A/N: So, this morning I woke up and started writing and COULDN'T STOP. This is what happened. It's a Christmas Miracle:D

So yeah, REVIEW, PEOPLES!!

EDIT! (January 3, 2008): I've fixed a few problems in the story. Added a few details. :)

Chapter 7

Weeks passed. Luckily for Kate, Jack was his old self the morning after Will came aboard, and any sign of conflict ceased. Within what seemed like minutes, Jack and Kate went back to the status quo, with the blossom of a new bond between them: friendship. Jack was soon proud to acknowledge this dreadfully cheery woman as a comrade, an equal, and a confidant. For the first time in years, Jack was feeling comfortable enough to talk about anything with another human being. Instead of immediately falling asleep when they went to bed, Jack and Kate would lie awake and talk and laugh for hours. They soon discovered that, before they'd met one another, they'd never experienced the joy they had for life that they did now.

Work went on as usual, the crew managed to pillage a hefty treasure from a small island community in the Caribbean south. For now, the Pearl and her crew were content to sail around carelessly, enjoying the triumphs they'd gleaned. Jack announced that this sort of victory merited a celebration, and they would soon dock to gather supplies for their party. Once they found a secure enough port, the crew bartered a small fraction of their plunder for the most delectable treats and barrels of alcohol, along with a few saucy women. They made a brave attempt to store the goods in the galley until they set sail, until Kate brandished a heavy spoon at them and demanded they wait a few days until she could prepare everything. The crew reluctantly agreed.

A few mornings later, the subtle light of dawn began to grace the sky, painting the stormy blue clouds a radiant orange and a glowing pink. The crew of the Black Pearl were roused by the night watchmen and began their duties. The captain of the ship was already awake, and had been for some time. He'd neglected to put on any more clothes than his trousers, and further neglected notice so. Jack Sparrow had spent the wee hours of this beautiful morning contemplating: pirating, treasure, wealth, life. Loss. Affection. Pain. Bliss. Hurt. Desire. Jealousy. Love.

The last one made his stomach tingle. A strange notion indeed, a pirate who knows how to love. Such an emotion is reserved for the sea and the sea alone, this is the universal understanding amongst pirates everywhere. For ages, if any sailor had a need, the sea was able to fufill it. There was never any need to question it before. Buy why, Jack wondered, couldn't the pirate's heart harbor a love of the sea and someone dear?

Because, he immediately countered, it's too risky. He knew the answer before he even asked the question. The life of a pirate is full of unexpected twists and turns, and any given day could be the last for any of them. A number of things could claim them without warning; illness, inclement weather, opposing pirates...the noose. So that's the point of the sleazy women in Tortuga, Jack realized. They scratch that itch that comes along whenever a sailor gets lonely, and thankfully, they only require a temporary relationship. After she's paid her due, a pirate can focus on more important things completely risk-free. The merciful thing to do in any other situation was refuse intimate, long-term companionship. When piracy is involved, love just isn't fair.

Well, what about Kate?

What about her?, he ventured, turning to stare at her instinctively as she slept.

Her fiancé was torn from her right before they were to wed. She loved him. Utterly, utterly loved him, and still, through her grief, managed to heal the wounds on her heart and emerge from the ashes completely reborn and reinvented. Instead of letting the poison of contempt and lament take over her life, instead of mourning his death and the loss of her youth, she chose to honor their love by living life...for him. She knew that to love at all was a risk, and still, she took it. She may have suffered at the end of the whole ordeal, but she was not sorry. As Kate would tell anyone, 'It was better to have loved and lost, than to never have loved at all.'

Something in Jack's gut told him that he was stomping into dangerous territory, and he tore his thoughts from Kate and any lost love she might have had. Suddenly becoming interested in the contents of the chest of drawers under his table, Jack silently sifted through several odds and ends until he came to the bottom drawer. Contained inside were beads, string, bits of metal with holes worn in them, and old coins. Jack picked up a few of the beads and coins and looked them over, smiling at all the old memories they brought back...or didn't, for that matter. He was too drunk at the time he obtained them to recall where most of them came from, save a lovely red bead. He recognized it instantly; a shining blood color. It was worn from age, but it was beautiful all the same.

"A beautiful red bead for a beautiful redhead," he whispered to himself, glancing momentarily at Kate.

Within seconds, Jack was working. He was hovering over Kate, a few strands of her hair in one hand, beads and string in another. Thankfully, she never awoke, and a few minutes later, his masterpiece was complete. Jack took a moment to admire his handiwork before replacing the drawer in the chest. He looked up from the chest to the window. The sun was completely up now, but only just. He shrugged and slid back into bed. He'd rest for an hour or so until Kate woke up.

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Kate slept until mid-morning when the shimmering rays of the sun poured in and covered the room with light. Her eyes fluttered open, adjusting to the light. To her surprise, she could sense Jack beside her. Funny, since he was usually out on deck by now or sitting at his table with those odd spectacles, muttering to himself as he mapped out a new course. She groaned as she sat up and stretched, and as she did so she had the most unusual sensation. Her head was weighed down, not to the point of immobility...just enough to feel weird. Kate lifted her hands to her head and ran her hands along her hair, discovering the beads that Jack tied in and the tiny braids he'd woven around them.

Amazed, Kate turned to Jack, who was already awake. "You like it?" he asked, smiling widely.

Her hands remained on her hair and her beads. "I...think so. I haven't seen it yet, have I?"

Kate laughed and pulled her leather bag into her lap from under the bed. She extracted her looking glass and peered into it, marveling at way the beads coins hung from her hair. "I love it, Jack. Thank you."

He sat up behind her so they could both be seen in the looking glass, pointing out to her that there were no less than three clusters of beads in her hair. He gingerly pinched a polished green bead by her right ear. "This one," he said, "I got in Japan. It belonged to the emperor's daughter, with whom I am..." he grinned and stroked his beard absentmindedly, "...closely acquainted."

Kate snickered and Jack continued, moving on to a set of beads on top of her head. "This coin is...Incan, I believe. I nicked it and a fat lot of others from a friend of mine who worked in the trading company. And this bead," he pointed out the red one, "was my mothers. I don't know where she got it, but...I think it suits you more."

Kate smiled, truly moved by what he'd done. "Thank you, Jack. What a moving gesture...I shall never take them out, even when I'm done sailing."

Jack looked bewildered. "'Done sailing?' But you're a pirate now, love."

"Yes," Kate started, climbing out of bed and throwing off Jack's shirt, "but I don't always mean to be." She grabbed her corset and handed it to Jack.

He stood, his eyes bulging with confusion. "I don't follow." He wrapped the corset around her and began to pull the stays.

Kate cried out at the sudden lack of air, inhaling shortly before answering. "I mean that I don't always want to be a pirate! Someday I'd like to settle down somewhere and get married!"

Jack finished and tied her off. She turned around and stared at this poor, baffled man who was shifting his eyes around helplessly. "Were you expecting me to volunteer?" he asked, flashing his most charming grin, trying to keep from laughing.

Kate rolled her eyes. "No." She grabbed her dress and threw it on, doing up the buckles and buttons. "I was only saying that I'm not getting any younger and considering my age group, I'm already an old maid."

"You're a child!"

"No, Jack." Kate did up her hair to show off her new beads and slipped on her shoes. "I'm not."

Jack stared at Kate for half a minute, his eyebrow raised. "Whatever you say, darling."

"Here," Kate brought him his clothes, "It's getting colder outside and I really wouldn't suggest going out in naught but trousers. I've got to go to the galley now. We must have that celebration tonight or all the food will spoil. If you like, you can even tell the crew."

Kate smiled and left Jack alone. His eyes shifted between his clothes and the door, ignoring the constriction in his throat. "She's not a child..." he mumbled to himself.

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Far away from the Pearl, the first mate of a strange ship materialized from thin air in front of his captain. Her sour features softened, hoping he had good news.

"I know who Jack Sparrow's female companion is, Captain."

She smiled wickedly and stood, flinging her long black hair from her face. "Good. And?"

The man continued nervously, in spite of himself. "She goes by the name Kate Porter, but I've done some snooping and found she's really a murderess called Katherine Carrington. There's a pretty penny on her head, from what I hear."

The woman squealed with glee. "Excellent. When Jack Sparrow finds out the degree of her bounty, he'll find the nearest port and turn her in for capture. How soon can we share the good news?"

The pair's eyes burned with devilish fire as the entire ship disappeared into nothingness, vaporizing into the sea.

-------

That night, as the crew of the Black Pearl danced and sang and drank merrily, Kate was in the galley slaving away over the refreshments. She'd dismissed Will an hour before dark, insisting that enjoy himself and that he deserved a break. Since then, she'd only been on deck once to replenish everyone's drinks and, unexpectedly, break up a fight between two women over Jack. Kate reminded them that both had come aboard with other men, and if they really wished to dance with Jack, they'd have to earn his approval before anything else. The two sheepishly hung their heads and shuffled over to Jack, who was slumped over the wheel of the ship, bored out of his mind. Kate caught his eye and winked at him before heading back to the galley to finish the snacks.

A while later, Kate was finally finished. Every now and then, a group of people would come down to get something to nibble on, compliment the chef, and head back to the party. Kate plopped down on a crate to regain her energy when a very giddy Jack sauntered in. She stood and dusted off her dress, clasping her hands together. "Yes?"

Jack tipped his hat politely. "Miss Porter, as I understand it, you have yet to engage in the frivolity that my men broke their backs to throw together. Now, why is that?"

Kate laughed and picked up her sewing. "Well, Captain, not only have I not been properly invited to the party, but I've been the one toiling away, not your crew."

"In that case, Miss Porter," he took the sewing from her hands and pulled her up, "you are going to join me tonight as my guest, you will dance with me, you will drink until you explode, and you will enjoy yourself more tonight than you ever have in your entire life, savvy?"

Kate laughed and nodded. She followed Jack to the deck, which was absolutely swarmed with other people. Half the crowd went quiet when they saw Jack almost arrogantly take Kate's hands, and watched the two dance around to the accordian and other instruments being played by the few who weren't dancing. Soon enough, everyone was haphazardly doing their own little jig, oblivious to their captain and his galley mistress. Jack smirked the entire time he was whirling Kate around, and truthfully she hardly noticed. She was giggling madly at all the fun she was having, making good on Jack's demand to enjoy herself.

A minute or two later, Jack plopped down on a nearby barrel and pulled Kate onto his lap. Someone was passing with bottles of rum and Jack grabbed two for himself and Kate. "You're not exploding yet. Here you are." He uncorked the bottles and passed one to her.

Kate took a long drink from the bottle. "Oh, Jack, I can't remember a time when I had this much fun!"

Jack took a drink from his own bottle. "I knew you'd say that. It's what you get for going to festivities with Captain Jack Sparrow, love."

They drank and danced, then danced and drank. By the time the party was dying down and the majority had gone to bed, Jack and Kate were in a world of their own Will who was on his way to bed himself, noticed the state that Kate was in and offered to clean up the galley before he went to bed and received a wave-off. Resigned, he went off to the galley to finish his chores.

Yawning, Kate declared that she was going to bed, and deposited her rum bottle on the pile in the corner. She bid the last of the crew goodnight and retreated to Jack's cabin. Minutes later, Jack had followed her in and threw his hat off. "Good job, girl. You made your captain proud."

Kate was putting on her pajamas when he entered. "Thank you. I'm rather proud of myself." She smiled and climbed into bed, letting her hair down from it's ribbon.

Jack soon followed. "You know something? I don't think that I've ever had that much fun. Ever. Thank you, darling."

Kate chuckled and rested her head on his shoulder. There was no need of words at the moment, everything that needed to be said was said. Jack and Kate were perfectly content to sit in silence and think about the night's events fondly, in the company of their best friend.

What seemed like an eternity passed in a second and the atmosphere changed. The air suddenly became very heavy, and at the same time became sparse. All the world faded away, leaving the two alone in their own world with their equal thoughts. Kate lifted her head to see if Jack was effected by the sudden atmospheric change, and he was. He was staring at her absentmindedly, twirling a piece of her hair that had fallen in front of her face. His eyes glowed like a gentle onyx fire and his lips curled into a playful grin. As if drawn together by a magnet, they leaned towards each other until their lips met. A kiss as soft as a gentle breeze, and then, after they registered what was happening, as deep as the sea itself. Jack's arms wound themselves around Kate's waist and shoulderblades, and the two could feel just how fast the other's heart was beating.

When lack of air grasped them, they pulled away slowly, taking back the precious air that seemed to be such a scarcity. The remnants of their passion gone, Kate cleared her throat and allowed Jack to remove his probing hands from her person. Awkwardness quickly set in.

"Well, um..." Jack started, a confused smile spreading across his face.

"Yes, um...goodnight, then?" Kate muttered, unable to bring herself to look him in the eyes.

Jack nodded fervently. "'Night."

Desperate for relief from this difficult situation, Jack and Kate snuggled into their pillows, waiting for sleep to take over them.

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A/N: Okay, really, I WILL update on the other stories soon! Once again, Happy Holidays!