A/N: Wow, it's only been less then two days since I first posted this, and already I've got NINE reviews! Thanks so much, getting all of these reviews make me update so soon. I want you all to know that it means a lot to me that you take the time. If anyone has any ideas, EMAIL me!

Thanks,

SSM ;)

Oh yeah,

Ogreatrandom: Yeah, it would have been a real shock. I'm glad I'm not Meg! And I do love my country heaps. You should come some time!

MeraSparrow: Yeah, I'm attached to my father too! (Well, she thought he's her father anyway) Thanks for waiting:: Takes rum, un-pops cork and guzzles it:

Smartstar247: Thank you, I will!

Shalafi: Glad you like it. (Translated: - PLEASE DON'T HURT ME! - Lol joke)

Meg ran into the crowd, dodging people and slipping around carriages. She finally came to a small alley. Running into it, Meg sat down at the end and curled up into the smallest ball she could.

All right, so Jack wasn't her father. Another man was, a man who had died. A woman, who seemed to be related to the late governor, claimed to be her mother.

So that meant –

"I'm not a pirate?" Meg whispered to herself, hugging her knees closer to herself. This woman seemed to want her to come back to the Swann mansion. Wanted her to leave her family. Jack, Anna Maria, Mr Gibbs, Mr Cotton and his parrot – she was expected to leave all of them?

Meg fingered at the pearl bracelet Jack had given her for her twelfth birthday. She smiled through her tears at the memory.

"This's for ya." Jack said, leaning against the boat rail next to Meg.

Meg grinned up at Jack and took the little brown package. She unfolded the clumsily bunched up paper and out fell –

"Oh Papa, a pearl bracelet!" Meg cried, slipping it on her wrist. It was very unlike Jack to give her something so feminine.

"And before ya ask, I didn't steal it. I bought it from the jewellers in Tortuga."

Meg laughed as Jack roughly tousled her hair. "Oh, and by the way," She said, still smiling, "I get it."

"What?"

"Meg. Margaret. Latin translation: pearl. I read one of Anna Maria's books."

Jack looked into her eyes, intelligence swimming in the deep blue irises.

"That's right, love. That's right."

Elizabeth went to go look for her daughter, but Jack roughly grabbed her arm. "Leave 'er alone." He growled, holding her back. "She'll be back."

Elizabeth glared at him for a second, and then slapped him as hard as she could across the face.

"Well, I did deserve tha'." Jack said, rubbing his cheek. "Wouldn't 'ave thought ya ta resort to violence though, Lizzie."

"What are we going to do, Jack?" She sighed, ignoring him and putting her face into her hands.

When Jack didn't answer, she looked up. "You really love her, don't you?"

"Bloody hell, lass. I have had the kid for twelve years, how could I not feel some love for her? And ya know what? I do think of her as me own. I raised her, and I do think of her as mine."

Elizabeth shook her head and stared at him. "Jack, I realise that, but she is mine. I've wanted her back for so long, and…"

"I know ya do, love. I 'onestly understand, but – "

He abruptly cut off his own sentence as he caught sight of Meg, making her way back to Elizabeth and Jack.

"All righ', I've thought 'bout it, and have decided that running away isn't the best idea." She said as she caught up with them. Meg stood with her hands on her hips, looking at both of them.

"Yeah?" Jack said, hardly realising that he was holding his breath.

"I think tha' I should go with me mother. It's the right thing ta do, and I'm going to do it. But, although I realise that Da isn't me real father, I think tha' considering that me birth father is dead, I will now and always think of Da as me father. Nothin' can change tha'. So I really, 'onestly can't leave 'im." Meg blurted out, slurring more then normal. Jack could tell she had been practicing this little spiel when she was coming back to the dock.

Elizabeth nodded thoughtfully, looking at her daughter closely. "Well… he could always live with me… with us."

Jack's eyes widened and he took a step back. "Wha'?" He slurred, staring at Elizabeth.

"Come live in my house!" She cried, liking the idea more as she heard it. "Oh, go on, you'll help Margaret, she'll miss you terribly if you left her."

"Please, Papa?" Meg whispered to him.

Jack looked helplessly at both of them. " 'Ermently?" He croaked, holding out his hands as if pleading for mercy.

The two girls just looked at him, silently begging. He groaned, and then took off towards the boat.

"MEGGIE! FOLLOW ME, COME GET YA STUFF. 'LIZABETH, STAY HERE AND WAIT FOR US, WE'LL BE BACK SOON!" He bellowed over his shoulder. Meg smiled a small smile at her mother, sharing their victory. Elizabeth smiled back, hardly daring to believe her good luck.

Jack swore all the way up to the boat, with Meg on his heels like an unsure puppy.

"Don't ya want ta go, Da'?" She finally asked.

Jack stopped and looked at her for a few seconds. "Not 'articulary, lass."

"It's better then never seein' me again though … isn't it?" She asked, shifting her weight on each foot.

Jack smiled softly and started towards the ship again. "Aye lass, bu' everythin's better then never seein' ya again."

Feeling assured, Meg hastened her pace and followed her Papa onto the boat.

The crew looked up expectantly at them. "Well?" Anna Maria asked.

Jack's eyes darted around. "Go ge' everythin' ya own." He slurred, giving Meg a small push on the back. She scooted off.

""What's going on?" Mr Gibbs asked.

Jack gave a grunt to show that he heard, and then told them everything. Once he was finished, there was not a single mouth (with the exception of the mute, Mr Cotton) that wasn't open in protest.

"You're leavin' us?" Mr Gibbs yelped.

"It's for the girl." He growled.

"What one, Jack?" Anna Maria asked furtively.

He gave her a look. "Shut up, lass. Just shut up. Any one of youse would 'ave done the same thing tha' I'm doin', you're all protective of 'er."

An uneasy silence filled the air, apart from the waves happily lapping at the sides of the boat.

"Anyway, I better pack." He said, giving them all a shrug and walking off.

Meg ambled up on top deck; carrying a tatty suitcase Mr Cotton had given her once.

"So you're leavin', savvy." Mr Gibbs grunted, looking hard at her.

Meg nodded, biting her lip. "I'll miss you." She muttered. "All of you."

"We'll still drop by."

"Yeah, but…"

Anna Maria smiled reassuringly. "We understand Meg. We'll miss you too."

Jack strode back on deck. "Well, we'll see you later, mates." He said, giving them all a nod. "Look after me ship, understood?"

They all gave a nod, and went up to the two to hug Meg and give Jack a clamp on the back.

"Look after me girl." Anna Maria whispered to Jack, her eyes looking oddly bright.

Jack gave her a smirk. "Hey, we're in a mansion with maids and five thousand pieces of silver. What could go wrong?"