Disclaimer: Me no own..blahdeblahblahblah.....

Happy New Year! Woot, dance like no one's watching. I am sorry for the delay, and I hope you enjoy this chapter and that it was worth the wait. Well, me fellow pirates, I shall not keep you any longer!

PineAppleLint

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Belle curled up on her cot, engrossed in her book. Jack had leant it to her: 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' by William Shakespeare. It was absolutely a riveting tale. So riveting that she didn't even notice Sparrow watching her from the doorway.

He couldn't help but stare, watching her eyes skim over the pages, her lips curled in an amused little half smile, her blonde hair cascading down her shoulders and gently caressing the pages of the book every time she moved her head.

Jack reminded himself to take her to the little book shop in Tortuga once they managed to dock there in a few days. He was surprised as hell to find one in such a place, for it had practically been hidden in a hole in the wall. A book shop, he thought with a grin, that cannot be found except by those who already know where it is. He began to anticipate buying her a bundle, new books with clean, crisp paper, old ones that held many mysteries. He shook his head, thinking what a fool he was, wondering what extent he would go to just to see her face light up.

The movement of his head jingled his trinkets, and her head shot up as the noise reached her ears.

"Ah, Sparrow," she said, relaxing again, "You caught me off guard."

"I see yer pirate's dialect has gone away, luv."

She smiled warmly, saying, "I only do that for fun, Sparrow. Plus, it drives the crew mad to hear me butcher their slang in such a way."

"I actually find it quite entertaining, really," Jack responded with a wink, waltzing over and sitting next to her on her little cot, "So, tell me, dear teacher, when shall our lessons in aristocracy begin?"

"Jack, why do you want to learn about such manners? Surely you wouldn't be doing this for fun."

He sighed and stared at the ceiling for a minute, as if debating whether he should tell her something.

"All right," he groaned, "Last time I went to Port Royal, a friend o' mine invited me to be best man at his wedding. It should be in a couple o' weeks, luv, and I need some help in learnin' how to act more......." His hands flailed around, trying to search for the perfect word.

"Refined? Civilized?" she asked, "Sober?"

"Sober?" Jack repeated, arching his eyebrows. She laughed and hit him lightly on the arm.

"You know what I mean," Belle said, setting down her book. He stared at it.

"I was meaning to tell you, luv, we are headin' to Tortuga. We should arrive in two to three days, savvy?"

"Savvy with me," she grinned, "Sounds adventurous and..... perhaps a bit frightening."

"I'll protect ye from harm, bonny lass," he commented, puffing out his chest and inflating his ego.

"How could you possibly protect someone when you'll be drunk and have a dozen women trying to charm the pants off of you?" Belle scoffed.

"I guess yer right," Sparrow sighed, but pointed his finger in her face in a feminine way and added, "And Belle, I'm always the one that does the charming, not the other way around."

"All the men back in Port Royal found me to be quite the charmer," she said with a mysterious smile, "Numerous gentlemen tried to court me, but I turned them all down."

"Didn't know ye were quite the seductress, Miss Blake," Jack said with a wink.

"Actually, I made that up," Belle sighed, "Always kept to myself, really. Never liked prancing about pretending like half my brain was squeezed out by my corset."

"Ye don't have to act," Sparrow said slyly, "Ye already act like that anyway."

She opened her mouth in surprise at his comment and socked him in the arm again.

"Luv, yer bruisin' the handsome and built biceps," he pouted, his kohl rimmed eyes staring at her sorrowfully.

"More like scrawny and bony to me," she laughed. He narrowed his eyes at her playfully and removed a canteen from his coat pocket, unscrewing the cap and taking a swallow.

"Want some, luv?" he offered, holding it out to her.

"Rum and I don't mix, remember?" she said with a shake of her head. She took the canteen and sniffed it, the contents smelling sweet and bitter all at once. Belle brought it to her lips and took a sip, her eyes immediately watering.

"What the hell is that?" she coughed, all but choking.

"Made it meself!" he said proudly, taking another gulp.

"Oh God, I am poisoned!" she moaned and he chuckled, wiping his mouth and placing the canteen back where it came from.

"So," she said and laid back on her cot, yawning, "Tell me about this wedding. Who would invite a pirate to a wedding?"

"A eunuch."

"Ah, Jack, you are getting married? How precious!"

He grabbed her foot and began running his fingers along the bottom it, watching with pleasure as her face flushed and she bit her lip, trying not to laugh.

"Stop, it tickles," she finally demanded between bursts of laughter, wriggling her slender foot in his grasp.

"I already told you I was going to be the best man," Jack said, beginning to massage her feet, his rough fingers slowly working on her tense muscles.

Her eyes fluttered shut and she murmured, "So who is this man?"

"William Turner. Getting married to Elizabeth Swann. Quite the pair those two make. The governor's daughter and a young pirate."

"Miss Swann! She is such a kind human being," Belle stated, "But I haven't had the chance to meet her fiancé."

"Well, would ye like to?" Sparrow questioned, his fingers pausing. She looked down to find him placing them on her toes and wiggling them.

She smiled. "Sure, though I do not see how that could be arranged."

"Come with me to the wedding, luv," Sparrow all but asked, "I need a pretty girl decorating me arm. Make the rest of the men jealous."

"Decorating? I am no decoration of yours, Jack Sparrow," she huffed, her small smile betraying her arrogance.

"So is that an aye?" Jack said, massaging once more. She let out a little groan of content and he grinned.

"At the moment, it would be a little hard to say no," she admitted.

"Wonderful, Miss Blake. Now tomorrow I would like to start on those lessons, aye? Or whatever the hell ye want to call them." He stood up and stared down at her sleepy face.

"Mmmmhmmm......" she murmured, "Of course, Captain......"

"And I wanted to make a few conditions as well as long as ye are going to teach me."

"Conditions....." she yawned, "Splendid......."

He stared down at her and found her drifting off to sleep. He blew out the flame of the dripping yellow candle and brought her arm that was hanging over the side of the cot to her side.

"G'night, lass," he whispered with a grin, gazing down at her figure traced with moonlight. Leaning over, he pressed his lips to her forehead and walked out of the room, closing the door, and ran right into Gibbs.

"I don' know why ye ever let that lass aboard, Jack," Gibbs muttered, "She's frightful bad luck, that one. I can feel it in me bones."

"Ah, she's not that bad. Come now, Gibbs, stop with this bad luck superstition business."

"So that she-devil has gotten to ye now, has she?" Gibbs sighed with a shake of his head, "A shame, that's what it is."

Jack laughed and patted his old friend's back, "I assure ye, that woman is anything but bad luck."

"Sure, that's what I thought ye'd say once I caught ye sneaking out o' her room late at night," Gibbs said with a wink, "Jack, can't ye leave the poor lass alone? Even if she may be bad luck, I know a virgin when I see one."

"We talked, Gibbs," Jack said, glaring at the older man, "Nothing happened. I didn't have me way with her."

"If the winds stay fair and a storm don't blow us off course, we will be arrivin' in Tortuga in two days time," he informed his captain.

"Good. We need to stock up on supplies," Jack said, walking towards the helm with Gibbs following close behind.

"Ye've been so tense, Jack. Perhaps a good night with Scarlet o' another one o' yer willin' girls will do the trick."

"Perhaps," Jack said with a cocky smile, "Go get some rest. Ye'll need yer strength over the next couple o' days."

"Aye. G'night, Jack."

Sparrow nodded to him as he disappeared below deck and his cocky smile disappeared. It had been a while since he spent the night with pleasurable company, and frankly, he was feeling restless. He had a usual routine in Tortuga. Right when they docked, they'd get supplies. He'd then go drinking with the crew as the sun set, find an eager woman either on the streets or in the tavern, and rent out a room so they could do their business until the wench fell asleep and he slipped out unnoticed. He never looked for attachments or 'good mornings'.

Now that Belle was coming along, his routine would be ruined. He was a little uncomfortable with that fact, but what was a man to do? Perhaps he would show her the town for a while, then buy her a drink and let her mingle with the crew.

In other words, leave her to her business so she would be able to leave him to his.

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Jack was nodding off to sleep, his fingers slowly drifting off of the helm when he heard a scream. He jerked awake, his eyes darting back and forth across the deck. Had he imagined it? It sounded like..

Belle.

He had never ran so fast in his life, almost tripping as he fled down the stairs and throwing open her door, revealing her thrashing around in her cot. It was a miracle she hadn't fallen out yet. By the looks of things, she was sinking into the deepest realm of the nightmare world.

"Belle!" he said, sitting next to her and shaking her, "Wake up!" Her arms flew out and she socked him square in the face. He shouted in pain and grabbed her wrists, pinning them to her chest.

She was murmuring unintelligible words and Jack ordered, "Come on, lass. Enough's enough!"

Belle stilled and her eyes opened. Covered in sweat, she panted, her eyes wide and resembling those of a wild animal.

"Jack," she said softly, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry I woke you...."

"Shhhhh, luv," he said, taking her into his arms, rocking her slightly, "It's all right. Jack's here."

He looked down and realized there was blood on his hands. His eyes widened and he grasped her arms again, staring down at them.

The scar on her wrist was bloody and blistered, as if it was fresh. She stared down at it and she cried out, jerking her arm out of his hold.

"Did ye do that, luv?" he asked seriously, "Did ye do that to yerself?"

"No!" she whispered, "I did not. In my dream, there were shadows around me. I couldn't see their faces but I could feel them." She paused. "They branded me, held me down."

"But luv, that's only a dream. How did tha' lil' wound happen?" he pointed at her arm.

She held her wrist protectively. "I have no idea."

"Let's get that cleaned up," he said, leading her out to the dining hall. He rifled through some cloth and grabbed some alcohol. She sank into a chair in the meantime, purely exhausted.

He kneeled before her and took her arm after dipping one of the fairly clean cloths in the alcohol.

"It's going to sting," he warned.

"Just get it over with," she sighed.

He held the cloth to her angry wound and she hissed through her teeth. He grinned and said, "Not so bad, eh?"

"No," she muttered through clenched teeth.

"Actually, yer doin' quite good, considerin' every time I have to fix up Jack after one o' his brawls, he acts like a baby, shoutin' and cursin' up a storm." They turned to find Ana Maria approaching, looking faintly curious. "What happened here?"

"She 'ad a disturbin' dream and woke up like this," Jack replied, beginning to wrap her wrist carefully.

"I n'er knew ye were the type to cut yerself," Ana Maria said, squinting at Belle.

"I don't," Belle said, "In my dream they were branding me."

Ana Maria quirked an eyebrow, fear flooding her eyes. "It happened through yer dreams?"

Belle nodded and Jack smiled, saying, "Mr. Gibbs isn't the only superstitious fool on the Pearl."

"Jack, she be a witch or somethin'!" Ana Maria said with disbelief, "I never 'eard of somethin' of this sort happening before!"

"There's always a first time for everything," Belle said, smiling weakly.

Jack put the supplies away and patted the cautious Ana Maria on the back. "Don' worry, lass, she's no witch."

"Are ye all right, lass?" Jack asked, "Because I have some work to do. The sun's about to rise."

"Don't worry about me," she said with a wave of her hand, signaling him to go ahead and go, "Just a scratch."

He smiled, winked at her, and exited the room. Belle listened closely, hearing the creak of the stairs as he made his way up them.

She turned to find Ana Maria staring at her. "What?" she questioned with a frown.

"I knew it," she stated simply, shaking her head, "I knew this would happen."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Ye like the Captain, lass, a little more than ye want anyone to think."

"He is a fine Captain and a wonderful friend," Belle pointed out, sinking back in the chair once more, massaging her temple.

Ana Maria laughed. "I can always tell when ye have been talkin' to that man, because yer cheeks get all rosy and yer eyes light up."

Belle sputtered and no words came out, even if she was trying to defend herself.

"That's what I thought," she replied, "Sparrow always gets to the ladies."

"I see he hasn't gotten to you," Belle said, lifting her chin to stare at her directly in the eyes.

"Oh, believe me, dearie," she chuckled bitterly, "He and I go way back. Let's just say we've been friends with benefits."

Belle's eyes must have widened and Ana Maria chuckled again. "Just think about it, lass," she stated, "Jack was always quite the seducer, and bein' in the middle o' the ocean with no whorehouse at hand, he turned to me."

"I'm sorry," Belle replied, wondering why Ana Maria made it sound like she was a victim.

"Ah, don't be sorry for me, luv," Ana replied, smirking, "No need to be sorry for me anymore. It seems like he's had his eye on someone else now for quite some time. Ta." She turned on her heel and was about to leave, until Belle blurted out, "Why would it be so bad to be Sparrow's lover?"

Ana Maria turned slowly, saying softly, "Because, me dear, once you've been in his bed, he knows."

"Knows what?"

"That ye won't ever be able to say no to him again."

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Ooooh! Curiosity killed the cat! Or..hmmm..the Belle? Ah, it's late. After you review, go celebrate! It's 2004! Drinks all around!