Alright, alright, I got a lot of reviews so I thought I should repay all my loves. First I heart coffee- I love coffee too! Lol thanks for the review, and I know I'm a bad person for doing that whole cliffhanger deal! Xox. AJ Sparrow- hey you! Thanks for reviewing seriously I love it! And I also love your visual of Elle coming in with guns and stuff! Lol that would be hilarious to type! Xox. Beautiful Enigma- wow, I loved what you said about your name. do you mind if I use it in the story? I just love it so much! I have it written down! Lol keep reviewing! Xox. Dugadugabowbow- hey man, I know I'm bad for leaving Jack laying out there, in the cold with a head wound. Elle told him so! Xox. And now for my love, tk421beth!- hello darling! I hope Emilio is being good to you! Thank you for your lengthy review! I just love reading it when it's long, long, long! LOVE the quote actually, I think I'll try and make that fit in there…somewhere! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! You can't hear me, but I'm singing to you! Xox to you and to all! ENJOY!
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Isabelle and Elizabeth had already enjoyed a wonderful lunch three hours ago and now, they were awaiting dinner. "This is the life, Elle," Elizabeth said, smiling. "Pirates cooking for us on a grand pirate ship. What could be better," she asked and Isabelle smiled. They leaned their heads back and closed their eyes. Isabelle heard feet and frantic voices. She looked to Elizabeth. Her eyes were still closed.
"Did you hear that?" Isabelle asked and looked around. Elizabeth opened her eyes and listened. It was definite. There were frantic voices and the pounding of feet nearing the Pearl from the dock. Isabelle and Elizabeth immediately stood up, their hands brushing the hilts of their swords. They saw their own crew mates running toward them at full speed, looking panicked and desperate. They rushed onto deck and Isabelle and Elizabeth were immediately swarmed and picked up and shaken. "Stop!" Isabelle screamed, fearing the worst when she didn't see Jack. They calmed but still looked terrified. "What happened, Litler?" Isabelle asked, pointing to Litler. Elizabeth and Isabelle listened and turned their attention on Litler as he started to explain.
"We were walking to the market and there was a whole army of soldiers behind us. Jack told us to run and hide and go tell you and Liz back here on the Pearl. They probably have him by now," he added quietly, feeling as though he had somehow failed Isabelle. Isabelle looked at Litler for one second and a whole string of curses flew from her mouth, making even the toughest pirates wince.
"I bloody told that bugger! What the hell was he bloody thinking?" Isabelle yelled. After carrying on for a little while, she finally cooled off and looked at each face of the crew. They were looking back at her expectantly. "What?" she snapped.
"As long as Jack's gone, the crew voted you to be captain, naturally. Until we get Jack back," they said and Isabelle stared. Elizabeth elbowed her and she nodded.
"Alright," she said. They still looked at her. After a while she smiled, much like Jack. "We need a plan," she said and watched as their faces lit up.
An hour later, Elizabeth and Isabelle emerged from Jack's cabin wearing dresses and a full face of makeup. Their hair was pulled back in a neat and elegant bun, leaving little strands to tickle their shoulders. Litler and Will went over the plan with them again. "Are you sure you want to do this?" Litler asked, fixing the shoulders on Isabelle's dress.
"Sure as I know my last name is Sparrow," she said and Litler smiled widely.
"Oh, you are Jack's girl!" he said and Will chuckled, seeing the Jack in her that Litler did. "Be safe," he said and kissed Isabelle and Elizabeth. Will linked arms with them and walked them into town before disappearing into a shop. Isabelle and Elizabeth walked silently but quickly to their destination. The jail. They walked in and smiled brightly, beginning their best act yet. They stumbled down the stairs and giggled, leaning on each other. The guards at the bottom reached out to help them and Isabelle leaned heavily on one, searching the cells. This proved easy, seeing as there were only three. She spotted Jack sitting in the corner with his hat tipped gracefully over his eyes. She kept playing her part, knowing he was safe for the moment.
Elizabeth moved to the table in front of Jack's cell and sat on it ungracefully, staring in at Jack with a drunken expression on her face that even Isabelle believed. The guards crowded around her, their eyes lighting up at her obvious beauty and Isabelle joined. They both sat staring into the cell and the guards watched Jack to see what was so interesting. Elizabeth spoke first. "Who is he?" she asked, but it came out sounding like one word, slurred together unmercifully. It was perfection.
"That, is Jack Sparrow…"
"Captain," they heard Jack mumble from the corner. Isabelle tried her hardest not to smile. Jack was going to be Jack Sparrow until the moment of his dying breath.
"Captain Jack Sparrow. Pirate," one of the officers said proudly, as though he had found the cure for cancer. Isabelle curled her lip. 'Get over it, darling. You're not that important' she thought with such a heated passion she almost whirled around and hit him. But, she remained sitting drunkenly, her composure uninterrupted.
"Why was 'e arrested!" Elizabeth shouted, causing Jack to look up from underneath the rim of his battered old leather hat. Elizabeth winked at him and Isabelle gave him a look and he knew something was going on, and that Isabelle was well beyond pissed, so he remained nonchalant.
"For piracy, mistress," the officer said again. Elizabeth furrowed her brow.
"I've 'eard of Cap'n Jack Sparra! Handsome fellow he is! But so stupid!" Isabelle said and some of the officers grumbled at the thought of a pirate getting compliments from such a beautiful woman. Jack winced. He was in for it now. He was starting to wonder if the jail cell would be safer than back with Isabelle. "When is 'e te be hanged?" she asked him, swinging her neck around to face them.
"Tomorrow morning," they said in unison, almost, happy sounding. Isabelle turned her neck around and growled under her breath.
"What monsters te do this te sucha handsome man," she said drunkenly in such a sorrowful tone that it almost broke Elizabeth's heart. She couldn't help herself. She may have been angry beyond reconciliation, but she had to defend him in some way. Elizabeth got them back on track after a long pause.
"'E better say his prayers!" she shouted. Jack looked up again. "D'ye have and prayers, Cap'n?" Jack eyed her suspiciously and her face suddenly sobered for a moment. "Feeling holy?" she asked again, her drunken face back.
"In touch with God?" Isabelle said and both women smiled in unison. Jack could take a hint. So this wasn't how he would die after all.
Isabelle and Elizabeth burst out laughing to cover it up and the soldiers laughed with them, sensationally oblivious. The two women made their way miserably back to the shop Will had disappeared into earlier and he stepped out, immediately taking their arms. "It's set," he said shortly and both women nodded, solemn after seeing best friend and a husband in prison, awaiting his walk, or saunter in Jack's case, to the gallows.
When they returned to the Pearl, it was late but the crew was still up, huddled around a fire. Some were curled up on blankets, already sleeping and some were still roasting things over the fire. Isabelle sighed. Litler stood and came rushing over to her, taking her hands in his. "How is Jack, how are you?" he asked in his perfect Irish accent. Isabelle wondered how it was that Litler maintained such a pure accent while living with Jack. She was having difficulty herself. Isabelle pulled Litler in for a hug and he held her tightly.
"I told him. I told him that nothing good would come of this, Litler, you heard me say it!" Isabelle whispered in a hoarse voice. Litler held her and rubbed her back as she buried her face in his shoulder. "I can't lose him, Litler, I just won't be able to," she said with such desperation in her voice that Litler had to choke back a sob. "I can't." Isabelle let her tears flow from her eyes. All her fears had been realized and tonight, she wouldn't sleep. Tonight, no matter how hard she tried, no matter how much she wanted to, she would not be able to close her eyes without three thousand different worries and thoughts running through her mind. Tonight she would be alone.
Jack sat in his corner, his tri cornered hat pulled over his eyes, thinking. He knew what they were trying to say to him, he knew it would work. It was foolproof, it had to work. He leaned back trying to get comfortable, but soon admitted he couldn't without Isabelle's warm body next to him. He couldn't rest unless he knew that she was safe in bed, the covers pulled up over her small body and all the crew safe and sound. He couldn't sleep unless he knew that William and Elizabeth were safe in their own right.
He hated not having to hold her. He hated it almost as much as he hated the bloody commodore. Briefly, he thought about killing the commodore after he was freed, but he didn't think that was a wise choice. The navy down here already hated him; he didn't want to make it the whole damn country. He was just happy that it hadn't been Isabelle. He closed his eyes, thinking he might as well rest them while he was there. As much as he wanted to sleep and get to tomorrow faster, he couldn't. He soon gave up and began to strike a conversation with the man in the cell next to him. But in the back of his mind, Isabelle resided, her dark Spanish eyes tortured and her beautiful smile nonexistent.
Somewhere on the ship, the sound of bullets hitting metal could not be heard. Everywhere else, the sound of metal hitting metal bounced off the wooden walls. Isabelle sat at the table in the galley with a bottle of rum in her hand and a box of metal bullets next to her. She rested her feet up on the table and lay back carelessly. On the opposite side of the galley, there was a big metal pot, the object of her focus. Sleepily, she plucked another billet from the box at her side and randomly tossed it in the general direction of the pot. Even if she didn't make it into the pot, the sound it made as it hit something else was satisfying enough.
By doing this, it fought off her urge to break something of more value to someone else. That or drinking herself into a stupor. It fought her urge to go and get piss drunk at a tavern on Jack's tab. She was angry and unbelievably worried at the same time. She didn't know which emotion she would pay more attention to. She hadn't drank that much, just the knowledge of having a rum bottle in her hand calmed her out of wanted to down it all in one gulp. Clank. The sound echoed and died, somewhere in the ship, but the sound still echoed in her mind. The bullet she had thrown made it into the pot. "It's about bloody time," she mumbled and picked up another.
Elizabeth woke to the sound of clinking noises. Very loud clinking noises. She furrowed her brow and pulled on a jacket before walking out on deck. She realized the sound was getting farther away the farther on deck she traveled, so she turned around and went below deck instead. When she didn't hear anything coming from inside the Sparrow's cabin, she decided to head to the galley. Her instinct was right. Isabelle sat in the galley, feet on the table, crossed at the ankles and a rum bottle resting on her stomach. Elizabeth watched as she picked up at bullet and carelessly tossed it at the wall. When it went in the pot, making Elizabeth gasp silently at the loud noise it made, Isabelle mumbled. "Finally," she would say.
She noticed the rum bottle was still half full so Isabelle must still be somewhat sober. But, Elizabeth leaned up against the doorframe and watched her friend suffer silently. This was the first time she had been alone today with her own thoughts and Elizabeth didn't want to disrupt that. She thought to herself as well. She thought about Jack so far away with nothing. Isabelle might have thought she was alone, but Jack was utterly and truly alone. Not only did he not have his wife, but he didn't have his ship, his friends, and most importantly, someone to comfort him. He didn't have anyone there for him that would lend him a shoulder to lean on or an ear to listen. Elizabeth saw now, that separating the Sparrows was not such a good idea. She couldn't vouch for Jack because she wasn't there, but she knew first hand what Isabelle was like. Isabelle just seemed so lost and alone, reminding Elizabeth of more than a year back.
Isabelle would be escorted to her and Will's house by James or some man that was kind enough to notice something was wrong and follow his instincts. Before she met Jack, Isabelle was just a body. She was just another person. She was broken and wounded, not only physically. Her mind was tired and her heart was reeling from the pain and lack of air. Mending it was surely impossible. Elizabeth corrected herself, improbable. Elizabeth had always known Jack to be so full of life and energy, so spry and witty Jack absolutely shone. When Isabelle met him, Jack allowed some of his light and energy to leap into her heart and soul, bringing the life and love back into her deep brown eyes. Elizabeth noticed it right away, the first time after she saw her. She knew that Jack had changed her life forever and now, not only would Jack shine alone, but Isabelle would always shine with him.
Seeing Isabelle without Jack for the first time humbled Elizabeth a little that night. She didn't know why, but it just seemed wrong. Separating them just seemed not right. Isabelle had lost her glow and she rarely had any energy, using it all to pick up bullets and toss it recklessly. Elizabeth decided it was time to intervene. She walked slowly into the galley and placed a gentle hand over Isabelle's hand, already poised to pick up another bullet. The clinked was getting under her skin too. Isabelle looked up and Elizabeth smiled weakly. "Let's get you to bed, sweetie," she said as gently as she could and took Isabelle's rum. She helped her up and they slowly made their way back to her cabin.
They walked out onto the deck and the sun was just rising. Isabelle stopped and watched the sky, leaning against Elizabeth. "Look. Look how the sky is covered with beautiful balls of fire…of light, of such radiant light," Isabelle whispered with a fascination Elizabeth had never seen before. She listened while Isabelle spoke. "We know that much. We can see the beauty that lies on the outside." Elizabeth watched the horizon, Jack's horizon. "But what lies beyond that?" Isabelle whispered in a high, worried voice. "What lies beyond that…" her voice trialed off and her face looked like that of an innocent child. "We don't truly know. We will never truly understand." Elizabeth blinked a couple of times to stop the tears that were spilling. "Just like Jack. Their both such beautiful enigmas." Elizabeth took a deep breath as she realized Isabelle was right. "We don't truly know…" Isabelle's voice was lost to the wind as it breezed past them both.
Elizabeth looked down at the sleeping form of Isabelle. She felt for her, she knew what it was like. Isabelle had fought her tooth and nail about sleeping, but it was inevitable. Finally her eyes closed and Elizabeth remained at the side of her bed. She looked out the window. It was still dark, but it wouldn't be soon, and she had a job to do. She removed her hand from Isabelle's head and sashayed slowly from the cabin, shutting the door gently behind her.
Isabelle heard the door shut as Elizabeth quietly left her be. She opened her dark eyes and tears rolled silently out of the corners of her eyes and onto the pillow under her head, mingling with her black hair. Sleep was not to come to Isabelle Sparrow that night. The night her worst nightmares were realized. The night her husband was taken from her. The night she felt so alone and yet so determined to make it through. "This too, shall pass," she whispered to herself as another lone tear slithered down her flushed cheek.
HOOOO man, I was tearin' up there. Woo, I hope this chapter speaks volumes to you all. It truly does to me. It's the first time they're apart and it breaks my heart. Tk421beth I will put your quote in a chapter, this just didn't seem like the right one. But I neeeeeed that quote! Lol. Keep 'em comin'. ANYONE who has a stellar songfic for me, I'd love to read it. I'm a sucker for those. Make me cry every time. Please let me know! Here's your quote! NEUQUA-WABONSIE GAME. HAIL, HAIL TO NEUQUA VALLEY. WE'RE GONNA MAKE THEM LOOK LIKE WHIIMPS! CHEER FOR US LADIES!
I look at you and know I'm free. One life, one chance, what we do with it is entirely up to us.
-Desperado
