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𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐄𝐗𝐓 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆, 𝐆𝐈𝐁𝐁𝐒 𝐁𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐈𝐑 𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐖. some men stood in a ragged line-up near the docks as jack, bella, and will approached.
"feast your eyes, captain. all of them faithful hands before the mast, every man worth his salt — and crazy to boot," gibbs announced.
jack moved down the line. bella observed each of the sailors. they didn't look too bad, but will was not impressed.
"so this is your able-bodied crew?" he questioned.
jack nodded. he stopped in front of a sailor with a large, colorful parrot on his shoulder.
"you, sailor!" he began.
"cotton, sir," informed gibbs.
"mr. cotton. do you have the courage and fortitude to follow orders and stay true in the face of danger and almost certain death?" he waited for an answer, but none came. "mr. cotton! answer!"
"he's a mute, sir. poor devil had his tongue cut out," gibbs added.
cotton opened his mouth to show this. bella turned away and jack grimaced.
"so he trained the parrot to talk for him. no one's yet figured how," finished gibbs.
"mr. cotton's parrot," jack tried again. "same question."
"wind in your sails! wind in your sails!" screeched the parrot.
"mostly, we figure that means yes," gibbs said.
"of course it does!" jack looked confident as he turned around. "satisfied?" he asked will.
"well, you've proved they're mad," answered will.
"what's wrong with that?" bella responded, but another sailor spoke.
"and what's the benefit for us?"
jack moved down the line and stopped in front of a sailor, eyes downcast, face shaded by a hat. he leaned up to the side, trying to peer beneath the hat.
the sailor looked up and look off her hat.
"anamaria," he said in recognition.
she was fuming, and hit jack with a hard right smack.
"i suppose you didn't deserve that one, either?" will wondered.
"no, that one i deserved," admitted jack. bella tried not to laugh.
"you stole my boat!" exclaimed anamaria.
"actually, i—"
she smacked him again, this time even harder. even bella felt this one.
"borrowed," explained jack, in pain. "borrowed without permission. but with every intention of bringing it back."
"but you didn't!" she said.
"jack, that would be considered stealing," bella muttered to him.
jack glanced back at bella, then to anamaria. "you'll get another one!" he resolved.
"i will," she threatened.
"a better one," suggested will.
"a better one!" jack said in agreement.
"that one," will was pointing at a ship. bella squinted to see the interceptor.
jack whirled around with a wide-eyed look at will. "that one?!" he considered it for a moment, then realized it was a good plan. "aye, that one! what say you?"
all the sailors responded. "aye!"
with that, the crew made their way to the interceptor. bella, jack, and will were about to join them, but gibbs held them back.
"no, no, no, no. it's frightful bad luck to bring women aboard, sir," he looked worried.
jack gazed up at the sky, towards bella, then back at gibbs.
"it'll be far worse not to have them," he spoke, then moved away. gibbs and bella exchanged a puzzled look.
they boarded the interceptor and began to set sail in the direction of isla de muerta.
bella made friends with some members of the crew. along the way, she and gibbs recalled some of their sailing memories from back in the day. all in all, she was happy with her decision to leave port royal.
* * *
a raging storm commenced that night. lightning was flashing every which way, and the ship was getting hit by wave after wave.
"how can we sail to an island that nobody can find with a compass that doesn't work?" will shouted, next to bella and gibbs.
"aye, the compass doesn't point north, but we're not trying to find north, are we?" gibbs responded.
bella whipped her head around. those words were familiar. a compass that didn't point north . . .
she tried not to get sidetracked considering the dangerous conditions. bella pulled a rope down forcefully, struggling to see through the downpour.
she wobbled up to the quarterdeck, water shoving her every which way. gibbs was behind her.
"jack—— " suddenly, bella tripped and fell on the slippery deck. she would've cracked her skull open, but somebody caught her.
at first, she assumed it was gibbs, but when she opened her eyes, it was jack looking down at her. gibbs was at the wheel. the two stared into each other's eyes, and time must have stopped. then, his strong grip pulled her up. "you all right?" he yelled above the storm.
bella nodded, still lost in his eyes. "we should drop canvas, captain," she said after a moment.
"she can hold a bit longer," jack answered. he gently let go of bella and returned to the helm, back to swinging the wheel violently.
"what's in your head that's put you in such a fine mood, captain?" gibbs screamed.
"we're catching up," came jack's reply. bella couldn't help but smile at the passion in his eyes.
she trusted him, that much was clear.
yet she had never felt more understood by another person. they wanted the same things, and they thought the same way. he made her happy.
oh shit.
maybe it was just trust.
but was there something more?
with one last admiring glance at jack, bella went back to the main deck, letting the downpour wash her thoughts away.
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