Disclaimer: I love him, but I don't own him... you now who I'm talking about. And I don't own anything else either! ;(

Chapter Three: Confrontations and Realizations

The next morning found Jade in a heap on the hard floor of a cramped cabin. The pounding in her head was unbearable as she scanned for familiarity in the room that seemed to double when the ship rocked over a wave.

It took her a moment to remember why she was dressed as a trouble-making drunkard, hair tumbling unto her shoulders and face in a knotted mess, while she fought the urge to vomit where she sat. Upon catching her shadowy reflection in the window overlooking the ceaseless ocean and taking note of black smudges across her eyes, the night's events came rushing back to her: Jack, rum, dancing, Anamaria….

Anamaria!Hadn't she been the one to come and spoil her good time at a very inopportune moment? Jade vaguely remembered coming to the partial conclusion that Anamaria's indifference had been because of her feelings for Jack.

Maybe they'd been together in the past and she felt the need to warn Jade of her possibly similar fate. Of course that assumption would only be valid if Jack did indeed have those intentions and if Jade had suddenly given in to a secret desire.

But there was also the possibility that Anamaria simply wanted her to back off so she could have Jack to herself…

Jade began to laugh a little at where her mind was wondering with this. After all, that last thought was pretty outrageous considering the way Anamaria acted towards him in the movie.

"Maybe I'm just thinking too much into this," Jade told herself, rubbing her eyes with tiredness. "I should just go and ask her… otherwise this will continue to bug me."

Immediately as she stood, Jade groaned and grabbed onto the first thing she saw to steady herself.

"No more alcohol for me… " she whispered, hand over mouth.

When she finally felt the ability to walk properly, after doing a quick finger brush through the stubborn animal atop her head, all the while thinking how she wished makeup had already been invented, she stalked up on deck still clad in the clothes she'd worn previously.

Jade's fury began to build when she spotted who she was after tightening a rope at the stern. She hated people who judged others so quickly. Anamaria had no right to treat her so coldly, no matter what her feelings were towards Jack. So she was another woman aboard… big deal! They hadn't done anything last night and Jade certainly didn't plan to anytime soon. It's not like Jack would actually fall for a bug-eyed stick like her anyway...

One stupid guy isn't a reason to go around hating people. However, Jade knew she was kidding herself calling Jack "one stupid guy," but that wasn't the point.

Jack watched, amused, as the new girl made her way across the deck, with the effects of last night still considerably obvious in her step. However, her stride was purposeful, and drew stares from nearby crew members who were just as curious as Jack to see her approach Anamaria in such a way.

"Why do you hate me?" Jade asked bluntly, hand on hip. "Did I offend you in any way!"

Anamaria looked up with a blank expression on her face, which quickly transformed into a frown as she stood to face the smaller girl properly. The crew reluctantly averted their gazes, pretending to resume their work in knowing that things only come to one conclusion when dealing with Anamaria.

"Where do you come off making immediate assumptions?" answered the other girl in a surprising formal tone, though her face remained grim.

"Well, you didn't exactly try to hide your resentment towards my presence, now did you?" Jade retorted, matching Anamaria's tone. "At least I tried to be friendly."

"Oh, I know, darling. You little, rich prisses are just so sweet and innocent. I bet its jus' terrible for you to be trapped on this scary pirate ship," mocked the taller girl with a false cheery voice, tinged with malice.

"How dare you! You have no idea who I am or where I came from! And don't even get me started about the rich, prissy comment." Jade gave a short, humorless laugh.

To her surprise, and everyone else's for that matter, Anamaria slowly began to smile. "So you weren' really abandoned by one of the British ships passin' by?"

Jade's eyes widened at her mistake, opening her mouth to recover when Anamaria cut her off.

"I didn' think so. We woulda seen your little contraption if it were in range of the crow's nest far before your arrival. So what're ya really, Miss Johnson? A stowaway? Had a sudden desire te turn pirate? Or am I way off and ya truly are one of Jack's whores?"

Jade breathed deeply, her fury surfacing. She opened her mouth to give a vicious retort until she realized how vulnerable her position was right now. What would they do to her if they discovered her lie? Anamaria's opinion was obviously a powerful one on this particular ship and perhaps it was best not to make enemies on the second day.

She had a variety of choices here: keep going with Jack's story that would most likely never fool the hardened woman, spit out the truth and be thrown off for being a complete mental… or simply deny an answer at all.

"My being here has absolutely nothing to do with any one of your suggestions." Jade began, deciding on the latter of her choices. "How and why I am on this ship is strictly between the captain and I; therefore you can either choose to believe the story or not, but this is all the answer I can give you, nothing more."

No one knew how long the women stood there, eyes never leaving each other's gaze.

Finally, Anamaria broke the silence. "You're definitely not like any of the brainless women I've ever met, I'll tell you that."

Jade smiled, proud that she had actually been able to stand up to her like that. Typically, Jade was a quiet person, but she was not someone to be toyed with either. If anyone messed with her or someone she cared about, Jade's temper was quick to rise.

As Jade remembered something, she asked in a quieter tone, "Last night, why did you tell me that pirates don't mix well with ladies? Because I'm not sure I caught what you were insinuating."

"I said it because it's true," replied Anamaria, lowering her voice as well. "If you had any sense at all, you'd know to keep your distance from Sparrow."

"You mean, keep out of your territory…? Don't think that I haven't been guessing that your cause of dislike is because I'm just one more woman between you and Jack," Jade said even quieter, watching as Ana's face changed from shock to great amusement in an extreme amount of seconds.

"M-me? Me and… Jack? You th-think that I, Anamaria, am jealous because I have feelings for Jack!"

Jade immediately regretted saying anything at all as Anamaria roared with laughter, the whole deck now aware of what they were talking about, including Jack.

"I've ne'er heard anything more ridiculous in my life!" Anamaria said, still breathless and grinning.

Jade looked sheepish and slightly confused. "So, you're not… you were never… "

"Believe me, missy," Ana interrupted. "I'd be more likely to dance naked in front of the crew and marry Norrington than sleep with that man."

Jade bit back a laugh and glanced at a slightly offended Jack at the wheel. This still doesn't explain why she acted that way.

"I don't understand."

Anamaria explained in a more calm fashion, "If you really want to know why I acted that way, then it was partly 'cause I didn't- and still don't- trust you and partly because I didn't want to see another girl walk off this ship after having experienced how truly dangerous it is to get involved with our Jack on many different levels."

She paused to see Jade nod in understanding and continued, "Jack's been one of my close friends for a long time. I've seen the effect he has on women when they fall into his trap."

Of course Jade had already considered this, her suspicions now confirmed. "I suppose I should thank you for the warning, but you don't have to worry. I think I can resist his love spell well enough."

Ana gave her a true smile for the first time and said, "Don' get me wrong, he's a good man… just be careful. I can tell he likes you."

Jade raised her eyebrows, cheering inwardly. "He likes me or my ass?"

Both women giggled loudly and began to pace the deck.

"We'll find out, won't we?"

A/N: I hope this chapter wasn't too modern day-ish… the speech, I mean. I tried to keep Anamaria in character, but we didn't really see too much of her in the movie anyway. But yes, I again want to thank those who reviewed. Actually it's more like one person (and your review put a HUGE smile on my face, by the way. It was so nice!) because Dem Dem, I love you to pieces, but you don't really count considering you're one of my best friends. Lol. All the rest of you… please let me know someone else is actually reading this!

Peace, love, and rum,

Nique