A/N: I know this one took a bit longer for me to post than usual, but this chapter literally drained me every time I sat down to write it. I hope I didn't keep anyone waiting too long and I hope everyone enjoys!
JackNAnamaria: Thanks for the review and I love you too! In a totally platonic, thanks for reading and reviewing my fanfiction, I know we'd both rather have Jack/Johnny sort of way :o) Sorry mate, things are a bit depressing, aren't they? True enough, Jack hasn't really lost anything, but he did and still does carry a great bit of guilt about Ana's arm...and maybe his time for losing things will come…
NinaSky: Sorry for keeping you waiting! But here's the next one! Enjoy!
Kungfuchick: I'm glad to see so many people actually miss Nuri since he was one of the first characters I developed from my own mind for this story. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy!
LongingforLlangarlia: Another vote for a pregnant Anamaria! An interesting idea…
Fredsonetrueluv: Hehe…tricky, tricky, eh? Jack…Braden…Captain Aquino. My the lovely Ana has so many wonderful men to choose from these days, doesn't she!
Kim: Good catch! The ironic thing was I wrote that whole part about Ana going to to untie herself until she remembered she only had one arm. And I wrote that part where she wondered why she always forgot she only had one arm during the important moments…that was about me…I always forget she only has one arm during important moments! I guess this one slipped by…Thanks for the correction.
Eddie: A sensitive side from our Captain…yes, Jack is always into the surprises, isn't he!
Chapter Thirty Eight
When Anamaria arrived back on The Sea Wench she went directly to her cabin. She was still very sad over the loss of Nuri and although Jack had been very consoling towards her on The Pearl, she had still been annoyed by Elizabeth's presence. She had been glad to hear that the girl was pulling her weight, but she still felt at some point she would end up being a great disadvantage to the commodore.
A knock came at her door not long after she let herself into her cabin and she debated not answering.
"What is it now?" she shouted.
The knob twisted and Braden peeked through a crack in the door, "Is everything alright Captain?"
Anamaria leaned back in her chair and put her hands behind her head, "Come on in bo'sun."
Braden let himself in and closed the door behind him. Crossing the room, he took a seat opposite her, the wide expanse of mahogany that was her desk separating them.
"Rum?" she offered, holding out the bottle.
He shook his head. "Sparrow wasn't too hard on ye, was he?"
Anamaria studied Braden, pausing a moment before she spoke, "Commodore Sparrow?"
"Yes, of course, I'm sorry, Captain," he said, looking down.
"I'm harder on myself than the commodore would ever be," she said, a tight smile on her lips.
"So he wasn't angry over Nuri?" Braden asked.
"Angry?" she asked, taking a long drink of rum. "Why would he have been angry?"
"I don't know. He can be a bit hard sometimes, don't you think?" Braden suggested.
"Sparrow?" she laughed. "Not hardly."
"I just," he paused. "I don't always agree with the way he handles things between the two of you. It seems he always gets what he wants, regardless of how it affects others."
"He's your commodore," Anamaria reprimanded sharply.
"But you're my captain," he replied.
"And he used to be mine," she spat. "Do not let your promotion think you are entirely free to speak your mind about issues of that nature."
Braden knew he had overstepped his boundary. "I'm sorry Captain."
"I have great respect for Jack Sparrow," she said sitting up straight in her seat, "and you'd be best served to remember that before you start running your mouth."
"Of course Captain," he apologized. "It was not my place."
"Jack Sparrow is one of the best pirates, one of the best men, I know," she stated. "I owe him a great deal so if you don't believe in what he's trying to do for us, I'll dock ship in the closest port and you can go on your way."
"No Captain," Braden shook his head, meeting her eyes with his own. "I'm sorry, it won't happen again. I promise you it won't happen again."
"Sail on any other ship and the commodore hears you speaking about that? You'll be marooned on the closest spit of land without a passing thought so you best be glad you're sailing with a man like Jack Sparrow," she took another long drink from her bottle.
"Of course." Braden was ashamed that he had broached the subject with his captain. He had not thought she would take the comments so seriously, but she was true to Jack through and through. That much was obvious to him now.
Anamaria wondered briefly, as Braden slunk out of her cabin, if she had been too harsh with the boy. He had only been looking out for her best interest after all and she had jumped down his throat. She hadn't meant to be hard on him, but he had some learning to do still and one of the first things he must recognize was the fact that he had to respect both his captain and his commodore.
She sighed softly and kicked her feet up on her desk. Nuri's death was changing her, she could already tell. Something deep inside would never quite be the same and she wasn't exactly sure why. She took a long drink of rum and hoped for the day to pass quickly.
A week after the storm that had killed Nuri, the skies cleared and The Pearl and The Sea Wench experienced smooth sailing. Jack decided this would be a good time to prey on other ships in the area to try and make a bit of shine before they landed in the port of Madagascar. The first ship he chose was a large galleon sailing so low in the water that he knew immediately she would make an easy target, probably loaded so full of gold that she had little means of defending herself. It was extremely odd to spot a ship like her in this part of the world, as it was not a normal sailing route for a ship of her nature, but Jack was never one to question good fortune.
The Sea Wench was a good distance behind them, but Jack knew they didn't have to have her crew to win the battle. He also knew that once Anamaria saw the ship, she would almost certainly know of his plan to attack. When they had sailed as captain and first mate they had always been able to guess almost immediately at the other's move, sometimes before he or she even thought of it themselves. Ahhh, how he missed her company.
Within several hours the two ships had gained significantly on the galleon and Jack began giving orders to his crew for the coming attack. As soon as he had finished speaking to the crew, Elizabeth rushed to his side.
"We're going into battle," she said excitedly.
"Not you," he said, taking her arm and leading her away from the helm.
"What do you mean not me?" she said, pulling her arm from his grasp.
Jack guided her down the stairs to stand in front of his cabin. "I mean you're not going into battle."
"Why not?" she asked. "You told me you would give me a chance just the other day!"
Jack rolled his eyes. Did she really think he was going to let her fight in an actual battle? "What I said was I would give you a chance, just me an' you," he started, his arm wrapped around her shoulder, "not in an actual battle. Besides, there's a good chance we won't even be going into battle today. She doesn't look all that well armed." He gestured towards the galleon. "She won't put up much of a fight."
"Then I won't be in very much danger," she responded. "You should let me fight."
Jack unlocked his cabin door and whisked her inside. "I said no. I won't put you in danger. You'll wait in here until it's over."
"No!" she exclaimed.
"It's not an option," Jack insisted.
"I told you, I know how to fight," she said.
"And even if you did, I wouldn't let you," he argued. "Not to mention how long it's been since Will let you play with his sword. You wouldn't even remember what to do with it."
"I didn't play with his sword," she grew heated. "I know how to fight."
"No," Jack said, stepping quickly out the door before she could catch him and locking it behind him.
Elizabeth rushed across the room to pound her fists on the doors. She was furious with him. How dare he lock her up instead of letting her fight! She pounded harder and screamed his name, but it was still to no avail as no one came to let her out.
Jack leaned heavily against the doors to his cabin, feeling the wood throb behind him. She was very insistent that she knew how to fight and it was entirely possible with Will as her tutor that she did indeed know what she was doing, but he couldn't put her in danger like that. It was one thing to learn how to fight with one's husband, but it was another altogether to go into a battle and fight for one's life. No, he couldn't let her do it; the danger was simply too great.
As The Sea Wench and The Black Pearl continued to close the gap on their prey, they raised their black flags of fear. Neither captain was surprised when the galleon stopped dead in the water and hoisted a white flag of surrender. It was just as Jack had thought, there wasn't going to be a fight at all. He almost went to let Elizabeth out of his cabin, but thought better of it. Just in case something went wrong, he would wait until they were finished taking what they wanted from the galleon and then let her out. There was no need to chance their good luck now.
The two ships closed on either side of their victim and dropped anchor as well. It was then that all the gun ports were pulled open and their victim fired a first round of grape shot at them.
"What the bloody hell?" Jack shouted.
The Sea Wench bared the brunt of it. Several of the gun ports that faced The Pearl's side appeared to be blocked and Jack guessed it was by the treasure she carried, but he couldn't be sure. Men swung onto the decks of both The Pearl and The Sea Wench and began fighting. There weren't many of them, but it was an annoyance to Jack and he wondered why the captain would be willing to put his men's lives on the line to kill what would amount to merely a few members of his attacker's ships. He could only assume they were carrying something of great value.
The victims were quickly picked off by both pirate crews and within a few minutes time, the captain asked to speak with the commodore. His first mate escorted him to the deck of The Pearl where the fighting halted for the moment, although the battle continued to rage however, on the deck of The Sea Wench.
"I commend you for your courage," the pirate began, "but don't you believe it's a bit foolhardy to lead your crew into a battle when the odds are almost six men to one?"
"Some of your men have already fallen," the captain stated. "My men are competent fighters."
"Son, I'm Captain Jack Sparrow, savvy?" Jack glanced around the ship. He saw two of his men lying on deck and nearly 20 of the other captain's. "And apparently they're not that good mate," he smiled. "But there's no sense for all this," he gestured at the deck, "I'm sure we can come to a simple agreement and you and your crew can go on your merry way."
"We'll never surrender," the captain insisted, drawing his sword.
Jack appeared confused. "We're just going to lighten your load mate. What if I tell you we won't take it all? We just want a share."
The captain swung his sword at Jack, but the pirate dodged the blade, unsheathing his own sword. "Clearly you don't know what my ship is carrying."
"Why don't you tell me?" Jack offered, his curiosity peaked.
"We're carrying sacred relics found in Africa. We're transporting them back to the Pope in Rome," the captain shouted, jabbing his sword at Jack again. "Surely you wouldn't steal from the Lord your God."
Jack fought back, silent for a moment, before stating, "It's not your relics we're interested in. Keep those! We just want the gold, precious jewels, things of that nature."
"You'll have to take it all, for those treasures are an offering to God as well," he finished, increasing his momentum.
Jack thought it strange that a man of God would be so intent on killing him, but he supposed that the man was defending what he believed in. He was contemplating his finishing moves, as the captain was not a very skilled swordsman, when the captain's first mate joined in the fray. Two against one? Jack wondered. This is madness! He wasn't that strong of a swordsman on his best days and now he was going to have to fight two of them. This was supposed to have been an easy battle and now they were pushing him into a corner. What had gone wrong?
But as soon as Jack was beginning to wonder how he was going to get out of his precarious position, one of his own men came to draw the first mate off. His first assumption was that it was Mr. Gibbs, since he was indeed his own first mate, but upon closer inspection, he realized it was not. Jack's crewman fought with his back to Jack so that the pirate captain could not recognize his face, but he was almost positive that he did not know the young man. Jack finished off the captain, grateful that his crewman had drawn off the better fighter of the two. Whoever the boy was, he was extremely skilled with his sword and Jack made a mental note to reward him for his assistance later on. The pirate captain watched on and in less than five additional and rather impressive moves, his crewmember pierced the first mate's heart with the tip of his blade. He then withdrew his sword and wiped the man's blood on his sash as he waited for Jack's orders.
Jack shouted to gather everyone's attention, but most men were already aware of what was going on and had halted in their battles.
"With both your captain and your first mate dead, I can't imagine that any of you are as devoted to this cause to risk your lives when I have already agreed to let you live and keep your sacred relics."
Many men nodded in agreement and Jack began giving the orders to load the gold and treasure into The Pearl's holds. His earlier assumptions proved correct and not only was The Pearl's entire holdfilled, but a quarter of The Sea Wench had to be used to store the loot as well. Once they had loaded all the treasure onto the two ships, Jack kept his word and allowed the few men who remained alive to sail away with their ship and their sacred relics. He had not even bothered to glance at the relics to see what the ship's captain had so fiercely protected. They were ultimately of no value to him anyway and he thought it unnecessary to get caught up by a bit of shine that he had promised in advance not to lay claim to.
Jack briefly met with Anamaria about future attacks and both pirates agreed they would like to sail into Madagascar with their ship's holds full of swag, but not so full that it would interfere with their sailing ability. They decided that one to three attacks might make them rich enough. Although if they came across another ship like they had today, they would have even less work in front of them, which was good as they had already put in a great deal of work merely sailing through the storms.
Jack crossed back over to The Black Pearl and found his men waiting on deck for orders. They would continue on to Madagascar, only stopping to attack if the ship was easy prey or heavily weighted down.
He then turned to the sailor who had helped him defeat the first mate, "I'd like to see you in my cabin son. I 'ave a bit of a reward for you."
"It was very brave, what you did today," the captain stated, as his fellow crewmember followed behind him. "He was a skilled fighter, was he not?"
The captain removed the keys from his pocket, jingling them in front of the door until he drew the correct one. "In truth, I've never noticed your talent fighting before. Are ye new to the crew? Won't take you long to work your way up to an important part of me crew with skills like those. "
He opened the door for the boy to go in first, pulling the door shut behind them before really turning to look the young man in the face. He had tossed his hat to the floor and Jack eyed him suspiciously as he removed his bright blue bandana, obscuring his face for a moment as he shook his long blonde hair out.
"So I guess I proved myself to you then?"
Jack blinked several times in confusion. "Elizabeth?"
"I can't believe you didn't even recognize me!" she said, smiling. "Not to mention the fact that you didn't even notice I wasn't here when you unlocked the door."
Jack looked uncomfortably around his cabin, truly surprised that she had escaped and he hadn't even noticed. "How did you get out?"
"So I guess it's a good thing I know how to defend myself, otherwise, I could have been kidnapped and you wouldn't have even known."
"You deliberately disobeyed my orders," he stated sharply.
"Only five seconds ago you were singing my praises, but now, suddenly, because it's me, you're going to be angry with me?" she said, her voice growing louder.
"You could have been hurt."
"Or you could have been if I hadn't been there," she argued.
Jack was struggling to make sense of the whole mess in his head and he couldn't do it with her standing there in front of him.
"I need some air," he said stated.
"You just got here!" she insisted.
Jack gave a brief nod before heading out of his cabin and back to the deck.
He entertained himself with work on deck most of the day, only giving a few moments thought to what had transpired with Elizabeth. He should be angry with her for her disobedience, but he wasn't. She had fought a strong fight and shown that she was capable with a sword. He had had no idea she was so talented, but she had proven him wrong. There was a lesson for him to learn in that he was sure.
When he did give it more thought, he realized he actually found himself quite proud of her, if he was willing to let on. As he finished up his tasks for the day, he decided to go back to his cabin, hoping in the back of his mind that she would be there waiting for him.
The sun had set several hours ago and Elizabeth was indeed waiting in his cabin already. He greeted her and proceeded to make his way across the cabin, removing various garments as he went along. His lack of conversation made her wonder how mad at her he really was from the day's events. Usually he was talkative and seemed to enjoy her company, but tonight he seemed agitated.
She remembered how the very first night out on their voyage, she had come to his cabin explaining that she couldn't sleep. He had stayed up with her, the two of them talking before he began telling her stories of adventures on the high seas, just as he had done on occasion in Tortuga.
Every night after that, she had come to his cabin every night when the two were finished with their work for the day. She had grown to truly enjoy their evenings, passing the time by trading stories with the Captain. She found his tales of the sea and his adventures incredibly interesting and it seemed he had begun to enjoy having someone to tell them to.
Tonight, however, he settled quietly on the bed beside her after stripping down to his pants and shirt. Elizabeth wondered if perhaps she shouldn't have bothered coming. The last thing she wanted from him right now was a lecture. She opened her mouth to speak, but closed it again, deciding to wait for the pirate to speak first.
Jack took a deep breath, "I 'ave to admit luv, I didn't want to see you involved in what happened out there today."
Elizabeth remained quiet, dropping her eyes to her hands. She had a feeling he was going to be angry with her. He wasn't going to yell, but she would receive some sort of discipline.
"But I can't say that I wasn't impressed," he finished.
She met his eyes.
"You know what you're doing with a sword."
"I told you Will taught me how to fight," she stated.
"I'm sorry I didn't believe you luv," he said quietly.
Did her ears deceive her? Had Jack actually just apologized to her? And had he ever done that to any other woman in his life? She doubted it, other than Anamaria possibly, and then it had probably only been because she made him. She considered her accomplishment.
"Does that mean you'll let me fight the next time we attack a ship?" she asked.
"I still don't want to put you in danger, but I guess I know now that I can't keep you from fighting even if I say no."
Elizabeth smiled.
"Not to mention, you're just as good a swordsman, if not better than most of the men on my crew," he added.
"Now earlier you said I was one of the best," she reminded him.
"Did I?" Jack said, recalling his words.
"Mmhmm," she nodded, smiling proudly. "Rum to celebrate?"
"Of course," he said, standing and crossing the room to bring back a bottle.
They took turns taking long sips before Jack set the bottle aside and they continued their conversation.
"You do understand I was only trying to watch out for you," he asked.
"Of course," she replied. "It's just that Will made sure I didn't need anyone to watch out for me."
"I can't believe I didn't recognize that blade," he nodded towards Will's sword that lay across his desk.
"To be honest, I thought you were on to me from the beginning," she said softly.
"No," Jack shook his head. "I was too caught up in things. Why did her captain fight when they were so outnumbered? What were they guarding so carefully?"
"You didn't even take a look at the relics?" she asked.
Jack shook his head, "No, didn't want to get my hopes up."
Elizabeth smiled softly. Leave it to Jack to miss out on finding out about secret new relics that had been discovered just so he didn't get his hopes up about stealing something he'd already promised not to take. There was a brief moment of silence between them before Jack spoke again.
"I really was very impressed Elizabeth," he said kindly. "You definitely picked up a lot of Will's talent in your training. He must have been a good teacher."
"He was Jack," she said sadly as the memory came to her. "He definitely was."
"Now, now, luv," Jack said, lifting her chin. "There'll be none of that tonight. You 'ave a lot to be proud of."
He brushed his hand across her cheek and as the conversation came to a quiet lull again, he leaned over to kiss her softly as he had done many nights in the past weeks. He ran his hand gently over her jawbone, enjoying the softness of her creamy skin, and slowly reclined on the bed with her beside him. Opening her mouth, she allowed his tongue entrance, meeting it with her own in an intimate dance only they could share.
Jack enjoyed kissing her, but he had to admit she was beginning to test his patience. They would start to get involved and then Elizabeth would pull away. However, night after night, she would return to his room and sit on his bed and ask him to tell her his stories. Did she not know what she was doing to him? The only reason Jack had not pushed the issue was because he constantly reminded himself how devastated and fragile she must still be having lost her only lover. She was young and vulnerable and although she was driving him crazy, she had grown on him and ultimately he didn't want her to do something she would regret.
He ran his fingertips gently across her shoulder and down her arm. She shuddered slightly and snuggled closer to him. Reaching to take her small hand in his own, he held it for only a moment and then ran his fingers against hers in one of those tiny acts of intimacy that Jack would never let anyone see. Bringing her hand to his lips, he placed a light kiss on her knuckles, watching her open her eyes and smile at him. He grinned back, gold flashing softly in the candlelight.
He cared about her he realized and as he gazed into her eyes, he wondered if he might even be beginning to feel something for her. He had thought himself incapable of feeling anything ever again after Madelyn, but things had changed for him since he had gotten The Pearl back. Things had changed even more since he had brought Elizabeth on board. But then that had been why he had been so intrigued with her from day one, hadn't it? She was different. She had been just independent enough, but still a lady; that was what had attracted him in the first place. Then she had pushed off his advances on the island. She had been so in love with Will and the puppy love had been cute, really. So he had stuffed all his ideas for a potential of anything between them inside and ignored them, turning himself off as he had taught himself to do many years ago to the possibility of potential rejection. But now, here she was, lying in his arms, holding onto him, kissing him. If he admitted it to himself, he was still very aware of the possibility that he was in a position to be used. She wouldn't even intend to do so, but her attempt to mask the pain she was feeling over losing her husband and her child may result in her leading them both to believe she felt something she did not.
Regardless of the potential for being misled, Jack wanted her. And maybe he wanted her even more because for so long she had been unattainable to him. Her sword fighting techniques today had only solidified his desire for her to him. Beyond that desire, it didn't matter what happened all that much to him at this point, the reality of it was that he was just as much in a position to use her as she was to use him.
"Elizabeth, do you know what you are doing to me?" he asked, his voice a low growl. He gripped her hand firmly in his own and led her to his hardness.
Elizabeth's breath caught. Of course she knew what happened. Will had made love to her dozens of times, but it wasn't like this with Jack. Will had been gentle, loving. He had never forced himself on her. If she hadn't wanted to participate he would disappear down the hall to their living area and distract himself with who knew what. After several months, she had begun to speculate, but neither of them would have ever actually brought the issue up. It was inappropriate, even for a married couple.
She was being unfair to Jack, she supposed. She could be accused of leading him on. This nightly ritual had been going on for quite some time. The stories, the talking, the kissing, the caressing, and night after night she would put him off and he would let her, rolling over and falling into his fitful sleep.
"I'm sorry Jack," she attempted, "I'm just not ready."
Jack breathed hotly in her ear, "You're driving me mad luv."
Elizabeth kissed him on the lips briefly. "I know and it's not fair to you. I like you Jack and I enjoy our time together. I'm just not ready for anything more. Not yet."
Jack sighed.
"I can leave if you want," she said sitting up. "I don't want to lead you on."
Jack pulled her back down beside him, "No luv, you're fine." He kissed her again and then rolled onto his side to try to fall asleep.
TO MY JACK/ANA FANS: I told you this chapter took a lot out of me and I guess you all must understand as well now. I can't give away any major spoilers, but I will tell you all this. You have my PROMISE that I will reward you with Sweet Redemption at the end of the long dark tunnel. A day will come when you will praise (I expect some cursing this time around :o) ) both myself and Jack again and you will be glad you stuck with it through the end. Thank you for your faith in me…