And so we comes to this-- the chapter that will probably cause you to turn on me. It was a difficult decision to make, I'll have you know, but I did what I felt had to be done. Enough of my jabbering, I'm sure you wish to know what abominable act I have commited, so read on!

...TanzFieber

Eyes tightly pinched shut, Captain Jack Sparrow said a silent goodbye to his ship and the ocean, his two loves. Well, at least I'm aboard me 'Pearl' out on th'seas... he thought fleetingly, hearing the sound of what he assumed to be a blade whistling through the air towards him. However, the blow he was expecting never came– Instead, a loud grunt and the sound of a body crumpling to the deck reached his ears. After a few moments of holding his breath and squinching his eyes shut so tightly that he began to see fireworks against the backs of his eyelids, Jack finally peeked at the world and was thoroughly astounded at the scene that met his eyes.

The pirate Twigg was lying in a heap on the deck, obviously unconscious and standing over his prone body was... Kelsea (Sparrow). She was visibly shaking, but the look in her eyes was death personified as she brandished one broken mop handle like a sword. Her thin shoulders heaved with shaky breaths as she looked at the man she had just struck down. A scowl suddenly overtook her features, and she kicked at his prone form viciously. She vented her frustrations on the unconscious man, before finally tripping over herself and falling over the body. Jack Sparrow reached out and caught her automatically, setting her back on her feet with Twigg no longer between them.

Father and daughter stared at one another in silence, each taking each other in. Jack simply could not believe what he was witnessing– the whelp had saved his –the infamous Captain Jack Sparrow's– life?

Once again, Kelsea was having similar thoughts.The truth was, she had been trying to make her way to the crew's quarters as Mr. Gibbs had ordered, but simply couldn't for the battle raging across the decks. Th'next best thing, she had decided, would be t'get outta th'bloody way! So she had resumed climbing up the ratlines, figuring that at least aloft no man would be able to come at her from behind...

BRIEF FLASHBACK

She hung suspended there, feet entwined in the rigging, watching the bloody combat with horrified fascination. The dark-haired young girl held her breath, unable to look away from the sight of old friends falling and enemies dying. Frozen she was, at least until she heard that shout –Gibbs's voice calling for Captain Sparrow to look out– And suddenly she was scrambling across the ropes towards the fo'csle in what could described as a blind panic... having no idea what she was going to do when she got there, but needing to get there all the same.

As she clambered towards the three men at the head of the Pearl, she watched as her captain lost his weapon and was backed into a corner... but then she was there. Dropping lithely to the deck and, finding herself confronted by the unaware back of the adversary Twigg, Kelsea's hand instinctively went to the beat-up mop handle that she always seemed to have thrust into her rope belt. Once! Twice! she lashed out as hard as she could, catching the man across the back of the skull... and he slumped down unconscious... and there was Captain Sparrow with his eyes shut...

BACK TO PRESENT

They were staring at one another– the captain and the whelp. The battle still raged down on the main deck, shouts still filled the afternoon, Twigg still lay in a heap at their feet, and yet the pair remained quiet. Finally, it was Jack Sparrow who cleared his throat and spoke in an almost hoarse voice.

"You... Ye saved–" he began brokenly, but Kelsea also seemed to snap to and spoke sharply before he could finish.

"Ye saved me life, I saved yers– we're square!" she stated resolutely, the hard look returning to her eyes. Jack contemplated these words and her young face, so determined in the face of such circumstances. He took in her dark flashing eyes, the way her chin stuck out defiantly, the way she was still brandishing that broken mop...

"I don'–" the captain of the Black Pearl started to protest, but was once again cut off. This time, however, it was not Kelsea who did the interrupting.

"This'll teach ye t'hit a man unawares, ye liddle brat!" Whilst the two had been talking they failed to pay attention to the fallen Twigg, and now he had half-risen and was pointing a pistol at the girl's unprotected back. The world seemed to freeze, the click of the hammer echoing infinitely, the knowledge that neither Jack nor the child would be able to prevent the point-blank shot... And then the gun went off.

"LASS, GIT DOWN!" Another shout, a flash of movement, the crack of a pistol, a puff of smoke, a grunt of pain. Kelsea felt the air whoosh from her lungs as she hit the deck, things momentarily going fuzzy–

"GIBBS! NOOOO!" Captain Jack Sparrow whipped out his own pistol and discharged a ball into the chest of his enemy, but did not wait to see the effect. Instead he dropped heavily to his knees, all of his attention on the man lying before him in a growing pool of crimson.

Joshamee Gibbs, first mate of the Black Pearl, moaned and tried to roll over. Blood flowered across his none-too-clean shirt from the ragged bullet hole in his chest, and the man coughed raggedly before speaking in a gasping voice. "Kelsea..."

The nine-year-old crawled over to her long time companion, not believing her eyes. "Mr. G-gibbs..." she whimpered, tears choking her and running down her young face. "N-no..."

Gibbs only smiled feebly and lifted a shaking hand to the girl's face, attempting to wipe away her tears. "Come now, missie," he whispered. "Be brave like I know ye are, an' listen t'ol Mr. Gibbs... There's somethin' ye need t'know..." The girl nodded unsurely, grasping the old man's hand and gazing upon his kindly features. "I always tried ter raise ye as best I could an' I'm proud o' 'ye, lass– yer a damned good pirate. B-but..." He faltered and gasped for breath here before continuing in a decidedly weaker tone. "But I always told ye tha' ye didn' have no parents, an' tha's not true, Kelsea Sparrow."

The raven-haired little girl froze, and so did Jack, who had been trying to stem the flow of blood from his comrades chest.

"Wh-what?" she squeaked, sure she had misheard him, or that he was becoming delirious. Surely he didn' mean t'call me... Sparrow...?

However, Gibbs only nodded and smiled a distinctly grimaced smile. "Tha's right, lass... Th'man t'yer right, Captain Jack Sparrow... He's.. H-he's yer father. Aye, yer father an' yer jus' like him, lass..."

He coughed violently again, this time a fine mist of red spraying from his mouth. Kelsea clutched at him tighter, which seemed to bring him back for a moment, his eyes now traveling to settle on the captain.

"Cap'n Jack..." he wheezed, and Jack bent closer... silent kohl-darkened tears running down his own features.

"Aye, mate... Right 'ere..."

"J-Jack Sparrow-w... Always tried t'do right by ye, Cap'n... Always tried t'follow yer orders... B-but now..." he closed his eyes for a moment and struggled to breath, the puddle beneath him growing larger and reddening the deck beneath the trio. "But now I ask ye fer somethin'."

"Name it."

"Promise me... P-promise ye'll take care o' th'girl. Know ye never took much to 'er, but she's a... a good lass an'... an' she needs ye... take care o' her..." By now the first mate's voice had become so weak that both of the others had to be within inches to hear. His face screwed up with emotion, the dread-locked pirate captain grasped his longtime shipmate's free hand tightly and nodded.

"Swear it on th'Pearl an' on me life, mate." he choked.

Joshamee Gibbs's slack friendly old features formed one more tired smile and he faintly gave both of his companion's hands a squeeze... before his kindly gray eyes drifted shut for the last time and his breathing ceased with one last sigh.

A/N: So there you have it-- the hardest decision I have had to make thus far. Hate me? Admire me for making the choice? The fun part is that you can totally flame this chapter if you want to. Happy hate-mailing!