Disclaimers: Potc isn't mine, nor are its characters.

A big thank you to all of you, you're the best, and I love you.

'Told you she was alive!'

'She?'

'Am I really the only one with eyes 'round here?'

Lawrence felt her boding jerking up as she spat water that was burning her throat; she rolled on her side and threw up again the salty water. She coughed, struggling to catch her breath, her head feeling heavy and dizzy.

'You a'right, mate?' said a slurred voice. The man clumsily but gently tapped her shoulder.

Lawrence slightly straightened herself so that she could lean her back on the wooden rail of a ship. She opened her eyes and winced at the intense luminosity, still seeing dark patches here and there.

'Am I dead?' she asked with a coarse voice, trying to take in her surroundings.

'Hum, don't think so. How do you feel?'

Lawrence squinted and saw that the man she was talking to had funny dreadlock hair partially covered by a red scarf, and a braided goatee divided into two braids with a pearl in each. His dark brown eyes were kohl-rimmed, and a few golden teeth shone through his wide smile.

'Water.'

The man's brow creased, looking at her with narrow eyes.

'Water? How can you feel water? You don't make any sense…'

'Jack, I think she's asking for some water!' said a man beside him; he had a round friendly face and greyish-white sideburns.

'Ah, of course!' He paused. 'Well don't just stand there, and go fetch some!'

'Aye, Captain!' the man said, hurrying away and coming back with a pail of clean water. He filled a cup and gave it to Lawrence who drank it greedily.

'Where am I? Where is James? Who are you?' she asked, once she had gathered her spirits, glancing everywhere with fright.

'You're asking too many things at the same time, Miss…' said the strange-looking man.

'Reynolds, Lawrence Reynolds.'

'… Miss Reynolds. I-'

'This man called you Jack, and Captain… Are you Captain Jack Sparrow?' Her eyes were wide with shock and fear.

'You didn't let me finish!' the man said. 'Yes, I am Captain Jack Sparrow; I am very pleased you've heard of me. Welcome aboard the Black Pearl!'

Lawrence tried to move away as far as she could in her seated position; her fear had doubled.

Jack Sparrow frowned, not expecting to see her reacting in such a way; after all, he had saved her life.

'James!' she shouted, glancing behind her back before looking once again at the pirate. 'Wh-where is James? James!'

'There's no James here!' said the man who was with Sparrow. 'Who are you c-'

'James, do you mean, Norrington?' Sparrow said, incredulous.

Lawrence's eyes shot up, shining suddenly.

'Yes, yes, where is he? Please, tell me he isn't injured!'

'He isn't here. He… You're the only survivor we've found!' said the other man.

'No, no, you are mocking me. You're just torturing me psychologically as any sick-minded pirate would do. He's here, he's here; I-I'm not the… I'm not' her voice started to get caught in her throat, her voice struggling to pass through the lump that had settled; her eyes began to water; her chest rising at an increased speed.

'It's not true, please, you can do everything to me, I don't care, but please, please I'm begging you, tell me it isn't true.'

Her desperate plea made Sparrow wince with sympathy; her disbelief and pain were so raw; he hated to see anyone like this. He tried to put a friendly hand on her shoulder but she only stepped back further; he sighed, shaking his head.

'I'm sorry, lass. I didn't know he was the one after me; I rather liked the man, he was a cool guy, well, when he wasn't threatening me with his sword that is to say.'

Lawrence closed her eyes, streams of tears rolling down her cheeks.

'Are you sure I am the only one who survived?' she whispered.

'Aye. There's nothing left of the ship or her crew… We came back as soon as the hurricane was over, but there was nothing. We found you drifting away on a piece of wood; if I believed in miracles, I'd say you were one!'

Lawrence swallowed with difficulty and sighed with resign.

'You can kill me now. I've got nothing left now…'

'We didn't save you to kill you, Miss Reynolds' said the man with the sideburns. He took off his jacket and approached her as gently as though she were a deer; when he saw she was flinching, he put his jacket over her shoulders and helped her stand.

'Shall I lead her inside, Captain?'

'Yes, yes, you do that' Sparrow said, still looking at the newcomer with his brow furrowed.

'By the way, I'm Gibbs, Joshamee Gibbs, but everyone calls me Gibbs.'

When he heard no response from her, he continued.

'You shouldn't be afraid, you know. Nothing will happen to you, Captain Jack is a good captain, and we'll…' Lawrence didn't hear what he was saying next, her thoughts were little by little getting overcome by what she had learned. She didn't realise either went he led her to a narrow bed in a private quarter, nor when he left her to her thoughts, having taken back his jacket and wrapped a blanket around her.

'There's no James here… you're the only survivor… there's nothing left of the ship or the crew… there's nothing left of the crew… There's no James here… you're the only survivor… James… James… He said he loved me… he was kissing me, he was holding me… we were to die together… we should have died together… He said he loved me… He… He's dead.' Her mind stopped on that thought. 'Dead. Dead. Dead.' This word echoed like the striking of a clock; it tolled in her head like a tocsin. 'Dead. Dead. Dead.' Her empty eyes were staring into space; her body was limp; even her thoughts were limps, for only one word sounded in her head, dead.

After what seemed like five minutes to her but what was three hours in reality, she went out of the room she was in to go to the main deck of the Pearl. She didn't feel like herself, something within her had died; she had lost everything. The pain she felt was nothing compared to watch she had felt when her brother had died, she couldn't explain why but back then she knew she had a reason to live, and that was starting a new life as the sailor her brother could never be; then when James had sent her away to her cousin, she had felt devastated because her pride had been hurt, but still, she knew she would see him again eventually, and she still had her friends. But now, now that James was dead, she couldn't think about any other reason for her to live; Theodore and Andrew would eventually hear about the wreck of the Dauntless and how nobody on board survived, and even if she went to see them again, she would be able to face them again, they would remind her too much of James, of how she was still breathing while he was not, and she couldn't bear the thought of living in this kind of Hell. No, the only reasonable solution was for her to jump overboard and drown as she should have.

She walked past the crew of the Pearl without noticing the strange look they were giving her; she looked at the deep blue sea and put a foot on the railing, ready to give the final push and fall into the water. As she was raising the other foot, she was pulled back by two strong arms around her waist.

'Let me go' she screamed, struggling to be free.

'Can't do that' Jack said seriously. He put her on the deck, away from the railings and eyed her suspiciously. 'Don't do it again, alright?' She looked at him grimly then rushed again towards the water, but the pirate's reflexes were too sharp and he caught her instantly.

'That's it! You go with me now!' He picked her put and threw her across his shoulder like a mere bag of wheat and went to his quarters, ignoring her desperate attempts to go away and her screams.

Once inside, he dropped her unceremoniously on the ground and closed the door, barring it with a chair.

He took two bottles of rum from a chest and gave her one; when he saw she wasn't taking it, he rolled his eyes and put it next to her. He took a gulp from his and sat nonchalantly on a chair, looking her up and down.

'So tell me now, what is this all about? Why d'you want to throw herself off like that? That's… stupid!'

She eyed him wearily.

'Why should you care? You're a pirate; you'll want me dead anyway.'

'You keep saying that, but I don't want to kill you, Miss, err…'

She grunted and took a sip from her bottle.

'Just call me Lawrence!'

'Law' it is then! Now, let's skip the part where you keep thinking I will kill you and tell me why you want to kill yourself.'

Lawrence decided that if she couldn't drown herself in the sea, then she would drown in rum. She took a long gulp and shrugged, the depth of her eyes showing how raw her pain was.

'Isn't it obvious? I've got nothing; James's dead.'

'So I take it sweet Commodore and yourself were romantically involved then?'

'For what, half an hour, tops?' she laughed bitterly. 'It took us more than a year, a mutiny, and a hurricane to declare to each other; we were to die together; I shouldn't have outlived him…'

'There's plenty of other fish in the sea!' Jack said joyfully to lighten the mood.

'But he was my sea' Lawrence said, shaking her head and drinking once more. She hated that taste of rum, but at least it was better than salty water, and the more she drank, the dizzier she was feeling.

'You see, that what I can never understand with you people; you limit yourself to one person and when that person's gone, your whole world crumbles. Look at me!' he said, raising up his bottle and bowing. 'I am unattached and therefore free to live as happily as I want.'

'You're a pirate' she spat.

'Oy, you say that as if it were a bad thing! Now listen,' he sat himself on the floor in front of her and put a sympathetic hand on her shoulder, 'why don't you start over, eh? You stay with us for a while and see how it goes. And for pity's sake, get rid of this bloody Navy uniform, you won't need it anymore!'

Lawrence drew back, trying to look disgusted.

'I refuse to become a pirate!'

'Alright then, nobody said you'd be one; it's up to you. Just, just go with the flow and, don't try to drown yourself again, alright?'

Lawrence examined his face; he didn't seem dangerous, he was even trying to help her. 'Why shouldn't I trust him? I've got nothing to lose after all…' She nodded; Jack gave her a bright smile and clanged his bottle to hers.

'Excellent!' he rose up and helped her to her feet.

'Listen, I'm really sorry about what happened; but you'll make it through, you can trust Captain Jack on that! Now, why don't you go change yourself a bit, and I'll present you to the crew?'

'I don't have anything else, Captain Sparrow…'

'Fine by me, you can walk around in your birthday suit, if you're confident enough!'

Lawrence gave him a pointed look.

'Or not… Well, I'm sure you'll find something to your liking in the chest next to the mizzen mast.'

A few hours before, Lawrence didn't think she could ever smile again, or see the bright sight of things after such a blow; and yet she did, thanks to the unexpected kindness of the famous Captain Jack Sparrow.

'Thank you, Captain Sparrow… For everything.'

Jack smiled again and half-bowed, after stumbled.

'My pleasure.' He opened the door of his quarters and followed her out.

Lawrence couldn't walk straight, her mind felt too foggy.

'I-I think I'm going to…' she ran to the edge of the ship and threw up in the sea. The members of the crew nearby gave her strange looks. 'That much for first and second impressions…' she thought grimly as she wiped her mouth.

Jack knew she wouldn't jump to the sea when he had seen her run, so he waited patiently under the mizzen mast, shaking his head.

Lawrence joined him with downcast eyes, feeling ashamed. Her new captain laughed and gently smacked her back before leaving her.

'Take whatever you need, and throw that jacket to the sea, where it belongs!'

She took the whole content in her arms and went to the room she had first been led to. On the bed, she dropped the clothes and started to pick what would fit her best. Most of the clothes were full of holes, if not rags, but eventually, she found a faded black shirt that wasn't in a too bad shape, and a pair of reddish-brown pants, she decided to keep her boots, as she knew she wouldn't better ones. She threw away her biding scarves, she didn't care anymore whether people thought she was a woman or not, Sparrow didn't seem to mind, and that was all that mattered at the moment; she also tied a turquoise scarf half on her forehead and half on her top head to keep her long hair from flowing into her eyes. This change of appearance was a huge difference from the uniform she previously wore, but strangely enough, she was quite enjoying this new sensation. Maybe that being a pirate rhymed with Freedom after all…