She's a Pirate (Jack Sparrow)

30. Breaths

She laughed at this. It shouldn't surprise her, she thought. He had always been like a storm, untamed, chaotic. Sunshine mixed with a hurricane. Sometimes he made her feel lost, sometimes he would wash away her fears. Only a few people could stand in the storm and withstand it and she was one of them. The Royal Navy hated him, pirates hated him as well, and she believed that she was the only person who could see the hidden beauty in him. She was lucky enough to see that storm in his eyes, reflecting his mind, and it was in those moments when she wondered how could anybody hate the rain.

"Yeah, it sounds like something you'd do. Deciding to bother your mother in the worst possible moment."

He shrugged. "I guess I was too eager to discover the world."

"Maybe the world couldn't wait for you."

Just like it had happened some days before, her vision blurred all of a sudden and her throat tightened, but this time it didn't last for only some seconds. Her hand flew to her chest and she opened her mouth, attempting to breathe, but no air reached her lungs. She closed her eyes tightly in agony as her throat burned with every useless gasp. The small monkey quickly ran to her side, he screeched quietly, confused.

Jack's hands instantly left the wheel to turn the woman around to face him. "Nari, love, what's wrong?" He held her by the shoulders and spoke seriously. "Narissa, look at me." She opened her eyes, glistening with tears caused by the pain, the fear and the ignorance of what was happening. She could see a flash of panic in his eyes for a moment, but he covered it quickly. Meanwhile, Gibbs ordered the staring crewmates to keep working and walked to the couple, concerned, as Jack kept talking to her. "Narissa, breathe with me, love. Through your nose, slowly, breathe in." She nodded and obeyed, lowering her hand from her chest to grab his wrist tightly. She didn't notice that her hand was wrapped around his burned pirate mark. He grimaced slightly, but ignored his burning ache to focus on hers. She followed his instructions of "in" and "out", breathing at the same time as him. The first attempt to inhale was incredibly painful, but the agonizing burning sensation decreased with every breath she took. In some long minutes, she could breathe normally by herself and the pain was almost completely gone.

Releasing his wrist, she took a final deep breath and exhaled heavily, relieved. Right away, Jack's arms were around her, not too tight, fearing that she'd lose her breath again. "You gave me quite a scare there, love."

She pulled away and smiled fondly. "I'm fine now. You know I've been through worse."

"Yes, but... What the bloody hell was that?" His expression was filled with worry and confusion.

"I wish I knew."

~●~○~●~

"Captain, I'd feel better if you told me what's your plan," Gibbs insisted following his captain as he got ready to leave the ship.

"My plan is to get the navigational charts and come back. Have the Pearl ready, when you see Narissa and me running, that's the signal to set sail." He smiled cheekily at his friend. "That's all you need to know." After that, Jack climbed down the hull of the Pearl to the docks of Singapore, where Narissa was already waiting for him, leaving a very confused Gibbs behind.

"How did you meet Sao Feng?" Narissa asked as she walked next to Jack through the narrow streets of the harbor city of Singapore.

"I helped him years ago to find something he wanted, long story." She looked at him with curiosity.

She took a step to her left to avoid bumping into some kids that were running around. "So he likes you, then?"

He hesitated. "Not really, I don't know why. Maybe 'cause I shagged his maids. He's quite possessive of them."