Jack, Gibbs and I began our trek back to the Pearl, walking through the eerily deserted streets of Tortuga.

I coughed and cleared my throat a little, hoping my voice was strong enough to carry on a normal conversation. "Why do you think all the streets are empty?" I asked Jack, cringing at the sound of my raspy voice.

"The Pearl," he replied. "Everyone's afraid it's come full of pirates to plunder and pillage, so they went home...or wherever it is they stay."

We made the rest of the trip in silence, only pausing when Jack picked up some valuable-looking item from the ground or when Gibbs eagerly snatched discarded bottles, hoping for rum.

We arrived at the Pearl, which looked rather menacing, its black color blending in with the color of the water, the lamps barely burning. I guess that would creep me out, too, I thought, climbing the ramp to board the ship.

The minute I set foot on the deck I felt a wave of nausea pass over me. I groaned and leaned against the edge of the ship, legs wobbling. Not again! I thought furiously.

I looked up to see Jack staring at me.

"Just shut up," I mumbled, sure he was about to make fun of me.

"What? All I was going to say was that you could stay in an inn for the night," Jack said dubiously.

It was my turn to stare it him. "Are you kidding? I've already made an enemy. I'm not spending the night up there alone," I said, nodding towards the square on the island.

"No worries. I'll come with you," said Jack, walking closer and laying a hand on my back. "Let's just get you on land before you throw up on my ship again."

"Gee, thanks," I muttered sarcastically, allowing him to help me off the ship and down the ramp.

As Jack and I began our long trip back to the town, questions began brewing in my mind. "Jack, you don't seem fazed at all that I know all about your life. I mean, everyone else is afraid of me--I can tell Gibbs is still a little wary of me," I said, my voice low so I wouldn't strain my vocal cords.

He shrugged, still looking ahead. "You said what you said--where you came from, how you know me--and I accept that. I really see no profit in it for me to worry about any witchcraft or voodoo--"

I snorted, trying to suppress a laugh. Jack looked down at me, looking surprised.

"Witchcraft? Voodoo?" I scoffed, shaking my head. "That's ridiculous!"

"Well, that's what Mr. Gibbs thought of you," Jack replied matter-of-factly. "He thought you could see the past and future and had been watching me."

I burst out laughing. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!" I exclaimed, wincing at my sore throat.

"Imagine how we all felt when you said you came from the future," said Jack, stopping and turning to face me. "We all thought that was pretty stupid sounding."

I stopped too and sighed. "Everyone hates me," I said suddenly, figuring that was what he meant.

"Hate is such a strong word. It's more along the lines of...they dislike you, immensely." Jack gave a little smirk, seeing my rueful smile.

"Great. Well, I'll keep that in mind when sending the Christmas cards," I said softly, starting to walk again.

We were silent again for a while, but Jack soon spoke. "What exactly happened when you came here?" he asked, stopping and turning again. "I mean, couldn't you have fought it or something?"

"No...well, yes, I guess I could've," I said thoughtfully. "It's just...I was curious, and...oh, never mind, it's stupid."

"What is? Tell me!" Jack demanded. He reminded me of a little kid wanting to know why he couldn't have some ice cream.

"Geez, don't spaz out on me!" I said mockingly. "It's not important, anyway. Just forget I said anything."

"Monica, as your captain, I order you to tell me...whatever it is that you were about to say." Jack stood in front of me, looking quite pleased that he had outsmarted a fifteen-year-old girl.

"Fine..." I sighed. "But I told you, it's not a big deal..."

"Tell me."

I shook my head, not looking at him. "When I got sucked through my dryer, I thought...I thought I was going to see my dad again."

Jack stared at me, silent. "Oh," he said stupidly.

I smiled wryly. "See? Told ya it wasn't important!" I continued walking.

"Monica, wait."

I stopped in my tracks. Oh, great, another sappy, touchy-feely apology, I thought. As if this weren't awkward enough already...oh, well, might as well humor him.

I turned around to see Jack frowning at me. "What's 'spaz'?"

I grinned, took my place next to him, and we continued our walk up to the square.

We eventually entered the well-lit square, me barely able to speak after the long explanation of the meaning of "spaz" and Jack muttering the word under his breath as if it would help him understand it better. We stopped in the middle of the square, wondering where a good place to spend the night would be.

Finally, Jack pointed out a place that didn't seem to have too many windows broken. Exhausted, we entered the building.

Inside, I was surprised to see no bright lanterns or drunken brawls. Instead, this was a dark place, lit only by the dying embers in a fireplace on the far wall of the room and a lantern on the innkeeper's desk. There were some small tables scattered about the small room, some with a few seedy characters huddled around it, some with wood so rotten it was falling apart right before my eyes. To the right of the innkeeper's desk was a narrow staircase which I presumed led up to the rooms.

I kept close to Jack as he led the way to the desk. Some of the men were giving us strange stares out from their hooded eyelids, only breaking their gazes to take deep swigs from their mugs.

At the desk, the innkeeper stared at us as if unsure we were really there. He stood up from his perch on a large overturned barrel and stumbled to the desk.

Drunk, I thought, catching the reek of rum coming from him. Just like everyone else in here, no doubt.

The innkeeper gave me what he clearly thought was a warm, friendly smile. I counted three missing teeth before smiling back uncomfortably.

The innkeeper turned expectantly at Jack, holding a quill poised over an ancient-looking book. He would have looked more professional if he hadn't been wavering slightly and blinking blearily at what he thought was his customer--a wooden pillar.

Jack cleared his throat and placed a few shillings on the book. The innkeeper looked down, smiled, handed Jack a small, rusty key, and said, "Welcome to the inn, Mr. Smith."

Jack pressed his palms together in an expression of thanks. I rolled my eyes. Straight from the movie! I thought, following Jack up the stairs.

Jack stopped at the top of the stairs, squinting down each side of the hallway, at his key, and back at the halls again. He finally turned right, nearly tripping over an end table placed erratically in the middle of the hall.

"Bloody place needs some lights," he mumbled, kicking the table to the side of the hall.

He felt his way to the last door on the right and fumbled for the keyhole. When he found it at last, he shoved the key into the hole and twisted.

Nothing happened.

He twisted it the other way, looking confused. He jiggled it, shook it, took it out and inspected it, but the key just would not open the damn door.

"Here, let me try," I offered after he had wiped the key off thoroughly on his shirt, leaving a rust colored stain.

Jack handed me the key, looking frustrated. "Good luck," he muttered, stepping back and moving his arms in a sweeping motion, as if to say "Be my guest."

I placed the key in my palm and examined it. Stroking my chin thoughtfully, I stuck the key in the hole, twisted it, and kicked the door as hard as I could.

The door swung open, leaving me standing there in the doorway with half a key in my hand.

"Oops," I said.

I glanced at Jack, who looked dumbfounded. He stared at the key half in my palm. "Well, at least the door's open," he murmured, moving past me and entering the room.

I followed, unsure what to do with the broken key. I placed it on an old, rickety table by the door.

I looked up to see Jack lighting a lantern with a lit candle that had been in the room. This one lantern was enough to light the entire tiny room. There were no windows, one small door that I guessed led to a closet, and only one bed.

I did a double take. One bed? I thought, horrified. There's no way!

I glanced at Jack, who I saw was glancing at me. We both looked away quickly, moving to opposite sides of the room--which meant to opposite sides of the bed, since the room was so bloody small.

Jack stared at the bed in disbelief, and I groaned and leaned against the closet door. It swung open without warning and I crashed to the ground.

Groaning, I sat up. Jack came to my side with the lantern, and I heard him give a relieved "Oh!"

I looked up and saw that I was in a much larger room, complete with grungy windows, musty-cushioned chairs, and...a bed.

Jack and I heaved sighs of relief. We both stood up happily, Jack shining the light around the room and me dusting the dust off my clothes.

The room was considerably bigger than the previous one, which was a relief. Two of the chairs were facing a fireplace, and two more were at opposite sides of a small wooden table. I glanced out one of the windows to see the square, still devoid of any life.

I plopped down in the chair closest to the fireplace. Jack sat in the one next to me, placing the lantern on floor in front of the fireplace.

"Too lazy to build a real fire, Mr. Smith?" I teased, smirking at him.

"Yeah, that's right," said Jack, sighing deeply. "I don't think I have the energy to get to bed."

"Yeah, I know how you feel," I murmured, leaning back into my chair. "Hey, if you're Mr. Smith, does that make me Mrs. Smith?"

"What? Of course not, we're not married," said Jack, frowning.

"Oh, never mind," I said, smiling to myself. I didn't have the energy to explain the movie Mr. & Mrs. Smith to him. "Are you called Mr. Smith a lot? I mean, that's almost exactly what happened in Port Royal..."

Jack scooted his chair closer to mine to hear me better and smiled faintly. "Heh. Yeah. That went well. Yes, I'm usually able to get away with being 'Mr. Smith'. Although sometimes, it's Mr. Brown or something."

"Mmm." I smiled, thinking about Jack arriving anonymously at different ports, kept safe by greedy dock hands.

"Monica," said Jack thoughtfully, "this...movie...you said is about me...you said there would be more?"

I nodded sleepily. "Yeah...the first one was called The Curse of the Black Pearl, and the next one's--"

"Hang on," said Jack suddenly, frowning at me. "My ship wasn't cursed. Barbossa's crew was."

"I know. That always bugged me too. But we weren't supposed to know the Pearl was yours, and that title sounds a bit more ominous than The Curse of Barbossa's Crew."

"Uh-huh," Jack said thoughtfully. "Sorry. Continue."

"Anyway, the next movie is called Dead Man's Chest. And the third one will either be called At World's End or Uncharted Waters."

"Uh-huh," Jack said again, rubbing his beard. "What happens in Dead Man's Chest?"

"You go looking for the chest of Davy Jones, and the key that will open it," I said casually.

Jack sat bolt upright in his chair. "What!"

I glanced at him, alarmed. Geez, I hope I didn't just screw up the whole movie franchise or something... I grimaced to myself. What had I just done? Wouldn't he have gone looking for the key and chest without my help?

My thoughts were interrupted by another question. "What happens in the third one, At Water's End or whatever it was?"

"I don't know; the second one hasn't even come out yet," I said. I was now sitting up straight in my chair like Jack. We were both wide awake and staring into the fire--I mean, lantern.

"So...I go looking for the chest and key...do you know anything else about the movie?" Jack asked seriously.

God, this is weird, I thought. "Um, I saw the trailer...that's like where you see parts from the movie to see what's gonna happen..." I continued to tell him all I had seen in the trailer.

"A kraken?" Jack asked, staring at me.

I nodded.

Jack leaned back in his chair stared at the floor. Then, "How long after the first movie is the second one?"

"I don't know," I said lamely. "I don't know when it starts off, so for all we know it could start tomorrow."

Jack looked at me helplessly. "A kraken?" he asked looking as if he were expecting me to say, "Haha, no, I was only joking!"

I nodded sympathetically.

"Great," he mumbled. "Just perfect."

I frowned at him. "Aren't you scared?" I asked incredulously.

"Of course! A bloody kraken is coming after me!"

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, it's not coming until after you meet Bootstrap Bill."

That got another look of shock from Jack. "Bootstrap!"

"Well, he wasn't in the trailer, but everyone's sure he's coming back," I said quickly. "I mean, it's obvious. And besides, he's on the cast list...that means he's definitely going to be played in the movie," I added.

"Played..." Jack murmured.

"Yes, by an actor or actress. The man who plays you is named Johnny Depp. Will and Elizabeth are played by Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley." Once again, I was fazed by how bizarre this--explaining the movie to one of its characters--was.

"And who plays you?" Jack asked, looking confused.

"What? No one plays me, I'm not in the movies," I said with a little laugh.

"But you said yourself, for all we know the next one could begin tomorrow. You could be in the next movie."

"But...but that doesn't even make sense," I insisted, frowning. "Would I stay here for the rest of my life? Or would I be able to watch myself in the movie?"

Jack shrugged. "I don't know. You know more about this than I do."

I scoffed. "Trust me, I have no idea what's going on here," I said, shaking my head and smiling wryly.

"Why don't you sleep on it?" Jack asked, standing up. "Come on. You need some rest."

I stood up too. "You're right. It's been a pretty long day."

Jack nodded. "And we'll need to get up early tomorrow so we can begin your training."

"Oh, yeah!" I said, grinning. I had forgotten about his promise.

"Well...good night," I said, hoarse from the discussion of movies.

"Good night. I'll wake you bright and early tomorrow."

"Great," I said, feigning excitement as Jack left the room. Oh, man, can't I get a good night's sleep for once? I thought exasperatedly, taking off my boots and belt. First a heaving ship, worrying about what would happen to me, and now getting hardly any sleep at all! His training better be worth it!

And with that, I dropped onto the bed, pulling the covers on top of me, and fell into a deep sleep.