A Love That Flows

12:

"Feast upon your eyes, Captain. All of them, faithful hands before the mast. Every man worth his salt, and crazy to boot." Gibbs tells us, as we walk past each man, who signed up to join our crew.

"So, this, is your able-bodied crew?" Will asks.

"William, don't judge a book by it's cover. Gibbs was a very good navy soldier in his day, I'm sure he knows what he's doing." I tell William, my hand, resting on my bump, instinctively.

Jack smiles, slightly, at my comment, but quickly regains himself, as he continues observing the others.

He stops at a man with a parrot.

"You, sailor." Jack addresses the man.

"That, Jack, is Cotton." I tell him, from what Gibbs told me, Cotton won't be able to answer very well.

"Mr. Cotton, do you have the courage and fortitude to follow orders and stay true in te face of danger and almost certain death?" Jack asks.

Mr. Cotton looks at me, and nods.

"Mr. Cotton! Answer, man!" Jack commands.

"Jack, he's a mute. Poor man had his tongue cut out from what Gibbs had told me. He's trained the parrot to speak for him. I haven't quite figured out how, but it's genius." I tell him.

"Mr. Cotton's parrot, same question." Jack asks the parrot after being shows COttons lack of a tongue.

"Wind in the sails!" the bird squawks.

"As far as I can tell, that means yes." I tell Jack.

"Of course it does. Satisfied?" Jack asks.

"I see no reason why thesee fine gentlemen couldn't be an able bodied crew. They seem to be very respectable and hard work-" I begin.

"Well, you've proven they're mad." Will whispers.

"What's the benefit for us?" The sailor at the end asks.

"Is that-" Will begins.

"A woman? Who says a woman can't do a man's job, William? Besides, there's so much masculinity around here, it'd be nice to have a female to talk to." i tell him, and he chuckles, before pulling me into a side-half-hug.

Jack walks down to the woman, and lifts her hat to reveal a feminine face.

"Anamaria!" Jack calls.

She slaps him, and he looks at me.

"I suppose you don't deserve that one?" I ask, jokingly.

"No, that one I do deserve." He tells me, before turning back to her.

"You stole my boat!" Anamaria exclaims.

"Jack!" I scold.

"Actually-" He begins before she slapped him again. I go and stand beside her, crossing my arms before my chest much like a child.

"Borrowed, without permission, but with every intention of bringing it back to you." Jack scrambles, looking for excuses.

"Ah, but Jack, I see no boat for her." I tell him, and he looks surprised that I'm siding with Anamaria.

"You'll get another one!" Jack tells her.

"A better one!" I tell her, patting her hand, lightly.

"Aye, a better one." jack states.

"That one!" Will points out to a boat.

"What one?" Jack asks.

"That one." I point to the same boat, with a confident smirk on my face.

"That one?" Jack asks, his tone deeper than before.

"Aye, that one, Mr. Sparrow." I tell him, raising my eyebrows at him. He sighs.

"Aye, that one." He tells Anamaria, smiling at her.

"Shall you join us?" I ask Anamaria. She smiles at me, linking my arm with hers.

"Aye!" She shouts, with the rest of the crew.

"No, no. It's frightful bad luck to have a woman on board, sir. Especially two. Possibly three." Gibbs whispers, but I catch it.

"Don't say that around Anna, but it'll be far worse not to have them." Jack tells him.

"Gibbs, you do realize that as a woman, I have a pain tolerance higher than any man? I also have a greater resistance to extreme cold. We are really the stronger gender, and I would appreciate if you kept these opinions to yourself." I tell him, and Jack smiles slightly, whilst William laughs a little.

Jack walks over to me, and grabs me away from Anamaria, and pulls me away slightly, with a smirk plastered.

He leads me into the captains quarters, and closes the door. He, then, kisses me, deeply. I reach my hand around his neck, and cress the back of it, as he deepens the kiss.

"I'm proud of you for expressing your beliefs. I know Gibbs is hard to handle at times, but just give him some slack, savvy?" "Of course."