Chapter 3: What have I done?

In the days that passed after Cleo left the Weeping Angel the crew did not take kindly to their new captain. They knew that he had been the one that made her leave, and they didn't appreciate him breaking her already fragile heart. Barbossa did his best to keep from angering the crew more by staying in his quarters. He spent the time thinking of ways to make amends with his weeping angel who had returned to the Black Pearl the night before. He finally came to the conclusion that he should go talk to the angelic woman and see if she would forgive him. He prepared a long boat and set a course for the Pearl. Barbossa hoped that she would at least give him a chance, but he knew how Cleo was when she was hurt. As he boarded Jack's ship, he looked around for her. His eyes fell upon a familiar sight; Cleo standing at the bow of the ship.

"She doesn't want to see you." Pintel said, approaching the tall man.

"Well, I thank ye for tellin' me that, but I need to see her." Barbossa replied firmly. Just before he reached his goal, Jack Sparrow stepped into his path.

"Jack, get outta the way."

"No. I'll not move until you listen to me. Cleo does not want to see you. You hurt her."

"I never meant to hurt 'er!"

"I can't be sure of that because I wasn't there. Just go."

"Is there a reason ye don't be usin' me name, Jack?"

"I forbade it." The woman answered, "Barbossa, leave us. Perhaps in time I will be inclined to speak to you again, but for now, go."

The pirate lord was taken aback at her choice of words. She had never called him by his last name in all the years he had known her.

"Cleo, don' you understand? I never mean' to hurt ye."

"Too late." She replied. Cleo stalked off and ventured below decks. She came back eventually, her sword drawn. "Now, you will feel my pain. Prepare yourself."

Jack stood between her and the man she cared for. "Cleo, don't do this. He's better than you; he can beat you."

"Move; or you will fight as well." She growled. Jack made a nervous noise and ducked out of the way.

The sounds of metal clashing filled the air for the next few minutes. Cleo ducked behind objects and gracefully avoided his attacks. Once, the tip of Barbossa's sword caught her forearm. Jack winced, but noticed that she had not cried out or noticed the blood at all. He admired her for ignoring the pain and continuing to fight through it. Once, Cleo outsmarted the old pirate and put a nice mark on his inner thigh. Eventually the fight ended with Cleo's back against the mast and no other way out.

"Does that make you feel any better?"

"I suppose it does, Hector." She replied, holding her hand out to him. She had meant for him to shake it, but instead he took it and kissed it like a gentleman. "Now, come on, I'll tend to the wound I gave you."

She smiled and led him back into the cabin. Cleo made him remove his breeches and sat him down in a chair. The woman silently wrapped the injured area in a strip of cloth she had ripped from her shirt.

"I'm sorry about the injury, but you trained me."

"Tis no matter, Cleo. I did ye wrong and ye merely wanted me to feel the way ye did."

"You're damn right I did!"

"Cleo, ye didn' give me a chance to answer yer question."

"Words do not matter now anyway. Now, I have you, and I'm not letting you go."

Barbossa shook his head and laughed to himself. He smiled to himself as he thought 'What in the world have I done?'

He redressed himself and took her arm. The pirate made her sit down and tended to her arm gently. Cleo took the hat from her companion's head and ran her fingers slowly through his hair. He sighed and looked up at her. Her fingers began to trace the scar under his eye gently. She remembered the day he received it. Cleo had seen many of his scars, but had never before dared to touch them. Barbossa took her hands in his and looked deep into her eyes. He saw things he never thought he'd see there. He folded her into his arms gently and smiled. He had missed her. The two stayed together for a while, Cleo whispering to him the way she always used to.

"Do you remember the last fight we had, Hector? The scar on my wrist you gave me?"

"I didn't know ye then. Ye was dressed as a boy anyway. When my blade struck yer wrist and ye cried out in pain I knew that it were no boy I was fightin'."

The look in the angel's eyes was tender and kind. Barbossa had seen the kindness, but the tenderness with which she looked at him was almost overwhelming. The pirate's cold heart softened for a time as he looked into her eyes.

The door opened and Jack stood in the doorway pointing at the two.

"What are you doing, Jack?" Cleo asked.

"Making sure you two don't do anything in MY bed!"

Cleo glared at him angrily. "Fine, Jack. We'll just go back to MY bed. Just remember that you owe me…"

Jack sniffed and let them leave. Barbossa started incredulously at the woman ahead of him. He didn't understand the boldness of her words, but he went back to her ship with her anyway.