Disclaimer: (Looks around) Shh! I'm hunting for Jack Sparrow! This means he's not mine…yet.

AN: This is it, the final chapter for "Call of Freedom!" I hope that everyone enjoyed reading this and is looking forward to the sequel. I never thought that this fic would become so popular, and I'd like to thank all of my readers and reviewers for their support. Hope to see you soon, and please review!

Chapter 21: Conversations:

For several days I did my best to avoid Jack, and he seemed to realize that I needed time to myself after what had happened. I was allowed to return to doing light chores in the galley and helping Mr. Gibbs do part of a night-watch on deck, so I wasn't completely bored to the point of tears. However, the fact that Jack kept avoiding my presence and any sort of gaze I threw his way became very hard on me, so much so that the rest of the crew noticed that something horrible had happened between us.

"Rose, is something…amiss between you and the Captain?" Barton asked me once.

I had shaken my head and smiled. "No, I think that after spending so much time together, we decided to give one another some space to breathe," was my reply.

Bart had nodded his understanding, spreading the word amongst the crew. Most of the men accepted the explanation, but for some reason, Gibbs kept throwing pointed glances at both me and Jack when he thought we weren't looking. The first mate of the Pearl knew that something was wrong between me and Jack; he wasn't the drunkard that most believed him to be, and was quite observant when it came to emotions. Also, the fact that he had practically appointed himself as my foster uncle tended to give him a certain amount of 'leverage' when it came to confronting me about my troubles. In fact, a week after what I called "The Abandonment in Tortuga," and five days after we'd left the pirate port, it was because of this 'leverage' that he made a point of talking to me.

Gibbs cornered me while I was wiping down the railing of the Pearl with an oily rag, doing my best to keep the sea salt from settling into the wood and to help keep the moisture of the sea from rotting the Pearl out from under us. The crew was eating an early supper and Jack was in his cabin, doing whatever a pirate captain does. Thus, I was alone on deck, enjoying the peaceful approaching evening when I felt a familiar, gentle, fatherly hand press upon my shoulder.

"A moment of your time, Rosie?" whispered Gibbs.

"Of course, Gibbs," I said, smiling to myself.

I smelled the rum on his breath and bit back a chuckle; he must have taken a sip from his flask in order to boost his courage to talk to me. Turning around to face him, I tucked the rag into its usual bucket and crossed my arms over my chest in a leisurely manner.

"Rose…"

I could hear the hesitation in his voice, and sighed, deciding to be straight forward and not beat around the bush. "You're wondering about the sort of rift that's formed between me and Jack?"

Gibbs nodded and leaned against the railing, gazing out to the fading sunset and waved his hand slightly, indicating for me to join him. I did so, letting out another heavy sigh as I watched the sun vanish and the stars appear overhead, reflecting in the water and creating the illusion that we were surrounded by the night sky. I smiled as the moon appeared, a large ball of silvery light that provided more than enough illumination for us to see by.

"Now, Rose," Gibbs said, also looking out at the water. "I'm no fool, I've got eyes inside my head, and I've got enough sense to see that you and Jack have been…tiptoeing around each other for quite some time." He chuckled as I blushed. "Now, unless I'm mistaken, you and the Captain have some strong feelings towards one another, feelings that go much further than a Captain and a female crewmate should have for each other."

I sighed again. "You're right," I admitted. "I do have incredibly strong feelings for Jack…but…"

"But what?" Gibbs asked.

"I'm afraid that Jack doesn't feel the same way about me," I softly replied, hanging my head to look down at my feet.

"Well, that's the biggest load of dung that I've ever heard!" Gibbs declared.

"It's true," I said, turning to my left to look up at him. "That day you found Jack beside me in the longboat, at the island?" Gibbs nodded. "We kissed, right before you and the crew turned up with your findings."

"Ah ha, there's your proof!" Gibbs said, obviously delighted.

Another shake of my head sobered him. "No, Gibbs. Jack avoided me for days after that happened, and that day that you found me unaccompanied in the streets in Tortuga? Jack had bought me a sword…right before he ran off with a prostitute and left me standing there, alone in the street!"

Beside me, Gibbs stared at me in shock before he began cursing. "Stupid blighter…never knew Jack to be as daft as that!"

"It's what happened," I said, gazing back out to sea.

Gibbs sighed before wrapping one of his large hands around my arm in a comforting gesture. "He does care about you, Rose. It's just…Jack's a bit…inexperienced when it comes to love. He can face down a fleet of the Royal Navy and not blink an eye, but when confronted by something like this, well…"

I patted his hand with my free hand. "It's alright, Gibbs," I said, gazing back out to sea. "I don't want any sort of discomfort to exist between me and Jack, so I think you should be the first to know."

"Know about what, Rose?" Gibbs asked, confused.

"To know that I'm leaving the Pearl at the next port," I replied in a calm voice.

Jack heard Rose's words and felt his heart stop in his chest. 'She can't go,' he thought to himself, feeling panic flow throughout his body.

For days he had been avoiding her, thinking that she wanted or needed time to act out her anger and to gather her thoughts. So he had let her and Ivory move back into her cabin without raising a fuss about it. However, when she wasn't looking, Jack let his eyes follow her form around the deck, trying to figure out her emotions and whether or not she was ready to accept him crawling on his knees, begging for forgiveness. In fact, just today he had gone into his cabin to try and think of a way to get her to talk to him about what had happened in Tortuga. When he'd heard her voice out on deck, he'd come out to approach her, instead walking right into the beginning of her conversation with Gibbs.

'But why would she leave?' Jack thought, watching Rose talk to Gibbs by the railing. 'Alright, besides the incident in Tortuga…and the fact that I've got a reputation with women…and the fact that I haven't got the damnedest idea on how to act since I've never been in love before!'

Wait, did he just think that he was in love?

'Oh, bugger.' He pressed his hands to his face and took a deep breath. 'I'm bloody in love, and the girl I'm bloody in love with is going to leave me!' Determination flooded his very being as his hands dropped to his side. 'I can't let that happen; I have to do something!'

But before Jack could think of a course of action, Rose was speaking again. "I'm tired of becoming a burden to him," she declared, and he could hear the pain in her voice. "I feel as though I've been nothing but trouble for him…I'm the only female crewmember onboard, and I know that it makes the men uneasy with my being here. Plus, I've brought a cat onto the Pearl, which probably makes things even more difficult, which in turn makes it harder on Jack to be happy that I'm here…"

"Stop it," Gibbs said, grabbing Rose forcefully by the shoulder and giving her a shake.

Jack wanted to rush over and demand that he stop manhandling his girl, but managed to restrain himself just in time. Besides, it wouldn't look good if he attacked his first mate.

"Stop it," repeated Gibbs as he grabbed her other shoulder and turned her towards him. "You aren't a burden or a bad omen to the crew. We, including me, all like and respect you, especially after you saved the Captain's life like that. Mind you, we'd all probably take some sort of hit for him, but to take a shot that could have killed you if it were another inch or so the left or right…that's something most men would be lining up not to do!"

The pirate captain shook his head. True enough, his crew was a faithful bunch, but most of them probably wouldn't take a bullet for him; they'd take some sort of wound, but certainly not a bullet! A good bunch of men, they were, but not the types to take the fatal wounds of another man, captain or no captain!

"Besides, I know that you're only leaving because of Jack himself, not because you think you are some sort of burden to him," Gibbs retorted, wrapping an arm around her shoulders in a fatherly gesture. "You're in love with him, aren't you?"

Jack held his breath and waited. If she didn't love him back, he'd throw himself off of the highest rigging that very night; he couldn't bear the thought of her not loving him back.

"Yes," Rose whispered, her words carrying on the wind to his ears. "Yes, I do love him…"

A bejeweled hand raised itself and pressed against Jack's forehead in relief as he bit back a sigh, his hand sweeping down over his face and stopping over his mouth to prevent a shout of joy from escaping his lips.

'Oh, thank goodness,' he thought. 'She loves me…Rose loves me!'

Swallowing hard, Jack leaned into hear more. "Gibbs, do you remember that time in India, where Jan had that party for the crew, and only you men were invited?" he heard Rose ask. "You know, the one with the dancers and everything?"

"Aye," Gibbs answered, nodding his head. "Why do you ask? And how do you know about that?"

"Because I was the dancer who tried to seduce Jack that night, that's why."

Jack's jaw dropped to his knees in shock.

"You what?" Gibbs blurted out, eyes nearly falling out of his head in disbelief.

I watched in amusement as I watched him reach for his flask, pulling the top off of it before taking a drink. Once he'd swallowed, he took a long look at me and took another deep pull off of the flask. Sighing, I stood there until Gibbs managed to calm himself down and put the container away.

"That's not…that's not funny, Rose," he stated, crossing his arms over his chest in a protective manner.

"Of course it's not funny, it's true!" I said, also crossing my arms over my chest. "Padma and Nidhi taught me how to dance, got me the costume and everything! I put on the outfit, the gold and jewels, and tried to seduce Jack through the dance!"

"Why?" Gibbs asked, genuinely puzzled. "Why would you put yourself through all of that nonsense and training for?"

"Because, for just one moment in my life, I wanted to see Jack look at me with desire in his eyes," I replied, hanging my head and my hands by my sides in defeat. "I know how popular Jack is with women, and I thought that, if there was no possible way for him to notice me as who I was, then perhaps it would be best to dress up and notice me in a different way."

"That was a foolish move, Rosie," replied my adoptive uncle, who was once again reaching for his flask. "I was there after Jack saw you dance for him, and he was all flustered and everything! You damn near drove him to insanity with those wagging hips of yours!"

I couldn't hold back a burst of laughter. "To be truthful, Gibbs, I was terrified the whole time. But it still felt good doing it, since I've never done anything like that before." I sobered quickly. "But I think that Jack only liked it because I was a stranger dancing before him in a revealing costume. If I'd showed myself to him, he'd probably have laughed at me."

To my surprise, Gibbs shook his head. "Jack would never laugh at you, Rose. It's not in his nature." He glanced over at me, his eyes dancing with humor. "He's the sort to respect anyone who goes through great lengths to get what they want, even dancing around in that sort of Indian get-up!"

A sad smile pulled at my lips. "Well, if he cares so much for me, then why did he go off with that prostitute in Tortuga?" I asked. Gibbs looked uncomfortable as I gazed up at him. "There, you see? He's a lover of women, and if he's willing to run off and leave me stranded in the middle of a pirate port, alone and inexperienced in using the sword he had just bought me, then it's probably best that I leave." I cocked my head. "I don't suppose you know of any other pirate ships that might be hiring?"

Heaving an exasperated sigh, Gibbs rolled his eyes. "Well, you could always join Annamaria's crew," he said. "Anna used to be part of the Pearl, until Jack bought her a ship to make up for the one he stole…and the one that he promised to give her but got it blown up instead."

"What?" I asked, not sure if I'd heard him correctly.

He waved at me to forget it. "I'll tell you the story another time. Or you could join the Turners on their ship. Will and Elizabeth Turner…good people, and Will's a good pirate. He's a bit too kind-hearted to be a true pirate like Jack, but he'd take you, if only because his wife, Elizabeth, would insist on it. Elizabeth is actually the first mate on his ship, and she's gotten a few other girls hired on, so you should fit in just fine."

"Either one will work," I replied. "Thanks, Gibbs." I winced. "Now comes the hard part."

"Aye, telling Jack," the first mate said, mirroring my wince. "Good luck with that; you're going to need it!"

'Rose loves me…Rose is leaving the Pearl…Rose danced for me…'

Those three thoughts danced endlessly through Jack's head, and he could feel the beginning of a large headache forming as he watched his first mate and his lady-love chat back and forth by the railing of the Pearl. Jack did his best to wrap his mind around what he had just heard and learned, but it only made him more confused. He really needed to calm down and gather his thoughts.

'Okay, okay…first, Rose loves me; that's the important thing,' Jack thought to himself. 'Second, Rose is going to leave the Pearl because I've acted like an ass and need to apologize to her...most likely on my knees, groveling at her feet worshipfully, which seems fitting.'

Well, he'd apologize to her in the privacy of his cabin; there was no way he was going to let the crew see him embarrass himself like that! Once he managed to smooth things over with Rose, everything would be fine.

'Of course, it didn't help that Gibbs is helping her get ideas on where to go after leaving the Pearl!' Jack frowned at the thought. 'Annamaria's a good woman, to be sure, and Will's a good pirate for a whelp, but there's no chance in hell that I'm letting my girl leave me and my ship!'

Rubbing his temples, the Captain of the Black Pearl tried to think up a quick and effective plan to keep Rose with him, but his mind once again turned towards the conversations that she'd had with Gibbs. Jack knew that she was in love with him, and that she was leaving because he'd been a fool and hurt her. He'd just have to do what he'd been planning before that whole Tortuga/Belle episode.

But another thing that was running through his mind was the fact that Rose had been the one to dance for him at Jan's party! Images of Rose dressed in thin, filmy red veils, her stomach visible as she twisted and turned her body before his eyes, rendered him speechless even now. After watching Rose dance, Jack hadn't been able to get the episode out of his head, his thoughts always drifting towards the young woman who had tickled his fancy after just one dance. In India, he had thought that the dancer's eyes had been familiar, but figured that it had been the rum talking. Now he knew who it had been behind the veils and teasing looks.

Of course, it had probably taken quite a bit of courage and persuasion just to get her to think about performing the dance, and Jack was sure that Padma and her mother had had something to do with that! One of the things that attracted him to Rose was her ability to be bold enough to tease the Pearl's captain and crew, but to also be sweet and shy when confronted with Jack's flirtations.

'She's so complex and so…different. She's not like any other girl I've met before.'

Jack nibbled his lower lip as he watched Rose pull away from Gibbs and begin making her way towards his cabin, thus making her way towards him. Since he was hiding in the shadows, he knew that there was no way for her to see him, but he could see her just fine.

Inhaling deeply to calm his nerves, he waited until she was in arms reach…and sprung.

Gibbs and I had been discussing how I would approach Jack about leaving the Pearl, and he suggested that I just get it over with, soon, as evading the issue would get me nowhere. It would probably be best to make a clean break while I could. I also resolved to stay firm and not give in if Jack decided to try and persuade me to stay aboard. So, gathering my pride and strength around me, I headed for the Captain's Cabin. However, I never made it there.

When I was merely feet away from the door, strong arms reached out and grabbed me, pulling me into the darkness underneath the stairway that led to the helm, which had successfully hidden my captor. One hand clamped over my mouth, preventing me from screaming while the other held me tightly against what was obviously a male body. Still, I struggled, as was natural for a woman in my position, and was ready to kick out with my legs when I realized that the touch was familiar.

'Jack?' I thought, just as I caught wind of his scent, consisting of rum and musk.

My thoughts went no further as I was whirled around and pulled against Jack's hard body. My eyes went up and met his dark gaze, and before I could protest, his lips were on mine. As blissfulness surrounded me, I felt Jack's arms slide gently around my waist, holding me as though I were the most fragile thing in the world. After a moment, he pulled back, allowing us both to breathe.

"Jack," I whispered, bracing myself to tell him to stop and that we needed to talk.

"Shh," he replied in a soft voice. "Rose…"

Something in his voice stopped me from speaking further. Instead, I tilted my head to the side, puzzled at Jack's sudden serious manner. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes as he gathered his courage to speak while I watched him. Jack then opened his mouth and exhaled, his eyes opening to meet mine in the dim light of the moon coming through gaps in the stairway going over our heads.

"I love you, Rose," he said.

I stared at him in openmouthed shock before I finally managed to gather my thoughts together. "I love you, too, Jack Sparrow," I replied, smiling up at him.

Grinning broadly, Jack pulled me into another tight grasp and kissed me again, this time deepening it to the point of nearly making me faint from the emotions he was trying to send me through our kiss. When he pulled back, I nearly melted to the floor from the intensely hot gaze my pirate captain was giving me. Before I could blink, Jack swept me up into his arms and carried me to his cabin, kicking the door open to get in, then kicked it back shut to keep out the world. He then set me on the bed and proceeded to climb on top of me, trapping me beneath him as he looked deep into my eyes.

"Marry me, my Rose," Jack whispered in a husky voice.

AN: That's the end of this story! Evil, I know, but for Rose's answer to Jack, please tune into the sequel, coming soon to the website! Check my bio for update details. Thanks and please review!