-1Pirates of the Caribbean: The Island of Life

Disclaimer: Don't own much, just Madeline and the plot, the rest is owned by Disney.

The Journey Begins

Madeline and Elizabeth dressed in complete silence behind their respective dressing screens. Madeline pulled her tattered dress over her head and then glanced towards Elizabeth.

Elizabeth stared down at the pants and shirt Madeline had given her to wear. "Are you sure about this?"

"No, but that's why I need your help. You know the Jack Sparrow of today as I knew the Jack Sparrow of thirteen years ago. Perhaps between the two of us, this'll work."

They continued to dress in silence. When they were finished, Madeline looked fit for Tortuga, and Elizabeth fit for the helm of a pirate ship.

They met up with Will who was dressed more like a pirate now than ever before. They made their way to the docks where a small boat was waiting for them. They slowly paddled out to the large black ship waiting not far from the shore. They climbed up onto the ship, the Black Rose. The crew whistled until Madeline pulled her gun on them. "That isn't very nice, boys." They all stopped and looked away from her. "Now, back to work! This ship won't sail itself!" She walked towards the captain's room. Elizabeth and Will followed her.

"So what exactly is the plan?"

"William, Will, Willy, how many times must I go through this?" After a pause she huffed and continued, "We sail to Tortuga and hope Jack is there. You keep him busy until I make my presence known to him. Then we will quietly talk him into giving me my pendant back. If he won't, we'll kill him."

"Aye." Will countered in a less than joyous tone.

They sailed late into the night; by morning they had reached Tortuga. They walked through the town to a large whorehouse. Madeline pointed and mouthed, "He's there" to Elizabeth and Will. The three scatter and search for Jack. Madeline is the first to spot him. Of course, he had a woman on his lap and a bottle of rum in his hand. She snuck up behind him and stole his gun, sword, and his hat. She caught up with Will and pointed towards Jack.

Will nodded and went towards him. His hat was lowered so that his face could not be seen clearly. He unsheathed his sword and put the tip to Jack's throat. "He, he, he. Um, how may I help you sir?" Jack asked in his drunken way. He was groping for his affects; unfortunately he had none. He pushed the woman off his lap and stood up. "I seem to be without my affects at the moment."

"Looking for those?" Will asked, not looking up, and pointing towards the other side of the room where Madeline was sitting. She was waving Jack's gun at him and smiling to herself. She was still in her dress, but she was now wearing his hat. She got up and walked seductively towards the men. She walked right up to Jack and slapped him, hard.

"I'm almost positive you deserved that." Will said looking up at Jack.

"Damn right he deserved it." Madeline answered for Jack.

"Um, I'm afraid I don't—"

"You bloody bastard. You left me to die in that god-forsaken port, and thought I would just forgive and forget?"

"Oh God, Madeline, darling. I was going to come back for you, I was." By this time, Elizabeth had joined the other three. Jack looked at Will and Elizabeth and quickly changed the subject from Madeline to them. "William, Elizabeth, so good to see—"

"Don't ignore me Sparrow!" She raised the gun to his face and took a step closer to him. The gun was almost touching his nose when she continued, "You left me to hang in the gallows, Sparrow. You owe me at least a few seconds of your time."

"Of course, darling, you're right. Please sit down with me and have a drink."

"I have a better idea." She cocked the gun, making Jack very nervous. She pulled down the gun and scoffed. "Come on." She led him, Will and Elizabeth out to the street. "Where's the Pearl?"

"Isle de Muerta." Jack responded cautiously.

"Good. Let's go." She started for the dock with the others in tow. Upon reaching the docks, Madeline let out a soft cooing sound to a ship that seemed deserted. A cooing replied and they went towards the ship.

"Dove, darling," A large man greeted them.

"'Ello Jimmy. Ready to take er to Isle de Muerta?"

"Aye aye captain!" Letting the others go ahead of her, Madeline waved to Tortuga as they made their way to the Island.

Sitting in Madeline's room, the group was joined by Jimmy. Elizabeth's inquires about Madeline's life continued now. "So, how did you get here, alive?"

"Darling, where can I begin?" She pointed at Jack as she continued. "Jack here left me in Port, um, Port, oh darling," turning to Jimmy, "what was the port?"

"Port Cambria."

"Port Cambria, right, anyway, Jimmy and I were on the lynching block and we decided we didn't quite like it there. We—"

"We fought our way past the guards, stole—"

"Commandeered."

"Commandeered, yes, commandeered, a ship, sailed to Tortuga and got a crew."

"How did you, Madeline, sweetheart, get a crew? You were only seventeen." Jack asked.

Jimmy interrupted, "She killed two men outright. No one else felt like speakin' against her!"

"Jimmy." Madeline said soothingly.

"Yes captain?"

"Go back to work!" She stated quite harshly.

"Yes captain." Jimmy left them to talk. They did so for many hours. They talked of their adventures, but Jack seemed strangely quiet. He would often look up at Madeline as she told her stories and then watch Will and Elizabeth intensely. He could tell Madeline was thoroughly engrossed in the stories Elizabeth told. She seemed to love the stories of the upscale parties Elizabeth talked of. It was only fitting, however, since she had once lived a very similar life not too far from Port Royal.

"Well," Madeline finally said after hours of stories, "I believe we should all be getting to sleep. Isle de Muerta isn't far from here so we should be there tomorrow early afternoon." She stood to politely excuse her guests.

"Madeline," Will began as he and Elizabeth stood, "Where will we sleep?"

"Oh bloody hell, I'm such a nit, I can't believe I forgot about that. Well, I will show you to your room and some clothes that you can borrow. Come with me please." She led them towards the door when Jack broke in.

"So I'll sleep here then?" He asked sitting on her bed and rubbing the sheets next to him seductively.

"Guess again," Madeline countered.

"My own room?" he guessed. It received a 'no'. "A square barred in area in the brig?"

"You got it." She responded.

After showing her guests to their room, Madeline made her way to the rail on the starboard side of the ship. She looked out at the calm water that lay out before her. The sea had been her home for years and she was never by herself as long as she lived on the sea. She was never by herself, yet she was always alone, and had never felt so empty in her entire life than when she was on the Black Rose. She felt the mist on her face and the chill of the night air made her shiver. Footsteps made her turn quickly. She let out a small gasp and her hand flew to her chest as she saw who it was.

"Will, you scared me."

"I'm sorry," he apologized as he moved to lean on the railing beside Madeline. "What's the real reason you wanted me to help you find Jack?"

"Isn't Elizabeth lonely?"

"Don't change the subject." Madeline smiled at his comment. "You knew where to find him, so why did you need me?"

"Because, Ol' Bootstrap was a dear friend of mine. Then, I heard all about your escapades with Jack and I knew you would be the best to help me with my little venture. I can't do it by my onese self."

"What is this little venture exactly?"

"Before I tell you, answer one question."

"Okay," Will responded questionably.

"Ever wanted to live forever?"

Okay, we're getting there. Soon I'll get to more of the Jack/Madeline stuff. There's going to be lots of pairings in this story and the next chapter will start to show that. Please review and let me know what you think.