"…after changing out of that itchy uniform, I returned to Tortuga to claim the bets. I got an hour glass, a crossbow, three goats, and a trumpet along with enough money to pay off a few debts."

Barbossa listened to the story as he stood at the helm. He honestly had no idea where they were headed. He knew they needed to find an area of open sea and wait there for an island to appear. It didn't make sense to him, but Julia said it was the only way.

Julia told him that the Fates can grant immortality. All they needed to do was find them. Looking through the books Julia brought, the Fates were likely to be found on Isla Sirena. Some stories also mention an offering: the hair of a man sealed within a woman's blood.

"Uncle Grant wasn't very happy when he heard what I did." Julia continued. "He made me run the Inn for a week as punishment. It was not as easy as it looks. Do you know how many time people-"

A gust of wind blew her hair into her mouth. Again. It had been a usually windy day. Even now, Julia was holding Barbossa's hat to keep it from being blown away again.

"You know, I don't understand the point of such a large hat. You and my Dad wear these hats that catch the wind like a sail and wonder why they get blown away so easily." Julia smiled as she played with the feathers. "My older brother has a smaller hat. The brim of it isn't nearly as wide as yours though it does get blown away if touched during a gust of wind." She then narrowed her eyes. "You cut the feathers?"

"Nay. It happened on Isla de Muerta. I fought a man and he cut the feathers."

"What happened to him?"

"He shot me."

Julia laughed at Barbossa. "He shot you! You got shot!"

"Aye and killed."

Julia's laughter stopped suddenly. "You got killed?" She then smirked. "Oh so that is why you were so intent on releasing Calypso. You owed her a debt."

Barbossa turned with a shocked expression on his face. Or at least Julia assumed it was supposed to be one of shock.

"I hear stories."

"You hear an awful lot of stories."

"All part of the profession." Julia replied, with a smile. "Some men love to talk. A bit of foreplay, I assume. Useless if you ask me. If you've already promised to pay a certain amount, there's no coaxing needed." Then she paused. "I had one man once who insisted on seeing how many times he-"

Barbossa looked over and saw Julia winding a strand of hair around her finger as she spoke. "You ever think about tying that back?"

"I've tried. I can never get it right. I always miss the back and it seems kind of pointless without the back."

"Come with me." Barbossa ordered, gesturing for the helmsman to take over. He lead Julia to their bedroom. "Sit on the bed." He then looked through a chest that had been brought up from a cabin below and pulled out a hair brush. He sat down behind her and started brushing her hair.

"Captain?"

"I'm tired of seeing your hair everywhere." Barbossa replied. It wasn't the whole truth. Part of him secretly liked her hair. It was soft with a slight coarseness about it that he found to be interesting. The sunlight added lighter streaks to her hair that made it even more interesting. The wind did a great job at tangling her hair though, and a surprising amount of work had to be put into it.

Julia just sat there, unable to hide the fact that she was blushing. "Last time anyone brushed my hair was when I was eight, before my Mum got sick. She used to brush my hair every night. After she got sick, my Dad wouldn't let anyone near her." She sighed sadly. "I got to see her one last time before she passed. Mum gave me the locket she always wore."

"Next time you let your hair get like this I'm cutting it off." Barbossa threatened, yanking the brush though her hair.

"Then it'll look like you're really sleeping with your cabin boy."

"You wouldn't pass for a boy."

"We wouldn't know now would we?" Julia asked, smiling over her shoulder at Barbossa.

Barbossa used his free hand to turn her head back to facing forward as he continued brushing. When the hair was finally straightened out, he ran his hand through it, all the way down to the middle of her back. He sighed as he tried to think of what to do. Originally, he was just going to tie it back with a ribbon. Now that he knew exactly how much hair she had, that didn't seem like an option.

"Can you put a braid in? My brother has this huge braid on the top of his head. I'm not sure how he got that or why a braid that size on the top of his head, but I always thought it was pretty."

"Aye. That should do." Barbossa mumbled as he tried to figure out what to do with her hair. As he thought, he started putting small braids into it. He learned how to braid hair from Jack Sparrow. Sometimes, after they had their fun together, he had to redo Jack's hair. Julia's hair reminded him of Jack's. After a while, he got bored. "Where's that dress of yours?"

"It's in the sack on my side of the bed." Julia replied. A few moments later, she heard the sound of fabric ripping and turned around. "What are you doing?! That was expensive!"

"You don't need it anymore." Barbossa replied, gesturing for her to turn around. He looked down at the strip of dark green fabric in his hands, noticing the slightly darker floral pattern, before wrapping it around her head and tying it.

"Oh! A scarf!" Julia exclaimed. "My brother has a red bandana Dad bought for him, and he's just been adding things into his hair since he-"

"I'm done."

Julia excitedly jumped off the bed and ran to a mirror to look. She smiled, admiring the braids and the "scarf". She then returned to the bed, sat next to Barbossa, and kissed his cheek. "Thank you."

"I'm in the mood for an apple."

"I'll get it. You are also out of rum so I'll get that too!" Julia replied, running out of the cabin with a smile on her face.

Barbossa lay back on the bed, smiling. In all honesty, he was really entertained by the young woman, even if he was just ordering her around. He liked the extra warmth in the bed and the extra company during meals. He looked down at his hand, remembering her hair slipping through his fingers like water. He could touch her whenever he wanted and she didn't seem to care. If anything, she welcomed it. Some nights, it seemed as though she even demanded it.

On deck, Julia first went to check on the helmsman, as usual. She paid several people besides Scrum to keep an eye for the Troubadour. The last person she wanted to run into unexpectedly was her father. For the past few years, she's half expected to run into Teague, despite the fact that she wrote to him as her uncle to fake her own death. She knew that if Teague found out she lied to him, there will be hell to pay.

All the more reason to unfurl the rest of the sails. The Troubadour was at their stern, and gaining.

I honestly love writing about these two. I'm not sure why. It might be because they are different from my usual couple...

I also just realized how much I actually hate Julia's first and last name put together. Catherine Teague. I'm not sure how I came up with Catherine in the first place, but I think I know how Teague might've. It sounds a lot like Captain Teague...

And by the way: yes. The prizes Julia mentioned at the beginning of this chapter are the things Jack told Mr. Gibbs they needed to release the Black Pearl from the bottle...