Elsa had spent the majority of that night alternating between restless sleep and soft sobbing. At some point she had woken up with a pillow beneath her head and a thick blanket over her small, shivering form. When she had first found them, she practically threw a tantrum; crying and yelling at no one how she didn't need charity or pity until her throat was sore and throbbing. She had then proceeded to throw the pillow to the floor, causing quite a puff of dust to fly into the air and send her into a small sneezing fit. Finally, she had stuffed the blanket through the bars of her cell so that it lay in a crumpled heap in the hall. Once she had cried herself out, she had fallen asleep once more, only to wake the next morning with a new, clean pillow beneath her head and a new blanket, comfortably tucked around her.

As her eyes cracked open, still a bit red and puffy from her earlier sobbing, she took in the blanket and pillow and couldn't help but wonder if it was her sister or Jack who had put them there. Either way, she really didn't want to keep them. She wanted to throw them to the ground again. Or rip them to shreds. She wanted to be in her own bed again. Unfortunately, that wasn't going to be possible any time soon. So, with a sigh of reluctance, she snuggled more against the pillow and pulled the blanket up a bit before closing her eyes again. It was probably the most comfort she'd see in a while. She could pretend she hated it later. For now she just wanted to keep dreaming. Never had she woken up feeling so exhausted.

"You're welcome."

At the sound of his voice, an irritated sigh left her lips.

"Go away." She groaned, pulling the blanket over her head.

"Good morning to you as well, Princess." Said Jack with a grin. She pulled the blanket down, only enough to uncover her eyes and glared at him.

"Watching me sleep? I knew you were vile, but that's just creepy." She said, despite keeping the blanket wrapped around herself.

"Actually, I came down here so I could snuggle up beside you but I'm starting to think a snapping turtle might make a better companion."

"What do you want, pirate?" she asked, finally sitting up and leaning back against the wall.

"Never any fun with you, hm?"

She rolled her eyes. He smirked.

"Well if you're so curious, I came down to see if you were awake; thought you might be getting hungry by now." He said in a rather calm voice, motioning downwards with his head. She glanced down and noticed for the first time a tray sitting in front of him. On the tray was a plate stacked with a few pieces of bread, a bit of fruit, some meat that looked like cooked fish and a cup of soup—rather generous, especially for a pirate. The tray sat just in front of the bars where there was a small, rectangular gap—which she assumed was for exactly this purposed; safely giving food to inmates. She looked from the tray back to him, raising a brow in suspicion.

A moment later Elsa opened her mouth to tell him she didn't want it but was promptly cut off when- seemingly on cue, her stomach growled. At his grin, she shut her mouth and looked away.

"I'm not going to ask much- I simply want you to say please." He informed her, watching with a smile; his blue eyes glittered with amusement as he waited for her response. It was obvious she was having conflicting emotions at his request. She was hungry, yes. That much was certainly obvious. But now her pride was being compromised. Finally, her quiet reply came:

"I'm not hungry." She said.

His brow furrowed a bit in confusion. He had expected there to be more malice… more venom in her answer. What he heard was flat and nearly devoid of emotion.

"Somehow, I find that hard to believe, Princess." He said cautiously. Upsetting her certainly wasn't his goal. Getting under her skin, perchance, a bit of banter and bickering. But always in good fun.

"If you refuse to eat on your own, perhaps I should come in there and feed you myself?" He offered, attempting to lighten the mood.

Her body immediately tensed at the idea of him coming any closer to her. She was already as far from him as possible; sitting in the back corner of her bed, leaning against the wall. The last thing she wanted was for him to come closer.

"Try it and I'll bite your fingers off."

Jack grinned.

"Well at least then you'd be getting some protein." He said with a chuckle. When she said nothing, his laughter died. "You really need to lighten up princess,"

"Excuse me for not seeing the humor in the situation." Elsa snapped suddenly, glaring at him.

Jack watched as she looked away again, glaring at the wall. Sighing exasperatedly, he ran a hand through his hair and down his neck.

"Look. You need to eat something. You'll starve—"

"So?" She looked at him once more. Her gaze was intended to be a glare but, despite her efforts, showed the slightest vulnerability. "Why do you even care if I eat or not—"

"I don't," He said matter-of-factly. After crossing his arms and leaning against the wall, he continued; "I do, however, care about my crew."

Her glare softened and she looked towards the ground again. A name formed on her lips, barely audible:

"Anna".

A soft sigh left the princess' lips and her eyes closed.

"I don't want it."

"I see." He replied disappointedly. For a moment he watched her, his lips pressed into a thin line while she simply stared at the floor. What on earth was this girl's deal? Not only did she have an astounding amount of pride, but she was stubborn as all hell. But it couldn't be that she was a princess. Anna was a princess too, after all, and she'd been nothing but pleasant since the previous night. So why was this one being so difficult?

Well, he decided. If she insisted on acting as though she didn't need charity, he wouldn't give her any.

"Alright, then," he said, expelling another sigh. "I'm nothing if not agreeable. So I won't bother offering again. When you need to eat—and you will need to eat—you can ask for it. Swallow your pride, or starve; your choice. I just hope you're not selfish enough to put your sister through the latter."

As he turned and walked away with the tray of food, Elsa launched her pillow at him and watched as it rattled the bars of her cell before falling to the ground.

It wasn't long after Jack had left that Elsa heard light footsteps in the hall again. She doubted he had returned to beg that she eat something, so there was only one other person it could be.

"Elsa?"

Elsa's eyes opened and she looked towards the bars of her prison, only to see Anna appear a moment later. Upon seeing her sister for the first time since the previous night, Anna's cautious gaze turned to one Elsa had never seen before, but had imagined many times. It was the same look Elsa had thought that came over Anna's eyes whenever she refused to open the door. Unable to bear the sight of her sister looking so miserable, Elsa turned her face away and stared at the wall.

"Elsa…" Anna repeated. "I-I'm so sorry…"

"Don't be," said Elsa. "It's not your fault they took me. I don't blame you for it."

A moment of uncomfortable silence passed between them before either spoke again. Typically, Elsa didn't mind silence. She had come to find it… comforting in the past year or so. But this was unlike any silence she had ever experienced. It was a stillness that carried throughout the entire hall of cells, and Elsa could feel it radiating through her own mind and body as well. It was an ear-splitting quiet that drew attention to every breath, every action. And neither knew how to quite how to ale it. How did one speak to a sister they felt had betrayed them? How did one converse with a sibling that had been shutting them out for years?

"He told me that you aren't eating."

Anna's words seemed deafening in the still atmosphere though, in reality, they were just more than a whisper. Elsa didn't look at her.

"And?"

"And I'm worried."

Elsa looked at her sister for a moment- long enough to take in her pleading expression and desperate blue eyes.

"I can't…"

"Yes you can, Elsa." Anna's voice was suddenly more stubborn, more forceful. "You need to eat. I won't let you starve yourself!"

"It's not your choice Anna!" Elsa suddenly snapped back. "They're pirates. Thieves. I won't take their charity when it's not theirs to give in the first place."

A sound of pure frustration came from Anna.

"You are so- so- unbelievably infuriating!" Anna shouted. "If you would just give them a chance you would see-"

"I'd see what?" Elsa suddenly looked at her sister; her eyes stern. "They're pirates."

"They're people." Anna's tone matched Elsa's as they stared each other down.

"Hardly." Elsa retorted. "They aren't like us Anna. They don't-"

"So!? They might be different but that doesn't make them bad!" Anna shouted back.

"They're criminals." Elsa's tone remained quiet, but her voice shook with effort. "They can't- they aren't…" As Elsa struggled to articulate something that might make Anna understand, her sister's frustration only grew.

"Aren't what?" the younger girl asked. "Aren't like us? Aren't worth your time?" Elsa could hear the irritation growing in Anna's voice. "Are they not suitable enough to be in the presence of the Great Princess Elsa? In fact, is anyone worthy enough for you? Because-"

Elsa shook her head and rose to her feet. Where was this even coming from?

"They aren't good Anna! They're pirates, street rats that do nothing but steal and hurt people! How are you so delusional? They stole from our ship! They abducted us!"

"Abducted you," Anna reminded her, glaring at her older sister.

"That's beside the point!" Elsa shouted back at her, hands clenching into fists at her sides.

Oh no.

"They're dangerous!"

Another fight.

"They'll just get you into trouble, Anna!"

Another door being closed.

"They'll walk all over you and use you!"

Another wall between them.

"You'll only end up hurt! Can't you see that!?"

Anna stared at her sister, whose expression had gone from anger and frustration to pleading and desperation. After a moment of silence, her eyes moved to the floor.

"You don't know that."

The response was quiet, but stubborn.

"I do, Anna." said Elsa, looking at her sister who now refused to return her gaze.

"I'm leaving." Anna said quietly. "That's what you want anyways; to be alone. It's all you ever want these days. I'll stop annoying you."

Before Elsa could form her sister's name, Anna turned and hurried down the hall and out of Elsa's sight.

The last thing she heard was the light pattern of Anna's footsteps and a soft sniffle that indicated she was going to cry. Moments later the door at the end of the hall slammed shut, plunging Elsa into darkness.

With a long sigh, Elsa let herself plop down onto her bed again. Slowly, she pulled her knees to her chest and rested her forehead on them as tears stung her own eyes.

After only a few more moments had passed, small, fast footsteps could be heard above. The door opened once more, about half way, letting in a bit of light, but Anna didn't return.

"Now I'm only picking up bits and pieces here,"

Elsa's eyes opened to see Jack standing before her cell once more. Most of the day had passed and, though she was starving, she still refused to ask for any sort of food or water. As he had promised, Jack hadn't offered it again since that morning. He had, in fact, come to visit her for entirely different reasons, it seemed.

"But it seems to me that there's a bit of… tension between the two of you." He commented, his hands gesturing a bit as he spoke.

"And?" the princess returned harshly. After her fight with Anna she was hardly in the mood to tolerate him.

"Oh, I was merely making an observation." He shrugged. "The two of you are quite interesting— especially you."

A smirk curled on his lips when her glare intensified and he stepped closer to the bars that separated them, peering in at her as if she were some puzzle he could solve or game he could win. It was enough to send a shiver through her body that she struggled to suppress. Of course, he noticed it and only grinned wider.

"I'm serious." He assured her. "You're… different."

Elsa flinched at the word.

"I haven't had anyone on this ship quite like you before. Finding people like Anna—that's easy. Most kids seem to crave some sort of adventure, but not you."

"I guess I'm just a natural-born killjoy." She said, flashing him an obviously fake smile.

"No- well, maybe, but I just meant that you're… guarded, more so than most people. What I want to know is why?" He took another small, tentative step forward and gazed at her. "What exactly are you hiding, Princess?"

Her eyes met his for the briefest moment, but long enough for him to discover that he was right; that she was indeed hiding something. Not a second later, her eyes moved to the floor.

"Nothing." She answered, finally, after just too much silence. "I'm not hiding anything." Her voice was completely unconvincing, but she was simply focused on avoiding his eyes which were relentlessly searching to capture hers once more. After moments of silence, he seemed to give up his quest, taking a step back.

"Of course," His reply was almost as quiet as her own, but carried a tone that said he didn't believe her in the slightest. "Well, if you've got nothing to hide, surely you wouldn't mind some company."

His playful attitude returning once more, he sat down and rested his elbows on his knees, leaning forward a bit.

"I don't have to be keeping secrets to despise your presence." She replied, glaring down at him.

"Well that's a shame; seeing as I'm rather comfortable now. I think I'll stay a while longer." He said, his grin persisting.

Elsa gave him a look of absolute loathing as he moved back to lean against the wall opposite the bars that confined her.

"Fine, do whatever you want." said Elsa, her eyes moving to the wall once more. Silence passed between them and Elsa thought to herself how it was strange that what she had once appreciated so much was quickly becoming something she disliked. Perhaps it was because, before, she could end the silence whenever she wanted. She could control it. But here, it held power over her. He held power over her. And the worst part was that he knew it.

Jack watched her intently, the corners of his lips curled up just slightly in what seemed to be a natural smirk that never left his face.

"Oh I will, don't worry." He assured her, leaning his head back against the wall but never removing his eyes from her face. Something of an odd determination had stirred inside him. A determination to break down her walls, to get to know her, perhaps even befriend her; if she would allow it.

Why? He wasn't quite sure. Probably because she was the most entertaining, yet mysterious person he'd come across in a long time. She was so prideful and stubborn and guarded—but what could a princess of a fairly small kingdom have to hide? He wanted to know, and he intended to find out one way or another.

A/N: Alright so this is the new and improved chapter 2. It's a lot shorter than the first but that's because its a lot of dialogue. Hopefully you guys like it. I'll try to have chapter three up before Friday! uvu