Disclaimer: I don't own anyone except Anna.

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This chapter is dedicated to: Authoressinhiding, who has been reminding me that I haven't updated in ages!

Shivering slightly, Anna was glad that they had left Benji on the ship to 'guard it', as Jack had called locking up the poor dog. She would usually have complained until getting her way, but when she finally set her eyes on the famed Tortuga she gulped silently and pulled her cloak closer around her body. It was dark, damp, and depressingly vile. She jerked to the side as two drunkards passed her, asking her how much she wanted for a night. At first she had no clue what they were talking about, but then she suddenly understood and her cheeks reddened.

"Why you no-good---."

Will stepped in rapidly, realizing the situation before Jack did. "Move along you two." He ordered surprisingly firm, hand moving to where his sword hung on his belt, giving them a small peek of it just in case they decided to get 'smart'. "Leave the lady."

"Aye sir. We meant no harm." One slurred, moving away with the other rather rapidly.

Anna's eyes widened and she turned to look at Will in awe, never having seen this side to the soft spoken gentleman before. For a moment, as he continued glaring at the backs of the drunkards, Anna could see something fierce in those brown orbs, and it caused her to shiver with pleasure.

Jack seemed to take no notice of the little 'moment', for he turned around and placed a carefree arm around Anna's shoulder. "Ah, my dear little lady, feast yer eyes on the beauty of this paradise." With the other hand he motioned to seeming the whole island while taking in a deep breath, as if savoring the very air of his beloved island. "More importantly, it is indeed a sad life that has never breathed deep this sweet, proliferous bouquet that is Tortuga, savvy?" Not getting any sort of answer from his female companion, Jack turned back to look at the annoyed younger man. "What do you think?"

Making a face, Will took a couple of steps until he was on Anna's other side. "It'll linger."

Not seeming to realize that neither Will nor Anna were as impressed with his haven as he was, Jack smiled and continued with his little tour of the rundown, smelly, drunkard-infested island. "I'll tell you mate, if every town in the world were like this one, no man would ever feel unwanted!"

Anna raised an eyebrow at that, wondering what in the world Jack meant. But she had no time to ask, because a woman wearing too much makeup and a very low cut dress came sauntering towards them, drawing all the attention.

Will looked at the other woman quite disapprovingly.

When Jack saw her, his eyes lit up. "Scarlett!"

There was no smile, no greeting, no 'how was your trip Jack?" No, the only thing heard was the sound of a loud slap. Anna was glad that she was shorter than Jack, or his head would have collided with hers from impact of the blow. The woman sauntered off, apparently happier with herself.

Jack ran a hand carefully up his cheek, which was slightly pink with Scarlett's handprint. "Not sure I deserved that."

Will couldn't help but smirk.

Anna's eyes were widened. "Jack! Are you okay?"

Jack nodded after a minute, looking at her. "Aye me lass, it takes more than one scorned woman to do damage to the famed Captain Jack Sparrow."

"That's good to know." Will announced with mirth in his voice. "Because here comes another one."

Jack looked away from Anna at the woman arriving, his charming smile returning on his face. "Giselle!"

The woman raised an eyebrow at him after glaring angrily at the female he had his arm around. "Who was she!"

"What?" Jack asked right in time to receive an even harder blow on the same cheek. His head wheeled and he was still seeing double even after the offended woman stalked away in fury. "I may have deserved that."

This time Anna wasn't as worried for Jack's safety as before, and she turned her head to watch the other woman enter a building with the words: "The Captain's Pleasures", which was exactly the same building that the first had disappeared into. When Anna returned her gaze upon Jack, it was filled with dark cynicism. "How many 'wholesome ladies' do you know, Jack?"

Jack, remembering their conversation while hiding in Brown's workshop, had the grace to blush.

But it was Will who answered. "At least one more." And with that he quickly grabbed Anna away from Jack just incase this female decided to take out her anger out on Anna as well.

Jack saw who the heavy-set woman was and his eyes widened and he opened his mouth in greeting right before the punches rained down on him. It seemed like an eternity as Anna and Will just watched the display with morbid fascination, and then, the woman pulled back, straightening her dark hair before turning to them. Anna was about to take a step backwards in fear, yet Will's strong hold on her kept her from doing so.

The woman with the overly-done makeup and the revealing clothes raised an eyebrow disapprovingly in their direction, ignoring Jack for the moment. "Are you two with him?"

Anna was about to shake her head no and race for the ship to lock herself up with her dog.

Will cleared his throat and nodded. "Out of pure necessity we've had to journey with him."

The dark haired, heavyset woman seemed contented with that answer. She then turned her dark eyes on Anna. "Are you his" she make a jerking motion in Jack's direction "tart of the week? Because from right now I tell you that he'll bring you to the brink of ecstasy only to call you by another name while he's lost in his own pleasure."

Anna's eyes widened and her cheeks turned a bright red. "N-no ma'am. I'm not with Captain Sparrow."

Will's eyes turned slightly darker as they narrowed. "I would ask that you refrain from saying such things, especially in front of Anna or about her."

The woman narrowed her eyes at Will and then smiled rather sultry. "Ah, you're a gentleman I see. Well, I haven't had one visit me in a long time. How about we meet later?" When his eyes darkened with anger and his grip on Anna tightened, the dark haired woman smirked and turned to look from Anna to Will. "Oh, I see. For a moment I hoped she was your sister." A sigh escaped her. "Why are all the good ones hitched?"

Anna was about to point out to this woman that Will and her were not married, but the tight squeeze he gave her arm before placing it around her waist both caused her to lose her breath and her train of thought.

Jack finally spoke up from where he was hidden behind the dark haired woman. "I'm not hitched."

"My point exactly." She growled and turned back to him, hand raised, causing him to cower. Then, as if thinking it over, she shook her head and stomped towards The Captain's Pleasures.

Will raised an eyebrow, a handsome smirk on his face. "Never feel unwanted, eh?"

Jack watched the woman enter the building, still nursing his bruised face. He turned and glared at Will. "Stop smirking like a triumphant hyena. I'll have you know that I'm usually more popular than this." Seeing that Will didn't seem to believe him, the captain growled and bent down to pick up his hat from the ground, where it had fallen during the last girl's attack. Placing the hat on his head, Jack looked at his charges before saying. "Come along then, I have a friend in need of seeing."

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"Are you sure that your friend is around here?" Anna asked, making up her nose at the smell. She had realized that by staying between both men she was now left alone by the many wandering drunks, so she did her best to keep in stride with both men's long strides. Yet when thy reached a stable, which smelt to high heavens, Anna dropped back and was quite reluctant to follow the others inside. She looked up at jack, who seemed surprised that she would ask a question that to him seemed to have an obvious answer.

"Well of course, lass, this is his home. Where else would Gibbs be but sleeping with the pigs?" And with that he entered in the stable, leaving Anna and Will to share a look of uncertainty, before entering in after him.

They heard a splash of water and someone shouting.

"Curse you for breathing, you slack-jawed idiot!"

Anna leaned in closer to Will as they continued towards the voices, and she smiled softly when he whispered into her ear: "These people on this island are a friendly lot, aren't they?"

They heard the same voice exclaim in surprise: "Mother's love! Jack! You should know better than to wake a man when he's sleeping. Tis bad luck."

When they reached the two men, Anna made up her nose at the smell of the wet man who was indeed among pigs. She pulled up her sleeve to cover her nose to try and mask the horrible scent. The young woman hardly realized that Will was searching stable for something or the other.

Jack leaned closer towards the man he had mentioned as Gibbs. "Ah, fortunately I know how to counter it. The man who did the waking buys, the man who was sleeping, a drink. The man who was sleeping drinks it while listening to a proposition from the man who did the waking."

"Aye." Gibbs nodded. "That'll about do it."

All of a sudden Anna took a closer look at the man and gasped, recognizing him. "Mr. Gibbs?"

The man turned to look at her and his eyes widened. "Miss Anna Swann! I haven't seen ye since ye was a lass. What are ye doing here in a place like Tortuga?" He quickly turned to look at Jack. "Ye haven't kidnapped the lass, have ye? They'll hang ye for sure this time if ye've kidnapped the Gov'nor's daughter!"

"That has something to do with the proposition I was speaking about earlier." Jack commented vaguely.

Suddenly Will reappeared with another bucket of water and threw its contents on the already drenched man.

Sputtering and wiping the water off of his face, Gibbs glared at Will darkly. "Blast! I'm already awake!"

Will motioned with his chin towards Anna, who was still covering her nose. "That was for the smell."

The young woman used both hands to cover the smile that had lit her face.

Gibbs didn't seem to find a reason to protest this, and they soon made their way to one of the many bars in the area…one of which just happened to be The Captain's Pleasure, much to Anna's chagrin.

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Since Will didn't want to expose Anna to what happened to places like those, they left Jack and Gibbs after a couple of minutes and headed back to their ship…err…their stolen ship. A small smile appeared on Anna's face as she stole glances at Will, whose face was half shadowed in the darkness of the night.

Many nights she had dreamt of him like this, her dashing rogue, and remembering how differently he'd acted today from his usual self, Anna couldn't help but think that maybe this trip would cause her dreams to come true. Now that he was away from the gentlemen in Port Royal, Will was beginning to act more on his pirate blood, being more confident of himself a slightly aggressive with others. Yet he was still sweet and protective of her, as he had always been, and the young woman knew that that would never change.

As they boarded the Interceptor, a thought suddenly struck Anna with such force that she nearly tripped. Her eyes widened and a soft awed smile appeared on her face as she turned to look at Will, who seemed worried that she'd nearly tripped on nothing at all.

Today he called me Anna. No Miss Swann, nor Miss Anna. Today he called me plain 'Anna'.

"Pray tell, what has happened tonight that could make you smile?" Will wanted to know with slight mirth in his tone, as they made it on deck and had passed many moments in silence.

"Nothing, really." Anna said softly, stealing glances at him. "I was just thinking that today is the first time you called me by my Christian name."

Suddenly color rose in Will's cheeks and his eyes widened when he realized that that was indeed true. He looked away from his childhood friend out towards the horizon, his eyes skimming the water as he spoke. "I did."

Seeing that the conversation was causing him to grow tense, Anna bit her bottom lip and walked daintily towards the side of the ship, looking out at the water as well. "Your father must have come here before, you know. He must have leaned over like I am doing, and just stared out at the moon, or at the ripping of the water."

"Do you think he ever thought about his wife and child whom he abandoned in England?" There was a slight hint of steel in his voice as he joined her, looking up at the moon. "Or was he just some common scallywag who spent his whole time with the women of The Captain's Pleasure while my mother rotted in England, in love with him until her dying breath?"

The hurt she heard in his voice caused her heart to break, and she surprised them both by pushing his arms open and pulling them around her as she hugged him, burying her face in his chest. "I'm sure he thought about you and your mother all the time. Didn't you say that he was always the happiest man when he came to visit, and that he always regretted having to return?"

"But he kept on leaving us, taking a little bit of my mother with him as he did. He wasn't in love with her. He loved her, but he wasn't in love." His voice was growing in steel. The arms he had wrapped around her were fierce yet gentle all at the same time.

"You don't know that." She whispered, hating how broken he sounded.

"Yes, I do." For a moment he quivered. "I heard them talking about her one night. My mother was crying about his being in love with a ghost. His one true love had died, it seemed, and my mother never took the place in his heart that that other woman had."

The only thing Anna could do was hold him tightly. She breathed him in, enjoying how the scent of his skin had blended with the smell of the sea, and it was such an intoxicating mix that her body trembled slightly. Her eyes opened when she felt him move slightly, and she looked up, surprised to see that he was looking down at her with such care that it caused her heart to skip a beat.

For a moment she forgot that they were in the boisterous Tortuga, and that it wasn't all that safe to be out on deck like this. All she knew was that she was in the arms of the only man she had ever loved, whom she had loved the moment he had opened his eyes and spoken his name the first time they met, and for his love she would be capable of doing anything.

"Anna…I…" Will whispered in a throaty voice, his head lowering towards hers.

Anna's eyes closed on their own accord and she could feel his breath on her lips.

Suddenly the trance they seemed to be in was broken when someone cleared his throat.

Ann and Will quickly broke apart, turning to see Gibbs leering and Jack glaring at them.

Gibbs turned to Jack. "I still says that having a female aboard is mighty bad luck."

Jack raised an eyebrow at the two before turning to Gibbs once more. "On the contrary, my good smell fellow, this lady has been my token of good luck. With her I have escaped Her Majesties Finest, and have escaped with Her Majesties Finest Boat…ship." He leaned closer to Gibbs, ignoring the smell, and whispered. "They get very touchy about those sort of things."

Gibbs nodded, and then frowned, turning to look at Jack. "But Jack. Yer last good luck token was…"

"Well then milady." Jack announced, quickly cutting into whatever Gibsbs was about to say. "Let me show you to your room. Tomorrow we shall find a crew and then head out to find your sister. Is that not right, Gibbs?"

Gibbs, seemingly not bothered that Jack had rudely interrupted him, nodded. "Aye, there has to be some sailors on this rock crazy as you, Jack."

A smirk appeared on the Captain's face as he eyed his first mate. "One can only hope."

Barbossa smirked at Elizabeth. "There would be no sense in killing ye, Miss Turner."

Elizabeth, who was sitting at a large and adorned table filled with food, looked up at Barbossa slightly pleadingly and mostly demandingly. There was a plate of food in front of her, and it seemed as if she had eaten a good amount of it already. "Then release me, you have your trinket; I'm of no further value to you."

Taking out the medallion, Barbossa looked at it in contemplative silence before showing it to his captive. "You don't know what this is, do ye?"

Elizabeth eyed the medallion with slight disgust. "It's a pirate medallion."

The pirate seemed to smirk at her before returning to look at the medallion. "This is Aztec gold, one of 882 identical pieces that were delivered in a stone chest to Cortés himself. Blood money paid to stem the slaughter he wreaked upon them with his armies." He was silent a moment as his chilling eyes met Elizabeth's. "But the greed of Cortés was insatiable. So the heathen gods placed upon the gold a terrible curse. Any mortal that removes but a single piece from that stone chest shall be punished for eternity."

Hardly as impressed with the tale as Barbossa had expected her to be, Elizabeth looked quite bored with it actually. "I hardly believe in ghost stories anymore, Captain Barbossa."

This seemed to amuse the captain slightly. "Aye. That's exactly what I thought when we were first told the tale. Buried on an Island of Dead that cannot be found except for those who know where it is. Find it, we did. There be the chest. Inside be the gold. And we took 'em all. We spent 'em and we traded 'em and frittered 'em on drink and food and pleasurable company." His eyes roamed over Elizabeth, conveying the message of what he was saying. "The more we gave 'em away, the more we came to realize the drink would not satisfy, food tuned to ash in our mouths, and all the pleasurable company in the world could not slake our lust. We are cursed men, Miss Turner. Compelled by greed we were, but now we are consumed by it." He got up and went to look out of the window, not noticing when Elizabeth quickly reached for a butter knife and hid it within her dress. Still looking out of the window, Barbossa continued. "There is one way we can end our curse. All the scattered pieces of the Aztec gold must be restored and the blood repaid. Thanks to ye, we have the final piece."

Narrowing her eyes, Elizabeth had been following his words closer than it had appeared, because she turned in her seat to look at him in growing suspicion. "And the blood to be repaid?"

Turning away from the window, a chilling smile was on his face as he reached for an apple that was on the table. "That's why there's no sense to be killin' ye, yet." He offered her the apple. "Apple?" He suddenly cried out when she stabbed him in the heart with the butter knife, yet he dashed out after her, grabbed the fighting woman, and pulled out the knife, causing her to stop fighting and just stare at him in disgust and slight horror. "I'm curious." He twirled the knife around his fingers. "After killin' me what was it you plannin' on doing next?"

Elizabeth suddenly kneed him and when he let go of her with a howl of pain, she hurried towards the door and threw it open, only to stop in horror and see that all of the pirates had somehow become decaying corpses. Her eyes widened in fear and she took a step backwards, only managing to back into Captain Barbossa. The young woman twirled around and faced him.

"Look!" He told her, motioning to his crew. "The moonlight shows us for what we really are. We are not among the living, and so we cannot die, but neither are we dead. For too long I've been parched with thirst and unable to quench it. Too long I've been starving to death and haven't died. I feel nothing. Not the wind on my face nor the spray of the sea, nor the warmth of the flesh of the woman I desired. It was all denied me." He walked out into the moonlight, revealing the skeleton that he really was, causing Elizabeth to gasp. "You best start believing in ghost stories, Miss Turner. You're in one!" With that he pulled out the bottle of whisky strapped to his belt, uncorked the top, and took a swipe at it. The drink poured over his ribs, leaking out to the floor below. Seeing the horrified expression on Elizabeth's face as her eyes followed the flow of the liquid, Barbossa threw his head back and laughed, causing his men to laugh with him. Yet that didn't seem to please him. "What are ye looking at? Back to work!"

Elizabeth looked up at the moon, her body beginning to tremble in the fear she should have felt long time ago. "Anna…"

Anna woke up in a cold sweat, panting as she looked around the darkened room. Jack had given her the captain's room and the three men were sleeping in the crew's rooms. She felt her heart thumping wildly in her chest, and it was only thanks to her bed partner, Benji, that she was able to calm down slightly. The mutt had awoken with her cry of fear and was now licking her cheek as reassuringly as he could, trying to calm the frightened human.

"I had one of those dreams again, Benji." She whispered, looking into space yet running her fingers through the dog's hair. "I had one of those dreams that aren't dreams." This ability had been yet another thing from her mother that had set her apart from the rest of the Swann family. "Something's happening to Elizabeth. Something is wrong with the whole crew of the Black Pearl. And why do I feel that Jack knows something that he isn't telling us?"

With those frightful thoughts in her mind, Anna's night was filled with nightmares of a frightening man with scraggy blond hair, lust-filled eyes, and his mutinous ways.

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