Chapter 20
Lady Becket
For a moment as Will and I kissed, I had forgotten where I stood, my purpose of being here now, and most importantly Jack Sparrow.
“Will,” I uttered softly in between kisses trying to force myself back to reality. “Will, what are you doing?”
“I would have thought you’d be quite familiar with this,” Will whispered. “After all, we have been here before.”
“Yes, but you pulled back,” I breathed and added more firmly, “because you have a fiancé.”
He stopped, moving away from looking even more troubled.
I raised my eyebrow. “You do still have a fiancé, right?”
Will sighed, sadly looking down. “I don’t know anymore.”
I huffed, knowing I would probably regret asking this next question. “What happened?”
He gave me a sideways glance. “You are not going to like what I tell you.”
“Why would I care?” I asked folding my arms. “None of this really has anything to do with me.”
Will remained quiet, still staring at the ground.
I let out an impatient breath. “Just tell me, Will.”
“I saw Elizabeth and Jack together,” Will finally stated in a limp voice. “They were kissing.”
I drew in a sharp piercing breath, unsure of how to respond to this.
“Aurora?” Will’s faced appeared to have a mixture of sadness and concern. “Are you…”
“I’m fine,” I muttered nodding forcefully. “It’s fine. Why would I care? I never had any real feelings for Jack.”
Not wishing any further discussion on the matter I turned and walked out of the room, leaving Will alone. Once in the hall, I found myself leaning on the wall for balance.
Be strong, Aurora, I made myself think remembering a long time ago I vowed I would never let any deep feelings for Jack enter my mind. It still, at this moment, did not prevent a tear from running down my cheek.
xXx
Feeling the ship pick up its pace, I went up to the front deck to see what was going on. I found Barbossa steering with one hand while the other held the map. I hoped his determined expression meant something good.
“Are we close?” I asked him.
“Aye.” He nodded. “We’re good and lost now.”
“Lost?” Elizabeth repeated.
Unable to look at her, I kept my eyes fixated on Barbossa. “What do you mean we are lost?”
His logic told us that in order to find a place no one knows where it is one must be lost. That sounded like something Jack would say. Apparently in order to find Jack Sparrow one simply must think like him.
“Um, guys?” Ragetti muttered nervously, pointing his shaking finger straight ahead.
All our heads turned to see that we were heading in increasing speed straight towards a waterfall. My body went numb as my eyes widened. Everyone’s faces were white with fear, everyone’s that is, except for Barbossa.
“This was your plan all along,” I accused taking note of his reaction, “to kill us all!”
He only laughed at my remark and took hold of the flagpole. “I would grab a hold of something if I be you.”
“What good will that do?” I stammered, watching the crew scurry around in panic like mice.
He shrugged. “Suit yourself.”
Just as the ship reached the edge I finally took Barbossa’s advice and grabbed on, first accidently putting my hand on his. Letting out a frustrated yet panicked breath, I quickly moved my hand below his, the other soon joining it and closed my eyes as the ship dropped. I felt the water come crashing down on me with great pressure, forcing my hands to lose grip.
Once I opened my eyes again, I found that we were now close to shore. I swum to land and turned back around to see that the ship was gone, the waterfall had vanished and it was now daytime. Were we dead?
“Is this the locker?” I asked, looking to Barbossa.
He nodded. “Aye.”
Some of the crew, including Will, accused Barbossa of trapping us here the same as Jack. As much as I wanted to join in, I found myself compelled to look around. This place gave me such an odd feeling.
I then felt a sudden skip in my heartbeat. Slowly, I turned my head to the top of the hill and my eyes fell upon the Black Pearl.
“Look!” I shouted, pointing in that direction. “That has to be Jack.”
The moment the ship sailed down the sand, hitting the water everyone rushed up to greet Jack. He, however, behaved in an odd manner as though he were never gone as he proceeded to give the crew orders. Will then informed that Jack believes we are an illusion.
I walked up in front of everyone with determination.
“Jack,” I grabbed his arm, insisting, “We are really here. Look at me.”
He only smiled as he stroked my cheek. “Now, I know your presence, my dear, is most definitely an illusion, but it is an illusion I don’t mind.” He leaned his head in closer, apparently expecting a kiss. “Now, shall we continue where we last left off?”
Just as our lips almost touched, I slapped him across the face in frustration. “Did I do that in any of your fantasies?”
Jack held his hand to his cheek, looked down and muttered, “Actually yes.”
As he moped away down the line, I rolled my eyes. This is a complete disaster.
“Anymore brilliant ideas?” Barbossa asked in a sneer.
“I could get him to shoot you again,” I shot back. “Maybe that will bring him back to his senses.”
For some reason, it turned out to be Elizabeth’s presence that finally convinced Jack that we were really here. This made no sense to me. If he had feelings for her, would he not think her a fantasy as well? Something just did not add up. Moments later, however, it all finally made sense once Jack revealed that it was Elizabeth who was responsible for his death. I knew I should feel upset about this yet oddly enough, I actually felt quite a bit better than I did before.
Seeing as Jack was the one with the ship, he got to decide who could come and who would be stuck here. He went down the line choosing his crewmates. Once he got to Tia Dalma, I found myself frustrated yet again as he spoke of a night they shared together.
“What was she talking about?” I demanded once Jack got to me.
“A night, just as any night would be,” Jack replied vaguely and then raised his brow, looking rather pleased with himself. “Are you jealous?”
I rolled my eyes and forced a laugh. “No.”
He lifted his chin up and said, “Admit you’re jealous and you can come.”
“Fine,” I grumbled, and then grabbed his shirt yanking him close enough so I could whisper in his ear, “Leave Barbossa.”
He merely rolled his eyes and muttered in response, “Duh.”
I sighed and managed to shoot Barbossa a smirk. At least I’ll get something out of this.
Jack then took my hand after he finished putting together his new crew and we prepared to leave.
I turned back to give Barbossa one last sly look. “Well, it was nice catching up with you, Father, but I guess this is where we part ways. Good luck.”
“So long, Hector,” Jack added, putting his hand around my waist. “I’ll always have a part of you with me.”
Unaffected by our snares, Barbossa merely asked back smugly, “Jack, my dear daughter. Which way are you going, Jack?”
We turned to find that he still carried the charts, which we just so happened to need. I groaned and slammed my head against Jack’s chest.
xXx
I never really wondered what it would be like to have two captains on one ship. Now, I could clearly see no good could come from it. Jack and Barbossa spent the entire journey back to the land of the living arguing and trying to give out orders. It even started to get childish with the whole telescope thing.
Even without their bickering, the journey was rather intense, especially when we saw Elizabeth’s father traveling with the deceased souls. I found I actually felt sympathy for her as I watched her try to save him. It seems since I left the Dutchman, I have been feeling a stronger sense of emotions, or maybe it was just from being around Will too much.
Now that we were stopped at the island, Jack and Barbossa found themselves in conflict, yet again, over who had to go and who would stay with the ship. Will then suggested they both go and leave him in charge. That moment, I felt the need to step in.
“Or, since I am the captain’s daughter, you could leave me in charge,” I suggested.
Jack’s eyes lit as he pointed his fingers to me. “Yes, I like that plan better.”
Barbossa shook his head. “No, absolutely not.”
I looked pleadingly at Jack who replied, “I won’t go unless she’s in charge.”
Barbossa rolled his eyes and retorted, “There is a rumor going around that a traitor walks among us and you want to leave the most likely candidate in charge of the ship? If you do that then there be a good chance the Pearl won’t even be here when we get back.”
I briefly glanced at Will, who kept his eyes pointed down and then turned back to Jack. “You know what? I withdraw my claim. Leave Turner in charge.” When Jack looked at me concerned I moved closer to him putting my arms around his neck. “It’s only temporary.”
Jack grinned as he leaned in to kiss me.
“Come on, Jack. We don’t have all day,” Barbossa growled as he yanked Jack away.
xXx
While, waiting for Jack and Barbossa to return I knew I would soon see for myself just what Will had been planning. Sure enough, Sao Feng’s ship soon appeared beside ours with him and his men invading our ship. The surprise took most of the crew here off guard, making it easy for Feng’s men to control everyone.
“Where is Jack?” Feng demanded to me.
I shrugged, appearing to be the only calm member of the Pearl. “He should be back soon.”
I then turned my head to see Barbossa return to the ship, Jack hovering behind him out of Sao Feng’s sight.
The moment Barbossa’s eyes fell on me, he rolled them and grumbled, “Aurora, what did you do?”
“This wasn’t me,” I protested, amused by his reaction.
When he continued to look at me disbelieving, Sao Feng barked, “You actually think I would make a deal with her?”
“It was Turner who betrayed us,” Gibbs informed with bitterness.
I looked at Barbossa and smirked. “See?”
Once Jack was revealed, Feng had him taken, saying he will meet up with an old friend.
“Becket wanted her too, remember?” one of Feng’s crew reminded him, pointing to me.
“Oh, right.” Sao Feng grabbed my arm and pushed me to the men behind the one’s taking Jack.
We were both taken to a British ship and put in a fancy room with portraits and golden dishes, where Lord Becket awaited us. Jack proceeded to frantically open pots baskets looking for something.
“It’s been a long time, Jack,” Lord Becket spoke slyly, looking at him sharply. “It is not here, you know.”
Jack merely looked at him curiously. “What’s not here?”
“The heart of Davy Jones,” Becket responded calmly.
“Speaking of Jones,” I interjected. “Why have you not thrown me back on the Dutchman by now? Isn’t that where I belong?”
Lord Becket gave me a discomforting grin. “Actually, my dear Aurora, I think you will find that you belong to me now. It was this way even before I possessed the heart.”
I stepped back in discomfort. “What do you mean?”
“I believe it will become more clear once I introduce you to my wife.” He motioned his hand to his men. “Please show Lady Becket in.”
The door opened, and a tall slender woman in an ivory gown with long wavy brown hair entered. I stared at her, feeling slight daze. I have not seen her in recent time yet she seemed so familiar.
“Alyson?” Jack muttered with a hint of disgust in his voice.
“No,” I breathed as I looked desperately to Jack, who could only offer a shrug.
My eyes turned back to the woman as I could barely force out the words, “Mother?”