Huzzah, new chapter! Updates might be getting a bit slower, with exams bein' this week and me runnin' of already written chapters. But I promise I'm trying!


"Aye." Gibbs said as Jack ran back toward his trusted first mate.

"We've come to rescue you." Elizabeth stepped forward in the crowd.

"Have you now?" He asked, looking amused. "That's very kind of you. But it would seem that as I possess a ship and you don't, you're the ones in need of rescuing and I'm not sure as I'm in the mood."

"I see my ship." Barbossa smiled. "Right there." He pointed toward the Pearl and I couldn't help but roll my eyes. When was this feud going to end?!

"Can't spot it." Jack pretended to look for a ship. "Must be a tiny little thing hiding somewhere behind the Pearl." He mused, and I couldn't help but chuckle softly. I'd missed his humor immensly. He began to walk away from the group of us, though a choice few followed him. I stayed behind, just watching him. I still loved him, it couldn't be denied, and I couldn't work up the courage to talk to him. Not after everything we'd been through. Not yet, anyway.

"Jack! Cutler Beckett has the heart of Davy Jones. He controls the Flying Dutchman." Will said, as he was one of the ones who'd followed Jack.

"He's taking over the seas!" Elizabeth added. My least favorite of the people standing near Jack. She was quite brave in standing next to the very man she'd killed, though I don't mean that in an admirable sense of the word use.

"The song has already been sung, the Brethren Court is called." Tia said.

"Leave you people alone for just a minute, look what happens, everything's gone to pot!" Jack said, looking around at the group that surrounded him. I smiled a bit while I watched the scene unfolding in front of me. I'd imagined what the meeting would be like during my more quiet times on the voyage, but I'd never imagined anything like this. Not even anything remotely close to this.

"Aye, Jack. The world needs you back somethin' fierce."

"And you need a crew." Will added. Jack paused for a moment before proudly spinning on his heel to face us all.

"Why should I sail with any of you?" He asked. "Four of you have tried to kill me in the past! One of you succeeded." He said, looking toward Elizabeth. Everyone, except myself, turned to look at her in surprise. Will glanced over at me, his face seeming to say 'you were right.' I had to seriously resist the urge to smile triumphantly. "Oh. She's not told you." Jack smiled at Will's confusion. "You'll have loads to talk about while you're here." He continued walking down the line as if to make a decision about us all. "As for you..." He stopped in front of Tia.

"Now, don't tell me you didn't enjoy it at the time." She laughed, and I couldn't help but tense up a bit.

"Fair enough, all right, you're in." Jack smiled and moved down the line. I swallowed hard, I was nervous and Tia's comment didn't help my nerves a bit. There was something I'd never liked about her, and now I had an actual reson for it. "Don't need you, you scare me." He walked briskly past Ragetti and Pintel. "Gibbs, you can come, Marty, Cotton. Cotton's Parrot." He stopped in front of the man...er...bird. "I'm a little iffy, but at least I'll have someone to talk to." Then he was standing in front of me, seeming as if at a lost for words. "Selesta..." He finally managed. How I managed to look at his face without crying, I'll never know. "You can come." He hurridly walked off. And that was the end of our confrontation. I suppose while I imagined it on the journey, sometimes I would see Jack and I forgeting everything and being just like old time again. Carefree and in love. I should have known they were only day dreams, but I still had hoped there was a chance. But it didn't happen, so that's the end of that. I guess despite what I'd believed only a few months ago, Jack and I just weren't meant to be. "Who're you?" I turned to see Jack standing face to face with the crew from Singapore.

"Tai Huang. These are my men." He answered briskly.

"Where do your allegiances lie?" Jack asked.

"With the highest bidder."

"I have a ship." Jack said hopefully, looking toward his precious ship gracefully floating out in the distance.

"That makes you the highest bidder." Tia Huang nodded and smiled slightly.

"Good man." Jack said, happy in his gain. "Weigh anchor, all hands, prepare to make sail!" I watched him open his compass and look down at it. He glanced up at the Pearl, all around in circles, and then at me. And then once again in circles. Where was his compass pointing?

"Jack." Barbossa smiled, holding the charts grandly. "Which way ye goin', Jack?" Jack himself only grimaced and slammed his compass shut. He was unhappy...unhappy that we didn't get leave Barbossa and the monkey behind, probably. We weren't going to get to leave Elizabeth in the locker either, so I too wasn't happy. This adventure just wasn't what I'd thought it was going to be and it just kept getting worse. Little did I know, a bad situation tends to get even worse before it improves...