A/N: Another chappy! Yea! I'm on a roll these days at least…I'm trying.
Captainme: So I threw you off my trail, did I? Got to keep y'all guessing somehow :o)
JackNAnamaria: Yes, I know how we all love Jack and Ana together. You've just got to trust me ;o)
An-angel-in-hell: Skin me? Ahhh! Begins applying weird tribal makeup…Not sure how exactly that helped Jack escape, but I'm sure it worked somehow ;o)
Kungfuchick: Hmmm…that's an interesting scenario. It would make things a bit more dramatic and interesting, wouldn't it!
Fredsonetrueluv: It's good to hear that I'm keeping the suspense levels up. I must admit I have intentionally not provided any chappys on Anamaria and Aquino just to keep everyone guessing what's going on there…mwa-ha-ha…I'll never tell. Ok, ok, well, eventually I'll tell…just not now. :o)
Eddie: "This is not the time for rash actions"…lol…almost like in the first movie, eh? Ahhh, yes, love. It does make things so much more difficult, doesn't it? As I've said before…I think sex is much more fun and easier! Love only complicates the world.
Chapter Thirty-SevenThe rain continued off and on for the first month of their voyage. Some days it dripped out of the sky just enough to keep the crew wet and unhappy and other days it was a constant downpour that required every man on deck to tie himself to the main mast and work to keep them from capsizing. The Black Pearl had taken over the lead now with Jack using Anamaria's notes to travel her carefully plotted route, but it didn't matter which ship led, they were both dealing with the poor conditions and a less than happy crew.
Three weeks in the weather had turned it's most violent. In the middle of the night there was a storm like neither Jack nor Anamaria had ever sailed through before. If he had to guess, Jack would have bet The Black Pearl herself that they were sailing through the worst tropical storm of the season and quite possibly the entire year. The waves were huge, most of them breaking over the deck of the ship and most of the crew were sent below deck to wait out the storm.
Jack kept himself and Mr. Gibbs as well as several of his best crewmembers on deck to make sure they were able to sail through it, but he was more worried about Anamaria. To his knowledge, she had never captained a ship through a storm like this and definitely not a ship of The Sea Wench's size. He knew she was smart enough to tie herself to the mast as she manned the helm, but he hoped she knew enough about the sails and steering to keep her crew safe.
The ships were too far apart and the night was too dark to make anything out onboard The Sea Wench and Jack had enough going with The Pearl to keep himself busy. Had he been able to keep watch over his former first mate, he would have been even more concerned than he already was. Either because of her less experienced captain or just the way the weather was coming at them, The Sea Wench was taking more of a beating than The Pearl. Her sails had knotted into each other and she was beginning to spin out of control, being tossed this way and that on the waves. It quickly became apparent that someone was going to have to climb up and unknot the sails if they were going to stay afloat.
While Anamaria wouldn't have minded being that person, she knew that because of her injury, she would never make it and she hated finding there was a job she couldn't accomplish on her own ship. Lightning lit the deck of the ship every few minutes, managing to provide the crew with a good view of the sails that were giving them the problems and Anamaria started shouting orders. She wanted Heladio to be the one to untie himself and climb the rigging, but the rain drowned out her voice. Suddenly Nuri was there by her side.
"Someone's going to have to fix that Captain!" he shouted, gesturing at the sails.
"I know!" she yelled back. "Heladio!" she shouted just as lightning lit the sky and the thunder boomed.
"I'll go!" he yelled, reaching to untie himself.
"NO!" she shouted, shaking her head furiously. He was her first mate, the most important member of her crew and for those reasons he was the last person she wanted to go. She reached for his hands to make him stop, to make him realize that she didn't want him to go, but just as she almost had her hand on his, a huge wave hit the ship and washed over the deck. She lost her footing and fell to the deck. Nuri had already untied himself, but somehow managed to keep his footing and rushed to her side. He helped her up, making sure she was still safely connected to the mast and then headed towards the rigging.
Anamaria shouted at him again, but he couldn't hear her. He was already half way up the line and still climbing. She didn't want to watch, but she had to. She needed to know that he was going to be safe.
Nuri reached the affected sails and began tugging at the wet material to pull it loose. His captain stared on in horror as he was tossed back and forth in the wind, but amazingly managed to keep a firm hold on the sail. After watching him struggle with the knotted mess as the agonizing minutes passed on, the crew began to lose hope. They were already taking on a good bit of water and Anamaria found herself straining her eyes through the night to see if she could get a glimpse of The Pearl.
A bolt of lightning struck, briefly lighting the sky and there, far in the distance, she could make out the shadow of Jack's ship. Most of her men couldn't swim anyway, but on a night like tonight it wouldn't matter. If they were to turn over, none of them would make it to safety. The seas were too rough and they would get lost easily once in the water. The Black Pearl was too far out to offer a shelter and for all Anamaria knew, she wasn't that much better off than her own ship.
She glanced back up at the rigging and saw that Nuri had actually managed to untangle a good portion of the sails. A few more tugs and he had them unfurled again. She almost jumped for joy. They were going to survive this night after all. She looked out towards the sea again in the direction of her commodore's ship just in time to see the huge wave crash across their deck. The entire boat lurched and she looked up to see Nuri lose his footing and dangle in the rigging for a brief moment before she saw him thrown into the sea.
"Nuri!" she screamed frantically. She reached to begin pulling at the ropes that bound her only to be reminded that she only had one arm. Why was it that she always managed to forget her limitations when she was thrown into situations like this? Without giving any more real thought to her actions, she drew her knife from her pocket and began sawing at the rope, her only real thought to get to Nuri.
She finally felt the rope snap free and she rushed to the side of the ship. Looking out over the harsh waves, she saw nothing, no possible indication of where her first mate had been thrown at all. She was about to jump overboard herself when she felt strong arms wrap around her waist.
"Captain, no!" a deep voice shouted in her ear.
She fought the arms that restrained her as hard as she was physically able, but she was unable to throw them off.
"Is it not bad enough that we have already lost our first mate?" the voice shouted over the thunder. "Do not force us to lose our captain as well."
Anamaria strained again to fight the hold he had over her before collapsing into his chest and beginning to sob. The strong arms pulled her back away from the railing of the ship and towards the mast. She was disappointed in herself for letting her first mate drown and for wearing her emotions on her sleeve in front of her crew, although she doubted they could make out her tears in the rain.
She felt the arms let her go as they worked to pull a tight rope around her waist and anchor her back to her ship that she should be so bravely captaining. Fighting to control her tears, she put on a brave face as the sailor who had rescued her from her own foolish plan stepped in front of her.
"We will mourn him later," Braden shouted. "We need you to be our captain right now."
The words had not been a reprimand, but merely a statement from a sailor to his captain of what he needed. His eyes were kind, understanding of her pain, but requesting her leadership. This was the second time Braden had saved her from a fate, which she was sure she would not have escaped without him, and she found herself glad that it had been his arms around her. Any other crewmember might have found himself in a place above his captain, having saved her life twice now, but she could tell Braden was not that type of person. For whatever reason, he seemed to have great faith in her, despite the fact that she knew he must have felt her sobbing against him only minutes ago.
She knew that it would probably upset the crew, but in the morning, when the weather had passed and Nuri's death had been announced to everyone, she would make Braden her first mate. He deserved it. She could trust him and it was clear he had a good heart. Those were the qualities she needed in a first mate; those were the qualities she had used to choose Nuri.
The tiny thought of him brought a fresh wave of tears to her eyes, but she didn't have time for that now. She had to be strong, had to be brave, had to lead her crew through this disaster. With Braden at her side and the sails unknotted, she pulled the crew together on deck and began shouting orders again.
By morning, the storm had blown over and the seas were calm again. Anamaria had barely slept the night before. Even after the worst of it had passed, she had still wanted to be on deck to help out. She had needed to stay busy just to keep her mind off of what had happened, off of Nuri.
In the end, it had been Braden who had convinced her to try and get some sleep, but she had not slept. She had laid awake for what seemed like hours, in her soaking wet clothes and wished she had never left the safety of The Black Pearl. Finally she had drifted off to sleep only to be woken by the men's shouts up on deck. Listening briefly, she realized they were in no danger; she had just been sleeping so lightly that their normal working conditions had woken her. Not wanting to lay in her cabin anymore, she decided to put on some dry clothes and go back up on deck. But almost immediately she was met with a wave of nausea as the thought of Nuri pulled on her mind. Without changing clothes, she rushed to the deck just in time to lean over the edge of the ship.
Braden rushed to her side, "Are you alright Captain?"
Anamaria nodded slowly. The nausea had been odd, but the feeling had passed now.
"Just the thought of…" she couldn't get his name out, "everything last night."
Braden nodded. "It's alright Captain. No need to explain. Did you get some rest in?"
"No," she answered. "Braden, I need you to get the men together for me. We need to go over some things this morning."
Braden nodded, eager to please. Fifteen minutes later, her entire crew was gathered on the deck. Anamaria greeted her men with a long face. Most of them had already heard of the previous night's events, but she wanted to acknowledge it officially among them all.
"As most of you know, last night during the storm our sails became entangled and Nuri was brave enough to go into the rigging to unknot them. If he had not, we most definitely would have capsized. Thanks to his bravery we are still alive today, but unfortunately, he is not. After he had fixed the sails, a wave crashed over our deck, jarring the ship, and caused Nuri to lose his footing. He fell overboard and most surely drowned. He is definitely someone we will all miss, as he was a vital part of our crew and a close friend, but we must continue on. For now, I have decided that Braden Rivens will serve you as a first mate.
"Braden has proven to me that he is trustworthy and bold. He has always stepped up when needed and has never let me down no matter what I asked him. I know some of you may be dissatisfied, as Braden is a newer member of the crew, but I ask you to trust my decision. I only want what is best for us all. You will treat him with no less respect or honor than you did Nuri, for that is what is expected from you.
"Braden, if you don't mind, I would like to see you in my cabin," she finished, turning to the truly shocked sailor.
"Captain Saldana," he stammered.
"It's wasn't a request, Bo'sun," she stated.
"Of course," he nodded, dropping his head as he followed her down the stairs and into her cabin.
When Anamaria had finished letting her new first mate know what was expected of him, as well as congratulating him on his successes, she sent him topside to try and close the gap between The Sea Wench and The Black Pearl. While Braden needed additional minor instructions that more experienced seamen would probably have already known, he was eager to learn and by midday, his captain was able to lower a lifeboat into the ocean so that she could row over to see their commodore.
Jack could tell by looking at her as she hauled herself up the side of his ship that something had gone terribly wrong. She rarely, if ever, lost her cool, but she looked distraught now and he began to worry.
"Captain Saldana, it's good to see you this morning. I see you and The Sea Wench have seemed to weather the storm quite well and yet it seems as if something is troubling you," he said as she stepped aboard.
"I'd like to see you alone in your quarters," she stated simply, happy to see that Elizabeth was already on deck and would therefore not be a part of their meeting.
"Of course," Jack said, stepping off. From the simple tone of her voice he could tell her sincerity.
Anamaria followed him into his cabin where they sat down at his table.
"What's going on?" he asked her, his eyebrows furrowed in concern.
"Nuri drowned last night," she said simply, her voice catching in her throat.
"What?" Jack was surprised. "How?"
"The sails got tangled. Someone had to go up and unknot them. I wanted him to send Heladio," she shook her head, "but in the rain and with the thunder I don't think he could hear me. He volunteered to go himself."
Jack sighed, "Terrible shame. He was a good man."
"Yes, he was," she confirmed.
Jack didn't know what to say. He had had such a terrible feeling that something like this was going to happen.
"It's all my fault Jack," Anamaria stated, half angry and half tearful.
Jack stood and moved around behind her chair to rest his hands on her shoulders. "It's not your fault. These things happen, especially now that you're captain of your own carrack. You're going to lose sailors."
Anamaria shook her head, "No, this is my fault. It was my idea to sail out at this time of year. It was my ship where things went wrong and because of my bloody arm, I couldn't stop him." She turned hardened eyes towards the commodore. "Do you think that's right Jack? To ask your own first mate to do something you can't even do yourself?"
"That's what I 'ave 'im for," Jack said, trying to lighten the mood.
"It's not a joke Jack. I'm not fit to be a captain," she said. "Everyone thinks I am, but I'm not. My first trip out, my location, my route, even the time of year we sailed out was my choice, and a month in I lose my first mate. What kind of leader am I?"
"That's nonsense and you know it," Jack said, sitting down beside her, putting his hand on her knee. "You're not going soft on me, are you? Because the Anamaria I know is tougher than this. She's a captain and she was always my strongest sailor, even after her injury."
Anamaria looked up to meet Jack's eyes.
"As I said, these things happen. They're expected to happen. A life at sea is never going to be easy. You've got to learn to deal with situations on your own time, never let your crew see this side of you. They'll just use it to take advantage of you."
"He was my first mate, Jack," she started. "Do you even have any idea…"
"Every day luv. Look at what I did to you," he interrupted. "I don't let it show, but it eats me up inside. It should have been me."
A silence hung between the two of them.
"I don't know what's going on with me lately Jack," Anamaria said, just above a whisper.
"You're going to be fine. You're doing a good job as captain, making your own decisions. Who's to become your new first mate?" he asked.
"Braden Rivens. I announced it to the crew this morning."
Jack stroked his beard in thought, "Not sure I know the lad."
"He's young, blond headed guy. He hasn't had any real experience in leadership, but I trust him and he's saved my ass a few times now."
"Ahhh," Jack said, quirking an eyebrow as he wondered what sort of situations this Braden character had rescued her from. He found it hard to see Anamaria ever needing rescuing, but if she had, it should have been him rescuing her. Was that a twinge of jealousy he felt?
"You know better than I that it's all about trust," she commented.
"True enough," he said.
"So how are things with Elizabeth working out?" she asked. She had tried to resist the urge, the need to question, but she had failed. "I was surprised to see her up on deck."
"She's not half bad," Jack said. "She's quite good at sewing and she doesn't mind helping Edward in the galley either." Jack let out a small chuckle. "She actually challenged me in a swordfight yesterday when she found me disagreeable, but I didn't take her up on it."
"Scared she might beat you, eh?" Anamaria joked.
The smile dropped from Jack's face. Clearly the thought of her being triumphant had yet to enter his head.
"She did learn from William Turner," she added.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Jack asked.
Anamaria shrugged, "Well, he was one of the best, wasn't he?"
"Dear William never beat me," he spat out.
The dark skinned pirate lass held her hands up, "Alright, alright, but it's less of your swordplay and more of your mouth that usually wins your battles Jack."
He clapped his hands on the table. "I think a bit of rum is in order after the trials of that last storm," he said, standing.
Anamaria rose as well, "No Jack, I need to get back to The Sea Wench. The crew needs me there today and I've got to go over some things with Braden."
"Oh," the commodore said, turning to allow a lusty look to pass over his features. "So that's why you picked him for your first mate."
"It's not like that Jack," she said, stepping up behind him.
"Oh no?" he asked, his hot breath on her cheek.
She almost kissed him then, she wanted to so badly, but she managed to hold it in. "I won't let myself make that mistake again."
Jack reached for a bottle of rum. "What mistake is that Anamaria?" he asked, obviously disturbed by her comment.
She shook her head, unable to put into words what she wanted to say. "Should we encounter any more problems, I suppose I'll see you again, but if not, we'll meet at port in Madagascar."
"Sounds good," he said, taking a long drink of rum before offering her the bottle.
Despite her earlier refusal, she took the bottle and drank from it. "Take care Jack."
"You too Captain," he said softly.
She turned to leave and he stopped her right before she came to the door, "Ana?"
She turned to face him, "Yes?"
"You're doing a wonderful job," he said, taking the few steps across the room to stand in front of her. He paused for a moment, taking his fingers to tuck a loose strand of her hair behind her ear. She flinched slightly feeling his rough hand on her cheek, but he paid it no attention. "Don't let your spirit get down with this. It happens to the best of us."
She nodded, dropping her eyes from his, "Thank you Jack."