FicWad

I clutched at the coat, but made no attempt to put it on. After all, I was dressed only in my undergarments. The last thing I was going to do was remove the blanket from my body and let Barbossa see every curve and shape of my figure. So instead, the two of us simply looked at each other for a few minutes.

I saw curiosity and a few other unidentifiable emotions in Barbossa's eyes. I was rather surprised that he was sitting here with me to be honest. He was the captain of the ship and I figured he would have better things to do than to attend to a scared and helpless girl like me. My head immediately started telling me that Barbossa was obviously here for a reason and that he wanted something from me.

Deciding that it would be best just to get straight to the point when dealing with a pirate, I said, "Alright, what's the real reason you're down here? I know you want something. I'm not stupid. You don't just hate and humiliate a person one minute and then pretend to be their best friend another minute. So what do you want from me? You already have my ring and I have no more money."

I figured that was what Barbossa was after; money. I mean, didn't all pirates want treasure? I assumed so, but wasn't quite certain. To my chagrin, Barbossa once again ignored my question and said, "Aye, I have your ring. I might just give it back to ya if you behave though." Barbossa scratched his chin and then raised an eyebrow at me, "Aren't ya going to put on that coat? You wouldn't be much use to anyone as a frozen solid ice cube, ya know."

I didn't like the way Barbossa kept ignoring my questions. That meant he was definitely up to something. What he was up to though, was the real question. I would've asked him why he kept avoiding my question, but first I had to tell him why I wasn't going to put the coat on. Blushing, I replied, "I only have my undergarments on. I don't want you to watch me put on the coat."

Barbossa rolled his eyes that were an unmistakable turquoise blue. When I met my "Prince Charming" someday, I couldn't help but hope that he had bright blue eyes as well. Unfortunately, at this point, I was starting to think that I was never going to reach my Prince. Who knew if he even existed? For all I knew, he could just be a fantasy in my head.

"I have a pretty good idea of what ya look like," Barbossa said, eyes roaming over my little lump in the bed. But surprisingly enough, he continued on and said, "I'll close my eyes for two minutes and you put that coat on. Agreed? Last thing I want is you freezin' ta death." Barbossa waited for my reply with raised eyes.

I peered at him suspiciously and weighed my odds. If he really had wanted to hurt me, Barbossa could've ripped down the blanket covering my body ages ago and could've smashed me up against the wall. But he hadn't. No, he had been rather kind to be so far. I supposed their was an ulterior motive to that, but still. I figured he would honor his end of the bargain.

"Alright then, but you'd better not look," I said hesitantly, resting my fingers at the edge of the blanket. Barbossa rolled his eyes at me and made a small gesture with his hand, "I always keep up my end of the bargain. Alright, I'm closin' my eyes. Tell me when yer changed." With that, Barbossa shut his eyes and leaned back against the wall.

I watched him carefully for a few minutes before deciding to risk it. Taking a deep breath, I tossed the blanket down and flung Barbossa's coat around me. Barbossa's lips curved up in a small smile as I changed, but his eyes remained closed. Well, at least I thought they did. Trying to change as quickly as possible, I buttoned up the coat as fast as possible and then stood up to see what it looked like. Luckily, the coat ended about halfway down my thigh and fit like a dress.

No longer having to be embarrassed, I sat down on the edge of the bed, pulled the blanket onto my lap so Barbossa wouldn't have such a good view of my thighs, and then said in a quiet voice, "Alright, you can open your eyes now." As soon as the words were out of my lips, Barbossa's eyes popped open and he fixed me with that eerie blue stare once more.

"So," Barbossa said, still kneeling on the floor, "Do ya feel any warmer now?" I did actually. The coat was thick and warm and helped to trap the heat in. Nodding I said, "Actually, I do." I paused for a moment and then decided to thank Barbossa, "Thank you." I usually didn't have to think so hard to remember my etiquette, but it's rather hard to keep it around a band of rowdy pirates.

"No need for yer thanks," Barbossa said, waving my words away. "Can I sit by ya here?" Barbossa motioned to the empty space on the bed next to me. I looked carefully at his face before answering. Barbossa's face showed only genuine interest in me and I couldn't detect any malevolence in his features. Taking a deep breath, I nodded.

Barbossa stood up from where he had been sitting on the ground. Once again, I was shocked to see just how tall he was. I figured he was at least five feet eleven inches, but there was no way to know for sure. Barbossa sat down on the bed next to me and I could instantly feel waves of heat emanating off his body. That was strange. I normally couldn't feel heat coming off of people's bodies like that. It must be since it was so cold down here or something.

The two of us sat in silence for a few minutes. At first, it was awkward silence. I wasn't sure what to say or do. However, after five minutes or so, I began to relax ever so slightly. Sitting by Barbossa wasn't really all that bad of a thing. To be honest, I thought it might actually be nicer having someone sitting next to me than sitting here alone.

Finally, just when I was starting to get sleepy again once more, Barbossa finally spoke. He turned to me quickly and said, "Tell me about yerself." I simply just looked at Barbossa in puzzlement. Most people never just randomly asked me to tell them about myself. Usually, they didn't care or plainly didn't bother to ask me such questions.

Feeling nervous and kind of in the spotlight, I toyed with one of the buttons on Barbossa's jacket and asked nervously, "What do you want to know about me? There's not much to tell." It was true. My life was fairly plain and simple. There wasn't much that had gone on in it to be honest. That's why I was here right now. I was going to change my life.

Barbossa shrugged his shoulders, "Whatever ya want ta tell me really. I just want ta know a bit more about ya." I frowned hard and tried to think of something to say. Finally, I said, "I'm the only daughter of Mrs. and Mr. Cook. I haven't done much over the years to be honest. My mother teached me stitchery and embroidery, but that was it. And then she arranged my marriaged to Sir Allen Parker. I couldn't marry him. I just couldn't. I know you're probably going to think this sounds stupid, but I'm going to marry for love someday."

I expected Barbossa to laugh, so when he didn't, I was rather shocked. Instead, he licked his lips with a thoughtful expression on his face and said, "Love, aye?" I nodded silently and waited for him to say something else. He didn't though. Instead, conflicted emotions danced across his face and I could tell he was deep in thought about something or the other.

I wanted to know what he was thinking about, but didn't dare ask. So instead, I asked, "Haven't you ever seen two people in love before? Don't tell me you haven't because I know you have. Didn't you notice what a wonderful thing it was though? Without love in your heart, you have nothing. Absolutely nothing."

Barbossa was quiet before he replied, "Aye, I've seen two people in love before. I married two of them meself not all that long ago." My eyebrows flew up at that statement. Barbossa had actually married two people? What was up with that? Barbossa made a good captain, but I just couldn't imagine him acting as a priest. Frowning, I said, "You married a couple?"

"Aye," Barbossa confirmed with a bit of a smirk on his face. "I married Elizabeth Swann and Will Turner. Mrs. Turner was one of the nine pirate lords. She was a good woman; very brave and very honest. I married them in the middle of a battle actually. Elizabeth wore that dress you were wearing earlier." Barbossa gave a nod towards the red dress crumpled on the floor.

My eyebrows flew up even farther and I continued to gape at Barbossa. Elizabeth had never told me that Barbossa had married her and Will! Still though, I didn't really want to waste time talking about Will and Elizabeth. I was still feeling a bit uneasy around Barbossa. After all, he had never answered my question earlier about why he had suddenly decided to talk to me.

Totally changing the subject, I asked bluntly, "Why are you here?" Barbossa cocked his head at me so that his hat slid forward and covered part of his eye. Frowning he said, "Well, this be me ship, of course. Why else do ya think I'm here, missy?" Barbossa frowned and waited for me to speak. He obviously didn't get what I had meant.

Trying to get to the point, I replied, "That's not what I was trying to say. I know this is your ship. What I meant was why are you down here talking to me right now? You ridiculed me from the moment you saw me and now you suddenly decided to come down here and talk to me. That seems rather suspicious. So tell me, what is it that you want from me?"

I was pretty sure that Barbossa wanted something and I was determined to find out exactly what that something was. I half expected Barbossa to make up a fake answer to my question or to try and change the subject. This time, his eyes went sad though and I knew he was being serious when he said, "There was a woman I knew once. You reminded of me a bit at first. She had the same dark blonde hair you have, the same blue eyes, and the same pale skin. You're just a much smaller version of her."

Ah, so I reminded Barbossa of someone in his past. That probably wasn't a very good thing. Frowning, I said, "So what was this woman like? You must dislike her." I figured he obviously had to dislike her. I mean, why else would he have humiliated me so much at our first meeting? It was as if he was trying to take his revenge for her out on me.

"Dislike her?" Barbossa repeated my words with shock. Shaking his head, he went on, "Nay, it wasn't that I disliked the woman. Not at all." I expected more, but Barbossa kept quiet after those sentences. Wanting to know more about this mysterious woman, I pressed on, "What was it that you felt towards her then?"

I knew that it was a sensitive question and maybe one that should not be spoken. Nonetheless, I couldn't keep it inside much longer. My curiousity always made me ask things I normally wouldn't ask and say things that I normally wouldn't say. Luckily, this question didn't get me into any trouble. We all now that curiousity has been known to kill the cat.

"The woman...she was a good friend to me," Barbossa said with a blank expression on his usually very expressive face. "Aye, we got along real well. She sailed around with me fer a while. After about a year at sea, we reached a dock and a little village. She told me she wanted some 'fresh air' and went off to wander through the village." Barbossa frowned and now I could see pain in those blue eyes of his. Finally, Barbossa went on, "Next thing I knew, she came to speak to me the next mornin'. With her, was a handsome gentleman. She had gotten herself married and was planning to stay on the shore. 'Course I had no idea she was plannin' to do any of this."

Sympathy immediately spilled into my heart. Barbossa hadn't exactly said it, but I could tell that he had loved this woman. Wanting to comfort him in some way or another, I reached out and rested my hand on top of his. Barbossa's hand was quite a bit larger than mine. His fingers were long and slender, he wore two rings on his hand, and his fingernails were long and painted black. He certainly looked like a pirate anyways. But pirate or not, that didn't mean that he couldn't have feelings.

"I'm sorry," I said finally. "You loved her, didn't you?" Barbossa shot me a lopsided smile and asked, "Ya mean physically or emotionally?" Not quite sure how to answer that, I opened my mouth and then ended up closing it. Barbossa didn't wait for my answer. He said, "I suppose I loved the lass, yes. She was a fine woman. I loved her a few nights. Somethin' always felt off though. It just wasn't quite write. Ya know what I mean?"

Did I know what he meant? Kind of. I knew what it was like when two people just didn't connect. But as I had never had sex before, I didn't know exactly what he meant. Seeming to read my thoughts, Barbossa gave me a smile and said, "Yer too young to be hearin' all this. I shouldn't be dirtying yer clean mind now. So tell me...what was this man yer mum wanted ya to marry like?"