"So, why were ye lookin' for me?" The Pearl's captain looked down at the sand, his thoughts focused on something else besides the conversation he just started.

"I already told you." She responded. "The mermaids won't listen."

"Ah, right." He remembered. "Forgot ye said that."

"Which river did you fall into?" She changed the subject.

He glanced up at her, snapping out of his thoughts. "The one I was forced to jump into last time, except this time I actually did hit one of those bloody rocks at the bottom."

"¿Estás bien?" She asked, correcting herself in English at his confused look. "Are you alright, Jack?"

Jack gave her a miserable look before replying. "Could be a lot better…"

*X*

Angelica hid her worry well as she looked down at the battered, injured pirate captain. There was a look of obvious pain in his eyes, though he was obviously trying not to look weak. He was doing a poor job at trying to look cheerful, anyhow. Why was she worried anyway? Jack was known for getting out of being hanged on several occasions. He could survive a single wound to the rib-cage.

Or could he?

A voice spoke at the back of her mind and she couldn't bear to imagine life without news of the pirate before her doing crazy things. She'd always told Jack that she hated him, whenever things went horribly wrong. She'd been angry with him, but she'd never actually hated him. This pirate wasn't annoying to her, though she did her best to pretend he was. She did it because she wanted to hide the fact that she still loved him despite all their troubles over the years, since they were younger. Even after he left her on Rumrunner's Isle, she still loved him.

But seeing him in pain like this really worried her. It was hard to hide it, but she didn't do bad at hiding her fear for his life. When the mermaids had disagreed to help in the fight against the British Navy, she'd asked them to search for Jack for her. She'd heard so many cries of pain and so many bodies hit the ground both on land and at the ships that she hadn't known if he was still hanging in there with the others. They'd agreed and a mermaid scouted the edges of the island only to tell her that there was a man who looked similar to Jack lying unconscious on the beach across from where they were. She'd immediately raced away in that direction, praying that he'd be fine.

But seeing him now before her tortured her mind. He tried to act happy even though he was clearly in pain. Her heart ached.

Angelica reached her hand out to him to help him up. He looked at it for a moment, giving a sigh, before he took it and let her pull him to his feet. He groaned deeply, staggering and nearly falling over completely as he managed to land on his hands and knees. One of his hands had moved to hold his wound, pressing against it. She heard him let out a light gasp of pain and she saw blood stain the sand red.

Poor Jack.

She immediately helped him lower himself to the ground and roll onto his back. He didn't try sitting up, closing his eyes as his blood stained hand held his ribcage. She leaned down and swiftly kissed his cheek before pulling back. His eyes opened and he glanced up at her, a look of shock covering his face, though the pain of his wound still showed in his eyes.

Their eyes met as he broke the silence in a hoarse voice. "Why?"

Unsure of how to respond, she held her hand out to him. Her voice was stern, unlike how his had been. "Come on, Jack. We need to help the others."

"I'd rather stay here." Jack complained clearing his throat and not moving.

"Jack." Angelica glared at him.

"Fine." He sighed, giving up on his stubbornness.

He took her hand, letting her pull him up to his feet. This time when he stumbled she grabbed him around the waist and pulled him close. She rested her head against his shoulder as they stood there, her breathing in the scents of the river from his wet body. He, in turn, wrapped his arms around her, smiling fondly as he looked down at her. She tilted her head up to look at him, reaching into his dreadlocks with one hand to pull his head down towards her. Their lips met in a passionate kiss, bringing back memories from their younger years. When their lips separated, he hugged her to his chest, accidentally letting a groan slip out as she brushed up against the wound in his ribcage. She closed her eyes, resting her head against him.

"¿Qué tanto duele?" She asked.

"I don't speak Spanish, love." Jack reminded her gently.

"Sorry." Angelica responded, repeating what she had said before in English this time. "How much does it hurt?"

"I'll be fine." The pirate told her, though there was an uncertainty to his voice. "It's not that bad, I've had worse."

"Que-What do you mean?" She glanced up at him in confusion.

"Remember the voodoo doll?" He raised an eyebrow knowingly and then pointed to a scar across his stomach, one that indicated that a horrible gash had once been there.

"I forgot I did that." She commented, before adding,"You deserved it, Jack. You left me again."

"I came back for ye." He pointed out.

"Only after I cut you so many times." Her thick Spanish accent was obvious as she said this.

"Oh...right." Jack mumbled, ending the conversation there.

Angelica smiled inwardly to herself. Pretending to be angry worked well sometimes. The one time she'd actually been angry with him is when he did leave her. She'd been so angry she'd shot her only bullet at him and still missed. She was glad she missed though. To kill him would be to kill the only thing she had left to care for. Her treacherous father was gone- thankfully, though sometimes she still missed him.

"Why did you make me immortal, Jack?" She questioned.

"I told you the sword was poisoned and ye didn't listen." He murmured, nearly sounding like an Englishman rather than a pirate for once in his life. "I couldn't let you die…" He paused for a moment, hesitantly, before he continued. "I couldn't live without ye…" Another pause and a deep breath. "Angelica, I love you. Truly."

He pulled back from her, holding the sides of her head in his hands as he gazed into her chocolate brown eyes, his own full of caring. The memories came back to them both; the memories of what happened at the Fountain of Youth that day.

"What have you done?!" Angelica had screeched, racing to her fallen father's side.

"Angelica! DON'T! IT'S POISONED!" Jack had shouted at her, at the top of his lungs.

But it was too late. She'd already pulled the sword from her father's body and it had already cut her hand in the process. She'd gazed at it as it began to bleed abnormally, in a strange way.

The one-legged man spoke up. "I'm not such the fool to take on Blackbeard without a little...venomous 'vantage."

She'd nearly panicked, sure she was going to die. So she turned towards the one person who had tried to warn her with pleading eyes. "Jack…"

She'd seen the pain in the man's eyes, the sadness already forming. He turned around to search for the lost chalices desperately. The destruction of the Fountain resumed and it was soon reduced to pieces. The one-legged man took Blackbeard's sword, claiming the man's ship and crew as his own. Then they'd left, as well as the Spaniards.

Jack had immediately resumed looking for the chalices, despite all the odds of being able to find them.

Angelica rested her head against his chest again, sighing deeply. She could tell that it was hard for Jack to have admitted his love for her. The man usually tried to keep things to himself. It was as if he was afraid of damaging his ego. But she knew it was part of what made him Captain Jack Sparrow, the most wanted pirate around. And that's why she loved him so much. It's why she always would, no matter what problems they face and no matter what crazy things he'd do to her or her to him.

*X*

Jack wrapped his arms around her once again, kissing the top of her head before resting his chin on it. He held her for a few long minutes, the shouts of battle getting nearer. It finally occurred to him that they couldn't stand there arm-in-arm all day. There was a battle going on, a war in fact. A gunshot sounded louder than the others. He let go of Angelica and whirled around, pulling out a pistol and firing the loaded bullet into the chest of an injured Navy soldier, who crumpled to his knees.

"Jack." She gasped, making him turn around in worry.

She looked fine to him, so he gave her a questioning glance. Suddenly he didn't feel too well, pain rippling through his left hip. He looked down at himself to see his dark pants be stained with another color.

Looks like he bloody hit somethin' after all, somethin' besides the sand that is.

Jack attempted to smirk it off, failing miserably. He tried to sound as calm as possible as he lied,"I'm fine…"

"No, you're not, Jack. Stop lying to both of us." Angelica murmured, rubbing his cheek with her hand softly. "I think there's a camp in the middle of the island. If we can get you there and get you healed-"

He closed his eyes, sighing. "Angelica...what are the chances of gettin' there without either of us gettin' killed?"

"It's the only chance, Jack. You can't fight like this." She told him. "We have to get you there."

He opened his eyes again. They were full of agony. He nodded slowly, consenting. "Let's go."

The pirate captain quickly reloaded his pistol before putting his shirt and vest back on. Then the two of them entered the protection of the trees, armed, as they headed towards the center of the island.