A/N: Thanks for the feedback, everyone! I hope you like this action-packed chapter! There's only one normal-length chapter left to go after this one! But then again, if interest holds up, a threequel may currently be in the works!
Chapter 18: Emotions
Warnings: tusslin', perhaps some cursin'
"D'ya feel that, Beckett?" Jack said, pushing the barrel into Beckett's unkempt mop of wavy hair until the metal rested against his head. "I think you'd better learn to listen fast, if you'd like to keep your bloody brains intact."
Oddly enough, I think I believe him when he says he'll kill me. He's got to be absolutely enraged by this point, what with my stealing Elizabeth away. Bloody slow doctors. Always the case… All of a sudden the tension went out of Beckett's body, and he let his arms rest at his sides, rather than underneath his body. Smiling triumphantly, Jack tucked his pistol into the crook of his arm, to prepare to restrain his captive with the shackles. As Jack snapped a shackle on one of Beckett's wrists, the pistol tucked under his armpit misfired, the loud crack of the gunshot echoing throughout town.
Elizabeth suddenly came running out of the narrow alleyway that Beckett and the girl had raced out of. She had temporarily lost the racing pair, and had only gotten back on track after hearing the shot.
Jack was not prepared for the misfiring of his pistol, and tumbled backwards off of Beckett, landing roughly on his back on the ground. Immediately Beckett took advantage of this good fortune and stood up, way too close to the girl who wanted to kill him. The look on her face was that of pure hatred. Beckett saw the pistol lying by Jack's leg, and noticed that Jack was not yet in the process of retrieving it. Meanwhile, Joana raised a skinny fist to sucker-punch Beckett. Most certainly with the rage she felt now, she could knock him out cold. Elizabeth noticed this movement, and reached over to tap Beckett to warn him—
Suddenly the yells of a couple dozen men came from up the street. Men of the Royal Navy and East India Trading Company both. They approached the brawl with weapons drawn, urging everyone to stay where they were.
Beckett, Elizabeth, and Joana froze in place. Jack, on the other hand, pulled himself off of the ground, although leaving his gun on the street. He stood woozily, facing the approaching men he never thought he'd see here.
The men slowed down and one stepped forward, a member of the East India Trading Company that Jack recognized as a fellow low-level officer of the Royal Navy when he had been employed there.
"I heard rumours that you had been killed by the Kraken, and escaped from Davy Jones' Locker," the EITC officer said coldly and almost in a whisper, noticing that Jack was unarmed at the moment. The officer continued to approach the pirate captain, who stood warily in place, unsure of how to handle the situation at present.
Suddenly Jack saluted the man very crisply, his action full of mockery even so.
"Ah, former Royal Navy Lieutenant Benjamin Barker. An' true rumours they are at that, mate. Am I not standing before you now?"
"I had figured you'd return to this spit of land in the middle of nowhere at some point," Barker replied. "Whether you had visited the Locker previously or not."
"An' why th' bloody hell would you think to ever find me here?" he said to the familiar man.
"What do you mean?" Barker was now only about three feet away from Jack and had no weapon in his hand either.
"You know my situation…." Jack murmured quietly, eyes darting nervously about the town. He had avoided this very place for almost two decades because of the sort of welcome and goodbye he'd get when making berth.
After I'd disembark on Pico Island, she'd find me an' approach me, give me a nice hard slap across th' face that dwarfed even that o' Elizabeth's slap, which is sayin' somethin', an' would proceed to curse me out.
Thank goodness I never learned Portuguese, even though I pretended to. I'll never know wot exactly she was sayin' to me durin' those times, Jack mused, in the midst of reminiscing
The middle parts of me visits were always good though. She'd forgive me temporarily for my havin' left her behind th' time before, an' we'd end up takin' part in th' sports of lovers. In addition to those sorts o' encounters, we'd sit an' talk an' she'd mend th' wounds I'd acquired since last seein' her. I'd teach her me broken form of English an' she'd try to teach me Portuguese. Ah, fallin' asleep in each others' arms over th' high cliffs overlooking th' ocean. Skinny dippin' in pools fed by th' prettiest of waterfalls, hidden deep wivin th' forest. Sometimes she'd even get me to make empty promises in th' heat of the moment, th' she-devil she was. I got her name tattooed on me arm. She got a tattoo of a sparrow in turn, on her back. Holdin' hands an' pickin' flowers for her, placing 'em in her hair, th' ratty bird's nest it was… though I did like tryin' to run me fingers through it on occasion. I'd tell her of my travels wiv th' Royal Navy, an' then she'd cross the line an' overdo it— she'd beg to come wiv me.
It was always then, upon her mentionin' th' future, that I'd snap back to reality. Always refused her, I did. Always had quite valid excuses to do so, really. Her parents hated me. An' this was all during me law-abidin' days…. Wonder wot they'd say now…
However, during th' goodbye, after informin' her that I was leavin'…. Leavin' wivout her again—she'd literally attack me an' we'd have quite a tumble aroun' th' house—or shoreline—wherever we was at th' time. Sometimes I'd even get a couple more slaps about th' face. Didn' like that part too much. Even so, in the midst o' me fresh pain, I'd always give her a last fleetin' kiss, an' disappear before she could slap me again. This same story, wiv several variations, o' course, occurred perhaps a dozen times before I finally stopped comin' back altogether. When I'd get back on me ship wiv th' Royal Navy, they'd see my bruises an' scratches an' know that I had been wiv her again. Needless to say, none ever acted jealous o' me. But I didn' care about that at th' time. Should've known then….
The final time I went to the Azores, I spotted her as I was walkin' along wiv my fellow shipmates. Then I saw it—th' bloody wench was holdin' hands wiv another man as they strolled about th' streets! Though I now realize I wasn't entitled to tell her wot to do, somethin' in me snapped that day, an' so I began walkin' the opposite way wiv me chums, not even botherin' to greet her that one last time. I picked up th' pace on my way back to the docks, ignorin' her, even though I could hear her yellin' my name. Now that I think about it, she was probably doin' that to stir some jealousy in me—to maybe get me to commit or somethin' or other. Well, she had certainly achieved her firs' goal, doin' wot she did. But that had marked th' end of that relationship—for good.
Until that day, when the Royal Navy was sailin' near th' Azores, the crew would ask me if I wanted to stop, an' I'd say yes after mulling o'er it for a time. Her slaps did smart quite a bit. However, upon her betrayal, they refrained from mentionin' it altogether. I did not return there again, an' swore to them I never would. They knew I'd keep my word, an' I did, all those years… until now, that is. Bloody Ben Barker never did trust me word...
"What situation? You mean Luiza?" Barker asked. Jack's eyes narrowed at the name of the woman he had left behind so many years ago. He didn't have a chance to respond.
"She's been dead now for fifteen years, Jack."
Suddenly all feeling left him. He felt numb, legs weak enough to collapse under him. Joana's head perked up at the mention of the woman's name. Her mother's name. And Jack. Midshipman Jack Sparrow, her fath—
"Wot? But…how?" he managed to stammer, feeling nauseous, his head swimming. Luiza's dead…Luiza's dead… How could I have possibly outlived her, wot wiv her all secluded here on this bloody spit of land in th' middle of nowhere!
Beckett nearly fainted, his heart pounding with exertion in his chest. Pounding with rage. His Luiza—well, the one he had wanted to be his—had died fifteen years ago. Luiza…. Luiza had been waiting for…. Jack?
"I'm sorry. I hadn't realized you didn't know," Barker said, sounding sympathetic for the first time.
An officer from the Royal Navy strode up beside Barker, staring intensely at Jack, then at Beckett.
"Why don' you jus' ask your friend about it?" he told Jack, beckoning to Beckett. "After all, he was there when she died."
Jack's face went red with rage, his hands balled into tight fists. He turned to face Beckett. Speech couldn't even come to him at his point.
The Royal Navy officer continued to speak.
"He had her kidnapped from the island for his own purposes. What was it, Beckett; to marry her, you said?"
Beckett's eyes flashed with rage. He glared at the man with pure hatred, his vision shaking from all the adrenaline that was coursing through his veins.
"I did not kidnap her," he said through clenched teeth. How dare he utter such a malicious lie! Beckett's brain yelled.
Both Jack and Joana were seething with fury, both clenching their fists in preparation to knock Beckett's lights out.
Suddenly Beckett was slugged in the jaw by Jack, and, caught off guard, stumbled sideways, nearly losing his balance. However, instead of shying away from Jack after the punch, he lunged at him, knocking him to the cobblestone below.
The pirate and the former lord went down in a heap of clothing and hair as they punched and hit out at each other, tussling around on the ground, both filled with an anger that neither had felt in years.
"You killed her!" Beckett screamed at Jack, grabbing him by the dreadlocks, swinging his shackled wrist around to slice the pirate captain across the face.
"It soun's to me like that was your doing!" Jack screamed back, Beckett's shackle connecting with his braided chin.
"She died of a broken heart—that you caused her!"
"Wot were you doin' tryin' to steal her heart, anyway, bloody thief!"
"I loved her!" Beckett blurted, feeling the scratch of Jack's rings across his face. He yelped in response to the pain caused by the sharp gemstones.
"Well, I loved her first!" Jack heard himself bellowing back, louder than anything that he had yet said. He felt Beckett's shackle make contact with his nose, and knew a nosebleed would probably be evident soon.
"Then why the bloody hell did you leave her?"
Jack was almost out of control with rage, hearing Beckett's accusatory tone. How dare he throw this up in my face! As if he has any sort of right!
"I had my reasons, an' you've no business knowin' 'em!" Jack shouted back.
During Jack and Beckett's fight on the street, Elizabeth stood by, covering her mouth with a hand. Beckett and Jack had… the same problem with the Azores. A woman. Joana did essentially the same thing as Elizabeth, yet strongly desiring to simultaneously punch and hug her long-lost father. And wanting to just punch Beckett.
Murtogg and Mullroy had backed their way up the gangplank of the Pearl, so that they watched the battle from the bow of the ship, hiding behind the bowsprit. Barbossa was on the quarterdeck, beckoning crew over and telling them they needed to set sail—immediately. Silently the men began untying the mooring lines, allowing them to simply fall in the harbor. The black mainsail was unfurled very slowly so as not to arouse the attention of the bystanders of the Royal Navy and East India Company alike.
Meanwhile, Gibbs ordered Murtogg and Mullroy to lug one of the Pearl's smaller cannons to the bow. He positioned it quietly behind the wooden wall, being as there were no gun ports at the front of the ship, loading the cannonball as he aimed the cannon at the group of men below. He lit the fuse, and covered his ears, feeling the wind billowing on the mainsail, hopefully pulling the ship out of the harbour soon….
Suddenly several of the Royal Navy and East Indiamen standing below were blasted apart by cannonfire, the others scattering in varying directions. The two officers who had approached Jack and Beckett looked up at the Black Pearl, the source of the attack.
From his position on the ground, Jack spotted his pistol and grabbed it, pulling forcefully away from Beckett with pistol in hand. He sprinted for the docks, pistol aimed back at the two officers, Beckett still half-lying, half-sitting on the ground.
Oh God. They're going to leave me here to be hanged, Beckett mused, clambering to his feet, watching Barker fall to his knees after the firing of Jack's weapon. I'd rather have a face-off with one man than… what, sixteen or so? And now that I refrained from turning in Elizabeth, I'm no more lawful than Jack is…. God, I hate this bloody pirate life….
Thankfully, more cannonade blasted from the Pearl, and he took this opportunity to head towards the ship. He saw Elizabeth sprinting off well in front of him, grabbing onto the rigging on the side and gripping the hull. Gibbs had Murtogg and Mullroy lug yet another cannon to the bow, so there was now double the firepower raining down on the unfortunate East Indiamen and Royal Navy officers.
As Beckett moved towards the Pearl, Joana ran by him, kicking him hard in the calf as she passed him. He picked up speed as more cannonballs flew at the officers from the Pearl, Jack now firing back on several of them, oddly enough not at him, and he leapt onto the hull of the Pearl, clutching the rigging of the ship near where Jack was gripping it, pistol in his free hand.
Upon Beckett's sigh of relief, Jack raised his pistol to Beckett's face.
"No. You're stayin' here," he said, dead serious, his pistol aimed between Beckett's eyes. And with that he kicked Beckett in the stomach, knocking him loose of the rigging.
Sopping wet, Beckett scrambled back onto the dock, noticing Joana standing there forlornly and staring at Jack, who was completely ignoring her. He grabbed Joana's arm and snapped the open shackle on her wrist, shackling her to him.
"Jack," he said loudly to the captain, who was more than an arm's length away from him now, perhaps two arm's lengths by this point. The ship was slowly pulling out of the harbour.
"This is Joana, your daughter," Beckett shouted matter-of-factly. EITC men and Royal Navy men alike looked on with interest as they avoided cannonfire, trying to approach the Pearl. With his free arm, he pointed at the skinny curly-haired girl shackled to him. He held up his arm, showing Jack that they were now attached. Joana flashed Beckett a look of spite, but he ignored her for the time being.
"Are you going to abandon her like you did her mother?" he said, subsequently feeling a sharp pain in his arm as Joana punched him with her free arm. "By leaving me behind you are sentencing her to death."
Jack's jaw dropped, and he temporarily lost his grip on the rigging. One hand was gripping the rigging, the other hand holding his pistol.
"Wot?" he stammered. "You've got to be kiddin'. A valiant effort, I must say, Cutler—"
"No," the girl said in a commanding voice, stepping forward, dragging Beckett forward as well. "You are my father. Luiza was my mother. She told me all about you."
Jack's eyes were narrowed, his expression suspicious yet confused. A shot was fired from the direction of the scattering Royal Navy, shrapnel striking Jack on a metal buckle so as to cause his belt to slip off: the dagger and cutlass sinking into the harbour, him unable to grab it in time.
"Bugger bugger bugger" Jack muttered, as he watched his possessions slip below the surface of the water.
"I want to go with you," Joana stated clearly.
Jack's head shot up at the request.
"An' jus' how would I be sentencin' you to death if I let you stay? You've been here all along. You're safe here."
"Right. Just like my mother was," she shot back sarcastically, glaring at Beckett very briefly. Jack's suspicious look disappeared, replaced with a look of shame.
Beckett also replied to Jack's question, even though it hadn't been directed at him.
"You are sentencing her to death if you leave her behind. Since I'm very soon to be shot in the back, I'll fall into the water of the harbour. And being as she is shackled to me, she very well may drown, having dead weight on her wrist. Or else now that all have been made aware of your close relation, they may hold her hostage or even torture her to get to you."
"No thanks to you, ye yappy coward of a runt!"
Joana wasn't about to tell him how good a swimmer she was, but the fact that she might be able to leave this island with the only living family she had left was good enough to keep civility towards Beckett—at least, temporarily. Apparently her father didn't like Beckett much either, which was comforting.
Jack glanced at this girl who claimed to be his daughter. He looked into her eyes, which plead with him, dark, brown, and shaped just like his own. She has my eyes. He looked over at Beckett, the man who had been there when Luiza had died.
One of his arms was holding on to the rigging, and one to his beloved pistol. He no longer had a place to tuck the pistol, being as his belt had been shot off only moments before. His hatred for Beckett was much stronger at the moment than his love for the girl. He had vowed never again to allow Beckett aboard the ship. Beckett would look much better as a sack of reward money. But it was far too late to negotiate….
Only two chapters left to go, with one of the two being a sort of short epilogue, I'd like to call it! Feel free to comment or suggest anything about the future of where this storyline may go! Thanks, everyone!