Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I own nothing related to Pirates of the Caribbean. That belongs to Jerry Bruckheimer, Disney, and a bunch of other people. Only original characters and plotlines are mine.

AN: I wanted to let everyone know that I will not be updating next week due to it being Thanksgiving week. I'll be on vacation and visiting family, so there won't be much (if any) time to write and post. I promise to post as soon as I can, but it could be up to two weeks before that happens, so please be patient. In the meantime, here's the next chapter to tide you over. I hope you enjoy it, and will review. Thanks!

Chapter 13: France:

She liked him, he could tell. Or at least, she thought him attractive enough for him to distract her during their lessons.

Grinning, Jack leaned back in his chair, his feet kicking aside his empty bowl so that it skittered to the other side of the large table and came to a stop, just before it hit the floor. He was getting rather tired of seafood at the present time, but his good mood put that negative feeling aside.

'Besides, we'll be in a port within the next week, give or take, so there's no need to lose all sense over food I've grown tired of.'

Right now, he would focus on what was far more appealing and important: Evie.

Her random clumsiness was charming, and if he was reading her correctly, that awkwardness was because of him, Captain Jack Sparrow. The question was: did she admire him as the legend, or the man?

Jack knew that word had spread about his skill with a blade, so it could be that Evie was a bit awed and intimidated by being taught by a legendary pirate. That might be enough to put her off her feet during their daily lessons, and cause her to blush whenever he tried to help her.

On the other hand, if it were his dashing good looks proving to be the distraction, then it might be a good idea to proceed with one or two of his plans.

'Well, either way I'll have to move forward, at least a little,' Jack thought to himself.

How fortunate that Europe had all sorts of "distractions" and sights to see? Venice sounded like a good place to pick up a few things, but that was for later. Right now, supplies were the most important things to get, and there were a few merchants who owed him a few favors, so that would save him the trouble of actually paying for something.

'We could raid a few ships, but it's not a good idea to poach in another pirate's territory…especially when I'm not on good terms with most of them.'

Jack winced at the thought. Most of the Pirate Lords that called Europe's waters 'home' weren't at the top of (or even on) Jack's list of friends, so he would have to be very careful about what he stole and who from. With any luck, they might spot a ship coming from Italy, or even further east than that.

His mind wandered towards his money pouch, which was feeling rather light at the moment. They hadn't raided many ships over the past few months because Jack wasn't ready to put the ladies' lives at risk during a battle. Raiding was important to their livelihoods, however, and so they'd been obliged to do so, but only on carefully chosen ships, and after he ordered the women locked away in one of the cabins below. He only let the women out on deck after the battle was won, and the stolen goods stored away.

However, they had done no raiding while in the open Atlantic, and gone out of their way to avoid battle, as they couldn't afford to have any seriously wounded sailor go too long without proper treatment. He might be a pirate, but Jack very much cared about the health and well-being of his crewmen.

"Not much choice about it now," he murmured, leaning back to stare at the ceiling. "We've gotta eat and pay for other necessities. A good raid on a fully-stocked vessel would be our best bet."

And since they were so close to European waters, there were bound to be at least a few ships to choose from. Hopefully none of the Pirate Lords in the area would find out, but if they did, they would probably be too busy with their feuds amongst themselves to notice much.

"They might even blame one another and not consider it's an outside party," Jack pondered, smiling.

Well, that did it. The next ship they encountered would be ripe for the picking.

"Sail ho!" cried a voice from above.

He grinned. Someone in the universe obviously loved him.

"I hate this," Anna complained to us, a sword clutched in one hand and a knife in another. "Trapped in here like rats is not how I like spending a battle!"

"I don't like taking you away from a fight either, Anna, but that's what Jack ordered," I huffed, gripping my own weapons tightly. There was a knife in each of my hands, and I was ready to use them on whoever came barging through the door uninvited.

Behind us huddled Penny, Selene, and Rosa. Well, Penny and Selene huddled –Rosa sat there looking angry at not being given a weapon. She'd loudly complained that she wanted to fight and protect her friends, but Jack wouldn't dream of arming an inexperienced woman. The only reason Ihad been allowed my knives was because Anna had spoken up for me, and declared me to be better trained than the other girls were.

Above were the sounds of swords, pistols, shouts and curses –thankfully, no cannons were firing, otherwise I would have panicked. As it was, I was worried for my friends up on deck, and scared at what might happen if things turned bad (as I always feared they would). Sitting on a stool, clutching desperately onto my knives, I took a deep breath and tried to stay calm, if only for Selene and Penny's sakes. Anna, however, was as steady and collected as any true pirate could be in this situation. Then again, she was able to defend herself without worry, unlike the rest of us.

And it was because of her battle skills that she was here with the rest of us females. Jack had felt that we would be more comfortable with Anna-Maria looking out for us, rather than an imposing man, and in a way, he was right. I know for certain that Penny and Selene were thrilled to have a familiar face watching out for their safety.

Gradually, the sounds of battle faded, and the sound of cheering replaced it. That would have been a relief if it weren't for the fact that we had no idea which side had won.

It was a while before we found out, possibly half an hour or so after the last of the shouting and fighting had died off. A special knock was sounded on the cabin door, the signal that one of the Pearl's men had come down to retrieve us. Breathing a sigh of relief, I watched Anna head over to the door and peek out, her pistol still ready to fire, just in case.

"Oh, it's you," she said, smiling as she relaxed her grip on her weapons.

Rannoch's head popped through the opening, a smile on his face. "Looks like we won, girls. Come see what we've managed to get from that fat merchant ship we pillaged, aye?"

We all filed up to the top deck, feeling the usual shift in the Pearl that meant we were continuing on our journey. When we reached the deck, the other ship was sailing off towards the Atlantic, heading either to America or the Caribbean. Most of the loot had been taken down below, where Mr. Gibbs, Rosa and Penny would tally what had been acquired, and all that was left was a single chest about the size of a small barrel.

"Ladies!" Jack exclaimed with a smile. "Come see what we've managed to bring aboard for you!"

He kicked open the lid with his boot and revealed the inside of the chest. The sight made me gasp.

Silver, gold, and jewels in an array of colors and sizes dazzled the eye, and not all of it was in the shape of elaborate jewelry. There were also inlaid boxes, goblets and jeweled mirrors glittering in the warm sunlight.

Deep inside, I wondered if I would be allowed to keep one trinket for myself. So far, Jack had only let me have the "usual pay" of a pirate, meaning a bare minimum of funds for my own spending. Thus, I was immediately suspicious. Why was he being so generous now when he hadn't been before? Had something changed?

"Go on, each of you pick one small trinket," Jack said. "You've all worked long and hard on the Pearl; it's only fair that you get something in return –well, besides the usual pay, of course. My men sometimes get a small bit of treasure, so why shouldn't you?"

Rosa didn't hesitate. She immediately made for the chest, and once she gave it a quick glance, reached out to snatch a lovely ruby ring. I smiled and gave her a knowing look; the fiery red gem suited her personality perfectly. She only rolled her eyes and slipped it on her finger.

Penny chose a necklace made of thin, tiny gold links with a small pendant dangling from it. Within the pendant was a stone the size of my thumbnail. It was very appropriate, as the stone matched the color of her blue-green eyes. Selene chose a necklace as well, with three small teardrop emeralds, which matched her eyes. Anna-Maria took a broad silver cuff, a plain thing with only a large white pearl set in it.

I was more difficult when it came to my choice. I had no idea which sort of precious metal or gemstone would suit me, and was at a loss as to choose. My parents had never been wealthy, and so my mother's only jewelry had been a silver locket my father had given her as a wedding gift. It currently lay around her neck, buried with her for all time.

Staring at the open chest, I felt panic rise up inside of me. I had no idea what to choose, but I had to pick something, and quickly, before Jack changed his mind. I didn't want anything that matched what the others had chosen, so that narrowed things down a bit. Perhaps there was something that would 'speak' to me in the mess of lovely things?

Kneeling before the chest, I began to carefully poke around. As strange as it sounded, I didn't want anything frivolous, but rather practical (in one way or another). If there were coins in here, I might take those, or maybe a prettily engraved silver goblet? I did so love silver!

I could feel eyes looking at me, so I glanced up and saw my friends staring at me. "I just want to find the right thing for me," I explained crossly. "And it's very rude to stare!"

Taking the hint, Rosa grabbed Penny and Selene and led them down to the cabins, all of them showing off their prizes to one another. Rannoch merely smiled indulgently as he trailed behind, a towering figure over the women before him.

I sighed in relief, then turned back towards the chest to continue my digging. I got about halfway through before Jack huffed and came up beside me.

"Honestly, why do women always take forever to pick jewelry?" he muttered, kneeling beside me. "Here, move aside and let someone who knows what he's doing shift through that."

Surprised, I scooted to the left a few inches and let Jack slip in on my right side. I couldn't help but be amused as he dug his way through the contents, muttering under his breath as he did so. Several minutes passed. Finally, Jack gave an "ah, ha" sound, and sat back, a triumphant look on his face.

"Here you are, my lady," Jack said teasingly as he bowed slightly, presenting his finding to me.

The sight made me gasp. It was a set of silver hair combs, clearly meant to draw the eye as a lady wore them for balls or special occasions. There were three combs, each engraved with beautiful waves trimmed with tiny blue stones, and running along the edges were two rows of pearls and gold. The effect was stunning.

"Oh, they're beautiful!" I breathed, accepting them from his hands.

He smiled. "Every woman deserves a proper set of combs. Why don't you join the other girls down below and show them off?"

Clutching them gently in my hands, I ran off, my mind whirling with the possibilities of what could be done with my hair.

Chuckling, Jack headed for his cabin, taking the small chest of valuables with him. As he began counting out the baubles and tallying their worth in his record book, his spirits grew lighter. There was quite a bit of expensive swag in this chest, no doubt because it was meant for the wealthy women of the Americas or Caribbean. Jack felt better knowing that some of it graced the beloved ladies of his crewmen, and Evie as well.

Once he finished calculating their worth and writing it down in his account book, Jack quickly deduced how much he could sell or trade it for, and what kind of extra coinage he could give his men as a reward. Some would no doubt want a trinket to give to a wench at the next port, but most would prefer real coin to spend on personal goods. That was always the hard part of being Captain: figuring out how much to distribute to his men.

His hard work done, Jack let his thoughts drift towards planning what they would be doing in Europe. There was so much to do, and given that they had were on no kind of schedule, plenty of time to do them. Evie would be given leave to find potential brides for the men, of course, but Jack wanted to have fun while they were sailing around the Atlantic and Mediterranean.

'And by fun, I mean pillaging a few ships, and visiting many port-cities.'

Europe was far more sophisticated when set against the Caribbean, and Jack missed the fine foods and drinks that could be found here. Not only that, but much of the most exquisite goods could only be made or bought here, and far cheaper than in the Caribbean. This could turn out to be a very profitable voyage, in more ways than one.

Taking up a bottle of rum, he leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. So much to plan, and so little time!

The first port we pulled into was a place in France, along the Mediterranean. I would have thought we'd make port perhaps in Portugal or Spain, but Jack apparently had his heart set on the Mediterranean for some reason, probably because it reminded him a little of the warm waters of the Caribbean.

I was thrilled when the gangplank went down onto the dock, and even more excited when Jack took several men into the town to sell or trade the goods we had…procured. Since none of us left onboard wanted to leave before he returned with more money to pay us, I helped do chores in the galley and sat down with Rosa, Penny and Cotton to scribble out a list of supplies that we needed.

By the time Jack returned, with a very satisfied smile on his face, it was evening. The men were impatient to get their wages and head to the taverns, and shifted on their feet as Jack handed out coins to each of them. As money dropped into their palms, Rannoch, Marty and Gibbs threw looks over at their ladies, who stood with me and Anna on the side of the ship.

When he finished paying the men, Jack came over and handed each of us females a small pouch. "Fair is fair," he said. "You've all done useful work here aboard the Pearl, so here's your share. Now, go and amuse yourselves. We leave in two days, so you haven't much time to walk around and shop to your heart's content!"

The girls smiled and went to join their suitors while Anna looked over at me. "Supper?" she suggested. "French food is said to be some of the finest in the world, and it should be no trouble finding a decent place to eat."

Thus, as usual, my friend and I headed into town, where we eventually found a suitable place to have a meal. There was roast beef served with a red wine sauce, mushrooms cooked in white wine and garlic, and sliced vegetables, all of which were positively divine. To drink, there was more wine, which I decided against. When in a strange port, one should always have sound wits.

"Well," Anna said, leaning back in her chair. "There's not much going on this late at night. Shall we try and find the Captain and his men, just to see what they're up to?"

I saw no reason why not. We pushed away from the table and headed out the door, our ears open for familiar voices. It didn't take long to find the tavern we were looking for, a run-down place close to the dock, and thus, close to the Pearl.

'So the drunk men don't have far to go to get back to the ship,' I thought, smothering a chuckle.

We could hear them singing a song I had heard before while at sea, which made me smile. The song slowly drew to an end, and was immediately followed by cheers and laughter. Mixed in with that laughter was the sound of female voices, and I knew what was going on in there.

"Maybe we shouldn't go in," I said, halting mid-step.

Anna rolled her eyes and peeked inside. "You're right. The Captain looks mighty comfortable in there, especially with that wench in his lap, so it's probably best that we not spoil his fun. Let's go."

For some reason, my heart stopped. Jack was in there with a woman on his lap? So what he'd told me months ago was a lie: he had been enjoying the company of women! How dare he claim otherwise, and right to my face, too!

'Well, given that he's a pirate with a reputation as a womanizer, am I even surprised?' I wondered.

No, not really. But for some reason, it still hurt.

"Let's get back to the ship," I said. "I need to rest up for tomorrow."

Anna looked at me in confusion. "What happens tomorrow?"

I managed a smile. "Shopping," I answered.

It had been a long voyage, and as any sailor would, Jack headed with his crew to the nearest tavern, which like any decent tavern, had an array of serving wenches that were more than happy to offer their 'services.'

And since this was France, the women were very promiscuous, and all of them knew how to keep a man occupied from the moment he sat down. This included Jack, and though part of him wanted to resist, habit and several months at sea made him act otherwise.

Once he was relatively comfortable in a chair, a woman immediately took a seat next to him, her hands bearing two mugs of rum, one for him and the other for her. She began asking for stories about his adventures and life at sea, which drew him in. Talking led to more drinking (to wet his throat, of course), and before he knew it, Jack had her firmly seated in his lap with his arm draped around her waist.

He didn't know how much time passed, but when he looked up, there was Anna-Maria at the open doorway, a knowing look on her face when she saw his situation. Staring back at her, Jack knew that he was supposed to remember something, but he couldn't. He saw his second mate look off to the side and say something to a person out of his sight, but ignored it. The wench was stroking his neck, and he rather liked it.

It wasn't until hours later, when he was back in his cabin, slightly drunk but alone, that it really hit him.

'Anna went to supper with Evie,' part of his mind whispered. 'Therefore, Evie must have been with her.'

His heart froze. Evie knew what had happened last night. Bloody hell! Well, once he was sober enough to do something, he would. Right now, however, he had to get some sleep. Answers would come in the morning.

AN: Review?