Disclaimers: I don't own Potc nor its characters.

A big thank you to all my readers. You are golden.

Much to her surprise, life on board of the Black Pearl was quite enjoyable; there she was treated as equally as any other man, though they all knew she was a woman and a former Navy officer on top of that; pirates seemed to be more forgiving than His Majesty's men apparently… The crew had even given her a nickname, Rush.

The tasks she did on board were not so different from what she had done when she was still a mere sailor; as long as she had anything to do, she couldn't dwell on the past and her loss.

The Pearl sailed without notable events for months; they stopped in Spain for a week or so before going back to the Caribbean. The more time she spent with them, the more she rather liked the pirates with whom she travelled, especially Sparrow. She couldn't understand why James had made her swear she wouldn't trust this man because he was dangerous; Sparrow was reckless, yes, but dangerous? If only James had known how wrong he had been about this pirate. In the end, he was starting to grow on her; sure she wouldn't follow him in all his fanciful plans, but she definitely would sail with him for as long as he wanted her on board.

'Jack, I'm sorry, but you can't count me in for this one…' she said one day, her arms crossed over her chest.

'Are you a pirate, or are you not, Law'?' It still made her smile to her another voice than Simon's call her by this diminutive; years after, she still thought from time to time about what her old friend would have done in her situation; would he have become a pirate, or stayed true to the Navy?

'Well, Captain Sparrow, I am not.'

'Too bad you're on pirate ship then! With a crew of pirate running away from the authorities of Port-Royal, to cite only one, and following the orders of a pirate, who turns out to be none but me.' He gave her his trademark bright smile and took her arm, leading her to the railings and showing her the sea with a vague gesture of his hand.

'You see this? It's ours. A pirate knows no boundaries, and eh, why should there be? The sea and the earth belong to every man; we came second, we cannot own it. Don't you agree?'

For a moment, she almost fell for it, but her sense of righteousness took over before she gave in.

'But Jack, the merchant ships on the sea aren't ours either. We can't take a man's hard-won belongings; that's stealing!'

'Of course that's stealing, we're pirates!' He said, then shrugged. 'I still think everything on land and on sea belongs to every man…'

To Lawrence's relief but Jack's disappointment, the merchant ship had gotten away from them recognizing the Pearl and knowing her intentions.

'Oh Bugger! You see, it's your fault, Rush, you shouldn't have discussed my words!'

'I'll pay you a drink at our next stop to amend myself then, Captain Sparrow.'

'I'm taking you up on this!'

One day, the ship laid anchor at Nassau; Jack had been moody for a couple of nights and refused to talk about what troubled him to anyone. Lawrence decided to let him sort out alone whatever it was that troubled him and decided to visit this famous pirates' lair with some of fellow crewmembers, a nice man called Cotton, who had had his tongue cut and only spoke through his parrot, a dwarf named Marty, and two rather eccentric men named Pintel and Ragetti. The five of them formed quite an odd looking group, but when again, as did any member of Sparrow's crew.

As they walked down the main street, something caught Lawrence's eyes, or rather, someone. 'W-wait for me here, would you? I-I won't be long!' She ran as fast as she could towards the other side of the street where a few men in uniform were gathered.

'Andrew!' she shouted. The man in question turned round at the mention of his name being shouted in such a shady place.

'Lawrence?!'

Another man beside him turned round, it's was Theodore. The two officers quickly excused themselves to the other men and went to her encounter.

'Lawrence, you-you're alive!' Theodore pulled her into a warm hug; before she could say one word, Andrew was hugging her in his turn.

'My friends, it's been so long!' she said, tears of joy forming at the corner of her eyes.

'You've changed…' said Andrew disapprovingly, looking her up and down.

'Who cares about what she's wearing! Dear God, Lawrence, we all thought you were dead! James told us that…'

'Wh-what? James?' her heart beat faster, her lungs felt blocked. 'What are you talking about? James, James is dead!'

Her two friends frowned.

'No, he… he isn't. We've seen him some time ago; he was devastated, he said you were dead, drown with the Dauntless. Come on, we'll talk about all this around a cup of tea, unless you're more of the rum drinking type now…' Theodore said with a wink.

'Yes, yes! Just let me warn my frie-' when she turned round, she noticed her fellow pirates had fled, probably recognizing the Navy uniforms. '… Never mind. Let's go!'

Once they were sat at a table, she couldn't wait any longer to ask them.

'So James is alive then; how is he? I take it he isn't with you now…'

'No he isn't' Andrew shook his head. 'When we saw him, he had just arrived at Port-Royal. He told us about Sparrow's chase and the hurricane; then he told us about you. I don't want to pry, but I need to know, did something happen while-'

'No. I mean, yes. Well, I don't know; it could have been the fear of an imminent death that made us act like we did…'

They silently asked her to go on. She sighed and closed her eyes; this memory was still too painful to bear, even now that she knew James was alive.

'Well, there isn't much to say, really. The mutiny happened just when we needed as many men as possible, and-'

'Mutiny? James never told us about a mutiny!'

'I think he was being too ashamed to admit it to you, his closest friends… So, as I said, the mutiny was right at the moment of the hurricane's peak, leaving only us two to save the ship. We may have kissed and said that we loved each other at one point, I'm not even sure that part happened; it was Hell around us. The foremast was broken, and even with the other sails being rolled up, there was nothing to be done; I tried to help him at the helm but the situation was out of hand and chaotic, so we gave up and… Last thing I now, we were in each other's arms, kissing, waiting for Death to take us both in one blow; but then I woke up on a ship. I was safe, someone had saved my life.' 'Better not tell them who saved me and with whom I am; they would never understand, and I don't want Jack getting into trouble because of me, not after all he's done for me.'

'But James, did he tell you how he survived? Where is he now?' she continued anxiously, wiping the few tears she had shed.

'He told us a Spanish ship saved him; then it isn't clear, apparently he's sailed quite bit with those Spaniards before coming back to us. As for where he is now, we don't know for sure; he was to face court martial. Everything's so different in Port-Royal now… I'm sure he's been assigned to another mission.'

'I'm glad everything is going well for him them; without a doubt, the court martial is a mere formality. God, now that I know that he's alive and safe, I can breathe again! Thank you so much my friends for such great news.'

'Are you going to find him now that you know?' Theodore asked, smiling, happy to see his friend so relieved, and secretly wishing his two friends to be together at last.

'Of course I am!' beaming with joy. 'I'll start looking for a ship tomorrow!'

'Can't your new ship take you there? And by the way, with whom are you?'

'A merchant ship!' she lied, saying for words a bit too quickly.

'Which explains why you are dressed as a pirate…'

'As a matter of fact yes!' 'Think of something, quick, find something!' 'It's a strategy the captain of the White Coal, he's very clever; the whole crew disguise themselves as pirates, so that if we encounter real pirates, they wouldn't think of attacking us. Well, that is to say, they would be less prone to attack us. Hence my informal clothing.'

'That captain of the White Coal must be quite clever indeed!' said Andrew appreciatively.

The three friends talked for another hour before they had to return to their duties. Lawrence hurried back to the Pearl; now wasn't the time to be assaulted, not when she was so close to be with James again.

When she woke up the next morning, Lawrence noticed something odd: the ship was moving. She dressed up hurriedly and ran to the main deck; the ship was indeed sailing away from the port of Nassau, and judging by the distance, they had been sailing for at least a good hour.

'What the Hell, Jack!' Lawrence stormed out, climbing the steps leading to the top deck. 'Why are we at sea, it wasn't the plan!'

Sparrow raised one finger.

'First of all, I've noticed you're picking up the habit of swearing, like a true pirate, I'm proud of you, matey! Secondly, I am the Captain, so whatever I do is the plan. Now, you sit pretty and you let me do my thing, savvy?'

'But I need to go back!' she said, eyes wide with shock.

'Well, you can't. Unless you want to swim and be eaten by sharks…'

'Jack, you don't understand; I need to go back and find a ship that will lead me to Port-Royal. James's alive, and he's most certainly there, I must go join him!'

'Ah, Norrington's back from the dead then? Hallelujah! I'm very happy for you, but you'll have to wait a bit longer before the two of you kiss-kiss each other and engage in… recreational activities.' He looked at her, feigning shock. 'Don't tell me you have already consummated your marriage before your wedding night; I would be most shocked!'

'Jack!' Lawrence blushed furiously at his insinuations and punched his shoulder. He smirked the rolled his eyes.

'You don't even fight like a girl; most women would have slapped me on the face, but you, you punched my shoulder, like a proper man. Maybe I could have had my chances with sweet James then, as you are more of a man than a woman sometimes…'

This time, Lawrence slapped his cheek.

'That's enough now! And see, I can't be both; how's that for your gender theories?' She crossed her arms, looking at him furiously.

'Where are we going anyway? Why did we leave so soon?'

'I'll show you the world, Miss Lawrence' he said in a flirting manner. Lawrence gave him a side look, tightening her lips.

'Alright, alright. West of the Ottoman Empire; I have something to pick up there.'

'I really hope it's worth it…'

'Oh, trust me, it is!'