Ruby woke to find herself laying in a bed, with Jack standing over her, a concerned look on his face.
At first she could not remember what she was doing there. Then everything came flooding back to her. A great sadness filled her heart and she groaned; her father was dead.
"Ruby?" Jack said, realising she was awake. "Are you ok?"
Ruby nodded, or a close to a nod as she could get, lying down.
Jack put a hand on her shoulder.
"What happened?" She croaked.
"Well, after you passed out, we managed t' get Scarr's crew off the ship. There wasn't too, many, as half of them were on The Snitch. Most of 'em surrendered pretty quick when they realised their cap'n was dead." Jack smiled at the memory. "Anyway, we found Anamaria locked in a cabin. She'd gone with Gibbs, but they'd…. well, used her for they're own purposes. She still pretty pissed." Jack paused, a shadow passing over his eyes.
"What… what did yeh do with my dad?" Ruby almost whispered. Jack pursed his lips and looked away.
"Well, we had t' throw 'im overboard-" Jack said.
"Yeh what?" Ruby screeched, sitting up sharply. Her right arm exploded with pain and she yelped. Jack sighed.
"I'm sorry, Ruby. We couldn't do anything else with 'im." He said patiently.
"Yeh could've buried him!" Ruby shrieked.
"We couldn't! We're in the middle of the ocean, and he was beginning to smell." Jack said, finishing slightly sheepishly.
"So?" Ruby demanded. "He's my father!"
"Was." Jack corrected. "He was your father." Ruby frowned at him, trying to stop tears forming in her eyes.
"He deserved better." She said.
"He was buried at sea- he loved the sea, Ruby. It was where he wanted t' be." Jack said, quietly.
"How'd you know?" Ruby snapped.
"He was my brother, Ruby. I knew." Jack said simply. "Rest your arm, ok? It was only dislocated, but try not to move it too much." He left, leaving Ruby on her own.
Jack walked onto the deck. Anamaria was at the wheel, frowning out towards the horizon, where the sun was setting.
"Yeh ok, Jack?" She asked quietly.
Jack nodded, and rested his elbows against the side of the ship, sighing deeply.
"Why did he have t' kill 'im?" Jack asked absently.
"Because Scarr was a murdering bastard that enjoyed seeing people suffer." Anamaria replied, putting the rope onto the wheel to keep it in place, and strode over to Jack.
Jack put his head in his hands and felt hot tears burn his eyes. Anamaria put a hand on his shoulder.
"Jack?" She said softly. Jack sniffed and looked up.
"Sorry." He mumbled.
"Yeh don't have t' apologise, Jack." Anamaria said. A tear spilled down Jack's check.
"Ruby hates me." He said.
"No she doesn't." Anamaria said firmly. "She's grieving. She's angry and don't know who to take it out on."
Jack wiped away the tear.
"I just don't know how t' help her." He admitted.
"Just be there for her." Anamaria said. Jack smiled.
"Yeah." He said. "I guess I have t' look after her now."
Will came on deck and walked towards Jack.
"Where we headed?" He asked.
"Port Royale, mate." Jack said, a small grin spreading over his face. "I was guessing that yeh wanted t' go home."
Will smiled. He felt slightly guilty for leaving Jack on his own after what had happened, but he needed to go home, and he didn't want Johnny to get hurt again.
"If yeh need me, Jack, just say, mate." He said. "And yeh'll have t' come back t' visit. Just make it more often then last time, ok?"
Jack smiled.
"Yeh have me word." He said, bowing. "Oh, and yeh might wanna try and sound less like a pirate when your in Port Royale." He grinned.
Will raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
2 days later
Jack, Johnny, Will and Ruby were in a small rowing boat, rowing away from the Pearl towards Port Royale. The Pearl was anchored behind the cliff, and out of the way. Jack knew no one would see it, unless they came up behind it; which was unlikely.
They reached the pier and Will and Johnny got out.
"Well, see yeh." Ruby said. "Practise yeh moves, John. Maybe yeh'll beat me next time." She grinned.
"I already beat yeh! You just cheated!" Johnny snapped back. Jack rolled his eyes.
"Where yeh headed, Jack?" Will asked, putting a hand on Johnny's shoulder.
"Tortuga." Jack replied, his eyes dancing.
Will shook his head with a smile on his face as Jack and Ruby rowed away.
"Will we go with them again, when they come back?" Johnny asked.
"I expect so." His father replied, and they turned their backs on the sea, and headed home.
Hands up who wants me to write a sequel :-)