Jack's POV:
I walk away from my dad as the court disperses and make my way back to my chambers. I honestly don't know how we organized who got what room in the beginning, but it works.
Organized chaos, er, chaotic organization... One of those.
I climb up a couple flights of stairs to reach my room. I push open the door with Jack R. Sparrow engraved on it and stand in the doorway.
All the memories, I remember when my father first brought me to Shipwreck cove when he was part of the Brethren. And then there was Mum. Might be surprising to some but being brought up by pirates wasn't the worst thing in the world. Some of our motives may not be the same as the stiff standing, bumbling idiots in wigs but we stick together.
I close the door and walk through the main living room and step out onto my balcony. I breathe in the sea spray and pull Bri's locket out of my coat pocket. I open it and read the message I had written inside.
For Bri, a beautiful sparrow free to take flight. See you in Tortuga Love, Jack
I snap the locket closed and put it back in my coat pocket. The docks below are lit with torches, so it's easy for me to see the different pirate flags waving in the breeze.
Drew's POV:
I turn to look at the door after I hear it open and close.
"Bri"
I smile and rise out of the chair I was sitting in. "It was good to finally see you again Captain Sparrow. Though that was quite a way to welcome me back."
He gives me a sly smile and slinks across the room to me. "I have to say that your entrance was far better. There must be something about the most famous female Captain of all the seven seas kicking in the door and starting to yell at the top of her lungs that gets people's attention."
I laugh. "Just another day being me."
Jack places his hands on my hips and pulls me closer. "And it was you that I missed."
***
I smile at Jack and raise an eyebrow. "You have quite some interesting moves. Sparrow, but I admit they're working on me."
He chuckles. "You've learned some new ones yourself, Rose. I'm sweating a little here."
I smile and shake my head as I peer at my dice once more. He and I are sprawled on the floor of my quarters playing liar's dice with a few stray rum bottles at our side.
Jack chuckles and takes another swig of rum before looking at his dice. "four fives"
I laugh and look at my dice. "five fives. But seriously Jack, it's your turn. Tell me something you've never told anyone."
He shakes his head "six fives. And I don't even know. Ehm... The Pearl actually used to be a Merchant ship. Your turn."
"I have never actually been caught or charged as a pirate. Six, sixes." I say with a daring look.
Jack takes another swig. "I'm out, you win."
I put up the dice and lean back on my elbows. "You didn't tell me anything."
He bites his lip and falls silent. "All of this..." He gestures around the room. "This war I've started. I never wanted any of it. Even growing up, I was never intentionally violent. My father was a pirate lord, my mother an ex Spanish Duchess. And we were happy. I still remember the first time that my father brought me here. The first time I looked over the harbor, lit by fire, I instantly knew. I wanted to be more than just a pirate. I wanted to do good and I wanted to be able to share my world with someone."
I lean forward and kiss him on the cheek, "Whoever that someone is, is very lucky."
He pecks me on the lips and brushes some hair out of my face. "I don't need to find anyone because now I have you."
I scoot across the floor so I'm snuggled into his side. "What happened to your mother Jack, your father never talks about her."
Jack takes a breath, "She died before my father named me a Pirate Lord in his place. He still keeps her close."
I smile up at him, "Does he still have her wedding ring?"
Jack laughs, "No, I have it. My dad, he keeps her shrunken head by his side at all times."
I grimace at the thought but snicker, "Not the most romantic, but I guess it's the thought behind it that counts." I look back up at Jack. "Come on, I want to show you something."
I stand up and walk out to the balcony. "Have you ever looked at the stars, Jack?" I ask as he stands beside me.
He chuckles in my ear. "No, I haven't, my compass, and maps show me where to go."
I roll my eyes. "I didn't mean for navigation, I meant just looking at them. Blackbeard taught me all the constellations." I point up to a group of stars off to my left. "The Ursa Major is over there, the bear constellation. Then there's the Ursa minor just above it. Perseus is over on the right, and Hercules over there..."
Jack's POV:
I gaze down at Bri as she's pointing out all the constellations to me. I don't even know half of what she's saying, but I just love the way her eyes light up when she's talking about them.
"Jack? You're looking at me funny." Bri says, snapping me back to reality.
I smile at her, "Only wondering how I ended up with you."
She lets out a light laugh. "Well sorry to be an inconvenience, Captain Sparrow. I hope I don't give you too much of a hard time."
I stare into her eyes, drinking in the green-grey color and watching the gold flecks dance in the moonlight.
"Jack, I lost you again."
I shake my head and smile at her. "Sorry, it's just... your eyes. They're gorgeous."
At that, she leans back a bit. "Who are you and what have you done with Jack?"
I look at her confused, "What do you mean by that?"
She laughs again, "The closest you've ever come to complimenting me is telling me I have a more powerful swing than most men."
I pull her close "And that's not a compliment?"
"It is, but it's worlds apart from 'gorgeous eyes'."
"Well, maybe my world has changed since then."
We stay intertwined together, slowly rocking back and forth in the moonlight, but after a minute, I feel her locket pressing against me.
"Bri, I think I have something of yours."
I let go of Bri and pull out her locket. She turns around to face me and I hand the locket to her.
She gingerly takes the locket and smiles, "I didn't think you'd still have this."
I nudge her slightly, "Open it."
She pries it open and reads the new message.
For Bri, The woman who has always had my back, even if she didn't want it. To whom I will forever say 'As you wish'
She looks back up at me. "Jack... I don't know what to say..."
I rest my hands on her shoulders, "Don't say anything, love."
Bri's POV:
I jolt awake at a sudden roar next to me. My heart rate slows to a normal pace just as the roar emits again from Jack still laying beside me. He shifts for a second, only for his boot heel to smack against my shin. I shake my head at him and push the covers off me to sit up. The sky outside is a striking blue, with barely a cloud in the sky.
How could a day so beautiful hail something that is so destructive? It's a huge mess, and Jack and I are at the center of it. My only hope is that we see the other side of it.
The covers rustle behind me and all of a sudden I'm on the floor with Jack on top of me, laughing.
"Good morning Beautiful." He says, looking very proud of his pounce.
"Morning," I reply, still lost in thought.
He takes notice and immediately sobers. "Why the sad face?"
I force a smile onto my face. "No sad face, just tired because you stole all the covers last night."
He looks at me innocently. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Yes, you do" I laugh. "You sleep in every single piece of clothing you have, including your boots and you feel the need to steal the sheets too."
He gets up off me, laughing and holds out a hand to help me up. "Well I have to annoy you somehow, don't I?"
I let go of his hand and roll my shoulders a couple of times. "I suppose so, now come on, we should check the progress on the fleet."
We make our way through the fort until we come to the main galley and walk onto the balcony that overlooks the entire port.
I take a deep breath as I watch various people milling around the docks, preparing for the day ahead. "Do you think we can do it?"
Jack hugs me from behind. "Nothing is certain, but if you can't lead us to victory Bri, then no one can."
Barbossa's POV:
"Swab the deck! prepare the mast tackle!! Make sure ye treat this ship as your own!" I look up at the sky and let out a deep breath. Young Rose is one of the best Captains there is but I have a feeling a storm is brewing that none of us will be ready for.
"Bright morning Barbossa."
I turn to see Drew herself walking across the Pearl's deck. "Ah, good morning Captain Rose."
She laughs, "Captain? Why the formality? It's just me."
I stretch out my arm and give her a sideways hug. "Aye, I guess so. It's brilliant to have ye back Drew. As you can see, things kind of fell apart without you here."
She laughs again, "I can see that, I'll try to not die again."
"Yes, let's hope we all see this through," I reply
We both fall into silence as we watch the crews prepare all the ships throughout the cove.
"Oh, by the way," She speaks up again "Barbossa, I had come to ask you something. Since I now have three ships of my own. I was hoping you'd consider Captaining Empress for me."
I look down at her, touched. "Even though I tried to shoot you last year?"
She laughs again, "Yes, even though you tried to shoot me. Things have changed, and I'd much rather stand with my friends than separate."
"No truer words, Rose," I reply.
She hesitates a moment. "Also, if I don't make it, I want you to captain my fleet.
"Me?" I ask, taken aback. "What about Annamaria? Or that lad Thomas?"
She shakes her head. "I want you to do it, Barbossa. They're free to stay if they want but I know they couldn't say no to me if I asked. And they would give their lives up to keep those ships from falling into enemy hands. You are the only person I know who could make the hard call to abandon ship."
I smile at her with watering eyes and take her hands in mine. "Of course I'll do it."
She smiles back at me. "Thank you, Barbossa."
I cough lightly to clear my throat, "Now go on, get yourself ready, we have a big day ahead.
Bri's POV:
"Drew, wait."
I turn behind and see Elizabeth following me across the docks. "Yes, Elizabeth? What can I do for you?"
She jogs to catch up to me and squints against the bright sunlight. "Have you seen Jack? I need to talk to him."
I shrug my shoulders, "I haven't seen him since this morning. Where's James?"
Elizabeth nods, "Actually, James is waiting for you on Loyalty, we need to talk to you."
"Sure, I was headed over there now. Have you had breakfast yet?"
She nods again, stumbling slightly on the dock boards. "Yeah, I picked something up in the Fort's stock holds."
I nudge her with my elbow, "Look at you, such a pirate, nabbing things from the supplies."
She looks down, blushing a little. "I'm no pirate Drew, that will always be you. I just want to get Will back because......" She trails off so I stop walking and turn to her.
"Elizabeth, is something up? You know you can talk to me." I pull her over to the side of the dock while some crewmen walk past us.
She opens her mouth, then closes it again, glancing around nervously. "I'm scared I...."
I lean closer, "Sorry, I didn't catch that, you. It's okay."
She takes a deep breath, "I'm scared he's going to choose to save his father over me."
I let out a breath and pull her into a hug, "Elizabeth, Will is going to do whatever he can to keep you safe, you don't need to worry about that. As for who he chooses, only time can tell. Come on, Let's go talk with James."
I walk on deck to Loyalty and the whole crew freezes. Then they erupt into applause. I smile and take off my hat, I sweep into a bow and put my hat back on. "Yes, yes, I'm alive, now get back to work."
They all move back to what they were doing, except for James who strides across the deck to me and Elizabeth.
"Brianna, I wanted to talk to you." He says giving me a hug.
I nod, "Yes, so I've been told. Come on, we can talk in the galley."
I close the door after us and turn to both of them. "What? You two are looking at me weird."
James steps forward, "No we're not. We're just worried about you."
I shrug my shoulders, "What makes you say that? I'm fine."
Elizabeth steps forward, "You may think so but, we've been noticing things. You're straining yourself more and more every day. We love you, Drew, we really do, but we're worried you'll stretch yourself too far."
I open my mouth but James stops me. "Don't even try to argue, you're notorious for putting others first, especially in a battle."
I raise an eyebrow, "And that's a bad thing? James, all those times we fought together in the Navy, you'd have rather me left you behind and fought for myself? Or Elizabeth, Will and I fought tooth and nail to save you from Barbossa. And then there's the fight with the Kraken, and-"
"That's the thing Drew," Elizabeth cuts me off, "You would die for any of us, me, Will, Jack, James... you would die for someone you didn't even know. Not that that's a bad thing, you have a heart of gold, and you fight with every bit of fire in your soul. We just want you to take care of yourself for once."
I smile and pull both of them into a hug. "You two don't need to worry, I'll do what needs to be done." I rest my head on Elizabeth's shoulder and gaze out the window.
I'll do what needs to be done. Whatever it takes, I'm finishing this war.