Saints-Fan-12: I agree with you there; being stuck on an island with a rum-obsessed pirate would get old really fast. Thanks for commenting!

weepingbutterflies: How are you feeling now? Any better, I hope? Some tea sounds nice; that's actually a really good idea. I might have to look around downstairs and see if we have any lying around. When I feel sick, I usually write, listen to music, or play computer games. Speaking of writing, what kind of story would you like to see from me next? I'm pretty open to anything Disney or gaming-related.

Villains' Bad Girl: A little worried. I look pregnant after every time I eat, that's how bad it is. I'm doing the right thing though, right? :S

lostsocks54: I actually love DavyxCalypso! It's one of my favorite Pirates of the Caribbean pairings! Would you ever be interested in reading a story like that? I keep playing around with the idea of a Davypso fic although I never seem to get around to it, haha. Okay, I'm taking your advice about Supernatural then. I'm already into way too many fandoms as it is. xD I think that I was 12 when I saw Potc for the first time. I saw AWE first though, haha. Which movie did you see first?

autumn fox: Barbossa is very smart for a pirate! Do you think that he's the smartest out of all of them? I definitely prefer the first film to the fourth film. The fourth film was lacking something that the other films had in my opinion although I'm not really sure what it was. I didn't like Jack's hair in it either. It looked strange, didn't it? I'm glad that you like all of my details and I hope that you continue to read this and enjoy this story! :D

OnePirateWolf96: I'm really glad to hear that you liked the last chapter! :D Jack probably does have a high tolerance for rum since he drinks it so much. *rolls eyes at Jack* I love the "But why is the rum gone?" scene! It's so funny, isn't it? You'll definitely get to hear more about Barbossa's past in the future. I heard as well from somewhere that Jack freed the slaves. *nods* It seems like the right thing to have done, and yup, Jack's father is also a pirate. I'm so happy to hear that you passed your test! *high fives you* I'm more than happy to wish you luck for any of your tests!

Chapter XXI

By this point in the day, I'm thinking that Jack really ought to pass out soon. It's getting difficult to hold in my frustration with the situation. It's been hours since the sun has set. Every moment that I waste here talking with Jack about his fantasies about becoming the captain of the Black Pearl once again is another moment that Will spends in danger. I don't know if my plan to create a massive fire and signal the royal navy with it will succeed or not, but it is certainly worth a try. I have a small fire built, but need to work on expanding it. Unfortunately, until Jack is unconscious, nothing more is going to happen to the fire. I've just suggested the idea of more rum, and luckily, Jack seems to think that it's the perfect idea.

Grasping the bottle of rum that I've just handed him, Jack leans over closer to me to propose a toast. I can smell his hot, sticky breath on my neck. It takes all of my willpower not to wrinkle my nose. Instead, I plaster a fake smile upon my face and clink my unopened rum bottle against Jack's almost empty one and pronounce, "To freedom!"

"To the Black Pearl, and more importantly, to our future!" Jack slurs, clinking his rum bottle against mine.

I shiver at his words, but the pirate is too busy with his rum to notice. He tilts his head back and slugs down the rest of the bottle of his rum in one long slurp. By the time that the rum bottle is empty, Jack's head is on the ground, his eyes are closed, and he's finally passed out. Thank god! That certainly took long enough. I'm tired out from fighting on the Interceptor earlier this afternoon, but there's no time to waste. Each moment is precious and could make the difference between Will's life or death situation.

Waste not...

A familiar taunting voice enters my mind. I don't know why Barbossa's words have entered my head, but I shove them to the back of my mind for now as I leap to my feet and run to fetch some crates from the secret cellar. I dump them into the fire and listen as it crackles and snaps, immediately burning up the wood. This can and will work!

I fight through fatigue for several more hours and work on creating a fire large enough to be seen by a ship far out in the distant waters. When dawn comes, I'm still busy throwing crates, barrels, rum, dried food, and anything else that I can find into the fire. It's quadrupled in size just over the last hour and I'm satisfied with my work. Although smoke is in my nose, ashes are smeared across my face, and my shift is torn in a few places, I feel like my toil will not go unnoticed. A ship is bound to sail past this little island at some point or the other. Even a ship that does not belong to the royal navy might stop to help us. Only a vessel full of pirates would be selfish enough to pass us by.

Speaking of "us", Jack is still passed out cold. I dragged him to the far side of the beach to keep him out of harm's way. Although it irks me to look at his unconscious, unhelpful figure, I suppose that it's best that he's still asleep. When he wakes, I'm certain that he will start ranting over the burning rum.

Wanting to keep the fire going, I wipe my grimy hands on my shift and pick my way through the debris to the cellar once more. I lug a heavy barrel out of it and hoist it into the fire. Flames crackle loudly and surge up into the air. Someone really ought to see these sparks.

"No! Not good! Stop! No good!" a voice from behind me suddenly shouts. Jack has clearly woken up. I hear footsteps in the sand approaching me. A moment later, Jack comes to a horrified halt to my right. He waves his hands around in dramatic gestures and asks in alarm, "What do you think that you're doing?! You're burning all the food, the shade! The rum!"

"Yes, the rum is gone, which is something that you should thank me for," I reply, turning to Jack with a stiff expression.

"Why is the rum gone?" Jack asks, looking at me as if I've done a foul deed.

"Is that all that you can think about?" I sigh dramatically, pointing at the fire that I've managed to create all by myself. "Look! That signal is over a thousand feet high. I assume that the royal navy is out searching for me. Even if they're not, a ship just passing by ought to notice these sparks. Rum is a vile substance that only vile men drink. You're better than this, Mr. Sparrow."

"But...but..." Jack stammers, still looking too horrified about the rum being gone to listen to what I've just told him. Sure enough, he hasn't heard a word I said because his next question is, "But why is the rum gone?"

Seeing that it's going to be about impossible to have an intelligible conversation with this rum-obsessed pirate, I turn my back to him and settle down on a clear patch of sand with my eyes on the horizon, replying, "Just you wait, Captain Sparrow. Give it just a bit of time and you will see white sails on that horizon. I thought that you wanted to get off of this island just as much as I want to?"

There's a rustling sound from behind me, but no response. Wondering what Jack is up to, I turn to look over my shoulder suspiciously. Jack has disappeared from view. A quick scan of the island shows me that he's stalking off into the distance, clearly still upset about the rum. I allow myself to roll my eyes and turn back to the horizon. Jack can complain about the rum all that he wants, but I'm certain that he will be thanking me for this someday.

As I sit with nothing to do but think, I realize how filthy I must look. My hair is in tangles, my shift is in ruins, and I'm covered in soot. What's worse is that I still haven't had a chance to wash since the night that Barbossa took me to his bed. The dried blood between my thighs continues to remind me of the debaucheries that went on between us. My stomach knots and I'm suddenly urgent to wash the dried blood away. With Jack gone, I move toward the edge of the water and splash a bit of it onto my skin.

Although it takes quite a while to get clean by splashing water over my skin, I don't want to get my shift wet. It's finally dried off and I'm in no mood to shiver for the next few hours. Despite the fact that the blood stains no longer mar my flesh, I still feel dirty. Tainted. Filthy. Even if you can't see it, the shame is still somewhere deep inside of me.

Before I can start wallowing in my grief, something white attracts my attention. Jerking my head upward, I spot white sails on the horizon! My heart leaps for joy as I tug my skirt down and jump to my feet. I was right all along! I knew deep inside that I wouldn't have to stay here and starve on this island if I worked hard enough to create a signal.

Unable to sit still when excitement is tingling just beneath my skin, I pace back and forth in front of the island. I'm exhausted, but am fueled by enthusiasm. Supposing that I ought to go see what Jack is doing, I start across the island and practically run right into the dark-haired pirate. He looks less than pleased, but not as furious as he was earlier.

Pointing behind me at the white sails quickly approaching the island, I exclaim, "What did I tell you? See the white sails?"

"Yes, my eyesight is just as good as ever, luv," Jack points out, giving me a dry look.

I tilt my head at him in confusion and ask, "Don't you want to be rescued?"

"By rumrunners or merchant sailors, yes. By the royal navy? No," Jack replies in a wry voice. "Your bloody friend, Norrington, will have me hanged for certain at this rate."

My euphoria at the prospect of an imminent rescue starts to dissolve. To be quite honest, I never considered Jack's fate up until now. It's clear that he won't be welcome on board a ship belonging to the royal navy. I should have thought about this earlier, but truth be told, there isn't anything that I would have done differently. I need to get off of this island to save Will and signaling the royal navy is the only way to do that. Somehow or the other, I ought to be able to keep Jack safe by telling the navy men a little white lie. I'll say that Jack assisted me with escaping Barbossa.

"I will talk to the captain of the ship and make it clear that you helped me escape. That should keep you safe, or, at the very least, earn you a fair trial," I tell Jack. Despite the fact that he's not been all that helpful to me and hasn't exactly respected my personal space, I can't possibly let him go to the gallows.

"A fair trial? For what crime?" Jack asks before leaning toward me and giving me a persuasive smile, adding, "I'm sure that you can do better thanthat, luv."

I open my mouth, unsure of what more I can do to ensure Jack's safety. Before I can say anything, loud voices sound from behind me. Turning, I see that a rowboat has reached our island. The Commodore is sitting at the front of the rowboat with a pained expression on his face. I expected the royal navy to be out searching for me, but I didn't expect James Norrington to spend his time looking for me. I feel strangely touched by this, but even the kind act of coming to my rescue isn't enough for me to fall in love with the Commodore.

"Elizabeth!" the Commodore calls out when he sees me. He immediately steps over the side of the rowboat and hurries toward me in his fancy navy attire. A look of relief mixed with horror at my appearance crosses the Commodore's face as he adds, "Thank god that you're alright. Your father will be relieved to see you. He's aboard the Dauntless at this very moment." James Norrington nods at the ship in the distance before his gaze turns to Jack. His eyes immediately harden and he points out, "I suppose that I should have expected to see you here, Sparrow."

"Funny how we keep running into each other, isn't it?" Jack asks, sending the Commodore a forced smile.

Clearing my throat, I cut in, "Jack helped me escape the Black Pearl. He was as much of a prisoner on the ship as I was."

"Hold on a second," Jack frowns, holding up a hand. "The Black Pearl is my ship. It belongs to me. Just because it happens to have Hector at its helm at the moment does not mean that I can be called a prisoner on my own ship."

Norrington looks extremely bored with Jack's talk and murmurs wryly, "Be grateful that you're still alive, pirate. Both of you come with me. We will return to the Dauntless at once."

I send Jack a look that tells him that he would be wise to keep his lips firmly sealed around the Commodore's vessel unless he wants to go to the gallows. Jack avoids my eye and starts chatting to the Commodore about the Black Pearl. James Norrington walks stiffly back to the rowboat and helps me inside of it while completely ignoring Jack. Either unaware that he's being ignored or not caring either way, Jack continues to make conversation on the way back to the Dauntless, one of the royal navy's most prized ships.

Interrupting Jack's chatter, the Commodore turns to me and asks, "Are you alright, Elizabeth?"

"Yes, yes, I'm fine," I say a bit too quickly.

The tone of my voice is enough to alert everyone that I am anything but fine. In fact, even Jack notices the change of my tone. He stops talking for a moment and turns to look at me with raised eyebrows. The Commodore, however, seems unaware of my lie. He doesn't know me well at all. He knows the mask that I wear when I'm around him, but the real me is still a mystery to him. Some people I feel like I can never be myself around and James Norrington is one of those people. It's surprising how talking to pirates is easier for me than talking to a wealthy man of high rank.

"Are you sure that you're alright over there?" Jack asks, looking truly concerned for my well being as he raises an eyebrow at me. "You look like you might have gotten a sunburn."

"I'm fine," I state stiffly, turning my head from Jack and peering over my shoulder at nothing in particular. I was thinking about the moment when my innocence was shattered and about the future moment when my husband will find out that I'm no longer a virgin. Will James Norrington be the man who finds this out?

"Ah, here we are at last," the Commodore says as the rowboat comes to a halt by the edge of the Dauntless. It's a proud ship painted navy and gold with full sails blowing in the wind. The vessel reminds me a bit of the Interceptor. Holding the ladder to the vessel steady for me just like Will did for me when I boarded the Interceptor, James Norrington says, "I cannot say enough times how worried your father has been about you. Your rescue is a relief to all of us. We feared that...well, let's just put it this way; we're all very glad to have you on board the Dauntless."

"Thank you," I say politely, wondering deep inside how welcome the Commodore would feel toward having me aboard his prize ship if he knew what had happened to me during my night on the Black Pearl. Taking a deep breath, I start to climb up the ladder to the Dauntless, pushing my anxieties to the back of my mind. I have to worry about getting Will to safety before anything else. I can address my own problems after that. Until then, my next choices will impact an innocent young man's life.

Do you think that Lizzie will convince the Commodore to rescue Will in the next chapter? Review please? :)