Part 2: You Will Learn More And Understand Less

Movies AU, still not mine.

Thank you again to everyone! :)

The better part of the next hour, after helping Jack, was spent in her quarters, staring at the pile of pins that had been left over from removing James' wig. When it became evident that they would not somehow unravel the mysteries of the universe, she blew out a breath and wandered out to the deck.

Her intention was to find James, but the first thing she noticed was Elizabeth and Jack looking cozy near the railing. Elizabeth looked smug and Jack looked as though he had seen a ghost. Whatever was bothering him would not bode well for all aboard. She was about to interrupt them when Gibbs shouted, "Land ho!"

Everyone ran to the starboard side of the ship, where an island was rising up on the horizon as they approached. Everyone except Jack, who seemed to have retreated to his cabin. Charlie walked up to the side of the ship to watch as the ship neared the island. If the charts were correct, this was Isla Cruces.

She felt someone come to stand behind her and knew it was James even before she saw his hand rest on the rail. While she continued to watch the horizon her mouth opened and closed a few times, trying to find the right words, but nothing came out. Was she sorry? Had she overreacted? Should he be sorry? Were they both at fault?

And naturally that was the moment Jack chose to emerge from the cabin, hugging a jar of dirt, to bark orders at the crew to prepare a longboat. He grabbed James and shoved him toward the men preparing the boat. "Hurry!"

Charlie glared at him. "Are you doing this on purpose?"

"Doing what?" he asked, walking away without waiting for an answer.

The boat was prepped, with a couple of shovels added by Jack, and lowered into the water in record time. Pintel and Ragetti went into the boat first, followed by James. Though he had not said, Charlie assumed Jack would make James do all the digging. When the supplies were loaded in, Jack went in next and helped Elizabeth into the front of the boat while James extended a hand to Charlie. She hesitated but took it and allowed him to help her into the boat next to him.

"Thank you," she muttered, trying to hide her blush.

He smiled tightly in return, perhaps holding her hand a moment too long. Not that she minded.

When they were halfway between boat and land, she had resolved to speak to James, but as she opened her mouth Pintel and Ragetti began arguing. It started as an argument about how quickly to row and devolved into bickering about the pronunciation of 'kraken'. She felt James move his arm to rest his hand on the side of the boat behind her. Even though his arm was not actually around her, it still felt damned good and made her long for more contact.

"It's a mythical creature, I can calls it what I wants," Ragetti pouted.

Charlie scrubbed a hand across her face. "If I pick a pronunciation, will you two shut up?"

They both shrunk back a little and muttered, "Sorry, ma'am."

Beside her James laughed softly and slid his arm a little closer to her, while looking off into the distance. Something was on his mind and it was not their argument, nor was it the pronunciation of 'kraken'. Her arm itched to reach out and offer comfort, but she held back, unsure if it was appropriate. Neither of them had apologised or even addressed their fight. When they got back to the Pearl, she would make sure to take him to her cabin to talk in peace. And if Jack even thought about interrupting, she would send him to the kraken herself.

As soon as they reached the shore, Elizabeth ran out of the boat first, followed by Charlie and James, each carrying a shovel. Over her shoulder, she saw Jack bark an order to Pintel and Ragetti before leaving the boat.

Before she even realised what was happening, Jack had come up behind her and swiped the shovel, then ran off to the front of the group, past Elizabeth. "Jack!"

She ran after him and tried to get the shovel back, leaping onto his back only to have him worm his way out of her grip and for her to wind up flat on her back in the sand. Jack used the opportunity to head back toward Elizabeth and James, shouting, "No fraternising with the help!"

Charlie took off after him, just in time to hear James say, "Better mad with the rest of the world than sane alone."

"And which are you?" she asked softly as she skidded to a stop in the sand, grabbing Jack's back to keep herself upright. She was pretty sure Jack had not heard the question as he was attempting to wrestle Elizabeth away.

As Jack whirled Elizabeth in the direction the compass was pointing, he thrust the second shovel at James. "A gentleman would carry the shovel for her, mate."

"You were the one who took it from her."

"She's right here," Charlie grumbled.

"I'm not a gentleman," he replied petulantly, grabbing Charlie and pulling her along.

Wrenching her arm free, she muttered, "no, you're a child."

They continued along until they came to a spot between two green patches on the island where Elizabeth began pacing. Every so often she would flip the compass closed, then open it again, stare, growl, and flip it closed again. Jack waited patiently nearby while James glared at the compass and tapped his fingers on the hilts of the shovels. Charlie was about to ask him why when Elizabeth flopped down irritably in the dirt.

"It doesn't work," she grumbled. "And it certainly doesn't show what you want most!" She tossed the compass down in the sand next to her.

Jack scrambled down the greenery towards her. "Yes it does," he muttered, looking at the compass. "You're sitting on it."

Elizabeth turned to look at him. "Beg your pardon?"

"Move," Jack said, shooing her away from where she was seated. The second she had scrambled away, he whistled to James and gestured at the spot she had been sitting on.

"Jack!" Charlie scolded.

James glared and tossed down one shovel, then approached the spot and began digging.

Charlie moved to pick up the other shovel and help him, but Jack put his boot down on it and made a childish noise. "Jack! You're not seriously -."

He cut her off with another noise, then bent to pick up the shovel and walked away. If looks could kill, Charlie was fairly certain she would have just murdered her oldest friend. Jack put the shovel down, then sat on top of it and began meditating. Or at least he assumed the pose and looked for all intents and purposes to be meditating. Charlie was sure he was either thinking about something inane or plotting how they would escape Davy Jones. It was hard to say which.

Elizabeth stood behind James, biting her nails and watching as he dug for the chest.

All Charlie could do was join her, despite her desire to help.

It was not long before James hit something. She walked over with Elizabeth, and bent down next to James to help clear dirt off whatever he had hit with the shovel. They glanced at each other a few times as they worked, and he helped her up when they finished. Jack shoved everyone out of the way so he could pull the chest out of the hole, then broke the lock with one of the shovels. Sinking to his knees, Jack reached forward and gently threw open the chest to reveal an assortment of pearls and letters and lace and a music box.

Elizabeth pulled out one of the letters and read it, while Jack sifted through the pile and pulled out a large chest.

All four of them exchanged a look, then moved close to the chest to listen for a heartbeat. In the back of her mind, Charlie thought it was absurd as the chances of hearing it through the thick metal were slim. Nonetheless they all held their breath and waited.

TH-THUMP!

Her jaw dropped.

"It's real," Elizabeth muttered, staring at the chest.

James smiled and turned to Jack. It looked like genuine happiness, until she looked at his eyes. Why did he care about the heart being real anyway? It would not benefit him. "You actually were telling the truth," he muttered incredulously at Jack.

Jack's eyes were wide as he looked up at Norrington then back to the chest. "I do that quite a lot, yet people are always surprised."

"With good reason!" Will Turner's voice sounded behind Jack.

"Will!" Elizabeth leapt to her feet and threw herself into his arms, pulling him in for a kiss.

While she did not want to intrude on the private moment, she had to admit that she looked away more from awkwardness at being stood next to James during the display. Her gaze landed on the letters in the chest. The story of Davy Jones and Calypso was a love story, ostensibly, but given what Jones had become, she was fairly certain it had not ended well for either party.

"How did you get here?" Jack's voice broke her from her reverie.

"Sea turtles, mate," he answered. "A pair of them, strapped to my feet."

That made her grin. Jack deserved that one.

"It's not so easy, is it?"

"But I do owe you thanks, Jack," Will continued.

Charlie stepped forward and came to a stop next to James, who cast her a brief glance before looking back at Jack and Will.

Will went on about how Jack tricked him into squaring his debt on The Flying Dutchman, surprising only Elizabeth, and told of his reunion with his father. At that moment Charlie saw the compass peeking out from under some dirt and bent to pick it up. The same expression James had been wearing when Elizabeth held the compass returned. She tossed the compass to Jack then turned to James, who was glaring between Jack and Will. Elizabeth marched forward and berated Jack.

"Are you going to tell me?" she asked James softly.

The only sign he had heard her was a wince as he continued watching everything unfold. Will stepped forward and dropped to his knees at the chest. That was when everything went to pot.

Jack drew his sword on Will, who wanted to open the chest and use the heart to free his father. James pulled Charlie behind him in that same moment. And when Will drew back on Jack, James drew on Will.

"I can't let you do that either," James muttered. "So sorry."

"What are you -?" Charlie started.

"I knew you'd warm up to me eventually!" Jack exclaimed, moving toward James before getting the sword turned on him too.

"Lord Beckett desires the contents of that chest," James said. "I deliver it, I get my life back."

Charlie took a step back and exchanged a look with Elizabeth. "You can't…."

"Ah," Jack said. "The dark side of ambition."

"Oh, I prefer to see it as the promise of redemption," James replied, smirking.

Jack turned to Charlie. "Remind me what you see in him?"

"Jack, shut up," she bit out. Before she could ask him what was going on, James lunged at Will and all three men launched into a fight.

Elizabeth screamed at them to stop.

"You're behaving like children!" Charlie shouted.

But their shouts fell on deaf ears as the men continued to fight, with Will demanding that Elizabeth guard the chest after James knocked him to the ground.

"If you need help killing them, I'm available," Charlie grumbled as they both took off after them.

"I may take you up on that," Elizabeth agreed. "I'm tempted to take you up on the offer of 'hang the lot and get our own ship'!" She grabbed some rocks and began tossing them at the trio. "This is barbaric! This is no way for grown men to behave!"

"What the hell is wrong with all of you?" Charlie threw in.

"Fine! Fine! Let's just all pull out our swords and start banging away at each other!"

"Yes, very mature," Charlie added. "I'm sure this will solve everything! Not problematic at all!"

It was still no use.

"Fine!" Charlie growled. "You can stay and watch the idiocy, if you'd like. I'm going back to the bloody boat."

With that she turned and stalked off. She was fairly sure they would not kill one another. Maiming? Possible. But she could deal with any injuries later. If they were dead set on fighting, she was not in the mood to stop them. She had tried. But she would only tolerate being ignored for so long. It was better to go blow off some steam of her own by walking and quietly cursing out the three men.

Not long after abandoning the group, she saw Jones' men in the distance, closing in. "Damn."

Fast as her feet would carry her, she ran back to where she had abandoned everyone only to find them all long gone. Six sets of footprints moved in the sand - the group that was Jack, Will, and James was apparent due to the chaotic nature of their fight. But what was the other group? Why would Pintel and Ragetti be running around with or running after Elizabeth?

There was really no choice at all which set to follow.

If the two troglodytes were following Elizabeth, she may need assistance with greater urgency than the trio of fighters. Especially as Will had taken her sword to fight with.

When she caught up to them just inside the treeline, Elizabeth was confronting Pintel and Ragetti, who appeared to have stolen the chest. Charlie charged forward as Elizabeth realised she was unarmed and the two began advancing on her.

As she opened her mouth to shout, the wheel from the mill rolled past with Will and James fighting on top. Where the hell was Jack? At that moment he ran out behind the wheel and chased after it.

Immediate problem first, she thought, shaking her head to clear it as she drew her sword just behind the two pirates. Elizabeth smirked and pointed behind them.

An axe spun through the air and embedded itself in a nearby tree as Davy Jones' crew broke through the trees.

Pintel and Ragetti tossed their swords at Elizabeth, grabbed the chest, and ran.

"Elizabeth!" Charlie called. "Back to the boat!"

As they ran, the two pirates carried the chest between them, but dropped it when they ran the wrong way around a tree.

All four of them paused, looked at the chest, looked at each other, then looked at the oncoming pirates.

There was no way to outrun them.

Bracing herself for the fight, Charlie growled at Elizabeth, "If we survive this, remind me to kill Jack."

"Just Jack?" she grunted as she swung her sword at the nearest of Jones' crew.

Charlie blocked a blow from a broken sword and grunted, "For a start!"

As they fought, they worked out a system of yelling 'sword!' and tossing the three swords between the four of them

"We need to circle back toward the longboat!" Elizabeth shouted, accepting a sword from Ragetti.

"And the chest!" Charlie added as she ducked under an axe swung at her head. When she hit the ground, she kicked out and knocked the cursed pirate over, then jumped back up and called for a sword.

Eventually they had circled back around to the chest, and Pintel and Ragetti both tossed their swords to Elizabeth and picked up the chest. The pair of them did their best to keep the cursed crew at bay while the other two ran to the boat.

The shore crept up on them and Charlie saw Jack bent over the boat. She exchanged a glance with Elizabeth as they continued fighting. What was he doing?

Ahead, Pintel and Ragetti were being overwhelmed and doing their damnedest to fight off the crew without weapons.

Charlie ducked a blow, and grabbed a dagger from the boot of her attacker as she rolled behind him. Rising back to her feet, she tossed the dagger at one of the crew threatening to snatch the chest, then continued blocking blows and landing a few of her own with the crew around her.

She backed up a little to join Elizabeth so they could fight back to back, and as they fought the wheel plowed through almost all of the cursed pirates they were fighting. James and Will were inside, screaming until the wheel slowed in the shallow water and flopped on its side.

A sword appeared in Charlie's peripheral and she raised her own on instinct to block the blow. Until then she had not even realised she had stopped to watch the wheel.

Pintel and Ragetti seemed to have finally escaped their plight and made it to the boat, just as James looked up from the boat and locked eyes briefly with Charlie.

No time, she thought, bringing her attention back to the fight.

She had been separated from Elizabeth, but noticed Will assisting her out of the corner of her eye.

Charlie did not even notice the sword bearing down upon her until she heard the clang of it hitting another, and did not realise who it was until she damned near backed right into James. She looked up and grinned as he smirked down at her. "This is familiar!"

"Only I recall it was you saving my life last time," he shot back, kicking out at one of the pirates.

"I believe it was also darker," she added as she blocked a blow with one hand and punched out with the other. Despite the relatively dire circumstances, Charlie could not help the grin that threatened to split her face in two. Perhaps this is where they were in their element - fighting.

As they fought, they backed up closer to the boat. All around them the other fighters - Jack, Will, Elizabeth - were all doing the same. They closed in and over her shoulder, Charlie saw Jack knock Will out with an oar while Elizabeth's back was to them. Will fell face-first into the boat and Jack shouted to Elizabeth to leave him when the sound drew her attention.

All six of them, plus the unconscious Will, were backed up to the boat now.

"We're not getting out of this," Elizabeth's voice came on her left.

"Not with the chest. Into the boat!" James turned around and grabbed the chest, then looked down at Charlie. "Don't wait for me," he murmured, leaning down to kiss her quickly before running off with the chest.

Charlie gaped after him, her mind trying to catch up with what had just happened. "James," she whispered as he disappeared down the beach. Without even realising it, she had started off after him.

Jack stumbled into her line of sight, arms raised dramatically and pointing back to the boat. "Darling, where are you going? The boat is that way."

"And James is that way," she shot back, pointing in the direction he had gone.

"You think he gave his life so you could throw away yours chasing after him?"

Charlie's jaw dropped. "He's not dead, Jack!"

"What is it you think going after him will accomplish? We were outnumbered here, we'd be outnumbered there," he countered.

"So I ought to leave him for dead?" she asked, incredulous.

He took a step closer and put a hand on her shoulder. "Charlotte."

Charlie could not even recall the last time he had used that name. Perhaps when they had first met? She started and looked at him.

"He made that choice. Is the best way to honour it really to throw your own life away?"

She looked up at the sky and saw only clear blue, so where had the moisture on her cheeks come from? Angrily she reached up to wipe it away then accepted the hand Jack offered, allowing herself to be taken back to the boat.