Captain Styles *UNEDITED VERSION*

Chapter 30

Isabella's POV:

I stared out at the approaching ship with wide eyes, my body slightly shaking at the thought of the Free Heart. If Harry is uneasy about facing someone, then I know that we have a problem. Harry's never afraid to face an opponent, but I can see it in his eyes that he isn't too sure about facing this Captain Jack.

"What do we do?" I ask Harry and he takes a deep breath, looking down at the ground and closing his eyes, thinking the situation over. "We have no choice." he murmurs before looking up at the approaching ship with a new fierceness in his gaze.

"Everybody listen up!" he shouts, raising his voice above all the commotion below and everyone falls silent, looking up as Harry approaches the rails by the stairs, looking down at all his crew.

"That's the Free Heart, for sure. There's no getting away from an attack by it, so the only other option we have is to fight. I need everyone to get to their stations immediately and prepare for an attack! If we do not launch a full fledge attack against the Free Heart, this will be the last battle that you will ever face." Harry says in a commanding voice and all the crew salute him with serious expressions.

"Do you understand?" Harry shouts at them and they all nod their heads to him. "Aye, Cap'n!" they shout in reply before Harry waves his hand, dismissing them. Immediately they scatter from the deck, running below deck and throughout the ship to prepare for battle.

Harry grabbed my hand and began walking towards the stairs, dragging me down them two at a time with a stern expression on his face. "Harry, where are you going?" I ask and he gives me a soft smile, despite how harsh he was just a minute ago.

"I need you to be safe." he tells me but I shake my head at him, making one of his eyebrows perk up in question. "If you want me safe, Harry, wouldn't it be better if I were by you?" I ask and he opens his mouth to say something but I shake my head, interrupting him.

"I don't want to be stuck in a room alone while all this happens! I don't want to feel helpless Harry....and...I-I want to be by your side!" I say determined and Harry's eyes widen in shock, not expecting that response from me.

"B-Bella..." Harry trails off, not knowing what to say to me. In all honesty, it kind of shocked me what I had just said. In a way, it was admitting that I needed Harry for me to feel safe, which shows how much of a weakness he is to me. Hopefully he didn't catch on to that part.

"Please, Harry. I want to be with you." I say quieter, letting my head drop down so that he couldn't see the blush on my cheeks. After a moment, my eyes widened as two arms wrapped around me, pulling me into an embrace that could only be Harry's.

His head was against my neck and I stood there in shock as I heard him take in a deep breath. "It makes me happy..." Harry trails off and my eyes are wide as I hear the vulnerability in his voice, and wait for him to finish.

"...to know that you want to be with me." he murmurs before pulling away from me, his green eyes bright and a smile on his face.

"You won't leave my side through all of this. You can stay by me." he says with a smile and I instantly return it, happiness and relief flowing through me. "Thank you Harry. Truly, thank you." I say and lean my head against his chest as a sign of gratitude. Harry could've easily rejected me and told me to stay somewhere else, but he is letting me stay with him.

Harry puts a hand on the top of my head, patting it a few times before his hand falls and I lean away from him, looking up at him to know what to do next.

He gives me a gentle smile before his face gets serious again, looking past me to the oncoming ship. "Bella, we're going to have to prepare to fight as well. In case the Free Heart's crew comes on board, I need to give you something to fight with." he says and I nod my head, trying to hide my nervousness away from him.

He grabs my hand again, this time leading me over towards a secluded part of the deck. He opens up a small chest, letting my hand go and rummaging through it before pulling out a sword, turning to me and holding it out.

"This'll do for now. It's not the best sword there is, but it's a good one. But don't worry, if the time comes and you need me, I won't hesitate to be there for you." he says to me, handing me the sword and I smile as I grip the blade in my hand, weighing it with my palm.

It wasn't too heavy, something I could easily carry. But what made me nervous was the thought of killing someone, even if it were to protect myself.  I find myself hoping that I wouldn't end up in a situation where I would actually have to do that.

"Thank you Harry." I say and he smiles to me, taking my hand again and leading me back up to where the steering wheel was, looking over the edge as the Free Heart was basically upon us now.

"Even the Black Skull can't outrun you." Harry mutters under his breath, anger in his eyes as he stares at the ship coming closer to us. In fact, it was close enough to the Black Skull that I could see some of the Free Heart's crew, sly smiles on their faces as they saw us.

"This Captain Jack...he must be really scary, isn't he?" I ask Harry and he shakes his head with a sigh. "He's more of the creepy type than scary, I would say. He enjoys killing people and tearing things up, but he always has a smile on his face. Not a normal smile, either." Harry adds on and I gulp, looking out at the approaching ship with fear in my eyes.

"So what happens if he comes on board our ship?" I ask and Harry lets out a heavy sigh. "If he comes aboard our ship, I want you to stay away from him." he tells me sternly and I nod my head, not even going to argue with him on this one.

Harry was right about Drake, and he warned me to stay away from him. So I'm definitely going to take his word on this one, to stay away from Captain Jack as much as I possibly can. I know it'll make Harry feel better if I follow his orders.

"The cannons are ready to fire, Cap'n!" Louis' voice broke our conversation as we glanced down, seeing Louis with a serious expression on his face. Harry nods to him, holding a hand up in the air for his entire crew to see.

"Into positions!" he orders and the crew hustles about, getting by the cannons and some even going below deck to fire them. After a few seconds, the pirate steering gave Harry a curt nod, and then jerked the wheel harshly to the left, turning the Black Skull right towards the Free Heart.

"If Jack wants a fight..." Harry trails off, fire in his eyes with determination and conviction in his voice. "Then it's a fight he's going to get!" Harry yells before throwing his hand down, the silent air being filled with an outbreak of cannonfire.

"FIRE!"

Sorry for the late update :( I've been really busy lately and haven't had time to update. I just got back from a small trip we took and I wasn't able to write. Hope that this chapter makes up for it!! Please continue to Comment and Vote! What do you think is going to happen during this fight?