Chapter Three

Hopefully this will upload right. Seems like I haveaheck of a time of it.

Thanks for my first two reviews. I'm glad you like it. I can tell you and others that this story is probably gonna get long and that I may have interuptions in postings. However, it will be finished. On with the story.

Jack leans on the wheel lazily watching the horizon and thinking about the quest he and Ana are on without the knowledge of the crew. Jack decided that it would best if the crew didn't know anything about their agreement. Ana was all too willing to agree. She didn't want the fools knowing any more about her business than necessary.

So for the past few weeks they have been traveling around, capturing a few ships, sailing the sea and making a few stops to give the men rest and for Ana to do her inquiries. At just about every stop they came up empty. Ana is frustrated by their efforts but Jack, always the optimist, told her to have patience. They will find something. It is just a matter of time. Ana always smiles faintly at him before returning to her duties. But Jack can see the weight of the pressure on his first mate. The desperate need to have some result, some crumb of evidence that she isn't too late in her search for her sister.

Jack learned that they have been separated fourteen years. Jack is no fool. He knows a lot could have happen between now and then. Eva her sister's name is a name that is common in some places and unheard of in others. Ana told Jack that her Mother wanted to name Eva Eve but Eva's father told her no. He liked Eva better. He thought it sounded more unique. So Eva it was.

Jack enjoyed when Ana talked about her sister. A light would enter her eyes that transformed her face. The idea of having family out there that she cares for immensely carried her more than Jack ever knew. And it was at that moment he would feel the jealous ping in his heart. The ping turned to a small amount of fear that always frustrated him because he thought he didn't understand it. But on late nights like this one while the crew is sleep and it just him and the sea he knew why. He wanted her eyes to shine like that for him and that frightened him.

Jack never saw himself as the type to spend all his time with one woman. And the idea of marriage cracks him up as much as disgust him. He likes his freedom. He likes not being tied to anyone. But what frightens him is if the opportunity presented itself, would he be willing to let all his whoring go to have Ana all to himself?

Ana wouldn't demand it from him. She isn't the type to just have one man in her life, or at least he doesn't think so. From what he seen she has had as many lovers as he had. But then he sees the devotion she has to her sister and a strong part of him wants her to be that devoted to him. And he wonders what that devotion would cost him. He wonders what it would cost them both.

Right now he has her loyalty but that is different from what her sister has. Ana's loyalty doesn't have the same power, the same influence over her as her devotion to her sister. As soon as Ana gets tired of pirating she will just up and leave his ship and not look back. He would be forgotten. She would move on to other things. She may even look back on him fondly but she will not feel like she owes him anything once she left. Maybe they would have a glass of rum together if he blew through town but eventually that may even pass. He would be the past memory, fondly thought of but nothing more. And therein lies the bigger fear. The thought of being forgotten by her haunts him like it already happened.

Jack blinks a bit as the thoughts give him pause. He knows that when Ana finds her sister she might then ask to leave the ship to help her out and he would let her go. He couldn't bring himself to cage her to him or his ship. He needs her to feel free. He needs her to feel as free as he does when on the Black Pearl. The Pearl, the sea, is freedom not a prison. And when Ana finally decides to leave he would let her go never forgetting her always missing her. But the thought again about whether she would miss him too creeps back into his thinking. Glancing around, he wonders then if having his ship and the sea will ever be enough if Ana is not there to share it with him.

Shaking his head he cursed himself the fool. He realizes that he needs to cross that bridge when he gets to it. But the gnawing feeling of urgency to act tickles the back of his mind the rest of the night.

Ana Maria stares out the window in her room. It is an awkward view but better than nothing. She is glad to have it just like she is glad to have the small space of privacy. She has been on ships where she had to sleep with one eye open. On more than one occasion men have hobbled in the morning after trying to creep into her knickers in the common sleep room. Not that man on the Black Pearl in his right mind would cross her but there is always a fool wanting to test his manhood waiting for humiliation. Thankfully, Jack in giving her this room, at least allows her to have a decent nights rest.

But tonight the only thing she could do is think about her sister and every so often the Pirate Captain currently steering the ship. Ana can't shake the feeling that her sister is in real trouble, very real trouble and she has to save her before it is too late. Jack thinks that it is just self-imposed guilt talking but Ana knows different. Anamaria and Eva Marie are connected. They always have been. And it is something that has given Ana comfort because she knows her sister is still alive out there. She knows that if she keeps looking she will find her. And the strong feelings she has is the reason that they going to Jamaica right now.

Ana convinced Jack that they might have better luck there. They saved Jamaica for last for obvious reasons. But after going to neighboring island, Ana asked Jack to try Jamaica. He hesitated but then relented saying he needed to see how the eunuch and the missus are getting on. Ana was glad she didn't have to fight Jack about it. In fact she notice that she hasn't had to fight him much at all about it. The thought makes her wary.

He isn't being very non combative about the issue for some reason. Ana is glad but she wonders why. At first she figures its because they are still doing their pirating but then she saw they way he listens to her stories about her sister and there is something in his face that she can't decipher. They are soft, distant not really looking at her but looking for something within her. Maybe longing maybe a wish of some sort for something she can't identify. But every time she tries to get a hold of the look to further decipher it, it disappears as quickly as it appears.

She and Jack have been off and on lovers for a while. Now it is completely off. He stole her boat and although she forgave him, she isn't that big of a fool. No telling what he will steal from her next, bloody pirate but she sure as hell ain't dropping her knickers for him. It hurt like hell when he stole from her. And the only reason it did was because she gave a damn about the bastard much to her stupidity. Loving a pirate is really stupid especially a known whore like Jack. But the times they have together even now cause her body the flush. Jack is more than a lover he is embodiment passion. It is reflected in everything he does and it translates so well in the bed that it is easy for a woman to get caught up in it and want to have it all the time.

It is his passion that has given him such a loyal crew. It was that passion that carried him in his revenge even at the expense of Ana's feelings about her boat. It was passion that drove him to help Will Turner while helping himself. Passion, passion, passion.

But passion can fizzle out and leave you raw, empty. And in Jack's case it is the other person that is left raw after experiencing his passion. Ana knows that if she gets caught up in it she would be setting herself up for disaster. And right now she can't have it. She needs to find her sister. Any feelings of passion she has is directed at that effort and after that in helping her sister through whatever she has gone through. Yes that is all she has time for.

Bollocks. She knows she has to deal with Jack one day because if she is truthful to herself she feels strongly for this man and deep in the recesses of her heart she wants him, desires him…loves him.

But right now Jamaica Port Royal that is where her thoughts are. She needs to focus because she knows that in a day's time she will be faced with a daunting situation.