The Captain

twenty-seven

When the sun rose the next morning, we got to work. The rest of the treasure was not nearly as difficult to find as the first chest, and before night had fallen we were back on the Mermaid's Revenge. 

I was still in my head. My mother had been a pirate captain. How was I supposed to move on from a development like that?

I kept finding Maverick's eyes on me, which was not helping the stability of my train of thought. We hadn't really gotten a chance to finish the conversation we'd been having before I found the treasure. 

I honestly wasn't sure that I wanted to have it anymore. I had what I'd come for, the financial capacity to end the engagement and take Amelie wherever we needed to go to start a new life. 

My thoughts flitted to my father. He clearly hadn't known about my mother's occupation. Would he be proud of the person I'd grown into? Would he condemn me, as I would have mere months ago, or would he tell me he loves me no matter what?

Was he even still breathing? I had no way of knowing.

"You keep furrowing your brow like that it's gonna stick that way," Nell joked softly. 

I turned towards the older woman. She regarded me from the doorway to below deck with a sympathetic expression. 

"Sorry. I was just lost in thought."

She nodded knowingly. 

"I think they're all set up here, love. Come help me with the cooking, eh?"

Taking one last furtive glance at where Maverick stood at the steering wheel, I followed her down. 

We chopped in silence for a few minutes before she broke it again. 

"What's troubling you, dearie?"

I shook my head, cursing myself for the stinging of tears that pooled in my eyes. 

"I don't know," I mumbled softly, voice breaking.

A soft hand on my shoulder startled me. 

Nell looked at me with such a kind and compassionate stare that I couldn't help it. Abandoning the vegetables, I burst into tears. 

She hugged me, murmuring softly to me. I hadn't been held like this since my mother died, and I could almost feel a bit of weight lift from my shoulders. 

She ran a gentle hand over my hair as I continued to sob like a baby into her shoulder. 

"It's alright, honey. It's okay."

Shaking, I pulled back and hastily wiped my eyes. 

"I'm so sorry about your shirt-"

"Oh please, don't be. It's seen worse. Now, do you wanna talk about it?" She smiled warmly at me. 

Sighing, I ran a hand through my dark tresses. 

"Turns out Pierre Jaquesport was my mother. Which is wildly unimaginable, but it's true. And my father didn't know and I think maybe if he knew what I was doing right now he'd hate me but I'm likely never going to see him again so it doesn't really matter, does it? And I miss my sister like I miss air but what if she hates me too? I was just trying to get out of my stupid engagement but what if she decides I'm no better than the rest of the pirates? What if she wants nothing more to do with me? And how does one go about completely upending and restarting their life anyway?"

I heaved in a deep breath before the next words came tumbling out. 

"And I think there's a decent chance I'm in love with Maverick. Which is beyond absurd and impossible and I hate myself and I'm just so confused-"

I halted when she rested her hand atop mine. 

"Deep breath. You're talking so fast it's a miracle you're still standing."

I took a shaky breath.

"There you go. Now, it's time for me to tell you a story. Once upon a time, there was a young kitchen maid who worked for a baron near port royal. She fell in love with an incredibly handsome chauffeur, and the two were happy. Unable to marry because of their positions, they were content to keep the relationship a secret."

She inhaled deeply. 

"And then that young maid realized she was with child."

My heart dropped.

"Her once charming chauffeur decided he couldn't take care of her and their unborn child, so she was left alone. Her employer did not take kindly to the information, and she was forced to the streets. She gave birth in Tortuga, after stowing away, in a brothel that would later become her new home. Unfortunately, her son passed away a few short days after he was born."

A tear slipped down my cheek as I watched her eyes, a misty faraway look taking them over. 

"She worked at that brothel for half a decade before one customer decided she wasn't worth the price. He beat her half to death next to the port. And no one would help a dirty whore, so she was alone and bleeding. That's when she met the infamous Jack Sparrow. Instead of spurning her, he offered her a place on his ship. She was hesitant, but it was there that she grew into the strong woman she was meant to be. She'd always had a gift for cooking, and the work was exciting, being a pirate after all. Jack died while she was in port one day, and a few months later, his cavalier young son returned and asked her to come back. And who was she to say no? The ocean is her home."

I stared at her, wide-eyed, barely processing the information she was telling me. 

"Nell... I... I'm so sorry."

She smiled sadly. 

"The past is the past, darling. I'm happy where I am now."

"What was his name?"

Nell's chest seemed to collapse in on itself for a moment before she spoke again. 

"Charles."

I nodded, squeezing her hand. 

"The point is dear, that it doesn't matter where you came from or where you're going. The ocean isn't picky about who travels on it. The ocean is, however, picky about who makes their home here. Not just anyone can be a pirate, you know."

I blinked at her slowly, unsure what to say. She tucked a rogue strand of hair behind my ear.

"Follow your heart, my dear. It hasn't led you astray yet, has it?"

Biting my lip, I nodded. She was right, and I knew what I had to do.