I walked down the length of the ship, feeling the smooth, yet splintered wood railings and the rough ropes. I tried to take everything in. I looked over the side of the ship at the clear blue-green water. As I did so, the locket I had hidden in my bodice fell out and stopped short of falling to the water below by the silver chain around my neck. I quickly leaned back in to the ship and tucked it back in my dress.

"What you got there, luv?"

"Nothing," I snapped at him. "And stop calling me 'luv'," I added in.

"Let me see it… luv" he said, just to annoy me.

"Fine." I unhooked the chain and handed it over to him.

He examined it. "How does it open?"

I shrugged. "I can't seem to figure it out."

He shook it gently. There was a rustle of paper. "There's something in here."

"Too bad we can't get it out."

He handed it back to me. "Ye'll figure it out someday."

I latched the locket around my neck again. It was weird; it felt heavier than before. For the first time, I realized we were alone. "Where's the crew?"

Sparrow gestured towards the town. "We're leaving tonight so they ought to be get here soon. I'll admit, luv, they're not going to be particularly pleased you're here."

"Why?" I asked indignantly. "Because I'm a girl?"

"It could possibly have something to do with that…"

"Well they'll just have to deal with it." I crossed my arms defiantly. He opened his mouth like he was about to say something but decided against it. "Where am I sleeping?"

He led me down the stairs to a room below deck. It was about the same size as the bedroom in my old "house". There was a tiny dresser, a bed, and a desk with a large mirror on it. I threw my bag on the bed and plopped on it. Sparrow sat next to me.

"Why are you here?" asked Sparrow. "I mean, besides the fact that I'm here. Most women would die if they came on a ship like this. You do know this is a pirate ship, right?"

"Of course I do. I came here because…" I tried not to let the truth slip. "I'm wanted now. I had no choice." It was true… mostly.

"That's not it." Damn.

"I want to find my mother… my real mother. The other one's dead."

"Where is she?"

"I don't know."

"Who is she?"

I bit my lip. "I can't tell you."

"Why?"

I ignored him. "And why did you let me on your ship?"

"I don't know." His voice was sincere. I fiddle with my locket. I had a habit of doing that whenever I got nervous. "But it's nice having you here. It can get so… lonely," he whispered in my ear. His warm breath made me shiver. I sighed. I had known this would happen sooner or later. So I just stood up and left.

He followed me. "What?" I pretended he wasn't there. "Come on… You know you want me." I could feel my temper flaring. "What?" he asked again. Then, I burst.

"I don't know you! And you sure as hell don't know me. So don't go trying anything!" I stomped off in a huff but he just kept following me around.

"I'm sorry." Yeah, right. "Let's start over, shall we?" I didn't answer. "Hello, I'm Jack Sparrow." He said in a false polite voice and extended a hand. I started at it.

"Charmed." I said sarcastically.

"And you are…?"

"Kia."

"Pleased to meet you Kia." He waited for me to say something but I just glared at him. "Now that wasn't so bad. Was it?" Again, I pretended he wasn't there. I looked towards the shore. A couple dinghies were out on the water and coming to the ship.

"Crew's here." Said Sparrow.

"Good."

They started piling on the deck. Most eyed me suspiciously. A few looked like they wanted to say something but didn't. Finally a roundish man with black hair and a gray beard spoke up.

"Who's this?" he said. "Ye know it's bad luck to have a woman aboard."

"Well Master Gibbs, she insisted," replied Sparrow. The man named Gibbs grumbled a bit but didn't object.

Sparrow cleared his throat to make an announcement. "As some of you may have noticed, we have a new crewmember." He gestured madly with his hands in my direction.

"Why is she here?" shouted someone in the crowd.

"Like I said, she insisted on coming. Now…"

Another voice interrupted him. "But she's a girl!"

"Well, she did… assist in my escape."

"Assisted in your escape?!" He was annoying, aggravating, and full of himself and normally I could handle that. But this was the straw that broke the camels back. I was nearly shouting at him. "I saved your ASS thank you very much!" I heard a couple snickers.

"Yes, of course you did, luv." He winked at the crew. Infuriated, I slapped him—hard—and stormed off. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him stretch out his slightly reddish jaw.

That night

Knock knock.

"Go away." I said to whoever was banging on my door.

"Dinner's ready." Sparrow's voice was muffled from the thick door that separated us. I was grateful for it.

"Great. Have fun." I said sarcastically. I heard him sigh and he waited for me to come out. Fat chance. He finally gave up and walked off. When I was sure he was gone I ventured out and went on deck. Because it was dinnertime nobody was there. I sat on the edge of the rail and looked out in the sky.

The sun was setting. The light turned the underside of the clouds a light orange and the tops were a light blue. Nearby the sun it got more and more orange. Around the sun it was pink. I watched in fascination as the sun sank lower, slowly turning the sky bright pink, until it disappeared completely, leaving behind a green horizon and a dark, navy blue sky.

I looked straight up at the moon and stars. I watched as a shooting star went by. I wished that I could finally find my mother. I was looking so intently at them—wishing hard—that I didn't notice Sparrow walking up to me.

"Hello," he whispered in my ear.

I jumped and lost my balance. I fell tumbling down to the water. Even though I managed to take a breath before hitting the ice-cold water, I still got some up my nose. I opened my eyes and for a second, I couldn't tell which way was up. But then I saw the underside of the Pearl and swam towards it. I grabbed some ropes on the side and climbed up.

Dripping water all over the place, I walked over to Sparrow who was looking at me, shocked.

"Err… sorry," he said.

"It's okay. I was in need of a bath." I said, shivering as the wind chilled my wet skin.

"Not just about that. I'm sorry for not giving you credit earlier, luv. You did save my ass."

"Well I guess I did kind of… overreact…" I admitted.

"Just a bit." I smiled guiltily at him. He took another step towards me and brought his face up close to mine. "I forgive ye."

I had the strangest urge; I wanted to kiss him. I can't exactly explain why, but it was still there; that want. But I was scared. Very scared. The last time this had happened… it hadn't exactly ended well.

I pulled away quickly and ran down the stairs. My heart was pounding like a sledgehammer and my stomach was gurgling around so much I was about to puke. Why did he make me feel this way? It was amazing; exhilarating, but at the same time it was scary. I didn't know why this was happening. I didn't like it, yet at the same time, I loved it.

Feeling annoyed at myself, I decided to play guitar to get rid of my frustration. First I turned it and then played around with some chords for a while. Then I wrote the chorus to a song. It went like this:

Please don't make me,

Spare me the pain.

Cause I don't want to lose you again.

I liked the sound of it a lot but I couldn't anywhere past that part. Even more annoyed at myself than before, I put away the guitar and went to bed.