"We should speak in private, senorita," El Sombreador said, glancing around the darkened courtyard, "Come, Don Leonardo would not mind us speaking in his wine cellar."

Ash thought it was interesting that he already knew Don Leonardo had a wine cellar. They must be close indeed... The three of them retreated to the mansion they had come from, but now the party was over and all the guests were gone. The house lay silent, and they slipped into the cellar easily without being noticed by anyone.

"I'm glad you gave my words from earlier better consideration, even if Felipe did have to put his own in for this meeting to happen," Ash said casually.

There was confusion in El Sombreador's eyes.

"I do not understand you, senorita."

His voice was eerily familiar... Ash only raised one eyebrow and gave him a knowing look.

"As I told you earlier, Don Leonardo, you are a horrible liar."

El Sombreador stared back at her, his eyes unreadable, then his shoulders slumped, and he sighed. He removed his mask, revealing the face of the handsome don that Ash had danced with earlier in the night.

"How did you know?" he asked sheepishly.

"I'm good with voices," Ash responded lightly, "So, to business. We're here to ask you about Captain Steele."

"Alas, I cannot tell you much about him."

Ash frowned. She was opening her mouth to speak when Jack broke in.

"But you fought him. Surely you know more than most."

Don Leonardo grimaced.

"Actually, it was not I that fought him. It was my master, Don Raphael."

Ash and Jack exchanged confused glances, then looked back at their host.

"He was El Sombreador before me," Don Leonardo explained, "He passed the mask down to me, along with his skills and the responsibility of protecting the people that live here."

"Dare I ask where he is now?" Ash asked dryly.

"Dead, I am afraid."

"'Course he is."

Ash scowled and paced around, biting her lower lip nervously. Jack knew she was thinking of the last time she tried to contact the dead, and was wondering now if she could manage it.

"Is there perhaps something of his you keep around? Something that isn't yours now, like the mask is?" she asked Don Leonardo, turning to face him.

He thought for a moment, then shook his head.

"Is there – I don't know – a place he's buried or something?"

"Yes! There is a tomb. I can take you to it."

Don Leonardo replaced his mask, and the three of them set off. Jack caught up to Ash and squeezed her shoulder.

"It's going to be alright."

She gave him a wry smile.
"Is it? I'm not so sure."

"Well, I am. There's nothing you can't do."

"Except maybe talk to the dead."

Jack made a face.

"Love, you do realize most people can't do that at all, aye?"

"You know what I mean," she sighed, "I feel so useless. The one thing that could be such a help, and I can't manage it all of a sudden, or couldn't. I don't understand it. I contacted that bokor just fine, but not the mapmaker or my parents. No one that matters, that can really help. Why? Is there something wrong with me?"

Jack thought about making a joke, but knew it wouldn't lift her mood.

"I can't give you the answers to why you can get in touch with some people and not others, I'm no wizard," Jack admitted, "Just a pirate. Perhaps certain things are just meant to be, and others aren't. But I do know there's nothing wrong with you."

Ash sniffed, irritated, but said nothing. He only said that because he was in love with her. If he could see past his blind love for her, maybe he'd find quite a few things. They were led to a graveyard as the darkness began to grow lighter, to the place where Don Rafael, the original El Sombreador, was buried. Ash stood staring at his tomb for a moment or two, glanced anxiously at the sky, and shook her head.

"It isn't a good time for such a ritual," she muttered, "And we better hide the ship before Fitzy and his men try to take it. Thank you, El Sombreador. We'll return tomorrow night. Give Don Leonardo and Felipe our thanks, won't you?"

El Sombreador bowed with a wink and left, blending into what few shadows remained. Jack and Ash returned to the ship. The tide wasn't quite with them just yet, but the wind was, so they got the ship out to sea just fine.

"You never did tell us how the competition went," Renzo said as Ash lounged in the shade on deck, "What happened?"

"Oh, it went about as expected. We didn't win, but we accomplished what we needed to. Fitzy's on our tails though, which is why we've got to anchor the ship somewhere he won't find easily."

"Him again!" Renzo exclaimed, disgusted.

"Mmmm," Ash agreed, "We're going to have to do something about him eventually. I wonder what though. Jack doesn't say much, but I know he doesn't like the thought of killing Fitzy in cold blood. Not like me. He's a good man."

"I an' I been offering to squash Sparrow like a bug, captain my captain," Jahir said as he approached, "One day, you say yes."

Renzo rolled his eyes. Jahir saw it and flicked his ear, hard. Renzo scowled and swatted at him, and then they were bickering. Ash shook her head and walked away, leaving them to their spat. She wandered up to the helm where Jack stood, looking out at the sea and the deck, the world in general.

"They remind me of two sailors that used to be on my crew," Jack commented idly, nodding toward Jahir and Renzo, "Pintel and Ragetti was their names."

"I supposed they argued just as much?" Ash inquired, a corner of her mouth twisting upwards in a smile.

"Aye. Constantly. We never bothered to try and stop them though. I notice you don't with those two either."

Ash shrugged.

"Eh, keeps them occupied. Not a whole lot else to do, most times."

"Aye, true enough."

Ash sighed and put her forearms on the rail, tilting her head back in an attempt to catch what breeze she could. Sweat ran down the back of her neck, between her breasts, down her temple.

"It's so curst hot," she complained, not really expecting an answer.

Looking down at the water, it seemed so blue, cool, and inviting. She wanted to jump in, then wondered why she couldn't.

"Are we close to a spot yet?" she asked Jack over her shoulder.

She'd at least wait until they anchored.

"Aye, there's a cove up ahead."

Perfect. The ship approached a small rocky island. One side of the cliffs had an enormous gaping hole, a cave, in it. They sailed right under the arched stone and the keel grated against a beach. Jack gave orders for the crew to secure the ship in place, and Ash began to climb up onto the rail, peering into the water below. It looked deep enough to accommodate her slight weight dropping into it.

"I'm going for a swim," she announced.

The area was shaded by the stone ceiling overhead, so the sun would be out of her eyes and off her back. This was the best place for swimming that she could think of. The crew, of course, wanted to join her, and looked to Jack for permission.

"Oh, fine," he said, "But stay on the port side of the ship. The beach on the starboard side is ours."

"Aye, aye, cap'n!"

Ash didn't wait for him. She jumped into the water feet first and plummeted deep. When she came up for air, she found Jack surfacing not far from her. The water was cool as expected, but she wanted to feel the silkiness of it against her skin. So she swam closer to the beach until her feet touched the sand under a few feet of water and began to strip off her clothes, and threw them onto the beach far above the water's edge. She sighed and went onto her back, floating, letting the water hold her and letting her body relax. This was bliss. Then she felt something rough on her skin. Opening her eyes, she saw it was Jack's hands. She smirked as he pulled her closer to him.

"You can't help yourself, can you?" she drawled.

"What do you expect when you're over there naked, looking like that?" he asked huskily.

Laughing, Ash lunged away from him. Jack grabbed her wrist and pulled her back to him, then kissed her deeply. That stopped her laughing, and she closed her eyes and kissed him back. One of his hands brushed her hair back from her face, while the other dipped below the level of the water, caressing her skin.

"Jack," Ash gasped as his mouth moved to her neck, "We can't, the crew – "

"I don't care," he murmured against her neck.

"They'll hear," she whispered desperately, even as her body went weak under his touch.

"Then you'll have to be quiet, savvy?"

His words ignited a fire in her. Part of her warred with herself, knowing how impossible it was for her to be quiet during sex, but the other part of her wanted him inside her so badly she ached, damn the consequences. She squirmed in his grip, only half halfheartedly trying to escape. But Jack planted his feet wide in the sand and hauled her up onto his lap. She wound up sitting on his lap, legs spread wide, the water still lapping at her shoulders.

She clung to him tightly, half expecting they would both fall over and get a mouthful of the sea for their troubles. But he didn't fall, even as he rid himself of enough of his trousers. Grabbing her hips firmly in both of his hands, he sheathed himself inside her quickly. Ash gasped and arched her back, her mouth opening to cry out before she remembered to be quiet and bit her lip hard to swallow the sound. She wrapped her arms around him as he trust into her, moving her hips quickly in time with his. Lowering her head to his shoulder, she whimpered and gasped, trying very hard to keep the sounds of her pleasure from their frenzied sex quiet. She had to bite his shoulder to stifle her shout as her orgasm consumed her.

Jack made not a sound through the entire thing, even as he finished shortly after her and let her off his lap. It was a good thing the water wouldn't let them crash into the hard ground. Ash went towards the beach and turned to pull Jack with her when she saw the red, angry lines all across his back. Her eyes went wide and she opened her mouth to say something before realizing what had happened, and she closed her mouth again, shaking her head in dismay. She didn't even notice she was scratching him. They staggered to the beach and collapsed, laying half in, half out of the water. Ash's eyes were closing drowsily, one hand playing with the little hairs on his chest when she spoke sleepily.

"Jack?"

"Mmmm?"

"I love you."

Jack's eyes flew open, and he sat up abruptly, looking down at her intently. Feeling the sudden movement, Ash opened her eyes enough to peer at him.

"What?" she asked.

"That's the first time you've said that to me," he said, "I was beginning to think I would never hear it."

Ash smiled shyly.

"Well. I've been thinking lately, I didn't have the opportunity to say it to others before they were gone from my life. I didn't want to let the chance slip by with you."

"I'm not going anywhere," Jack promised.

"I know you don't want to. But anything could happen, at anytime. And anyway, maybe it's foolish to be so guarded, so afraid of letting my heart open to you."

"You had your reasons, my stubborn wizardess. I'm just glad you're finally starting to trust me."

They kissed, and soon fell asleep in each other's arms. A few hours before sunset, they woke and realized they were hungry. The crew had long ago moved back to the ship, and Ash had Renzo throw her down some soap. Both she and Jack washed themselves before dressing and climbing the rope ladder to the ship. Ash made dinner, and after everyone ate and the cleanup was finished, she packed a bag full of the things she would need for the ritual later that night.

Jack offered her some rum when she finally emerged on deck again, but Ash shook her head. She didn't need that to interfere with her concentration. Speaking to the dead was difficult enough and required all her focus and willpower. A fuzzy head would doom her to failure. She looked around at the crew.

"I'll need a few volunteers," she announced, "I need guards to accompany me to keep watch and protect me during this ritual. I'm going to be completely vulnerable because my attention will be entirely on what I'm doing. If watching me summon the diseased bothers you, you don't have to come. You'll be part of the crew that stays and guards the ship."

She got four volunteers in addition to Jack, which would do just fine. Only so many of them could fit in a longboat, anyway. After the sun set, they stole toward shore, being as quiet as they could. Jack led the way back to Don Raphael's tomb, and the few members of the crew spread out in a semi circle, weapons out, eyes staring into the surrounding darkness.

"Stay back," Ash told them, "And whatever you do, don't break the circle I'm putting down."

She walked around the tomb, chanting under her breath, letting herbs from her pouch fall from her fingers as she walked, creating a ring around the stone. She sat in the circle, in front of the tomb, and closed her eyes, breathing deeply, grounding and centering herself. Only then did she begin the ritual. The others didn't look in her direction, but they all felt the wind pick up briefly and a chill run down their spines. Then, they heard the voice, old and confused.

"Who are you?"

One of the crew blanched and made a cross on his chest. Jack scowled and kicked him.

"My name is Ash," she responded gently, "I know your adoptive son, Don Raphael. He is a good man, and has done you proud."

"Leonardo? Oh... yes, I never doubted him. But how do you know him? How are you talking to me now?"

"A quest I am on led me to him, but as it turns out, it's you I needed to speak to. Let's not worry about how such a thing is possible, I'm no good at explaining these sorts of things. I wanted to ask you about Captain Steele. He has a piece of a map that I need very badly."

"I defeated Captain Steele long ago, but I never found his lair. This map you speak of, I've never seen it."

Ash's shoulders slumped. Another dead end. But then he continued.

"During my last battle with Captain Steele, his crew mutinied against him. One of them must know where his lair is. Esteban was one of them, but last I knew, he left the pirate life behind and lives in Valencia now. Tell him El Sombreador sent you, and he will help you."

"Thank you."

Ash reversed the ritual and sent Don Raphael's spirit back to where it came from, and used her foot to make several holes in the circle of herbs surrounding the tomb, destroying the working.

"Well," Jack said, "Valencia is only a ways down the coast. Let's get out of here, before Fitzy finds us again."

They were lucky he hadn't done so already. They returned to the ship and began their way down the coast, wanting to get the jump on Fitzwilliam who would certainly be looking for them in the daylight. By the time the sun rose, they'd hopefully be far enough away that he wouldn't find them again easily.

"I told you that you could do it," Jack told Ash.

"Being so near the body of the spirit I was trying to summon helped a great deal," Ash admitted, "The place means something to him, or he wouldn't have requested to be buried there. It's easier to call a spirit back to a location they already know and have fondness for."

She stretched, yawning, and Jack told her to go get some sleep.

"I slept earlier," she protested.

"A nap," Jack said frankly, "After a whole night of no sleep at all. You need a proper rest, love."

"Well, then you do too, if we're to go on and find Esteban tomorrow."

Jack looked up at the stars, then back the way they'd come.

"Alright. I suppose we've come far enough for tonight," he said, then raised his voice to shout at the crew, "Let go the anchor!"

They answered him with a round of "aye aye"s, and Jack set up the watches for the remainder of the night. That done, Jack and Ash went to their cabin to sleep. Jack was first to rise in the morning, as usual, but he let Ash sleep in until the rest of the crew was awake and the watch was relieved. Then he shook her awake, and she trudged down to the galley to get breakfast started. As she worked, she felt the anchor rise and the ship start moving again. When breakfast was ready, she allowed herself a cup of tea in addition to her food, savoring the hot drink that was sweetened slightly with a bit of valued sugar. The crew returned to work, and Ash cleaned up the dishes and the galley before joining them on deck.

Jack decided to anchor the ship a long way off shore, so they wouldn't have more interactions with any authorities. They would row to shore away from the docks to avoid detection.

"I'm not thrilled about asking mutineers for help," Jack told Ash, "How do we know we can trust him?"

"What reason does he have to lie?"

"Who knows why these people do what they do," Jack responded grumpily.

"If you have another way to find what we're after, do tell," Ash insisted.

"It's not as easy as using my compass," Jack said regretfully.

"Right, because compasses don't lead people to pieces of paper," Ash smirked.

When Jack said nothing, she noticed something off in the silence and looked back at him.

"Jack?"

"We need to talk, in our quarters."

Frowning curiously, she followed him inside and saw he locked the door. Now she was started to get concerned.

"Right," Jack said, turning to her, "My compass is unique. It doesn't point north, it leads you to whatever you want most in this world."

Ash stared at him. Her first thought was that was bullshit, but then, why lie about it? Aside from that, she'd known crazy things to be true, like being able to talk to the dead and destroying undead skeleton lords, and the creation of zombies. Her best guess was someone had put a very powerful enchantment on his compass, because as far as she knew, he had no skill at magic on his own. But even the identity of the one that had done that for him wasn't her main concern.

"Then why," she hissed, feeling her temper mounting fast and struggling to contain it, "Didn't you tell me about this before? This whole quest could have been so much easier!"

"Ah," said Jack, holding up a finger, "You'd think so! But no. The map was split into several pieces, aye? The compass can't lead us to all of them at once, savvy? So we have to track them down the hard way."

Ash swore. That made sense. Even by envisioning the map piece they were after and communicating to the compass that was what was wanted, the compass wouldn't be able to tell which piece it was if there were too many of them to be found.

"So it works on singular objects."

"Pretty much."

"Fuck."

"Aye."

"Why didn't you tell me about your magic compass before?"

"Well, obviously such a thing is incredibly valuable, and – "

"And what? You thought you couldn't trust me? You thought I'd steal it or something?"

"No! Just didn't occur to me to tell you until now."

Ash glared at him.

"Right," she said sarcastically.

"Love, I'm telling you the truth."

She glared at him for a few more seconds, but the earnest expression on his face made her sigh and look away.

"Alright."

Jack looked at her anxiously.

"Have I ruined things between us? Don't tell me I've lost your trust."

Ash looked up at him, into his deep brown eyes, and shook her head slightly.

"No, Jack. Maybe I'm a fool, but I trust you. I love you."

Jack smiled broadly.

"I love you too."

Author's Note: Alright, be honest, who knew El Sombreador was Don Leonardo? Did I get any of you with that one? Thanks for keeping up with my story, it's so cool to see all the different countries around the world that can see this! Please share it with friends if you like it. Also, thanks for the wonderful reviews. I love seeing what parts of the story people particularly like, as it's never what I expect.