"Easy on the goods, darling"

Light. It was all I could see. Moments ago everything was dark. Now, the sun was blinding me, through the eyelids. I felt hands on my body, ripping my dress open, undressing me. The corset went off, and for the first time all day, I could breathe properly. I coughed. Water came running out of my mouth. It was salty.

"Never would have thought of that" a British voice exclaimed. A man.

"Clearly you've never been to Singapore" another voice said. This voice was different. He sounded different. I couldn't set my finger on it. His accent. Or the way he talked. I opened my eyes. Above me was a man. The first thing that hit me was that I was undressed and soaked. The second was that the man above me. He seemed...exotic in a strange way. I stared at him, and he stared at me. All I could notice was how beautiful he was. He didn't wear those ridiculous wigs. His eyes were the darkest I had ever seen. I got lost in them.

"Where did you get that?" he mumbled, confused. He wrinkled his eyebrows. I noticed his hand, resting on the neckless I had found earlier, around my neck. I opened my mouth, not knowing what to say to this beautiful stranger. Footsteps approached us.

"On your feet!" another British voice yelled. The sound of swords getting drawn filled the air. A sword was pointed at the man.

"Felice!"

I heard someone running towards me. A pair of hands dragged me up on my feet.

"Elizabeth?" She pulled me closer to herself, trying to cover me. I looked around. The strange man had multiple swords pointed at him and still, he was calmer than everyone else here. He was standing next to two guards, dressed in the English uniform. Around 10 guards stood at the other side.

"Are you okay?" Elizabeth asked me.

"Yes, I'm fine" I was still looking at the man. The way he moved was different too. He scratched his nose. Felipe came running over.

"Don't lay a hand on my fiancee" he yelled, drawing his sword too. I sighted. The exotic man looked at me.

"Ahh, fiancee" he said. His voice was like music. I noticed one of the guards next to him was holding my corset. Everyone looked at him. His eyes got big. He looked down at my light pink corset, dropped it in the ground, and pointed at the man. I noticed my surroundings. I was standing at a dock. Water all around us. I held my breath. After all this time, I was here. Then I realized what had happened. I had fell into the water. I had almost drowned. That man. He had rescued me.

"Shoot him" a commodore yelled.

"Norrington" Elizabeth exclaimed. He looked at us. So this was the man Elizabeth was going to marry. Definitely not handsome blacksmith material.

"What?" he asked.

"Commodore, do you really intend to kill my rescuer?" I said. Norrington looked at me, then Elizabeth. It was silent. He gave the men behind him a small nod, meaning they had to lower their weapons. I looked at the man. He smiled. He put his hands together and gave me a small nod. When his eyes met mine, I felt like I was set on fire. Like my whole body burned. Felipe stepped forward, together with Elizabeth's father.

"Dear Felice" her father said. He smiled and wrapped me in a jacket to cover my body.

"Thanks" I whispered.

"I believe thanks are in order" Felipe said, bitter. He held out his hand. My rescuer held his hands into his upper body, considering if he should shake it or not. He put out his right hand, ready to shake Felipe's hand. But instead, Felipe drew the man closer to him, folding up his sleeve. It was revealed a burn mark spelling "p". The mark of a pirate. I gasped. He was a pirate. Why hadn't I seen it right away? It was so obvious. His long, dark dreadlocks, the pearls in his hair, the bandana above his eyebrows, the way he was dressed. It was so obvious.

"Had a brush with the East India Trading Company, did we, pirate?" They looked at each other. The pirate squeezed his lips together.

"Hang him" Norrington said. The pirate looked at him. The way he acted and reacted to all this was so strange. He was calm. Like it didn't depend on his life, which it actually did.

"Keep your guns at him, men. Gillett, fetch some iron!" Norrington ordered. Felipe, who still held the pirates' hand, pulled his sleeve up higher. On the pirates' dirty, golden skin, there was a tattoo.

"Well, well. Jack Sparrow isn't it?" he said. Jack Sparrow. He was my rescuer. My rescuer was a pirate. Jack pulled his hand away from Felipe's grip.

"Captain Jack Sparrow if you please, sir" he said. There was his melodic voice again. I stopped myself. No. Nothing about this pirate was beautiful in any way. Norrington stepped forward, pushing Felipe to the side.

"Captain you say?" Norrington said. He looked around. "Well, I don't see your ship, Captain"

"I'm in the market, as it were."

The slender guard, who earlier held my corset, interrupted.

"He said he'd come to commandeer one"

"I told you he was telling the truth" the rounder guard whispered. "These are his sir" he said, bending down. He picked up some things from the ground, handing it to Norrington. He took the pistol.

"No additional shot nor powder" he said, handing it back to the guard.

"A compass that doesn't point North." He smiled. He drew Jack's sword.

"And I half expected it to be made out of wood." Jack gave him a quick smile.

"You are without a doubt the worst pirate I've ever heard of." Norrington was making fun of him. Jack smirked, and held his two fingers up in the air.

Ah, but you have heard of me" Jack pointed out. Norrington looked at him, clenching his teeth. Out of anger, he took Jacks arm, dragging him after him. I was boiling with anger. He hadn't done anything wrong at all. He just saved me from dying! I started running after them. I dropped the jacket on the ground. Elizabeth followed me.

"Commodore, I really must protest". Norrington pushed the pirate to another man, who handcuffed him.

"Carefully, Lieutenant" Norrington told the man.

"Pirate or not, this man saved my life" I hissed, walking up between the pirate and Norrington.

"One good deed is not enough to redeem a man of a lifetime of wickedness." But he hadn't done anything wrong here, had he? How could we punish him for crimes that didn't concern us?

"Though it seems enough to condemn him" Jack pointed out, leaning closer to me. The two men stared at each other.

"Indeed, filthy pirate" Felipe implicated.

"Finally" Jack said. In one, fast movement, his handcuffs were pressed into my throat.

"No! No don't shoot!" Elizabeth screamed. Jacks breath was warm against my ear. It sent shivers down my spine. The cold metal pressed against my throat.

"I knew you would warm up to me" he whispered in my ear. I could feel him smiling. My breath was heavy. Was I really that predictable? "Commodore Norrington, my effects, please!" he pointed at his hat. "And my hat." Everyone looked at him, both surprised by how fast the table turned, and insecure what they should do next.

"Commodore!" Jack yelled. The round guard fought his way through the crowd, handing the commodore the pirates effects.

"What was your name again, darling?" he whispered, sending more shivers down my spine.

"None of your damn business" I answered cold. By now I had calmed. He chuckled.

"Felice, if you would be so kind" he said, clearly aware of my name. "Come on dear, we don't have all day". Norrington handed me his effects. Felipe clenched his jaw. As soon as I got his effects handed, he swung me around so I was facing him. For the first time, I could see him properly

"Now, if you'll be very kind" he said, raising one eyebrow at me. I stared at him. He smiled, enjoying the moment. I stared at his face. He had a small beard and mustache. His skin was sunkissed and dirty. On one of his cheeks, there were two small cuts, forming a cross. He leaned in.

"Like what you see, savvy?" His hands dug into my hair. I started putting his effects on. He stared at Felipe, making him jealous of my touch. My hands slid down his chest. I was angry. With everyone. I was angry at this filthy pirate, who dared to humiliate me in front of everyone, I was angry at Felipe who had referred to me as his fiancee. But most of all, I was angry with my family. I stared into his eyes while helping him with his effects. I made my eyes as deadly as I could, but it didn't seem to affect him at all. I started buckling his weapon belt onto his waist, which made me come real close to his downtown area if you know what I mean. I put my hands around him, trying to tighten it as tight as I could.

"Easy on the goods, darling, making me tighten it even more. He blinked at me.

"You disgust me"

"And still, here we are"

"Your despicable"

"Sticks and stones, love" he smiled. I spotted gold teeth among his teeth. "I saved your life, you save mine. Now we're square." He leaned down to my ear, his breath tickling my neck. It was warm. "I have a feeling that you like this more than you're implying" he whispered, low enough so only I could hear. Another wave with shivers was sent down my spine. The way he said it felt intimate.

"Don't get any ideas" i answered simply, with as much coldness I had in me. He smiled. He turned me around again. Felipe was filled with jealousy and anger. He disgusted me too. He thinks he owns me now.

"Gentlemen, ladies, you will always remember this as the day you almost caught Captain Jack Sparrow!" he lifted his cuffed hands up and pushed me towards the guards. The guards started running towards him, including Norrington and Felipe. Elizabeth put her arms around me. We watched as the pirate flew into the sky, holding a rope. He swung around.

"Woah" we heard him yell.

"Now will you shoot him?" Felipe yelled to Norrington.

"Open fire!" They started shooting into the air, aiming at the pirate.

"Hey!" he yelled as if he didn't deserve it. I felt a small smile form on my lips but stopped it. He jumped onto the main mast of the nearest ship, flapping his arms like a bird to stay balanced.

"On his heels" Norrington commanded. Jack slid down a line by his cuffs, and all the men started running after him. The pirate landed at the dock and continued to run for his life. The guards got down on one knee and started once again shooting at him, without any luck. As Captain Jack Sparrow ran away, I felt some sort of relief inside of me. I didn't know if it was because he now was far away from me, or the fact that he got away. I shook my head, banishing the feeling. Elizabeth took my face in her hands and started looking for injuries. I smiled.

"I'm fine Elizabeth" She smiled, took my hand, and lead me away from the docks.

"I know" she said. But the truth is, I wasn't. Nothing about this was fine. Suddenly I'm engaged to the biggest idiot in the world, my first meet with the ocean was a near-death experience, and it seemed like the whole town witnessed what had happened, except my father.