A/N: Getting closer to the end now, guys. Should be finished by the end of this month! *celebratory dance* So I'm thinking that I'll work on finishing every other story I have on here that's not completed before I start a new one. I'm crazy busy with school, so I don't want to get overly ambitious. Also, I have started an original story that I will be posting on and I want to be able to devote time to that as well.
Anyway, enough of my ramblings...read on and enjoy!
And as always, thank you SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!! for the reviews. Trust me, I love them all and they keep me inspired.
Jack managed to sneak across the deck of the Dutchman. He stayed out of everyone's way and let them have at it. He had a goal in mind. He ducked wildly to avoid the swinging swords and finally made it into Davy Jones' cabin where the organ was – and the heart as well.
Lucky guess, Jack thought to himself as he entered the cabin. He looked up to see two British soldiers pointing a pair of very large guns at him and he momentarily stopped in his tracks.
"Stop or we'll shoot!" one of the soldiers yelled.
Jack didn't have time to respond before a cannonball ripped through the wall behind them, distracting them slightly. He grinned. "Good one!" Then his expression turned puzzled. This seemed like a familiar situation. "Admirable though it may be, why are you here when you could be elsewhere?"
"Someone has to stay and guard the chest," one soldier answered with a smile, as though the answer were obvious and Jack were asking a stupid question.
Well, mate, what d'you expect? Jack thought, laughing to himself when both of the soldiers realized at the same time that they had become distracted. They returned their guns to pointing at the chest and Jack began to get an idea. He approached the chest while the other soldier began to talk.
"There's no question, there has been a breakdown in military discipline aboard this vessel."
"I blame the fish people," the other soldier responded. Jack just let them talk, waiting for the opportune moment.
"Oh…so fish people, by dint of being fish people, automatically aren't as disciplined as non-fish people?"
"Seems contributory, is all I'm suggesting."
Jack saw his moment and made his move.
"It's true, if there were no fish people, there'd be no need to guard the chest."
Jack was, by now, on the way to the door with said chest. He glanced over his shoulder, relieved to see that the two of them were still talking.
"And if there were no chest we wouldn't need to be here to guard it."
Took care of that for ya, mate, Jack thought with a wry grin, stepping back out of the cabin into the chaos of the battle on deck.
Unfortunately, things didn't go quite as smoothly starting right then. He came face to face with Davy Jones, who chuckled in pleasure.
"Lookee here, boys," said Jones. "A lost bird. A lost bird that never learned to fly."
Jack eyed Jones closely. Was he trying to imply something insulting? That's what it sounded like. But Jack decided not to challenge him on it when Jones drew his sword. Jack smiled and decided to just go along with it.
"To my great regret," he said, taking a few steps backward. "But!" He turned to quickly jump up onto a cannon. Grabbing hold of a rope he faced Jones and his fish people again. "Never too late to learn, eh?" Thinking, I hope this works, he whacked the metal piece the rope was tied to with the chest, and soon was carried upward by the sail. It took a few seconds for him to regain his balance, somewhere atop the mast. But at least he had escaped from Jones.
Oh. Not so much.
"The chest, hand it over," Jones demanded after materializing out of the mast.
Time for another plan. Too bad Jack didn't actually plan. He tried to make up something else that would work. He drew his sword, since Jones still had his out, and said convincingly, "I can set you free, mate."
"My freedom was forfeit long ago," Jones retorted, then charged at Jack.
Jack lifted his sword and fought Jones tooth and nail. He was glad he had always had good balance, standing on the mast so high above deck and the ocean. But the fight dragged on and Jack wondered if it would ever end.
"You can do nothing without the key," Jones told him.
"I already have the key!" Jack replied victoriously.
Jones looked at him as though he were crazy and held up the key to the chest with one of his long tentacles. "No, ya don't."
Jack's face fell. "Oh, that key." In reality, everything was going according to plan. Or would be if Jack actually had a plan. He suddenly swung with his sword, cutting Jones' tentacle off. The key fell out of sight, and Jones, enraged by Jack's actions became careless. Soon, his sword followed the key down to the deck. Jack was just thinking he was glad it was almost over when Jones used his claw to break Jack's sword and render it useless.
Oh, bugger, Jack thought to himself, staring at what was left of the blade. Jones took a step toward him and Jack tried to step back. Suddenly the ship lurched and Jack began to fall. Fortunately for him, he still had the chest, and Jones wasn't about to let that go.
With a yell, Jones reached out and managed to get a grip on the chest at the last minute. Jack could tell that Jones wasn't too happy to see him on the other side, but there was no way Jack was letting go. But just when he thought things couldn't get any worse, Jack found himself flying through the air. He collided with a hard body, instinctively grabbed hold of whatever he could, and tried to regain his bearings. This was hard to do since he was flying through the air on a rope, facing one of the ugliest fish people on board. Not to mention, he didn't have the chest anymore, either. That didn't make him happy at all.
Jack grabbed his pistol and hit the fish person over the head with it, hard enough that he fell. Jack didn't take the time to see where he fell. He immediately pointed the pistol toward Jones, who was standing and victoriously holding the chest. Jack smirked as he fired the gun and hit the exact target he was aiming for. Jones yelled, but released the chest and it dropped to the deck far below.
For the moment, Jones didn't have it anymore, and that was a relief. But the problem now was that Jack was still flying through the air on the rope, with no easy way of getting down, and Jones had easy access to the chest. Jack tried to think of a solution to the problem as he was twisted and buffeted about in the open air.
Somehow, and Jack wasn't quite sure how, he ended up with his feet planted firmly on deck, square in front of the chest, and facing Jones again. Jack pulled out his sword, remembering too late that it was not really a sword anymore. Now he had to figure out a way to escape Jones, who actually had a sword and was chasing him around the deck. Jack decided that Davy Jones was very scary with all his tentacles flapping around.
He managed to find a big stick and start hitting Jones with it. It was working out well, until Jones managed to grab it and turn it on Jack. He was thrust backwards and fell, stunned momentarily.
Several things happened at once, before Jack even stood up. Jack noticed Will fighting with his father a short distance away, Elizabeth appeared out of nowhere to fight Jones, and the key went inching by on the tentacle. Jack thought quickly. What to do?
Jack's eyes widened in genuine fear when Elizabeth was thrust backward by the force of one of Jones' blows. She was knocked out when she fell and Jones approached her menacingly. Jack leaped to his feet, but Will reached Jones before he could.
"Which is a good thing, mate, since you don't have your sword," Jack muttered, trying to decide what to do now. He decided to go for the key and the heart.
He got his hands on both of them and turned just in time to see Jones leaning over Will and asking, "Do you fear death?"
"Do you?" Jack yelled. He held Jones' beating heart in his left hand and what was left of his sword in his right. This was one time that Jack actually wished he had a plan, but he was acting on impulse and hoping things worked. To stall, he began to talk. "Heady tonic, holding life and death in the palm of one's hand," he taunted Jones, his mind racing.
"You're a cruel man, Jack Sparrow," Jones said, taking a step forward.
"Cruel is a matter of perspective," Jack replied, glaring at Jones.
"Is it?" Jones asked. Jack had only a moment to think that he didn't like that look in Jones' eyes. Before Jack could think or say anything else, Jones had turned and thrust his sword into Will's chest.
He heard Will's groan of pain and Elizabeth's gasp of horror. Jack's jaw dropped and everything around him faded away and somehow didn't matter anymore. All that mattered now was this tiny section of the world. He and Elizabeth and Will and Jones.
Jack couldn't move. He couldn't decide what he should do. If he stabbed the heart then Jones would be dead. Revenge would be accomplished and Jack would live forever. But…then what about Will and Elizabeth? Jack cared for both of them more than he realized. He was torn.
Then he heard Elizabeth telling Will, "Stay with me! You're all right!"
That's when he made his decision.