Disclaimer: I own practically nothing. Not Sesshoumaru, not Inuyasha (show/manga or character) and not PotC. (Yes! Sequel coming out July 7! So getting opening night tix, preview too if I can manage it!)Bob still needs a home though. Somebody please either adopt him or point me to the nearest slug enthusiasts shelter so he won't die in the purging of the garden…

Chapter (1): Introduction to the ocean

Inuyasha paced in front of the well, fuming. Kagome had said she'd be back this morning, and it was already far past lunch! He wanted her to be back. He missed her too much during the weeks. She was hardly ever around anymore…just because Naraku was finally dead…Inuyasha scowled some more, and paced in front of the well.

At least she was staying for a week this time, instead of just for a few days. He missed her, even if he'd never admit to it.

She spent far too much time in the future now that Naraku was gone, in his opinion. He would never consider saying so, of course. He just got sulky. He wasn't a words person. He was an actions person, and showed his feelings by grousing continually whenever she vanished.

Kagome only came back on weekends. And now, she was late even for that. He finally couldn't take it anymore and jumped into the well, falling past purple clouds and dropping casually into the future. Why was Kagome never on time?

It was snowing outside, and Inuyasha dashed through the lazily drifting flakes of skyflakes towards the house. The frozen water fell against his skin and robe, melting with hardly a whisper. He jumped up into the tree besides Kagome's open window, and slipped inside, looking for her. Snow fell to the courtyard below, dislodged by his movements.

He crouched on the carpet, breathing in the soft air. He was always calmer in this room. It wasn't quite Kagome, but it was the next best thing to being with her. She'd imprinted every corner of the room with her personality, and with her own personal, somehow calming, scent. He breathed deeply before leaving. She must be downstairs.

Inuyasha walked lightly down the hallway towards the stairs, where he could hear her talking to her mom. He felt her grandfather creeping up behind him, and rolled his eyes slightly. He could guess what would happen next…

"Yah! I banish you!" Kagome's grandfather slapped a scroll on the back of Inuyasha's haori. Inuyasha ripped the scroll off his clothes and threw it at the old man, grimacing. He jumped down the stairs to escape, with the old man in not-so-hot pursuit. He still did that to him sometimes, even though it never worked. Actually, sometimes Inuyasha thought it was some weird form of entertainment for the old man…. See how long you can go without having an ofuda pasted to your back…

He stopped at the entrance to the living room, crossing his arms in a gruff way and watching as Kagome said her goodbyes. He leaned against the wall casually.

"Can't you ever be on time? We still have one last shard to find you know!" snapped Inuyasha, un-crossing his arms.

Kagome turned around and gave him a look that said that as soon as they were back in the past, he would be sat. Just because she spent less time with him didn't mean that she wouldn't say goodbye to the people she loved. She gave her mom one quick hug goodbye, and promised to return in a week. It was wonderful, having vacation…no more trying to juggle feudal attitudes with schoolwork…

Kagome followed Inuyasha, catching up so that they walked side by side through the snow. Inuyasha led the way down to the well and paused, waiting. "Why can't you ever be on time?" Inuyasha started muttering to himself about lateness as Kagome shifted her yellow bag's hefty frame to one hip.

Kagome shivered, rubbing her arms. She knew he was impatient. "I know, I know. Some things came up I had to deal with. Where should we start looking this time?" Kagome silently started cursing Hojo, who was the cause of her delays. He meant well…but… Couldn't he take a hint? At least he wasn't as bad as Kouga, who still thought that she was his woman! Kagome grimaced inside at the pair of them. They irritated her no end, and she briefly amused herself by imagining a world without Hojo or demanding wolf youkai. Such a pleasant place…

She climbed over the lip of the well and dropped down, Inuyasha right behind her. Kagome smiled at the thought of seeing her friends in the feudal era soon. 'I just wish we could find that last, elusive shard though. Hopefully, it's in someplace warm! I'm freezing!'

Almost as soon as she had dreamed up a beautiful, warm, sandy beach in the Caribbean, the purple haze at the bottom of the well took on a distinct blue tone, lightening to a brilliant, almost neon hue.

Kagome looked at it, puzzled. She didn't connect the brief daydream to the wells behavior at all. After all, the well had never responded to her thoughts before, and there was no reason for it to do so now, was there? But she did wonder at the chance in color. She didn't remember it doing that ever before…

Inuyasha felt the first faint stirrings of alarm begin as he watched the change occur. Kagome tightened her hold on his hand, squeezing Inuyasha's calloused palms between her fingers. This wasn't supposed to happen! It had never done anything like this before! What was going on?

They fell though space and time, not knowing where they were going. Alice, meet the rabbit hole…


Sesshoumaru walked ahead of Rin and Jaken through the forest, enjoying the afternoon sunshine. It was so peaceful around here…especially now that Jaken had finally shut up about 'my lord this, and Sesshoumaru-sama that'.

Honestly. He was like a fussy old woman, some days.

Sesshoumaru watched without seeming as though he was paying attention, eyes attentive as Rin dashed off towards a clearing with a well surrounded by flowers. He knew Naraku was dead and wouldn't try to kidnap or kill her, but it never hurt one to be cautious. His eyes narrowed slightly as he saw her bend over to inspect the new blossoms wavering in the breeze.

No doubt he would shortly be given a bouquet of the things, the dirt they'd been taken from still clinging to the roots. He didn't mind the plants too much. By now, he almost expected them to appear in Rin's tiny hands every time they ran across wildflowers or a meadow in bloom.

A muscle at the corner of his mouth twitched, the movement small and then gone as though it had never been, too swift to be taken for a smile. He wasn't sure what the floral attraction was, but it never failed to amuse him.

He paused as an errant wind brought a familiar scent towards him. Something wasn't right, and he frowned slightly in concentration. That smell. He could tell Inuyasha had been here recently, his invisible trail disappearing into the well. Curious, because while he could tell his brother had been here, he wasn't now and there was no sent coming out of the well, Sesshoumaru walked over to the opening, peering in.

Rin giggled and looked in too, but Sesshoumaru gently pushed her back.

"Rin, I want you and Jaken to stay here for the moment." he said in a firm voice, looking down the well. What was down there? His brother hadn't come back out, so there must be something

"But Rin wants to go with Sesshoumaru-sama!" Rin held onto a single yellow patterned flower tightly, looking up from his knees with pleading eyes. She wasn't keen to let him out of her sight for too long.

"No, Rin. Stay here and wait. I'll be back" He gave Jaken a look that clearly meant 'take care of her or you will die a most painful death', and jumped down into the well.

He briefly wondered why Inuyasha might have vanished so completely. Would there be a tunnel? Or a room, opening off the well shaft? A hidden passage?

Nothing of the sort. He stared, then gasped softly in surprise as first purple and then blue haze surrounded him, consuming him.

There wasn't a bottom! It just went on and on and on…

What had he so blithely stepped into? This wasn't what he'd expected at all! He didn't know what was happening. And Sesshoumaru hated not knowing what was happening.

He waited for the mist to clear, a slight thrill of anticipation running though him. He silently prepared for anything. What had happened? What was this? Where was he going?

Jaken grumbled as Sesshoumaru-sama glided out of sight silently as a ghost. He hopped up onto the rim of the well. "Sesshoumaru-sama, when…" Enormous yellow eyes blinked, stunned. Where was Sesshoumaru? Jaken cried out in horror. His lord was gone! Vanished without a trace!


Jack wedged himself into the niche between the seat of the boat and the side, sighing as he thought back to the night he'd first come into possession of the Pearl all those years ago. That had been some of the best rum he'd ever had for the celebration, and he'd had the worst hangover of his life the next morning, but it had been worth it. Well worth it.

Now, years later he'd come down in the world somewhat, without his beloved Pearl, or even another decent sized ship to his name, just this little cutter. Fate was a cruel, cruel joke. Jack closed his eyes and leaned back into the prow of the tiny craft, fingering the crystal shard in his hair. It was all that was left of the Pearl, now. All he had. He leaned back further, drifting on currents of fond memory.

Maybe he'd finally be able to catch up with Barbossa. He knew what the other man was up to, didn't he? He was bound to come across the boy, or the coin, sometime. Bootstraps son…

He had just bordered on the realms of sleep when he woke with a bone-jarring thump. He cracked an eye open, and looked at the two blurred shapes suddenly blocking out the moonlight.


Kagome landed with a thump, and a muffled curse, on top of Inuyasha. She lay there for a few seconds, stunned by the impact. What had happened? She'd been drifting in space, and then…an abrupt freefall. She took some comfort in the fact that she hadn't screamed her lungs out at the shock, but it was still…disconcerting.

She finally thought to move off of Inuyasha, and did so. He sat up as she moved away, wincing. "That hurt" Kagome rubbed her ribs surreptitiously, taking off her backpack. It felt like she'd landed on something hard and pointy…

She rolled as the ground suddenly shifted to the side, and fell off the wooden seat onto the floor with a bump. She grimaced at the thought of more bruises, and glanced around, taking stock of her surroundings quickly.

This was definitely not the feudal era.

It was warm, it was dark, it smelled like saltwater and - her stomach lurched in an unpleasant way - it felt like she was on a boat. Kagome turned her head, and realized she could also sense a jewel shard nearby.

The last shard!

Inuyasha wrinkled his nose. "Where's this?" Wherever it was, it smelled like seaweed…

"I think we're on a boat in the middle of an ocean. And there's a jewel shard nearby too!" Kagome glanced around as she whispered in a low voice, leaning in towards Inuyasha. He snapped alert as she mentioned the shard.

"Are you sure! The last one?" He grinned as Kagome nodded. Last one! Last shard! Last one!

"It's over there." She motioned towards where Jack was sitting in a half-awake daze, blinking in surprise as she caught sight of a dark pair of eyes. Someone was there. She thought it was a person, a human. It didn't feel like a youkai.

She stared. Jack stared back.

Jack was speechless. Two total strangers, one wearing less than Scarlet would ever consider donning, and the other with…dog ears? They'd just dropped out of the sky! (Briefly, he wondered why it was always the sky they fell out of, and never the sea. Or the ground…)

He had to be dreaming. He was. And he would wake up any minute now...this was what came of long association with rum…

Kagome and Inuyasha just stared at the scruffy looking human wearing dark kohl around his eyes. Kagome took in the various beads and trinkets in his hair, mixed in with the most disreputable dreadlocks she had ever seen.

Finally she broke the silence by looking hard at one of Jacks shiny trinkets. It looked somewhat familiar…"I see it! The shard's in his hair, Inuyasha! It's that crystal on the left side!" The last shard! The last one! After all this time…the last Shikon shard!

She felt like cheering!

Inuyasha snatched one of the stranger's dreadlocks and cut it through, holding it up and carefully picking out the crystal sliver. He gave the shard to Kagome, and dropped the lock of frizzy hair to the deck. Jack watched, stunned, but then seemed to shake off his surprise at the turn of events and started shouting

"That it?" Kagome wasn't the only one who felt like celebrating.

"Yup!"

"Hey! That's mine! Give it back right now or I'll run you throu-!" They'd cut his hair! His hair! And they'd stolen his lucky crystal! He shouted angrily, but was interrupted as Kagome discovered the shard was incomplete; it had broken cleanly in half and part of it was missing.

"Where's the rest of it! Where's the rest of my shard?" All this time they'd spent searching for it, and for what? They were still not done the search! It wasn't complete! Kagome wanted to just scream

Inuyasha groaned, and flopped back, hopes dead. Of course the bloody shard wasn't all there…

It was going to be one of those days…nights…

"Your shard? My shard!" shouted Jack, incensed. That was his favorite hair ornament! That was the only link he had with the Pearl! "Its min-"

He was interrupted as a second object hit the water and splashed a sheet of water over him, drenching everyone and everything in the boat. Jack glared at the water, and at the head of pale hair struggling to stay afloat. He shook his fist in the general direction of the splash, swearing fluently.


Sesshoumaru's eyes went round as he felt water close over his head. He had never expected water.

Everything had been blue and purple, and then, a few seconds of falling…he'd braced for the impact, ready to try flying, if the fall went on too long…and then, he had landed in this obscenely large puddle! A battle, or his brother, yes. He could deal with that. Water, no. Sesshoumaru started cursing inside his head as he realized one very important fact.

He had never learned how to swim.

He'd always jumped over rivers, or flown over lakes. He'd never bathed in anything less than neck high water. He had never felt his feet sink as ground failed to materialize, or liquid close over his head without his permission. He had never been unable to touch the bottom. And he had certainly never tried bathing in a full suit of armour. Or taken into account how heavy his tail got when it was drenched…

He felt himself begin to slide down towards unknown depths, and realized he would have a hard time even surfacing, let alone making it to the closest shore. He clawed at the water grimly, gasping as his head broke the surface, still stunned by the sudden wetness surrounding him. This would have been so much easier with both arms…


"Sesshoumaru." Inuyasha gritted out. His teeth were clenched tightly, and he was gripping his sword hilt so hard his knuckles went white. That bastard…what was he doing here?

He watched as Sesshoumaru struggled to stay afloat, vainly trying to get to the boat and slowly failing as the weight of his waterlogged tail and armour pulled him inexorably down. The heavy silk clothing and swords didn't look like they were helping matters any either.

"Wait a minute Inuyasha. He's harmless for now, but we might need him later on." Kagome watched Sesshoumaru as well. She wasn't particularly fond of the guy, but she wanted to keep all their options open for later. Sesshoumaru might come in handy…

"What!" Inuyasha gawked at Kagome. "He tried to kill me and steal Tetsusaiga! And you want to save him!"

Kagome leaned over the side closer to where Sesshoumaru was thrashing madly. "I know that. But we don't know what just happened either. We might need him." She raised her voice, loud enough to be heard over the frothy water "If I help you onto the boat, will you agree to at least talk things over and work something out before you try stealing his sword again, or trying to kill us?"

"Ye-chokecoughcoughsputter-s" Sesshoumaru was still desperately trying to stay afloat, but with slower movements. He was beginning to tire after almost a minute in the water. A voice had said something about a boat. Where was it…?

Were there people here? That voice sounded familiar. Inuyasha…if there were people, he might live though the night. He'd agree to wait, certainly. If they got him out! He could always try getting his property back later…

Jack stared, transfixed. "He tried killing you, and you're helping him? That's crazy! This is all a dream, and I'm going to wake up in the morning with nothing but a hangover." He muttered, watching as Kagome grabbed one of the oars and got Inuyasha to help, after reminding him that if she said the 's word' he would have a long, long time to think about his mistake-on the bottom of the ocean. 'S-word?' Jack wondered what that was.

Sesshoumaru finally managed to dig his claws into the oar, and he was pulled aboard, looking like a drowned rat. He was absolutely soaked, mussed hair plastered to his face and straggling down his back, tail a sodden remnant of its former fluffiness. Kagome covered her mouth, somewhat amused by the sight he presented. Inuyasha didn't even bother trying to hide his laugh.

Sesshoumaru ignored the laughing, and took a deep breath, taking stock of his surroundings. He sat down warily, taking in the two humans and his brother. He pushed aside their mirth at his expense for the moment, though he should perhaps do something later. He knew one of the humans was Inuyasha's companion, but the other…? He hugged his tail to himself and started trying to dry it, glaring at the unknown human. Someone had a great deal of explaining to do…

Inuyasha. And his wench. What were they up to, and where was he? Those were the two questions he wanted answers to right now.

"Is this your doing? If it is... Where is this place anyway?" curiosity colored his normal voice as he looked out across the dark water. "How did I get here?" What had he landed himself in now? Trouble? A fight with Inuyasha? Waters unknown…

"I'm not sure how we got here. And that's a good question." She turned to the stranger who was watching, with a slightly bemused expression as Sesshoumaru wrung out his tail, grumbling. "You there, where are we?" she asked.

Jack turned to look at her, incredulous. "You fall out of the sky, you steal my favorite hair piece, one of you has a tail! A tail! And the other has ears….and you don't even know where you are!"

"That's right, except for the part about the Shikon shard. So, where are we?" Kagome's eyes crinkled sweetly as she gave him a bright smile.

Jack sputtered for a moment, then decided to go along with the three weirdoes. It was all a dream anyways...he'd wake up in the morning alone and with a raging hangover yet again...and he'd still have his crystal when he woke up too!

When in dreams, do as the dream tells you to…

"I came from Tortuga, headed towards Port Royal."

"I see." Kagome frowned. Where was that? England…? It sounded English, at any rate. Or maybe even French…

It wasn't in Japan, she knew that much. Maybe she'd gotten lucky and they'd only gone as far as China…she hoped so, at any rate. What would they do if they were in England?

Kagome suddenly laughed at the thought of Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru loose in Paris. France would never be the same…

"Where's that?" Inuyasha looked impatient, and slightly confused.

"In the bloody Caribbean, mate! Haven't you ever hear of Port Royal?" laughed Jack, enjoying the confused expression on Inuyasha's face, which matched the way he felt completely.

"Cari...Caribbean?" gasped Kagome, her face going pale. She was beginning to feel a tide of rising panic engulf her. Why were they here? They were nowhere near Japan!

"Is this a place you recognize?" asked Sesshoumaru, looking up from his sopping tail

"Of course I recognize it! It's only halfway around the world from Japan!" shouted Kagome sarcastically, trying to hide her alarm. Oh shit…this was worse than she'd thought…how did you get back to Japan from the Caribbean?

Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru and Jack all stared at her.

"I suppose this is the 1800's too, just to make my day complete." Grouched Kagome, berating herself. She had wished for a warm beach somewhere...

'Be careful what you ask for, for you might well get it' she thought bitterly. Why did it have to be the Caribbean?

"1800's? That's not right, it's 1672." Jack was now thoroughly puzzled. "Oh well," he added "This is all a dream anyway, no wonder it's confusing."

"What!" shouted Inuyasha and Kagome, as Sesshoumaru calmly looked over in his direction.

"I am no dream, mortal. You would be wise to remember that." 'Idiot human.'

"Sesshoumaru, you are not going to kill him! Or anyone else! This is the Caribbean in the 1600's. They have never even heard of you, and probably don't even know much about Japan! Besides, we need him for information!"

"What's a youkai?" asked Jack, underscoring the point. His feeling was that if he had to have dreams like this then he might as well go along and enjoy himself. Although why he was dreaming about nonexistent nonsense, he didn't know…never argue with the rum…

"A demon, I suppose you could say. It's a rather poor translation, but it works. That's what Sesshoumaru over there is by the way. Inuyasha is a hanyou, or a half demon."

"Feh." Inuyasha rolled his eyes, somewhat annoyed with Kagome. Did she have to blurt everything about him out like that? And who'd made her the spokesperson anyways? She was getting far too friendly with the man in the boat. He had a sword…and might not be so friendly in a bit.

"Oh. And what are you? The lady of Hell?" asked Jack, still confused "Demons? Now I've heard everything…although I'd have expected horns and pitchforks, if one believes the church...I always thought priests were a bunch of liars…just goes to prove I was right…."

"Just a normal girl." What was he babbling about? Kagome didn't know. She had grown up in a Shinto shrine. Her experience with Christianity extended to the heavily commercialized Christmas holidays. She sniffed the air delicately, and wrinkled her nose as the scent of alcohol intruded. Great. Of all the places they could have landed, they'd fallen on top of a drunk. In a boat, in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. In the Caribbean. In the 1600's.

Wonderful.

Inuyasha snickered. Normal? Hah! No normal girl could do half the things she could! She was too special to be just normal…

Sesshoumaru just chuckled low in his throat. Normal? Definitely not. Most people never managed to break a perfectly good suit of armor with an arrow. Even that strange kimono she always wore marked her out. Indecent thing.

Jack was getting bored with this. There was only so much strangeness he could absorb at once. "Hmm. Is that right? Well, Miss Normal, I am going to go back to sleep, and when I wake up this will all be some crazy dream." He smiled in a particularly irritating way.

"My name is Kagome, not Miss Normal!" Kagome glared at Jack. 'How can anyone be so stupid, so blind to the truth? I'll admit we're probably a bit much, dropping out of the sky into his lap, but still, you'd think he'd show some sense! Even if he is hammered!'

"And I'd like my crystal back too, if you don't mind." Jack added, in a voice that clearly said 'or else.'

"It's mine! It was part of another jewel that broke, and I need it back to fix the silly thing." Kagome held the Shikon up as she spoke, absently putting the newfound shard into place. It fused into the rest of the jewel effortlessly.

Jack said nothing, but he considered; Part of a jewel? That rather expensive looking one? That sounded interesting. Most interesting.

"Where is the other part of this shard anyway? It's broken cleanly in half." Kagome asked irritably. Just when she thought the quest was over…

Jack yawned and mumbled "Barbossa's got it." He snored, sound asleep again.

Sesshoumaru glanced at his scruffy figure, and then turned to Kagome. Let sleeping humans lie. He had information to uncover…

"Do you have any idea of how to get back? And what's this about 1672?" That sounded rather ominous. What had his obnoxious brother dragged him into now? Sesshoumaru conveniently forgot that he'd decided to jump into this of his own accord.

"I don't know how we ended up here, but we're practically half the world away from Japan, and in the wrong time too." Kagome frowned. This had never happened before. Maybe they needed Sesshoumaru to get back…? What if they did?

They could certainly use his fighting skills if it came down to it. "I think if might be best if we agreed not to kill each other until we're all back in Japan, in the right time, and then go our separate ways."

"What? You'd trust him to come along!" Inuyasha glared at Sesshoumaru. She was going to let the stuck-up puppy come along? After he tried to kill them? Insanity…

"What if we need him later on, or even if he needs us to get back? It's a chance I don't want to take" countered Kagome calmly. "You'll just have to deal with it or I say 'the word' so many times right here right now you'll make a crater the size of a continent on the ocean floor."

She had her doubts as well. Sesshoumaru scared her. He didn't look terribly frightening at the moment, not when he was bemoaning his clothing or his tail like that (she had a sudden urge to laugh hysterically. Who knew he was so fussy?), but she knew what he was capable of. She also knew he was trustworthy once he'd given them his word.

Inuyasha gulped, and shut up. She had a point there. He did not want to be stuck in a place that reeked of seaweed forever. Or get 'sat' right through the bottom of the boat…

"That is reasonable. I will cooperate with the both of you till we return." He had to trust her judgment. Presumably, she knew what she was talking about. Sesshoumaru certainly didn't.

Inwardly he seethed, furious that a mere human would dare think he needed her or his half brother, but she did have a point. She knew more about this than him, so could even be right. Privately, Sesshoumaru felt his respect for the girl go up a notch.

It wasn't often youkai stood up to him like that, much less a human. Even if she was some sort of miko. Absently he took off his armor and started drying his tail again. It was a mess! And the salt in the ocean water hadn't helped matters any at all…he would have to get it cleaned properly once they were off this boat...pity he couldn't fly to land, but he didn't even know which way to go, and he definitely wasn't going to get the human, his brother or Kagome to fly with him to provide directions.

'Idiotic ocean!'


Yay! Two ch's re-posted in one day. I think I'll go sleep now…It's after midnight, and I got a big day tomorrow…

Oh ,and before I got any further and forget…since this is a revision of an existing story, updates aren't on a shedual, the way I'm planning my next story to be. Just something I do when I got some free time. Not much, lately….got a portfolio for university to do. And websites to make, and convert existing ones to CSS...

Step aside to my homepage: Dark Gardens (http/www. lumbe/ darkgardensps1/ index.html) Just remove spaces, or visit my author profile. The site contains a large amount of writting, original and fanfiction, and an art section. Please come visit!

Originally posted: Feb 10 2004

Revised: Jan 3 2006