Sappy? Yes, you may very well say it is. But then, the products of a hopeless romantic's mind, especially in a romantically-inclined mood, usually are.

To everyone who was expecting a new chapter of To Another World (as anyone who pays any attention to my writing probably was), I apologize. I just needed to get it out of my system - annnd I needed something quick and sweet to get myself back into my writer's groove (my brief little vacation - which, by the way, was NOT fun - from writing sort of threw of my groove). So, ta-daaaa, I give you a short, sweet, and probably sappy one-shot about the one and only love of my life, Captain Jack Sparrow. I purposely didn't mention the woman's name in the story - I decided to leave that to you readers to fill in, since you're probably sick to death of hearing about Robin and Jack by now. So, read if you wish (especially if you're stuck inside on a rainy day with nothing else to do), and hopefully you'll enjoy it. And don't worry - that chapter I mentioned earlier will probably be posted sometime this weekend:)

(A/N: The majority of the story takes place somewhere between Curse of the Black Pearl and Dead Man's Chest, just as Jack's getting ready to head out to that Turkish prison we see him escaping from at the beginning of DMC. The ending skips to after Jack has been... consumed... by the Kraken at the end of DMC, and sort of goes into the very beginning of At World's End.)

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Most of the characters/settings belong to Disney. The lyrics, from the song "The Old Ways," belong to Loreena McKennitt.

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Jack watched in amusement as his crew wreaked cheerful havoc throughout the Faithful Bride. It had been a long time since they’d gotten the chance to sit back and relax at port, and they were determined to get the most out of this rare opportunity. Though Jack knew he was running out of time for himself, his conscience wouldn’t let him take these few days of celebration away from his crew. They were pirates, yes, and most of them were dead drunk by now, but they had good hearts, for the most part, and they had been faithful through more than he could ever have asked for. None of them had expected to battle both the Navy and cursed-undead pirates on the most infamous ship in the Caribbean, of that he was certain, and just the fact that they hadn’t mutinied the minute they caught sight of Captain Barbossa and his crew of miscreants in the moonlight was cause enough for Jack to be eternally grateful to them.

But he wasn’t naïve (though Gibbs insisted he still had an unhealthy honest streak in him), and though they were all making merry together now, he knew that this would be the last night they would ever do so all together. The Black Pearl was set to sail the next morning, and after ten years of experience, he knew that many would choose land over sea and stay behind, though why he would never fully understand. He couldn’t imagine life without his ship and the waves, but that didn’t mean he would hold it against his crew if they decided it was not for them. Many of them had reasons he could condone, even if he did not share them. Some stayed ashore out of fear, terrified that they’d run out of luck and would be hanged if they continued their piratical ways. Others stayed for lack of energy or mobility, being either advanced in their years or lame in a leg or other useful appendage. And sometimes, a very lucky few of them would stay for the strongest reason of all – love. Jack, as has already been said, understood these things as well as he could… but he himself had experienced none of these things, and so could not identify with them. And yet…

With a start, he realized that while his mind was busy wandering through his thoughts, his eyes were following her. At the moment, she was dancing with Tom, the youngest member of the crew who was only just past his eighteenth birthday, and singing an old sea shanty as her hands clapped the beat. Her hair was the color of fire and gold, and her eyes glimmered emerald in the dim light of the tavern. Not all treasure is silver and gold, Jack mused as he watched her dance.

On a dark new year's night
On the west coast of Clare,
I heard your voice singing…

How he’d ever let her join his crew in the first place, he’d never know. In the line at Tortuga she’d stood disguised in a hat and breeches, as AnaMaria had been, and he supposed he’d taken her for a boy – though how he’d done so was yet another mystery he’d never solved. Yet it was good that he’d overlooked her, for she had proven to be the most loyal of all his crew, and indeed had become much more than just part of the gang. She had become a friend, something that Jack rarely found with anyone anymore, and now…

Your eyes danced the song,
Your hands played the tune;
T’was a vision before me.

Jack shook his head and began fiddling with his compass, trying to give his eyes and mind something to do other than linger on her. She was a friend, nothing more, for she could be nothing more to him. He could admit he cared for her strongly, at least, and because of that he could not give in to the way his stomach twisted into knots when she looked up at him, the way his heart pounded when he touched her, even if it was just his hand resting on her arm. Though he was sure she never felt the same things for him, he couldn’t risk making her any more valuable to him than she already was. If he looked too closely into his heart, he was afraid he’d find more than just his love for the Pearl and the sea, his desire for freedom… he was afraid he’d find her. For, if it were true, if he of all men had managed to lose any part of himself to her, he’d lose it forever the next morning when he sailed away. He had already decided as a friend not to take her along, not this time. This time, things were different. This time, things were worse.

The thought that he might not see her again after this night made him involuntarily raise his eyes to look for her, and he was startled to find her standing over him. Her eyes were lit with more than just candlelight and the energy of the dance as she looked down at him and held out her hand. “I don’t know about you, but I’m in need of some fresh air. Would you mind escorting a lady on her walk?” She smiled, though there was something stronger than humor in the expression.

Jack forced himself not to see it and grinned back, his gold- and silver-capped teeth gleaming. “My pleasure, love,” he replied in what he hoped was a nonchalant tone and, taking her hand, led her out of the Faithful Bride. Their feet, as if of their own volition, began leading them towards the docks, and neither Jack nor the woman beside him seemed able to resist.

We left the music behind,
And the dance carried on
As we stole away to the seashore…

The music from the tavern faded slowly as they traded candlelight for moonlight and the smell of rum and sweat for the scent of the Caribbean beach. As they wandered in silence, they left the docks behind them as well, and soon found themselves alone on the beach, hidden from the town by palm trees and other tropical foliage. Jack began to slow, realizing the danger he was putting himself in by being here with her, and she, sensing the change, stopped altogether and turned to him. She had been about to speak, but the sight of him gazing down at her with those dark eyes made her breath catch in her throat, and the words died on her lips.

For a moment, Jack forgot his promise to himself not to fall for her, and he reached up a hand to brush a stray strand of hair from her face. Rather than let his hand fall back to his side, as he knew he should’ve, instead he let it slide down to rest on the curve of her neck. Something sparked in her eyes, something that looked an awful lot like passion – but Jack told himself it had to be a trick of the light.

The simple feel of his fingers against the sensitive skin of her neck sent an electric charge through her body, and she found herself stepping closer to him, her own hands sliding up the front of his vest to rest on his shoulders. She tilted her head back to look up at him, and her lips parted ever so slightly.

Even as Jack told himself no, his heart said yes, and he gently cupped her face in his hands, leaned down… and kissed her. Though she had broken away from all the other times almost instantly, that had only been because he had been flirting senselessly, jokingly, and she had known it would’ve meant nothing to him. Yet this, she felt, was far different from any of those times, and she kissed him back with all the love she had tried so hard to hide from him… till now.

In that moment, they were lost in each other. For just that one instant, they were each able to let down their guard, let go of their inhibitions, and realize the dreams they had tried to deny themselves. But in that moment also, Jack discovered something about himself he had been terrified was true, and he pulled away abruptly, ending the kiss desperately and leaving her wide-eyed and confused.

We smelt the brine,
Felt the wind in our hair,
And with sadness you paused.

“Jack?” she whispered, the use of her voice slow to come back to her. She wondered what she had done wrong. Maybe she’d made a mistake, maybe this hadn’t meant as much to him as it had to her. Maybe he’d sensed how very much it did mean to her, and maybe he didn’t want her like she wanted him. Her heart began to pound harder with fear than it had with love for him only moments before.

Seeing the look in her eyes and understanding it against his own will, Jack almost gave in and kissed her again. But his newfound knowledge both frightened and sorrowed him, and he knew he couldn’t go through with this – however much he wanted to. For, he had discovered, his earlier fear of losing a piece of his heart to her had not only been realized but, to his horror, had been an understatement. He’d lost all of his heart to her.

He wanted to tell her. He wanted to love her, to know she loved him back, to keep her beside him forever and a day. It scared him, but he could deny it no more than he could deny that the sun would rise the next morning. And when it rose, he knew he still could not take her with him, though he was no longer blind to her love. Only a fool could’ve mistaken the look in her eyes for anything else. But he was a man divided – his heart may have belonged to her, but his soul had been bargained away for his ship and his freedom, and for once, Captain Jack Sparrow wasn’t so sure of himself. Of all the situations he’d managed to get himself back out of, even he admitted to himself that this one would be the hardest. This time, he might not succeed. He was about to embark on the most dangerous journey of his entire life, and he couldn’t bear the thought of bringing her along, for it would be entirely his fault and forever on his conscience if anything happened to her. It was because he loved her, because he couldn’t bear the thought of losing her, that he now had to give her up.

The woman, seeing the look in his eyes as he began to accept this, understood at least some of what he was thinking. Her heart sank and nearly broke as she began to realize, even before he spoke, that he meant to leave her behind. How she knew this, she might never discover, but it was as certain in her mind as her love for him, and all other sorrows paled before this new heartache.

Suddenly, I knew that you'd have to go.
Your world was not mine, your eyes told me so.
Yet it was there I felt the crossroads of time,
And I wondered why…

“Jack,” she said again, her voice cracking with emotion.

“I can’t.” Abruptly, he turned from her to gaze out at the ocean, trying to understand all that was happening to him.

“I’m coming with you.”

Jack struggled to keep his voice level when he spoke to her. “No, love, you’re not. Captain’s orders.”

She felt as if she’d been slapped across the face. “Then consider me off the crew. I’ll come as a friend, like Will and Elizabeth. Something’s going on, and whatever it is, I don’t intend to let you face it alone.”

“I won’t be alone. You’re forgetting that there are, in fact, other crewmembers who will be coming with me. All capable men who will do just fine without you.” Jack winced a little at the harshness of his words, but he wouldn’t take them back. He was sorry to hurt her, but better this than risk letting her fall into the hands of Davy Jones and his forsaken crew.

Her first reaction was to feel anger – a quick, flaming temper that nearly made her want to punch him right then and there for what he’d said. But, just as quickly as the fire had started, it was doused again by her love for him, and she realized then why he was doing this. “You’re in a lot of trouble this time, aren’t you?”

Surprised by her soft tones instead of the anger he’d been expecting, he turned a little to look at her again, and was struck once more by the love he saw in her eyes. In that one look, she saw the answer to her question. Silently, they both turned their gazes to the moonlit waves.

As we cast our gaze on the tumbling sea,
A vision came o'er me
Of thundering hooves and beating wings
In the clouds above…

After what may have been centuries or only moments, they silently walked back to the Faithful Bride. As the crew jubilantly celebrated the coming of the New Year, she and Jack disappeared into their cabins for a night of fitful and restless sleep. When at last the first rays of the morning sun filtered in through their windows, neither had slept more than an hour or two, yet both were still caught in the webs of their dying dreams.

Jack was the first to rise, and within a few hours he had his crew – a mixture of old friends and new recruits – and his ship ready to sail. Despite a full inventory and roster, Jack felt something was missing, and knew exactly what it was. Steeling himself against the feeling, he ordered the gangplank removed. Before the crew could reach for it, however, a blur of fire-gold hair flew up the wooden plank and into Jack’s arms. “I love you,” she sobbed, her arms locked tightly around him. “I love you, Jack. I couldn’t tell you before, but I have to now. I couldn’t let you leave without telling you.” She buried her face in his shirt, the tears falling freely for the first time since she’d realized she loved him.

All of Jack’s willpower and resolve nearly dissolved as he heard her speak the words he’d needed to hear, and he very nearly said them back to her. But he reminded himself of where he was going, and of what he refused to drag her into. Slowly, he extracted himself from her embrace and held her at arm’s length. “I told you, love, I can’t.”

Again, she surprised him by offering a bittersweet smile, one that very nearly broke what was left of his heart. “I know. I knew you wouldn’t let me come. I only wish you’d tell me what’s going on.” When he didn’t offer an answer, she drew a shaky breath. “I’ll wait for you.”

“Don’t,” Jack began immediately, but she pressed a finger across his lips to silence him.

“I’ll wait for you,” she repeated, and kissed him gently. Then, with what was left of her strength, she forced herself to pull away and slowly walk down the gangplank, refusing to look back. She did not turn back until she knew that the ship had pulled away from the dock. When she finally did, her eyes sought out Jack immediately, and for one last moment their eyes locked. In that one look there was love, pain, and understanding all at once, and she knew that, whatever happened, things would never be the same again.

As you turned to go, I heard you call out my name.
You were like a bird in a cage, spreading its wings to fly.
“The old ways are lost,” you sang as you flew,
And I wondered why…

She stood and watched until the ship was on the horizon, never noticing the passing of time or the bustling of the docks around her. When at last the Black Pearl had vanished from view, she silently wiped the tears from her eyes, and started the lonely walk back to the tavern, where her empty room was waiting for her. When she at last locked the door behind her, she went over to the window facing the docks, pulled up a chair, and began to watch and to wait.

The thundering waves are calling me home, home to you…
The pounding sea is calling me home, home to you…

Jack kept a tight grip on both the helm and his emotions as he steered the Black Pearl in the direction of a Turkish prison he’d learned had the drawing he needed of Davy Jones’s key. Though he knew he should be thinking of a plan for getting in and getting out of the place alive (a rarely accomplished feat, to be sure), he still saw her standing on the docks in his mind’s eye. For the first time in his life, he’d understood how a man could give up the sea for love – he’d understood, but he could not – would not – do it. If he’d had the choice, he knew she would’ve sailed with him, and he wouldn’t have had to give up either one. But he had not been given a choice; putting her in the kind of danger he was in was absolutely not an option. Silently, he thanked the stars that he at least still had the ocean for comfort, fickle mistress though she was. At the same time, he prayed that somehow he would get out of this mess, and get back both his heart and soul once more, for he was certain he could not live without them.

Jack knew these thoughts would only distract him. Taking a deep breath, he allowed himself only a moment more to dwell on the past. Then, with a great force of will, he locked away the memories in the deepest, darkest corner of his mind, and began focusing on the problems that lay before him. If he couldn’t find a way to escape Davy Jones alive, he’d never see her again. Somehow, that seemed worse than whatever Jones could do to him.

The pounding waves are calling me home, home to you…
The pounding sea is calling me home, home to you…

When the rumors of Jack’s death at the hands – or, rather, tentacles – of a great sea-monster reached her ears only a month or so later, she knew she’d made the wrong choice. Her place was not supposed to have been beside her bedroom window, waiting for Jack to come home. She should’ve been fighting beside him, helping him, maybe even saving him if there had been something she could’ve done. Now, it was too late. Now, he was never coming back. She would never know if she could’ve saved him. She would never know what it would be like to live the rest of her life with him. And he would never know how very much that meant to her.

Yet something in what was left of her shattered heart told her to keep watching, keep hoping. She didn’t know what for, since nothing seemed to matter anymore. But if there was indeed hope, she needed to know why – and as far as she knew, there was only one person who could tell her for sure, only one woman who would know Jack Sparrow’s true fate. The next morning, her few possessions packed and her final payment given to the master of the tavern, she set out to find the mysterious Tia Dalma and learn once and for all if there was any reason to hope, any reason to keep going.

When Will, Elizabeth, Barbossa and the others left Tia Dalma’s shack to seek out Jack at world’s end, she went with them. This time, she was not waiting. This time, she was going to fight for him, no matter what the cost. She could only hope they would not come too late this time. They had one last chance to save him; she prayed that it would not be wasted.

The pounding waves are calling me home, home to you…
The pounding sea is calling me home, home to you…