Okay, again, this may seem like the end, but again, it's NOT, I repeat, NOT THE END! THERE IS STILL MORE TO COME IN THIS STORY! IT IS NOT OVER!

Chapter Eighteen: The Deal and the Duel

Will saw Barbossa walk out of the room looking triumphant. This couldn't be good… well, most of the pirates were dead and he really didn't have a scratch on him and Jack could probably handle the rest. He killed one more pirate then did a double take, his eyes widening in horror.

He saw smoke.

Well, now he knew why Barbossa looked triumphant…He ran to the room where the smoke was coming from and threw all his weight against the door. "JULIET!" he yelled, praying he'd hear a response and that she'd still be alive. "ARE YOU OKAY?"

He heard coughing and a few hurried footsteps. Juliet ran to the other side of the room, closer to the door because the flames had eaten up the corner she was in before. "I'm fine—cough—just get me out of here!"

Will threw himself on the door a few more times in vain. Then, his face screwed up in frustration, turned around. Immediately, he was slammed into the door.

"You're supposed to be dead…" said Barbossa. Will sank to the ground, then looked up at him.

"Let's finish it then," he said angrily. "To the death."

"Will? What's going—cough—on out there?"

Will glanced back at the door, wondering how much fire was in that room.

Barbossa unsheathed his sword. "All right then." He was just about to slash his sword in Will's direction when…

"WAIT!" Will yelled. Barbossa sighed impatiently.

"What do ye want, boy?"

"If you want to fight me, Juliet goes free," as he finished the sentence, he remembered the last time he said that to this man. "As in she gets out of this room and stands here, unharmed and untouched."

Barbossa thought it over for a minute. Will could tell he was thinking hard; he'd always wanted to kill Juliet…

The sound of flame eating wood and a scream pierced the silence between the two. Will looked back at Barbossa with pleading eyes, but Barbossa didn't seem to notice.

"BARBOSSA!" came a muffled voice from inside the room. Both men turned to it, and Will, who was sitting against it, could feel it getting hot.

"Listen to me, if Will doesn't survive, you can kill me too."

"NO!" said Will. "Juliet, you've got to survive—"

"I can't survive without you, Will," she said, her voice quicker and more high pitched. "Please, just do it!"

"Agreed," Barbossa croaked after a couple more seconds. Will stood up as he took out his key and unlocked the door. Juliet fell face first and coughing out of the totally engulfed room but Will caught her. She melted in his arms for the last time and Will quickly kissed her.

"I swear I'll always love you, no matter what happens."

Juliet noticed he had tears in his eyes. Barbossa yanked the couple apart. "I'm not gonna stand around waitin' fer a sentimental moment to be over! Ye said ye wanted to finish it, Turner, so what are ye waitin' for?"

Will looked at Juliet one last time and pulled out his sword.

"Hold on there," said Barbossa, a smile forming on his face. "Let's make this a bit more dangerous. After all, ye did say 'to the death'!" He shoved Will across the ship and into another room. He took the candle in there and threw it on the floor, setting it to flames.

Will summoned his strength. "Let's finish it." He pulled out his sword.

The duel began. Barbossa was fighting with one hand behind his back. He swung his sword over Will's head but Will jumped out of the way just in time and got him across the back. His face was screwed up in anger; if he died, Juliet and his child would too. Barbossa was an excellent sword fighter, a little more experienced than Will, but he had the advantage because he was younger. The fire was spreading and Juliet was standing in the doorway. As Will looked over, he felt anger like never before towards Barbossa. But then he remembered something Jack had once told him…

"Never fight out of anger or ye'll mess up like ye never 'ave before, n' I guarantee ye'll die a quick death."

HE didn't have to get angry… if BARBOSSA did, then Will, Juliet, and his child could stay alive. But how could he make him angry?

"Ye know, yer not gonna win against me," said Barbossa, grinning and forcing another blow.

"Is that so?" asked Will, blocking it. "I mean, a year ago when you tried to kill me by blowing up the Interceptor, I got out. Then, when you tried to cut my throat open, I escaped that one too. AND when your crew members tried killing me in that cave during the fight, I got out of THAT one as well. So what makes you so sure you'll win this one?"

Barbossa grinned. "Turn around."

Will turned his head, and his eyes widened. Why didn't he feel the heat before? He was a mere two feet away from a wall of fire.

"Well… this just might work," he said sheepishly.

Barbossa's grin widened, then he pulled his hand out from behind his back. He was holding flames.

Wait… HOLDING FLAMES?! This is impossible! Thought Will. Will was trapped, and he bloody well knew it.

"WILL!" Juliet screamed from outside the room. The fire was quickly spreading around him. She started to run in, but someone grabbed her arm.

"No, Jules, there's nothing ye can do…" whispered Jack.

"Let go of me! He's dying! I'm not going to lose him again!" she fought against him, but it was no use.

"No, ye can't go in there, ye'll die too… do ye really think he'd want that?"

She sighed. "No…"

Without warning, Will jumped out of his place near the fire, literally jumped. He flipped over Barbossa's outstretched hand with the flame in it so now Barbossa was in the "line of fire".

As he flipped, Barbossa shot his hand out. Will let out a yelp. His flip got messed up so he landed on his back.

Juliet screamed when she saw his chest. It was burning.

Will quickly rolled over and put the fire out. He stood up, anger written all over his face.

Well, now that Barbossa was a flame-throwing pyromaniac, he really didn't have much of a chance.

The fires from the two rooms were spreading quickly through the rest of the ship, the dead bodies of crew members littered the deck and were now being burnt to a crisp, so was everything else.

"Juliet," whispered Jack in her ear, "we've got to get off this ship."

"What?" she turned to him in disbelief. "We can't leave Will! WILL! COME ON!"

He turned, but the doorway was almost blocked by a wall of fire, and he still had to deal with Barbossa.

"WILL!" she screamed. "JUMP IT!"

"Juliet," Jack said sadly, "He's not going to make it…"

"Yes he is! We're NOT leaving without him, Jack!"

Will coughed, the smoke was getting unbearable, and so was the burn on his chest. He had to finish it…

Juliet seemed to read his mind. "WILL! LISTEN TO ME, IS HE REALLY WORTH DYING FOR? NO, HE'S NOT! YOU'VE GOT TO GET OUT OF HERE!"

"Jules," Jack interrupted, "the ship's gonna blow!"

"What?!" she turned to Jack, her eyes wide.

"'E's got a stash of cannons an' gunpowder down below! The ship's gonna blow!"

"We're staying!" she said fiercely.

"Juliet, he wouldn't want ye do die…"

"HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME TO STAY ALIVE WHEN THE LOVE OF MY LIFE IS DEAD?!"

"He wouldn't want anythin' to happen to ye and his child." He placed a hand on her stomach. "There'll be a part of Will inside of it forever. 'E'll always live on inside of it."

Tears fell from her eyes. Suddenly, Will's voice came through.

"Juliet! Listen to me, I'm… I'm not going to make it." His voice broke. "Save yourself… get out…" he coughed. "I'll always love you and my child!"

She sobbed, screaming through the tears as Jack pulled her away from the room. He was dying… he was dying… one thought kept running through her numb mind. They had reached a rope ladder. Jack helped her down, and when she felt him shake she realized he was crying too.

"Jules," he croaked, "if ye want, I'll… I'll help ye take care of the baby…"

She nodded. "Jack, you've been so wonderful…"

They climbed into a rowboat and Jack began rowing back to the Black Pearl. Juliet looked back at the burning ship. Her red, wet eyes widened.

"WILL!" she screamed. "YOU'RE ALIVE!"

He was up on the deck, running to the railing. Juliet smiled. "See, Jack, I told you he'd—"

BOOM.

…

EEEEEEEKKKKK!!! SOOOO sorry about this cliffie… but I just had to leave it like this or it'd be just a little too long… well please review since this story is almost over!