A/N: Thanks again for the reviews! And thanks to my silent readers for reading. I've recently been reviewing through my old writing…and I'm kind of disappointed in myself, well my writing, lately. I'm taking more time on my chapters now, because I'm not happy with the quality at the moment.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Pirates of the Caribbean. I only own the plot of this story, and the original characters (Anna Wilson/Searles, Katy Searles, Matthew Anderson, and the other random ones.)

Chapter Twelve: Want

Anna had somehow managed to fall asleep in the brig that night on the Silent Blade. Of course the brig wasn't comfortable at all. Nothing about it should've been able to let Anna sleep. By all means, she should've been awake the whole time, trying to get comfortable, becoming sleep deprived. It was the sea, though, that put her to sleep. The steady rocking of the ship and the waves that cradled it comforted Anna into a dream world where threats like Matthew Anderson didn't exist.

Late in the night, or early in the morning depending how one would look at such a time, Anna was forced from her dream world and back into the brig of the Silent Blade. She wasn't sure exactly what had pulled her out of her happiness and back into the reality of the situation. She looked around, seeing only darkness. Her eyes closed and she tried to go back to sleep, but she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Miss?" a whisper came from the other side of the bars.

Anna shifted, not sure if she heard right. She looked behind her and barely made out the figure of someone crouching next to the bars near her.

"What?" she whispered back, afraid of whom it was.

"Don't worry. I'm just a sailor on this ship. I'm not going to hurt you," the sailor said with a very obvious Irish accent.

Anna eyed him suspiciously, her eyes growing more accustomed to little light. She began to make out what the man looked like. His hair was dirty and messily thrown into a pony tail. His uniform was only slightly battered from his short amount of time at sea. There was nothing extremely attractive about him. He was just plain, your average sailor.

"My name is Patrick. I want to help you," he whispered.

"Why would you want to help me?" Anna asked, afraid to trust anyone on this ship.

"Because I'm against Captain Anderson as much as you are," Patrick said.

Anna raised an eyebrow. "How would you know? I've never met you. I know nothing about you and you know nothing about me."

Patrick sighed. "I'm sorry. I'm just worried about everything. I joined the navy to be an honorable man and make something of my life. Now I'm on a pirate ship, more or less. I want to stop Captain Anderson from whatever he's doing. He's going to get us all hanged."

Anna laughed a little. "If you're looking to help someone honest and for someone to help you battle a 'pirate,' you came to the wrong girl."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I'm a pirate," Anna said, not afraid to reveal herself to this man. He didn't seem to have much influence where he went.

"Oh…" he replied. He wasn't sure what to respond. It should've been obvious to him that she wasn't a "normal" woman. But he couldn't imagine a female pirate. He looked at her stringy unwashed hair that barely showed its natural color through the dirt, thrown messily up into a bun and her tattered clothes. Her skin was a little darkened and burned so that the dead skin was peeling off her nose. It was obvious she had been out at sea for a while now.

"If you don't want to help me, it's fine. It's best for your sake to probably stay away from me. You wouldn't want to lose your honor," Anna said sitting back and getting ready to go back to sleep.

"No, I still want to help you. What's your name?" he asked.

"Anna, and that's all you need to know."

"Well, Anna, it's a pleasure to meet you," Patrick said reaching his hands through the bars to Anna.

Anna looked at the hand and back up at Patrick as though to say he was insane. She gave her hand to him anyways. He's a new sailor who doesn't know any better. Reminds me of Will, before he learned the ways of a pirate. She laughed a little to herself at the thought but was startled when Patrick kissed her hand instead of just shaking it.

"Oh um…well, it's nice to meet you…uh…too," Anna said, flustered to find another polite man at sea besides Will.

"Why are you a captive of the captain?" Patrick asked.

"Long story," Anna said simply, implying that she was not going to tell him.

There was an awkward silence. Anna was hoping such a silence would make Patrick go away, but he didn't leave.

"Why are you still here?" Anna asked getting right to the point.

"I still want to help you. You have to tell me the story in order for me to help you," Patrick said stubbornly.

Anna groaned, really not wanting to deal with a random, stubborn sailor. "It's a long, detailed story that can't really be summed up easily. I'm a crew member on the Black Pearl. I used to live in Port Royal with a rich family. While I was there, I was forced into an engagement to the then Lieutenant Anderson, which caused me to run away. Well, now he's captain and after the Black Pearl in his duties, and after some treasure in his own plan. I don't know why he hasn't killed me, seeing as he didn't mean to kidnap me. I have no idea what goes on in that head of his," she explained lazily. "And none of that made sense to you, did it?"

Patrick was silent. He didn't know how to respond. None of it made sense to him, but from the "summed up" version, he could tell he'd be sitting for a long time to listen to the whole story. "Well, uh…no it didn't make any sense to me," he admitted, finding it useless to lie to this woman.

"Why don't you leave everything up to the people who understand the story? Just do your job and hopefully you'll get out alive with your honor intact. If not, you could always change your name and go live somewhere else," Anna said, leaning back up against the bars to go back to sleep.

"But I like my name," Patrick said continuing with the conversation, knowing full well at this point that he was annoying Anna.

"Just leave me alone. The Pearl will come and your sorry excuse for a captain will be thrown to Davy Jones's Locker," Anna said becoming beyond frustrated.

Patrick sighed. "Please, is there anything I can do for you, even if it barely helps?"

"You can go away."

"Besides that."

"The truth of the matter is that I have no plan. I'll be lucky if I make it out of here. Knowing Jack, he'll create a smart plan that benefits him and only him. There's nothing you could do that will help the situation. You just don't know."

Patrick felt a little defeated. He hated not being able to help people he wanted to. He had dreamed his whole life to be some Navy hero that was loved by all. Now he couldn't even help a low life pirate who would most likely ruin his reputation rather than help it. Why do I even want to help her so badly?

"You can go now. I'll face Captain Anderson myself. I don't need help."

"You don't have a weapon or anything," Patrick noted.

"Yeah, that could put a damper on things now couldn't it?" Anna said feeling annoyingly helpless. She hit her head a couple times on the bars. What got me here? How can I be so helpless…?

"I could slip you a sword," Patrick said.

"If it makes you feel better, go for it," Anna said, feeling more comfortable with the idea of being armed.

"I'm doing it to make you feel better, not me," Patrick said laughing a little.

"Alright, fine, it will make me feel better to have a weapon. Bring me a sword or a knife or whatever," Anna said giving in to Patrick. She was trying to be as independent as possible, but obviously it wasn't working. "Why do you want to help me so much?" she asked when he returned several minutes later with a sword and a knife.

"I-I…because…it…I like to help people," Patrick said.

"Because it brings you honor. You desire honor and glory, that's why. What is it with you men and glory? Why can't you just live your life? Why can't you just help for reasons other than your own selfish ones?" Anna asked.

"I'm not being selfish. I want to help you! I'm sorry that you're too blinded by your own helplessness to see a good deed," Patrick countered, but knew that Anna was right.

"I'm not blinded by helplessness, I am merely speaking from experience," she said taking the sword and hiding the knife in her boot in case her new sword was taken away.

Patrick was silent. Anna had obviously seen more than him. He couldn't fight her. Whether she was truly right about him or not, she was right about most people. He couldn't blame her for judging quickly.

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to sound selfish. I just heard what the others were saying about you and I wanted to bring back some sense of honor to this ship," Patrick said, making Anna stop fiddling with trying to attach the sword to her somehow.

"What were they saying?" she asked.

"Nothing, just stupid judgments," Patrick said quietly.

"Tell me."

Patrick sighed. He wasn't comfortable revealing what he heard but he knew that Anna was now armed. "Just that you were probably Anderson's new whore, a 'prize' for the crew, and other despicable thoughts."

"Bastards," Anna said under her breath.

"Wh-what did you just say?" Patrick asked, surprised to hear a woman speak like that.

"You really have to get out of that 'honor' bubble you're stuck in. Yes, I am a woman, and yes I have sworn. If you have a problem with it, go back to land," Anna said getting tired of being around "virgins" to the sea.

Patrick didn't respond but he could see the light through the cracks in the wood of the ship that dawn was nearing. "I better go," he said, "good day, Miss Anna."

Anna rolled her eyes. She reached through the bars and grabbed his arm to stop him from leaving. "If you're going to help a pirate, you have to stop addressing me so properly," she said with a little smirk.

Patrick smiled and nodded. He headed up from the brig and swore he could feel a light tingling in his arm where Anna had touched him.

………………………

Captain Anderson had woken up at the crack of dawn, as he did every morning. He looked out behind his ship to see nothing but water. Hmmm, well, if the Black Pearl isn't closing in now, it should be sometime today. Unless they're stupid and just now realized their precious Anna Wilson is gone.

He left his cabin to find some sailors on deck, beginning their daily chores, and the sailors on the night watch were going off to sleep.

Well, I guess I have a couple of hours to kill. Maybe I can get something out of Anna. I'm sure she's more useful than she looks.

"Smith! Bring me Miss Wilson from the brig. I'd like to speak to her," Anderson commanded the closest sailor to him.

"Aye, Captain," the sailor said and got right to his command.

Anderson made his way back to his cabin to await the confrontation with his prisoner, hoping she'd say more today. If not, he would have to force it out of her. Fortunately he knew how to do such a thing.

The sailor called Smith reached the brig and unlocked Anna without a word. He took her out and held on to her tightly so she couldn't run, even though there was no place for her to run. He brought her to Anderson's cabin.

"Good morning Anna. Pleasure to see you," Anderson said politely as Anna took a seat. She didn't answer him.

"Still not talking I see. I guess I'll do the talking and you can respond if you so desire. Something tells me that you will desire, though," he said with a sly smile.

………………………

Will hadn't slept at all the night before. He sat at the bow of the Black Pearl waiting to see the Silent Blade come into view. Apparently the Silent Blade wasn't much slower than the Pearl. Will had been in possession of the compass the whole night, aiding Gibbs at the helm with navigation. Every once in a while he'd open the compass, watch the arrow spin and point ahead of him. Is Anna what I really want? Why haven't we caught up yet? Either the Pearl isn't as fast as I had hoped, or what I think I want and what I truly want are two different things. Or this compass really is broken.

The world was growing lighter as daylight approached and dawn came. A normal, members of the crew switched watches and got to work on their new duties for the day. Will heard footsteps behind him. They weren't quiet, so he knew whoever was behind him didn't care that he could tell they had approached. He turned around and saw Katy standing behind him, with her arms crossed and looking out towards the sunrise.

"Good morning," Will said quietly.

"Mornin'," Katy replied sitting down on an old barrel.

There was a long silence. They hadn't really talked to each other since their argument the day before. Will wasn't quite over the fact that Katy had accused him of so much, and Katy had not quite forgiven Will for allowing Anna to be kidnapped. But, she had to admit, she was sorry for accusing Will of scaring Anna off.

"Will, I'm sorry," Katy said finally.

Will looked up, startled at what Katy had said.

"You are?" Will asked, not sure what else to say when startled.

"Mostly," Katy said.

Will's face fell again. He had hoped he'd be off the hook.

"I'm sorry I accused you of upsetting Anna again," Katy said. "But I'm still not happy about the fact that she was kidnapped."

"I'm not happy about it either, Katy," Will said, hoping she wasn't going to blame the kidnapping on him still.

Katy sighed. "Will, you were right there. I don't understand how she could've slipped from you like that. How come you didn't see someone coming?"

Will stood up and paced the deck. "I am as angry at myself as you are angry at me, Katy. I didn't see him until he grabbed Anna and by the time I was going to do something about it, he had knocked me out. There's nothing I could've done."

"You could've been on a better watch. What were you doing that you didn't see someone coming? Neither you nor Anna saw him!" Katy said.

Will felt awkward saying what he actually was doing that distracted him. "I needed to talk to Anna. She's one of the few who I can really talk to. I was just rambling away, not really paying attention to anything. I vented to Anna. She was nice and listened and tried to help me sort it all out. Only now I realize how selfish I was to be talking about that in front of her. How could I be so stupid?" he said, beginning to ramble again.

"You're rambling, Will. What were you talking about?" Katy said, wanting Will to get right to the point.

"I was talking about how confused I was. When I had finally started to let Elizabeth go, she managed to creep back into my mind. I needed to apologize to Anna," Will said, feeling guilty.

"Will, I swear, if you hurt Anna again, I will kill you! Don't you dare bring Elizabeth back into her life! If you want Elizabeth, I say you give me that compass and get off the ship right now!" Katy said furious at Will once again.

"I don't want to hurt Anna. That is the last thing I'd ever want to do," Will said determinedly looking directly at Katy. "I love her," he added under his breath.

Katy was silent for a moment. "Well it's about time. But why were you talking about Elizabeth? Why were you questioning anything when you claim to love Anna?"

"That was before Anna…" Will paused. Did he really want to say it in front of Katy? Would he sound stupid? "…before she kissed me. It was before she ever got that close to me."

"Oh…" Katy said, suddenly understanding what Will was talking about. "Did you tell her?"

Will looked up. "What?"

"Did you tell her you loved her?"

Will paused. "No, I didn't have the chance. I was about to but…well I got knocked out."

Katy didn't respond. She could see the pain in Will's face. She didn't want to bring any more onto him. Poor kid, I shouldn't feel sorry for him. He's a man now, he should be able to stand up to his feelings, but…he's in love. When he finally wants to admit it, his love is torn away from him. Oh how romantic…great, my sister is being dragged into the most cliché romance novel ever.

"I just…I don't know. I waited so long to tell her, and now I could very well never be able to tell her," Will said more to himself. But he was happy to have Katy there, or anyone for that matter who was at least listening to him.

Katy kneeled down in front of Will, smiling amusedly. "Don't worry. We'll get her back and you'll be able to tell her you love her as much as you want. But you can't be mopey all the time. We need you to go fight Anderson so we can get her back. I know I don't like a mopey crew member, and I'm sure Jack doesn't either. Now if you don't snap out of it, I'll maroon you on some God forsaken spit of land."

Will laughed a little. "Alright," he said standing up, feeling more confident.

I will find Anna. I want Anna. Will opened the compass and watched as the arrow spun around again and pointed ahead, just as it always had. I've always wanted Anna. He squinted his eyes and began to see a small object on the horizon. They were catching up.

A/N: Shorter chapter, I know. I'm having a bit of a writers' block and some minor plot troubles. I know the next chapter will be longer…unless something happens. And something usually tends to happen. My stories tend to develop a mind of their own. Please review! They're greatly appreciated!