Four days had passed since my departure from Port Royal and now, as I looked out into the horizon from the Captain's window, I could see Tortuga getting closer and closer. My heart fluttered with frightened excitement at the thought of Jack being there.
I thought about the change that had occurred in Jack's personality. Through the thick and thin he still stayed his funny, sarcastic, ridiculous self... but he was a bit more serious, a bit more protective... I could not place it but my being there had changed him. Was that a good thing? I certainly had changed and I liked it.
I could hear voices outside of the cabin door, "Why are we here, Captain? This is a pirate port!" Heffner sighed and I stood, my black, huge dress all around me. I could not wait to be out of it... it was pretty, I had to say, but it was most uncomfortable after four days of wearing it. The door opened.
"Well, Miss Ricci, we're here." Heffner said, gesturing with his hand. His first mate, I would assume, looked at me for a moment with wide eyes...
"Christy?" he asked. I smiled.
"Hello, Johnny." I said brightly. I was not surprised to see him for he had come into the Captain's cabin plenty of times while I hid, "It's been many years since I last saw you." He smiled. Heffner looked from one of us to the other quickly.
"What is this?" he asked.
"Oh, forgive me Captain." Johnny said, "We were friends as children. I left when we were teenagers to find work." He looked back at me. "What are you doing here?"
"Alright! Alright! Enough with this chit chat! You'll have time for it later. Now, the sun is setting and even though I don't trust it here, we'll stay. I don't want to go out into open sea where I know there are pirates that would like nothing more than to take my ship." I smiled.
"Perhaps I could take Johnny ashore?" I asked, "We would like to catch up." Heffner sighed and nodded.
"Thank you," I said, walking out the door. I stopped and touched his shoulder, "For everything." The Captain nodded briefly and I smiled, walking out the door and onto the deck. I sped past the baffled crew members and hopped over the edge. I didn't care about the suspicions the crew might have for their captain, a young woman, coming out of his cabin and rushing onto a pirate port. It was certain that they would have suspicions of some sort.
Johnny walked behind me, keeping close as I walked through Tortuga, no longer afraid of this island but... perhaps even at home.
"Why do I feel as if I am more nervous here than you?" Johnny asked. I smiled.
"Because you are." I replied simply, taking his arm. I looked icily at a man who was approaching me and touched the pistol on my skirt. He smiled hurriedly and backed away.
"You're a pirate aren't you?"
We walked into the pub that Jack and I had first met Edmund in, sitting down at the bar. I smiled at the bartender woman, who smiled back at me, recognizing me. She seemed to have a bit of sympathy in her eyes... for what reason I did not know. I still had not answered Johnny's question.
"Are you?" he demanded. He did not sound mad, just desperately curious, "Are you a pirate?"
I sighed and held out my arm, which was branded with the P, Johnny's eyes widening at it.
"Yes," I said quietly, "Yes I am." Johnny looked at my eyes as I tipped the mug of rum in front of my face, pouring some down my throat. He sighed.
"So you became the thing you wanted to be rid of."
"Port Royal's life was a lie, Johnny." I said, "It was a lie! You go out to sea. Sure, your intentions are much more fine than that of a pirate, but isn't it worth it just to be free?" Johnny shook his head.
"You gave up everything, though." He said, "For a life of crime, running from the navy." I smiled.
"I'm happy like this," I said, "I really am." Johnny shrugged his shoulders heavily.
"If you say so." He said, "I'm going to go back to the ship. Goodbye, Christina." I smiled sadly and put my arms around his shoulders, hugging him tightly. "We won't see each other again." He said, bowing slightly. He walked out of the door quickly, casting sharp glances around him. I stood there, watching him leave.
"Christina!" My body instinctively whirred around, my eyes wide to see a woman that I had not seen in weeks... one that I had hoped not to see again. My throat became dry when I laid my eyes on Eva Shapiro. She was walking with her hand linked with another man's. I looked at the hands and suddenly realized something...
"Where's Jack?" I asked quickly, not even greeting her. Eva smiled.
"He left to look for you." She said. I gave her an icy stare and she noticed. "This is my fiancée, Henry." She said, gesturing to the man next to her. He was quite tall and bowed to me. I half curtseyed to him. Eva smiled, "Jack went back to Port Royal to find you." She repeated. "He left here six days ago."
"I left." I said, thankful, my sourness toward the pirate slowly melting away. "I went to find him!" Eva laughed.
"He'll come back here when he finds that you're no longer in Port Royal." She said quietly, "He'll never stop chasing you, I hope you know that." I looked down.
"Yes," I said.
"Christina Ricci!" I sighed, wondering how many other familiar faces I would see this night and turned, smiling at the pirate that I had conversed with so many times.
"Edmund," I said politely, bowing. He smiled and yet... it was not a smile of happiness. I grasped his hand with both of mine and shook it, not forgetting that he was recently claimed as my uncle. "It is wonderful to see you again." He smiled again, sighing.
"And you, my niece." He said, "I hope you have not forgotten what I said..."
"Of course not." I said, "No one ever could." I smiled as Eva touched my arm and bid me farewell. I waved to her, keeping my comments to myself. I would deal with my feelings later.
"Care for a rum?" Edmund asked quietly, swallowing. I frowned at his unease.
"Alright..." I said and sat down slowly, gathering up my dress around me so that none would trip on it. Edmund Ricci's peg leg thumped on the ground as he walked over to sit across from me and sat down.
"There is something you want to tell me, Uncle." I said; it was not a question.
"You came here looking for Jack Sparrow."
"Yes..."
Edmund's eyebrows contracted on the top of his rugged, tan face. "You won't find him here..." He said. I went to speak but he cut me off, "His ship was attacked. Jack... was attacked."
Every muscle in my throat constricted... I couldn't breathe... my heart ceased to function in shock.
"What do you mean?" I asked, my eyes filling with tears. I knew what was coming next.
"Christina... He's dead..."