Precious Illusions

Chapter Three: Gold To Me

Will looked at them both, apparently confused. "You two know each other?" He asked, and Aryana looked at him. "Not anymore. He used to visit me, it's a long story. But I haven't seen or heard from him in twelve years." The tone of her voice was steely and cold, and she watched Will for a moment, taking note of the crisp structure of his face, the even tan, those deep brown eyes that seemed to sparkle in the light of the kerosene lamps. He was just like his father, only with a different edge. "I...See..." He was at a loss for words. What were the odds of running into one of Jack's old acquaintances, really? And it was twisted that Jack had visited her when she didn't seem a day older than he was.

"That's right, Ary. I don't know you anymore." Jack's voice broke the strange silence that had fallen in around them, and Aryana looked at him, her brows furrowed and her lips pulled into a tight frown. "What are you trying to say Jack? That I'm the one who left you. You didn't visit, just like you told me you wouldn't. I'm surprised I even had hope after you told me that. You are a lowly piece of dirt for leaving me when I needed you most Jack Sparrow, do you know that?" Her voice had an edge of anger, and her face had contorted in rage. She was still beautiful though, and in fact her beauty was enhanced by her anger, but what she wasn't expecting was for Jack to just give up so easily. It was a mystery to her. He was a mystery to her.

"I know, Ary. You have to believe me when I tell you that I know." His words...He actually articulated each syllable, and it made her stomach flip uncomfortably. "Don't pull any of that with me Jack. I told you I wouldn't forgive you, and I still haven't." She was almost of the verge of tears, and her thick blonde hair bounced around her face, for after her performance she had nervously pulled it down. Will looked at her, almost in awe that she could be so unforgiving and cold, and yet still so beautiful and inviting. He wanted to reach out and touch her hair and run it through his hands like the gold silk that it was. She was like gold to him.

"Why don't I...Buy us some drinks?" Will offered, and Aryana glanced at him gratefully for breaking that uncomfortable funk. Her blue eyes settled graciously on the table top, and she rested her cheek in her slender hand. Will noticed the way her chin wobbled slightly when she was about to cry, and the way her hair fell around her face like she had just been blown in from the open door. He smiled slightly, and as a busty bar maid came around to take their orders, Ary caught that scent of ocean and rum that had once made her so comfortable. Her eyes watered, and she sat up in her chair, glancing at Jack. Did she really still love him, after all he had put her through. It wasn't entirely impossible, she knew full well. She knew she had loved him that day on the docks, that day he had kissed her so tenderly it was almost sweet. And it was really wrong, she knew, that she had kissed him. She had only been fifteen, he had been twenty-seven, and it was just plain wrong. But why did it feel so right?

Shaking her head slightly as the wench came back around and set the two rums and Ary's gin on the table in front of them, she looked up to find the bar maid staring at Will like a piece of fine meat. "Hey," She said, her voice having an edge of contempt, "If we don't have drinks to order, you don't have room to be staring at them like they're your next course. So get out of here, or you'll be in trouble." The woman's face swelled with anger, and she puffed out her chest like a blow-fish. "Who will I be in trouble with, eh?" She threatened, and Ary stood up from her chair, pushing it out with her heeled foot and getting right in the woman's face, even though she was several inches shorter. "Me, that's who." The bar maid laughed and poked Ary roughly in the stomach, testing her strength. Aryana took both hands and shoved the bar maid so that she stumbled backwards in a flurry of breasts and ruddy flesh. "Now leave, before I show you just how strong I really am."

The bar maid left with a harumph and a string of broken curses, and Aryana settled back down in her chair, her hair a halo of gold around her face. Jack looked at her appreciatively, but she didn't return the glance. "You could have assisted you know. I'm not the only one sitting here at this table, I think." Jack just shrugged and took a swig of his rum, his face contorting slightly as the amber liquid sizzled down his throat. "Ye seemed to be handlin' her quite nicely by yerself love." Aryana rolled her eyes and took a dainty sip of her gin. She was ladylike in every manner, Will seemed to notice.

It was odd, how even when he had been in the thick of love with Elizabeth, he never studied her like he studied Aryana. She was a mystery to him, a mystery that he wanted to solve. Her face was beautiful, she was beautiful, but that wasn't all there was to her, he thought. He wanted to know what she was like, know what her dreams were, and above all he wanted her to want him. It was really strange that he found himself thinking of all these things when he didn't even know her. It was Jack that she watched most intensely, and Will found himself envying his friend for the first time since he had met him. Will wanted Aryana to watch him like that. Taking a swig of his rum, a newfound love of his, he cleared his throat and watched as her serene blue eyes swiveled to meet his, a smile pricking her lips. "So what are you boys doing in Port Isabella anyway?" She asked, her voice soft for the first time.

Jack looked at her, his eyebrows knitting together in concentration. "I could be askin ye the same question love." He tended to call her love more then anything else, but occasionally, she noted, he would throw in darling, like the old days. "Jack don't make this anymore personal than this already has to be. I'll make the answer short, alright?" Jack shrugged his shoulders plainly in agreement. "After you left, I waited for five years, and when I figured you really weren't coming back, I traveled with a band of pirates, under the black flag and all. They dropped me here." She nodded slightly in tune with her story and took another ladylike sip of her gin. Jack's mouth fell open and he laughed. "You traveled with salty old pirates?" Aryana crooked a brow and sat back in her chair. "Aye," She answered, smiling slightly. Will threw one of his heartbreaking smiles at her, and for an instant her stomach fluttered. What was getting into her?

"Well then, I have a proposition to make, and you listen good lass." Jack sat up straighter in his chair and cast a furtive glance at Will, who suddenly sobered up and wiped the smile off his face. "You're really going to drag her into this, Jack? Are you sure?" Jack just shrugged. "If she wants." Aryana was still pressed against the back of the chair, trying to remain as calm and indifferent as possible, yet something in the tone of Will's voice made her think that maybe Jack was trying to get her into something that wasn't for the benefit of her better health. "I'm listening," She said quietly. Jack smiled his toothy smile and rubbed his hands together. "Will and I are gatherin' a crew. We're sailin' to Asia, or somewhere along the likes of it we figure...There's treasure there, Ary. Treasue no one's touched, they say...What do ye say lass. Join our crew?"

AN: God, I'm sorry for all these cliff-hangers, hah. I know, I'm a terrible terrible person. But I figure, with the updates coming as often as they do, you guys don't have to wait TOO long to see what happens, right? Keep the Reviews coming, please! They give me something to read and smile about. Thanks!