Chapter 10: An unexpected visitor in Aruba

The next morning, everyone was up and milling about the docks. Jack, Will, and Isabella were making ready their ships for the voyage to the Galapagos by cleaning the ships and stocking up on any materials they needed in town. It seemed the townsfolk were easier to forgive and forget than Norrington and helped make ready the two pirate ships in any way possible. In the market, Jack spotted Elizabeth.

"Elizabeth! Over here love!" Jack called, waving her over.

"Morning Jack!" Elizabeth said as she walked over to the pirate.

"Hope sleep found yer eyes well last night." Jack said.

"It did. What are you doing here in the market?" Elizabeth asked, a bit curious as to what the pirate was up to.

"Jus' getting' a few things before we leave. Isabella's cleanin' both ships with half of her crew an' half of mine." Jack replied casually.

"What are the other half of both crews doing?" Elizabeth questioned.

"Tradin' items here in the market fer things we may need once we near Cape Horn." Jack said, nodding in the direction of the shops around him.

"Ah. I see. Where's Will?" "Should be around 'ere somewhere…" Jack replied, looking around with Elizabeth. Suddenly, Will's voice could be heard shouting to them.

"Jack! Elizabeth!"

"Will! Jack! I found him!" Elizabeth called as she waved Will over.

"Excellent." Jack said as he came up carrying a few bags.

"Jack, what are you carrying?" Will inquired.

"What, this?" Jack asked. "Nothin'." Will rolled his eyes. With Jack, it was never nothing.

"Sure Jack."

"Alright, jeeze, it's rum fer yer information." Jack replied smartly.

"Rum? What do we need rum for?" Elizabeth asked the pirate.

"There's no we involved with this rum, Elizabeth. Just me." Jack smiled. Elizabeth and Will both rolled their eyes at that one.

"Pirate. Can't live with 'em…" Elizabeth said.

"Can't live without 'em." Jack finished.

"Actually, my thought had ended there." Elizabeth replied.

"Wow, that was so funny, I forgot to laugh." Jack said sarcastically as he rolled his own eyes.

"Sorry Jack, couldn't help myself." Elizabeth laughed. Jack was impossible and she knew it oh to well.

"I think we ought to head back to the docks. Isabella's prolly ready to head out." Will noted.

"Yea, yer right. Elizabeth? Ready t' go?" Jack asked, turning for the docks.

"Yep."

"Alright, let's go." Jack called over his shoulder. The three of them headed back to the docks where the two ships were waiting. Both were clean, had new sails, and were ready to go. Isabella and Jack weighed anchor and set sail for the Galapagos Islands.

"Finally, we're at sea again." Jack breathed as he inhaled the salty air around him.

"Sorry to have kept you away from the ocean for so long, Jack, even though it was only one day." Elizabeth apologized.

"Well, one day seems like an eternity t' me." Jack replied as he stood at the helm of the Pearl.

"I know it. About how long do ya think it's gonna take us to get to the Galapagos?" Elizabeth couldn't help but ask.

"I dunno. A few months prolly. Keep in mind we have t' sail all the way t' the bottom of South America t' reach Cape Horn and once we're there, we have t' battle the winter seas, and then we have t' go all the way up the other side of the continent to reach the islands." Jack informed her. "But we're gonna stop in Aruba and quite a few other ports on our way down."

"Jack, d'ye even know how t' get t' the Galapagos?" Anamaria asked, coming up behind Jack.

"Well, I figure all we have t' do is keep South America on our starboard side an' jus' keep travelin' South." Jack said. Anamaria wasn't convinced.

"Don't worry love, I 'ave maps I'm followin'." Jack reassured her. Anamaria still wasn't convinced. "Look, Ana, go into me cabin an' look on the coffee table and dinner table. Both are covered in maps of South America an' the surroundin' waters." Anamaria realized that the only way to believe him was to see for herself, so she turned on her boot heal and headed for his luxurious cabin at the back of the ship. Elizabeth went as well, since she didn't believe Jack anymore than Anamaria did.

A week later, the faint outline of land was just visible on the horizon. Everyone began to get excited, not knowing what island, or possibly continent, they were seeing.

"Jack! I think I see land!" Anamaria said as she ran up the stairs to the helm.

"That doesn't surprise me, we should be arriving in port in a few hours." Jack replied.

"So, is that an island or a continent?" Anamaria asked.

"An island. More specifically, the island of Aruba." Jack replied. Anamaria couldn't believe it. She thought they'd travel by way of Hispaniola and Puerto Rico. As they sailed ever closer, the faint outline of land became much more solid as the ships drew nearer.

"Jack!" a woman's voice called out. Jack turned his eyes from the approaching island to look over at the Phantom. The woman calling to him wasn't Isabella, but her first mate Kristen.

"Aye?!" Jack replied.

"Captain Isabella requests t' see ye in 'er cabin." Kristen yelled across the water. Jack couldn't think of why she wanted to see him, but decided to go over anyway.

"Tell 'er I'll be right over!" Jack called back after a moment's thought. Kristen disappeared to Isabella's cabin and Jack called Anamaria to the helm.

"Keep us steady on this course. Isabella wants me fer somethin' so I'm leavin' ye in charge of gettin' us to Aruba 'till I get back." Jack instructed Anamaria. Without hesitation, Anamaria grabbed the helm and Jack swung on board the Phantom. He headed straight for Isabella's large cabin at the stern of the ship. Once he reached the cherry wood French doors, he knocked.

"That you Jack?" Isabella asked from behind the doors.

"It's me love, can I come in?" Jack replied. Isabella opened the doors and Jack stepped inside the beautifully decorated cabin. It resembled his, just with a more feminine look. It was blue-green all over. Her cherry wood canopy bed had a blue-green silk canopy. The pillows and blankets on the bed were the same as the canopy and the couch was the same as well. Isabella shut the doors behind Jack and followed him to her chase lounge.

"So, what did ye need t' see me for?" Jack inquired.

"We haven't spent any time together fer days, so I figured we could spend time together now, seeing as we're a few hours away from any port." she replied. Jack's eyebrows rose, wondering what she had planned. He didn't even need to ask. Isabella got up and went to the windows. She pulled the drapes and then lit some scented candles around her bed. By this time, Jack had everything figured out. Isabella then disappeared behind a lattice partition and returned a few moments later dressed in a scarlet silk bra and bikini-style underwear bordered in gold. Jack got up from the chase lounge and went to the doors and locked them. He turned back to the bed, only to find Isabella already there, waiting for him. He kicked off his boots, put his sword and pistol on the coffee table, and removed his shirt so that he stood before Isabella in only his pants. He then walked over to the bed and got in with Isabella. Everything was so romantic. The candles as the only light, the canopy bed being a water bed, everything was perfect. Just as the room temperature was about to be turned up a bit, there was a knock at the door.

"Damn." Jack muttered under his breath. He slid off the bed and opened one of the doors so whoever was out there could see him, but not Isabella.

"Yes?" It was Will. He noticed over Jack's shoulder the dim candle-lit room and Jack standing before him shirtless.

"Is this terribly important, Will?" Jack asked, a bit irritated.

"Well, we're very close to the island and Anamaria is wondering if she should dock us or if you were going to." he replied, slightly embarrassed to have caught his captain in his current state.

"Tell her to drop anchor and tell Isabella's crew to do the same." Jack said. Without a word, Will turned and left. Jack shut the door and locked it once more. He returned to the bed with Isabella.

"We're not gonna dock just yet." he said, smiling to Isabella, who smiled back. Then Isabella pulled Jack into a passionate kiss and the cabin turned into a sauna.

A while later, Jack and Isabella appeared on the deck of the Phantom. No one noticed, seeing as they were all busy doing this and that. Jack returned to the Pearl and gave the word to weigh anchor so they could continue on.

Finally, both ships pulled into harbor in Aruba. Jack put the gangplank down from the Pearl and disembarked onto the docks. A group of people stood on shore, watching as the pirates disembarked from their ships and arrived onto the docks. Once Jack and Isabella got close enough, everyone realized who they were.

"Oh my god! It's Jack Sparrow and Isabella von Tassel!" someone in the crowd whispered. Jack heard them and smiled to himself. He had never traveled to Aruba, but clearly his legend and stories about him had. Jack and Isabella walked arm in arm through the small crowd to the town. Palm trees were everywhere and the dirt roads wound through the coastal town. Jack looked around and noticed a sign.

Welcome to Druif

"I take it we're in Druif." Jack said to Isabella as he pointed out the sign.

"Ya think?" Isabella replied playfully. The two pirates strolled through the little port town, looking at various shops and the such as they walked. Isabella wasn't looking for anything in particular, while Jack on the other hand was in search of a place to get some rum.

"Jeeze, doesn't this town have a bar or something?" Jack said, more to himself than Isabella. Isabella rolled her eyes when Jack mentioned it, but then found herself wondering the same thing. The town didn't seem to have a bar or anything of the sort. Then, Jack's eyes landed on her. A young woman, a little older than Isabella, who had a striking resemblance to her, almost like a clone. He couldn't take his eyes off this young beauty. Isabella noticed the woman too. She froze once she saw the woman. The woman looked up from her book and saw Jack and Isabella.

"Isabella?!" the woman called. She dropped her book and ran over to the pirates. Isabella stared in amazement at the woman.

"Roxanne?!" Isabella dropped Jack's arm and threw her arms around the woman. Jack was totally confused by this point. Who was this Roxanne person? Why did she look so like Isabella? How did Isabella know her? Why hadn't he heard about her before? It was time to sort things out.

"I don't mean t' sound rude, but who the hell are you?" Jack asked Roxanne.

"I'm Isabella's older sister, Roxanne von Tassel." Roxanne introduced herself. Well, that answers a few questions, Jack thought.

"Ah, and why haven't I 'eard about 'er before?" Jack asked, facing Isabella.

"Because I thought she was dead." Isabella answered honestly. Now Jack was confused all over again.

"Wait, what?"

"There was a fire at our house here years ago." Isabella explained. "I managed t' get meself out, but Roxanne was still in the house once I was outside. I tried t' go back, but the firemen wouldn't let me. They went in and got her out, but when they brought her outside, they said they couldn't find a heartbeat. They took her away, and I would've followed, but I knew in me heart she was dead, or if she wasn't, she was in such pain that there was no reason to let her live. So I left. All of this happened a few days before you and I met, Jack. That's why I never mentioned it. I was to devastated."

"Wait, you lived here?" Jack asked, still trying to sort everything out.

"Before I met you, yes. I lived here with Roxanne, but once our house burned down and I thought Roxanne was dead, I left for Tortuga on the Phantom." Isabella explained. "I had heard of it before from my father, seeing as he was a pirate himself. I found some old maps of his and followed them to Tortuga." Things were a lot less confusing now. Jack had all the information he had been searching for now, and, seeing as he felt he could trust Roxanne, decided to strike up friendly conversation.

"So, Roxanne. Does this town have a bar or pub or some place where ye can get rum?"

"Yea, there's an Irish place on the next street if yer interested." Roxanne replied.

"Well in that case. . .I say we all head over there and have drinks on me." Jack said as he headed off in the direction of the bar. Isabella rolled her eyes and Roxanne laughed, but they followed Jack nonetheless. To make travel quicker, Roxanne led the two pirates down a back alley that lead directly to the bar. There was a large sign with green lettering that read:

O'Shea's Irish Bar and Restaurant

"Has every alcoholic drink under the sun, and whatever crazy concoction you can think up yerself." Roxanne said, reading Jack's mind. He had been wondering what kind of alcohol an Irish place would sell, but with the knowledge he's just acquired, he strolled inside. The main bar was dimly lit with candles and the air smelled of cigarette smoke and alcohol. A red-headed man stood behind the bar and, upon realizing who was in the bar, offered drinks.

"G'day to ye Captain Sparrow. Might I interest ye in a pint of rum?" The man asked.

"How'd ye know me name?" Jack wondered.

"Oh, I 'eard stories 'bout ye Captain. And Captain Isabella von Tassel. I've 'eard stories 'bout ye as well."

"Well, I'd like to take ye up on that offer of rum, and whatever these ladies want, let 'em have. It's on me." Jack replied. The man, who introduced himself as Josh O'Shea, poured some whiskey and rum for the three people and listened to Jack tell stories as he grew ever more intoxicated.

After about thirty minutes, you couldn't decipher what it was Jack was saying with his speech so impaired by the alcohol. Isabella and Roxanne had been drinking a lot of water between shots of whiskey, so they weren't intoxicated. Jack, on the other hand, passed out after about 40 minutes in the bar.

"Well, seein' as he's passed out, drinks are on me." Isabella said, pulling some gold coins from her pocket and placing them on the bar. Josh took them, smiled at the two women, and watched as they carried the unconscious Jack Sparrow out the door. With Roxanne's help, the two women managed to get Jack all the way back to the docks, on board the Pearl and into his bed.

"How long d'ye think 'till he wakes up?" Roxanne asked as they sat on Jack's couch.

"Oh, it could be anywhere from a few hours t' sometime tomorrow." Isabella replied. Both girls smiled to each other as they looked over to the bed where Jack still lay unconscious. It was no surprise to Isabella that Jack had gotten himself drunk, and, after telling her sister all about Jack, Roxanne found it normal too.

Author's Note: I know that Josh was a very stereotypical Irishman, I mean, a last name of O'Shea and red hair? Forgive me! Please R&R! - Depp's Girl