Apprentice To The Sorcerer

We ate. I noticed the Delectatio Morosa sailing close, identified by her half black, half red flag. “Captain Barbossa has returned,” I informed Jack.

“A short sail,” Jack commented. “He must not have had any trouble.”

“He went after livestock?” I threw some bones in the fire.

“Mostly.” Jack half smiled. “He intimated he might go after a few things not on the list.”

“Such as?”

“People.” Jack wiped his hands on his breeches and stretched his arms out wide. “We gather them as we go, but I believe he had a few in mind.”

I thought about that a moment. “Barbossa is a very smart man,” I said, almost hesitating to voice that since I knew Jack found irritation on the subject of Hector Barbossa. “And he’s done us a large favor. He helped rid me of my guilt concerning you.”

“He did,” Jack agreed, his face not changing from the soft, open expression he’d worn all day. “He certainly seized the moment.”

I lay back, putting my head on Scorby. “I know you don’t like him, Jack, but I can’t help but like him. Maybe I shouldn’t, considering the past, but…”

Jack snorted. “Hector is very charismatic, very goal-oriented; he is entirely likable.” He too stretched out, using Scorby’s stomach as a pillow. The cat leaned over and began to wash his head. Jack didn’t seem to notice; his eyes were upon me. “You associate with those you wish, Lizzie. I know I told you not to be alone with him, but his actions proved him. In any case, I am not your master.”

“You’re still my captain,” I argued quietly. “And you know lots more than I do about this life. I need your words.”

Jack’s lips twitched. “Make a friend and contact of Hector if you wish. He’ll not lay a hand on you.” So saying, Jack caressed my cheek with the back of his fingers. “He never was a true knave with women while he served under me. I don’t allow rape.”

“You’re a good man, Jack,” I said. “All evidence to support it.”

Jack would have responded, but at that moment, Scorby put a paw on his head to hold him still. Her rough tongue rasped the side of his face. Jack winced, closed his eyes. “Little beastie,” he muttered. “Your mistress keeps me bathed quite well, thank you.”

Scorby rumbled deep in her chest. She let go of him, returning to her own hygiene. Grimacing, Jack wiped the side of his head. “Better than Kraken snot,” he grumbled.

I laughed. “She loves you. You should be grateful she’s tending to your sanitation.”

Jack scowled at Scorby briefly. “It feels like getting pushed into wet sand,” he complained. “Only it doesn’t stop with one push.”

We settled back to our respective thoughts. Jack closed his eyes and pushed his scarf back to expose his forehead. I looked at him, sun shining strongly on his brown skin, wondering why my day with him had to be so short. We had to return by nightfall. Already the time waxed closer to the evening meal. I wished we had the luxury of privacy once we went back to the ship.

I pulled my pipes out from my shirt and ran my fingers over the reeds as I looked at him.
He truly was beautiful to me, in every way. He made the case for man’s duality all by himself. Equal parts animal and spirit, Jack seemed almost like a god made flesh. How I hadn’t seen his magnificence from the very beginning posed a puzzle.

He had such a good act to conceal himself. That walk, that slur, that seemingly bewildered mien, all were carefully crafted to avoid detection of his inner self. He’d done it so long he’d perfected it. Two separate men lived in that wiry body, but they neither one acted without the other.

Jack showed me his love, but Captain Jack flirted shamelessly. Jack gave me his heart and Captain Jack gave me his cock. Jack gave me what I wanted, but Captain Jack asked me what I wanted. Jack gave me questions and Captain Jack gave me answers. I doubted anyone but Gibbs knew Jack the way I did, and even then he certainly wouldn’t have the same relationship.

I’d killed Jack’s body once, yet he trusted me with his heart. If I killed that there would be no circle in Hell close enough to the flames for me.

I heard a melody in my head.

I lifted the pipes and began to play.

The song felt vibrant, sensual with color and variance. Velvet strands of warmth and strength wrapped around us, buoyed by the lime and coconut scented breeze. I heard Jack’s breath and heartbeat, the very blood going through his veins. He shuddered, opening his eyes to meet mine. I played on, falling into those mysterious, rust-colored orbs. His lips parted. Jack exhaled, ecstasy loosening his body. His eyes glazed over as if he stared out into open sea, the same expression he wore at the helm of his beloved ship.

My heart slowed to match his. The steady, lazy cadence provided the beat behind the music I wrought.

The magic I wrought.

Jack began to glow. Conversely, the sunlight began to warp around his body, sliding off the glow instead of intensifying it. I played on, feeling awed and yet unafraid. I wasn’t hurting him. On the contrary, I poured strength into him. My thoughts of his uniqueness, his chaos, his unfettered spirit and passion blended in my mind with his beauty and iron will. He absorbed my beliefs, my faith, my love and my loyalty, drank it all down like his beloved rum after a drought.

I felt our star tugging at us.

Jack’s eyes widened. In them I saw the recognition of my glad homage, the startlement of seeing himself truly. I showed him his soul.

I did not know if instinct or magic tempered my time, but I slowly wound Jack’s melody into silence. The glow around him flickered and died. Having never dropped my attention from him, I smiled into his wonder-struck face. “That’s what I see in you, Captain Jack Sparrow,” I told him softly.

Jack reached to me with a trembling hand. His fingers ghosted down the side of my face. “Have I ever been able to hide from you at all, Lizzie?” he whispered, completely accepting of what I had done to him and not even asking me how I did it.

I supposed to him it didn’t matter how I did it, only that I could. Following that, my great faith in him he managed to return and to no lesser degree. I leaned into his touch. “Oh yes, but like I said, I watch you, Jack.”

He smiled the purest, simplest smile I’d ever seen.

“Aye,” he said.

***************************************************************************************

Jack fell into a deep, deep slumber. I didn’t worry, however. Something, be it insight or intuition, told me he fared well. Determined nothing would disturb him, I sat guard on him the same as Scorby. We were attuned. I noticed a great deal of sound amid this seemingly quiet place. Soon, Scorby and I had perfectly matched movements. We made a good team.

Animal life teemed around us. The distant sounds of breaker waves against a cliff side drifted intermittently with the direction of the wind.

Utter stillness swelled within my soul. Detached from insecurity and fear, I turned my head to look at Jack.

He still hadn’t told me if he was a wizard or not.

I couldn’t fail to consider my own magic now. But my magic didn’t seem like his. Sabado said as much. What made our magic so different? Why did the differences fail to seem important? I crawled over to Jack, sitting cross-legged before his stretched out body. Gently, I traced the bone under his right eye with my thumb.

Jack inhaled deeply but calmly. His eyes fluttered open. I fell into his soul though my body stayed firmly rooted. “Shall you pace forth; your praise shall still find room
even in the eyes of all posterity,” I said gently.

He smiled at me, looking smug, lazy and worshipful all with the same face. “So, till the judgment that yourself arise, you live in this, and dwell in lovers' eyes,” he returned.

I gasped, thrilled and emboldened by having my play returned, and so very well at that. Jack tilted his head, his lips quirking upward. “I watch you too, Lizzie,” he informed, his sometimes-wicked mouth making the laconic sentence a drawl of appreciation. As accent, his eyes traveled me at leisure.

We examined each other.

Jack dragged me down to him, clutched me close. “Give me five minutes of clarity with you in my arms,” he said. “I want to lie here, knowing you’re here, knowing I’m here.”

“I hear,” I answered, teasing him.

The most comfortable five minutes of my life passed. We sat up together. Our movements in accord, we stood and checked the ground for any dropped possessions. As a unit we began to walk for the cave. We had to break our camp and go back to work.

I felt renewed, and I could tell Jack felt the same.

“I want the bath here to stay ours,” I said as we rolled up the blankets.

“I’d never share it with anyone else,” Jack answered solemnly, his dark, dark eyes pulling at my womb and heart at the same moment.

You know I love you, I thought while looking at him.

Jack’s eyes smoldered.

The moment spun to an eternity. Jack, never allowing his gaze to fall away, closed the distance between us. “You’re a treasure never to be squandered,” he murmured. “I don’t want you to think otherwise, not when we’re about to return to a more…”he paused, his eyes roaming the room as he looked for words. “Formal,” he said finally. “A more formal arrangement.” He swung his attention back to me. “Since you wish to continue on as you always have; since you want to be more than the captain’s woman.”

I grinned at him, watching the tension of the moment drain from his shoulders. “I don’t see any reason I can’t be everything,” I replied.

“I don’t either,” Jack said, also grinning. His grin melted away quickly as he continued to look into my eyes. “I don’t want us to leave,” he confessed. “But if we want our house built, if we want our island to become a refuge to other n’er-do-wells, I suppose we must.”

I stepped back. Putting on my hat, I tugged my cutlass to a comfortable position on my hip. “I’d appreciate it if you’d continue to call me Lei when I am obligated to address you by title,” I said softly. “It makes it easier to have a line.” I felt very sad, yet not hopeless. I had a future with Jack. I could wait an eternity to see it unfold now that I knew we belonged to one another. “But I’m not hiding how I feel about you anymore,” I went on. “I can control it though, as long as I know we will have our own time.”

Jack adjusted his hat, secured his compass, and hefted our things to his shoulder, smiling. “I couldn’t have said it better meself,” he replied, slipping into his pirate-captain persona. “Just remember, ol’ Captain Jack can’t keep his hands off of Lei Trapezia either.”