Disclaimer: I do not own Pirates of the Caribbean or any recognizable characters; if I did, do you really think I'd be sitting at the computer so much? I'd be partying with my hubby-man, drinking Canadian, eating pizza, and playing pool.

Author's Note: Yes, 'tis another update. I like putting these chapters up, and hoping that people are reading them. I know people are at least looking at the chapters, based on the hit counts. But to those that reviewed, THANK YOU!

Brigitte: Look, it's the bath! Thought you'd like to know.. hehe. Enjoy the chapter, deary.

Mg-Nashisko: Glad you're enjoying the story so far, MG. And to clarify, a eunuch is a male whom has no 'male bits', we'll say. Btw, I've been reading one of your stories, "A Bet to Turn Events". I feel awesome now that I've got someone I'm reading reading me! Yay!

williz: Yes, I'm trying to update with a relatively good pace so my readers don't lose interest - I don't like disappointing people. Here's another chapter for you to enjoy!

Now then, I hope you all like reading this chapter. Personally, I love the part of the bath; it's simple and comical, as well as sweet. And guess what - Norrington makes an appearance! Now, onto the chapter... and please, REVIEW!

Brief Warning: Minor sexual content.

Chapter 6
A Bath and a Party

The large tub basin of hot water was in one of the guest rooms, where Zora's purchases had been taken, the room they would be using for the night. When they reached the room, Zora shut the door behind them, and helped Jack undress, managing to quell her desire to tease his body as she had so many times before; a difficult battle that was. After Jack settled in the tub, Zora knelt down, and began to bathe him.

As much as Jack hated the idea of a forced bath, his anger was quickly dissolving with every movement Zora made with the cloth on his tanned body. He even smirked when he noticed how she was struggling to not succumb to her lust, and he certainly wasn't going to make it easier on her. His body was reacting to her touch as it always did, and Jack made sure Zora knew about it with gyrations that lifted his obvious pleasure above water or brushed it against her arm.

Zora tried her damnedest to not give in, no matter how much Jack teased her. To be sure that he wouldn't win, Zora quickly finished rinsing the soap from his skin, and started to work on his hair. Immediately, Jack began to protest. "Don't mess up me hair, Zora!" he pleaded, swatting her hands away. "It's taken me quite a while to get it how I want it."

"Oh, for heaven's sake, Jack," Zora muttered, ignoring his hands to remove his braids and his beads, and try to work her fingers through the dreadlocks. "You are worse than women when it comes to hair… honestly. I swear to you on everything held sacred in the world that I will put your hair back exactly as you had it. Only shinier and with a cleaner aroma."

"Are ye insinuating, dear lady, that me hair smells bad?" Jack asked, no longer struggling. Let her have her way for now, he thought, as long as she promised to fix it; having the bait of a bottle of rum at the end of the night helped a great deal, too.

Zora smirked, tilted his head back so she could look down in his eyes, and returned, "Manure does have more fans of its scent than does your hair, darling. 'Tis not the turn-on you have let yourself believe."

"And here I thought it was my insatiable appetites that drove the women away," Jack returned with a smirk, then winced when her fingers combed through a rather tough knot. "Easy, love. Tha's all still attached to the head."

She laughed, moved his hair aside to gently kiss the back of his neck a few times before whispering in his ear, "I think I shall keep to myself the fact that the famous pirate is really a big baby." Jack cupped some water in his hands, and threw it at her in retaliation.

Several minutes later, Jack's hair was washed, combed, and then returned to its usual look sans dreadlocks; every bead, every braid, every accessory he managed to stick in his mess of hair was back where it belonged. Gazing into a hand-held mirror, Jack assessed her work, nodding slightly. "Not bad, Zora," he commented. "Not bad at all." He handed her the mirror after giving her a side glance, then cleared his throat, as if the matter of his hair really was the most important conversation they'd ever have. "It's going to take me some time to get those dreadlocks back, ye know, but other than that…"

Zora managed to not roll her eyes. "You are most welcome, oh wondrous captain."

Jack grinned, his gold teeth revealed in his Cheshire cat smile. Quickly, he donned a serious look, and asked, "Now, how is it that I'm the only unfortunate soul to receive a bath here? Ye must dress up for this fancy party thing as well."

At this, Zora leaned against the side of the tub, her arms propped on the edge as she stared at Jack. "Do you really want me to show you why they make these tubs so incredibly large?" she asked.

Jack's brows furrowed as he gave her a curious look at the change of subject. "Ye mean to tell me it isn't to accommodate the rather tall men?" Before he could even finish his sentence, Zora stood up, and quickly shed her dress. Coyly smiling at her lover, she lowered herself into the tub, straddling his body, and seated herself on him comfortably, relishing in the moan that left Jack's throat as he leaned his head back and closed his eyes. "Ah, I… I see now." His hands gripped her hips, trying as gently as he could to regulate her pace to draw this experience out for as long as possible.

---

Will glanced down at his pocket watch again, then up the staircase once more. "I swear, Jack is either really protesting, or he's snuck out the window," he said to Elizabeth. When they had left Jack and Zora to talk as they went to the kitchen, Elizabeth told Will about the meeting while shopping, and a brief overview of the history involved. Will wasn't sure it was a wise thing to ask Jack for such a grand favor, especially with him being a wanted man, but after seeing Jack trudging after Zora up the staircase several hours ago, he was bound to at least be of some assistance tonight in any sort of way. Of course, that was assuming Jack would actually go through with it.

She smiled lightly at her husband's irritation. "You have to admit, Will, it would take quite a while to clean Jack up," she returned. "They will be down soon enough, I'm-"

From the top of the staircase, Jack and Zora started to make their way down, interrupting their conversation. Zora was on Jack's arm, looking as lovely as ever in the royal blue silk dress with a half-foot of fabric trailing behind her, her golden brown tresses pinned up in curls on the crown of her head, the beads and trinkets in her hair giving the look a flavor all its own. Jack was decked out in an outfit of a white undershirt with a stiff collar, a buttoned-up-to-the-collar overcoat of a brown color, matching breeches that reached below his knee, white socks, and buckled shoes. He looked very clean as they descended the stairs, though he would have looked more impressive had he not left his hair as he usually had it, wrapped in his usual red bandana, with his beard separated into two braids… and he still had kohl smudged around his eyes.

"Well, I do say this, Jack," Will commented with a laugh as the pair reached the floor, "you can clean up only a mere tad when forced."

Jack looked down at his clothes, over to Zora, who only smiled at him, then to Will. "Aye," was all he returned.

Elizabeth had taken Zora by the arm, leading her out the front door as the men fell behind. "What did take you so long, anyhow?" she asked as casually as possible. "We agreed to meet down here a half hour ago."

Zora managed to keep her smile small as they settled into the carriage. "First, 'twas Jack's fussing, followed by the annoyance in untangling his hair," she answered. "Though after that… I showed him the fun that could be had in taking baths."

Her friend did well in silencing her laugh. "I take it Jack liked that."

Zora nodded, her grin as restrained as she could keep it. "He did, indeed. Several times."

Outside, Will was locking the door to the manor. "I suppose you had quite an experience with the whole bath idea," he stated.

Jack lazily smirked as he watched Zora settle in the carriage, and returned, "Ye have no idea, boy." At the tone of insinuation in the pirate's voice, Will looked at him, then to what had his attention. It didn't take a genius to figure out what had taken the pirating pair so long in getting ready. Will simply shook his head, and led the way to the carriage. Once the two were seated inside by their ladies, the driver started toward the party.

At the Leighland's, Will and Elizabeth were the first to step down from the carriage, but before Zora could move, Jack took her arm in hand, and said seriously, "I feel like a fool already in this ridiculous outfit."

Zora smiled, and gently kissed his lips. "You look marvelous, Jack," she told him, adjusting the free ends of his bandana. "You are Jack Sparrow, captain of the Black Pearl, a pirate to be feared, but now, you shall show them the man you truly are." She shaped the ends of his mustache as well, gently tugged on his beard braids with a small, appealing scrunch of her nose, and finished with straightening his collar.

He narrowed his eyes as she made those adjustments, tilting his head back a bit. "Ye'll be enjoying me making a fool of meself."

"Naturally," she replied with a laugh. Jack grumbled, stepped down from the carriage, and assisted Zora down before the pair ventured into the party.

As soon as they stepped inside the large house, silence fell over everyone as all looked up at the new arrivals. Already, Jack felt out of place, and the silence caused him further unease, though the beginning of whispers did help make it worse. Now he wished he'd brought his sword and pistol…

Zora glared around them, remembering a lot of the party-goers, and not liking most of them. Let them have their gossip. She was out in public with the man she loved, and that was all Zora truly cared about now; she did regret forcing him to dress so uncomfortably. With a gentle squeeze to his lower arm, Zora indicated they could proceed further into the house. "Do not worry, love," she whispered to him as they headed in. "Tonight will be long forgotten soon enough."

"My reputation is dying very slowly," he murmured in return, faking a smile and a nodded greeting to a few people who greeted them first. "It won't be easily forgotten, Zora."

Elizabeth quickly came to them, a look of concern on her face. "Norrington is here," she hurriedly said. "He's seen you, Jack, and he's planning to make an arrest."

Jack glanced in the direction she'd come from, and indeed, there the arrogant man stood, assembling some of his men. "We can't have that, can we," Jack replied, then quickly began to look around for possible ways to exit. There were very few.

Jack hadn't the time to try one, either, as Commodore Norrington was quickly before them. "I'm quite surprised to see you show your face in Port Royal, Mister Sparrow," the Commodore stated haughtily. "Especially when you still have a meeting with the noose."

Jack narrowed his eyes, grimacing at the fact he could be facing death the next morning. "I'm surprised ye show yer face anywhere at all, Commodore," he retorted brazenly. "After all, ye lost the girl to a pirate, mate, did ye not?"

Norrington cleared his throat, slightly taken aback by the pirate's attitude. "Pleasantries have been exchanged," he said. "Time to get to business. Gentlemen, arrest him." A few men that were under Norrington's command made to move toward Jack.

"You cannot arrest him, Commodore," Zora spoke up, stepping between Jack and Norrington. She glared at him, thoroughly detesting the man though she barely knew him.

Norrington simply smirked, asking, "And why not, young miss? He's reformed? He will never be anything but a pirate. He is forever branded."

Zora replied, "You cannot because…" She was at a loss now; she hadn't thought that far ahead for an answer. She tried her hardest to not let her faltering show.

Luckily, Elizabeth came to the rescue. "Because he is here on invitation. The Leighland's offered an invitation to their daughter and her fiancé, Jack Sparrow, to attend this party. Under the pirates' code, having an invitation to a social event grants him a truce, and thus, safe passage of sorts while in Port Royal." No one in Port Royal knew the code like Elizabeth did, so no one would know it was a blatant lie.

Jack bent down to whisper in Zora's ear, "Is that really in the code?"

"Shush, pirate," she whispered back. Jack straightened up, and smirked at Norrington as the Commodore fumed before heading off. "You have a good head on your shoulders, Elizabeth." She smiled at Zora, then Jack, and finally ventured into the crowd to find Will.

Jack puffed out a breath, and stated, "Well, a jolly good beginning to a rotten night, ay?"

"I apologize again, Jack," Zora said, slipping her arm through his once more. "'Twas not my place to ask such a favor of you, but while we are here, let us have a good time."

"We shall, starting right now," Jack declared, leading Zora out toward the mass of dancing couples. "I might not know how to go about this little high-society party prattle, but I do know how to have a good time." He bared his wide grin to her as they twirled through the crowd, causing Zora to laugh at his antics.

A/N: There, now that you've read the chapter, PLEASE REVIEW! Tell me how you liked or hated it, what was wrong with it, anything you feel you should tell me... I won't bite, promise! Honest... I'll give you cookies to bite instead!