A/N: I recently took another glance at this story and realized how poorly written it was. So I've decided to polish it up one piece at a time. I don't know if anyone is still reading it, but for my sanity, I am going to retool it chapter by chapter. Maybe I will be struck with new inspiration and finish it.

Disclaimer: I own neither Pirates of the Caribbean nor any of it's characters, names or locations. This is a simple exercise in creativity that I will not try to sell or profit from. All credit goes to Disney.

Ana's body went rigid as a board. Her mind was reeling. How dare he? He who had never taken their relationship seriously, had played with her emotions like a child played with a spinning top and now had the audacity to insist that she remain on board so that he could torture her at his convenience. Her hands balled into a fist and came up to push on his chest. She had suffered enough pain at the hands of Jack Sparrow.

Except this didn't feel anything like pain. It actually was pleasurable. The logical part of her mind shouted to her that this was just a new form of torture. A languorous, soft, warm torture he inflicted with his lips. Her moment of hesitation cost her some ground; Jack wrapped her tightly against him, pushing them back into the corner of his room. Her hand flexed involuntarily between them as her fingers clutched his chest, caught in between shoving him backward and jerking him closer. His mouth was warm and inviting, beckoning her toward him. He tasted of rum and something that was uniquely him. His skin burned against her, threatening to set her whole body ablaze. She needed to pull back; she needed to tell him no; she needed to assert herself…

He coaxed her lips apart with his talented tongue. Ana felt herself lose the battle. Broad calloused hands trailed all over her body, stroking her through the thin fabric of her nightgown. She cursed her choice of clothing, simultaneously wishing she had worn something more and asking herself why she had bothered with clothing at all. His whiskered chin brushed against her cheek, gently tickling. She heard herself sigh (or perhaps it was a moan) against Jack's lips.

As suddenly as it began, it ended. He pulled back, depriving her body of his warmth and leaving her disoriented. The cool night air swirled and gathered between the scant space between them. Her chest was heaving from oxygen deprivation. She looked up at Jack, willing him to say something--anything-- to break the tension. He opened his mouth, but shut it, seemingly struggling to compose himself.

"Don't leave," he whispered at long last. "If you leave, there'll be nothing for me."

"You'll have the Pearl," she reminded him gently.

"No. Not without you." he protested.

"What do you mean?" Ana thought she knew, but she needed to hear him say it.

"The Pearl doesn't mean anything without you on it. Without you, love, it's just a place full of bad memories and loneliness." Ana realized that he was making himself vulnerable to her, something he rarely did.

"If I stay, what will happen between us?" she needed to know.

"I can't promise you it'll be a basket of roses. I can't promise you that we'll get married or ever have a conventional life. Hell, I can't even promise you that I won't be a bastard on occasion. But I can promise you I'll try. I'll try as hard as I can. And if I mess up again, then…" his face contorted painfully. "Then you can leave." Ana considered his proposition.

"So we can consider this a trial period of sorts?" He seemed surprised by her word choice, but put on a businesslike façade.

"Aye. Do we have an accord?" he straightened up seriously and extended a hand.

She regarded it carefully. He was asking a lot, that much they both knew. He was asking too much, if she was honest with herself, especially after the games he had played with her in their youth. Experience had taught her not to set herself up for a fall a second time, and that tiger's seldom changed their stripes. Logically, it was clear he had not earned a second chance. The issue was, Ana was not thinking logically right now. She hadn't been for a while. Logic dictated that she should be living somewhere comfortably with her sister, feet firmly on the ground. Logic dictated that she would have settled down with a nice young man, someone uncomplicated and who had a legal occupation. Logic dictated that she slap Jack's hand away, tell him goodbye and leave. Yet she was standing here, seriously considering his proposition.

"If I stay," she said finally, "I have conditions."

Jack looked weary, but nodded his head. "Name them."

"Firstly, and most importantly, I want you to be honest with me. All the time. That means that starting tonight, you are going to tell me exactly what you were feeling and thinking all that time ago when you left. And you are going to tell me exactly how you feel about me now." She paused, giving him time to let it sink in.

"Alright," he agreed.

"Secondly, I want our relationship to remain a secret. That means no one, not Laura, not the crew, no one knows."

Jack looked surprised. "Fair enough,"

"And lastly," Ana hesitated, not quite knowing how to put this, "as for our physical relationship…"

"I figured we might have to work our way up to that one," Jack muttered. Ana felt her cheeks color absurdly. She didn't know why saying what she needed to say was this difficult. After all, hadn't she been waiting for this opportunity for years?

"Not just that. Kissing too." she blurted out.

"I can't kiss you?" Jack asked incredulously.

"No." Ana said point blank. "I don't trust you Jack. And I know from experience what kind of trouble your kisses can get me into." There was a poignant pause. Jack looked as though he was contemplating protesting, but he thought better of it.

"Alright then. Deal." Ana motioned to grasp his hand, but he pulled back a bit. "Do you think that we can arrange an award system?" At Ana's confused look he clarified. "For instance, I get a kiss for good behavior."

Ana's brow furrowed. "A kiss for good behavior?" she repeated.

"Aye."

Ana thought about it. She thought pigs might fly before the Jack she knew earned very many kisses. She was too jaded and heartbroken for that. "I suppose that could work, Sparrow." he reached out and grasped her hand.

"Deal. And one more thing Ana." she looked at him expectantly. "If we're together, you're going to have to call me Jack again."

A silence stretched between them. "We have an accord, Jack." Jack's calloused fingers closed around her slender hand. He pulled her firmly toward him, enclosing her in a hug. Even as she breathed in the scent of his skin, Anamaria thought it would take a miracle to keep her on the Black Pearl.