Maria Barbossa: The Curse of the Black Pearl

~Seven~

Maria groans as she opens her eyes and wake up. "Jack?" She groans.

"Easy, love." Jack whispers as he helps her to her feet.

"W-what happened?" Jack frown, a glare in his eyes as he stares down at the ground.

"Will happened." Maria's eyes widen in shock as she remembers the code.

"He... He left us behind." Jack nods as he looks at her.

"Come on, let's see if we can not get back to the ship." Jack says as he takes her arm and leads her down the slope, the evil ore still in his hands. He leads them right to where all the pirates stand.

"You!" A skinny greasy pirate says.

"You're supposed to be dead."

"Am I not?" Jack asks. He checks himself over before turning with Maria to leave, but they get caught off by another group of them.

"Uh..."

"Let me do the talking, love." Jack whispers in her ear. He turns them around, but all around them people have their weapons drawn on him. "Pearlie.... Palu-li-la-la-lulu... Parlili.... parsnip... parsley..." Maria raises an eyebrow at him. 'Yeah, he do the talking.' She thinks bitterly. "Partner...."

"Parley?" The skinny pirate asks.

"That's the one! Parley!" Jack says with a smile. "Parley!"

"Parley?" The balding fatter man beside the other pirate speaks up. "Damn to the depths whatever muttonhead thought of parley!"

"That would be the French." Jack says. And like that the Captain makes his way to them.

"How the blazes did you get off the island?" The captain asks as Jack rests against the ore, letting Maria's arm go.

"When you marooned me on that godforsaken spit of land, you forgot one very important thing." The captain looks at him with a curious expression. "I'm Captain Jack Sparrow."

"Ah, well, I won't be making that mistake again." He says as he stands before Jack. "Gents, you all remember Captain Jack Sparrow?"

"Aye." They nod.

"Kill him."

"What about the girl?" One asks, causing the captain to frown and turn to Maria, who he had yet to notice. Jack's eyes widen as he tries to distract the captain from the girl, but before he gets a chance the captain asks a very important question.

"Who are you?" The captain asks Maria, but Jack tries to signal her not to answer, but she does before she notices.

"Maria Barbossa." Jack curses under his breath as the entire crew begins to whisper amongst themselves with surprise.

"Barbossa?" The captain questions, Maria glances at Jack's sullen face with a frown.

"Yes?"

"And your mother, who was she?"

"I..." Jack just nods, it's too late to go back. "I never knew her name. I was taken in by the governor when I was only a child." She answers. The captain stares at her for a long moment, so many emotions flashing through his eyes that Maria can't read them all.

"The girl's blood didn't work, did it?" Jack asks, trying to get the attention off Maria.

"You know whose blood we need." The captain says upon turning to him.

"I know whose blood you need."

~

"So you expect to leave me on some beach with nothing but a name and your word it's the one I need, and watch you sail away in my ship with my daughter." To say Maria's mind is not a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions would be a lie. Jack knew since the beginning who her father was and he never once said anything and now she is standing before her very own father with Jack beside her.

"No. I expect to leave you standing on some beach with absolutely no name at all, watching me sail away on my ship, with your daughter." His arms wrap around the waist of the captain's daughter, anger clear in the captain's eyes, but Maria doesn't have the strength to push him off her, she's too... empty feeling. "And then I'll shout the name back to you. Savvy?" Jack smiles as he rests his head on Maria's shoulder.

"But that still leaves me standing on some beach, with naught but a name and your word it's the one I need and you have my daughter." Barbossa says as he stares at his daughter, while Jack looks through the apples that rests in a bowl.

"Of the two of us, I am the only one who hasn't committed mutiny. Therefore, my word is the one we'll be trusting." Barbossa pulls his eyes away from Maria in order to stare at Jack, who was touching his precious apples. "Although, I suppose I should be thanking you because, in fact, if you hadn't betrayed me and left to die, I would have an equal share in that curse, same as you. I also wouldn't have met your lovely daughter." Jack smiles. "And that means you should be thanking me because then you wouldn't have met your daughter." He bites into the apple, Barbossa glaring at Jack as he does so. "Funny old world, isn't it?" Jack holds the apple out to him, causing his glare to strengthen.

"Captain! We'e coming up on the Interceptor." One of the crew members say as he walks into the room. The monkey runs across the table, landing on Maria's shoulder, for some reason it creates a memory inside Maria's head.

~Flashback~

A small child of only three lays in a basket on the beach as two people stand above her. "Must we do this?" The woman asks, a broken voice filled with sorrow.

"It's the best life for her." The man says in a comforting tone. A small screech is heard before a small monkey hand is placed on the girl's cheek and seconds later her face is close to the monkey's.

"Can't we at least leave the monkey with her, he'll keep her safe and-

"The monkey is as much a pirate as we are. Her life is set for the noose if she stays with us or him." The man says. "We'll come for her when the time is ready, but until then we must let her live a happy and healthy life." The monkey makes small noises as he stares into the deep brown pools of the baby's eyes.

~End of flashback~

Maria's eyes meets her father's and she feels all the breath leave her.