Dear Gentle Readers, I am just so sorry you had to wait so long for this chapter! Writers block hit me back in January and stubbornly did not return until today. This is the last chapter of this story, but you will be treated to further stories about Jack and Jade, I promise!

I want to dedicate this chapter and truly the whole kit and caboodle to my very dear friend and sometimes co-writer for helping me and being so very, very, very patient with me this week and especially tonight as I finished this off! Piratecat, thank you so much, lass! I owe ye one!

۞

The sky had been cloudy all morning, and there had even been a short rainshower earlier. Kneeling on one of the cabinets that ran along the underside of the great cabin's windows, Jade's hands rested on the panes as she watched the surface of the water turn choppy again.

Despite the fact that it was only half past eleven in the morning, the cabin was lit by candles placed evenly about the tabletop where a chart had been laid out on its surface for studying. Looking over, Jade smiled at the one sitting in the chair, perusing the charts. She enjoyed watching her father when he looked over the carefully drawn maps, most of them done by his own hand.

His hat was off, and some of the ropes and braids had fallen forward over his shoulders as his long fingers traced lines across sailing routes. His trusted compass was sitting at his right hand, the cord neatly and carefully curled around it. Every so often he'd look over to it and then back to the chart.

Scooting off the cabinet, Jade padded over to his left side and stood on tiptoes to see which chart this was. She was still learning about maps, but she knew enough to know it was a chart of continental Europe, England, Scotland and Ireland.

Looking closer, she tilted her head a bit as she studied the small island her mother had run away from. "Daddy?" Jack paused and looked up, smiling at her, which was enough for Jade to know that he didn't mind being interrupted.

"Aye?" Pointing a finger to the small, irregular shape that had been her mother's homeland, she looked up at him.

"What's Ireland like?"

Jack looked down at her finger, and frowned slightly... and murmured, "Well....." Jade hurriedly took her finger away from the treasured chart, thinking that he might not wish to have anyone, including her touch it, so valuable a chart was....

"No no, it's arright... ye can put a finger on it, it won't hurt anyfin, child." He pulled Jade into his lap and turned her so that they could regard the chart together. He did not say anything as he looked at the compass once more, and then sighed... Jade saw the needle pointing toward Ireland, and she was rather intrigued... what would be the reason that her father would want Ireland the most... or was it something that was there?

Finally, Jack pushed his thick ropes of hair over his shoulder and said, softly, "Tis a beautiful place, Jade.... wild, and untamed. Uncivilized an' protective o' those wot buck themselves up against authority, especially the English Crown. Th' Irish people are survivors... tha's why they don't mind pirates..."

His own long, tapered finger lovingly traced the edges of the tiny island as it rested in between its written "Atlantic Ocean" and "Irish Sea", a tiny parchment country on a huge wooden tabletop... his finger stopped on the jagged, western coast of the small country, and Jade could have sworn that his fingertip lightly traced the shape of a heart....

Jade debated whether or not to ask why her father's husky voice had sounded so wistful and longing when he described Ireland to her. Then she remembered him telling Scarlett and Giselle that there was someone he loved, to whom Shannon O'Malley could not hold a candle to.

Could it be that loved one dwelled where his finger had stopped? Jade rested her head against her father's chest and thought back to when they had visited the gypsy camp. She remembered seeing a fleeting look on his face while they sat with their hosts. His dark eyes had turned soft and distant before briefly sliding closed as his mouth turned into a lopsided, peaceful smile.

Then he'd opened his eyes, pouted ever so slightly, and his shoulders had slumped only for a slight moment in time, before pasting a happy grin on his face as he caught Jade watching him.

She'd seen the same look frequently since then, but he always hid any sign of it upon catching her eye. If she asked, his answer was that he was "just finkin'."

When she asked him about Ireland, he got that same expression on his face that she'd been seeing so often. Though their situations were different, Jade could easily recall the acute, painful loneliness all those years she spent longing for her daddy. Now he was feeling it for someone he missed, terribly, and it made her sad to see him that way.

But why hadn't he gone to Ireland already if he missed this special someone so much? Maybe he needed a nudge…."Could we visit Ireland sometime, Daddy? I'd like to see it!"

"Mebbe.... I can take ye there sometime, if ye'd like, an' I'd have t' teach ye some o' th' Irish language so's ye could converse..." Jade suddenly buried her face in his waistcoat, her cheeks burning with the thought that she'd have to talk to anyone!

"Well, mebbe not, on tha' point..." Jack reasoned, and he made her look at the map again, by saying, "Look... righ' here...this is Dublin, where this wee star is... tha' is th' main city in Eire, an' on th' eastern coast. I know th' western coast th' best, an' there are many mountains an' rocky cliffs there..."

"It doesn't sound like the Caribbean," Jade finally found her voice, "It isn't, is it?"

"No, not one bit... " Jack chuckled, as he ran his finger around the circumference of the tiny country, again... "It has a colder, wetter clime, but there are many things tha' are warmer than th' Caribbean, there... other fings, warmer, aye...."

His voice trailed off for a moment, until his face brightened and he looked down at Jade, "Ye know what th' most wondrous fing is? All of th' shades o' green! Like ye've never seen! 'Tis beautiful, an' fresh! Ye'd like it."

That does sound pretty! I do think I'd like Ireland..." Jade trailed off as she suddenly remembered the conversation she had with her father the very first day they met, when he was asking her questions to get to know her better. She remembered detecting a slight Irish brogue, which as they came to know each other better, seemed more pronounced to her.

She also remembered asking him if he'd ever been to Ireland and he said yes, and he liked visiting it, but not commented further. A visitor to a country, Jade was pretty sure of, wouldn't have the subtle, underlying brogue her daddy did.

Looking up at him and locking her eyes on his, Jade was unusually direct. "Daddy, are you from Ireland?"

Jack did not skirt her gaze, and did not flinch one bit. He tilted his head to one side, and never broke eye contact with those lake blue eyes of hers...

Finally, he said, "Aye... I'm from Ireland, as was my father an' mother before me... " His deep, warm brown eyes took on a golden glow.

And suddenly, Jade felt a very strange sensation within herself... like something very important had just been said. And she knew that she would not ask again, as they both gazed at the small island on Jack's favorite chart, where his finger rested on one tiny word...

Galway....

۞

"Oh fer heaven's sake!" came the exasperated complaint from the mouth of Jack's first mate when Marty's call from the crow's nest announced a sighting of white sails and the colors of His Majesty's Royal Navy flying from the mast of a brig, portside.

The crew began to gather around to look, with the exception of Cotton who was at the helm, though the man's parrot was more than happy to chime in. "Abandon ship!"

"Tempting…" Duncan muttered, as he looked starboard and grimaced. "An' I don't need th' captain t' tell me we've got a hurricane comin', either!" Shaking his head and knowing it was time to alert Jack, Gibbs sighed.

"Aye, we've found ourselves good and stuck between that ol' proverbial rock and a hard place!" Crossing himself as he hurried to the great cabin, Joshamee looked skyward and muttered "Mary, mother o' God, deliver us!"

۞

"Commodore, when shall we give the command to fire?" James Norrington closed his eyes briefly as he heard the voice of Gilette from behind him.

"Not until we have no other option available to us, Lieutenant. I prefer to avoid a bloodshed if at all possible." The younger man and lower ranking officer resisted the urge to roll his eyes. They'd been chasing the Black Pearl for the last year, nearly, with the pirate ship proving her legends to be true as she gracefully avoided capture by making use of her advantage over every other sailing ship in the world.

It was a wild goose chase the Commodore had them on, chasing a convicted criminal around the seven seas simply because the Commodore had decided to give the mad fool a day's head start.

It was not lost upon James what was being said about him around the decks of the Dauntless, and he was getting tired of the stares of pity because his former fiancé chose a lowly blacksmith over himself, though that was not how James felt about the situation.

Though he had been disappointed when Elizabeth Swann chose William Turner over him, she had not broken his heart. Though he cared for Elizabeth a great deal, he did not love her as one should love a wife, and he knew he could not make her as happy as Turner could.

With a very small, dry smile that barely moved the corners of his mouth, James admitted to himself that he truly shouldn't have been surprised that Elizabeth chose Turner over himself. He'd seen the looks the two had exchanged every chance they saw each other, and knew that Turner was more in line with the young woman's heroic visions of dashing rogues than a stiff, law-abiding Commodore like himself.

His duty was his mistress now, James supposed, though the whispers about the ship in regards to that were also less than favorable. They accused him of foolishly giving Sparrow a head start, and not being able to catch him thus far. Yet, when he confronted some gossiping sailors and asked them for suggestions on how to catch the fastest known ship in the world, they had none. So here they were, still chasing the Pearl.

Raising his spyglass to his eye again, James couldn't help but smirk when he saw Sparrow looking back at him through his own spyglass, with Gibbs next to him. Something moved behind Sparrow, or rather someone that was small, but when he didn't see it again, he dismissed it at as just being the short-statured member of Sparrow's crew.

"Good afternoon, Sparrow," James smiled to himself as he collapsed the spyglass and tucked it into his pockets, before clasping his hands behind his back. He couldn't help but remark dryly as he saw every dark canvas the barque possessed snap open with the wind as the Pearl nearly leaped forward, "And the chase begins again…"

۞

"Bloody English," Jack swore. "Why are ye wastin' yer time an' resources chasin' me 'cross th' seven seas when there are far more worvy pursuits right under yer bloody nose?" Looking around, Jack saw the crew looking at him a bit baffled. "Is d'Éirinn muid!" When they looked at him, confused, Jack rolled his eyes and translated. "I am of Ireland! Why are they chasin' me, when there are plenty o' real Englishmen out there?" Well, that made sense.

Jack listened to the wind as he wet a finger and felt the direction of the wind. The hurricane force storm that he'd sensed that morning was closer to their location, off of their starboard side. With the Dauntless on their portside, the only way to get away from one was to go towards the other.

And with that thought, Jack smiled as he knew what he would do. Sailing through a hurricane was dangerous, aye, but far preferable than being taken back to the gallows of Port Royal, and the chances of survival were far better for all those aboard the Pearl than if they were to risk being caught by the commodore. Jack simply refused to think of what would happen with Jade if they allowed themselves to be captured.

Barking orders to the crew to get the ship ready to sail into the storm's fury, Jack shielded Jade from those aboard the Dauntless as he hurriedly guided her towards the cabin. He didn't know if they might have seen her already, and he wasn't taking any chances, nor was he taking any chances of her getting washed overboard in the winds and walls of water that lay ahead of them.

Sensing the urgency, Jade looked up at her father as he bustled her into their cabin and made sure she was good and hidden from sight. As he did so, the conversation he'd had with his child that morning sprung to mind, reminding him of the warm, safe arms of his lovely, strong Irish rose. After this was over, Jack promised himself, he'd go back to pirate-friendly County Galway and set things straight with his lassie, and introduce her to his Jadie. She could use a good mother…

"Cap'n!" Gibbs was panting as he braced himself in the doorway, for already the waters were getting rough. "Are ye sure this is th' best idea? I know how well ye can guide th' Pearl through a common blow, but a hurricane?"

"I don't know 'bout you, Master Gibbs," Jack was yelling over the strong, building winds while securing the chairs to the wall, as well as other items. "But I ain't willin' to risk th' consequences o' being caught by ol' Norrington, savvy?" The head jerk towards the young lass scurrying about the cabin securing all their small valuables away got Jack's point across, and the first made conceded. For he knew as well as Jack it would mean if they got caught with Jade aboard, and she needed Jack as much as he needed her.

"Aye, Cap'n!" With that, Gibbs headed out to oversee the readying of the ship for their risky escape. Already Cotton was having to use all his strength to guide the Pearl through the steadily roughening waters. Gibbs only hoped the others would be as accepting of this gamble they were taking!

۞

"He's even dafter than I thought!" Lt. Groves muttered to James as they realized what Sparrow was about to do in order to run from them. "He'll never make it out alive!" Looking at the other man, James could not help but smile a bit condescendingly.

"Lieutenant Groves, after all the time we've been pursuing Sparrow, I would have thought you would have ceased being surprised at the man's methods of escape." All the younger man could do was smile and nod in admittance of this truth.

"So, I suppose we're going to weather out the storm and pursue him later?" James gave this a thought and shook his head. The Dauntless was not nearly as swift and sleek as the Pearl, but she was sturdy. True they'd never risked sailing her through a hurricane, but he was sure they could make it. He was tired of chasing Sparrow, tired of being called a failure behind his back. A failure at love and at his career as a Commodore.

Hoping he sounded more sure of himself than he felt, he gave his orders. "Arouse the captain, ready th' ship and the men. We go in after them."

"But sir!" James glared hard at the inferior officer.

"That's an order, Lieutenant!" As the other man hurried off, James sighed deeply, praying he would not live to regret this…

۞

Curled up under her bunk, bracing her arms and legs against the legs, Jade was trying very hard to stay in place as the Black Pearl tossed violently on the mountainous waves she was being guided over and down by her captain's strong, skilled hands. Though Jade was not as terrified the first time that she felt the Pearl dance on the waves, she was still not brave enough to come out of her hiding place.

The Pearl's timbers were creaking loudly in protest as the winds blew furiously against the masts and the wind and rain whipped harshly against the sails that were open to propel the ship through the storm. As water cascaded out of Jack's hat while the wind tried to knock it off, he spoke encouragingly to his ship as he let the currents tell him where to direct the keening vessel.

"C'mon, love, ye can do it!" He yelled over the screaming winds that would have nearly knocked the slight captain overboard if not for his sturdy stance and assured grip on the handles of his beloved helm. "I'm dependin' on ye, lass, to get some very special cargo t' safety, here!" The winds whipped through the sails again as the winds howled around like so many angry wolves, but the Pearl stayed her course without faltering, thanks to her dark, slight captain. With an almost maniacal grin, Jack chuckled.

"Tha's me girl! I promise, ye'll get a fresh coat o' varnish for this!" With a bow as she began to crest the next wave, the Black Pearl finally did not resist, and simply let her Captain guide her through the monstrous waves without complaint.

The Dauntless however, was not having as easy a trip through the rough waters. Already two sailors had been lost to the greedy waves, as had some of their dry goods from the pantry, and a chicken had already drowned in the hold from taking on too much water down there.

Though Peter Woods was a fairly skilled in being able to maneuver a ship in battles and mild storms, a hurricane was far out of his league, especially one as forceful as this one! He knew the Dauntless wouldn't hold much longer, and he wasn't so sure that the crew and himself would last much longer. Every muscle ached, as did his hands, cold and raw from the rain and wind.

When the waves weren't brutally slamming against the masts and decks, the cold rain was thoroughly lashing against the exposed skin of every crewman that was still struggling to keep the ship afloat, punishing them like a cat o' nine wielded by a vengeful Poseidon.

Desperate, Lt. Graves fought his way up the quarterdeck stairs, shielding his eyes from the wind to look for the commanding officer. "Commodore! We can't continue the pursuit any longer! We're taking on water in the hold, the waves have broken yardarms fore and aft like twigs, and…Commodore! Can you hear me?"

Aye, James could hear the man and he understood what the lieutenant was telling him, and what it meant, but within him, ambition and a desperate hope to reclaim some honor and dignity was warring with instincts of self-preservation. If he let Sparrow go, he would be a laughingstock in every house of Britain, not to mention every one of the colonies!

He had to catch Sparrow! He could not bear to return once more to Port Charles a failure, to hear the very people who used to praise him now laugh at him. Nor could he bear to disappoint Governor Swann, the only one who still supported him long after others had begun to mock James.

Lieutenant Graves did not need an answer when he saw the look of blind determination on James's face. He knew they were doomed this time, and turned to order everyone to abandon ship. It was either that, or let their mad commodore lead them to their deaths.

As he turned to bark the order, it stuck in his throat as a blinding, jagged white dart divided the sky right before their eyes as it struck the mizzenmast, causing the thick column of wood to split diagonally and blaze brightly before the torrential rain extinguished the flames, but it was too late.

Stunned, Woods' breath caught in his throat and his control of the wheel was gone, unable to be regained...Groves heard the man's cry of alarm and his gut clenched, knowing their time was limited…

As the wheel spun out of control, the Dauntless was sent careening wildly to port, slamming into a towering wave before rocking to starboard, presenting its broad hull to this impenetrable wall of water…

The entire crew stood frozen and helpless in horror as the foamy white crest curled over His Majesty's Ship in menacing slow motion before the deafening roar of wind, water and splintering boards combined with the cries of pain from doomed sailors as the hurricane delivered its final, crushing blow to the tortured timbers of the Dauntless…

۞

The small amount of blinding white sunshine that sliced through James's gritty eyelashes caused such excruciating pain, like a skull-splitting migraine, that his first barely conscious thought was that he was either most unfortunately alive, or in hell…

Closing his eyes to block out the punishing white light, he tried to force his brain to regain enough consciousness so that he would be able to process where he was. Through the dim fog clouding his mind, he heard the lapping of water and felt cold wetness lapping at his ankles…

His fingers flexed, digging into something soft and gritty, and when he licked parched, cracked lips, he tasted salty grit upon them. Sand…water…

James struggled against tired, complaining muscles as he tried to get his arms under him to support his upper body. Lifting his head from the cradle of muddy sand, he spat the grit out of his mouth and slowly, cautiously opened his eyes….

The golden sands of a strange beach stretched out on both sides of him, with tall rushes growing on dunes ahead of him. As he glanced over his shoulder, the last of the fog in his mind cleared with painful clarity when his eyes beheld a very painful reminder of the cause of his current state.

For there was the wreckage of a ship, sitting a few feet away with the coming tide washing steadily over its broken, remaining planks. A sandcrab skittered sideways along the edge of one side of the ruined wood. As the small crustacean swept sand out of the way to find food, James's heart skipped a beat inside his chest…

There, painted on the section of board the crab had inadvertently revealed, were the letters "DAU-" Looking around desperately for something, anything that would assure him that there could be another ship anywhere in the seven seas that contained those letters, James spotted another cluster of wreckage with the familiar wood and paint colors of the Dauntless…

It all came rushing back to him at once. Spotting the Black Pearl, arguing with his officers about his decision to chase Sparrow, disregarding their advice out of pathetic desperation, and the hurricane's final blow…

He was the only one left. He'd risked all their lives to catch a madman who had slipped out of their hands once again, leaving them fighting a battle against nature they could not, and did not win.

Self-loathing filled James's soul like bilgewater. How many times had he dismissed Sparrow as foolish? Yet his own madcap plan of capture was far more foolish and had cost the lives of every man aboard the H.M.S Dauntless. He'd killed every man aboard that ship, save himself…

Commodore Norrington…the word tasted like bile in his mouth. He didn't deserve the title anymore, didn't even deserve the position of lieutenant, much less that of a highly decorated officer of the Royal Navy, and as soon as he got to Port Royal, he'd resign his commission.

Laughing bitterly, James wondered just how well rum could drown out pain, guilt and regret…

۞

Jade was awoken by the clanking of the anchor chain as it slid against the hull of the ship as the heavy iron weight was sent to the ocean bottom. Blinking and yawning, she realized this sound, as well as the gentle rocking of the ship's decks meant the storm had passed and they were safe.

Crawling out from under her bunk, she brushed the dust from the legs of her breeches and stood up, wincing at the slight pain of cramped muscles being allowed to stretch after hours of bracing herself to avoid being flung across her bedchamber during the hurricane.

Rubbing sleep out of her eyes, Jade pulled her coat over her nightshift and padded out to the main part of the cabin. "Daddy?" She called sleepily as she crossed to his bedchamber, frowning to see he wasn't in his bed. "Daddy!"

The cabin door opened slowly as a weary, husky voice answered her nervous call. "Right 'ere, swee'eart. I'm right 'ere…" Jade emerged from his cabin with a happy, relieved smile on her face that was replaced with one of concern.

"You're soaking wet, Daddy!" Seizing his hand, she pulled him into his bedchamber and tugged determinedly on his soaking wet linen coat, trying to get it off of him. Jack chuckled tiredly.

"I can do it meself, lass. Go on, see if ye can't find Duncan an' make him give ye somefin' warm to eat, aye?" Jade nodded obediently, but before she turned to leave, she looked up at her father with wide, nervous blue eyes.

"Did we…we got away from the Navy, right?" Jack's tired smile widened into a triumphant grin as he hung his coat on a hook.

"Aye, outran ol' Norrie again! The dear ol' Commodore will ne'er learn!" Giggling, Jade stepped close, pulled on his shirt until Jack bent low enough so she could kiss his cheek, then bounced away happily to find Duncan and some food…

With his child no longer in the room, Jack let himself fall exhausted to his bunk, hanging his wet, shaggy head as his shoulders slumped heavily. It had not been easy outrunning the hurricane, but he'd managed as always, and they'd escaped the noose once again.

But now he was cold, and soaked to the bone. He had to get out of these clothes and into dry ones quickly, for while he hated to admit it to anyone, he knew how susceptible he was to contracting pneumonia anytime he got like this. The last thing he wanted, along with the crew seeing him that vulnerable, was for Jade to see him like that.

Besides, Jack thought with a small grin, no one could hold a candle to his lassie when it came to caring and fussing over him as he convalesced. Thinking of her turned Jack's thoughts sad again as he stood and finished changing into a warm, dry linen shirt and a pair of brown breeches, both garments she'd sewn for him with love anytime he visited Galway...

The hurricane had blown them far off course, the opposite direction of the west coast of Eire, and as much as he wanted to see his homeland again, and take Jade there, he couldn't risk running into the Navy again.

Duncan and Jade's voices were heard as the cabin door reopened, along with the sound of dishes and mugs on a tray as it was placed on the sturdy wood table in the middle of the cabin. Jack heard Duncan duck out just before a small rapping knock against the doorframe of his bedchamber.

"Daddy, we both have some stew, and Duncan sent up some tea for me and coffee for you, and I brought up a bottle of rum. Can I come in, yet?"

Straightening his shoulders and trying to look less tired than he felt, Jack pulled on his breeches and wrapped his sash around his waist before shuffling out of the bedchamber. "I'm 'ere, Jadie. Come on, let's eat!"

After they'd had their fill, Jade slid down from her chair and went around the table to climb into her father's lap, leaning tiredly against him. "I'm glad you saved us from the Navy an' the hurricane, Daddy." Jack chuckled as she nuzzled her head into his chest and smiled blissfully. "Ta gra agram duit…" Jade muttered as she fell sound asleep in his arms.

As she snored softly, a thought occured to Jack that caused him to tighten his arms protectively against his dozing daughter. She was already ten and a half or close to it, give or take a few weeks. She'd be eleven soon which meant…Jack counted on his fingers….

Two years as captain, ten years of the mutiny, the last year that he'd been captain and grown to know and love this child who'd fallen into his lap by glorious chance…

Suddenly he had trouble breathing as realization hit him. A small groan from Jade alerted him that he'd squeezed her a bit too tightly in his panic. Jack loosened his hold on her slightly and moved one hand to press her dark head to his chest as he curled himself around his child while dread filled him.

Thirteen years since the Wicked Wench was raised from the depths and rechristened the Black Pearl. Thirteen years as captain…the agreement between himself and the monster Davy Jones…

Clutching his child more tightly to him, the wheels in Jack's head were already starting to turn wildly as he desperately sought for a way, anyway, to escape his debt….

And he swallowed hard against a lump rising in his throat at the knowledge that it would be a long while, yet, before he could see his auburn haired Irish lassie again…

The End..