Chapter 2: Finding Strength

Rebecca sat in her room at her writing desk. Her anger was simmering and she felt so angry that she felt she would explode. Never in her life had she felt this upset. Disappointment, betrayal, hurt and so many other upsetting emotions concocted the flawless blood-red rage.

Rebecca sighed trying to control herself, the pounding of rushing blood in her ears was deafening. She needed to be strong and to stay under control. Rebecca took out parchment and for a few minutes just stared at the blank sheet angrily. She then hastily took out a quill and inkbottle and started to write a letter.

--

Jack sat on the chair, and thought of Rebecca. Rebecca Theos. She was a challenge for him since the beginning, a complex puzzle for him to solve. He had fallen for her hard and fast when he met her, he knew her more than any other woman he ever knew, but she remained exciting and never bored him. She wasn't the perfect porcelain doll gorgeous, she had features that seemed too rough for a female, but nevertheless she was beautiful and had a unique type of beauty. What kept Jack on his toes was her heated personality; a mixture of intelligence, wit, charm, strength, and raw passion.

Rebecca wasn't the regular sweet, selfless, caring woman every man searched for. Sure, she had an inkling of those traits but her selfishness and pride ruled her personality. Jack believed that they were traits of a pirate, especially her admirable inner strength. She was one to stand up to anybody, anywhere and she dove into her problems to solve them instead of running from them. Rebecca was a strong pirate at heart, and he felt that he could always find strength in her, and she in him.

But of course, he knew he couldn't be with her. He was afraid. Captain Sparrow was afraid. He had been afraid of loving her at the beginning and he remembered how he had broken off with her, for he felt he had to end it before he truly couldn't.

--Flashback--

Jack had admitted that he loved Rebecca Theos, and it wasn't sitting to well with him. He felt the need to detach himself from her quickly, in other words, push her away. He was a pirate, namely the notorious Captain Jack Sparrow and he wasn't supposed to love, at least in his mind. He walked into her room after knocking and no response, he looked around hesitantly for the blonde. Jack's attention was drawn to her bathroom door when he heard her humming to herself. He crept to the door and then knocked softly.

"Come in," she murmured and he did. She was in a bathtub, the foamy water veiling what lay beneath. Her blonde hair was clipped up with emerald encrusted clips, which he had given to her. Some of her hair was damp, and moist tendrils adorned her face. Rebecca's eyes pierced him and she smirked at him lightly.

"What do you want…Jack?" She asked in a mellow tone as she brought a sponge to her neck and scrubbed smoothly. Jack gave a sigh, she was in such a pleasant mood and he felt awful for what he was about to do.

"I came te say that things between us aren't workin' for the best and I believe we should go our separate ways luv," he said as he looked at her with his dark eyes. He saw sheer anger mingle with confusion and hurt in her green eyes. She then sneered at him as she dumped the sponge in the tub.

"Alright then, it's clear you don't want me so I shall not waste your time any longer. You can start going your separate way now…there's the door," Rebecca snipped and pointed to the door as she tried to remain calm.

"I'm sorry," Jack said sincerely. He regretted when he saw her face contort in rage, dip her hand in the water and retrieve a soaking sponge. Before he could react, she threw it at his face, the sponge spattering foamy water into his eyes, he hissed at the stinging but managed to quickly duck down when a soap bar headed his way. Jack blinked repeatedly trying to alleviate the stinging sensation in his eyes to go away, and swiftly left before she could find other objects to throw.

--End of Flashback--

Jack chuckled at the memory; she was such a temperamental person. Will and Elizabeth had warned him about her personality 'issues', but they never warned him he would fall in love with her…including her 'issues'. The week after the incident of detaching himself from her, he had returned to her asking for another chance and asking for forgiveness. Of course, he didn't lavish her with flowers and bon-bons or fell to his knees and read poetry to her or sang a ballad to her. However, he offered his honesty, and explained to her how he had felt when he admitted he was in love with her. Rebecca, somewhat predictably, didn't take him in immediately, but after a few gifts (expensive ones); she gave him the second chance he desired.

Jack had conquered the fear of loving, and he was no longer afraid of it. He learned it wasn't such a bad feeling and decided he liked loving her, a lot. But a new fear had taken a hold of him, he was afraid of something dreadful happening to her. Jack knew he had many enemies, and he was one of the most wanted men in the world.

Jack acknowledged that enemies always used the best method of hurting their foes, so they targeted their greatest weakness. Jack's greatest weakness and his breaking point was to let something bad happen to Rebecca. If they found out about Jack's greatest treasure they wouldn't hesitate to break it, breaking it would break Jack. He knew it would be unbearably difficult to live without Rebecca, but he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he let something horrible happen to her.

If they hurt Rebecca, he would be suffering a thousand times worse than he was hurting himself now leaving her. It could be that he was a little selfish, not completely considering her feelings and decisions in this scenario, but he knew he just couldn't let anything happen to her. In the end, they were both suffering, but not as much as Jack would if he let her die a horrible and torturous death. He just wanted her to be safe, even if it meant giving her up.

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