Precious Illusions

Chapter One: Mercy Kiss

AN: Um, thanks for visiting this story! I've been thinking of when I'd be starting a Pirates of the Caribbean one...And I guess there's no time like the present! I guess what really spurned me on is the fact that I just went to the Premiere the other night, and it was phenomenal. Anyhow, this story is about a made-up character of mine, Aryana Black, and her heart and her feelings and stuff...And the adventures, of course, she has with the infamous Captain Jack Sparrow and William Turner. So, enjoy! I have pictures of my darling Ary, but I won't grace you with them 'till next chapter, so sit tight!

He's visited me since before I can remember, but since I can remember, he's made my heart stop dead in it's tracks and turn flips. Yeah, he's almost twice my age. Yeah, he's pretty much a dirty cad who's the last person a girl should ever fall in love, and yeah, he's not really the kind of man to be pinned in a relationship, especially by someone almost half his junior. But I can't help this stupid heart of mine.

My name is Aryana, Aryana Josephine-Felice Black. I'm nothing special, just a fish-monger's daughter. I never thought myself anything extraordinary, but something kept him coming back to visit. Something kept him coming back, once every few months, to bring me gifts or just to say hello. Most of the time he had his good friend, Bootstrap Bill Turner with him, but one day when I was about seven or eight, he told me that Bootstrap wasn't going to come back anymore.

Jack Sparrow never told me why he kept coming back to visit me, he never answered me when I asked him what was so special about me, except for the last time he came to see me. I was only fifteen, and I was scared and unsure of myself. My boyfriend at the time, a fisherman like my father, had run off with a whore from Tortuga, and Jack was the only one I knew would understand my pain. So he came to see me, a surprise visit he said, and found that I was in pieces.

I can still remember that day. He took me out to see his ship, the Black Pearl, and his crew was all very courteous. Jack later told me that evening that they were only courteous because he told them that if they weren't, he would hang them by their bootstraps. It made me laugh a little, to see him trying so hard to make me laugh. He took me around his ship and showed me the rooms, the kitchens, and helped me around, making sure I didn't slip on the water that had tossed overboard from the rough voyage over.

For a long time, there was a little bit of awkward silence between us as we looked over the water from the crow's nest. It got cold quickly up there, and so Jack offered me his arms. I sat there for a long time, just looking out over the water in Jack's arms. He smelled like rum and the ocean, a combination that most would find disgusting and vile, but I found comforting and soothing. Now, I'm not much of a poet, but Jack made me feel poetic.

We sat there until nearly sundown, when Jack took me down and we stood by the harbor. I can remember it only one way, and I'm sure he remembers it differently. Older people, I've found, imagine things differently. I can say this in confidence with you all because I've asked him how he remembers it, and he always tells it differently. This is how I remember it. I remember him standing with his hands on my shoulders, a sad smile on his face as he let out a giant sigh. The khol lining around his eyes had smudged slightly from a salty sweat that trickled down his cheek sweetly. Jack pulled me into a hug, something he never did. I wondered what was going on.

Pulling me from his grip and holding me at arm's length again, he looked down at me, a much more serious expression. "I won't be coming back again, Ary," He said, very quietly. I was shocked into silence. I think a tear might have fallen from my eye, because I remember him stroking something wet from my cheek. Then he hugged me again and held me for a short period of time before pulling away from me and turning away. He crossed his arms over his chest and stared at the dying sun. "I can't risk it...I think I love you, and it's not good for me anymore."

Well that was the last straw for me. I fell into a broken stream of sobs, even though there were very few tears that fell then. "I can't take one more person leaving me Jack. Tell me you'll come back, please." I pleaded with him, begged him, but he wouldn't budge. "No love, I can't come back, and this is something you'll understand when you get older." Well, I'm older now I realize, and I still don't understand why he did it. "I won't ever forgive you Jack Sparrow," I threatened. Even as I look back on this, an old bitty in a salty sea-cabin, I figure I really never did forgive him. You see, old wounds die hard with me, and even though I do truly hate to admit it, I am a grudge carrier.

That's when he turned around, and I remember the expression on his face. It was sweet sorrow. He pulled me close to his chest and he kissed me. It wasn't anything big, just a kiss on the lips, tender and true. His beard tickled my chin, and when I felt tears on my cheeks again, I turned around and ran back towards my village. He didn't follow me, and he never came back.

AN: Okay, so that was PITIFUL. I promise next chapter will be like...Ten times better, and it also won't be in first person. I absolutely hate writing in first person, it's such a bitch, haha. Okay, so next chapter...Get ready for some craziness.