Author's Note: A couple of complaints about Jack's dialect. I think it's okay to use a mixture of 'you' and 'yer' etc. because in the films, he does so. But if you don't like it, you are the readers, so I'll be changing that a couple of chapters from now (as the next couple are written already). Anyway, thanks for the reviews, keep them coming.

Chapter Fourteen: Moonlit Beach

Carmen had watched the sky turn from light blue, to pinkish orange, to navy blue, from this spot on the beach. She was sitting with her hands on her knees, mentally exhausted. She was starting to get scared. It was pitch black, and Jack was nowhere in sight.

The Martyr was long gone. Carmen wondered if her friends would be okay. Chiltingham was so evil- but she remembered their kiss and cringed. He was very attractive. She wondered if Jack was jealous, then wondered if she was more hoping it. She wanted Jack to admit he wanted her.

The rain was coming. She could feel it on the air and it made her shiver.

"Jack!" she shouted.

Where was he? She was too tired to go and search for him. Jack Sparrow was a strange creature. He would be found when he wanted to be. She lay back on the sand, wondering if it was time for sleep. She had no idea how they were going to get out of this one, but for now, there was something soothing about the gentle rush of the sea. It reminded her a little of Chalpa, and the peace she had felt there.

"You called, Princess?" Jack's voice rang out behind her, and she turned to see him standing, wonderfully handsome, against the night sky. He smiled slightly at her, golden teeth twinkling, his hair moving gently in the light breeze. He came over and took of his coat and hat, dropping them on the sand beside her.

"Where have you been?" she asked. "Have you been avoiding me?"

"Like the plague," he said with a smile to show he was teasing. She read a little deeper and realised he was probably admitting to being jealous. "I've been around, luv." She knew from his words that he had been watching her to make sure she was alright.

He dropped down beside her, sitting as she had been moments beforehand, his hands on his knees, eyes narrowed as he looked out at the ocean. She fell back against the sand again, and closed her eyes. This had been the worst day of her life.

"There's no rum on this godforsaken spit of land," Jack said matter-of-factly.

"Spoken like a true pirate," Carmen replied, then remembered Chiltingham calling her a pirate. She shuddered.

"Why did you do it, Carmen?" Jack's words, spoken in a voice that revealed his hurt, cut through Carmen. She had never heard him sound so upset.

She was glad it was dark, so that he could not see the blush that stained her cheeks as she thought back in shame. But then, she realised, did Jack really have any claim over her? She was so confused, but she wasn't going to let herself feel guilty. She was upset enough already, what with Mar and everything else. "Because I wanted to," she replied finally.

For a moment there was no reply. Carmen almost opened her eyes to check if he was still beside her, but he said quietly, "I see."

"You have no claim to me, Jack Sparrow, since it was you who sent me away." She swallowed. "You threw away all right to be jealous when you left me in Evaneta."

"I did the right thing, luv," Jack replied bitterly. "But that doesn't mean I can help my feelings, savvy?"

The skies opened up then, and Carmen opened her eyes as the rain splashed down. She sat up to face Jack, seeing his expression of sorrow. She softened a little. "I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I do regret it."

Jack managed a weak smile. Carmen put her arms around him. It had been such a terrible, terrible day, and in his strong arms she could almost block it all out, and remember their last little adventure. This time, she was certainly seeing a much darker side to piracy. She thought of Pussy's bitter words. Feel free to have my leftovers- that is, Jack Sparrow.

"Jack?"

"Aye, luv?" he asked, moving back a little to look into her face. Raindrops were clinging to his eyelashes.

"Pussy- that is, Tally- Hawke... she said... about you... and her..." Carmen realised she was very jealous of Pussy's statements, and felt guilty for being annoyed at Jack for being jealous.

Jack made a face. "Dear Tally- I'd almost forgotten about her." He sighed. "Yer aren't going ter like this, Carmen, but we were lovers."

"I'd guessed as much," she replied, surprised that she was having to fight down tears. Damn her for being such a hypocrite. "She's so evil, Jack- how could you be her lover?"

"I'm a pirate, luv." He lay down and began examining his fingernails. "In those days... I mean, it was different, luv. I took what I could get."

Carmen's expression was one of disgust. Of course, she shouldn't be surprised- she had worked in a Tortuga bar for many, many years. But she couldn't help it, because this was Jack Sparrow. She lay down herself, trying to block out all mental images of him with Pussy. Each one cut into her soul.

"I'm not a good man," Jack said in a strange tone. "Now do you understand why I couldn't take yer with me, luv?"

She didn't look at him. "So that you could bed a different whore every night?"

He almost growled, and then his hand was around her wrist, hard and tight, his eyes burning above her own. "No," he said through clenched teeth. She was starting to get a little worried. "For you see, Princess, since I left you, I have slept with three women. Three. And all of them have complained, shouted, that when I sleep with them, I do not call out their names. I shout and scream and moan for you!" Carmen blinked. Her heart was pounding very fast. Jack had just admitted he lusted after her, and had done in all their seperation. "But Princess, the reason I couldn't take you with me is because I could not stand to see something so innocent tarnished in my world."

"Innocent?" she demanded, eyes wide. She was angry at him for believing this to be true. "I'm no more innocent than that Elizabeth woman or Ana! For God's sake, Jack, I was raised in Tortuga!"

He tightened his grip on her wrist, eyes flashing. "Per'aps not, luv, but outta you three, which one do you think I care about most?"

"I think you just want to believe I'm more innocent!" she snapped back. "I kissed Chiltingham and liked it, Jack! How many innocent people do that?"

"If either of us is guilty of believing the other to be more innocent than is true, it is you!" Jack shouted. "I'm a pirate! And yet you think you'd be happy living with me!"

"You're a good man," she replied simply.

"Ugh." He actually smiled then. "I suppose, very deep down, luv-"

She sat up, so that their faces were very close. Her anger had melted. Jack was so infuriating at times, but he knew just how to calm her. "Very deep down, you are the best man I've ever met..." Then they kissed, a short, sweet kiss to make up.

"I wouldn't go that far," he said, lying down beside her. "What about the squeaky clean Commodore, Princess?"

She put her head on Jack's chest. "He's boring," she admitted quietly. "I can only see myself with you." Then she closed her eyes, listening to Jack's heart beating, trying to rid herself of the knowledge that she would probably never be with Jack. For now, though, she was content. "Jack? You know when Tobias shot me?"

"Aye, luv?"

"The bullet- is it still in me?" she asked, looking up at him in interest. He chuckled, sliding a rough finger underneath her chin and examining her face.

"Aye, luv, we couldn't get it out," he replied. He pecked her forehead. "Not to worry, though."

She realised that now she was soaked through, and a little chilly. She shivered and Jack wrapped his arms around her automatically. "Are we going to die?" she asked.

"That's what I always loved about you- your optimism." Jack spoke the words lightly, but Carmen's heart was racing again. Jack had just said he loved her... hadn't he? Or was she just reading into things?

She pressed it. "I thought, that as I'm a princess and you are a gentleman of fortune, you weren't allowed to love things about me?"

"Tonight, luv, we're no more a princess and a pirate than a jar of pickles and a whore's dress. We're just two people on an island." Carmen knew that Jack's answer was the final one she was going to get, but she wasn't about to get upset. She closed her eyes and felt sleep washing over her, finally safe in Jack's arms.