Disclaimer: First one I've put up for a while, but I was severely prompted by my sister, so here goes. I don't own PotC, and the characters that go by the names Jonathan, George Bloate, Tom, Marie, and any others who will probably be introduced later are mine.

Now that THAT'S over with. . . . .

Sorry about the delay! It's the holidays, and I had a minor skating accident, but it kept me from typing, so . . . . . Yeah, there's my worse- than-crap excuse, but it's true!

I know the last chappie was short, but I can't type for long periods of time without being distracted. . . .*peers off into nowhere, then suddenly snaps back to reality and keeps typing* Sorry, me bad.

Partouf: Heyo, everybuggy! Mesa here! I'd help her type this out, but . . . my . . . feet are too big! Yeah, dat's it!

MtBR: *very anime sweat drop on forehead* No, you're just too lazy to help. . .

Partouf: *whistles as he disappears into oblivion*

So, we left off with Marie bumping into Jon outside of the door, blah blah blah, and let's pick it up from there!

**************************************************************************** **

'Oh!' I cried in surprise, and almost lost my balance, except Jon grabbed onto my arms and helped me right myself. His brow was creased with lines of worry, and he slung my left arm over his neck, letting me lean on him as he helped me back to the bed. 'Miss, why're you up? Captain Sparrow said that you wouldn't be able to walk for a few days.' Jon asked as he sat down beside me on the bed, and turned to face me.

I turned to him, and managed a forced smile, saying feebly 'Well, I-I just wanted t-to, umm. . . . I felt that I could walk, and so I, uhh, wanted to see how you and George were doing. . .' ~I feel so guilty. . .I could've saved Tom, if only I'd been faster. . .~ I thought as I watched Jon's face, and noticed a shimmer of hope in his eyes, but that just made me feel even worse.

Jon cleared his throat, and then gave a very hopeful smile, asking the dreaded question: 'Where's Tom hiding? Is he alright?' My bottom lip quivered, and I bit the inside of my mouth, trying to talk, but I was suddenly struck dumb. ~What do I tell him? Poor Jon. . . . ~ I thought, and cleared my throat, stammering 'W-well, Jon, umm. . . .Tom is . . . is . . .-'

Jon cut me off with a quiet 'I see.', and then got up and headed for the door. I held up a hand, and cried out 'Wait, Jon!', and felt a pang of guilt when I saw that there were tear stains down his cheeks. I set my hand down on my lap, and said in a low voice 'I couldn't do anything. I tried, Jon, I really did. But . . . he was brave, and he died saving you. I'm sorry, Jon! I truly am.' Jon just gave me a very sorrowful look, and left, slamming the door behind him.

I fell back on the bed, and in the solitude of Jack's quarters, I cried myself to sleep.

~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^ ~

*~this is a dream. . . .All a dream~*

I was back on The Hunter, amidst the battle which had raged on deck naught but a day ago, but something was wrong. There was no sound. No clashing of swords, no cannons blasting, no pistols being fired. Nothing. I looked around, and saw that the faces of those around me were blurred beyond recognition, and I felt a pang of fear at the situation. *Where the bloody hell am I?* I thought, and it seemed as if my thoughts echoed out and around me.

Suddenly, a bright flash of red caught my eye. I whirled to my right to see Commodore Norrington in his bright red overcoat, looking down at his feet at a small ball of smoky-grey fur, slowly pulling his pistol out from his belt. Time seemed to be in slow motion, just to torture me with the events playing out in front of me, and I think I screamed when I saw Norrington pull the trigger. All of the sound came back, and I heard a rushing sound, like a high wind during a Caribbean storm.

Flashes of light played in my mind, and I felt like I was falling . . . . falling . . . . . falling into the abyss. . .

*~ end of dream . . . back to reality~*

~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^ ~

My eyes snapped open, and I sat bolt upright in the bed, gasping for air. I heard a 'thud' as something fell to the floor beside me, and I looked over to see Jack sitting on the floor, eyeing me warily and saying 'Luv, warn me nex' time ye're gonna do tha', savvy?' I nodded, and swallowed nervously. ~ A dream. . .It was all a horrible dream. . .~ I thought, and wiped the back of my hand across my forehead, feeling the dampness of the cold sweat that had sprung up.

Jack had stood up, and now had an arm draped over my shoulders, asking with earnest concern 'Luv, calm down, an' tell Ol' Jack what's wrong, eh? Are ye awrite?' I looked up at him, and was caught in the depth of his eyes . . . Like the colour of chocolate, and deep as the sea. I licked my dry lips, and I thought ~What am I doing? Tell him to stop . . . ~, and my subconscious answered {But you don't want him to, do you, Marie? You don't want to stop . . .}

His arm around my shoulders felt comforting, and he slowly leaned in to let his lips touch mine lightly, moving his other arm around my waist to pull me closer to him. It felt like bright explosions were going off in my head, and I felt light headed. I felt like I was floating, but I was jolted awake when I felt his tongue slip past my closed lips. *Partouf: Eww, sick! *covers eyes and runs off again*

Because I was so startled, I pulled back, gasping quietly as Jack just smiled warmly at me and whispered 'Ye'd best get some more rest, luv. We're comin' up t' Tortuga in a day er two.' I nodded, still staring at him, and he winked at me as he left with a slight bow. I shuffled back so that I was leaning against the headboard, and brought a shaky hand up to touch my lips. ~I . . . I can still feel it. . .~ I thought, and smiled to myself.

I was falling for a pirate.

**************************************************************************** **

Yay! So, there's another chapter for you peoples!

I just want to send out extra-special thanks to the people who reviewed for my last chapter!

Here they are!

PARTOUF AND MARIE THE BLACK ROSE'S LIST OF EXTRA SPECIAL PEOPLE WHO REVIEWED FOR THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER:

arallahmenorah (my sentiments exactly! ()

Tripping Stars (thanks SO MUCH!)

Draconic Ban-sidhea (thanks for all of your support!)

lumien (I'm sorry about the hacker, even though it wasn't me. I hope you can get back to it soon!)

DayDreamBeliever14

Shindogirl13

So, Thanks to all of you!

And with that, I leave you all.

~life isn't stupid, the stupid people around you make it seem that way~

Spread the love, steal the beer, sass the sassable!

~8@Marie the Black Rose@8~