I'm really excited for POTC 2. Anyone willing to watch it with me? - Read on mate!

CHAPTER 5: CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT RUM

Alicia woke up with the sun shining brightly through her bedside porthole. She looked across the room at the still unconscious Lynne. She sighed. She stood up and got dressed. Alicia opened the door and found herself face to face with Jack Sparrow. He stood there with his right hand raised, obviously about to knock on the door. When he saw her, Jack lowered his hand at once and gave her his trademark grin.

"What are you doing here?" Alicia demanded.

"Oh nothing. I came to see how you were doing. It's already the middle of the day and I thought I should let ye know I don't allow lazy bones in my ship."

Alicia walked up to the deck. Jack followed from behind.

"Is that all you came for?"

"Uumm… I also want to know how your friend is doing."

"Well, she's still unconscious. Anyway, when will you start your explaining?"

"Wait till tonight, luv, when there's rum for you and me!"

Alicia shuddered. "I'd prefer you call me by name Captain, or lad will do."

Jack grinned.

Alicia went on. "Can you live without rum for just a day?"

Jack shrugged. "No."

"Well, if you don't mind, I have to go help Gibbs on lookout now."

"Actually, I thought you could do more of the women's job."

"What do you mean 'women's job'?" Alicia bristled. "Just because you discovered I'm a woman, you start dumping 'women's job' on me?"

"Calm down. It's not that you're not doing your previous jobs well, but now that I know you're a girl I thought it would be better if you do the women's work. Since none of us can do it anyway. Please?"

Jack looked pleadingly at her. Alicia sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Alright. But you owe me for this."

Jack grinned. "Great. Now, follow me."

Jack led her down below deck from where they just came from. But instead of turning to the left for the quarters, they turned right. Alicia had never been at this part of the ship before. They stopped in front of a wooden door. Jack opened it and led her inside. A huge stack of plates was piled before her. It was then that she realized that she had entered the ship's kitchen.

"You want me to wash these!" She said reading Jack's mind.

"Well, how do you suppose we feed ourselves ei? Besides, it won't take too long."

"Good grief!"

Jack looked at her imploringly.

"Fine, fine. But remember, you owe me a huge one, Jack Sparrow."

"Aye. And that's Captain Jack Sparrow, luv, captain."

"Whatever you say Captain." She said sarcastically. "And stop calling me 'luv'!"

"Then how do you want me to call you? I just realized last night that you're not Alexander."

"Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. But I'll tell you tonight, when there's rum for you and me, savvy?" She said, imitating Jack's voice.

Jack laughed. "See you tonight, then." And he walked out of the room, leaving Alicia with a huge stack of plates to deal with.

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The sun had set when she finished all the dishes. Alicia climbed up the stairs onto the deck. Her stomach was grumbling terribly. She looked around for something to eat. She was fumbling over a barrel when someone patted her at the back. She turned around and found herself face to face with Jack Sparrow. Not again! They were so close that she could clearly see every feature of his face. He moved his face closer, but Alicia pushed him away. Alicia turned her back to him.

"Umm… Jack, where can I find some food?"

Jack frowned slightly but answered her just the same. "I dunno. But I have some rum." He raised his right hand to reveal a rum bottle.

Alicia said, "Uugh. I can't survive on nothing but rum… But I guess I have to do with it." She reached for the bottle.

She drank a large gulp of rum. "This tastes better than the one I had before."

"Coz this, my luv, is from Tortuga. I save them for special nights."

"Then maybe we should sit down and talk." Alicia said as she reached for an empty box to sit on.

Jack went over to another box and revealed three more bottles of rum before sitting down on an empty barrel.

"So who's going to start, Captain?"

"First of all, I give ye full permission to call me Jack, that is, privately. Second, you decide who will start the story first."

"Well then, I'll start."

She took a deep breath and started.

"My name is Alicia, Alicia Spencer. My parents left me in an orphanage when I was five. When I was six years old, the Andrews family adopted me. That's where I met my best friend, Lynne Andrews, who was seven at that time. His father was the lieutenant then, a fine man, I should say. And Mrs. Andrews was very kind. She treated me like her own daughter. Unfortunately, she died two years after. Since then, it was up to Mr. Andrews to take care of us. He sent us to the best private school in our town where we learned courtesy and manners. Lynne and I always skipped classes, though, until the head mistress caught us and reported us to Lynne's father. He wasn't too hard on us. He didn't want us to grow up like typical ladies. He gave us sword-fighting lessons too. This went on for almost eight years. Until Lynne's seventeenth birthday, Mr. Andrews was promoted as commodore. He was sent by the officials to an island called Port Royal in the Caribbean. Lynne and I were thrilled, so we went along too. It took more than three years to prepare for the voyage. A banquet was held for my uncle's promotion when we were aboard the ship, which Lynne and I were trying our best to be spared from. Well we succeeded, and when we were spending our time on deck, there was a huge storm. The two of us fell overboard and the next day I found myself aboard the infamous Black Pearl."

That was the end of her story. Alicia was shocked on how she managed to tell Jack about her childhood. But she thought that he could be depended on. She gulped down the rest of her rum and looked at Jack.

"So?"

"So what?"

"So what's your story?" Alicia said as she reached for another bottle.

"My story? Haha… you won't be interested in my life story!"

"No, I mean the reason why the whole crew can't die."

"Oh I see. Well ye know Will, right? Five years ago, I paid him a visit at Port Royale, he works as a blacksmith there. His girl friend, Elizabeth, was pregnant, but it was a premarital baby, and they were in a very tight situation then. So I invited them to sail with me. During the middle of the voyage, we were attacked by surprise, them pirates you met last night. Tom Smith… that's the captain… was about to kill Elizabeth when she said something like a code, I dunno myself. Then a fog covered the whole ship. Next thing I knew, Elizabeth was lying there dead." Jack gulped another mouthful of rum. "It wasn't Tom Smith who killed her because there was no blood. And then we figured out that we became immortal too. It's really odd and confusing."

He drank from his bottle.

"Poor Elizabeth." Alicia muttered.

"Yeah, Will was in shock for weeks. She was all he had left. And losing the baby was the worst blow. He never really recovered from that…"

Alicia drained her second bottle. Now she's feeling very drowsy. She looked at Jack, who was still drinking. She shook her head to keep herself awake.

"Jack, I think I have to go. I've had enough rum for one night." She slurred.

She stood up and wobbled towards the stairs. Jack started his third bottle when he heard a thud from behind him. He ran towards the stairs and found Alicia sprawled on the floor sleeping. Jack sighed and lifted her up. He carried her to her room and laid her down on her bed. He looked at her.

"She's really beautiful," he thought.

Then returning to his senses, he hit his head and went out of the room before he started doing anything stupid. He shut the door behind him and leaned against it.

"What was I thinking? What is wrong with me?"

Jack stood there deep in thought when suddenly, he exclaimed:

"I think I need some more rum." And he strode off.

I would love to taste a bit of rum but I guess that will never happen. Still, I'm open to reviews! Cheers!