At this point, I realized that Anamaria hadn't really shown up since Will arrived and tried to rectify the situation.
Still no mojo. Sorry, guys.
Anamaria was beginning to feel a little left out.
Ever since the Captain and her whelp had started to see eye-to-eye again, she'd been practically useless. Oh, she'd done her share of work. She ran the ship all by her onesies while the two of them were having their long romantical talks in the Captain's cabin. She was practically the Captain herself by now. Of course, the Pearl would always belong to Jack, but that didn't mean she couldn't find herself another ship to sail. She'd just about had it with all the drama.
Of course, that would mean leaving the Pearl, and she wasn't entirely sure she was ready for that yet. She still hadn't settled the bet with Elizabeth yet, for one thing.
Still, sitting in port and waiting for the supplies to be loaded and her amnesiac captain and his lover boy to return, she couldn't help but take a gander at the other masts nestled in the tiny bay. There were some damn fine ships out there, damn fine ships.
"ANAMARIA! What in the name of Calypso's frilly knickers are you doing ogling other vessels?! The Pearl will be jealous."
At first, she didn't know who it was. He walked like Captain Sparrow, talked like Captain Sparrow, smirked outrageously like Captain Sparrow. He looked a little plain for Captain Sparrow, but nothing that couldn't be remedied by a new hat and the heavy application of eyeliner. But Captain Sparrow wasn't Captain Sparrow anymore, he'd forgotten himself. So it couldn't possibly…
"CAPTAIN!! YER BACK!!" Marty's tiny frame almost knocked the grinning man over, latching onto his leg like a small child determined to prevent their parent from setting off into the sunset ever again. "Finally, no more monkey business!"
"MONKEY BUSINESS?! There has been monkey business upon my ship?! Blasphemy!" Jack pried the short pirate off his leg, attempting to scowl in mock anger and completely ruining the effect with the singularly brightest grin Anamaria had ever seen. "Mr. Gibbs, I expect an explanation!"
"'Pologies, Cap'n." Gibbs scurried over, obviously resisting the urge to hug the grinning man in favour of slapping him on the back hard enough to make him stumble all over again. "Tis good ta have ya back, Cap'n. The crew was worried, fer a while there."
"I'm flattered." Jack let himself look genuinely grateful, just for a moment, and then he was all business, storming across the deck to take his rightful place at the helm. "Alright, you dogs, let's get this ship shipshape, savvy?! Back to work, ya mangy curs!"
Anamaria just stood there, gaping at her captain as he proceeded to get the entire crew back under his dirt-stained thumb. She suddenly found Will standing beside her, watching him take command as easy as breathing with a strangely sad expression.
"It's amazing, isn't it? It's like nothing ever happened." He sighed, smiling with sorrowful eyes. "Just when I was starting to get used to the weird him, too."
"I… He…" Anamaria just shook her head, deciding just to accept the circumstances and move on from there. She had a feeling she didn't really want to know. "He's a strange man, ta be sure."
"Hm." Will pushed his hand through his hair, seeming somehow so much older than his twenty years. "Strange indeed. Oh, and Anamaria?"
She turned to him, suddenly disconcerted by the strange little smirk that had found its way to his lips.
"It wasn't anywhere near a week, and there weren't any candles involved, but it was still on shore, so I suppose you one the bet."
And then he walked away to join his captain, his friend, his lover, before she could think of an adequate way to respond.
Elizabeth was not pleased.