Thank you all for reading! Hope you're all enjoying the story. If y'all have any suggestions, leave a reveiw. So last time, our three amigos were just realizing where they were when things took a turn for the worst. It looked like uor heroes had the upper hand as Karen showed off her skill with a sword, but it wasn't really a match for a pistol to the head. Now, Josh and Tony are nowhere to be found and Karen is about be executed. Let's get back to the story, shall we?

She closed her eyes now. Nothing left to do but wait. She'd given up trying to remember the good times between her, Josh and Tony. The overwhelming voices forced her to do so. All your fault. All your fault. She wanted Ana to just shoot her…to just get it over with. At least then, the voices would stop. She heard no other sound, although she was sure there were indeed sounds to be heard. Her heart pounded painfully in her chest. That was all she could hear now…well…not for much longer.

"WAIT!" came a voice. It was Jack. Karen felt the pressure on the side of her head release as Jack yanked Ana-Maria's arm away. The crew was instantly a cacophony of questioning mumbles and exclamation.

"Jack, what're ya doin'? She tried to kill ye." Ana protested.

"That she did." Jack agreed. "And she almost succeeded."

"So why do ye got a hold of me arm?" Ana asked, gesturing to Jack's hand which still had a firm grip on her wrist. Jack released with an apologetic gesture.

"I did say almost, did I not?" Jack questioned.

"Ye did." Ana agreed.

"This young lass showed me mercy!" he shouted to the crew. "I do believe we owe it to her…and her friends to teach them how to live the life that we have all grown to love so very much." There was laughter on the deck. "What say ye, ye murderous lowlifes?"

"AYE!" came the cheer from the entire crew on the deck and Ana beside them.

"Bring out her friends!" Jack ordered. Josh and Tony were led out through the crowd. Without even thinking, Karen ran to them and threw her arms around them both. New tears streamed down her face. Tears of joy running over the freshly dried tears of regret.

"Guys! Oh my God, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry." She cried, burying her face in Josh's chest.

"What happened out here, Karen?" Tony asked.

"Yeah, did ya win?" Josh asked.

"It's a long story. I'll tell you about it later." She said, continuing the hug. A short distance behind them, Ana-Maria spoke to Jack.

"She really cares about them, Jack." she observed. Jack was staring as the three little stowaways as they hugged and celebrated. He watched as the crew took them in, handed them some rum, and began to tell them all they needed to know to become a real pirate.

"I can see that, Love." He said, without emotion.

"Do you remember when we felt that way about things?" Ana asked, turning to him.

"Afraid not. It was too long ago." He replied.

"Me neither." She admitted. "Jack, are you sure about this?"

"Why would I be unsure, Darling?" he asked.

"Jack, both of us were forced into the lives we live. Ye know that." She said.

"And?" Jack questioned.

"Look at them, Jack. Look how happy they are. Ye know being a pirate is going to take that away from them. Ye know it! They don't know what it really means! My-My God, Jack look at 'em." She finished. Jack did. They were all laughing hysterically as one of the crew tried to teach Tony swordplay. Jack had had friends like that once. He lost every one of them the minute he started down the path he was on now. Even he and Ana-Maria, who used to be great friends had grown apart based on the assumption that either one of them could become a victim to this life and be killed any day. Pirates tried to grow no attachment to each other due to the simple danger of the life. Losing a crewmate hurts a lot less than losing a friend. Still, Jack did remember what it was like to have friends. Many years ago he had made a choice and while it did have its perks, it also had a downside.

"I see 'em, Ana." He said, trying not to show any emotion.

"Breakin' that up may as well be a sin, Sparrow. Do ye really want that on your head?" she said, becoming annoyed with Jack's seemingly aloof demeanor.

"As a matter of fact I don't, Ana. But, I got my reasons." He explained, turning to her.

"What might those be?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"Come with me." He said, leading her away by the arm. He took her to his cabin where there were several maps, charts, and books spread out on a table. He led her over to it.

"What do ye see?" he asked.

"A mess." Ana observed with a critical chuckle.

"Quite right." Jack agreed, reexamining the table. He straightened it up a little. Ana walked over and sat on the bed. She put her face in her hands and rubbed her eyes. It had been a very eventful night. So eventful that she had not even realized how late it was. When Jack had finished, he grabbed one book in particular and brought it over to the bed. He took a seat next to Ana and held the book between them.

"Look here. What does that look like to you?" he asked. He pointed to a picture in the book.

"It looks like three people. Two men and a women." She observed.

"What are they wearing?" he asked.

"Nothing like I've ever seen." She noticed.

"Did you happen to catch what our new little friends were wearing?" he asked. Ana's eyes widened as she realized who the people in the book looked like. They narrowed again as she spoke.

"No…Jack, no! Wearing the same clothes does not mean that they are the same people." She argued, standing up.

"Come now, Ana. Look at their faces!" he said, holding up the book. "They are exactly the same." Ana couldn't fight this point any longer. She sighed, slumped her shoulders, and plopped back down on the bed.

"Fine, Sparrow. So let's say this is some supernatural occurrence. What does it mean?" she asked. Jack ran his finger down the page, mumbling to himself as he quickly read. He stopped. He and Ana-Maria put their heads close to each other as they read together. Jack read aloud.

"Ah, here! It says 'these three young adventurers and the bond they share will be the only key to the…" he stopped as he could not bring himself to say the next words. He slowly lifted his head to look at Ana-Maria only to realize that she was doing the same thing.

"The Lost Treasure of the Incas." She finished, in low tone. They stared at each other for a moment. Then they leapt off the bed and hugged each other.

"WE'RE RICH!" Jack shouted. He began to dance and Ana followed him. Both were laughing and yelling like giddy school children. They went on like this for a long time before collapsing back onto the bed. They both just laid there for a moment out of breath from the recent display. The smile on Ana's face died away as she came to a realization.

"Jack, does the fact that we're about to use those kids leave a bad taste in your mouth?" she asked.

"I lost that sense of taste years ago, Love." He replied, still giddy about this discovery.

"I thought I had, too." Ana replied, sitting up. "I feel too rotten about this one."

"Hell of a time for ye to grow a heart." He said sitting up beside her.

"What they have is so perfect, Jack. I don't think that people like us have a right to mess with it." She admitted. He took her chin in his fingers and turned her face towards his.

"Nothing is perfect, Darling. Not even them." He said. "We have done far worse that this for far less, Ana. Now ye know I need ye with me on this. You're one of this ships finest leaders." She smiled and turned her face away, brushing off the compliment. "Come now. Ye know y'are. And I know that deep down, you probably want that treasure just as much as I do."

"I never said I didn't want the treasure." She corrected. "It's the methods that I don't agree with."

"Come on, Love. Don't be so naïve. No harm will come to the children. In fact, I think they'll very much enjoy it. We give them the time of their lives, and they get us more riches than we could ever imagine. How does that sound for a deal, huh?" he asked, lifting her chin with his finger. She realized that he was right. Odds were that no harm would come to them and they could indeed get them all the treasure that they had ever hoped to find.

"You're right." She admitted.

"And does that really surprise ye?" he asked, moving closer. Ana put her hand on the back of Jack's head and tilted her head to one side as she got closer, too.

"Yes it does." She said, yanking Jack's hat over his eyes at the last second. She laughed as she stood up and began to leave the cabin. The laughter died and she stopped in the doorway.

"What makes you think they'll have such a great time?" she asked. Jack finished readjusting his hat.

"Who wouldn't have fun being a pirate, Darling?" he asked with that typical Jack Sparrow grin. Ana smiled as she left the cabin.

"What are these made of?" asked one of the crew members, pawing at Josh's jeans.

"It's called denim." Josh said. "And this is just cotton." He said to another crewman who was feeling his shirt.

"Where did you find 'denim'?" the crewman asked. Josh looked at Karen and Tony who were sitting on the steps above him. Without really asking, he was checking for approval to tell the crewmen where they were all actually from. Tony and Karen shrugged. What harm could come of it? Josh began to explain.

"Well, were we come from, denim is very popular. Everyone wears denim. Even girls wear denim." He explained, gesturing at Karen's jeans. The crew nodded in awe. "See, we come from a place very, very far away from here and it is very, very different. Where we come from, pirates are people who steal music."

"Steal music?" one of the men questioned.

"Yeah, to put into one of these." Tony cut in as he pulled out his MP3 player and turned it on. The light made the crew react with oohs and aahs. "When I put these in my ears and push this button, I hear music."

"Do you all 'steal music'?" one man asked. They all nodded.

"So you are pirates, then?" he asked. They all laughed.

"Yeah, I guess we are." Josh said. A cheer went up from the crew. The three friends smiled at each other.

"Tell us more, Josh." One man asked eagerly.

"Ok. Um…what else? Uh…oh! Ok. In our world, almost no one sails or knows how to fight with a sword." He added.

"What about Karen?" one man asked.

"Well, I guess Karen is just special." He said, turning to her and smiling. Karen didn't know why, but her heart did a back flip when he smiled at her. She had never felt that way before; around him or anyone else. She watched him explain "their world" to the crewmen and found that she must look as spellbound as they did…though perhaps for unlike reasons.

"What would you say, Karen?" Josh asked, turning around again.

"What was that?" she asked, snapping out of a trance that she was unaware she had even slipped into.

"I asked how you'd describe basketball." He repeated.

"Oh. It's…uh…it's a game that we play with five people on each team and we basically have to put a ball that's about this big through a hoop that's about that high above the ground. To win, we just have to do it more times than the other team." She explained. Josh was turned and watching her as she spoke. How confident she was. Look at her just command the attention of that whole crew without even thinking about it. She had so much spunk. Josh loved that about her. There was not a whole lot that Karen was afraid of and even fewer things that would keep her from doing something. Although Josh had known Tony longer, he felt a stronger bond with Karen. Even though she was a girl, Josh felt comfortable going to Karen about problems that he felt Tony might just laugh at. Although Karen would favor a pair of jeans over a skirt and would much rather attend a Super Bowl party than a spa party, to Josh, she seemed like a perfect lady.

"What do you think, Josh?" Karen asked.

"Huh?" he said, not even knowing why he was being addressed.

"How would you explain a car?" she asked.

"Oh, that's easy." He said. They sat there for hours describing school, movies, TV, planes, tennis shoes, big cities, and everything in between. When the crew had finally gone to bed, the friends decided it was best to follow their example. Tony shuffled off to bed with a groggy "good night". Karen and Josh stood at the railing of the ship for a moment and looked at the sky.

"Well, here we are." Josh said. Karen laughed.

"Here we are." She repeated. "I can't believe this is really happening. I keep thinking that I'm gonna wake up, but it never happens."

"I know what you mean. I mean, my God, we've been here one night and we all nearly got ourselves killed, we got accepted into a pirate crew, and you bested Jack Frickin' Sparrow in a swordfight. When we get home you should add that to your resume." He said.

"What section should it be under?" she asked through a chuckle.

"Accomplishments, of course. That'll definitely get you past Joe Schmo who was voted MVP on his school's Lacrosse team." Josh said. Karen started laughing again. He loved to make her laugh.

"Seriously, though, Karen. I'm, uh…I'm really proud of you. That took a lot of guts." He said shyly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Thanks, Josh." She said. She was thankful that it was too dark for him to see her blush.

"Well, hey. We'd better get some sleep. We probably have a big couple of days coming up." He observed.

"Go ahead. I'll be there in just a few minutes." She said.

"What's out here that's better than a nice warm hammock?" he asked.

"A sky of stars minus four-hundred years of CFCs." She answered, looking up at the sky. Josh looked up, as well. He had never seen the stars look like that. There were so many.

"You know, it's better if you lay on your back. That way, your neck won't hurt in the morning." He mentioned.

"Lay on my back?" she asked, as if she was worried about looking stupid.

"Yeah." said Josh. With that he laid down right there on the deck and looked up at the sky. "Come on, there's no one here but me." Karen smiled and lay down next to Josh.

"Better?" he asked.

"A lot." She answered.

"This is really something." Josh said.

"Yeah it really is." Karen agreed. No more words were spoken between the two, yet neither of them felt awkward. There was no need for words. They both gazed up at the sky each wondering what the coming days would bring. Neither of them could even take a guess. A few minutes later Josh looked over at Karen. She was fast asleep. He smiled to himself. He picked her up like a child and carried her to her hammock. He crawled into the one right under hers and slowly drifted of to sleep.