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As he was at the helm that night, he replayed what ha happened that day over and over again in his mind. In the short amount of time that he had known this woman, she seemed to be two things: stubborn and broken. He saw the pain behind her eyes when she spoke of her father and her late family. He saw the way she looked away from him whenever he asked her a question about them. She was guarded. Isabelle was determined to make it known that she could in face take care of herself without Jack's help. When she spoke, she didn't make sense until bid to go further with the statement. She was an all around confusing woman. Lost within herself most likely.
Jack found himself at the railing watching the sun come up hours and hours later when he heard light feet on the deck behind him. "Beautiful isn't it?" Jack asked.
"Yes, Captain." Isabelle paused. "I didn't know pirates favored things such as this," Isabelle said, looking sideways toward Jack. Jack smiled and nodded.
"What are you doing up so early anyway, lass," he asked her, turning his attention back to the rising sun.
"I wanted to see the sunrise. I wanted to see the difference between the sunrise here and the sunrise on land," she said, leaning heavily against the railing. Jack turned to her and made a motion with his hands, reminding her to continue. "Oh, it's much prettier here, Captain," Isabelle said, not taking her eyes off the amazing colors the sun alone had created. "I love to watch something pure. I like to watch as the Earth gives birth to a new day," Isabelle said turning to Jack and smiling. She nodded her head and went back to his cabin after the sun was fully raised and the magnificent colors were gone.
Jack stood at the rail for a little while longer and finally roused Gibbs to take his place at the wheel so he could get a decent rest. They would be in Tortuga in a little over a week to stock up on run, food, water, and rum.
The day went by in a flurry of activity. Jack was mostly at the helm with little to no sleep and the rest of the crew was dying to know who the mysterious woman was in the captain's cabin. To keep them all occupied, Jack assigned them double the normal chores and then some. Not one person had nothing to do all day even after the sun had gone down.
Isabelle lay awake in bed for a little while, trying to forget about the pain that was still lingering in every raspy breath she took. She knew Jack would be coming to bed in a little while and just like every other night, she would pretend to be asleep and silently twist and turn from the amount of pain her ribs were causing her. Even after Jack was long asleep. It was a miracle she had even gotten up to see the sunrise that morning. She laid her head back further into the soft pillow that smelled strongly of rum and something very sweet. The scent calmed her down a little bit, but nothing rivaled her pain. She tried to imagine her side without any pain. When that failed, she resorted to letting the tears flow freely and silently down her cheeks.
A little while later, Jack stumbled into the room, tired and loudly. He ran into the corner of the table in the dark and cursed profusely. Isabelle, who was already half awake, became more alert as the captain made a great deal of racket. He let out a string of curses when he was trying to pull his shirt over his head and walked into the dresser. He grunted and collapsed into a nearby chair, immediately dosing off. Isabelle watched him for a few minutes, and then decided she, too, would let sweet slumber take her.
"Yer off the edge of the map, mate! Here, there be monsters!" Jack watched as Barbossa pushed him away with his sword. Jack made a great effort not to fall down the steep hill of golden coins and triumphed, only to be attacked once again by his mutinous first mate.
"Impossible…" Jack muttered to himself. Barbossa was dead, and Jack remembered killing him with his own hand. This couldn't be happening to him. Still, Jack blocked every blow, every stab, every pass made at his body. He head Barbossa's chilling laugh behind him and his gut instinct was to run. When he turned around, he felt cold metal in his stomach and the sickening sound of punctured flesh echoed through the dark cave. He looked down and it was his own flesh that had made that noise, and it was Barbossa's sword that caused the blood seeping down his stomach. Elizabeth and Will looked up to him and watched their friend and captain fall gracelessly to the cold ground. Barbossa walked calmly away, pulling his sword from Jack's lifeless body. "This is wrong!" Jack screamed, though no words escaped his lips.
"Jack!" Elizabeth shrieked and ran over to him. She was dressed differently than he remembered. Instead of man clothes she wore a light yellow gown. Will came up behind her and placed a hand on her back. "Oh, why did you have to die now? She needs you!" Elizabeth shouted and broke down in tears, dropping to her knees. "She needs you," she whispered. "We all do," jack tried to question her, reach out to her, stop her from crying but he had no control over his body. This wasn't how it was supposed to happen, he kept thinking in his mind. He kept reminding himself that he lived, that he killed Barbossa not the other way around. He kept trying to get to his friends, the ones he loved. He couldn't.
"Come on Elizabeth. Let him rest in peace," Will said quietly. Jack watched in awe as the scenery swirled around and changed suddenly. It was no longer a dark dismal cave, but a beach surrounded by red coats an James Norrington. Jack tried to yell out to his old friend, be tried to reach for James' annoyingly red coat. Jack saw the tears lingering in James' eyes as he approached him. James stopped and Jack saw one tear escape his eyes and he didn't miss will wipe his a few times. He wanted nothing more than to jump up and be the Jack Sparrow he was, but this just wasn't normality! He watched his three friends stand shoulder to shoulder and then they were gone as suddenly as they appeared.
ISABELLE was ripped out of her sleep as she head something moving and moaning. She opened her eyes and saw that Jack was twisting and turning in his chair and moaning almost painfully. She pulled herself out of his bed and walked carefully over to him. "Captain," she said quietly at first and then got a little louder. She wondered how many nights he spent tossing and tuning like this. How many nights he spent alone with his horrid dreams. How many things haunted his once peaceful memories. She placed hand on his chest to calm him, but brought it back when she felt his warm skin instead of a shirt. She knew what would get him to calm down but she was adamant about it. Finally she decided she would help him like he had helped her. She laid her hand on his chest and pressed hard, cooing him out of his nightmare the same way her mother had done to her so many years ago.
Jack stopped fussing and opened his eyes slowly, taking in the scene around him. He wasn't dead and his friends weren't mourning his death. The first thought that penetrated his mind were that about what Elizabeth had said to him. 'She needs you,' he thought. Why would she say that? He pulled his mind back to the warm hand on his chest and the soft humming of woman's voice next to him. Isabelle watched Jack look up at her with his big, scared brown eyes. Something she had never seen in anyone's but her own. She took in the endless words his eyes were saying in their own right and then his eyes were back to normal before she could anticipate it.
"Isabelle?" Jack asked and furrowed his brow. Isabelle nodded and removed her hand from his warm chest as soon as she knew he was fully out of his dream.
"Captain, you looked as though you were in pain. I didn't want to leave you alone," Isabelle said and stood, regretting that decision and hissed in pain. Jack climbed to his feet and took hold of her hands, pulling her into a standing position slowly. "Thank you," Isabelle whispered painfully and nodded. Jack led her back over to the bed and laid her down gently. He sat on the edge while Isabelle caught her breath. "Are they supposed to hurt so bloody much?" she asked through her teeth, gripping her side. Jack chuckled a little.
"Yea, love. That's exactly how five broken ribs should feel," he said and patted her ahnds covering her wounded side. She cursed for a little while and Jack just sat and listened to her not so perfect British accent.
"How much longer are they going to hurt like this?" she asked him, looking up at him with dark black eyes.
"Couple of days. It'll get better, love," Jack said and smiled a little. She nodded and looked at his face, studying him as he looked away from her.
"You should have your bed, Captain. It's not right of me to sleep graciously and you to sleep on a chair in your own cabin." Jack looked at her and shook his head.
"How is it that you can think of the well being of others when no one cared about yours for so long?" Jack asked bluntly. He realized what he said and waited for the typical female outburst. Isabelle shrugged and laid her head back down on the sweet smelling pillow, welcoming the rest of her back.
"I promised myself that I would never be like my father. I will never just not care, Captain," Isabelle said simply. Jack nodded.
"Sleep well," Jack said softly and got up and walked back to his chair. He heard Isabelle whisper goodnight to him and smiled to himself. He barely knew who she was and he already respected her decisions and approved of her attitude. She had five broken ribs, but she had cared enough to get up out of bed in the middle of the night to be with him while he was having a night terror. She talked to him as though he was in a higher ran than she. She face him straight forward answers, after little reminders to follow up her train of thought. She had nothing to hide. She had been through so much hatred, so much pain and yet, she still found the peace within herself to help another person. Jack thought all at once before he slept. Why? Why would she care about someone else when no one had done the same for her? He could tell she wasn't a typical female. She has character and a mind of her won. He only knew one other woman like that. His dearly missed friend Elizabeth. With the thoughts of his friends and this strange woman drifting around in his mind, sleep finally claimed him once more.
Jack slept until midday considering he hadn't had much sleep last night. When he finally did wake up, Isabelle was gone. He pulled no a clean shirt and headed out on deck. Squinting as the sun pierced his eyes, he looked around for any sign of the girl. Gibbs approached him and put a hand on his shoulder. Startled, Jack turned around but smiled when he saw his first mate.
"Mornin', Cap'n," Gibbs said happily. "Beautiful day." Jack looked around the perfectly blue sky and the blazing sun overhead. He nodded and smiled, showing his golden teeth.
"Aye, mate. That it is," Jack said and continued to look around for something that simply was not there.
"What you be lookin fer, Cap'n?" Gibbs asked, following Jack's intense glare as it swept across the deck. Jack seemed to have not heard the question at all.
"Have ye seen the new lass?" Jack asked, still visually searching the ship.
"Aye. Isabelle's with Ana Maria makin' herself useful as it were," Gibbs said and started to walk off.
"And what, pray, is it that the lass is doing!" Jack called at his retreating crew member.
"Makin' us dinner!" Gibbs called back and disappeared from sight. Jack sighed and shook his head.
"She should be resting her ribs," Jack mumbled under his breath as he made his way toward the galley. He heard feminine voices from the other end of the door. Isabelle must've done something right because Ana Maria hardly liked anyone. Jack was content with standing at the door and listening to their conversations for a little while. He got bored after a little while and walked right in.
"Ah, the man of the moment," Ana said sarcastically. Jack smirked and kissed her lightly on the forehead. "What're ye doing down here, Jack," Ana asked as she helped Isabelle chop and marinate.
"I came fer the lass, here," Jack said turning to Isabelle. She turned and looked at him with her arresting brown eyes. What're ye doing out of bed, love?" Jack asked, taking a seat at the large table.
"I'm sorry, Captain. I felt utterly useless and bored in that cabin. So when Ana came in this morning with breakfast I told her I would help with dinner, that's all," Isabelle said. Jack noticed she sounded the happiest she had ever been while she was aboard. Ana smiled and continued to work on the dinner.
"Ye didn't put her up te this did ye, Ana?" Jack asked, staring at Ana's back. What Jack didn't see and Isabelle did was Ana's small smile and playful flash in her eyes. Isabelle shared the same laughing glare and innocent look. "Ana, love, look at me," Jack said still staring at Ana's back. Ana winked at Isabelle before she tuned around. When she looked at Jack there was no trace of a smile on her face what so ever but her eyes were still dancing with amusement. Before Ana thought that having another woman on board would be nothing but a senseless burden, but now she realized it was actually fun. Isabelle was interesting to talk to, she was fun to be with and understood almost everything Ana said, or didn't say. It was like the woman was a mind reader. She was almost like Jack in that respect. She and Jack could read people but the way they were standing or the way they moved their hands in a certain fashion. Ana herself had never perfected the art, but Jack and this woman seemed to have perfected it a long time ago.
Jack could tell right away that he was missing something that was going on between these two giggle women. "Nothing, Captain," Ana said innocently. She held Jack's glare for a grand total of two seconds and burst out laughing. Jack saw Isabelle's shoulders shake and knew instantly that she was laughing right along with Ana.
"Ana!" Jack shouted happily. He was happy that Ana was smiling and laughing again. She was almost her old self again. He was grateful that Isabelle had once again brought out the best in her. "Isabelle, love, what's so bloody funny?" Jack asked, and Isabelle turned around giving him the best and most convincing serious face he had ever seen.
"Why would you think Ana put me up to cooking dinner for the crew? How do you know I didn't want to make dinner for the crew?" Isabelle asked, looking into Jack's eyes. For the first time she looked at him, she actually looked at him. He had the most beautiful pair of brown eyes she had ever seen and they were rimmed with a fine line of kohl. His face was sun kissed from the countless hours spent in the sun and his hair was a dark black, tied back with a red bandana and complete with trinkets and charms. His smile revealed a few golden teeth amongst white ones, setting off the pirate look from the inside out. She thought she had never seen such a handsome pirate and wondered how she hadn't noticed before.
Jack looked at her and tried to decide the reasons why he couldn't figure her out. Why he couldn't read her. She was even using his tricks against him now, and not even he stood a chance. She was tricky and witty, always on her toes it seemed. But he simply couldn't read her. He couldn't figure out what she was really thinking and feeling beneath that tough outer layer she veiled herself with. Her dark eyes stared straight into his, and for a brief moment, he saw pain and sadness flash through them. He saw her inner child crying out for someone to love and hold her. But in an instant the veil was back up again, protecting her from anyone who would want to hurt her.
"Out, Captain. You wouldn't want to spoil your appetite. Dinner will be ready in a moment," Isabelle said, smiling lazily and turning back to her work. Jack, still sitting dumbfounded, snapped himself out of his daze and noticed how Ana was looking at him. He smiled his golden Jack Sparrow smile to her and rose out of his seat to head for the door.
