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Chapter Four: I miss the Food

'What was that about?' thought Jack as he stood at the helm, watching as the women engaged in an intense conversation. Just when he thought Anamaria was going to give the new girl a good smack in the face, they actually began to laugh!

Sometimes he just didn't understand women… and yet other times, he understood them perfectly. He smirked as a certain memory from Tortuga replayed in his mind only to be brought back to reality when Anamaria and Jade decided to walk by… the violet-eyed girl flashing him the slightest of smiles as well as a wink, which he returned.

"Do you really think that there's a possibility he might come to respect me in the way he does you?" questioned Jade when she saw Jack return her gesture, making her heart flutter as it always seemed to do when he was around.

"Well, as I've already told you my thoughts on the subject, I think it is safe to say that Jack Sparrow's a hard man to predict. One minute you'll be laughing together, sharin' a friendly drink and the next he runnin' off with yer boat!" Anamaria said bitterly, but Jade thought she saw a flicker of a smile. "And then, he may look the part of a rum-crazy, sex-driven pirate, but in truth he has caring eyes with a sensitive heart…"

She sighed and continued, "There are many things about Jack that we may never know, but I do think he may grow to respect you with time and a good surface for your friendship to begin."

Jade paused, taking in her words before following Anamaria below deck. How much time did she have left here? Was it really her choice? Just one touch of the button and this could vanish? But the answers to her questions didn't matter right then because she wasn't ready to go home… not yet.

"You hungry?" came Anamaria's voice as Jade realized they were standing outside the galley.

"Yes, just a little," answered Jade when in fact, her stomach cried that she was far more than a little hungry. Last night's dinner, which consisted entirely of rum, could hardly be considered a sufficient meal.

"Good, because there's lots of leftovers from last night," said Anamaria, handing her a metal tray, which held a bowl of what Jade would describe to be a grayish, moldy-looking, oatmeal-like substance.

Jade groaned inwardly, but took it with a smile. "Yum."

If there was one thing she would miss from the 21st century, it was the food. It seemed that Anamaria had caught the sarcasm in Jade's voice when she replied, "Hey… you should be grateful not to have arrived a few days earlier when we were sure that Johnny, our cook, put some foot fuzz in our soup. Guess 'e thought we deserved it after devouring the bit of bread he stole from a market only a couple days before."

She chuckled at the look she'd received from Jade and watched as the girl hesitantly brought a small spoon-full up to her mouth. Jade would definitely miss the food.

Back on deck Jack's thoughts were far from drifting to the aspect of food when Mr. Gibbs approached him.

"Cap'n! I have a report from the Cotton that if the nights remain as calm as they 'ave been, then we should arrive in Port Royal in 'bout a week."

"Aye," said Jack rather mindlessly.

"What's on yer mind, Cap'n" asked Gibbs, noticing Jack's absent behavior.

"Nothin', it's just… nothing," he replied, still gazing ahead at nothing in particular. Suddenly the Captain seemed to remember himself and turned to face Gibbs.

"Guess that's just the after-affects of rum, eh?" Jack laughed lightly, "Tell Mr. Cotton I'm pleased to hear this, but if an unexpected storm decides to creep up on us, we'll be ready, won't we?"

Gibbs watched Jack pull a serious face and nodded. "Aye, Cap'n. I'll tell 'im right away."

The rest of the day was uneventful for Jade. She hadn't yet gotten another chance to speak with Captain Sparrow and spent the afternoon moping about in Jack's cabin feeling rather useless.

In her time, she would constantly daydream of life on the Pearl, but those always consisted of her being active… working, exploring, and fighting off other pirate ships with her amazing swordsmanship skills. Also in those dreams, she'd certainly not heeded any concern about spending time with dear Jack.

After all, Jack was a pirate and surely he'd want her to at least act like one of the crew if she was sailing with them. Then she began to wonder about what would really happen to her if the ship was attacked.

As she'd already established, this was most certainly not a dream and her incredible swordsmanship skills were not going to appear out of nowhere. It wasn't as if she never handled a sword before… she actually learned to toss and perform with them when she was part of a team called color guard in high school. However, those were neither as sharp nor as heavy as the swords may be in this time.

Jade was not the type of girl to let all the action happen while she sat back or hid, much like Governor Swann per say. Therefore, she came up with a plan or a bargain rather, to convince Jack to teach her how to fight.

A/N: Dem Dem, I love you to death! Thank you for encouraging me this whole time. You keep me going! But yes… sorry this was a shorter chapter. Probably the shortest in my whole story… All you who actually like my story, I'd truly appreciate a review! The more reviews I get, the faster I'll post… and that's a promise! But just so you know, even if you just read my story and don't review, I still love you all.

Peace, love, and chocolate+Jack mixed (yummy!),

Nique