Song of the Sea: Sunsets and Black Sails

Chapter 19: The Truth, At Last

Jack

Jack sat in the longboat, waiting with the rest of the men while Tia Dalma spoke with Aria. No doubt, they were speaking about whatever Aria had been keeping from him. Dear Tia had a way of knowing these things...

Finally, Aria climbed down the ladder. Rather than getting into the boat with Gibbs and Will as she had done for the journey there, she slipped into the same boat as Jack and sat down right beside him.

He paused, looking at her. Before he could ask anything of her, she pulled him close and kissed him. Not with a burning fire as she had the last time she'd allowed this affection to pass, but rather, with the tenderness of sorrow, and the promise of reconciliation. She pulled away and rested her head on his shoulder. It seemed as though a burden had been lifted from her, though leaving her exhausted.

Jack shook away these musings and signalled the men to return them to the Pearl. Very odd indeed... What had Tia Dalma said to Aria?

-

Once they had arrived back at the Pearl, Aria grabbed Jack by the hand, surprising him once more. He followed curiously as she lead him to the cabin, where they could be alone.

"Aria, love, what is going on?"

She sighed and squeezed his hand.

"Come," she said, sitting down on the bed. "I owe you an explanation, Jack... I'm sorry it took me this long."

Jack quickly moved to sit beside her, taking her hands once more.

"You don't have to apologize... Ask me, I'm just glad we're speaking again."

Aria almost smiled, but then her face grew serious again.

"Jack... When Beckett captured me, he didn't just brand me. I made a deal with him... a deal to save Elizabeth and Will... but evidently he's gone back on that. I was so foolish, Jack, to believe him..."

He didn't reply yet, simply listening attentively for now. Aria paused, as if steeling herself, then she continued.

"He gave me a choice... to take a curse, and in exchange, he'd burn the arrest warrants. But I should have known better, I should've known he would have copies or that he'd issue the warrants again. It wasn't until after I took the curse that he revealed to me what it was."

There were tears in her eyes, and Jack couldn't stop himself from reaching out to hold her in his arms.

"Whatever he did, Aria," Jack murmured, "It wasn't your fault..." He gently brushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "And it most certainly doesn't change how I feel about you..."

She offered him a weak smile, but it quickly evaporated.

"Jack... I can't have children."

There it was. Her secret, out in the open. Their plans for the future... gone. Jack held her tighter.

"Oh Aria... Love, don--"

But she cut him off with a quiet sob. "That's not the worst of it, Jack..."

His heart skipped a beat or two.

"I--" Her voice broke, and she tried again, at a whisper. "I was with child, Jack... when it happened... That's where I was going when Mercer found me, I was going to see a physician, I only suspected, but I wanted to confirm it, to surprise you..." She was rambling now, her words coming uncontrollably faster and faster. "But after it happened, I went to her, I asked her if the curse would affect the child..."