puro had turned up the woman hiding in the scullery, where she'd been forced by the Spaniards to slave for weeks. After all, Annamaria and Eliza were too young to be proper female companionship, but this fine old wench had a hearty laugh and was, like Gibbs, a well-seasoned veteran of the sea.

The funerals of their four fallen crewmates would take place once the captain was able, Gibbs thought. In truth, Gibbs recognized part of the reason for waiting was to make sure there would only be four funerals, rather than five. Unbeknownst to everyone at the time, Jack had suffered heavy injuries during his swordfight with El Cruce on the Black Pearl.

Eliza, again dressed in her pirate's clothes, had been sitting vigil beside Jack for days, tending to his wounds. Finally, the captain's fever had broken, though he was very weak from losing a fair amount of blood. He lapsed in and out of consciousness, mumbling unintelligibly or sometimes smiling at something in a distant dream. Eliza was so worried about Jack, it hadn't phased her that Jack was shirtless in bed with only his skivvies between them. She slowly dabbed the sweat from his forehead with a wet cloth, wiping the mottled strands of hair from his face. "Rest now, Jack," she whispered softly into his ear. "We'll wait for the opportune moment, love."

Things ran smoothly with Gibbs in charge, as he was a strong but benevolent taskmaster. But on the question of what was to be done with Hector Ruiz, Joshamee Gibbs wasn't sure. As Eliza joined him on deck behind the wheel, stretching out her arms with deep circles under her eyes, he cast her an admiring glance.

"Miss Eliza," began Gibbs. "We're all mighty 'preciatin' what yer doin' for Jack. But ya needn't run yerself down like this, lass."

"He saved my life for the second time, Mr. Gibbs. Surely I owe him this much," Eliza answered politely, though clearly exhausted. Gibbs smiled at the girl, who was staring lazily toward the horizon, lost in her own thoughts. It was clear to everyone now that Eliza was in love with Sparrow, but Gibbs would not be the one to meddle in it.

"I've one question upon which I need yer advice, though, miss."

Eliza turned to Gibbs quizzically.

"We all thought it should be you who decide what's to be done wid' Ruiz there," he nodded toward the tall, bound prisoner.

"I've wondered a lot about that, too," answered Eliza. "And this crew will not lower ourselves by executing him in the same manner as he would have us, nor in any manner at all."

"Are…are you sure, miss?" asked Gibbs, incredulously.

"I've thought it over and I think I know the perfect come-uppance for our friend El Cruce. For my father, for the Esperanza, for me and Jack. He'll be punished, but justly, and leaving him the only thing I had left, however small…hope."

Hector Ruiz could not help but laugh at the irony of his predicament, as he watched the Black Pearl getting smaller and smaller in the distance. His arms were tied tightly outright around the door that once graced the entrance to Jack Sparrow's ready-room. The door had blown off when the cannonball exploded into the room, and was being used now for other purposes. Jack's small dagger was clenched between El Cruce's teeth, and seawater entered his mouth now and again as the waves crept over the top of the door. Ruiz coughed the water out, being careful not to drop the dagger, which at this point was his only chance of survival. How he would manage to use only his legs, feet and teeth to free himself, and where he might go after that, were things he had a long time to worry about, he thought madly as he watched dark clouds rolling in from the east. Rough waters were surely ahead. Another wave of cold salt water washed over him, bathing him, purifying him. Hector Ruiz laughed, and laughed, and laughed…

Eliza opened the window of Jack's bedroom to let the night air in. She breathed in the salty air, feeling it course through her hair. Eliza hadn't felt this peaceful since being on the Esperanza, she thought, as she gazed up at the moon.

"'Ello love," said a familiar voice, wearily, from behind her.

"Jack!" Eliza gasped, wheeling around to face him. She gasped. She tried desperately to find the words to say, but when she opened her mouth to speak, nothing coherent came out. "I….I….I…" The girl collapsed onto his bedside, weeping uncontrollably.

"Shhhh…" said Jack with a lazy grin, stroking Eliza's black hair. "You didn't think I'd leave without getting me treasure now, did you?"

Eliza raised her tear-streaked face. "Captain Sparrow!" she yelled, in mock indignation, a smile creeping across her face as she removed the hand that had just pinched her behind.

Jack placed his other hand under her chin, watching Eliza's lovely face glow in the combination of moonlight and the flickering candles. He gazed at her deeply, with all the intensity of a thousand pirates and a thousand treasure ships. Jack Sparrow lifted her face up to his, and paused with their faces no more than an inch apart, as he felt her breath against his mouth.

"I shouldn't involve myself with drunk older pirates," she gasped breathlessly.

"And I shouldn't pursue innocent young things over which I might wield unfair influence," he smiled.

Their eyes said everything that needed to pass between them before their lips met in a tender but impassioned kiss that betrayed weeks of secret longings and regrets. His tongue curled around hers and she felt she would surely float right out the window to where the moon shone its approval at long last.

Jack pulled himself away long enough to say with a dastardly grin, "I've got one question, love…Would you take off my clothes now please?"

Eliza stepped back, embarrassedly, invigorated, looking down at Jack from head to toe, her eyes lingering suspiciously on the bump in the blanket right around his waist. She stepped forward to grab his covers, but his hand grabbed hers.

"I didn't mean my clothes, love," he nodded at her, devilishly. "I meant my other clothes…that is to say the clothes which are on your body. My clothes. I mean, they're your clothes now, really, so it's a bit confusing actually whose clothes they are…"

Jack's inane soliloquy was interrupted by Eliza's wadded pirate clothing hitting him in the face. He tossed them aside, allowing himself a moment to behold Eliza standing before him. He, Jack Sparrow, gasped for air at the sight of her bare body.

"Be gentle with me, Jack," asked Eliza, as she lifted the covers and got into bed beside the pirate captain she loved.

"You've just been far less than that, love," he admitted coyly, sliding his fingers over her warm nakedness. "But I will say, miss, that I'm feeling rather ill. Like perhaps I've got me a touch of scurvy. Now if I could just find me some ripe oranges around here, I'd be fixed up, right quick," said Jack, naughtily squeezing Eliza as she shrieked with laughter. Jack and Eliza melted together under the covers as the Black Pearl sailed calmly through the Caribbean waters.

When Jack opened his eyes, Eliza was no longer beside him. In her place, a handful of rubies and a folded piece of paper. Jack rubbed his eyes, sat up in bed, and read Eliza's note in disbelief:

"My darling, wonderful Captain,

While my adventures with you will undoubtedly prove to be the fondest memories of my life, it would be foolhardy for either of us to pretend this love affair can work. You are a man of the sea who longs for freedom and adventure. I am a young woman with a life of my own to find.

Our hesitation, after all, had honorable reasons. Love has nothing to do with my choice, yet also everything to do with it. If I were to stay here with you, our heaven would eventually become a hell for you and therefore to us both, and this I cannot allow when my time with you has been beautiful beyond comprehension.

You saved my life more than once, and have my eternal thanks for doing so. You taught me to love, and gave me back something I thought I'd lost forever, something I only now respect as much as my father did…esperanza…hope. The name Jack Sparrow will live in my heart forever, and though it pains me more than you can know, I must leave you despite being very much in love with you.

I bid you a fond farewell. A very fond farewell, for I don't expect to see you again, even though beautiful things would have most assuredly developed between us."

Jack Sparrow grinned wryly as he read his former words, and saw the signature and postscript at the note's end:

"Always Your Eliza

p.s. I've taken a good amount of the jewels from your hold to assist me establishing myself, and bargained a ride back to San Miguel on the El Puro. Old Nance has come with me. I've left you silk for your new sails and these rubies to buy yourself a new cow. I'm sure you'll understand, and with your skills will be able to recover anything I've taken from you. Goodbye and good journey, my love."

Jack Sparrow felt a hard tug at his insides, and the pain was unbearable. But in spite of it, he laughed at the fiery spirit of his woman. "Oh, Eliza, love," he said aloud. "You'd have made the most wonderful pirate." Jack kissed her letter, folded it tenderly and placed it on his bedside table with a sad smile.

Springing out of bed, pulling on his clothes and opening the door to the captain's deck outside, the Jack yelled menacingly to his crew. "Look alive, mates! We're sailing for supplies! I've got to buy us a new cow! Hopefully one that doesn't get seasick all the time, the old lout…" He trailed off with a mumble, gesturing wildly. The crew of the Black Pearl stopped briefly, everyone joyfully recognizing the return of their captain, then went about readying the ship for her next adventure.