In the several days at sea that Sarah had experienced after the Drew encounter, Talia woke her up ever morning by screaming like a bloody banshee that she needed to get up, however, on the eighth day, Sarah woke up naturally, without the needless screaming of the captain--at the same time as she was usually woken up, but naturally, nonetheless. Wondering what was going on, she exited through her door and went up on deck, reasoning that maybe Talia figured she could get up on her own now--but the captain was nowhere to be seen. The sky was very clear and blue.

Heading back down the stairs, Sarah wondered if…maybe, she should check on her. She groaned, imagining opening the door and immediately having her head removed. …Something could be wrong though…I guess I can check…briefly… She felt her stomach tangle. "Right then."

She slowly reached for the handle (which wasn't much of one) and opened the creaky door (it wasn't really creaky--but it wasn't a pleasant sound, either). Sticking her head in, she immediately saw Talia, and the captain was staring right at her. She stood up from where she sat on her bed, screamed something unintelligible, then picked up whatever was closest and hurled it at where Sarah stood. Before she could be hit with the potential weapons, she stepped back, slammed the door shut, and fell backwards, listening to a huge mass of objects pummel the door.

Shaken and jumpy, she headed back on deck, where Asher, Ryan, and Jack were all standing in a small congregation near the bow of the ship. Ryan glanced at her.

"Did you go into her room?" He asked, triggering a wide-eyed nod from the newcomer. He and Asher nodded sagely and gave each other superior glances. "They always do," Ryan said.

When Sarah had finally calmed down, she stood with Jack and listened to the crewmembers' stories of the other members who went in Talia's room. From the way they told the tales, it was almost as if it was some great manhood test to open Talia's door, whether she was inside or not.

At this very moment, Talia happened to appear behind them, glaring like the face of death itself, and the four of them scattered--anything to get away from her. Before Sarah could scatter any farther, however, Talia pointed at her.

"You--wench!" She commanded. Sarah halted, shuddered, then slowly turned around. The captain was obviously quite…upset…about Sarah so much as coming within three feet of her room.

"You went in my room. Why." It wasn't a question, more like a statement, which was really hard to answer.

"Uhhh…you…didn't wake me up…so I went to check on you." Sarah was praying that she didn't sound so stupid Talia would cut her right then and there. Conversely, the red-haired girl made no action to pull out a knife, instead she folded her arms.

"A terrible excuse. For your sins, you will have to be pushed like a child." Sarah felt very confused now.

"Punished?" How could she be punished like a child? What kind of punishment could Talia mean? What would she not be able to do while punished that she couldn't do anyway?

"Yes. Go to your room."

"What?"

"Go to your room."

"B-but--"

"Go to your room."

Talia was staying strangely calm. Sarah supposed she vented all her anger on the door. Scared to say anything for fear of her life, she groaned and trudged back down the stars for the second time that day, and shut herself in her room.

Smiling, pleased, Talia went to stand at the helm of the ship and yell at people. Ah, the punishment of children. It's the only way people will learn. Her thoughts were so warped.

"Land ho!" The man shouted. Talia tossed her spyglass at him.

"Dem you, do you ever shut up?" She said, silently hoping her spyglass didn't break--not that she couldn't just steal the 'land ho' man's. At least then he wouldn't shout that blasted monotonous phrase every five minutes. "…I'm sorry, what did you say?"

The man secretly rolled his eyes and picked up her entirely intact spyglass. "Land ho." He pointed to an almost invisible speck that was very far in the distance. "We'll probably get there…by…tomorrow morning at the rate we're going."

"Are you criticizing the speed of the Death Lily??"

"N-no."

Though she didn't quite believe him, she came and retrieved her spy glass, leaving it at that. Oh good, another chance to raid, pillage, plunder, and otherwise pilfer me weasely black guts out. She thought sarcastically. Who was she kidding? Towns didn't have loot nowadays.

Laying on her bed, staring at the ceiling, Sarah pondered the many dealings of her recent life. So far she had seen a man she hated yet didn't, and now was traveling with him through a deal that she had had no part in, came across a man she never ever wanted to see again, was nearly killed around three times by the same person, who just happened to be the captain, and was now condemned to stay in her room for the rest of the day.

What was good about this?

Not a while lot, She thought glumly. Still, it's sort of fun. I guess it's not all bad.

Around the middle of the afternoon, Jack got restless and went down to Sarah's room to ask her a question that had been bothering him all day.

Sarah was startled by the knock at the door. No one was supposed to visit her, were they? Not that Talia had made any rules. What an odd captain. Shouting for the person to come in, she sat up from her horizontal position on the bed.

Jack stepped through the door and immediately, Sarah rolled her eyes.

"Sarah--"

"Pandora."

"--Pandora." He sighed exasperatedly. He didn't understand why she couldn't just use Sarah as her name--it was so much more simple than trying to remember to call her Pandora. "First, let me ask you--are you still angry with me?"

"No. I'm not. I love you, Jack!" She exclaimed, smiling brightly, then she reverted back to her annoyed look and rolled her eyes again.

"You like covering yourself in layers of cold sarcasm and overall meanness, don't you?"

"What's it to you?"

He threw his hands into the air. Ever since he had stranded her on an island ("peer pressure, honestly!"), her attitude toward him had been very distant. Giving up on the subject of 'layers,' he stepped toward a chair in the corner of the room.

"Can I sit down?" She shrugged, her eyes wandering across the room. "Sarah."

"Pandora."

"Pandora. Could…you just tell me why you're mad? Just so I can make sure I'm on the same track as you."

Sarah turned to face him. "First, because you left me on the island after you found me on your ship--"

"If it makes you feel any better," Jack interrupted, narrowing his eyes in a subtle cringe. "I was marooned on the same island a little later. Honestly."

She stared at him, probably considering a smart retort, then continued. "And second, because you just bargained me off at that dem pub!! I'm not something you can barter for at the local shop, Jack! Both you and Talia should know that!"

"…You know, there are good reasons for both." Jack gingerly held up his finger in protest to her complaints. She closed her eyes and gently rested her forehead on her fingertips. She wasn't sure what he was trying to do, and she didn't really care. Many hours of seclusion in a room will do that to you.

Gripping her jacket tightly, she dropped her hand and opened her eyes again. "Oh, I'm sure there's a reason for the island, but not a good one. However--if there's a reason for using me in part of your negotiation, I-don't-want-to-hear-it. Just leave, I'm not in the best mood to be talking to you."

"One more thing." He looked anxious, somewhat uncomfortable, and a little put-out. "When…you were on the Black Pearl…did you ever…did we…?" He seemed unsure of what he was trying to say. His heavy eyebrows were highly animating his face and made him look a little comical, but it may have just been the separation from society for the past half-a-day.

She sighed heavily and looked away. "There might have been. But it's gone now, Jack. Please, go away."

Disappointed, he stood and left her in silence, her gaze focused selfishly on the wall opposite the chair he had been previously sitting in. She could hardly believe that she had just had that conversation--usually, she would have slapped him. Wow, I must be going temporarily senile. How odd. Still, something was pulling at her chest as she watched Jack leave out of the corner of her eye, shutting the door quietly behind him.

"I know why you want her."

Talia startled him almost right away as he exited the room. He stepped back, and clutched his heart, gasping. Her glare was directly in his eyes, and it scared him more than her startling him. Crossing her arms, she tilted her head to one side. "Holy!--d-did you need something, Talia?"

"Captain Frost."

He sighed. He just couldn't seem to get anyone's name right today. How irritating. He hooked his thumbs in his sash and frowned at the woman in front of him.

"I know why you want her on your ship."

"Y-you what?"

"You must have a hearing impairment. I've said this twice already. I-know-why-you-want-to-have-Sarah-on-the-Black-Pearl." After a short silence, she continued. "I-K-N-O-W-W-H-Y-Y-O-U-W-A--"

"Alright, alright, I heard you first time."

"No you didn't."

"…"

Conversations with Talia were always so invigorating.

"Come with me. Now," She said firmly. He couldn't have gotten away if he tried, so he rolled his eyes and followed her into someone's room. Yes, the person was in their room, but Talia just picked them up by the collar and threw them out.

"So…why do I want Sarah on me ship?"

"Because…" She began, seating herself on the bed. "…you're in love with her, aren't you?"

"What??" Jack fell off of the chair he was sitting on. "I-I'm not in love with her!"

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not!"

"Yes, you are."

"Are not!"

"Are too."

"Are not!"

"Are too."

"Are not!"

"Are too, and you know it."

There was an awkward silence, then Talia smacked Jack on the side of the head. "Say something!" She cried, a tiny hint of fury echoing in her voice. He rubbed his head and managed to crawl back onto his chair, muttering.

"Uhhh…I tell you, that's not why I want her on my ship." He refused to look at her--she was scary when she was insistent on something, and she was certainly insistent on this.

"Okay, if that's not the reason, what is?"

"I don't have to tell you."

"Yes, you do."

"No, I don't."

"Yes, you do."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Do not."

"Do too times infinity."

"What are we, children?"

"Maybe you are." Talia smirked. Jack almost fell off his chair again from frustration. "Look, see, you don't have any other reason, you just don't want to admit that you're in love with her."

"For good reason! Oh--" He slapped one hand over his mouth, realizing with hateful truth that he had just let something VERY secret slip to her. She looked quite triumphant. "f-for…good reason…I won't admit it, because I'm not in love with her, so I shouldn't admit it. It…it's not true." He crossed his arms and made a sort of 'hah, I win' look appear on his face.

"This is pointless, just admit it!"

"No!"

"Yes!

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!

"Can we please stop doing this?" The both agreed, the constant bickering back and forth of the same phrases were getting incredibly irritating. "I'm tired of arguing today. Tomorrow, again, perhaps, but no more today. I will get you to admit it, Jack Sparrow, or my name is Alouicious. And it's not." She stood and left the room, picking up the unconscious man that she had thrown out of the room a few minutes ago and throwing him back into the room. Jack also stood and left the room, deciding to ponder as Sarah did.

So Talia thought he was in love with Sarah. Curses, I'll have to get her off my trail. If she were to tell Sarah what she asked me about… He shuddered. He wished he would not speak so involuntarily, like when they had met Drew and just a few minutes ago when he almost told the captain. What horrid luck. Not that I indeed am in love with her. Oh no, I couldn't be. Which is why I was telling the truth when I said I wasn't. Yeah.

Not that I mind lying. He couldn't quite decide what he was trying to tell himself, so he gave up and went up on deck, where Talia was watching him with a smug expression. As he passed her, she mouthed the words, 'I know you love her.' In reply, he mouthed, 'Maybe if pigs could fly."

This would be a never ending battle, he was sure.

The next morning, Talia woke Sarah up with the usual screaming--a good sign. Also, as if to show that her punishment was finished, she left the door open. This also could have been embarrassing depending on the condition of the room, but instead it was just a good thing.

The island was a great deal closer now, in fact, so close that in an hour or so, they would probably be docked there. She noticed this as she emerged from below deck. The sky was very gray and cloudy, too. Wandering over to the side of the ship, she crossed her arms and leaned on the edge, watching the sky.

It's cloudy. Probably important today. She thought, blue eyes reflecting the eternal steel abyss. She was so absorbed in the sky, she hardly noticed the footsteps behind her. Jack had come aboard the Death Lily again and had noticed, with baffled curiosity, the blonde standing near the edge staring into nothing.

"Sarah?"

"…What?" She was distracted, so she didn't correct him. He walked up next to her and began to wave his hand in front of her catatonic face. She broke out of her funk and looked at him. "Oh, g'morning Jack." He raised his eyebrows.

"Are…you dead this fine day?"

"What…d'you mean?"

"Uhh…you're sort of spacing off. And you're not yelling at me for being in your bubble space." She gave him a blank stare, at first, then she shook her head and sighed.

"Oh, I, uh…I'm just looking at the sky," She replied. "Something important's going to happen."

"How do you know?"

"The sky. It's cloudy." He gave her a look of perplexity, and she smiled a little. "I should probably explain, aye? Right, well, you see…whenever something important happens to me, the sky is always cloudy, and whenever something bad happens, it rains. It's cloudy today, so I suspect something important will happen."

"That's a new one." Jack grinned.

It seemed odd that the two of them were having a peaceful conversation, since Sarah was still mad at him, and Jack had, just yesterday, had that strange, strange conversation with Talia. Then again, sometimes fate cannot explain itself and things get out of balance. For instance, perhaps, somewhere in the world, two best friends suddenly become furious with each other for no apparent reason--destiny has to balance again, so it makes two people who are typically negative to each other, such as Miss Warren and Mr. Sparrow, have a short conversation that has nothing to do with their hate and/or difficulty communicating.

Or maybe Sarah's pondering finally drove her (and probably the author) insane. Whatever the case, it was a nice talk.

Talia, noticing this from the opposite side of the ship, approached them and, a little annoyed that Sarah wasn't doing something productive, asked,

"Having a nice time? What are you two talking so merrily about?"

Jack turned to her, flashing a crazy grin, and replied, "Rain omens."

"Well, that sounds perfectly stimulating, it does. But we're going to be docking in an hour or so and I'd appreciate it, Mr. Sparrow, if ye'd return to your own ship and leave the wench alone." Sarah frowned indignantly. She had a feeling Talia would never call her anything except 'wench.' With an annoyed sigh, she turned and leaned on the edge again. What could possibly happen that's important today…?

Jack gave Talia a bow that looked obedient and, at the same time, cynical.

"Oooh, this town looks real promising." Sarah commented offhandedly as Talia stepped next to her.

"Doesn't it? At least that malignant twit, Drew, won't be there this time." Talia was actually talking to Sarah. This alone was cause enough for attention. The captain looked over at the other woman. "I'm really quite surprised your cheek hasn't incinerated itself yet." Sarah shook her head, laughing.

No, the Death Lily wasn't as bad as it seemed.