Jack and Angelica when they were younger.

Old Times

Night One: The Pirate

Angelica opened her window after changing into her nightgown. She smiled to herself as she turned away to find her copy of the Bible. She was excited; In merely days, she'd be taking her vows as a true nun of the Convent and turning twenty years of age.

The young Spanish woman jumped as she hear a noise behind her. She turned to see a young man, no more than twenty himself, half way through her window. He gave a sheepish grin from his awkward position. He managed to pull himself through and stood to his full height, not much taller than she was, looking at her.

The young man had slicked back black hair, a cleanly shaven face, brown eyes akin to her own, and he wore a black tricorn atop his head. He gave another small smile, his teeth showing. She was the light catch on a few of them, reflecting gold. A pirate?

"¿Quién eres tú?" She asked, in Spanish.

He shook his head, not understanding her. "English?"

"Who are you?" She repeated, this time in English as he'd requested.

"The name's Jack Sparrow. Captain Jack Sparrow." He answered, an arrogant tone about him.

"¿Eres un pirata?" Angelica asked him.

The man who called himself Jack Sparrow seemed mildly confused, but he seemed to understand the gist of what she'd said. He gave a small grin. "I am indeed."

She begun backing away. Sure, she'd been told to stay away from all men in general, but a pirate was much worse. "Oh no. Oh no. ¿Qué debo hacer? Madre de Dios. Oh no…"

The pirate raised his hands up to reveal them to be free of any weapon. He seemed mildly surprised by her reaction. "I'm not going to hurt you, I promise. If I wanted to, I would've by now. Okay? Relax."

She stopped backing away, but wasn't quick to move towards him either. "What are you doing here?" Her Spanish accent was thick.

"Is this not a brothel?" Now he was clearly confused.

She shook her head, smiling weakly, as she found humor in his mistake.

"Oh." A sheepish grin returned to his face and he reddened for a moment. He struggled for words. "Er...uh...I'll just take my leave then, eh?"

"Puedes quedarte." She shook her head, her curiosity about the outer world getting the better of her. "Tell me about the sea."

"Not before I hear more about yourself." He winked, making her blush. "Say, what's your name, love?"

"Angelica."

"No last name?" His quirked an eyebrow.

She shook her head. "I do not remember. If I did, I would be with my father now."

The young pirate tilted his head to the side. "And your mother?"

"She died when I was very young. My father left me here." Angelica admitted quietly.

"'M sorry to hear that, Angelica." He took off his tricorn and momentarily held it over his heart before donning it again.

"Capitan-"

"-just call me Jack."

"Jack…" She waved towards her bed as she sat down in her desk chair. "You do not need to keep standing."

Gratefully, Jack gave a nod of appreciation and sat on the side of the bed, facing her. "So, you wanted to hear about the sea, eh?"

Angelica nodded.

"Alright then." He paused for a moment before resuming, as if gathering his thoughts. "But, first, let me ask you something. What do you know of freedom?"

She tilted her head, slightly confused. "What do you mean?"

"What does it sound like I mean?" He replied, a lazy curl pulling the corner of his lips upwards. He went on,"Don't you ever feel trapped in here? Isolated from what's out there in the rest of the world?"

"Sometimes." She admitted. It was true, she often wondered what her life would be like outside of the Convent.

"With that look on your face, it's more than sometimes." Jack gave a friendly smirk.

Angelica blushed for a moment. "Am I that easy to read?"

"Afraid so." He chuckled slightly.

"Oh." She paused, gathering her whirling thoughts. She had so many questions to ask, but didn't know where to start. She cleared her throat. "Why don't you act like the other pirates?"

"I do, on the Pearl. Right now," He gestured up and down himself," I'm in disguise. If I weren't, I'd have been spotted out there. Possibly caught, or killed even. And with this disguise, I have to act normal too. So, just trying, y'know."

She nodded in comprehension. "I understand."

"And if I was to come in acting like I normally would aboard my ship, you would probably have gotten me found out by now." The young man added.

She nodded again. "I probably would have."

"Say," His eyes lit up,"Can I show you something?"

"What is it?" She asked, eagerly.

"We'd have to leave here to see it." Jack warned. "Are you allowed out?"

"This is a Convent, they do not let you do anything." Angelica shook her head.

"Would you be keen to sneak out, through the window?" He asked.

She quickly nodded. "Yes, please."

The young captain chuckled at her eagerness to leave. "Alright, follow me, but for Calypso's sake, be careful."

He walked over to the window and ducked through it, moving to the side slowly, on a ledge. She climbed through after, slipping momentarily. He held his hand behind her back to ensure that she wouldn't fall. She regained her balance and looked at him. He was raising an eyebrow in a what-did-I-just-tell-you look.

"I'm alright." Angelica assured him.

"I see that." Jack responded. "Wasn't joking when I said be careful though."

He grabbed the branch of a nearby tree, one that had low hanging branches. He leapt onto another branch, waiting until it was steady to move out of the way. She grabbed the same branch as he did, feeling the rough bark beneath her skin for the first time. She hopped and swung onto the branch he'd been on.

The expertly young man made his way down, taking the branches as if they were stairs. She followed, much more slower, cautious of falling. That did her no good, as she lost her footing, finding nothing to hold her on the tree behind her. She felt herself falling, but she never hit the ground. Instead, she found herself in the pirate's arms. He set her down on her feet swiftly.

"Welcome to the streets of Spain." He smirked, as she looked around in awe.

Sure, she'd seen the streets from the windows of the Convent, but never had she ever before seen them from being in them.

"Wow." She murmured.

"Now, come on, I want to get you back here soon so that you have some time to sleep tonight." Jack pulled on her hand, leading her along. "If you like this view of the streets, you'll love what I'm going to show you."

He lead Angelica through many different winding streets, coming to a dirt path. They followed along it, through a forest. She was awed once again, taking in the beauty of the natural environment. A few birds chirped and hummed, creating music to their ears. She saw the form of a doe, nervously standing to the side in a thicker area of trees. It dashed off upon seeing them, and she watched it swift form disappear from sight.

She realized how her pirate escort guided her through the forest confidently; not hurriedly, not roughly, not even possessively- as one would expect many pirates to act out of. She had to admit, she was certainly surprised by this. He'd said that it was a part of his disguise, but she had to wonder if it was actually how he acted most of the time.

They came to a hard dirt wall that went a few feet up. She watched how the young man released her hand and planted both of his own on top of the wall. She saw him lift himself up onto the more elevated land, get up, and turn back to offer her a hand.

She took it, smiling sweetly at him. There was something about this pirate that got to her. Something more than pure fascination. Something that drew her to him. Was it...desire?

Jack pulled her up with ease, before taking her hand again in his rough-skinned one and guiding her along with an,"Almost there!"

A minute later, the forest ended, but the path continued up to what looked like the edge of a cliff. They reached the end of the path, indeed being on a cliff, and Angelica had to gasp at the most beautiful sight she had ever seen. They were overlooking a large body of water, the stars and moon being reflected in it.

"What ocean is it?" She asked.

"Actually, it's a sea." He told her. "The Mediterranean."

"I have never seen anything like it before." She admitted.

"If you think this is interesting, you should see the Caribbean." He suggested.

They sat down side by side in the grass, gazing over the sea.

"Is that near here?" She asked him.

"Oh no." The young captain shook his head. "'S across the world, under the Americas."

"Oh."

"One day, maybe, I could show you."

"Really?" She looked at him.

"Sure." He smiled at her.

"What does it feel like? To be on the sea?" Angelica asked quietly, turning back to the one before them.

"Freedom." Jack murmured in reply.

They both fell silent, gazing over the calm waters of the sea. She found interest in the wavering reflections of the stars and the moon. It was all so new and fascinating to her. Why would the Sisters and nuns of the Convent keep her from beautiful sights such as this one? If she didn't know better, she would think it a sin to be unable to see other creations of the Lord. Creations such as that before her, and even the one sitting besides her.

The dark sky began to lighten to a purple long before the sun finally began to rise. Gradually, the purple grew to a light pink that nearly burned her eyes. She could even see a soft orange. She saw the top of the sun on the horizon and she snapped back to reality.

"Jack," She turned to look at the young man, but he was already on his feet, stretching. "Jack, I have to get back."

"I know that." He assured her, reaching a hand down to help her up. "C'mon then."

Angelica took his hand and let herself be pulled to her feet. She glanced at the colorful horizon one last time, before they turned away to head back towards the city. They hurried to the small drop, where Jack jumped down and nearly fell over. Upon regaining his balance, he turned to her and helped her down. When he released her hand, she felt cold again. There was something about the way he held it as he helped her and guided her along that drew her to him.

He jogged ahead and she had to lift her skirts a bit to jog herself and keep his pace. They jogged along the dirt trail together at a decent pace as the sky slowly changed from purples, pinks, and oranges to light blue. Angelica's lungs screamed for air and she began to slow down. Jack cleary saw and slowed down to match her pace, giving a nod of understanding.

"Jack," She burst out, panting," What if I don't get back in time?"

"You will, I promise." He told her, his voice containing only the smallest hint of exhaustion. He must be used to this, she mused. "We can take a shortcut. Follow me."

The young man turned off the trail to the right, dashing through the trees. She raced after him, struggling to keep up. She heard leaves crunching and rustling from the bushes and plants nearby. She didn't pay attention to it, too focused on getting back to the Convent before they missed her. Her companion didn't notice either.

And not noticing was a mistake.

All of a sudden, a large, bulky, brown creature leapt from their right, right onto Jack, pinning him down. She screamed his name as she watched him struggle to pull out a weapon from underneath it. A crack of thunder went off moments later and the creature collapsed on top of him. She heard a loud, long sigh of relief from him. She raced to his side, helping to get the dead animal off of him.

Once it'd been moved, Jack put away his flintlock pistol, which he'd sneakily grabbed. He had a few scratches on him, but he seemed to be alright. He got to his feet, sighing in exasperation as he ran a hand through his hair.

"Are you alright?" Angelica asked him.

"Fine." He assured her. Then he muttered to himself,"Should've expected something to attack."

"What was it?" She asked as they began walking back in the direction they'd been headed.

"Brown bear." He answered. "They're common in Spain."

"If I didn't know better, I'd think it a sin to kill an animal." She pointed out.

"Self defense." He responded simply. "It probably would've done me in good; either killed me or leave me wounded and unable to move." He paused a moment. "C'mon, we've got another good reason to hurry now."

She gave a nod in response.

The two raced along the back of the town as fast as they could, doing their best to stay together. Jack made a left into town and she followed him. They ran down street after street until eventually coming across the one of the Convent. The young pirate captain helped her into the tree and onto the ledge. He supported her as she crept along it, to ensure that she wouldn't fall. Angelica peeked in her window, seeing her room the way she'd left it. She climbed through it and back into her room. Jack climbed in after her.

"You'll be fine from here?" He asked her.

She nodded. "I will be." She paused for a moment before going on. "Gracias, Jack, for last night."

He gave a small smile. "It was nothing, really, aside from the bear on the way back."

She smiled back at him. He turned away, heading back for the window. Not wanting him to leave, she hurried after him and managed to wrap her arms around his waist, pulling him into a hug from behind. He stopped what he was doing, but he didn't seem against the embrace either.

"You'll come back tomorrow?" She asked him quietly.

"You want me to?" He asked in return.

She nodded before realizing that he couldn't see her. "Yes."

"Then I will." The pirate promised. "Just do me a favor."

"Yes?" She asked, curious.

"Don't get into trouble on my behalf."

"I won't, Jack."

"I hope not." He murmured. "I'll see you tonight then."

"See you tonight." She replied, just as quietly, as she released him.

Angelica watched with a sadness as Jack Sparrow climbed out of her window, gave one last smirk, and vanished among the crowds of Spaniards.

There was something about that pirate captain that she wanted. He was so charming, kind, and...he was like a gentleman, the contrary to what she'd originally thought a pirate was. When she had been with him, looking over the sea, her heart had soared.

She'd never felt so...free.

Too often she had felt trapped, restrained, in the Convent. Far too long had she felt like she needed something more. Far too long had she wished to do something different than all of the other women she knew. Far too long had she wanted to do what she wanted because she wanted it. Far too long had she been hidden from what lies in the real world, beyond the Convent. Far too long.

Maybe Jack Sparrow- Captain Jack Sparrow- would be the man to finally set her free.