Author's Note: Thank you very so much for the reviews! It makes me type faster as well as makes me feel warm fuzzies inside, as always. Belle Gilily has recently learned that she has been adopted, so to speak, and wants to live the life she has always dreamed of. Will she be a fast learner? What will Jack Sparrow think of this? Well then, why don't I quit me babblin' and continue with the tale?
We're devils and blacksheep,
PineAppleLint
For goodness sakes, she thought, Jack Sparrow is going to think I'm a buffoon when I come after him, pleading to take me with him on the Black Pearl. I will not beg! I will simply ask politely with the determination and the courage of twenty pirates. No, make that twenty thousand pirates!
She grinned idiotically at herself for a moment. Some passersby looked at her with concern because she probably looked lost, alone, and well, insane, grinning madly like she was at that instant. With her sack of things still thrown over her shoulder, she was about to enter the tavern when the door flew open and Jack stumbled out, clearly drunk, and tripped, falling straight into her arms.
"Miss Blake," he slurred, "Fancy meetin' you again."
"Oh, in the name of all things Holy," she grumbled, "Jack! I'm here to ask you something very important. I was wondering if I could be a part of your crew on the Black Pearl. Jack?"
He was passed out, snoring softly in her arms, his head lolling against her shoulder and his arms loosely around her waist. Captain Jack Sparrow had already made a big enough impression on Belle Gilily, an impression that would last a lifetime.
"You mangy cad!" she yelled and shook him a little, "Wake up this instant!"
His response was that his snores grew a bit louder. Belle sighed and looked up towards the heavens. It was going to be a long night, indeed.
"Bloody pirate," she murmured as she literally dragged Captain Sparrow down the dark streets of Port Royal and to the docks where the Black Pearl sat in waiting. It was dormant now, peaceful and uninhabited, but what Belle wanted to see was the Black Pearl in action. The cannons firing with sparking energy and the calls of an excited crew ...
"Really, really bad eggs," Belle heard Jack mumble and begin to snore again.
"Argh," she muttered in disgust. She couldn't believe she was carrying a passed out pirate to his ship. What am I getting myself into? she thought to herself. Even if she was a beginner, she was going to make her unknown pirate father damn proud.
Belle dragged Jack up the wooden gangplank and onto the Black Pearl. She dropped him none too lightly onto the wooden deck and took in a breath of fresh sea air. The magnificent ship swayed slightly under her feet as the ocean beckoned to her.
"You THERE!" she heard an old man shout and she almost jumped out of her skin. Belle whirled around and found that a disgruntled balding man was making his way towards her.
"I do not mean to intrude," she said politely and stuck out her hand, "My name is Belle Gilily and I am returning a rather drunken fool to your ship, or at least, I hope you are a crew member of this ship. You aren't trying to commandeer it, are you?"
The old man let out a bark of laughter and wiped his sweaty dirt smudged face, and then used the same hand to shake hers in welcome. She curled her lip slightly as his moist hand held hers firmly but tried to smile.
"No, Miss Gilily, I am Mister Gibbs, the first mate of the Black Pearl. So I see you came across Sparrow, eh? What has he been up to this time?"
"Just a little too much rum, Mister Gibbs, surely. Now where are his quarters? Perhaps I should see to it that he be put to rest."
"Miss Belle, ye need not worry about Jack. I'll see to it, young lady."
"I've cared for my cousins too many times to count, Mister Gibbs, and I know all about this sort of thing."
"Your little cousins get drunk out o' their wits?" Gibbs asked, flabbergasted.
"No!" she said impatiently, "I've cared for them when they grew ill. Now hush, Mister Gibbs. You may go about your way. I'll see to this."
"All right, Miss Belle, if that's what ye really want to do," he replied, shrugging, and was about to walk away when he turned around and added, "How is it a fancy woman such as yerself got caught up with the likes o' Jack?"
She began to think, wondering if she should share her family secret with a complete bumbling stranger. Nah. "That's a tale for another time, Mister Gibbs," she said with a smile, "I just want to be a part of the crew. I want an adventure."
"Bringing a woman on board is awfully bad luck," he grumbled and turned around again, walking back below deck.
"Then you shall be burdened with bad luck as long as I am here," she said quietly, half to herself, "Because I am not leaving this bloody ship." She would tend to Jack, and if Jack really knew what was good for him, he would repay her by letting her come aboard.
She dragged him into what she thought was his room and she was correct. There was one window next to a desk that was cluttered with maps and burned out candles. A big mahogany bed sat in one corner with clean white linens. After many tries, she finally managed to heave the bloody pirate onto the bed. He was still snoring softly as she removed his hat and effects, setting them on the nightstand. She examined the trinkets in his hair with gentle caresses of her fingertips, wondering what oceans he had sailed and what lands he had roamed to gather such fine little treasures.
He was incredibly handsome for a scurvy pirate, she admitted to herself with a grin, and sighed when her little fantasy was ruined when he belched quite loudly.
"You disgusting pig," she muttered as her fingers worked fast, trying to remove his leather belt that held his sword.
He stirred and opened one eye, saying with a sleepy slur, "Careful on the goods, darling," then slumped over, drifting off to an alcohol induced slumber once more.
