Disclaimer: Well here we are, almost to the end, one more chapter to go (not if you count an epilogue) And here it is-the moment you have all been waiting for-Jack is Back! happy dance To get it over-with, I own nottin' of Disney's yadda, yadda, yadda. R & R my friends

Chapter 21

"Not much longer now," Lucinda said as she pulled the blankets over herself. "Oh god, I'm acting stupid again," she slapped her forehead. Then she was racked by an onslaught of coughing and a couple sneezes in a row, she definitely was getting sicker and it was not at all just the cold she wished it was. "Now I know the meaning of 'worrying yourself sick..'" Anna walked in with a tray holding a hot mug of tea and a bowl of beef soup.

"Feelin' any better?" She put the tray on the nightstand and felt her friend's forehead.

"Not really," she reached for the cup.

"Ye got to stop all this worryin', it's takin' away yer appetite and makin' ye sick."

"How can I not worry? The man I love is out on some god-forsaken island waiting to die because he thinks I'm dead and I'm not! Why do all these things happen to me?" she drank her tea and buried her face in her pillow.

"Now, now, we'll be at the place in a few days, no need to get any more upset," Anna soothed.

"A few days? What if he can't make a few more days? Can't this pile of firewood go any faster?"

"We're goin' as fast as we can, Lucy. An' I dunno if Jack would appreciate ye callin' 'is ship a 'pile of firewood,' it's his pride an' joy."

"I don't care how much he likes this thing! If it can't get me to him before he dies I'll make it into a child's toy top!"

"Okay, that's enough from ye, time to eat," she placed the tray on Lucinda's lap. The sick girl slurped down the hot broth and drank slowly, trying to calm down. "There, ye see? Better already."

"Kinda," she said as she brought the spoon to her lips.

"Well once ye're done just leave it on the nightstand and I'll come an' get it before I go to bed. Now get to bed at a reasonable time, no late night sketching or anything!"

"I won't, not enough light anyway."

"Alright then. I'll see ye in the mornin' then, g'night."

"Good night," Anna left the room. For some time she sat in the soft feather mattress eating, and when she finished she did what Anna told her to and sat down in front of the mirror. She brushed out her long, brown hair and began to re-braid it as it had fallen out since earlier that day. Pulling on a thin, lace- trimmed nightdress and stockings she climbed back into bed with a rather beat up looking book. It was unfortunately one of the few books she could find on the ship. Anna-Maria said they had more not long ago, but Jack had sold them for the canvas for the replacement sails. She turned the book over a few times in her hands, there were only two words on the cover, the words spelled out 'Jack's Journal' in raised gold letters. Her eyebrow raised and she fingered through the surprisingly many pages until she came to a somewhat recent date.

"Forgive me, dearest but I can't resist," she said to no one as she leafed around in the book. The date she landed on was from a month or two ago, about the time she had come aboard. "This should be interesting."

Today was the single most amazing day of my long and adventurous life.

"So he does know some proper English," she mused and read on, "hmm, modest too I see."

I saw what I thought was an angel leaning over me a couple days ago. But that was my imagination running away with me, again. What I saw was a girl, a beautiful young girl, she says her name is Lucinda. I sound like one of Lizzy's silly little novels. But this girl was just gorgeous; anyone who looks at her will say the same I know. And as soon as I'm back on my feet (I got conked on the head by a bottle of rum, again) I'm gonna take her with me.

"Well, it's nice to know he had noble intentions," she closed the book and laid her head on the fluffy pillow. She gave the book a tender stroke down it's binding with her long fingernails. "Goodnight, Jack." Then she fell into a dreamless slumber for the next few hours.

Later that Night

Anna woke up to the sound of heavy pounding on her cabin door. The room she had slept in was Mr. Gibbs room, but he had been kind enough to lend it to her; that and so Lucy being back she could have the cabin she was accustomed to. So Anna sluggishly pulled herself form the bed, muttered some of the colorful language pirates were known for and opened the door.

"What is it?" William was standing there in his breeches and nothing else.

"We've reached the island!"

"What?! We weren't supposed to get there fer some time! How'd we get 'ere this fast?"

"An unexpected gust of wind must have come along while we all slept. I went out because I couldn't sleep and the man in the crows nest called down to me that he could make out land ahead of us."

"But how do ye know it's the island we're lookin' for?"

"We were on a direct route to it, right?"

"Well, yeah. But what are the chances of us findin' it this fast on the same night we start to look for it?"

"Stranger things have happened, Anna-Maria," Will gave her a knowing look. "Okay fine. I'll get dressed and ye start to wake up the crew, but don't wake up Lucy. The last thing we need is to 'ave her tromping around sick in the middle of the night." So he did as she told him to and soon enough the crew was readied on deck to release the long boats and go ashore and contact the Black Diamond. The only drawback was that the men had been so loud that they had woken up Lucinda anyway, so now she was pulling on her light robe over her nightgown and walking topside.

"What's going on?" she asked a nearby sailor. The man seemed startled to see the (former) Captain's woman out there, sick, and in her nightclothes.

"We're at the island Miss," he told her.

"We are? But I thought we wouldn't get there for a few more days!"

"A front came in late last night and gave the ship the extra push she needed to get here. I tell ye what I think, I think it's a sign."

"Oh…" she trailed off. Quickly she regained her composure and searched around for Anna or Will, but when she asked another crewman where they were he told her they had already gotten in a boat and headed off. "Damn," then she saw a group of men loading into the last boat. "Hey! Wait up!"

The seven men looked up and saw her coming and moved over to make space, they had seen her temper and didn't want to upset her at a moment like this. As they lowered the little boat Lucinda could make out the shore of the tiny island out in the black waters, she could also see some boats coming from the large ship next to them.

The Island (A/N: that thing should really have name)

Amanda stumbled over some driftwood as she stepped on shore, Emma was not as fortunate, she fell on her face.

"Get up stick bug, we have a man to find!" she raced off holding a torch high.

"Why does she have to act like that?" the thin one asked herself as she followed. The two wandered around the tiny island calling out for Jack, as did the rest of the crew, but for some time they came up with nothing, strange seeing how small it was. As Emma scouted the last area they had not yet searched she tripped over a rather large log and fell, for the second time that night, on top of it. The odd thing was that the log grunted and was softer than any wood she had ever fallen on before. "What the?" She looked down and saw the tell tale face of Jack Sparrow, who at the moment was trying to regain all the wind she had knocked out of him. "Everyone come over here, I found him!!!"

Immediately people came running from every direction to where she was and pulled her to her feet and him into a sitting position. Jack was anything but willing.

"Let me go ye scurvy dogs! Can't a man die in peace?" He brushed off the man holding him up, who just happened to be William. "I said let me go!"

"Jack," Alex and Zack ran up with Amanda and Anna behind them. "Thank god yer all right," he said.

"Yeah, ye gave us a scare brother," the youngest added. But Jack was too busy trying to get a hold of the nearly empty rum bottle beside him.

"Looks like Elizabeth didn't destroy all of it," Will commented. Then some of the men began to grunt and double over as someone began to fight their way through to the center off all the commotion.

"Let me through, move it!" Lucy finally made it to the middle, Jack dropped his bottle and stared in disbelief at her just before she dropped to her knees, knocked him over again as she wrapped her arms around him.

Jack looked up at her, her long hair was falling loose from it's braid, her long white garments floated in the slight breeze and her eyes seemed to catch the light of the pale moon.

"I knew it," he whispered.

"Knew what?" she asked through a tear choked throat.

"I'm dead already," she stopped crying and looked at him as if he had lost his mind. "And yer an angel now 'cause yer dead too." 'Oh no not this again' was what went through several peoples minds.

"You're not dead and I'm not dead, Jack. You're alive."

"No I'm not, I died here and now yer here so I must be dead."

"I never died, you just thought I did. Now get up, we need to get you back to the Black Pearl and get some water in you," she tried to pick him up. He pulled back and held her so tight she thought he might break her in two. "I can't breathe."

"Now, now luv, we're dead, we don't need to breathe or drink anything anymore. Damn, that means no rum no more." She pinched him hard on his ribs and he released her to check the damage.

"I didn't die Jack! Amanda, Emma and your brothers helped me get out at the last minute, you only thought I had been hung!" she grasped his shoulders and shook him.

"Ye didn't die that day?" he seemed partly confused and partly hoping.

"No," she started to smile.

"So I didn't fail ye?"

"No," her eyes filled with happiness once more as realization dawned in his dark brown irises. Suddenly she was wrapped in the loving embrace she had missed so much and could feel his lips in her hair and hear his heart beat in her ear. "Oh Jack I missed you so much, don't ever scare me like that again," she murmured into his shirt.

"Never, I'll never leave ye again luv." He seemed oblivious to the crowd around them and the state he was in as he dipped his head to hers and claimed her soft pink lips as feverishly as a beast claiming it's mate. Most of the crew turned away and acted as if nothing out of the ordinary was going on, but that doesn't necessarily include Anna.

"Alright break it up!" she pulled them apart. "We need to get both of ye onto the ship before yer really dead, so come on!"

"Don't touch me woman! Can't ye see I'm busy with me lady 'ere?" he slurred.

"I can see that, Captain but right now if we don't get ye lady back inside yer nice warm cabin she'll catch her death of cold out here!" He thought a moment, one could almost here the wheels in his rum filled head turning ever so painstakingly slowly.

"Alright," he said at last and stood up, or tried to stand up. Due to no real drink or food for days he was not very strong to say the least, his brothers had to practically carry him back to his ship. But not once did he let go of Lucy's hand the whole way there.