The short excursion had made it clear to Jack that he probably couldn't get around Port Royal. Rachel had become a little more normal since they were back on the Pearl. Now and then she even smiled, which he liked exceedingly.

The problem was that he could not afford to be recognised with her in Port Royal and get into trouble.
He was sitting below deck, Gibbs and Barbossa keeping him silent company. Jack glanced back and forth between the two.

He still hadn't come up with anything useful to solve his problem. He sighed deeply.
"She has to go back," it was like a thought spoken aloud.

Barbossa, who was still annoyed that he had lost his Fortune, merely snorted contemptuously. Gibbs, however, took the bait and asked in wonderment whom he was referring to.

"Rachel I mean. She has to go to Port Royal to remember her life," Jack returned in reply.

Now Barbossa straightened up.

"Why does she have to?" he wanted to know suspiciously. "Why can't she stay that way?"

"Barbossa, you disappoint me. Once you have a wind goddess, there's no harm in her being well-disposed towards you. But for that, she needs her humanity."
To Jack's chagrin, Gibbs now intervened. Chagrin, because Gibbs was heading towards the wrong side.

"We can just drop her off somewhere and leave her alone, hoping that she will do the same with us. Or we can deliver her inconspicuously to Port Royal."

"Jack's right. We should take advantage of the situation. If we take her to Port Royal, she'll be out of our reach," said Barbossa, still somewhat absent-minded.

Jack was nevertheless satisfied, they both thought about his problem.

"What if we had leverage?" Jack asked with a grin.

"Whoever you want to use as leverage, I feel sorry for this one already." Gibbs took a sip of rum and tried to appeal to Jack's compassion with a certain look - to no effect.

"Leverage, ye say? What do ye have on Port Royal?" asked Barbossa, who pricked up his ears.

Since he had lost his ship, he was no longer really interested in the proceedings. Tia Dalma had left and was probably no longer causing trouble, or so he hoped. Callisto didn't really seem to be one of those crazy deities who would always give you a hard time, either.

Jack's finger brushed over the mouth of his rum bottle, creating resonant noises. "Nothing at the moment, but I could fix that quickly. I'm thinking of a certain Mrs. Turner."

"How are ye going to get Elizabeth if ye don't want to sail straight to Port Royal?" Barbossa was now completely consumed with the task of getting Rachel mind was in a frenzy, and he was almost one step ahead of Jack.

Jack raised his hand and spread his little and index finger in the air. "With a little help of the not-so-voluntary kind."
He tipped his chair back before leaning forward conspiratorially. "Just so we're clear, if I can't rely on you, then there's no point, you might as well get out of here right away."

Gibbs gritted his teeth. He didn't like it when Jack schemed. He was good at it, but it went against Gibbs' grain. On the other hand, what kind of first mate would he be if he didn't stand behind his captain?

"What do ye want?" Gibbs asked, and Barbossa also nodded resolutely at Jack.

"Who's going to play the villain?" Jack grinned. He knew someone who had that role cut out for him.

Two days later, Temari and Tristan were up on the deck practising mock fights. They had always done this.

Temari only used as much energy in her blows as was necessary. Not a bit too much, and only as much as she could then skilfully redirect if she missed.
She had continued to hone her skills, Tristan realised. In short, she was too agile and lithe for him. His only chance was to batter her with powerful blows until she would eventually lose stamina.

Temari seemed to read his thoughts and smiled diabolically at him before feinting, only to dance around him and playfully poke him in the back with the hilt of her sabre.
Rachel, who was standing at the railing, laughed and congratulated Temari.

Tristan had had enough, he sheathed his sword. At that moment, Gibbs came running up from downstairs, looking panicked.

"Mutiny! Mutiny!" he shouted.

Barbossa came more leisurely behind him and had Jack, whom he let drag behind him tied up, with him. Jack seemed to have difficulty staying on his feet.
Gibbs had stood beside Tristan and Temari.

"I didn't catch it all, but Barbossa and Jack had an argument and suddenly five of Barbossa's old crew came, and they struck the captain down," he explained to them quickly.

The men of Barbossa, who were just mentioned, meanwhile had draped themselves around Barbossa. They were muscle-bound, seemingly cunning pirates.
Temari narrowed her eyes, briefly sought Tristan's gaze, and they nodded at each other. The rest of Jack's crew had also prepared for battle and were all focused on Barbossa.

"Release our captain, and you won't be harmed!" shouted Ragetti bravely.

Temari was in no mood for long speeches, she nimbly jumped towards one of the mutineers, and before he knew it, he had a blade at his neck.

Jack groaned and looked at Temari out of bleary eyes. "Don't do that. Barbossa won."

His breath smelled strongly of rum.

"You're giving up without a fight?" Temari wanted to know from him, contempt resonating in her voice.

"Ye don't think I'd start a mutiny if I didn't have a chance of winning it. Jack's people outnumber us. But alas, dear old Jack has one great weakness." While Barbossa was speaking, another of his men appeared, followed by a trail of oil dripping onto the wooden planks of the ship.

Grinning, he lifted a lantern.

Temari glared hatefully at the men, her eyes literally sparkling with disdain.

"A ship doesn't burn that easily," she said defiantly.

Jack screwed up his face and fixed Gibbs with his eyes.

Gibbs quickly jumped in. "Barbossa is serious. He'd set fire to the powder chamber, too. Then the Pearl goes off and we with her."
Temari received a blow to the head, and it went black around her.

When she regained consciousness, she was in a cell below deck. She sat up groaning and put her hand to her head. Immediately she realised that she was being watched and she startled.

"Calm down, everything's fine," Tristan said from behind her.

He and the entire crew of the Black Pearl were with her and spread over the three cells. Jack was in the next cell, leaning against the bars.

"Before you play the "I got a bottle of rum knocked on my head" card, here's the short version: Barbossa is a lying bastard. He wants to win Rachel over and will take her to Port Royal. I was against it. That way he'll be in her good books, or so at least he hopes. We're already on our way to Port Royal. He'll probably turn us over to the Royal Navy. I bet the Commodore will wet himself with joy when he gets me."

Jack rolled his eyes and gently bumped the back of his head against the cool bars.

Temari came crawling towards him.

"We could beat him, there are more of your crew. What kind of captain are you? What kind of man?" she asked Jack challengingly.

All of them, Marty, Gibbs, Cotten, all of them listened intently to what their captain had to say in his defence.

Jack smiled, his gold tooth flashed, and for a moment he closed his eyes.
"What kind of captain would I be without the Pearl? What kind of man would I be without her? That's the more interesting question here, and believe me, you don't want to hear the answer. Besides, any imbecile knows you can't win a mutiny with a new mutiny."

"But Captain, couldn't it be that Barbossa is just bluffing? I mean, he's been attached to the Pearl for years too, trying to take her from you again and again." Ragetti joined the conversation with hope.

Jack shook his head and the next lie slipped easily from his lips. "That's a risk I'm not willing to take."

Temari hissed like a snake. "Instead, you'd rather take responsibility for an entire crew that you might send to their deaths?"

Some men agreed with her, others stood behind their captain and glared angrily at Temari.

"Aye, the Pearl's worth it."

"Where is Rachel?", Temari wanted to know as she looked searchingly around the group.

Rachel was sitting with Barbossa in the captain's cabin. He had offered her wine, she had declined with thanks.

Throughout the entire mutiny, she had stood silently by the railing. She had sensed a tiny spark of stirring inside her, she couldn't place it. Was it fear, pity, anger? Whatever it was, now it had turned into something like shame.

She had liked Temari and Tristan, she had also liked Gibbs, yet she had not felt compelled to intervene.

Barbossa had been talking insistently to her for a while, he had promised to help her. To help her remember more of her old life. She believed him. He would hardly want to compete with her.

Tia Dalma had been recovering in her hut under the thick canopy of leaves. She felt fresher than she had in a long time.

She had just boiled herself a cup of tea when she felt a dull sensation in her stomach area.

A melody hummed in her head. It was so quiet, she couldn't even be sure it really existed. And yet - she knew the tune, this sweet, melancholy tune.
She closed her eyes, tilted her head to one side and listened to the past. Involuntarily she had to smile and she hummed along with the melody.

If her senses weren't playing tricks on her, this meant mighty trouble. Trouble she had sensed creeping out for a while.

She hurried to take the most essential utensils with her. She had to steel herself and be prepared for all eventualities.
After a brief moment in which she paused at the door, she opened it and stepped out into the darkness. Behind her, the candles went out as if by magic.