Chapter 9: Make your choice

When Cleo and Gibbs got back to the ship, they sent a search party to look for Jack. Cleo tended to Barbossa's wounds religiously, and was always kind to him.

Weeks passed, and Barbossa got a bit better every day. Cleo spent extended amounts of time with him in Jack's chambers. Gibbs grew suspicious…

"Tell me ye love me, Cleo."

"I cannot do that, Hector, for I do not love you."

"Ye do love me; I can see it in yer eyes. Ye have always loved me, and ye always will."

"You called me a whore; you said I was nothing to you. I cannot love someone who does not love me. You will never hear me tell you that I love you again."

"Ye just said those magic words! Ye do love yer ol' Hector."

"Don't put words in the lady's mouth." A deep, male voice said.

"Leech, what're you doing here?" Cleo asked.

"Mr. Gibbs asked me to look in on you."

"You tell Mr. Gibbs that I can look after myself. I am not a child."

"He's jus' worried 'bout you, Miss."

"Where is he?"

"Gone into town, hasn' 'e?" Leech answered in a somewhat mocking tone.

"Get back to work, Leech, before I decide you're not worthy to be on this ship and feed you to the fishes."

"Yes, ma'am."

Cleo began to pace the room angrily; Barbossa watched her smiling. He stood and took her arm firmly; he made her look into his blue eyes.

"Soon you'll have to make a choice, Miss Cleo. Me or Mr. Gibbs, and I think I know who you'll choose…" he said, taking her face in his hands. She grinned and kissed his lips for the first time in quite a while. He seemed to melt at her touch, but he had no idea that this was only the beginning of her revenge.

"You know nothing, Hector. You broke my heart, and now there is no reason for me to spare you the same hurt I endured." With that, Cleo left. She walked the ship restlessly until it was almost time for dinner. It was around this time that Gibbs returned. Even though he had obviously gone to town without informing her for a reason he was seemingly empty handed. She watched him carefully and saw him sneaking something into a drawer in the captain's quarters that he locked before he walked away from it. Cleo didn't take too kindly to him sneaking things around behind her back like this.

The search party that had been sent out to look for Jack had not yet returned, making Cleo wonder what had become of them all. Cleo took a small flute-like instrument out of her coat pocket and began playing a sad tune that always ended on a hopeful sounding note. Different variations of the same tune were heard every night, but one night there came no sad lullaby from the main deck of the ship. A crewman named Bill looked all over the ship for the girl, but neither her nor Gibbs anywhere aboard the Black Pearl. He noticed that one of the longboats was gone and the door to the captain's quarters had been left ajar. Barbossa was nowhere to be found either.

The two had taken Barbossa back to town and left him at the Naval Office. They would not be seeing him again for a while. Afterwards, Cleo left Gibbs just outside of town and doubled back to steal a couple of horses. They mounted up and rode off in the direction in which they had last seen their captain heading. They followed the trail of flattened grass for a while until it split into two different ways. One way had only been travelled by one person; the other way had been taken by several. After much discussion, the companions decided to take the path less travelled. They came across several bones and bits of clothing along the way. It made Cleo shiver. A mist came upon them and with it there came the silence of death. They looked through the mist, keeping an eye on each other. What they found shocked them, an unconscious Jack Sparrow. He was not unconscious because of consumption of too much rum; it was unclear why he was blacked out. Gibbs helped Cleo lift him onto her horse and haul him back to the longboat. They took him back to the ship and put him in his bed. Cleo left him in Bill's care and went to her chamber with Gibbs.

"What are you hiding from me?" she asked nonchalantly.

"What?"

"What are you hiding from me?" she repeated.

"Nothing at all."

"You're a liar."

"What makes you think I be hiding somethin' from you?"

"I saw you lock an object in a drawer in Jack's quarters. Every time I came around you before you locked it away you would shove it into your pocket before I could say a word."

"Cleo, let us wait until morning. Perhaps then Jack will be awake and I can reveal this to you all."

Cleo nodded reluctantly and kissed him. For the rest of the night, they held each other and kept each other warm.

A loud bang woke Cleo. It seemed that Jack was awake and had found his way into the rum again. She rolled out of bed and into the room he kept rum in. He jumped when he saw her and put his hand to his heart.

"Don't sneak up on me like that, luv."

"I'm glad you're up, Jack. I thought you'd still be out."

"That was no ordinary mist, Cleo. I'm glad I was brought back here. Who found me?"

"Gibbs and I brought you back, Captain."

"Good! Good, man."

"Shall we have some rum in your cabin, sir?"

"Wonderful idea!"

The two went back to Jack's quarters and drank rum until a knock sounded at the door. Gibbs entered and immediately kissed his love's hand. He fetched a small object from the locked drawer and concealed it in his pocket like he had before. He knelt before Cleo and smiled up at her. She straightened her back and sat forward in her chair, wondering what he was doing.

"Cleo, I have somethin' I be wantin' to ask you."

"Ask away, Joshamee."

He took the small object out of his pocket and silently placed it on her finger. "Marry me?"

Cleo stared at the ring for a moment, unable to find her words. Eventually, she choked out an answer of 'yes' and the celebration began.

'I've made my choice, Barbossa.'