A/N: I know, I know, its been going very slow, but we're getting there, I promise. And Elizabeth is acting how I would if I was her, so if you think it's completely out of character, I'm sorry. I just know, that if I had the guilt of someone's soul weighing me down, I wouldn't really be thinking about anything at all other than that. Not that its a good choice, it just seems to be the choice anyone with a heart would make. So don't eat me alive please? hehe

Chapter Eight

"Ah, Tortuga at last!" Barbossa exclaimed, glad to be arriving. He was still getting used to being on water full time again, and it had made him rather sea-sick. Everyone stood on the dock admiring how big all the other ships were compared to Tia Dalma's.

"So, which one shall we commandeer?" Barbossa asked.

"Captain Barbossa! Pick the end one! Pick the one on the end!" Ragetti suggested, pointing to a ship belonging to the Royal Navy.

"Oh heavens no! Look at its name!" Gibbs exclaimed.

"The Cutler Beckett." Will read under his breath. "Definitely not that one." he agreed irritably.

"How about that one?" Elizabeth asked and pointed to a grey ship with faded grey sails.

"Doesn't look like twill be missed." Barbossa agreed.

"Now, let us take time to regroup… and drink some rum!" Gibbs exclaimed, holding up his flask.

They all headed off to a smaller pub off to the side, one of Gibb's buddies worked there and people were less likely to get separated, and more likely to be able to take some time and space to think about what all was going on.

.x.

Ana Marie had promised to be at work early that night, and regretted missing story-time with the family, but promised to tell them a story the next night.

She hurried off to the pub, but stopped dead when she noticed a small ship that wasn't there before. It looked strangely familiar, but she couldn't quite place it.

She arrived at the pub and quickly took all the chairs down, before rushing over to the bartender, "Any news?"

"None today. Sorry dear. Maybe if you told me…."

"No. Just the Black Pearl. That's all I need to know about." she shook her head. Soon customers were pouring in, and she and Felicity were having trouble keep the whores to their corners.

From the bar, she heard cheerful and loud voices, and looked over to see the bartender hugging a man. The man had about six other men waiting behind them. But then she had a second glance, and realized one of them was a woman. And, at closer look, that woman was Elizabeth!

.x.

"Excuse me…but could you tell me where the loo is?" Elizabeth asked the bartender shyly.

"I have a nice lady over there, see the one with the bandana and skirts? She can show you. It's rather hard to find." he said pointing to a woman with chocolate skin. Elizabeth smiled at her, and tried to figure out how she knew this woman.

"Ana Marie!" she realized, and ran over, hugging the woman.

"Elizabeth? Is that you? You look absolutely horrid!" Ana Marie exclaimed. "Sorry, but you look almost traumatized."

"You have no idea." Elizabeth sighed.

"Jack Sparrow." Ana Marie exclaimed suddenly. Elizabeth looked up at her, eyes wild.

"I didn't…think." Elizabeth managed before breaking down into sobs. Ana Marie grabbed her before she could hit the floor and helped her to the bathroom.

"Come back to my house and let me clean you up, you and all your friends. I can take the night off.

"G-Gibbs knows the b-bartender. He's giving them cl-clothes and such." Elizabeth croaked between gut-wrenching sobs. It almost hurt Ana Marie to listen to it.

"Please, come to my house and tell me what has you in such a riot." Ana Marie said, carefully avoiding the words Captain, Jack, and Sparrow.

"O-okay. But I h-hafta tell Bar-Barbossa." Elizabeth stammered, the tears finally stopping.

"Barbossa?" Ana Marie hissed.

"He's g-good now." Elizabeth hiccupped as Ana Marie dried the last of the tears from the girl's grimy face.

"You have a lot to tell me…" Ana Marie sighed.

.x.

"Poor Jack. A good man, he was." the bartender said sadly before pouring the whole group a drink. He let Ana Marie take Elizabeth to her house after hearing what the group had been through.

"A toast to Captain Jack. May he live forever in our hearts!" Gibbs said, and downed the whole mug.

"To Jack." the rest of the tiny crew chimed in.

.x.

"So, let me get this straight…" Ana Marie began, "The Kraken ate the Black Pearl, and Captain Jack stayed on the ship…so that he could be remembered as a good captain?"

"Something along those lines, yes." Elizabeth said. She was sitting at the kitchen table drinking tea, with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. Her nose was red and her eyes still puffy from tears, but she had calmed down quite a bit.

"It doesn't really seem like something he would do. It's very..." Ana Marie paused looking for a word.

"Epic?" Sarah added helpfully.

"Out of character." Ana Marie finished. About that time, Elizabeth moaned and buried her face in her hands.

"I can't lie to you." she cried, her hands making it hard to hear what she was saying. Ana Marie and Sarah leaned in. "It's my fault."

"Your fault? Of course it's not your fault." Sarah tried to assure, and patted Elizabeth on the shoulder.

"Yes it is.." Elizabeth moaned, "I tricked him."

"What do you mean, tricked him?" Ana Marie asked, pulling Elizabeth's hands from her face gently.

"He seemed to have a bit of a…fancy of me." Elizabeth began, and almost didn't finish the story. She had barely caught it, but there was a look of envy in Ana Marie's eyes. "And he had that…black mark on his hand. All writhing and squirming about."

Elizabeth looked down at her hand and shuddered before continuing, "The Kraken was after him, not us. I did what I had to."

"And what might that be?" Ana Marie asked, trying to hide the annoyance in her voice.

"The Kraken attacked the Black Pearl, and Jack ran. I thought him to be a complete coward. When he returned of his own accord, that made my job even more difficult." Elizabeth explained. Sarah and Ana Marie watched anxiously, awaiting the end of the story. "Everyone was on the long boat…except for me, Jack, and Gibbs. Gibbs was handing supplies down to Will, so I took that as my chance."

"I kissed Jack…" she stopped for a moment and glanced at Ana Marie. She was glaring at her feet and clenching her fists, and Elizabeth knew she had to continue if she fancied keeping her head, "and cuffed him to the mast. He didn't choose to stay with the ship, I made him stay. But you must understand, it was the only way."

"You're a fool. You just had to get to land." Ana Marie growled.

"I haven't told anyone this, and now Irealise that telling you was a mistake." Elizabeth said softly. Sarah looked from Elizabeth to her sister and decided that Elizabeth would need more comfort.

"I need some time." Ana Marie said before storming up to her room. Elizabeth closed her eyes to stop the new tears from falling.

"T'wasn't a mistake." Sarah assured, rubbing Elizabeth's back. "It was his life, or all of yours. You made the right choice."

"I know. But…it's so hard." Elizabeth sighed. She glanced out the window and realized that the sun was already rising.

"Ana Marie knows you did the right thing…she's just blinded by her feelings." Sarah explained.

Blinded by her…feelings…

"She had feelings for Captain Sparrow?" Elizabeth asked suddenly, an idea dawning on her.

"Well, of course. Who wouldn't?" Sarah asked, winking.

"Tell her that I'll be back before sundown. And that if she still wants to go back to pirating life…I have a job for her." Elizabeth said and left, practically running back to the boat.

.x.

The crew stood upon deck, relaying any information they had come upon.

"Everyone told me to visit Tia-Dalma." Ragetti relayed.

"But that would be of no help to us now." Pintel sighed.

"That's most of what I got as well." Gibbs agreed.

"Well, I have an idea, if you would all like to listen." Elizabeth said from her seat on the stairs. She looked up from under her hat and snapped the compass closed, "And I am almost positive it would work."