Well, we're finishing things up on Isla Cruces and their next destination...I actually realized, at some point, that the Bermuda Triangle would be a good place for them to end up, relatively to the east and north of the Caribbean, and would fit in nicely with the oddness of World's End. Notice that Barbossa's last line in the first part here is sort of like the last line he had in the first chapter, except that this time, he really is thanking them honestly...he certainly has changed during these past few days. Unfortunately, I set up something that could really adversely affect them-hence one of the several obstacles in here-but 'Loyalty', referring to friendship, alliances, and love can still be made and upheld, no matter what happens. With that in mind, here is where Captain Jack Sparrow finally realizes what he needs to get onboard The Black Pearl.

Disclaimer: Curiouser and curiouser, as Alice might say, I do not own these characters or their Wonderland!

11. Obstacles and Loyalty

Tia Dalma glanced back and forth as the sailors gathered around her, with Mullroy and Pintel panting slightly as they finally staggered out of the grove after getting hopelessly bewildered. Meanwhile, Anamaria stared at her sister with respect, now with a fuller understanding of Dalma's powers and that she personally possessed some of these as well.

Dalma raised her hands when all were present and she said, "The day's hours are slipping away and we must set a course for World's End from here. Captains, while you were in the tower, did you gauge a reading of which way to go?"

Captain Sao Feng and Captain Barbossa stared at each other, unsure of how to respond, but suddenly Barbossa gasped and replied heartily, "Aye! We go north from Isla Cruces!"

The sailors nodded and agreed while Sao Feng leaned towards Barbossa and inquired, "How did you figure that out?"

Barbossa murmured, "Up in the tower, we were standing on the north side when we spoke of...the fall. Besides, that's probably the best direction for World's End since the Bermuda Triangle lies in that direction."

Sao Feng slowly nodded as Tia Dalma continued, "Excellent, my captains, north it is, though we certainly didn't stop here just to get our nautical bearings. This island, as I'm sure all of you are now aware, is also a presence, one that can have great impact in the lives of some. Here, my mother Calypso met and lost love and, today, I'm sure you all came to recognize a new effect upon your lives."

Most of the Chinese sailors glanced at each other and shrugged, but some people, especially those of the Caribbean crew, nodded, including Murtogg, Ragetti, Sao Feng, Barbossa, Will and Elizabeth. After that, Dalma bowed her head and the captains whistled, waving their hands as they turned and walked off into the grove, soon followed by their crews for the return to the beach. Will and Elizabeth said nothing to each other as they steered a distance away from each other, Tia Dalma and Anamaria walked close to the front in whispered conversation, while Sao Feng muttered to some of his fellow Chinese sailors in Cantonese. At the back of the group, the old fellows lagged behind, Barbossa, Mullroy, Pintel, Gibbs and Cotton, all of them grim and silent as they walked at a leisurely pace.

Finally, Mullroy grunted and muttered, "We just got out and now we're going back in, it's exhausting. Well, at least we'll be sure to stick with you fellows this time around."

Gibbs firmly nodded and declared, "Aye, and I'll keep my eyes on all of you, I'm responsible for overseeing my mates and I'll do my duty. Bad luck's odd, I've been thinking, and perhaps it's best if I don't dwell on it, it's already hard enough to consider my jobs."

Pintel sighed and murmured, "Yes, we've all got hard jobs and even when all is said and done, we don't get any respect for it. Look at me and Mullroy, we've been like fathers...no, teachers to Ragetti and Murtogg and now that they don't need us anymore, they're ignoring us!"

Barbossa scratched his beard, as Jack the monkey chattered, and remarked, "That is the real truth of it sometimes, I'm sad to admit, the pupils become adept and abandon their old mates. Still, we've got each other for company and we've got to let them make their own way, let them realize how important we were, then we'll have some respect. As for you, Joshamee Gibbs, I admire your dedication to your crew and to Jack Sparrow...it was just too hard for me, all the years ago."

Cotton's parrot squawked, "Friend! Friend!"

Barbossa cleared his throat and said, "That's right, I was his friend, but that was hardly much, just some company for drinking...I didn't even know Captain Jack Sparrow too well, now that I think on it. Perhaps there was something more to him, since you all are so loyal now."

Gibbs turned to gaze at Barbossa as he informed him, "Ah, that's the truth, Jack had another side to him. I don't know for sure, but I think Miss Elizabeth Swann now sees such a side to Jack and so she and Will are walking apart, their love may be cold now if she feels a passion for Jack. However, Captain Hector Barbossa, I'll admit that you're not too much of a bad fellow, for a pirate."

Barbossa smiled and sighed, feeling weary as he murmured, "I thank you kindly for that, Gibbs, and that's the real truth."

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A small armada of 5 ships, (two minor vessels in the rear, The Spear of Lord Cutler Beckett and The Dauntless of Commodore James Norrington in the middle, and the tip of Malcolm's Maid at the head with Admiral Smith,) is advancing on the residue trail of the secret beacon. Suddenly, a sailor in Malcolm's Maid's crow nest calls out and the word is spread, Admiral Smith begins to slow his ship to a halt. The other ships in the armada follow suit, surprised at this pause in the middle of the ocean until they clearly start to see the distant form. It is The Flying Dutchman, still in the water despite the wind fluttering its sails, without any sign of activity on its deck. The armada circles round the ship, The Spear positioned near the bow of Dutchman while the Dauntless swings round close to its stern. Lord Cutler Beckett and Mercer step onto the deck of their ship, Mercer carrying a small casket with Davy's heart, and Beckett observes the other deck with his telescope until he finally sighs and snaps his fingers. Mercer opens the chest and grasps the heart, squeezing slightly until Davy Jones suddenly appears on The Spear's deck, groaning as he tries to take a step forward, toward them and his heart, but Mercer's will, in possession of the heart, keeps Davy several feet away from it.

Lord Cutler Beckett adjusts his wig and says, "I am very confused right now as to why you are here. The other day, I sent you ahead of us, for it would take a full day for the armada to collect itself to sail off, and I thought it would be easier for you to handle matters until my arrival. However, we have now caught up with you, without any prisoners on your ship, which indicates that you haven't even encountered them at all...you have just been sitting here, probably for the course of an entire day. There is no bad weather to account for it and there couldn't have been any misfortune on this ship as everything about it, crew included, is unnatural and undead. By the way, where is your crew?"

Davy Jones glared at Beckett and replied, "I let them go, beyond my call, to whatever afterlife awaited them. If I could, I would send you as well."

Meanwhile, Commodore James Norrington had ordered all of his men to check the pumps below-decks in this calm interval and so was the only man parading the decks of the Dauntless. At that moment, as he gazed out towards the stern of The Flying Dutchman, uncommonly as still as it had been when they had first approached this unnatural ship, he could only see one lone, cursed pirate standing at its rail. Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, that same pirate was standing beside Norrington, who now could clearly see his wretched face, though the conveyance didn't amaze Norrington since he had seen it before.

The cursed pirate held out his hand and said, "My name's Bootstrap Bill and my captain saw you looking at us, back in Tortuga, with sympathy. Who are you and how are you involved in this mess?"

Norrington cleared his throat and shook the man's cold hand as he told him, "I'm Commodore James Norrington and I've heard of you. I knew your son Will Turner for many years when he was just a blacksmith and I was a soldier. Then I was forced to travel for a time with Captain Jack Sparrow, being in dishonor, and met again with your son Will Turner on...Isla Cruces in the ruckus over your captain's heart. He was trying to get Davy's heart to save you, but I was the one that finally claimed it in trickery, so that I might regain my status. That is how I am involved, cursed as I am with corruption in this paradise, cursed to doom Davy Jones and all lost souls, living or dead, to the harsh reign of the East India Company. Even as I regret my actions, I do not know how I can amend for them, by apology to Davy Jones or by action to risk a doomed attempt to retrieve the heart. I can only do so little, to release some pirates from the clutches of the foul Beckett, but not enough."

Bootstrap Bill stared at him, almost angry that this man had brought about so much devastation, but he sensed that Norrington's sorrow was true, and so he informed him, "I can say that we will appreciate what little effort you can give us, when the time is right. If a final battle should come, I suggest you should be prepared to fight alongside us to reclaim Davy's heart. There is only me and him now, the rest are gone...we will need as much help as we can get."

Meanwhile, Lord Cutler Beckett sighed and said, "Such words are nothing but spite, I would think that you control yourself better than that, Davy Jones. I have known the stab of bile in my own heart before, an urge to spew out hateful words to those that thought themselves better than me when I was poor, but I swallowed such words. They would have done me no good then, for I was too young to correct the state that had been brought upon me through the misfortune that my mother had been unable to marry the right man. Davy Jones, you are in such a vulnerable place yourself now, as your words will do you little good here. As for your pursuit of these pirates, I will hold you to a small punishment for releasing your crew in a vain attempt to contradict the pursuit, but that is only because it did little good. The residue in the air, thick as it is in its trail, indicates that they have lingered almost as long as you have, probably on the shore of a nearby island. I do not understand why they would have been so idle for so long, they should have known better...the East India Company will not rest, especially when they are so frustrating."

Mercer nodded and raised Davy's heart as he queried, "My lord, shall we begin the bombardment upon them?"

Beckett grinned and snapped his fingers, Mercer crushed Davy's heart and he cried out in pain, yet in his agony, he could still hear Beckett bellow, "Feel that pain? Use that pain and your anger, seize the winds and whip the waves toward that beacon, toward those pirates, unleash your fury upon them in a storm they will never forget!"

Davy Jones roared and flexed his arms, muttering softly as he swept his arms across, screaming and blowing as the waves swept away from the armada, the sky clouding in the distance. A hurricane was forming, several miles away from them, centralized on The Empress as it started to sail out of the bay of Isla Cruces.

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In the distorted desert, Captain Jack Sparrow woke up and grasped, clutching at the sand as he felt the desert trembling, and he cried, "Help! There's a storm, can't anyone feel it?"

Maccus glanced around and shook his head as he replied, "No, we don't feel anything, but we're dead...what's going on? You're partly in the outside world, what's happening?"

Governor Weatherby Swann pushed past him and bent down, frowning at Jack as he exclaimed, "Never mind that! You mentioned Elizabeth while you were sleeping, I heard you, what was that all about?"

Up above, Teague Sparrow leaned over the rail of The Black Pearl and yelled, "Did he really, Weatherby? Why, Jack, that sounds wonderful! With everything the guv'nor's told me about his daughter, she sounds like a wonderful match for ya! My blessings on ye both, should ya survive!"

Governor Swann turned around and shouted, "Please, don't say anything, Teague, I am highly skeptical that it would be a...'wonderful match'! Well, that's just my opinion, so what is the ruckus with you, Jack?"

Jack Sparrow sat up, slightly unbalanced as he told them, "Back there, on that island, the sky was growing dark...I wasn't afraid, I had managed to crawl into a cave a distance away from the beach. Yet then it grew worse, so quickly, the waves were crashing into my cave and the wind-oh, bugger it, it was starting to turn into a hurricane."

Koleniko shook his head and muttered, "That sounds like the work of Davy Jones, prodded on by your Lord Cutler Beckett...by my reckoning, we weren't that far behind your friends when we crossed over. That hurricane is meant for them, they're stuck out there on the high sea in the middle of it."

Governor Weatherby Swann gasped and staggered back, murmuring, "No, it can't be, that's my Elizabeth, she shouldn't be out there...I can't do anything."

Jack Sparrow stared at Swann, then he suddenly stood up and strode over to the shadow of the Black Pearl, raising his head to cry, "Father! I know what I need!"

Teague Sparrow was silent for a moment and then he muttered, "Go on, me son, say what ya think ye need...I've got the rope ready to drop down, should ya be right."

Captain Jack Sparrow slowly nodded and cleared his throat, ignoring the spirits intently watching him, and he said, "For the right leverage, what I need is...is another soul, right, the trust from and for another heart, out of no other obligation or profit save for what we both need. From this other heart, I need to find...for lack of a better term, peace and grace, possibly through kindness and mercy...maybe a little passion as well, that might work rather well. Of course, all of that entails that we both give the other maybe a little...support and guidance, in both fair and foul weather for as long as possible, truly committed to each other of our own free will. Yes, I think that's about right, what I need is...true love."

The former sailors of The Flying Dutchman stared at each other, wondering if they would have realized all of that if they had been given that chance when they were still alive. Governor Weatherby Swann, gazing at Jack, lifted his hand and touched it to his chest, wondering if he could still feel the heart that had felt like that when it came to his own Natasha. On the deck of The Black Pearl, Teague sighed and rubbed the rail, turning his back on his son to gaze up at the mast where the ragged sails hung limply, thinking that his own poor Pearl had looked like that in her final moments.

Meanwhile, down below, Captain Jack had sagged a little when his father had turned his back and he lowered his eyes, gazing down at the sand, so dry and lifeless and immutable...suddenly, the end of a rope dropped into the middle of his view, wagging slightly. Jack blinked and lifted his head as he distantly heard the others cheer, but he could only focus on the shadow of his father and so he grabbed the rope and started to climb, still gazing up for a better view. As he reached the rail of The Black Pearl and as Teague helped pull him on board, Jack got a full, clear view of his father's face and the grin on it now.

Jack nodded and told him, "Right, then, let's help the others get on board."

Several minutes passed by as, together, the two Sparrows aided the boarding of Governor Swann and the other pirates until they were all gathered on the deck of The Black Pearl, gazing all around in relief as Jimmylegs stepped forward and bellowed, "All right, gentlemen and ruffians! Let's take charge and get out of World's End!"

Teague rubbed his forehead and remarked, "Well, actually...that might be a little harder to do."

Penrod frowned and stepped forward as he queried, "What do you mean by that, sir? We're all on board, as your son Jack passed his little test, so there's nothing to stop us leaving here, right?"

Teague gestured and responded, "You're right, Jack figured out what he needed and now you've taken control of the ship, but as for the rest...it's out of our hands. Look around, I've never been out to sea on a ship before, but I still know that you need water for a ship to float away...this World's End, whatever it is, is just a desert right now."

Ogilvey growled and turned on Jack as he shouted, "You told us we were going to leave, that we were going to get the chance to fight Beckett!"

Governor Swann stepped between the man and Captain Jack Sparrow as he calmly told them all, "Listen, let's just be reasonable, I'm sure it wouldn't do any of us any good if we turned on each other. Now, Mr. Teague Sparrow, is there anything else that we need to get out of World's End?"

Teague Sparrow nodded and replied, "Yes, one last thing...we know what Jack needs, but that in turn requires equal leverage...we need proof of the guidance, that commitment from the other heart."

The other pirates muttered to each other and walked off, to find some chore to occupy them until then, while Captain Jack Sparrow slowly nodded, though he looked slightly worried. Though he knew, despite everything that had happened, that he had such feelings, he didn't know if such affection was returned likewise…he wasn't certain of that prospect, not with everything going against him.

Weatherby Swann smiled and patted Jack on the shoulder as he murmured, "Ah, my boy Jack, have a little faith in Elizabeth's heart...I think she has enough faith for us all."

Favorite phrases: "However, Captain Hector Barbossa, I'll admit that you're not too much of a bad fellow, for a pirate." "I am very confused right now as to why you are here" and some of the other dialogue for that scene: As you may recall, Beckett's mother, as a cousin to Governor Swann, had been regarded as a good match for him, but he married his true love Natasha and she had fallen into a more unfortunate match. I also like how I phrased Jack's answer as to what he needed, with everything that makes up true love, and how both Weatherby and Teague fully understood what he meant...some of the terms in my description may also be reused later on by Elizabeth, but that will be delayed with the hurricane...and the losses resulting from that.