Disclaimer: How's about you save us all some time, and just remember the disclaimer in the first chapter, savvy?

A/N: To my reviewers: My, see how curious the puppy is! (Lilo and Stitch quote, if you haven't seen it, shame on you!)

As for all of the questions...I'm not telling! Bwahahaha! ;) That's a writer's prerogative, you know. Just read the story and most things should make themselves apparent. I would like to say a few things though...

1) Who's the pirate? Read on! But for those of you who read the 2nd chapter...who else would say "savvy"?

2) To answer a good question, the admiral who "got" Jack was Norrington. Sort of. Over time, in this story, the family name was shortened to "Norton".

And without further ado, on to the show, folks.

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Chapter Three: Beautiful Dreamer

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In the dream world...

Nothing is as it should be. The sky is purple, not blue, and the echoes of time show themselves in the constant lightshow of the ever-shifting skies.

The sky god is mad, nay, insane, in the dream world because he has no power there. Morpheus reigns supreme and unchallenged in this world. The dream god is confident enough in his own power to allow both the living and the dead to enter his world. He knows that both are as rivers that meet in his little pool, and they are destined to leave as separately as they entered.

But occasionally, a soul comes along that defies the rules. That shakes its fist in Destiny's face. A spirit neither living nor dead, blessed and yet eternally cursed. Trapped in one world and belonging in another, these lost souls find their way home...

In the dream world...

The pirate sits on the deck of his ship's ghost, and holds the young woman in his arms. She is still in her own darkness: Not awake, because her form is still there, and yet not dreaming as her Dream-self is not conscious. She is pretty, in her own way, but then most appear in the dream world as they truly are. Her light brown hair glows with glints of gold and her pale skin shines like polished alabaster. She is an Innocent, on her first trip through life, and the pirate almost feels a pang of regret at what he is going to make her do.

Then he remembers that he is a Pirate, and that making people do what he wants is, after all, what Pirates do.

The pirate begins to trace the tarnished silver strands that embrace the woman's neck. Jewels wink into and out of existence, leaving a viewer with only an impression of what they may be, tantalizing in their brief moments of glory. The design is not a simple one, though it can appear to be. It is a soul-binder, a link between the two dreamers that will allow the pirate to work his will in a world that he can no longer tread freely in.

"Time to wake up, luv. Andrea Talliver, I call your mind back to me. I summon you here, to this place, to the form that is in my arms." The woman's eyes pop open, and the pirate holds tight to keep her from leaping away.

Andrea was disoriented. She knew something was not right, not good, not...'Am I dreaming?' she thought. She didn't remember falling asleep in a handsome man's arms. And the man holding her was definitely handsome, if you liked the bad boy look. Black hair, half-hidden beneath a tri-cornered hat, that couldn't decide if it wanted to be braids or dreadlocks, a Van Dyke beard that formed itself into three braids, skin tanned to a golden-brown, and his eyes...'They should be brown,' she mused inwardly. The pirate's once brown eyes, still outlined with kohl, smoldered with the heat of molten gold.

Certain that he now had the woman's attention, the pirate began to talk. "I need you to do something for me, Andrea. Something no one else on Earth can do." Andrea looked warily up into the man's eyes. The pirate sighed. "I need you to set me free."

Andrea looked at the man in confusion. "Umm...who are you? And what are you doing in my head?!" The man laughed, a low and wild sound that sent shivers down her spine and tightened things low in her gut. "Why, I'm the one and only Captain Jack Sparrow, luv. As for what I'm doing in your head...shouldn't you be asking yourself 'What am I doing in this man's ship?' Because that is where you are, luv. Out there...in the real world."

Clarity was refusing to make a house-call to Andrea's sleep-addled mind. "Huh?" Jack grinned. "The house, luv, the house. I know that little twit told ye his ancestor used my ship to build it. Well, my soul was tied to my ship, long, long before his ancestor thought of using her timbers. I used to think the Pearl was freedom...and now, it's my prison." A wistful look crossed Jack's face, and Andrea found herself lifting a hand to his cheek in an act of comfort. He flinched, then relaxed and rubbed his cheek against her palm. "Sorry luv, that cheek's a bit used to rather unkind treatment. Now, as I was saying, the Pearl - the house you're livin' in - is my prison. It wasn't so bad the first year I was dead. Open sea, with the horizon always before us. Then me crew got a little skittish at having a ghost pop up now and then, and they decided to go pillaging a little northwards, to see if they could leave my ghost behind in the Caribbean. Then that damn Norrington attacked my ship at night, while most of me crew was out on the town. I almost feel sorry for the poor bugger. Norrington never really wanted to shoot me, you know. He was a friend of a friend, and all that. I listened in when his son read letters from him, and from the sounds of it dear William wouldn't speak to him anymore, and neither would his wife, Elizabeth." Jack took a hold of Andrea, and forcibly rearranged her into a more comfortable listening position. "He courted her, you know, Norrington. Saucy little wench, she was. But where was I...oh...I don't suppose ye could dream up some rum, now, could ye?" Andrea gave Jack a blank look. "Just visualize a glass bottle with a nice, golden liquid in it..." Andrea sighed, and tried to bring to mind a bottle of Bacardi 151. It 'popped' into existence next to Jack's hand, and the overjoyed pirate took a big swig...as Andrea tried not to laugh as the pirate forced himself to swallow his mouthful. "I said 'rum', luv, 'rum'...not paint thinner!" he sputtered indignantly as her giggles spilled out. "But where was I? Oh yes, poor Norrington. With the full moon and all I was feeling pretty solid and didn't like that bastard trying to blow holes in my ship, savvy? One of his soldiers got it into his head to shoot at me! Me! A bloody ghost! That shot went right through my head and into one of me crew. Poor bastard about shat himself when he realized that I was already dead, but that didn't keep him from claiming the glory later when everyone wanted to know who killed the infamous Captain Jack Sparrow. No, what killed Captain Jack Sparrow was a bad case of the bloody flu, that's what. Took most of me original crew, as well."

"Wait a minute...if members of your crew died at the same time as you, why is it you're the only one haunting me?" Andrea's mind was steadily growing sharper, and her question was rewarded with a guilty look from Jack. "Because I did something bloody stupid, alright? I spent ten years shipless because a former crew of mine mutinied, dumped me on an island, and then went and got themselves cursed so that I couldn't just kill the bloody lot of 'em without lifting the damn curse first. So I was a bit nervous, savvy? So after I got me Pearl back, I found meself an old voodoo woman who said she could fix it so that no one could take my ship away from me ever again. I don't want to describe that ritual, but I found out later that what that witch had done was tied me very soul to the Pearl, and nothing short of burning every timber that was in her will ever set me free. Now, I've caused several 'accidents' in this house, and none of the Pearl's original timber should still be there. But I still am!" Jack roared.

Andrea shrank back from Jack, who seemed to grow taller, darker, with his rage. Jack quickly controlled his temper, and returned to himself. "And that, luv, is where you come in. I need you to find out what I haven't burned yet. Something is keeping me tied to this plane, and I bloody well don't like it! Seamen are supposed to become dolphins when they die, not bump around houses like somebody's daft old uncle!" Jack suddenly looked up, and as his eyes closed Andrea could swear he was trying to scent the wind. "We're running out of time here, luv. The sun's just about to poke his nose over that horizon, and once he does I can't keep you here. So I release ye back to your world, Andrea Talliver, but I promise ye...we will meet when the sun hides again."

Reality began to twist and bend around Andrea, slipping like sand and leaving her back, back in utter darkness...

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A/N: You know what the buttons below are for, people. Wear 'em out!