༺ M A R O O N E D ༻
-------------------------
When Jack jumped off the ship, he was not expecting to find Clara already unconscious, lying on the seafloor. Even in the deep water, he could see that she was pale. It had only been a few minutes and she was halfway to Jones' Locker. His heart skipped and he dove downward, taking the girl in his arms his effects in one hand.
She was ice cold when he placed her down on the beach. Elizabeth came running over, yelling, scared for her friend's life. Memories of saving her back in Port Royal surged forth and his instincts kicked in. Pushing Elizabeth back, he leaned over the girl, muttering a 'sorry' for having invaded her space, he pressed his lips to hers.
It had taken a while for Clara to breathe again, but once she did, a huge relief flooded through Jack. He brought her into the shade of the palms, the girl now asleep, rather teetering between worlds.
It was long after dark when she woke up. Elizabeth and Jack had started a large fire and had been dancing around, drunk on the rum he found in the pit from the last time he was here.
"Elizabeth?" she called. She got up only to fall back on the tree behind her.
The young woman came running at her, helping her stand. "Clara, how are you feeling?"
"Like I almost drowned, lost my brother and friend, and was marooned all on the same day." She squinted at the other figure that sat at the water's edge. "Is that Jack?"
"Yes."
"Great." She meant it as a positive response, they could get off this island with his help, but it came out as a grumble. Pushing away from Elizabeth, Clara ran down the beach, shouting at Jack.
The man turned around and smiled, not his infamous smirk that screamed mayhem, but one of relief and joy. He jumped up meeting her halfway. "It's great to see you're awake, love. I swear I've lost ten years of my life having to worry over you these past few weeks."
Clara giggled. She never giggles. "Well, I'm here now, so stop worrying."
The two now sat in the sand, Jack kept his arm around her. "Are you feeling alright?"
"Head hurts a little."
"Here," he handed her his bottle of rum. "This'll help."
She took a sip and he pulled it back gently. "Not too much, I don't need you drunk."
"What if that's what I need right now?"
"Trust me, it isn't. I have been at the bottom of a bottle many times, Love, never fixes anything."
She placed her head on his shoulder. "Then why do you still do it?"
"It's all I know, lass."
Sighing, she held out her hand and Jack gave her the bottle. "I hadn't ever imagined it would end like this."
"We never do, but that's what makes it such a wonderful adventure, aye?"
"Aye." She laid back on the sand, watching the stars as they twinkled. "You know, as a child, it was just me and my brother. We were orphaned young and he was the one who looked out for me - he never got a real childhood - was forced to grow up so we could survive."
Jack leaned back, joining her once more and copying her position.
"We lived in the streets, the stars our only constant in life. Even now, they are the only thing that reassures me. It's silly, I know."
"No, it's not." He turned to her and placed a hand on her waist, pulling her close. "We all need a little reassurance sometimes, we're human, love, remember that." She faced him and he moved his hand to her head, brushing hair away from her eyes and then kissing her nose.
She huffed out a laugh. "You truly are a marvel, Jack."
"And you're an angel."
A warmth spread through her chest that she had not felt in a while. The pirate, this man, was different from any other she had met, and she wondered for a brief moment what it would be like to have a life with him. No other pirates, no other women, no Royal Navy, just them and the sea.
She looked down at her ring, she had made a promise. And unlike with Jack, she knew James loved her, he was never just a fleeting fancy, something new and different, he was always there. He was her constant, and she was his.
Feeling the clutches of sleep grasp her, Clara closed her eyes and fell asleep with a small smile on her face, wrapped in the arms of Jack Sparrow.
-------------------------
When Jack woke up the first thing noticed was that he was holding someone. A beautiful woman, but it was someone else's woman. Clara. She was a wondrous thing when asleep, not that he did not like it went she was awake, he much preferred her that way, especially after the scare she gave him yesterday.
The second thing he noticed was the smell of smoke. He bolted up, accidentally waking Clara. "Jack?" she asked rubbing sleep and possibly sand out of her eye.
"Sorry, love." he glanced around and found Elizabeth burning all the barrels of rum. There was a small explosion as she threw in another crate and he ran over, shouting. "No! Not good! Stop! Not good! What are you doing? You've burned all the food, the shade . . . the rum."
"Yes, the rum is gone," answered Elizabeth."
"Why is the rum gone?"
"One, because it is a vile drink that turns even the most respectable men into complete scoundrels. Two, that signal is over a thousand feet high. The entire Royal Navy is out looking me and her." She harshly pointed to Clara who had joined them, still tired. "Do you think there is the slightest chance that they won't see it?"
"But why is the rum gone?"
Elizabeth turned and sat. "Just wait, Captain Sparrow. Give it one hour, maybe two, keep a weather eye open, and you will see white sails on that horizon."
Not completely thinking straight, Jack fumbled for his pistol, aiming it at Elizabeth. Clara was so shocked that she couldn't utter a word and just shook her head, stepping in front of him and pushing his arm down. He placed his pistol back in his belt and stormed off down the beach.
"Do you mind if-"
"Not at all," Elizabeth said waving a hand. "He needs a brain with him before he does something else."
Clara ran after the pirate, catching up to him as he mocked something Elizabeth had said last night. "'Must've been terrible for you to be trapped here, Jack.' Well, it bloody is now!" He turned, screaming at Elizabeth only to find Clara right behind him.
She just looked, stunned at him.
Jack huffed. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." He took her shoulder in hand, it grounded him more than it did her. "I didn't mean to yell at you-"
"Jack . . ."
"She's just difficult to live with. How did you do it?"
"Jack . . ."
"You're pretty strong for surviving in a house with her, love-"
"Jack! Look!" She had finally caught his attention. He pivoted to look at where she was pointing. A large blue ship with a British flag was anchored just outside the reef, a rowboat slowly inching its way towards the island. The grand ol' navy itself. "There'll be no living with her after this," he muttered.
-------------------------