Just something I came up with after watching DMC. What else had Jack actually been thinking about, which was stopping the compass from leading him to the heart of Davy Jones? This is what I think he was thinking about. Yes, being a Sparrabella fan, he's thinking about Arabella. So please read and review, and tell me what you think. And sorry that this is a bit short. Only a one-shot, remember.

P.S. I don't want any Sparrabeth fans sending me reviews and PMs saying that he was actually thinking about Elizabeth, and it was her who he also wanted most. I think it was Arabella, and you think it was Elizabeth. So we'll just keep our thoughts to ourselves, and please don't flame me about it.

Disclaimer: Don't own Jack; he belongs to Disney. Don't own Arabella; she belongs to Rob Kidd. If I owned both, they would have been together long before all this.

Loath To Claim It As Your Own

It had been in Tia Dalma's shack where I first realized that it was still there.

"The compass you bartered from me," she asked, "it cannot lead you to this?"

"Maybe, why?" I answered.

She had that unsettling smile on her face. When I was younger, it was that smile which gave me nightmares.

"Ahh, Jack Sparrow does not know what he wants," she said. "Or, do you know, but loath to claim it as your own."

It was then that it hit me, and I turned away.

For the past few weeks, the bloody compass had been malfunctioning; spinning endlessly round in circles and not coming to a complete stop like it was supposed to do. I had tried everything; from focussing on the chest completely, to shaking it endlessly in order to force it to work. It had never done it before, and I couldn't understand why it was choosing to do this now. When I needed it the most. Typical of the compass to do that.

It was what Tia had said which made me realize why it wouldn't work. It was because I wanted something else at the same time. I wanted both as equally as the other, which explained why the compass refused to stop, pointing in one direction. Compasses couldn't point in two directions, and that was the problem. I had suspected that it was something like that from the beginning, but I never expected to know the reason why. The other thing that I wanted most.

It was a woman.

I hadn't seen her in years. Makes me wonder how I can still remember her, but at the same time, she's never left my mind. She was the best first mate I could ever have hoped for – certainly better that Barbossa, I can tell you that. She had courage, skill, beauty...but that all changed when that bloody woman she called her mother showed up, and ruined everything. She took her away, and I only ever saw her once after that. But she was in the arms of Bloody Billy. Makes me wonder why I actually let him join my crew, but I guess he joined after she had dumped and left him. Not surprised. He wasn't really her type.

But I didn't realize that I knew until Tia had said it. And she was right. I couldn't have her. She was off sailing somewhere, living the free life of a Pirate. And all she thought of me was a good friend; someone who had helped her escape from her old life, and transferred her into a new life of freedom and Piracy. Not that she would actually recognize me after all these years. Last time we met, I didn't have dreadlocks, or a bead, or my fantastically brilliant hat. She would barely recognize me if I showed up in that.

There was one thing that shocked me, though. And that was the fact that it was still there. The feeling I had gained for her when I was a young lad was still there deep inside me, hidden deep at the bottom of my heart. It was waiting to show itself, and I could tell that it was trying to force it's way out now. Which made it annoying, since it seemed to have picked the most inopportune moment imaginable. But then again, it made me remember her, and that was one of the many things I take enjoyment out of.

Maybe after this all ended and my debt was paid, I wouldn't mind paying her a visit. If she still remembers me.

Yep, the feeling was definitely still there.

Please review! No flames!