Sweet Revenge

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: It'd be nice if I did own POTC, but unfortunately, I am just a poor teenager :(

I walked along the deck lost in thought. No, I wasn't bored… I could never be bored on the sea. It was the waiting… the stillness in the air that frightened me. Something was coming: what I knew not.

"Sam get some food ready, I'm 'bout starved," a voice cut through my thoughts.

I smiled a little and called out, "I don' make food, Cap'n! How many times do I need to tell ye to get a cook?"

The captain smiled in return, and said with a chuckle, "I think it might be a better idea to get me 'lil girl educated in the fine arts of domestics!"

"Domestics? Never heard o' the word, Pa," I answered, glancing over at his burly form. He was just joking of course; I knew he would never want me to leave the ship. Though I knew he questioned himself constantly if he had made the right decision to take me aboard the Sunrise many a time. He thought the risk too high, yet he couldn't bear to be separated too long from me.

Pa grabbed me in a big hug, mussing my long red hair that exactly matched his hair—well what it looked like before the sprinkles of grey mixed in. "Have I done right by ye, Sammy?" He asked with a half frown.

"Of course Pa, what would I have done without ye… and the Sunrise? I love me life."

"Yer mama wouldna been too happy to see ye grow up into the pirate ye are. I don' ever wan' me lil' girl to get hurt…" he murmured, pulling me closer to him. This was a side no one but I had ever experienced of the fearsome Captain Ridges. He was invincible, and had no weaknesses. To all but the crew, I was merely a tomboy crewmember. Pa didn't want anyone to have the leverage of his little girl to use over him.

"Pa, I couldna ever been happy as a 'lil noble girl. Can ye imagin' me wearin' one of them corsets? Ye can't even walk in them things from what I hear." I answered. I always had to find some way to calm his doubts; I was a woman in a few physical areas only. I knew if I had been born a boy he would not be anxious at all.

He chuckled a little, but I could tell he was still a little uneasy. "Pa, I be a 'lil hungry too, maybe ye should get one of the scurvy dogs 'round here to make some food."

Pa nodded a little, let go of me, and shouted some orders to his crew.

I felt a little chill and looked around apprehensively. Something was amiss.

I sat repairing a torn sail next to the foremast, jabbing myself with the needle over and over again. "Damnit!" I called and stuck my thumb in my mouth.

"I thought you were over yer thumb sucking stage Samantha?" One of the crew members asked.

I looked up with a start and pulled my thumb out of my mouth. "Tol' ye not to call me that," I answered with a scowl.

He drew his hands up to him, as if he was backing away. "I'm sorry… Sam. Just thought you might like to hear yer real name once in a while."

"Since when is Sam not a real name?" I asked, my scowl deepening. He really had the talent for getting under my skin. When he didn't answer I looked up again and said, "So Charlie what do ye want this time?"

"Nothing… Sam, since when do I need to give a reason to talk to you?" he asked, annoyance in his voice.

"Ye don'. But I don' have to respond now do I?"

Charlie was a little taken aback, but merely walked away. I shook my head in exasperation and presumed my task. The men on Pirate ships were all sex fiends I was sure, though they were all much more cautious around me than other women. Pa would shoot 'em dead for messing with me. Charlie wouldn't give up though; I didn't see what he saw to be attracted to though.

I had unruly red hair like my father's that whipped about out of control, my mother's eyes of a sea green that at times matched the ocean exactly. There certainly wasn't anything special about what I wore. It was merely a miniature version of what most male pirates wore: Breeches, scuffed boots, white (well that was the color it was when I acquired it) shirt, a green bandana around my hair with a dirty leather hat on top of it. Numerous charms hung from my neck—mostly odd things Pa had found on his travels that he gave me or my mother before me. Most precious, but most out of place next to all the small cheap trinkets, was the small gold locket that held locks of Pa's and Ma's hair entwined together. I was basically a miniature of Pa; just my eyes were my mother's. I even shared his name—he Samuel and I Samantha.

I finished the sail and looked around for Pa. He was at the stern at the wheel talking to Charlie and I debated walking up to him. Contrary to what many would think I was not the first mate aboard the Sunrise. That honor belonged to Potts, my father's most trusted friend. He had become ill a few days back though, and Pa was distraught, though he tried not to show it.

I walked slowly towards the helm, hoping Charlie would finish talking to Pa and leave. It was not the case though, as I arrived, he was still discussing something. I sighed a little and turned, wishing Charlie would fall overboard. For no reason in particular, Pa liked Charlie though I couldn't stand him. He was extremely arrogant, and used every chance he got to speak to Pa, giving his opinion on everything he could think of.

"Pa," I interrupted. Their conversation stopped and Pa looked at me with a small scowl.

"I be talkin' with Charlie right now Samantha. Can it wait?" He asked, deliberately stressing Samantha.

I breathed deep and raised my eyebrows, turning away in annoyance. What was it about Charlie that made him so… annoyed with me? Every time I talked to him after he talked to Charlie he was short and sullen.

I walked to the forecastle on the other side of the ship and bent down by Potts. He had always been like an uncle to me. Whenever Pa had been busy, especially when I first came on the Sunrise when I was eight, Potts had looked after me. He taught me many of the key elements to the ship, even many essentials or fencing. As I looked at him now I was scared. How could this mighty man be failing now?

"Potts?" I asked in a whisper. He lay on the hammock, breathing short labored breaths. His eyelids fluttered open and he looked at me with a small smile. I grabbed his hand in mine, his grip as tight as his weak body could stand.

"'Lil Sammy," he whispered. "I'm sorry I won' be able to make your weddin'."

I wasn't sure whether I should laugh or cry. Getting married was an old joke between us, for I knew I could never get married. It was the largest form of bondage I could ever imagine. But at least before he used to joke what it would be like at my wedding.

"Potts…" I began searching for the words. "I'm not gettin' married, so o' course ye won' see it."

Potts smiled a little and went into a coughing fit. "Take care o' yer pa for me Sammy. It be all up to ye now."

"Potts please don' talk like that. This'll all pass! Ye will get better," I whispered fiercely, trying to convince myself.

Potts shook his head slowly, and whispered, "Ye have been almost like me own 'lil girl all these years Sammy. I—I always thought o' ye like me own. I want ye to know that… that I love ye."

"Oh Potts, I love ye! But ye act as if this is a goodbye…" I whispered more fiercely. Where was his will? Why wasn't he fighting?

"But it is my girl. Tell yer Pa—" he started but he never finished.

"Potts?" I whispered as his grip slackened. "Potts?" I asked louder. "Potts?" I screamed. I backed away from the body, and tears streamed down my face for the first time since I was eight years old and my mother died.

"Potts!" I screamed over and over sinking to my knees, my face in my hands. I was oblivious to everything around me, even my father opening the door and letting out a cry of his own. He grabbed me in his arms and let me cry onto his shoulder.

"Pa… he be gone…" I whispered through my tears.

He cradled me in his arms and picked me up in his arms, silently bringing me to my cabin where he set me down on my bed where my tears soaked the pillow.

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