Aboard Again

Never betray Madison. It's not a smart thing to do. If you betray her, she'll send the Kraken after you. –A little thing I think Jack should have said sometime in the last story after learning Madison can control the Kraken.


Madison looked at the water from the front of the ship. She was sitting with her back against the rails. Jack, even though she told him not to, was out of the cabin and steering the ship. She watched him every so often and noticed how he always seemed to do something that made him wince because of his shoulder.

"Stubborn pirate." Madison muttered, looking back at the water. For the first time in three years she actually felt extremely comfortable…ok so she wasn't that comfortable, having to chase after two evil men to get her babies back. Without even thinking, she started singing. "…ancient spirits of the forest, made him king of elves and trees. He was the only human being…"

"…who lived in harmony." Jack said, now standing in front of Madison. She jumped and looked at him. "They know it?"

"Yeah." Madison said. She looked back at the water. Jack slowly lowered himself down to sit next to her. He wasn't really sure how she would react but he knew she needed some kind of comfort so he put his arm around her shoulders, stopping himself from wincing as he moved his sore arm. Madison was stiff for maybe a second but then she relaxed and actually relaxed against him.

"We'll find them, luv." Jack said. "They're tough kids."

'They're three!" Madison said. "How tough can they be?"

"Well…they are our kids." Jack said. "Who knows…maybe Lily can control the kraken."

"It's sleeping." Madison said, frowning.

"You could always wake it up." Jack said.

"No." Madison said. "I can't…I don't want to use it."

"Alright…we'll think of something else." Jack said. Madison sighed in relief. It was good to have Jack around again, much as she didn't want to admit it. He understood her…he could still read her thoughts. They just sat there quietly for a long time.

"We need a plan." Madison said, finally. She was torn apart. On one hand, she loved being back on ship, out in the sea, with her friends and family and Jack around her. It made her feel more relaxed then she had been in years. On the other hand, she was worried about Lily and Jaden. She wanted them with her. She wanted them safe.

She wanted to give them the full family that they wanted and deserved.

"I think we should try to figure out why Barbossa would do what he did." Jack said. "Apart from it just pissing us off." Madison shook her head, unsure.

"Jay?" Lily asked quietly.

"Lil? You alright?" Jaden asked. He couldn't see her. Sometime after being carried onto the ship, they had been blindfolded then someone knocked them out.

"I think so." Lily said. She scratched at her face for a while before finally managing to tug the blindfold down. "It looks like we're in daddy's room but it's darker."

"How do you know?" Jaden asked. Lily crawled over to him slowly before tugging at the blindfold. "Ooooh. It does!"

"I miss mummy and daddy." Lily said. "I want them here."

"Lily…we gots to be brave." Jaden said. "You can talk with the fishies. Maybe that can help!"

"Maybe." Lily said. "But how I can get to them? There's no windows." Jaden whined as he realized Lily was right. Lily sniffed and rubbed her eyes. She didn't want to cry. Within seconds she was sobbing and she and Jaden were leaning against each other. "I want mummy!!"

"I want daddy!!" Jaden said.

"I want out!" Lily said. She sniffed and sat up straight, causing Jaden to have to sit up quickly or risk falling over. "Mummy can hear me…in her head…can't she?"

"I dunno." Jaden said.

"It's happened a few times when I'm scared." Lily said.

"Maybe daddy will hear us too?" Jaden said.

"I dunno…maybe." Lily said. She sat and clenched her fists and squeezed her eyes shut and looked as if she was trying to explode. Her whole body shook.

As one, Jack and Madison both flinched and moved forward a bit as if they had just been punched lightly in the stomach.

"Lily!" Madison said.

"How?" Jack asked, getting to his feet then pulling Madison up.

"Probably the same way dad and Will can tell how I'm feeling." Madison said. She ran her fingers through her hair and looked at Jack. "What do we do?"

"You're asking me?" Jack asked.

"I'm out of ideas." Madison said. "I haven't had to come up with any for…a while."

"You'll get back into things soon." Jack said, putting a hand on her cheek. Madison sighed and put her hand over his. For a second Jack thought she was going to remove it. She just applied a bit of pressure for a few seconds before removing it. She squeezed his hand lightly before turning around and going up to the helm where Will and Bill were. Jack watched her go.

"I find myself curious." Barbossa said. "Tell me about her."

"Who?" Cole asked.

"Madison." Barbossa said. "I've not seen her in year."

"She's the same as how you described her to me." Cole said. "Maybe a bit softer then how you said she was."

"Children." Barbossa said, making a noise. "They ruined her." He looked down at the wheel in his hands.

"What are we going to do with them?" Cole asked. Barbossa was quiet for a while.

"Nothing." He said, finally. He smiled. "Teach them." Cole raised an eyebrow.

"Lily?" Jaden asked. At some point in the last hour Lily had fallen asleep. She had yet to wake up and Jaden was getting a little worried. "Lily."

"Tired." Lily said. Jaden sighed. She was ok, just tired. "I don't wanna be here no more." She opened her green and brown eyes and looked up at Jaden.

"Me neither, but sleeping not gonna help." Jaden said. Lily groaned and sat up. She wasn't looking too well. Jaden looked at his sister carefully. "Maybe you shouldn't sit up." Lily leaned against the wall and pulled her legs up against her chest. Neither of them spoke for a long time.

"Do you think mummy and daddy will find us?" Lily asked.

"Of course they will!" Jaden said. Lily tilted her head to look at him. "I dunno Lil." She looked back down and Jaden felt bad for making her upset. They didn't talk for the rest of the day. They slept during the night and woke up to see two small plates in the room, each with food. The kids knew enough to know not to eat it all then because they weren't sure if they would get anymore food that day.

"What are you doing?" Jack asked, watching Madison climb over the rail to stand on the not-so-safe side.

"I figured it out." Madison said, turning slightly to look at him. He walked over to stand next to her on the right side. "I think…I hope that maybe…if I get back to being…close…to them…" She nodded at the water. "Then maybe I can understand everything again. The way I used to."

"So you're just going to dive into the water…" Jack said. "After not being anywhere near it for basically three years." Madison nodded. "Do you not see anything wrong with this?"

"Nope." Madison said. "I don't think it's possible for me to forget how to swim, Jack. Have some faith in me." Jack sighed and nodded. Madison touched his hand for a few seconds before diving into the water.

As soon as she hit the water, it was as if a bunch of little hands were hugging her, welcoming her back as if she had been gone on some brave mission for years and had survived.

Jack watched from the ship. He panicked slightly when it seemed as if Madison had disappeared but then he remembered what she said and restrained himself from jumping into the water. It seemed to take forever. He couldn't see her for the longest time. It was early and the only other person that seemed to be awake was Bill but he also seemed to be in his own little world as he steered the ship.

"Looking for someone?" A female voice asked. Jack jumped and spun around. For a wild moment he thought it was Madison behind him but then he knew it was Calypso.

"Long time no see." Jack said.

"Yeah…I've been wondering what's going on." Calypso said. Jack raised an eyebrow. She looked awfully solid and seemed very easy going, rather then the cryptic behavior he had learned to expect from her. "So the line continues."

"Aye." Jack said.

"She lost contact with the water." Calypso said. Jack nodded. Calypso chuckled slightly. "My, my, she is like me." Jack's other eyebrow joined the first one in a raised position. "She'll come up soon. She just needs to find out what's going on." Jack looked at the water then back at Calypso, about to speak, only to see her gone.

"Cold water." Madison said, climbing up the side of the ship. Jack was by her within seconds and had put his coat over her shoulders. "Thanks. What's the matter? You look like you just saw a ghost."

"I did." Jack said. "Your grandmum." Madison stared at him. "Calypso's decided to start paying visits again. Either that or it was a one time thing." Madison frowned. "Did you find out what you needed?"

"Yeah!" Madison said. "Everything will be ok. Lily's given me more power then I originally had so things might not be so bad." She suddenly fainted and Jack grabbed her. He picked her up and brought her to his cabin.


Well now…isn't that just a bit of dandy information? LOL…I know…I'm weird. But hey…Calypso's back and I'm bringing something…or someone else back too. Let's see if you lot can guess.