The next day aboard the Black Pearl, Maggie and her spirit of the sea, David were up to all sorts of naughty pranks. Maggie had come up with all sorts of horrible things to do to her father.

Of course, Maggie had no idea that David wasn't helping her at all. He was just using Maggie to bring down the father-daughter relationship between her and Captain Jack. Once they stopped caring for each other, Maggie and Jack would be Kraken chow!

And of course, Captain Jack didn't know about David and hadn't the slightest idea he was the reason Maggie was acting like this. Maggie was usually just a bit of a bad girl, pulling humorous little pranks here and there. But now every time Jack turned around his once-sweet little girl was pulling a grand stunt that wasn't just bad, but horribly humiliating!

This morning Captain Jack got dressed and went to open the door of his cabin. As soon as he did a bucket full of fish heads and guts that had been put on top of the door frame, came raining down on him.

Maggie got ten minutes in the time-out corner for that!

Then Jack fell asleep at his desk, charting their course to Isla Cruces. When he woke up he was completely unaware of why the crew was laughing every time he faced them. However, after a while he did become aware of the colorful finger paint smeared all over his face!

Maggie got twenty minutes in the time-out corner for that!

Then Maggie took it to the highest level of naughty. She picked the lock on the Pearl's rum locker, which was freshly stocked with rum from Tortuga the night before and took a bottle of rum and decided to give it go her Daddy as a peace offering.

Only this will be special rum... Maggie thought, grinning as she dumped all the rum from the bottle.

She took some dirt from the jar Jack got from Tia Dalma and poured it in the bottle. Then filled the rest of the bottle up with the dirty water from the bucket the crew was using to swab the deck.

She shook the foul contents of the bottle up and walked to the helm where Jack was looking out to sea with his telescope.

"Hi, Daddy" she smiled sweetly and holding the rancid rum behind her back.

"Don't you 'Hi Daddy' me! I'm not in the mood for any snappy banter from you! " Jack told her. "I'm still trying to get the stench of fish guts out of my clothes!"

"I know and I'm really sorry, Daddy!" Maggie told him "I brought you a peace offering?" She offered him the bottle.

Jack took the bottle and looked at it skeptically. "And just how did you manage to get this 'peace offering?' " he asked her "You aren't even allowed in the rum locker?"

"The crew left the rum locker open and I grabbed you a bottle because I thought you'd be thirsty?" Maggie lied, convincingly.

Jack looked at her and sighed. "I guess you mean well..." he told her.

Maggie nodded and bit back a smile.

"I'm still mad at you" he said, popping the cork off the bottle and taking a hearty swig.

Maggie giggled and ran away as Jack's eyes widened and he spat out that foul concoction.

"That's not rum!" He yelled after her "MAGGIE!"

Maggie ran to her cabin and shut the door behind her. David looked at her as she came in.

"Did he drink it?" He asked her.

She nodded and they both giggled.

Then they heard the sound of Jack's boots coming down from the helm. David disappeared as the door to Maggie's cabin swung open.

Jack walked in, scowling at Maggie as she sat on her bed, covering her mouth and snickering.

Jack's eyes darkened with anger and he grabbed her toy chest from one corner of the room.

Maggie stopped laughing and frowned. All her toys were in there, her toy pistols and ships and her stuffed animals!

"What are you doing with that?" She asked him.

"You can have these back when you learn to behave!" Jack told her, angrily "I'm putting this chest somewhere you can't get to it!"

"For how long?" Maggie asked.

"A week should do it!" Jack said.

"A week!" Maggie cried " I can't have my toys for a week!"

"Do you want to make it three weeks?" Jack yelled.

"Maybe!" Maggie shouted back.

"A month than!" He said.

"You can't so that!" She yelled.

"Maggie! I'm your father and I'll do what I think is right!" Jack yelled, slamming the door shut behind him and taking all her toys with him.

Tears welled in Maggie's eyes. "YOU'RE NOT MY FATHER!" She screamed after him, through the door. "MY FATHER WOULDN'T DO THIS TO ME!! I HATE YOU!!!"

She fell against her pillow and cried. She hated all of this, she hated being on the run from a sea beast, she hated her father keeping secrets from her. She wanted him to love her and play with her again. She wanted her Daddy back...

                           ☠💀☠

Meanwhile Jack was putting away Maggie's toys in his closet in the captain's quarters. He felt a horrible stinging feeling in his heart, because he made that deal with Jones Maggie and his own safety was at risk. Maggie didn't know the true danger they were in and Jack didn't want her to know. She was much too young to know about it all, Maggie was so sweet and innocent and Jack wanted to keep her that way as long as possible. Jack would never forgive himself if the Kraken swallowed Maggie.

He decided to go back to her cabin and apologize and hopefully figure out why she was acting this way. He decided to bring a peace offering to her, but what to bring?

Then he thought of the perfect thing to give her. He went to his desk and opened a drawer inside was a small white box. He carried it to her room, hiding it behind his back.

He knocked lightly on the door. "Maggie?" He asked.

"Go away!" Came her sobbing voice.

"I dont want to yell, Luv" he said through the door "Just talk."

No reply.

"Alright then" Jack sighed dramatically "I guess you don't want this early birthday present from your mummy?"

Maggie opened the door, staring at him with red teary eyes and a scowl.

"You're lying!" She grumbled.

"Would I do that?" He asked, putting a hand to his heart and looking hurt.

"Obviously!" Maggie told him.

"Well, two things I never lie about is your mother and birthday presents. But since I can't come in I guess the present will just sit... in a secret place... gathering dust... most likely forever..." he said, sighing "What a waste! What a pity! What a horrible turn of event's! What A-"

"You can come in if you stop the really bad acting" Maggie told him.

"Oh alright" he said, walking into the room.

"If Mum left us, how did she send me a birthday present?" Maggie asked "You said she died two days after I was born?"

"She did" Jack nodded "But before she died she told me to give you this!" He pulled out the small white box with a red ribbon on it.

Maggie grinned as he gave it to her and nothing made Jack's spirit soar than to see her happy again.

Maggie sat on her bed and carefully unraveled the ribbon from the box.

"What is it?" She asked her father.

"I can't quite remember" Jack lied, shrugging. "But she told me to give it to you when you were old enough."

Maggie carefully opened the top of the box and inside was a silver ring with a black pearl in the center of it.

"Wow!" Maggie breathed, smiling.

Jack grinned at her expression, her mother had the same look on her face when he gave her the ring too.

"It was your mother's promise ring" Jack explained "I gave it to her as a sign that I promised to always love her. When she was about to leave us, she told me to take the ring and give it to you when you were older. So that you'd know that whatever happens you know we both love you."

"It's so pretty!" Maggie said, putting it on her finger. "Thank you, Daddy!"

"You're welcome" Jack said, admiring his little girl as she stared at the ring.

Maggie hugged her father and Jack held her tightly. He never wanted to let her go, she was his reason to keep living, his life wouldn't be the same without her. Some days he wished he could go back to when he was chasing Baby Maggie around the mast after she took his hat. But now she was turning eight years old. Then in the blink of an eye her twelveth birthday would come and her sixteenth birthday and soon she'd leave him to have her own adventures and then-

"Daddy, let go!" She said.

"Never" Jack promised her "I'm never letting you go!"

"Thanks" she sqeauked out "But I need air..."

Jack looked down and realized he was grasping little Maggie way too tight. He let her go and she gasped and started to resume breathing.

"Maggie?" He asked when she was done wheezing.

"Yeah?" She asked him.

"I'm still the number one guy in your life, right?" He asked.

Maggie nodded "Yeah, you're right up there with John."

"Good, because I know you're my-" Jack began, then his face fell "Who's John?"

"My boyfriend from Tortuga" Maggie shrugged like it wasn't a big deal.

To Jack it was a huge deal, a massive deal, a humongous deal! His daughter had a boyfriend?! And he never met him! Jack already knew he wasn't good enough for Maggie! No one was!

"You have a boyfriend... in Tortuga?!" He asked her, panicking.

Maggie nodded. "Yeah! He's fifteen years old and has a lot of tattoos! Maggie explained "And he shoplifts stuff all the time! He said next time I'm in town he'll teach me how to cheat at poker!"

Jack's eyes grew wider with every passing sentence. Not only was this boy eight years older than her! But he has a tattoo's, shoplifts and cheats when he gambles! Gambling alone was a horrible habit for Maggie to pick up!

"You're dating a Juvenile Delinquent?!" Jack cried "Who is he? What did he do to you? Where does he live? And more importantly where's me pistol?"

Maggie giggled. "I'm just kidding Daddy!" She laughed "I don't have a boyfriend! Boy's are gross!"

Jack sighed in relief. "So, just to be clear there is no boyfriend what so ever?" He asked.

"No" Maggie shook her head.

"Good!" Jack said, grabbing her and putting her in his lap. "Because I'm not sharing my greatest treasure with anyone!" He kissed her temple.

"Yeah!" Maggie said "and besides I already know how to shoplift and cheat at poker!"

"What?" Jack asked with a playful smile. "You don't cheat when you play with me do you?"

"Probably" Maggie shrugged, smiling.

"Oh really?" He said, running his fingers up and down her abdomen.

Maggie squeaked "Don't do that!" She told him.

"Why?" Jack asked her.

"You know why!" She giggled as he continued to do it.

"I do not!" He told her "Why? Why are you laughing? Is something funny?"

"St-sta-stop!" She laughed, her face turning red.

"Odd!" Jack said, acting confused "I don't see anything funny?"

"It-it's you!" Maggie giggled, gasping "You're ti-tickl-ing me!"

"Am I?" Jack asked, grinning "I'm sorry! But I need the magic word to stop..."

"Pl-ea...please?" Maggie guessed, still laughing.

"Hmm..." Jack thought for a split second. "Not it!"

"Help!" Maggie laughed.

Jack looked at her "That's not it either!"

"Stop!" She giggled.

"Not even close, Luv" Jack told her.

"Parlay!" She cried out in one final plead.

Her father huffed and dropped her on the bed.

"Looks like you won" he rolled his eyes "But you better not cheat at poker or get a boyfriend or I'll continue this certain torture technique on you" he waved his fingers at her, threateningly.

Maggie grinned and hopped off the bed. "Alright" she said "next time I'll keep it all a secret!"

Jack's jaw dropped playfully in shock. He chased her out onto the deck.

As soon as they left, David came out of the shadows and he didn't like what he just saw. Maggie and Jack's bond was stronger than ever! And if that was the case they'd be at the Isla Cruces in no time! They would find the heart, Jack would get out of his deal with Jones and David would get a lashing for it! And there was no way David was going to lose his chance at becoming the first mate of the Flying Dutchman! If he couldn't change Maggie Sparrow, he would destroy her and her horrid father!

AN: Good news is Maggie and Jack made up! Bad news is they might die too! Grim author's note, but I call it like I see it! 😉