In the Hands of Fate II: Dead Man's Chest
Chapter one

"Come on, Luna!" Jack called to me, "Come join the festivities, they are, after all, in your honor."

I rolled my eyes as he took my hand and pulled me out of my seat. "I don't see the reason to remind me I'm twenty-nine."

He smiled at me brightly, showing his gold teeth. "You're only twenty-nine once, love."

"Miss Barbossa!" Gibbs called to me, "Why don't you grace us with a song?"

I shook my head. "What if I didn't want to?"

Jack wrapped his arms around me and murmured in my ear, "I'll force you off the plank."

"Oh? In that case, I'll just have to sing wont I?" I smirked. "Cu excepţia cazului în... unless I put a curse on you."

"But you'd never do that."

"Oh, but wouldn't I?" I laughed and snatched the guitar from one of the crew members. My skirt snagged on the deck a couple of times as I walked over to an unoccupied crate.

I picked at the guitar for a little bit, just messing around. I started a round of Yo Ho (A Pirate's Life for Me) before everyone started to complain.

"Okay, okay," I called over the crew, "I do have a little something I've been working on."

I strummed the instrument until the rhythm created in my head flowed out.

"I've practiced this for hours, gone round and round
And now I think that I've got it all down
And as I say it louder I love how it sounds
Cause I'm not taking the easy way out
Not wrapping this in ribbons
Shouldn't have to give a reason why

It's no surprise I won't be here tomorrow
I can't believe that I stayed till today
Yeah you and I will be a tough act to follow
But I know in time we'll find this was no surprise

It came out like a river once I let it out
When I thought that I wouldn't know how
Held onto it forever just pushing it down
Felt so good to let go of it now
Not wrapping this in ribbons
Shouldn't have to give a reason why

It's no surprise I won't be here tomorrow
I can't believe that I stayed till today
There's nothing here in this heart left to borrow
There's nothing here in this soul left to say

Don't be surprised when we hate this tomorrow
God knows we tried to find an easier way
Yeah you and I will be a tough act to follow
But I know in time we'll find this was no surprise

Our favorite place we used to go
The warm embrace that no one knows
The loving look that's left your eyes
That's why this comes as no, as no surprise

If I could see the future and how this plays out
I bet it's better than where we are now
But after going through this
it's easier to see the reason why

It's no surprise I won't be here tomorrow
I can't believe that I stayed till today
Yeah you and I will be a tough act to follow
But I know in time we'll find this was no surprise

The kiss goodnight, it comes with me
Both wrong and right, our memories
The whispering before we sleep
just one more thing that you can't keep

Our favorite place we used to go
The warm embrace that no one knows
The loving look that's left your eyes
But I know in time we'll find this was no surprise"

As I sang I kept my eyes downcast, avoiding Jack's intent gaze. I knew that he knew that I wrote this song from personal experience. Actually, most of the songs I have written are from personal experience. I just didn't know if he realized that what I said, or sang really, just now was about him and I really was leaving tomorrow as soon as we docked in Tortuga.

"You're such a wonderful writer Luna. Have you ever thought of becoming a novelist?" Pintel asked me.

I nodded. "I have, many a times. But the idea alone isn't as appealing as one would think. I much prefer to be a pirate."

"She's a much better singer," Ragetti told him.

I blushed. "Thanks, but I really don't think so." I handed the guitar back to the crewmember I stole it from earlier and walked to my cabin. Jack followed closely behind.

"That song was about us wasn't it, love?" asked Jack as he leaned against the door frame.

I smiled halfheartedly as I unbraided my hair. "I honestly don't give you enough credit. Da… quod carmen de nobis."

"So you're leaving?" Jack wondered.

I sighed and picked up some clothes that were strewn about the floor, tossing them in the trunk at the foot of my bed. "Yes."

"Why?"

I shrugged, the earrings I wore jingling softly. "Because Elizabeth and Will have invited me to their wedding."

"Because you need to find him…"

"Him?"

"The man in your poem. The man with a gentle kiss and pure thoughts." He exhaled noisily. "I get it Luna."

"Obviously not. There is no way I'm the daughter of the moon."

He took my shoulders and maneuvered me so I was in front of the mirror. "Take a look, love. How are ye not the daughter of the moon? Your hair is the color of a moonless, starless night, save for the chunk the frames the left side of yer face, for which it is pure white as the color of a moonbeam. Your eyes are the color of the moon itself. And your name, the most obvious part about ye, Luna." He spun me around to face him. "Tell me how you're not the woman being spoken of in the poem. Please tell me, Luna."

"Because I lied!"

He took a step back, astonished that I yelled at him. "What?"

"There's no way to break the curse. It was just a stupid silly poem my mother told me to keep me from giving up."

"Luna, it can be done. Every curse has a way to break it."

"Not this one, Jack. Numquam vere diligit me, ergo there's no way for me to break the curse." I shoved him out of my room then. "Fiu de căţea!" I curled up on my bed and cried myself to sleep.

"Now, now, copil. Don't be so upset."

That voice. It was so familiar but I've never heard it before. I looked around me, there was nothing but black. The strange thing was I could still see my hand as I waved it in front of me. Suddenly, a flash of multicolored light blinded me and before me appeared an older version of….me?

"Wh-who are you?"

"Your great-great-grandmother, Sara." She smiled at me.

I couldn't speak. Shock flowed throughout me.

"It's okay, your mother acted the same way when I came to her." Her expression turned serious. "Listen to me, fiică. My time with you now is short. The rhyme is true, as Jack Sparrow has claimed it to be. Listen to him, Luna, he speaks from experience. The power that flows through our veins is strong. But it's strongest in you. Use it for good, and soon you will see that it will show you your path."

"But how? I'm no more magic than Miss Elizabeth!"

My grandmother shook her head, "No, fiică, your very powerful. A power almost matching Tia Dalma." Her image shimmered and she began to fade. "My time is nearly up. Hurry, go to your dragoste adevarata."

"But how will I know it's him?"

"You already know him." She was barely visible now.

"Bunică! Don't go!"

I sat up in my bed, sunlight pouring into my room. "There is so much I want to ask you!" I called out into the empty room.

"All in due time, fiica mea," my grandmother's voice called to me.

I sighed heavily and readied all my things before I set off for Tortuga, hopefully never to set foot on the Black Pearl ever again. Er, at least for a while.

A/n: I am most sorry for the shorness of this chapter. It doesn't seem terribly short, but in my mind as I went back and edited it, it was. Anyway, is everyone ready for the second installment of ITHOF? Surprisingly the looks like a real word. Anyway, school starts in about a week and a half, and shockingly I'm a little nervous.

Anyways, if you haven't already, please check out my mythology story "The Goddess of Fate." It does pertain to this series, if only faintly, it's not important now and quite a spoiler for chapter 2.

Romanian translations:

Cu excepţia cazului în - Unless
Da - yes
Fiu de căţea - son of a bitch
Copil- child
fiică - daughter
Bunică - grandmother
fiica mea - my daughter

Latin translations:

quod carmen de nobis - that song was about us
Numquam vere diligit me - You'll never truly be in love with me

I'm not sure exactly how much Romanian/Latin Jack can understand. I figure he knows enough to get by if he were to ever find himself in Romania. I'm working on a flashback/ dream where Luna tries to teach him a little bit of both.

Love you guys!
Lyra Raine Sparrow

P.S. I need a few ideas for obstacles that could be found in a labyrinth. So if you could send a few my way, I'd be much appreciative.