Captain Jack & Morgan Louis
In 1727

On Valentine's Day, Captain Jack tells Maggie the true story of how he met and fell in love with her mother, Morgan.

Featured Song:
Love & Affection by Nelson:

Maggie Sparrow liked to assume she had a... more than average intelligence, for a someone her age. However there were still some things in life she was clueless about, one of them being... ugh, love. And today was Valentine's Day, a whole day dedicated to the age-old concept of being with another person for the rest of your life. Protecting each other, sharing with each other, forsaking all others... blah-blah-blah!

Maggie just couldn't wrap her head around it, how could anyone be obsessed with someone that much? What's the point of it? As she walked around the streets of Tortuga that morning, Maggie saw pirates fawning over wenches, sailors returning home to kiss their wives and a blonde wench sitting in her father's lap--

Hold up!

Maggie did a double take and stared into the window of the Faithful Bride pub. Sure enough, a flaxen-haired wench was sitting in her father's lap, pursing her lips at him as she caressed his face.

"Oh, heck to the no" Maggie growled as she turned into the pub. She walked past men who were clanging tankards and singing sea shanties off-key until finally arriving at the table. She slammed her hands down on the table, causing Captain Jack to gasp and the wench to glare in her direction.

"Hello, Father" Maggie stared him down with an unamused face.

"Maggie!" Jack's mouth formed a straight line. "This is a friend of mine, Claudia."

"Nice to meet you, Chlamydia" Maggie quipped, causing Jack to choke on his drink.

"No, it's Claudia" the blonde wench told her.

"Is it really though?" Maggie asked her, smirking.

Claudia stifled a growl as she stared down at the young girl. "You must be Jacky's younger sister?" She assumed.

Maggie glanced at her father. "And you must've left your seeing eye dog outside!" she chuckled.

"Maggie!" Jack scolded.

"Oh, it's fine" Claudia said with a wave of her hand. "Jacky, what's say you put little Maggot here to bed, so I can put you to bed..." she put a hand on his inner thigh.

Maggie could feel the heat radiating off her cheeks. "Get off my Daddy!" She raised her voice at the wench. "You're not at work and he's not a pole!"

That did the trick, with a gasp and a smack to Captain Jack's cheek, Claudia stalked off, fuming.

Jack sat up in his seat, rubbing his stinging cheek. "Maggie..." he said sternly.

"Well, she had it coming!" Maggie argued.

"Maggie!" He scowled.

"Sorry, Daddy..." Maggie's eyes fell to her booties.

Captain Jack sighed, seeing her cower. "Eh, I don't think she was my type anyway" he smiled, putting his arm around his daughter. "Besides why do I need her, when I got a pretty girl like you to keep me company."

Maggie smiled.

"I got my Valentine's Day date right here" Jack nodded.

Maggie's shoulders slumped and Jack noticed. "What's wrong?" He asked her.

"You said the V.D word" Maggie said.

"What? Valentine's Day?" Jack asked. "What's so bad about that?"

"It's just... gross and ridiculous" Maggie said. "I mean, a whole day dedicated to love? What does it matter? Who cares about love?"

"Maggie, I know you're still young yet. But if there's one important thing for you to learn it's that... love is a lot more important than you'd think" Captain Jack told her.

Maggie stared at him for the longest time. "You've gone soft, Daddy" she shook her head.

"It's true" Jack told her. "Love is the closest thing to magic that will ever come naturally in life. I felt it once. Real, true, honest love..."

"I know! With Mum!" Maggie rolled her eyes. "You got bonked on the head by a coconut and mom helped you."

Jack shook his head. "That's not the true story of how I met your mother" he admitted. "That was just something I told you to get you to sleep."

"Then what's the true story?" Maggie asked.

Captain Jack leaned back in his seat. "Well, to tell this tale we have to go back to before you were born, to when I was in my early thirties... to the island of Papua, New Guinea..."

☠❤ Papua, New Guinea ❤☠
☠❤ 24 Years Ago... ❤☠

A thirty-four year old Captain Jack Sparrow ran through the rainforest of Papua, New Guinea, he looked back and sighed. He finally lost that crocodile that chased him from the river.

For almost a week now he'd been trudging through this hot, moist jungle which was infested with buzzing vampire-like nuisances, known to most as mosquitoes. That afore mentioned crocodile was just one of the many predatory creatures that tried to attack Captain Jack. He had had showdowns with kangaroos that climbed trees. He awoke one morning to find carnivorous mice gnawing at his feet and legs. He had been used as a bathroom target by giant birds. And don't even ask him about the rats... rats that were bigger than most cats. And that was just the tip of the iceberg!

This whole escapade had been a nightmare, but it would all be worth it. Captain Jack had struck an accord with a man in Tortuga, he was after the extract of an extremely rare flower called the Cloudforest Magnolia. It was said to grow on the far south side of the island, where the native tribe lived. The only issue was, the natives mummify their dead like the Egyptians and the flower extract is a key part of their mummification process. In other words, they obviously aren't going to willingly give up that flower extract without a fight, meaning Captain Jack would have to break into the tomb and steal it.

Jack followed the path through the jungle till he came to a stone building. According to his employers instructions, the main entrance was guarded. But their was another entrance, in the ground was a cellar door he could enter through. Jack pulled the iron ring attached to the door and hopped in, the door slammed shut behind him.

The cellar entrance had damp, moist earthy smell to it. Not to mention it was dark...

Captain Jack struggled to blindly pull the torch from his satchel and light it in the pitch blackness. Finally he managed to get it lit! ...and turned around to come face to face with dried corpses hanging from the wall.

"AHHH!" Jack shrieked almost dropping his torch. Then he remembered he was in a tomb of Mummies. "Pardon the intrusion, mates. Just passing through" he told them.

Once he regained his normal breathing pattern, Jack moved on, walking deeper into the tomb which was filling with bodies just like the one's he was greeted by. The island's natives had been placing their deceased relatives into this tomb for years. Wherein they would be mummified, the process included them being stripped of their organs, stuffed with saw dust and herbs and put into one area of the tomb to be smoked. Jack found the process strange, not just because it was a foreign concept to him, but because it heavily reflected his mother's recipe for Christmas turkey...

Jack finally found the room where the island's doctors and high priests preformed the mummification. He rummaged through the shelves that lined the walls, mostly it was jars containing herbs, salves, homemade embalming fluid and the occasional heart or liver. But still no Cloudforest Magnolia!

He decided to check the back room where he found more shelves. He walked along the aisles when finally something white caught his eye.

"The Cloudforest Magnolia..." Captain Jack grinned. He gently picked the blossom up and placed it in a wooden box in his satchel.

"Hope you'll be worth the trouble, Darling" Jack told the flower, as he placed the box in his satchel.

"Don't count your flowers before they bloom!" Came a voice from above.

Jack looked up to see a young woman standing on the top of the shelf above him. Her hair was the color of a polished chestnut and her large green eyes sparkled like emeralds as she stared down at him. A strange, but lovely half smile was planted on her lips. She moved with vivacious grace as she lept down from the shelf and landed in front of Jack.

For the first time in his life, Captain Jack Sparrow was at a loss for words. He didn't know who she was, nor what she was doing in a place like this. All he knew was that she was a vision... maybe even an angel.

"And you are...?" Jack asked, dazed by her beauty.

"I'm Morgan, local medicine woman of this island" She answered, with a voice that sounded like the song of a cherub.

"Morgan... a beautiful name" Jack smiled.

"I'll need that Magnolia, if you please?" Morgan said.

"Magnolia? What Magnolia?" Jack asked absent-mindedly.

"The children of a nearby village are gravely ill and I'll need the Cloudforest Magnolia to make the remedy to cure them" Morgan explained.

"How nice" Jack nodded.

"Oh, surely a man as handsome and caring as you, would willing want to put that flower towards a good cause like this" She brushed her hand across his cheek, making Jack melt in her touch.

"I'm on an escapade that could grant me the rights to a hefty financial sum" Jack told her. "But I would gladly risk it all for the ill children of the Papua tribe." He took out of the box with the Magnolia in it and handed it to her.

"Oh, wonderful!" Morgan breathed. "I'd thank you but I don't even know your name...?"

"It's Captain Jack Sparrow" He told her.

"Thank you, Captain" she said before placing a passionate kiss on his lips.

☠️❤️☠️

"...And that's how I met your mum!" Captain Jack concluded.

Maggie stared at him skeptically. "That's it?" She asked.

"Yep!" Jack answered in a high voice.

"You expect me to believe that you chose to do good over getting money?" Maggie asked. "And Mum just threw herself at you as a result?"

"Yep!" Jack repeated.

Maggie scoffed "Bull Spit!"

"Watch your language, Little Missy!" Jack told her.

"Dad, you couldn't possibly think I'd believe that" Maggie said. "You're a pirate! You would never give up the opportunity to get your mitts on cold hard cash! And you told me I got my sassy and feisty nature from Mum. And if Mum's anything like me she wouldn't have fell for you that easily! If anything she had pity you!"

"Did it ever occur to you she fell for me because of my charm and good looks?" Jack smirked.

Maggie burst out laughing. "Don't forget your sense of humor!" She cackled.

Jack frowned.

Maggie sighed, wiping tears from her eyes. "Now what's the real story?" She asked.

"That was the real story!" Jack insisted.

"C'mon, Daddy..."

"No!" Jack snapped. "I don't want to talk about your mother anymore! I'm going to close off my tab and then we're going back to the Pearl!" He stormed off to the pub counter.

Maggie watched him go. What was that all about? Her father was acting as if he had something to hide. Well, technically Captain Jack almost always had something to hide... occupational hazard. But he rarely hid anything from Maggie! Minus the rum...

Maggie was certain that something else was going on. There was something about the story of her parents meeting that her father didn't want her finding out... Which made Maggie want to know even more!

☠️❤️☠️

"Mr. G, do you know anything about how my parents first met?" Maggie asked her father's first mate.

Joshamee Gibbs had known Jack since before he was Maggie's age. If anyone was going to remember, it would be him. Plus he was a natural storyteller!

"Aye, your parent's love story was one for the ages, Miss Maggie" Mr. Gibbs confirmed.

"But how exactly did they meet?" Maggie asked.

Mr. Gibbs eyes widened. "Uh... I think I hear your father calling you!" He told her.

"I didn't hear anything?" Maggie raised a brow.

"Oh, well the he must be calling me then!" Mr. Gibbs got up from his chair and took off out of the galley.

"Dang it!" Maggie thumped the table with her fist.

After that, she went to the other members of her Daddy's crew, that had been around the longest.

"Tie down the brace line!" Pintel shouted up the mast to Ragetti.

"I am tying it!" Ragetti shouted back.

"Not that one the one on the left!"

"This is the one on the left!"

"Not your left, my left!"

"Wha-- Ahh! Me eye!"

Ragetti's wooden eye popped out of his socket and rolled down the deck. Maggie caught it and picked it up.

"Afternoon, lads" she said.

"Afternoon, lil' Poppet!" Pintel greeted her.

"I was wondering if you boys could help settle a predicament for me?" She asked. "You two have been working under my Daddy since before my birth, right?"

"A happy day that was!" Ragetti nodded, sliding down the mast.

"What I want to know is what happened before that?" Maggie stated, tossing him his eye back. "How did my parents first meet?"

Ragetti gulped and Pintel's eyes shifted nervously.

"Parents... y-you have parents?" Pintel stammered. "Since when do we talk about parents around here!" He chuckled nervously.

"Aye, you don't need to know about that" Ragetti told her. "It was so long ago..."

"It was!" Pintel nodded in agreement. "Why, it was so long ago, we don't even remember!"

"No, we don't!" Ragetti shook his head. "We are completely void of memory on that subject!"

The two glanced at each other nervously, before turning and fleeing away.

Maggie huffed in frustration.

She headed down the stairs to the cargo hold, where she found Marty taking inventory of the ship's ammunition.

"Marty" She greeted him.

"Maggie" he nodded to her.

"If I may be frank, Marty" Maggie approached him. "I've always felt a kinship with you. We are both after all the shortest of the crew, but the most aggressive in battle."

"True that" Marty nodded.

"And I was thinking we could help each other out" Maggie offered.

"How so?" Marty asked.

"Well, I could convince my Daddy to give you extra pay. Think of it as worker's compensation?" Maggie explained.

"Isn't that for injury?" Marty questioned.

"Well, the way I see it you could easily sustain whiplash having to look up at the rest of the crew all the time" Maggie told him. "I know, I've been there! And as such, you should get an extra share of any loot we acquire."

Marty smirked "Well, when you put it that way..."

"But you have to do something for me first!" Maggie reminded him. "Nothing major. Just a little bit of information from you..."

"What's that?" Marty asked.

"How did my parents first meet?" Maggie asked him.

Marty hissed. "On second thought, I'm fine with the pay I get, thank you" he said swiftly.

Maggie growled. "What is with everyone?!" She snapped. "Why won't anyone just answer my question?! I have a right to know about my own parents, don't I?"

"It's not that we don't want to tell you, Miss Maggie" Marty said softly. "It's the captain. He swore us all to secrecy on it. If we were to tell, he would keelhaul us."

"Daddy sure went to extremes to keep this from me" Maggie sighed. "Maybe I should just let sleeping dogs lie."

"Good idea" Marty patted her shoulder.

Maggie walked back up to the main deck and noticed Scrum walking by. Suddenly Maggie got an idea!

If I can't get them to spill the secret Maggie thought. I'll just have to trick them into spilling it!

Maggie approached Scrum as he was on his break.

"Hey, Scrummy!" She smiled.

"Miss Maggie, please don't ask me about your parents meeting" Scrum told her. "By now, the whole crew knows what you're up to and I'm not--"

"Oh! Don't worry your hollow little head about that, my friend" Maggie sat down beside him. "I already figured it all out."

Scrum's eye brows shot up. "You have?" He asked her.

"Yeah, my Daddy finally came clean about the whole thing" Maggie nodded. "A wonderful love story... Romeo and Juliet had nothing on my Mum and Dad. No sir!"

"He told you everything?" Scrum asked.

"Yep!" Maggie nodded.

"How he met your mother in Papua?" Scrum asked.

"Yep!"

"How your Mum was a medicine woman?"

"Yep!"

"How your father and her fought for the Cloudforest Magnolia?"

"Yep!"

"How your father left his fiancee, Lucille for your Mum?"

"Ye--" Maggie's eyes widened. "WHAT?!" She shrieked. "My Daddy was engaged to another woman when he met me Mum?!"

"Well yeah!" Scrum shrugged it off. "That's the whole reason he wanted the Cloudforest Magnolia! Lucille wanted it for her bridal bouquet! And-and-and..." He read Maggie's shocked expression. "...And you were bluffing, weren't you?"

Maggie nodded absent-mindedly.

"Oh no..." Scrum eyes darted around nervously. "You didn't hear any of this from me!" He climbed into a nearby barrel and hid.

☠️❤️☠️

The sun had set over Tortuga at about half past five that day. The deck of the Pearl was engulfed in darkness as Captain Jack came sauntering aboard. He was perplexed to find no lanterns lit, no crew chatting below. It was just dark, quiet and eerie...

"Hello, Daddy Dearest..." Came a voice from out of the dark.

A lantern was turned up and illuminated the deck. Jack could see Maggie sitting in a chair, with a kerosene lantern on a crate beside her.

"Maggie, what are you doing sitting in the dark?" Jack asked.

Maggie sighed dramatically. "I suppose that's what my life has become, a darkened deck on which I stumble around blindly. With no one to shed any light on my inky black path... and yet, I have so much distance left ahead of lil' ol' me."

"Have you been reading Shakespeare again, Mags?" Jack asked her.

"Yes, I have... and some John Wilmot. But that's besides the point!" Maggie told him. "My point is... Who is Lucille?"

Jack's expression dropped. "I... I have no idea who that is" he told her.

"You have no idea who you're original fiancee was before Mum?" Maggie pressed.

"Who told you?" Jack demanded.

"It doesn't matter how I found out--"

"Scrum?" Jack guessed.

"Yeah..." Maggie admitted. "...The point is, I know! And you're going to come clean and tell me once and for all... how did you and Mum meet?!"

Jack sighed heavily. "Maggie, try to understand I'm only keeping this from you so you don't think the worst of me or your mother. We were different people back then..."

"Did you ever think that maybe if I heard the story of your past, I might respect you more?" Maggie asked. "Once I understand how far you've come as a person?"

"I suppose that's always possible too" Jack shrugged. "Alright, c'mere!" He hoisted her up on to his lap as he took her chair. "This time let me start at the beginning..."

☠️❤️24 Years Ago❤️☠️

At the age of thirty-four, Captain Jack met a lovely golden-haired dancer named Lucille. She was preforming at a pub when Jack first laied eyes on her. They drank and talked all night long and Jack found himself falling for her. He would come to the pub every night to watch her dance, he would send flowers and gifts to her dressing room.

But as long as Lucille danced, other men would leer at her and Jack didn't like that. A lovely girl that shouldn't be reduced to that kind of exposure and cat-calling nonsense. So Jack decided to make an honest woman of her. He purposed to her one night after her dance and Lucille excepted.

It was a few days after he purposed, Lucille was at Miss Sadie's Painted Ladies shop. She stood on a chair as Miss Sadie sewed the hem of her bridal gown. Jack sat in the corner, watching his bride with loving eyes.

"You look beautiful, Luv" Jack told her.

"I know" Lucille said curtly.

"When shall we set the date for the wedding?" Jack asked eagerly. "I heard the local chapel has an opening this Saturday?"

"Jacky! You can't expect me to get married yet!" Lucille told him. "There's still so much to do! If I'm only going to get married once, I want to do it right! Don't I deserve a nice wedding, before you tie me down, Jacky?"

"Yes, Darling" Jack nodded, repressing a sigh. "But we already spent a lot on the ring and the gown. What more do you--"

"I want a Cloudforest Magnolia!" Lucille said.

"A what?"

"A Cloudforest Magnolia" Lucille said. "It's the most beautiful flower in the world!"

"But aren't Cloudforest Magnolia's extremely rare?" Miss Sadie piped up.

"I'm sorry. Were we talking to you?" Lucille looked down her nose at her.

Miss Sadie stuck her with a pin.

"Ow!"

"You moved" Miss Sadie shot her a fake apologetic smile.

Lucille huffed and hopped off the chair, walking towards Jack. She sat beside him on the bench and placed her head in the crook of his neck.

"Jacky, you have to understand... I'm an old-fashioned romantic" Lucille told him. "I have expectations that need to be met, if I'm to consider a big step like marriage. You understand, don't you?"

"Yes" Jack nodded. "Of course. It's your life too. But the local florist here in Tortuga has many different flower arrangements for you. Why this Magnolia?"

Lucille scoffed, shoving him off the bench. "Because it's the best!" She shouted. "And I want it! Go and get me a Cloudforest Magnolia or there will be no wedding! UNDERSTAND?!"

"Yes!" Jack nodded rapidly, looking up at her from the floor.

"Good" Lucille smiled. "You see? Isn't this romantic? You're going to be like a knight in... dread-locked armor, off on a quest to get a token of affection for your lady love, so that we may be joined in marriage. It's just like a fairytale!"

"Or we could just skip to the happily ever after...?" Jack asked.

"I ask you to do one little thing!" Lucille snapped.

"I'm going! I'm going!" Jack got up and walked out of the shop.

☠️❤️☠️

"Wait! What did you even see in this chick?" Maggie asked her father. "She sounds like a total bitch!"

"Language!" Jack scolded.

"I mean, she sounds like a total female dog!" Maggie said. "Why did you put up with all that cra... uh... why'd you put up with all that poo?"

"I told you before Mag's, love is a powerful thing!" Jack explained. "It has the power to turn strong men weak and smart men dumb."

Maggie nodded, understanding. "So a string-bean simpleton like you never stood a chance!"

"Anyways..." Jack sighed. "I set out for Papua, New Guinea... For almost a week, I'd been trudging through the hot, moist jungle which was infested with buzzing vampire-like nuisances, known to most as mosquitoes. Many predatory creatures that tried to attack me. He had had showdowns with kangaroos that climbed trees. He awoke one morning to find carnivorous mice gnawing at my--"

"You already told me that earlier at the pub" Maggie reminded him.

"I did...? I did!" Jack nodded. "Where did I leave off at?"

"You found the Cloudforest Magnolia and came face to face with Mum..." Maggie said. "That everything got a little too fictional..."

"Right!" Jack nodded. "So... here's how it actually went down!"

☠️❤️☠️

"Don't count your flowers before they bloom!" Came a voice from above.

Jack looked up to see a young woman standing on the top of the shelf above him. Before Jack could respond or react, she lept down and landed right on top of him! The two tumbled and rolled, until Jack was on top and with his face in her... uh, chest.

Jack looked up at the lady and met her furious green eyes. He grinned sheepishly as he tried to suppress his blush. "Would you believe this isn't the first time I ended up in this position?" He chuckled.

"Get off me..." The woman growled.

"Yes, ma'am" Jack squeaked, getting up.

As he began to stand up, the woman grabbed the satchel and yanked it off Jack's shoulder. He fell back down beside her on the floor as she lept up onto her feet and began to pull the satchel away from him. But Jack wouldn't budge, as she yanked on the strap of his satchel, Jack held onto it.

"Let go of the man purse!" The woman told him.

"You let go!" Jack retorted. "And it's a satchel! My satchel!"

The woman continued to yank on the handle of the satchel as Jack gripped the other end. This broad was stronger than she looked! Jack began sliding across the temple floor as she pulled.

"No woman your size should be this strong!" Jack grunted as she continued to drag him.

Finally the satchel's handle snapped and the woman went flying backwards on her rear end, leaving Jack holding the satchel!

"Ha!" Jack grinned. "I got it!"

"Fork over the satchel!" The woman snapped.

Jack stared at the satchel, then at the woman and back at the satchel.

"Fine!" He decided, tossing her the satchel.

The woman looked surprised as she caught the satchel. Then she grinned and opened the satchel, her grin fell when she saw the box with the Magnolia was gone!

"Wha...?" She breathed, looking up at Jack as he made his escape through the hatch above. "What gives?!"

"You said you wanted the satchel!" Jack smirked at her from below. "You said nothing about the Magnolia!" He slammed the hatch shut.

"Hey!" Morgan cried out. She climbed up a shelf to the hatch and tried to push it open and follow him. It was stuck!

"You bastard! Let me out!" Morgan hammered her fists against the hatch.

Jack chuckled from above as he sat on top of the hatch.

"LET ME OUT!" She screamed.

"No!" Jack shouted back.

"You can't keep me in here forever" Morgan told him.

"Can too!" Jack argued.

"Can not!" Morgan retorted. "Sooner or later you'll have to move off that hatch and let me out!"

Jack face dropped. She had a point. If he got off the hatch, she would come flying out and take the Magnolia from him. It appeared that they were at a crossroads.

"Well, sooner or later you'll fall asleep and I'll just take off with the Magnolia!" Jack explained.

"Ha! Then you're in it for the long haul!" Morgan replied. "I could stay awake for days!"

"Could not!"

"Could too! And I'm in this nice cool cellar away from the humid and moist jungle!" She bragged. "Must suck to be you right now! I hope you at least have something to drink up there!"

"Don't worry, I have plenty of provisions in my satch--" Jack only then remembered that Morgan had his satchel!

"Oh! So you do!" She chirped as she dug around inside it. "Some hardtack, some cheese... what's this in the jar? Pickles! Nice!" She chuckled evilly.

"You give that to me!" Jack growled, staring down at the hatch.

"Not a chance, Dread-Head!" She bit into the cheese and sipped the water from his canteen.

Jack huffed. "Fine! Eat up!" He told her. "Maybe when you're full, you'll fall asleep..."

"Don't count on it!"

☠️❤️5 Hours & 27 Minutes Later...❤️☠️

Captain Jack wiped the sweat from his forehead with his shirt sleeve, only both his sleeves were soaked in sweat by now. He had slipped off his bandana and boots hours ago. He wasn't sure what was worse the heat or the mosquitoes making a meal of him. Either way his patience and sanity was draining. At this point, he was willing to kill a priest just for a drink of water!

He peeked through the cracks of the wooden hatch. Morgan was still awake and living it up in her cool cellar with his food rations!

"This water really is refreshing" she gloated. "Which river did you get it from again?"

"Shut up" Jack growled through clenched teeth.

She giggled, taking another swig of the canteen.

"Must you keep swishing it around like that?" Jack snapped.

"What's wrong? Thirsty?" He could hear the smirk in her voice.

"I passed thirsty three hours ago!" Jack told her.

"Well then, what is your..." She grinned evilly when she realized. "Aww! Does the lil' pirate have to go wee-wee?" She teased.

"Shut up!" Captain Jack told her.

"Yeah, because that phrase worked so well the last hundred and sixty times" she scoffed.

She shook the canteen, sloshing the water around. "You know what landscape I love most?" Morgan said. "Waterfalls!"

"Stop it!" Jack told her.

"All the majesty of a nice wet lake with the thrilling rush of gallons upon gallons of water pouring down on you" Morgan went on. "And the sounds are so soothing... Whoosh! Whoosh! Splish-Splash! Drip-Drip-Drip!"

"That's it!" Jack shouted, he clamored to his feet.

Morgan grinned and tried to open the hatch again. Only it still wouldn't open! Jack was still standing on it! Then she felt warm water leaking through the cracks of the hatch and onto her head. But upon smelling it, she realized... it wasn't water.

"Jesus!" She stepped away from hatch. "My God! That's disgusting! Stop that!"

Jack laughed as he continued to urinate on hatch. "How's your nice cool cellar now?" He asked. "Smelling sweet, I'm sure."

"I am going to murder you when I get out of here!" Morgan vowed.

She looked down at the now urine-soaked rations and screamed in frustration, causing Jack to laugh.

☠️❤️☠️

"You peed on Mummy?" Maggie asked, grossed out by the thought.

"I told you, you would see the worst of me and your mother in this story" Jack told her.

Maggie continued to stare him down. "You peed on Mummy?" She repeated.

"Have you ever heard of a love-hate relationship?" Jack asked his daughter. "Your mother and I did that! Just in reverse..."

"And you complained about having to change my nappies!" Maggie tsked.

"Do you wanna hear the rest of this story or not?" Jack asked her.

Maggie nodded "Go ahead."

"Very well. It must've been in the evening because that blazing sun was finally going down..."

☠️❤️☠️

"Are you asleep yet?" Jack asked Morgan.

No answer.

"Hello?" He asked softly.

When there was no answer, he leaned over carefully and stared between the cracks of the hatch. He peered through the darkness of the cellar as the sunlight was scarce. Once his eyes adjusted, he saw Morgan curled up, using his empty satchel as a pillow. Her chest moving up and down slowly as she breathed. And as Jack looked down at the woman who caused him such anger and frustration throughout the day, he was surprised to find himself entranced by her beauty. She was quite lovely, when she wasn't screaming or threatening you. She looked as beautiful as a goddess, as innocent as a baby and as pristine as an angel.

Seeing her in this state, made Jack feel guilty that he had to leave like this. He really wished he could see her again... on better terms.

He took one last glance at her, before grabbing the box with the Magnolia in it and tip-toeing away into the jungle.

☠️❤️☠️

Jack returned to the where the Black Pearl was anchored off the coast of Papua. He thought his feelings of emptiness for leaving Morgan would subside when he saw Lucille again.

"JACK-KAAAAAAYYY!"

It only made Morgan look better by comparison.

"Hello, Darling" He went to go kiss her cheek.

Lucille pulled a face and shoved him away. "Get off of me!" She scoffed. "You're a sweaty mess! You better not have caught some kind of illness in that jungle and brought it back here!"

"I don't think so" Jack sighed. "Right now, I really need a drink!"

"Where's the Cloudforest Magnolia?" Lucille asked eagerly.

"Right here" Jack handed her the box.

Lucille shrieked with glee, snatching it from him. "Wonderful!" She hugged the box to her chest. "Come! I'll fix you a drink!"

They walked into the Captain's Cabin and Jack immediately collapsed onto the bed in exhaustion.

Lucille went over to the liquor wardrobe -Because a measly cabinet wasn't enough- and began mixing them both a drink. She glanced over her shoulder at Jack and quickly popped open the top of the ring she always wore on her index finger. She poured it's powdered contents inside one of the glasses and closed it back up. She stirred the powder into the drink and brought it over to Jack, handing it to him.

"Here you are, dear" she smiled innocently.

"Thanks, Luv" Jack returned the smile, before gulping down the drink.

Jack's mind was still swarming with thoughts of Morgan. The more he thought of her the more he would himself admiring her. The way she jumped down and attacked him for the Magnolia, she was so brave. He kept picturing how she looked when she was sleeping, so beautiful and peaceful. And maybe it was some form of oral Stockholm Syndrome, but Jack could swear he actually missed arguing with her.

"So when do you want to get married?" Lucille asked. "I can't wait to start our new life together. Just you, me and the sea! It'll be perfect... Jack!"

Jack came out of his daze "I'm sorry."

"Where were you just now?" Lucille asked him.

"I was just thinking" Jack shrugged dismissively.

"Thinking?" Lucille scoffed. "What on earth would a drunken lout like you have to be thinking about?"

Jack frowned in disapproval. "At the moment, I'm thinking about how I don't like the way you talk to me" he told her.

"And just what is that suppose to mean?" She demanded.

"It means, Lucille, that you're always insulting me" Jack told her. "And when your not insulting me, you're shouting at me! And when you're not shouting at me, you're ordering me about! I don't think I can put up with being married to someone who treats me that way!"

"You sound like some crotchety old woman!" Lucille snapped.

"Well, you only ever listen to yourself!" Jack squinted his eyes at her angrily. "So I figured if I sounded like you, you'd pay attention to me for once!"

Lucille glared at him, her lips curled in defiant anger. "Now you listen to me!" She said through clenched teeth. "You love me! And we will be married! And it will be a magical event!" She snatched the box from the bed. "And I will walk down the aisle with the Cloudforest Magnolia in my bridal bou--" She stopped short when she looked in the box. "Jack..."

"What?" He asked.

"Where in the ruddy hell... IS MY MAGNOLIA?!" She screamed, throwing the empty box to the floor.

Jack looked down at the box... it was empty! How could that even be possible?!

"What?" Jack stammered. "No! I had it... I mean, I--"

"Get out!" Lucille told him.

"Me?! This is my ship!" Jack told her.

"I said... OUT!!!" Lucille screamed at the top of her lungs.

Her voice was so booming and so shrill, that Jack ran out of the cabin to avoid hearing loss.

"And when you come back you better have the Cloudforest Magnolia!" Lucille shouted after him. "Otherwise, don't bother coming back at all!" She slammed the cabin door shut.

Jack huffed, but thought it best to leave the ship for a while, until she cooled down.

☠️❤️☠️

Captain Jack used the light of the full moon to guide him, as he trudged along the shoreline of the island. His heart heavy with confusion, dread and longing for the girl who only hours ago, he wished to be rid of. All the while, his mind was a never-ending landscape of questions. If he loved Lucille, why was he second guessing their marriage? How did Morgan manage to get the Magnolia from him? And why didn't he hate her for it? Why did he want to see her again after the day he had with her.

Suddenly the sound of sloshing water caught his ears, only it came from within the jungle not the oceans edge. Jack turned and peered into the jungle foliage, as he walked towards the noise, he could also hear splashing and a soft humming. He peeled back the giant palm leaves to see a waterfall and--what's better-- a nude lady in it!

Jack could not believe his luck. This was one of his most common fantasies brought to life!

He hunkered down in the bushes and glanced at her backside. The voluptuous hips cut through the water's surface, her hair was a sleek chestnut river flowing down her backside, mirroring the fluidity of waterfall before her. Her gaunt shoulders were sun-kissed, as were her arms as she stretched them skyward. She moved and swayed with the rhythm of the churning and rippling falls. She leaned forward and paddled through to the middle of the pond, the water coming up to her shoulders. Letting her arms floating freely on the ponds surface, she held her legs together and pushed them around in a circle, like a propeller, to keep her head above the water. The result made her go twirling round and round, like a water-bound ballerina.

Jack was transfixed by her. He leaned forward, attempting to get a good look at her face. But suddenly the patch of grass beneath him gave away and he went tumbling headfirst down the short hill and went splashing into the pond.

Jack reluctantly surfaced and peeled back the curtains of drenched dreads that encased his face. He looked up timidly at the frightened woman who peeked out from the opposite side of the waterfall. She had lept out of the way when she saw him coming. She-- She was Morgan?!

"What is your problem?!" She snapped at him. "First, you hold me captive all day and now you're stalking me! You are sick in the head, you realize that?"

"Clearly I didn't hold you captive as well as I should have!" Jack told her. "Since the Cloudforest Magnolia is gone!"

Morgan smirked smugly. "So you finally found out it was missing?"

"How did you even get it?" Jack demanded. "I had the box with me the entire time, while you were in the cellar!"

"But you put in a box with no clasping mechanism" Morgan explained. "So while we were wrestling for the satchel, it flew out of the box. I noticed it in there when I was going through your rations."

"Where is the Magnolia now?" Jack demanded, ringing out his dreads.

Morgan scoffed and shook her head. "I'm not telling you!"

"Yes, you are!" Jack demanded.

"Am not!"

"Am too!"

"Am not!"

"Am too!"

"Am not!"

"AM TOO!"

"AM NOT!"

Jack growled in frustration. "Why are you even here?" He retorted.

"I'm trying to wash the stench of pirate piss out of my hair, Numb-Nuts!" Morgan told him. "Now go do the world a favor and take a long walk off a short plank! And let me bathe in peace!"

Jack sighed in frustration and began walking out of the pond, then he stopped and changed his mind.

"No!" He told her, sitting defiantly on the ponds edge.

"Go away!" Morgan shouted.

"No!" Jack snapped. "What is it with you blasted women?! I got one aboard my ship who's got my cannonball's in a vice over that stupid Cloudforest Magnolia! And if I don't have to deal with her, I have to deal with you! You have to be the rudest, most mind-numbingly annoying and troublesome woman I've ever met! And I'm not going to take any of it, not from you and not from her! And you shrill little battle-axes can just deal with it!"

Morgan stared at him wide-eyed from behind the waterfall. She seemed remorseful as she watched him, rubbing his temples and staring at his reflection in the ponds water with disgust. He was clearly worn out with stress and... maybe this was just that stupid sympathetic streak she had-- but Morgan actually took pity on him.

"Look, I... I'm sorry I gave you a hard time about the Magnolia" Morgan told him. "But I desperately needed it. I'm a medicine woman and there's a tribe on the others side of the coast that needs help. All their children have fallen ill! The Cloudforest Magnolia is the last ingredient I need to make the cure. It's vital that I get it."

Jack looked up at her with soft eyes. "A medicine woman?" He asked.

"Yes and I'll tell you more about it" Morgan shrugged. "If you hand me my clothes, I'm getting a chill over here!"

Jack looked over at the pile of clothes on the river bank and grabbed them. "What's the magic word?" He asked.

"Please?" Morgan said.

"Actually the magic word was boobs" Jack smirked. "But since you were nice..." he tossed her clothes to her, behind the waterfall.

"Boobs" she nodded, smirking. "I should've guessed. Since you're the biggest boob I ever met."

Once clothed Morgan walked over the ponds edge and sat beside him, explaining her life as a medicine woman.

"I usually spend my days collecting plants and roots for medicinal purposes" she explained.

"You don't seem to be a native?" Jack asked.

"I'm not. I was born off the coast of Ireland, but my parents shipped me off to a boarding school in the colonies when I was nine years old" Morgan explained. "I guess in their minds it was easier than having a daughter who was always digging in dirt, studying plants and bringing home injured animals to heal."

"My mother was killed by headhunters when I was three and my father left me me with my grandmother when he was gone to sea. And my Grandmother would beat me senseless if I breathed too loud" Jack told her, matter-of-factly.

"Oh..." Morgan said dismissively. "So anyways, I was put on a ship headed for the colonies. Once we crossed the Atlantic, we stopped at the coast of the French colonies for supplies and I made a run for it. I wondered the wilderness of Nova Scotia for a week, surviving on roots and berries and using my clothes and corset as a makeshift shelter. I wasn't sure what I was going to do next, where I was going to go. Then one night, an injured man saw my campfire and came limping up to me."

"You must have got a start!" Jack said, picturing it.

"I thought he was a ghost or some kind of ghoul!" Morgan said. "He came straight out the dark woods, covered in blood and dropped down at my feet."

"What did you do?" Jack asked.

"What I could..." Morgan answered. "I boiled some water and cleaned his wounds. Then I gathered the proper plants and leaves needed and boiled them over a campfire, making an antibacterial salve for his injuries. Once I slathered him up, I used my corset as a bandage. Once healed, he brought me back to his village and it was only then I realized he was the son of the chief of the native Mi'kmaq tribe. They said they were indebted to me and I stayed for them for five years, learning from their local medicine man. I eventually branched out and have been traveling to different tribes and natives throughout the world."

"What kind of tribes?" Jack asked, enthralled by the story.

"Well, the Mi'kmaq's to start out with" she shrugged modestly. "Then there was the Cherokee's down south, then I crossed the Atlantic again to help with an outbreak with the Pygmies in Africa. Then to South America, where I helped out with the Cañari's in Ecuador and the Chachapoya's in the Amazon's."

"How old are you?" Jack asked her.

"I'll be turning thirty in two months" Morgan answered.

"You're not even thirty years old yet and you accomplished so much" Jack smiled wistfully. "Your parents had no idea what they were trying to repress."

"I suppose I have accomplished quite a bit" Morgan nodded. "Still, for every place I've been, every wound I tend to, every ailment I cure. There's a great many people I couldn't save in time and it plagues me." Jack could see the tears welling in her eyes, even with the few beams of moonlight poking through the jungle.

"But you still tried" Jack told her. "That's more than most people can say."

Morgan smiled at him and leaned forward to wrap her arms around him. "Thank you" she whispered in his ear.

Captain Jack's chest overflowed with a feeling of warmth, that splashed down into his stomach. It was like an oceans-worth of affection and emotions flowed over his entire being, just from Morgan's touch alone. A sigh of pure euphoria was stuck in his throat, but he refused to exhale because he didn't want this moment or this feeling to end.

It can't get any better than this... Captain Jack thought.

Soon Morgan pulled away and looked him in the eyes for what felt like forever, but in reality was only a few seconds.

"Can I ask a stupid question?" Morgan asked. "What's your name?"

Jack stared at her, confused. Then he relized they had never even been properly introduced.

"Captain Jack Sparrow" He said meekly.

"Jack..." she nodded. "I'm Morgan Louison."

She wasted no more time in capturing his lipswith hers.

...Nevermind! It just got better! Jack thought as his eyes rolled into his head.

☠️❤️☠️

"So..." Maggie began to recap. "So far we learned that Mum was the greatest lady who ever lived."

"And then some" Captain Jack nodded in agreement.

"You were no match for her good-natured charms" Maggie said.

"Proud to say I wasn't" Jack smiled.

"But that still leaves the complication of your original fiancee, Lu-shrill! Hissss!" Maggie mimicked her by baring her fingernails like claws. "So did you kick her to the curb? Toss her on a deserted island with a single-shot pistol? Keelhaul her? Dunk her into the ocean to see if she's a witch?"

"Actually, it's funny you bring that up" Jack sighed. "Remember when you asked why I fell for Lucille and why I stayed with her for so long?"

Maggie nodded.

"Well..." Jack continued.

☠️❤️☠️

While Captain Jack and Morgan were lost in each other's lips, they were vastly unaware of the angry blonde woman's face staring at them through the pond.

Aboard the Black Pearl, Lucille watched them through the small black cauldron she had kept hidden from Jack. The bubbling liquid showed Jack locking lips with Morgan and Lucille was fuming!

"That damn pirate!" Lucille growled. "Can't he keep it in his pants for five minutes and focus on getting me what I want!"

She screamed out in frustration, before tossed the cauldron to the floor of the Captain's Cabin. She stormed over to the liquor wardrobe and peered into the glass that Jack drank from just hours prior.

"No wonder that love potion didn't work on him" She muttered. "He's already fallen in love with that little plant-juice-peddling floozy!"

She looked into her spell book and flipped to the marked page with an illustration of the Cloudforest Magnolia. Above it was the chapter title... How to raise the dead for self-bidding.

"If that pirate won't get me what I want" She placed the book in her satchel. "I'll get it myself..."

She slipped the satchel over her shoulders and walked out of the cabin. On the way out, she glanced down at the puddle of spilled potion on the floor from her cauldron. Within it was the image of Jack and Morgan, lovingly lost in each other's eyes.

"...And I'll kill anyone who gets in my way" she snarled, stepping in the puddle on her way out of the cabin.

To Be Continued...