Look at the Stars, Look How They Shine for You

"Hey Will, how'd- Oh, sorry." I said, seeing that Will and Jack were looking over an old map at the helm and mumbling to each other. I turned to walk away but was stopped by Jack.

"Any chance of gettin' me hat back?" He asked. I turned around and rolled my eyes, throwing it at him. He gladly put it on again without so much as a thank you. Not a surprise, coming from Captain Jack Sparrow.

"What did you need, Cat?" Will asked.

"Oh, I just wanted to talk. Nothing important." I said honestly, and turned to walk away once more.

"I think we're finished here, aren't we Jack?" He asked, causing me to stop and turn yet again.

"Aye, go spill your hearts out." Jack replied spitefully, causing me to smirk. He caught it and glared momentarily before returning to the maps. Will then came to my side and I walked away, leading him across the deck and to what I generally thought of as our talk spot. It's where we usually were, whenever we were together. Me, sitting on the railing, with Will leaning against it beside me.

"I was just going to ask how you ended up on the Pearl." I said, fiddling with my fingers. I felt guilty for having forced him to come with me.

"How long do you have?" He said lightly. I gave him a sarcastic look.

"Where exactly do I have to go?" I pointed out. He smiled, and turned his attention to the waters as a recollection began to form.

"I was a blacksmith. Back then Jack was alone, no crew or ship. An old comrade of his, Barbossa, led this mutiny against him, stranded Jack on an island which he later escaped from, and so on. He arrives in the prison in Port Royal-"

"Is that where you used to live?" I asked.

"Yes. It was where Elizabeth was taken." He said, a hint of what I picked up as both regret and exasperation in his voice. "She had some golden medallion that Barbossa wanted, and got them to leave by going aboard their ship. They didn't let her leave. I broke Jack out of jail and he helped me rescue her."

"Why do I get the feeling this isn't going to end happily ever after?" I asked quietly. He forced a faint smile.

"Can I ask you something, Cat?" He said, turning to me.

"Of course." I replied. He took a moment before continuing.

"If someone you'd known for many years saved you from dying, and confessed their feelings for you afterwards, what would you do?" He asked quietly.

"Did you pick up on any signs the feelings were mutual?" I asked, knowing his hypothetical situation was anything but fake.

"I thought so." He mumbled.

"Like what?" I asked softly.

"Well, I was always under the impression that when one kisses you they have some level of emotional attachment." He said spitefully. "But it was probably my mistake..." He said, putting his head down.

"Will, what did she do?" I asked. He closed his eyes momentarily, and I saw how much it pained him to relive the memory.

"After I rescued her I brought her back to Port Royal. Her father arrested me for acts of piracy. I was to be hung." He said, in an amused tone. "Jack repaid the favour, and by the time I got around to telling her what I truly felt she was married."

"What the fuck?" I exclaimed, thoroughly angry. "How long did that take?"

"Five days, at best." He said in an almost whisper.

"Will, here's what I'm thinking. We get Jack to steer the Pearl towards Port whatever, you show me where she lives, and I have a few words with her. Sound good? Okay, good." I said, hopping off the banister and heading towards the helm. Will's hand wrapped around my arm, stopping me.

"That's kind of you, but it isn't necessary." He said, smiling sadly. I sighed.

"You loved her. She can't just string you along like that." I said.

"Loved. Past tense." He smiled. I could see the lie he was forcing himself to believe. But I would humour him. Perhaps if he was told the lie enough, it would become the truth. For his sake, I hoped so.

"I didn't think Jack to be the kind of person to return favours." I said, changing the subject. I could tell that the girl Elizabeth wasn't a subject he was too fond of speaking on. I made a mental note to ask Jack about her at a later time.

"Neither did I, to be honest. But he's full of surprises, never could quite figure him out..." Will said, a faint trace of a true smile seeping onto his face.



"Catalina, if you would be so kind as to grace me with your presence on deck." Jack called, beckoning me away from the bow. I rolled my eyes at his stupid sentence but went to him nonetheless.

"Yes, Captain?" I said, feigning respect. He handed me a small burlap sack. It was halfway full. "What's this?" I asked.

"We leave Port in four hour's time, savvy?" He said as I opened the sack, revealing my share of the treasure I had helped retrieve.

"Thank you, Jack." I smiled, and walked down the plank and onto the dock of whatever town we'd stopped to make port in. It was surprisingly nice. Clean, rather calm (save the ravenous howling laughter the crew erupted as they headed towards the bar). I had other ideas. Scanning the different names of the shop, my eyes rested on a few clothing stores.

Money in hand, I walked the short distance to the quiet little shops. I was greeted with a warm smile upon entering, and the woman asked if I needed help. I politely declined and began to browse the racks of clothing. It made me laugh, looking at the things on the racks compared to what I was wearing. Quite different. And if I was being honest with myself, I was getting tired of old pirate clothes. I had a sudden desire to be girly again.

I wandered over to what looked like a selection of less fancy dresses, and my eyes immediately caught sight of something wonderful. It was deep blue and corset free-- exactly what I was looking for. It reached down to the floor, but I would have no problem cutting it down to size. Taking it off of the rack, I looked around for a pair of leggings. But this was the 18th century, and I realized the closest things they were going to have were nylons. I grabbed a few pairs of black pantyhose and brought everything to the counter.

I paid, and was thrilled to realize I still had money left over. The woman placed what I had bought into a box and handed it to me, thanking me for coming as I exited the store. My eyes danced over the objects in the store windows as I passed them by, looking for a store devoted to personal hygiene. I passed store after store until I saw a familiar figure in one of them.

It was Jack. Jack and a woman I was sure didn't work inside. I tried to get myself to continue walking but my feet glued to the spot as I scrutinized their exchange. He would say something, she would laugh, sometimes making physical contact with him. Something within me tore. Hurt. Was punctured. When I saw his eyes float in my direction my feet finally obeyed and propelled me quickly down the street.

Finding the store I was looking for I quickly ducked inside, hoping he hadn't followed. I knew he had seen me. I absent mindedly wandered through the store. The conscious part of me picked up a few bars of soap, a brush, and a few wash cloths while the subconscious part of me tried desperately to patch over the memory. I wouldn't let it affect me, I felt nothing towards Jack. Nothing.

I was proud of myself, I didn't cry. Something I truly expected myself to do, seeing as I always cried over stupid things. I had no claim over Jack, and he most definitely did not have one over me. What I would certainly not do was avoid him and let him think otherwise. But for the time being I did have to find a bathroom. Going further and further into down I tried to find a pub that wasn't too busy.

On what seemed to be the outskirts of the little village I found a place, and headed inside. Once I locked the door behind me I took a good look around to make sure this place was clean, and thankfully it was. I carefully removed the garments from the box I had and began to rip unneeded material away. When I was finished I slipped on the dress, and layered the black pantyhose on.

15563175-1.jpg

Content with how things looked and fit, I exited the bathroom, my old clothes now occupying the box along with the remains of the dress. Upon exiting the pub I stopped. I was hit by an unreal wave of sickness. Dizziness, shortness of breath, trouble focusing. It was exactly like what happened in the caves. I quickly walked back to the ship in case anything was to happen.

But as soon as I stepped on board the Pearl and put away my things in my room I realized the feeling was gone. This confused me, so I left the ship again, walking into town. I paid close attention to exactly what I felt as I went deeper into the village. My eyebrows furrowed, seeing that the sickness grew the further I went in. I paused where I was, trying to see what was the cause of this.

"Somethin' troublin' you, love?" Jack asked from a little ways behind me. He held a few boxes in his hands and looked at me with a nervous expression. I reminded myself that nothing mattered in terms of him and whoever I had seen him with.

"Sort of, yeah." I mumbled, and walked a few steps backwards. He watched me pass him with a skeptical look on his face. The closer I went to the sea, the better I felt. "I think I'm allergic to being away from the sea.." I said in a confused tone as I looked up at him. I caught the disbelief on his face and explained. "The further away I am from water the worse I feel. Headaches, dizziness, all of that."

"Well perhaps you should go back to the Pearl then, eh?" He said, watching me intently.

"Hold on." I said, and walked forward again. I needed to know how bad this could get. I was prepared for the sickness that had come before, as uncomfortable as it was. But as I went further and further, it got hard to walk. My muscles were beginning to tremble ever so slightly, and my breaths were as strained as ever. Things flew in and out of perspective and if I didn't know any better I would have thought the sky was falling. I tried to turn around but I began to sway.

I tried to steady myself, but I began to collapse to the ground. My head was pounding and my lungs were burning as Jack caught me. I tried to push myself up, exerting as much energy as I could, but it was a bad idea. As if the simple act used up my last bit of battery, I drifted out of consciousness.



I knew at once where I was when I came to. My bed wasn't nearly as comfortable as this, not to mention Jack's scent was on every item within a twenty foot radius. I stayed calm as I recollected how I got here. Right, walking. I sighed, never anticipating that there was a downside to being whatever Tia Dalma said I was. Goddess wasn't exactly a term I was too comfortable with.

"Cat?" I had been expecting Will. I had expected him to be at the bedside, hand gripping mine, hovering over my every move. I hadn't anticipated Jack. I creaked my eyes open, and looked at him funny. "You alright, love?" He said, eyes scrutinizing every inch of me.

"Um, yeah?" I said, slightly taken aback. If I didn't know any better, I could have sworn he sounded like he cared. At the sound of my steady voice he took a few steps back and the bravado took over once more. I sat up, rubbing my head slightly. "What happened?"

"You passed out. I carried you here." He said plainly. I stretched, pulling the covers off of me.

"Remind me never to leave the ship again?" I said lightly. He looked at me as if expecting me to say something less friendly. "Thanks, by the way." I said, walking towards the door.

"Any time, love." He said distantly. I caught a glimpse of him just before the door shut behind me. He was the one who was troubled. I sighed as Will came up to me and made sure I was okay. I explained to him what happened, doing my very best not to think about a certain pirate as we finally left the port.