Disclaimer: I don't own POTC. Simple as that.

Jack's Daughter-Chap4-

It just had to be Jack's ship. It just had to be the ship where I would be recognized at every turn. It just had to be a commandeered navy ship that I decided to stowaway on. I just had to be stupid enough not to convince Salina I should go another ship.

My thoughts had long since started creating havoc in my mind, as I huddled under the large desk the dominated the center of Jack's cabin. Why I had chosen to conceal myself in the one place where he would most likely find me, I had no clue. Beyond my flimsy hiding place I could hear him clomping about. I hardly dared to draw breath in case he heard me. I figured there was someone else in the room, but I had nothing to go on but my feelings.

"Gibbs, was there any sign of my daughter?"

I covered my mouth with my hand, stifling a cough as the one sentence slammed home in my head. Tremors rose in me, I had never heard Jack so distraught about something or someone.

"Nay Jack. I'm sorry, but yer're daughter…" Gibbs trailed off, sounding like he was lost on what to say next.

I listened as Jack continued to pace, pressing a fist against my mouth as I curled into a tight ball. I found myself biting down on my will. I had to keep quiet! If Jack heard, or saw me, I would be in Tortuga before I could say 'whore' and I did not want to return to its shores.

"Ye said you took 'er to see Crazy Ol' Salina! Where could she 'ave gone from there you idiot?"

I imagined Gibbs would have been insulted by the tone in Jack's voice, but I heard none of it evident in his voice as he responded.

"I'm sorry Cap'n. Salina said she'd left. There was no time…"

"Bugger!" Jack shouted.

I listened to the rattling slam of the cabin door banging shut. I sucked in a breath, struggling not to scream with the emotion pent up inside me. I hadn't expected it to be so bad. I had never thought that Jack would be so upset about the notion of me disappearing.

The dark seemed to close in around me as I heard the click signifying I was suddenly alone. Alone. Would I be like that the rest of my life?

"Dannie, Dannie where are you?"

I froze, gnawing my lower lip. I tightened my fingers into the loose curls of my hair, tugging it against my scalp. What was Anna-Maria doing in here?

Footsteps. Treading against the carpet of the cabin, coming ever nearer to me. "Dannie, come out from under the desk."

There was no point in hiding it. I could make out Anna-Maria's booted feet from where I was sitting. Resigning myself to the fact that I would be in Tortuga for the rest of my life, I crept from my hiding spot, blushing fiercely. "Aye," I muttered.

Anna-Maria shook her head as she looked at me. "You're stupid," she announced matter-o-factly. "When Salina told me!…" she trailed off shaking her head.

I shifted, crossing my arms. "Ain't my fault," I grumbled.

I had known Anna-Maria for most of my life, she was to me, the elder sister I had never had. Though we rarely crossed paths due to her love for sailing, when by chance we ran into each other, we spent the rest of our day making up for lost time. I usually felt comfortable in her solid presence, I wasn't sure about it this time.

"Haven't ye heard Jack?" Anna-Maria shot at me.

"Aye, just did."

She just raised an eyebrow, looking infuriatingly calm under her wide-brimmed hat. If it had not been for her dark hair falling in tumbles across her face, highlighting the displeasure in her eyes I would have fallen for it. I gulped.

"Look I'm sorry Anna!" I burst out. "I had to get away from Tortuga. I'll be off at the next port! Ye won't even know that I 'ere! And I promise I'll contact my Mama!"

"I ain't taking that Dannie," Anna shook her head. "Ye're stupid like Jack sometimes. Come up on deck."

I swallowed and stepped back, tripping over the desk chair in my haste to retreat. Where I was planning to go, I had no idea, but away was a good start. "You'd be condemning me to death Anna! Ye hear? Jack'll send me back!"

"I be Captain of the Interceptor," Anna-Maria grinned, her teeth flashing in the fading sun that burst through the window behind me. "Unless there be a mutiny ye're safe."

I felt myself relax; tension unknotted itself in my shoulders. I slumped, uncaring. "Thank ye Anna."

She offered a hand. "Come up on deck. Jack'll fuss, but Jack always fusses.. Next port?"

"Aye," I nodded my head. "Anywhere."

"Two days?" Anna-Maria questioned, speaking aloud.

It sounded good to me as I quietly followed her toward the looming door. I couldn't help but feel the pounding in my heart as I drew nearer. I didn't care that Anna was Captain, Jack would be furious. I wasn't sure it was a good idea to follow her, but I knew better. The set of Anna-Maria's shoulders was unbending. I knew that nothing was going to get past her. Woe to the person who tried.

I winced at the hush that drummed against my ears as I walked up the stairs to the helm of the ship. Jack was at the wheel, his eyes fastened on the darkening horizon. He was looking everywhere but Anna-Maria. He already knew.

"Dannica!"

I whirled around, to see William weaving his way around the shocked crewmembers. He looked equally shocked himself, but was starring at me with something I couldn't read in his eyes. Was it relief?

Feeling even more uncomfortable, I pushed away a sneeze, and the uncomfortable feeling that my temperature was rising again. "Jack," I murmured, stepping forward. Anna stepped to the side at the gentle prompting of my hand on her shoulder.

Jack's head lifted and my heart shattered to see the hurt in his eyes. What had I been thinking? What immaturity had graced me to think that Jack wouldn't care? Sure, I knew he would easily betray me, it was just Jack, but he loved me all the same. Or he loved me, as far as he would allow the feeling to reach.

"I thought I be hearing the wind," he spoke to Anna-Maria, looking straight over my shoulder.

For the first time Anna-Maria seemed conscious that the only noise was the rustling sea breeze and the creak of the timbers as they shifted with each role of the sea. "Back to work ye scabrous dogs!" she hollered down, her eyes flashing.

The men wasted no time in jumping back to their duties, leaving a clear space between the helm and their part of the ship. It was only Jack, Anna-Maria, William and I alone, but I had the uncomfortable feeling I was by myself on an island that was growing smaller by the second.

Feeling eyes on me, I turned my head guiltily in Jack's direction. "Jack," my voice trembled. "At least let me explain."

"Ye did yer explaining," he said angrily. "I thought yer Mother raised ye better. Anna…."

"She be going to the next port Jack," Anna cut him off. "I'll leave you two to talk things over."

I whirled in distress as Anna-Maria, steered William away with a firm grip on his arm. I ran to the stairs, grabbing the railing. "Anna!" I screamed it, not carrying if my voice carried across the Caribbean.

"This be yer argument Dannie," she called back up and disappeared below deck.

"Bloody Pirates," I muttered, slumping dejectedly over the railing. I coughed, rubbing my arms to ward off the cold.

There was an uncomfortable silence that crackled between Jack and me. Neither us were willing or knew how to snap it. It didn't help that we were still being avoided by the rest of the crew like we had become ill with a contagious disease.

"Anna's not going to let us go till we figure it out."

It was Jack. I hadn't expected him to talk first, but then he was always surprising me. "I know," I murmured.

"Look at me Dannica."

Quietly I turned my head and looked at my father. I was distressed to find that I was nearly crying. I didn't know why. I blamed it on being sick. "Jack," the words trembled from my lips."

"So ye want a new life?" he asked me, stepping away from the wheel.

"Aye, next port," I agreed. I knew that we hadn't scaled the wall, hadn't come close to mending what I had torn, but he was for the moment accepting it. Accepting until we could both talk about it rationally.

"Ever thought o' being a pirate?" his teeth flashed in the quiet dark that had descended on us.

I shook my head. The thought had never crossed my mind before. I knew I was half-pirate but Mama had quiet effectively beat the thought of piracy out of my head. I had always thought that my life would be different, honest. I had never been given a reason to think otherwise. But here it was before me now, approachable, and accepting. A chance for something new, something I had never imagined in my life. And here Jack was, my father, a willing teacher. There was a large smile on his face. I had never seen him so open before, so hoping that I would take his offer. My blood stirred.

"Teach me to steer Cap'n," I grinned, and bounded over to him. The part that had slumbered for the first years of my life, could no longer be denied, even if its awakening was to be short lived.

"Hold the wheel," he instructed me, clasping my hands over the worn wood. He felt my shudder and grinned, holding me close. "Ye can feel it can't ya?"

Yes, yes I could feel it. The whisper of voices from the people who had steered this ship before me. I could feel their hands beneath mine, trusting me to guide the Interceptor home. "Jack…." I murmured, gazing reverently down. I didn't know how to react to such an emotion.

"Look up Dannica, and stare out at the horizon…."

I pulled my gaze away and stared. I nearly forgot to breathe. In a span of a minute only one thought breached the awe in my mind, How can I ever turn back now?

"This is…" I finally breathed, my voice filled with awe. Before me, the horizon stretched out, blanketed with stars, infinite, unknown, perilous….but neither seemed the right word to use.

"Freedom," Jack whispered in my ear. "That horizon be freedom Dannica. This ship be freedom."

"Aye," I murmured the words and quietly I leaned against my Father. In that moment I felt as if we were closer then we had ever been our whole lives.