Jack frowned at the ceiling of his room as he lay on his bed. It had been about three days now that Anna and Elsa had been on his ship. While Anna had been nothing but fun to have along; the elder of the sisters remained frigid and distant. He had spent an entire night down in the hold with her; sitting there, occasionally asking a question or two, or attempting a conversation. All he had managed was to confirm that Elsa was just as stubborn as him. She had said only two words the entire night; "Go away". On top of that she still refused to ask for any sort of food or water and he could tell it was taking its toll on her. He noticed that the nightgown she insisted on keeping –it was apparently extremely unladylike to wear pants; though Anna didn't seem to mind—was a bit larger on her than it had been when they arrived. In addition to that, though, she spent most of the days and nights sleeping; likely trying to compensate for the energy she was lacking without the food. It was utterly annoying—mainly because it was beginning to make Jack worry. He was many things, but he was not cruel. He would not starve her to death or even to illness. If he did, her little sister would surely have his head; for all the fighting they did, they seemed to really care about each other. And suddenly a dull ache began to form in Jack's stomach, as he thought of his own sister.
Shaking his head gently, as if he could shake away the memories, he returned his thoughts to Elsa; which really wasn't that hard. Over the past three days, many of his thoughts had begun to revolve around her in some way or another.
Jack decided—albeit very reluctantly—to give her one more day without food before caving and making her eat. He just hoped she wouldn't make him beg. If she wanted begging, she'd have to talk to Anna; Jack was far too proud for that.
Speaking of the younger girl; Anna had really found her place among the crew over the past few days. In fact, they all seemed to be getting along with her quite nicely. She had even taken up fighting and sword lessons from Kristoff. He admired the girl for her excitement. Her eyes seemed to only see the wonder in everything—which reminded him a great deal of an old friend of his.
Turning his head, Jack looked to the window. The sun was beginning to set on the horizon, casting an orange glow over the sea as well as pink and yellow hues across the clouds. As he sat up and watched the waves roll into one another, his thoughts returning to the blonde once more. In addition to her stubbornness, she was utterly vexing—a pain really. She wouldn't eat, would speak to him, slept all day and only ever upset her sister. Jack supposed she had plenty to be angry with him for, but it's not like he had been the one that grabbed her. And he had been rather generous and kind to her since they met—more so than he usually was. So why put up with her? He couldn't simply dump her overboard, of course; Anna would surely be not only distressed but outraged if he did so. Something told Jack that throwing her sister into the ocean was a bad way to start a friendship with the girl. However—even if he couldn't throw her overboard—what was stopping him from assigning someone else to take care of Elsa? Surely Anna would do it but he could always assign Peter or Jamie or anyone else to do it too. He could even drop Elsa at the next port with a bit of money and let her find her own way home—seeing as he was probably wanted for her abduction in her home country now anyways. If he did that, though, she'd likely insist on taking Anna with her and—despite that they obviously disagreed on some things—he was sure Anna would go without too much of a fight. He would hate to see the younger girl's first real adventure stolen away from her.
Jack sighed. No, he couldn't just let her go, for Anna's sake, of course. But he could task someone else to take care of her. So why was he incredibly reluctant to do so? He assumed it was for the same reasons he had told everyone to stay away from her in the first place; greed, along with his massive ego. Jack wouldn't deny that he was possessive. He was a pirate after all; it was practically hardwired into his brain. Where he had seen Anna as a new friend and member of the crew, Jack thought of her older sister much differently. She was undoubtedly beautiful, and being a princess she could fetch a high price for ransom or on the black market. But Jack had no intention of selling her. He simply wanted to keep her. As much as she confused and irritated him, she also interested him. It was no secret to him that she was hiding something—be it from just him or from the entire world. Despite his best attempts, she seemed determined to keep him out of her life and distance him in any way possible; which only caused his desire to be near her to grow. He had made no progress in discovering what this secret of Elsa's was, but his determination had not died just yet. Perhaps Anna would be able to enlighten him on that front, seeing as she had been nothing but cooperative since. It couldn't hurt to try, right?
"Sorry, I can't help you." Anna said, matter-of-factly. Jack had managed to find the younger girl in the kitchen getting a glass of water before she went to bed. He wasn't one to really beat around the bush and had practically outright asked her why Elsa seemed so secretive, to which Anna had given her rather unsatisfactory answer. Jack frowned, leaning against the wall of the empty kitchen with his arms crossed.
"What? Why? Is this some sort of family secret or something that I'm not allowed to know? You're aware I have ways of making people talk…" He raised an eyebrow at her, trying his best to look intimidating. Given the giggle that followed, he assumed he had failed and sighed.
"I'm sorry, it's just funny." Anna said, trying not to be rude. "I know you won't hurt me or Elsa, not intentionally at least." She said with a soft smile. Jack couldn't help but smile a bit in return, running his hand through his hair and to the back of his neck.
"Yeah, you're probably right." He conceded, stuffing his hand back into his pocket as his eyes moved to the floor. Though Jack loved a good fight, he typically wouldn't start one unless he was provoked. He had no reason to hurt her or her sister. He was curious, yes, but not desperate.
"I really can't help you though, but not because I don't want to." Anna continued, getting back to their original topic. "Elsa's always been guarded like that. I'm not really sure why. We were really close as children but at some point she just started shutting me out." Anna looked down at the cup of water, as if it held the answers that she or Jack was looking for. "She sort of shuts everyone out. I've talked to my parents about it too but they insist nothing's wrong with her. If I had to guess, I'd say it's because something is wrong, and she just doesn't want it getting out. She is supposed to be queen one day, after all. If the people of Arendelle knew something was wrong with their queen, they probably wouldn't be happy about it even though it's not her fault. It's no one's fault, really. Arendelle deserves a capable queen, but it's not Elsa's fault if she can't live up to that. Even though I really believe that she can." Her somber expression faded a bit at those last words and she looked up at Jack.
The captain, on the other hand, wore a slightly puzzled as well as shocked expression. After her short speech, it became obvious to Jack just how much time Anna had probably spent thinking and worrying about her sister. He was almost impressed. Jack had taken Anna to be kind, fun, silly- a lot like himself, but he hadn't really expected her to be much of a thinker. He felt as if he should apologize but her friendly smile and a shrug of her shoulders told him it wasn't necessary.
"Anyways, I hope that helps at least a little bit. I'm going to head off to bed. Good ni-"
The young princess' words cut off when Jack suddenly took ahold of her forearm.
"Wait, there's something else." He said, his eyes avoiding hers.
Anna raised her brows expectantly.
"How… how can I get her to talk to me?" a bit of pink stained the pale boy's cheeks, causing the girl to laugh a bit. "I'm being serious!" He insisted, releasing her arm and crossing his own. He looked downright childish when he pouted, Anna noticed, finding even more humor in the situation.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," She said, raising her hands as her laughter died down. "Like I said, she's been shutting me out for years. I've got no clue how you'd be able to get close to her. It might help if you were a little less mean to her though." At her words, Jack looked mildly offended.
"I may have been a bit harsh putting her in a cell and all but I've been nothing but kind since." He insisted.
"Well, maybe, but in her eyes you guys are pirates. You're villains to her. If you can find a way to show her that you're not, she might be a little less cold to you. I'd start with letting her out of the cell, if not permanently then at least once in a while. Or maybe give her something she won't see as charity but as a peace offering? I'm pretty sure she likes chocolate." She offered, finding it a bit amusing how focused Jack had suddenly become on her words. He looked as though he was committing them to memory. "That's all I got." She finished. "Do you need anything else?"
Jack shook his head at her question, still looking as though he was thinking about some difficult conundrum.
"No," he answered absently. "Good night."
Anna rolled her eyes, a knowing smile on her lips as she turned to leave kitchen.
"Good night Jack." She replied before walking out.
The young captain spent the majority of the next day in his personal quarters, only emerging once or twice for something to eat before once again hiding away. He could tell his crew was a bit suspicious or even worried about his recent behavior. He usually spent the days mulling around the ship, distracting them from their chores to play childish games with him. However, he had spent many of the days since Anna and Elsa had arrived either in his room or in the prison hold with the older princess. Today was different, though.
Today, he had a plan.
Land had been spotted the previous day and, while he hadn't originally intended to stop just yet, he had ordered they pull in to the nearest port. The ship was just off the coast of Germany now, and the captain had a few errands to run.
It was a bit after noon when they finally pulled into the docks of a free trade zone. Eager to start, Jack emerged to find a rather entertaining sight. Kristoff currently had his arms wrapped around Anna, attempting to hold her back from running off of the ship. Anna, on the other hand, was trying her hardest to break free of his grasp. Jack couldn't really blame her. She'd been on his ship for over a week now and who knew how long she and her sister had been sailing before then? She definitely had reason to be excited to see land again. But she definitely couldn't go.
"Let go of me!" the princess was shouting, her arms and legs flailing while the large boy attempted not to get elbowed in the face. "I swear I'll be good! I won't run off, I'll be back before sunset I swear!"
Jack couldn't help a chuckle as he approached the two. Kristoff at least looked relieved to get some help.
"Jack!" Anna perked up a bit, obviously expecting to have an advantage. "Would you tell him to let me go? Everyone else is going! it's not fair that I have to stay!" As the princess finished, she threw a glared over her shoulder, receiving an exaggerated roll of the eyes in response.
"I'm sorry Anna, but Kristoff's right." Jack replied. The ginger's head whipped back to face Jack with a look of shock. She had been certain he would encourage her sense of adventure.
"It's not safe for you here." The captain continued. "We're in a free trade zone right now. It's basically a safe haven for pirates to trade and sell goods without having to worry about being arrested for past crimes. The law ignores us so long as we keep quiet because it boosts their economy. That said, there are basically no rules here. Anything goes. People get mugged and kidnapped all the time and no one does anything about it. And women and children are the most likely to be targeted. If I let you go, especially without some form of protection you'll surely get hurt or taken and there's no guarantee we'd be able to save you. If you stay here, you'll be safe. Pirates hardly ever raid other ships here."
"But I can defend myself!" argued the girl. "I've been taking lessons from Kristoff and everything!"
"But it's only been four or five days, Anna." Jack replied, his tone unrelenting. "Some of the men here are skilled in fighting and swordplay; your small amount of training would be hardly anything compared to them." Suddenly, a confident grin spread across his features as he placed his hand on his hips. "Besides, I have a far more important task for you."
The princess had opened her mouth refute his argument once more, but shut it just as quickly. A blink. Her eyes shifted down and her posture relaxed a bit in an attempt to look aloof, barely interested.
"Oh, really?" she asked, causing the captain to chuckle once more.
"Of course. I'm going into town for most of the day with Doc and Peter, so I need someone fearless and responsible to watch the ship while I'm gone. I was hoping you'd do that for me? You can even order Kristoff around for the afternoon if you'd like."
The boy's grin only widened at Kristoff's appalled expression. As he was about to argue with the captain, the girl between them spoke up.
"Yeah, alright." She replied, still attempting her aloof façade, though a smile had caused the corners of her lips to perk up a bit. With a more Anna-like giggle, she gave Jack a quick hug and wished him a good day before running off. When she realized Kristoff hadn't followed, she called out for him.
"I hate you." The blond muttered to the captain before trudging off after the chipper girl.
Jack's grin didn't fade as he watched the two of them head off. Despite Kristoff's attitude, Jack knew he liked Anna. They had found an odd but endearing dynamic after their first night which mainly consisted of them making fun of and bossing each other around. But it also included small smiles and laughs, greetings of the eyes that could only occur between close friends. The bond they had in less than a week was incredible. Jack was almost envious –almost. Though they had been quiet and mostly short-lived, Jack had enjoyed most of his encounters with the elder princess. Simply being in her presence was enough to content him for the time being. His longing to know more about her, though, was quickly growing. He wasn't sure how many more times he could just sit there with her in silence before going mad. It was a wonder that she herself hadn't gone mad yet. Still, he wouldn't trade away the time he had spent with her.
With thoughts of blonde locks and azure eyes fresh in his mind, and a certain determination, the captain turned and headed for the docks.
A/N: Alright so that's it for chapter 3. It's shorter and less eventful than I'd hoped but things will be picking up soon. This is about where the story is going to begin to differ from the last one and you'll see how soon.
On a different note, I am sorry that this took so long. It's partially because I got busy and partially because I lost my inspiration. However I've gotten several messages from people asking and pestering me about updating since I posted the last chapter and, honestly, some of them were quite obnoxious. While I love this story, I have a life outside of it. I do not dedicate all of my time to updating on a weekly, bi-weekly or monthly basis because with what's going on in my life that's just not practical. It's not like anything horrible is happening to me, I'm just busySo I'd really appreciate if those of you who've complained to me would be more understanding. I'm in no way accusing all of you of doing this. It's really a select few. But please, if you're going to message me, be polite about it? Because when I get messages telling me to update, it makes me put it off that much longer. Honestly, the best way to get me to update more often is to simply tell me you like my story. That is what gets me motivated to keep writing; knowing that I'm making someone else's day brighter is great. So just, please, stop asking when I'm going to update or if I'm going to update or telling me I need to update. Express your appreciation in a different way. It takes the stress off me and will get me to update faster. I swear I will never just abandon my stories, okay? If I'm going to go on hiatus or stop writing one I will always tell you guys. So you don't have to ask if/when I will update because your answer will always be eventually. I will get to it when I can and when I have the inspiration to do so.
Alright, I think that's all I really have to say there. Sorry if it was mean? I do love you guys and I'm so thankful that you guys like my story and writing, just please, for my own sanity, don't be so ... aggressive, I guess? It just freaks me out, I'm sorry ;;
Anyways, The next chapter will hopefully be out within the next few weeks. See ya then!