Evangeline almost missed him.

She had been lying on her back in her bed in Gibbs' (newly cleaned, no thanks to Kalepi- men were all the same) and brooding at the ceiling. Jack's stupid compass had occupied her thoughts all day. Why would it have pointed at Jack? How could hebe connected to her heart's desire? There was nothing she wanted from him. She hated him. It made no sense at all.

Or so she told herself.

There were many things Evangeline never said outside of her own head, and for good reason. Nine times out of ten it was because her thoughts would offend many people and get her killed. But there were other thoughts, things that occurred to her when she lay up very late at night, that she would never say out loud simply because they were embarrassing. In Port Royal, she couldn't really care less about reputations; hers was dashed enough as it was. But on board the Pearl, she was the captain's daughter: exotic, mysterious, distant. Untouchable. It was how she survived on board a ship crowded with filthy stinking men. Showing off her vulnerability would get her absolutely nowhere.

However, it was her vulnerabilities that might answer her question as she lay there, glaring at the ceiling as if it had done her great personal wrong. She had not seen Jack in many years, but he had scarcely changed from the drunken, annoying, self-important idiot she'd met so long ago. Her encounters and voyages with him had been brief, but she had always kept a careful watch on him. She knew what he was like. And she knew, maybe better than anyone, that he would never change. Evangeline already knew her heart's desire: a parent. A proper one, who would be there and watch over her and scold her and teach her and all those other parent-y things. But she also knew that she would never, ever find a parent in Jack Sparrow.

So why had the needle pointed to him?

These thoughts ran in and out of her head for hours until she could stand it no longer. She had to stretch her legs, get some fresh air. Abuse Cotton's parrot, because that was an argument she knew she could win. Maybe cook something, because good food tended to help improve her mood. Anything but sit here, whiling away in a filthy cabin.

"Kalepi, I'm just heading out," she called to the darkness of the cabin. There was no reply. She guessed he was asleep, but paused just in front of the door. She had been so caught up in her own thoughts that she had scarcely noticed whether or not Kalepi had come inside like she'd told him to. She moved over to the pile of blankets and clothes that was his bed- he refused to take the bed for himself, which impressed Evangeline- and felt around in the darkness.

Nothing.

Panic rose up in her throat. Where was he? Had someone else found him? Even worse- had Kidd found him? It was bad enough if some pirate found him and cut his throat, but if Kidd had captured him the entire world could be doomed. And she had promised to protect him from all of that kind of stuff…

She was about to burst out of the cabin and demand a thorough search of the ship and surrounding areas when she caught herself. Kalepi was a curious little boy. She knew that there were plenty of things that went on in his head that he never dared say out loud- probably for the same reason she never voiced her thoughts too much. And she also knew that he didn't trust anyone. She could see it in the way he looked at almost everyone- it was exactly the same look she'd given many people too many times. Accordingly, from the way he looked at her when he thought she wasn't watching, Evangeline knew that Kalepi didn't trust her. How much he did or didn't know about his situation, on the other hand, Evangeline did not know. Either way, it was a fair enough assumption that he would try to run away at the first opportunity. Evangeline would do the same.

So, she thought, quietly opening the door and standing on deck, tapping her hip with her fingers. If I was going to escape from here, how would I do it?

It was too dark to risk leaping from the ship to the docks and possibly falling in, so she ruled that out. Finding a plank and putting it across would take too long and be too noisy, so that was out too. So obviously the easiest thing to do would be to sneak off with the other pirates. Kalepi was small enough to get lost amongst them, and he could pull the brim of his ridiculously big straw hat low over his face and pretend he was Marty. Evangeline's heart sank. Of course that was what he had done, and who knew where he could be now? She had to find Jack and tell him-

What was that? Evangeline whipped her head around, squinting into the blackness. She was sure she'd seen something. A little movement, a scuffle of feet… Maybe it was just a rat. Maybe not.

Her hand crept slowly to her belt, and then stopped. She stood straight, looked down and swore softly to herself. Captain's daughter, trapped on a pirate ship, previously proved to be lethally accurate with a gun in her hands, and she still didn't have a weapon hanging off her hip. She was supposed to be descended from a long line of famous pirates! Ah, Blackbeard would have been ashamed if he had seen her. If she ever met her grandfather in the afterlife, she made a mental note not to mention this to him.

Instead, Evangeline had to rely only on her fists and wits in this situation- and, if she was going to be frank, both were pretty sharp. She crept out onto the deck, fists clenched, walking with her knees bent in the defence position. If anything- man, woman or rat- where to jump out at her, she would be ready for them.

Aha! There it was again! She crouched down low, ready to pounce- and paused. His skin was so dark it blended into the night and she almost missed him, but he had uttered a faint cry of disgust as he brushed the ropes with his fingers, giving himself away. Evangeline smirked to herself and settled back, just to watch for a little while. She had sat and listened and watched at countless dinners as he complained and made faces at his food, and so his manner as he steeled himself and wrapped his hands around the slimy rope were familiar to her. He was a world-class complainer and had awfully high standards, considering his previous occupation.

Evangeline shook her head. All of the escape routes, and he chose this one? He had a long way to go. "Kalepi?"

He ignored her and kept inching down the rope. Evangeline felt her heart beat rise- he was actually going to do it- Picky Princess Kalepi was actually going to slide down a slimy rope- he would be gone soon if she didn't do something- "Kalepi."

She started towards him, urgency creeping into her voice. He had almost tipped over the side, into the blackness, when she flung her hand out and grabbed the back of his pants. For a terrible moment it looked like he might wriggle out of them and leave her with only a fistful of cloth, but he started and whirled around and-

Evangeline lifted an eyebrow and tried to look stern. "So… Taking a stroll?"

Kalepi struggled to reassert both his dignity and his excuses. "Um, well. You see, Evangeline…"

The words seemed to die in his throat. Evangeline laughed, shook her head, and yanked him back onto the boat. "Seriously, kid? All the escape routes and you go for the slimy rope. Very courageous of you, but not very smart."

He looked surprised at her response, but managed a shaky laugh. "Yeah… Yeah. Guess I should've, uh, though about it…" He trailed off and looked at Evangeline strangely. "What makes you think I was escaping?"

Evangeline rolled her eyes. "God, I dunno. The creeping around at night? Ignoring me when I called you? Choosing what would seem to be the most subtle exit on this ship? Which of these would possibly give me the impression you were trying to get away?"

Kalepi laughed nervously again, rubbing the back of his neck. Evangeline shifted her weight to one leg and put her hands on her hips, watching him carefully. "Question is… Why?"

He looked torn with indecision. Evangeline understood that, too. It was often hard to decide if you trusted someone enough to reveal your plan to them. She gave him the obvious prompt and said, "You can trust me."

The look in Kalepi's eyes told her that, as far as he was concerned, he couldn't. But once again, he said nothing about it and just shook his head. "Just practising," he said, not looking at her. "You know. Pirate ship, and all that. Need to know these things."

Evangeline wanted to press him but knew that, like her, he would say nothing he didn't want to. So she just reluctantly patted his shoulder and directed him back to their cabin. "Well, just… Stay in the cabin, OK? It'd be pretty bad if we lost you."

Kalepi seemed to have something to say about that and bit his tongue, instead saying, "But you were out here too."

Evangeline didn't bother trying to hide her grin, remembering the hundreds of times she had said exactly the same thing to nuns that found her and scolded her for wandering around the convent after hours. "Let's just say I'm a rule breaker too," she said with a wink, gently pushing Kalepi back to the cabin as she walked over to the helm.

She could feel his eyes on her as he stood in the doorway, trying to decide whether or not he should go inside. She knew he would go in, eventually, simply because he saw no other way out. She would watch him for the rest of the night and there was no use pretending other wise.

Eventually the door clicked shut and Evangeline began to sing under her breath. "Yo-ho, yo-ho, a pirate's life for me."

Maybe she and Kalepi were more alike than it would seem.