Last chapter! Please enjoy =)

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Chapter 13

A watery sun shied between the clouds as the Black Pearl maneuvered into the docks of London. The noise of the port got louder and louder the closer she came. Pocahontas stood on the railing, nearly pitching herself overboard trying to get a closer look. So many busy people in such a big village! Look how tall their buildings were! Not a tree to be seen, not a blade of grass. How strange!

As the Pearl neared the city, Pocahontas began to scan the crowd for signs of John Smith. Unfortunately, many of the Londoners sported blonde hair like his. Her heart fell, but not much. She had no doubt whatsoever that she would find him. She had left home with the goal of finding him in her heart, and she still carried that goal with her now.

Well… sort of. Of course she wasn't going to abandon her search now that she was here. But Pocahontas had found an unexpected love in Jack. Her heart leaped remembering their kiss. Yes, Jack would be hard to let go of, but instinctively she knew saying goodbye to John Smith would be impossible.

…

Jack stood at his usual place – the Pearls' wheel – and kept sneaking glances at Pocahontas while trying to steer his ship safely into port. She was leaning over the rail, eyes roaming up and down the docks, obviously looking for her John Smith. He wondered if she would find him. He had no word that she was coming, she had no clue if he was even alive. Somehow, Jack had a feeling she would. She had a way of never giving up, that Pocahontas.

His heart twisted at the thought of her leaving him. She had filled something inside him that he wasn't even aware was missing. Her innocence and practicality balanced out his roguishness. Her easy way of loving charmed him. Yet…

If you love someone enough, you've got to set them free.

…

If the gangplank made a sound at it hit the dock, it was instantly drowned out in the noise of London. Pocahontas stepped down gingerly, not quite used to solid ground after months at sea. The wood was cool and damp beneath her bare feet. She threaded her way through the crowd, guided by a force she could feel but not see. It was quite like that time, ages ago it seemed, that Jack had first lent her his compass. She pushed back thoughts of Jack and pressed on.

A moment later, she stopped dead. A shift in the swarm of citizens had revealed what looked to be a familiar profile. Could it be…? The young woman took another step forward, and another. Yes, she had seen that face before. She had loved it. Her heart stopped at the past tense. No, no, she scolded herself, you still love it – you still love him! But a smaller part of her wasn't so sure anymore.

In that moment, John Smith turned and laid his eyes on her. The blue grew and grew with shock. For a moment, they stood rooted to the dock, London bustling around them as they tried to make sure they weren't dreaming. Slowly, they moved towards each other, connected by their gaze. They stopped mere feet from each other.

"Pocahontas." Johns' voice was hoarse, quiet, exactly the way she remembered.

"Yes, John." She smiled a little. "It's me."

His face softened in response. The tender look in his eyes made her knees weak yet sent her heart writhing. He closed the distance between them in one step and swept her up in an embrace. She pressed her palms against his chest, touching him but not quite returning the hug. His hands stroked the hair on the top of her head, her lower back, while his lips murmured her name over and over.

Pocahontas couldn't stand her heart being torn in two anymore. She looked up to tell him she was sorry, but he smothered the things she had to say with a kiss. Despite herself, she returned it. Yes, she loved John Smith in the enduring way of first loves, but she had been wrong. Her path had looped in on itself, and led her to Jack, but she hadn't been able to see the bend.

…

Jack turned away. It was apparent from the way she was kissing him who her choice was. The pirate gruffly wiped at his eyes as he made his way blindly back to the Pearl, trying to stop the tears before they started.

…

"John," she began when they broke apart.

"Pocahontas," he interrupted. "I can't believe you're here."

"I needed to know you were alive." She explained. "I had no word… I thought you were dead." Tears welled up in her eyes and her fists clenched against his chest remembering that pain, thinking of the pain she was about to inflict on him.

"You didn't get my letter?" He asked, startled.

"What letter?" She demanded, just as equally distressed.

"Why, I sent you a letter back in autumn. I'm fully healed! I wrote that I was put in charge of regulating the ships from here to the New World, and that I wouldn't be able to come back. But now that you're here…" His voice trailed off, but his face brightened.

"It must have come right after we left." Pocahontas said in an undertone, mostly to herself.

"We? How did you get here, anyway?" John inquired.

"On the Black Pearl." Pocahontas turned out of his arms to point at the black sails.

John was struck dumb. "A pirate ship?"

"They may be pirates, but they are some of the kindest and most honorable men I've met." Pocahontas didn't mean for her voice to sound so cold as she turned back to him.

John held up his hands in a gesture of peace, "I meant no offense, Pocahontas. If you say they are, then they must be." He grinned at her, obviously still delighted she had found her way back to him.

Pocahontas returned his smile with a small one of her own. She turned back to the Pearl and saw Jack walking up the gangplank. A stab of fear went through her chest. There was only one reason she could think of why his shoulders would be slumped like that. Oh no…

She tried to take a step towards the ship but John grabbed her wrist. "Come on, I want to show you around London. I can show you where I live now, and the office where I work."

"John," urgency stained her voice, "I'm sorry, but I can't."

"Why not? You just got here!"

"John." Her voice became very quiet. She wanted to look anywhere but those eyes, but she held her gaze. "I love you, but I can't stay here."

"Why? I know the city takes a while to get used to, but we could go out to the country for a while…"

Hair black as night whipped through the air as she shook her head. "No, that's not it… John, I left home to find you. And I have. But now that I'm here, I feel like you should be someone else." His eyes hardened, his hand tightened a little on her wrist. It didn't hurt exactly, but Pocahontas started to feel trapped. "I still love you, John," she went on, almost pleading with him, "I'll always love you, you were the first man I ever loved. But you have a life here that I'm not sure I can share with you."

Johns' lips were pressed into a tight line, his blue eyes solid as sapphires. For an awful moment he said nothing. Then his eyes closed, his head ducked. When he looked up, his eyes were sad, but the steel had gone out of them. He altered his hold on her wrist so that they were holding hands and stroked her cheek. "You never could sit still; you're as beautiful and capricious as the wind." He kissed her forehead. "I understand."

Pocahontas understood as well – he loved her enough to let her go. She smiled at him a final time and kissed his cheek. "Thank you, John. Goodbye."

"Goodbye, my love." He stood watching for a moment as she bounded towards the Pearl. He then turned and made his way back home, but Pocahontas didn't see.

"Jack!" she shouted, leaping up the gangplank. She spotted him at the wheel, as usual, looking back out to sea. "Jack!" She took the steps up two at a time.

He turned and she stopped dead. His eyes were red-rimmed and hostile. "Come to say goodbye, have you?" He spoke to her without an endearment: he was angry. And hurt, she added, if he saw me kissing John.

"No, Jack." She moved towards him like she would a frightened animal.

"Then what do you want? Be off with you and your John Smith." He snapped.

"No, Jack," she repeated, still making her way to him. "There is no John Smith anymore."

"Then what was the kissing for, eh?" He demanded.

"For saying goodbye." She smiled.

Now Jack looked confused. "But… I saw -,"

"I know what you saw, Jack," Pocahontas said gently, "But it wasn't what you thought. John and I have said goodbye. I couldn't stay in London with John; I'm too much like you." By now, Pocahontas was close enough to touch Jacks' face – which is what she did next.

He looked at her with astonishment. "By that, do you mean…?"

"Yes, Jack." Pocahontas cupped his other cheek. "I want to stay with you. I love you." The kiss she gave him then was tender and deep as the calm sea. His arms wrapped around her waist as he returned her passion. Pocahontas froze that moment and kept it in her memory forever.

"So, love, where to next?" That smile was the happiest she had seen him wear. She hoped fervently that she would see it again and again, forever.

She returned his grin, "Wherever the winds take us."

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Thank you all so much for reading, reviewing and being patient with me while I wrote this. Special shout-out to mah best fraaand Allison who constantly pushed me to finish this so she could read it xD Lovez you, hun! Until next time. Peace out, everyone.