Disclaimer: sigh I really wish I owned Inuyasha….or potc…or Jack Sparrow and Sesshoumaru….but unfortunately, I don't think I get them for Christmas. :'( …but maybe I'll get the first season on boxing day…

now....ch15....i think a few people have been waiting for it if the occasional death threat is any indication...lol

Chapter 15: In Which There Be Rum.

Jack caught up to Miroku and Sango as they were towing a very wet, profoundly unhappy Sesshoumaru into shore. "That's the second time I've had to watch that man sail away with my ship." He said, disgusted with himself for letting it happen again.

"When was the first time?" asked Sango curiously. She hadn't known that this had happened before. It must be terrible for Jack to have to go through that betrayal not only once, but twice…

What was Kohaku doing now? Was he safe, or was he in danger, with her not there to help?

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"There we go." Said Miroku as his feet touched the bottom of the lagoon. A moment later, Sesshoumaru, Sango and Jack touched the sandy bottom too. Jack waded up onto shore behind Elisabeth. Kagome and Inuyasha were already waiting on the beach. Kagome watched with relief as everyone emerged from the ocean, wet but other wise fine, while Inuyasha privately wished the waves would stop swishing so loudly. He had, as predicted, one of the worst headaches he'd ever had the misfortune to encounter.

Sesshoumaru shrugged, and followed with resignation as he wobbled onto shore. He thought that his balance was improving somewhat…and the black swimming in front of his eyes was perhaps beginning to lighten?

He couldn't be sure, but Sesshoumaru dared to hope that he'd be relatively healed soon. Preferably by morning. He hated being helpless in any way, and this was far worse than when Inuyasha had taken his arm, since at least he'd been trained to use a sword in either hand. Difficult, but nowhere on the scale of blindness, even temporary blindness.

Not to mention the fact that learning to do everything one handed had been a private humiliation, while accidentally walking into things, and being stupid enough to get shot 11 times, were known to all. The injury to his pride was by far the worst part of this.

Kagome kept watching as the rest of their little group made their way up the beach. Inuyasha stood, arms crossed, beside her. He was glad they'd have some time to rest, that Kagome would have time to rest, though he wouldn't say so.

"So, we rest up for the rest of today, then go after them in the morning?" asked Kagome as Miroku, Sango and Jack came into hearing range.

"How? We're on an island." Retorted Elisabeth. Perhaps it was unreasonable to expect that they should have freed Will, but…she still couldn't shake the feeling that she had been betrayed somehow. All the stories Kagome had told her…had they just been stories?

She had to hope they weren't, but once she had begun to doubt, the feeling of leading a lost cause wouldn't go away. Even if they managed to build a raft, it would be only enough to save themselves. Will would be beyond help by then. Elisabeth stuck out her chin, and marched up the rest of the beach. If she had to, she'd build a raft.

Jack silently agreed. The girl was obviously delusional; much as he hated to admit it, Elisabeth was right. How could one get off an island without a boat, or any means of building one? He'd been lucky last time…he doubted his luck would hold though. Fate seemed to hate him…

"Not a problem at all. Jack knows how to navigate, correct?"

"Aye…" Said Jack cautiously as Miroku came up behind him with Sango. They had left Sesshoumaru standing behind them. What could she be plotting behind that innocent smile?

"Well, then can't you navigate for us while Sesshoumaru kindly provides the transportation?" Said Kagome patiently.

Inuyasha snorted. "No way! The idiot would probably crash land in the ocean because he couldn't hear directions. And I doubt he'd be willing to anyways"

Elisabeth's eyes widened. Fly? That would be perfect! She'd always wanted to fly….and they could still save Will! But then she sobered….Inuyasha was right. Sesshoumaru wasn't exactly in good condition. From where she was standing, she could see that he'd been shot numerous times, and he was weaving slightly. If he could even fly at all…

They were still stuck here for a while, long enough that Will might be dead by the time they could help him. Elisabeth's brief jubilation faded, as everyone's eyes turned to Sesshoumaru.

He wobbled in place, completely oblivious.

Jack sighed, and walked up to him. "Say mate, would you be willing to fly us out of here?" he shouted.

Sesshoumaru grimaced, and spat "Don't call me mate! I refuse to be refereed to in such a demeaning fashion!" Really, the nerve of him….Sesshoumaru winced inside as Inuyasha's laughter came faintly to his ears.

Inuyasha had sat down, and was holding his sides, they hurt from laughing so hard. Kagome laughed along with him, while Sango and Miroku were smiling behind their hands.

Elisabeth looked from an angry Sesshoumaru to Inuyasha, rather lost. She had no clue what was going on. Jack just stood in front of Sesshoumaru, with that sinking feeling you get when you know you've done or said something incredibly stupid, but don't know what it is.

He shook his head slowly. What had he said?

Elisabeth blinked, and walked off, determined to find some shade. Jack looked at Sesshoumaru's icily calm face, and decided to follow her and ask questions later.

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Elizabeth waited as he caught up, determined to interrogate him about his previous stay.

"Well, shall we find out about this island" said Elisabeth in a falsely cheerful voice. "or at least I will…you were marooned on this island before, weren't you? So we can escape in the same way you did then." Elisabeth smiled, looking back at the group on the beach. She didn't really think they could fly out of here, whether or not Sesshoumaru recovered enough. But if Jack had been here before, then they ought to be able to use the same escape rout out.

Jack turned away from the coconut tree "To what point and purpose, young missy? The Black Pearl is gone and unless you have a rudder and a lot of sails hidden in that bodice" he looks downwards slightly " – unlikely - young Mr. Turner will be dead long before you can reach him. Flying is best."

"I doubt he can fly. I think Kagome was making that bit up."

"Oh, he can fly. Seen it myself."

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow as Jack bent down to the ground "At least tell me how you escaped last time."

Jack vanished down the hatch of an underground cash. "Last time…I was here a grand total of three days, all right? Last time" he reappeared with an armful of bottles " …the rumrunners used this island as a cache. Came by, and I was able to barter a passage off. From the looks of things, they've long been out of business. Probably…have your bloody friend Norrington to thank for that." He climbed out.

"So that's it then? That's the secret grand adventure of the infamous Jack Sparrow? You spent three days lying on a beach, drinking rum?!" exclaimed Elisabeth

Jack shrugged "Welcome to the Caribbean, love." He walked past Elisabeth, handing her a bottle on the way by. She held it loosely, looking at it. "I think a bit of rum could help us out a bit here, don't you? Miroku never really got a chance to enjoy it while he was on Tourtuga, and I doubt Sango or Inuyasha have ever had any."

Jack walked over to where Kagome was sitting on the beach beside Inuyasha on a driftwood log, working on a bandage for the graze along his forehead. Sesshoumaru was sitting on a clump of grass, carefully trying to work out the tangles in his hair and his very soggy tail.

Miroku and Sango were sitting side by side, closes to Jack. He went over after passing Elisabeth a bottle, and dropped one into the sand beside them.

"The finest rum in the Caribbean!" said Jack happily as he moved on to where Inuyasha and Kagome were sitting.

Miroku looked consideringly at the bottle. He hadn't really had a chance to sample this 'rum' while on Tortuga, so he uncorked the bottle and took a sip. It was suprisingly good, and he passed it to Sango.

"This is actually quite good." Sango looked at the bottle dubiously, and to take a sip It wasn't sake…it was rum. What exactly was rum?

She blinked as it settled warmly in her throat, and smiled a bit. For once, Miroku was right…this was good!

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Jack approached Inuyasha, holding out a bottle. Inuyasha had sworn he wasn't going to have any rum….but that wasn't about to stop Jack at all. If it took him his entire stay on this island, he was determined to teach Inuyasha the finer arts of drinking.

Inuyasha looked up as he smelled Jack, and the considerable amount of alcohol he was carrying, approach. He wrinkled his nose, and tried to block out the stench intruding on his senses.

Why was there rum…was it rum? Why was it here? He'd thought it and its vile stench safely left behind in Tourtuga!

"Here we go! I found some of the rum the rum runners left behind…have some!" smiled Jack. Inuyasha stood up, and snorted.

"Like I would ever drink that! It reeks!"

Kagome looked at the murky brown bottle, and agreed. She wasn't about to drink anything alcoholic….she was only 17…and even if she'd wanted too, she could only guess what the bottle had been through before it got to her.

"No thanks Jack. You drink it for us"

"Feh."

Jack shrugged, and opened the bottle. He'd try again later, but for now…he had some serious drinking to do, after he talked to Sesshoumaru.

Jack went over to where he was sitting, working on his scraggly tail.

Sesshoumaru looked up blindly as he scented Jack and his hoard of rum approaching.

He hadn't been sure before, but he was now. He was starting to pick out vague areas of light and dark. Slowly, he was recovering. He ought to be getting better at hearing too then, and he might be entirely healed except for the bullet holes by this evening at earliest. By mourning for sure, and buy then he ought to have pretty much recovered from the bullets except for bruises. And bruises, he could deal with.

"I've managed to find some rum here. It seems-"

"I can tell from here. That poisonous bile reeks. I don't know how you can drink it."

"But-"

Sesshoumaru's eyes took on a reddish tinge. The idiot human had had the nerve earlier to call him…him! Mate! And now he proposed to poison him! Sesshoumaru was wishing he had never, ever gone back for Jack in that cave. Never. Even if he had been 'downed' to death, it would have been better!

Jack quickly decided that he wasn't going to offer any rum to Sesshoumaru, and left. Fast. He walked back to where Sango and Miroku were sitting on their driftwood log, holding onto his rum tightly.

Elisabeth finally sat down with them, holding her own bottle glumly. There was nothing much to do but drink it seemed.

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Kagome finished with Inuyasha's wound, and packed up her waterlogged backpack.

"You should swallow that now." She told Inuyasha, looking at the red Tylenol in his hand.

He took it, and bit down, face going through every aspect of disgust as the taste filled his mouth. He chewed it up as fast as he could, trying not to spit it out.

"What was that for? It tasted awful!"

Kagome laughed. "I said to SWALLOW it, not chew it. It doesn't taste bad if you just swallow pills. And it's for the headache. It won't be as bad now."

"Feh" Inuyasha's mouth worked furiously, trying to get rid of the aftertaste of extra strength Tylenol.

Kagome looked sadly at her backpack. It looked as if the sand had been ground into the fabric, and it was still wet. Luckily the first aid kit was ok, but the bag…

When she got home, she would need a new one, what with all the abuse this one had taken…

Now. Sesshoumaru. He'd need to be taken care of too, wouldn't he? Bullet wounds might heal on their own, but if she took care of them now they would heal faster.

She grabbed it, and marched over to where Sesshoumaru was still trying, with even less success than before, to pick the knots out of his hair.

"Alright you, I want to look at those wounds. If I dress them, they'll heal faster for tomorrow, so I want you to si-…sat right there." She said, loud enough that he couldn't mishear.

"What? You will do no such thing."

Inuyasha watched as Kagome drew herself up slightly. He didn't envy Sesshoumaru now…his brother was going to get covered in Band-Aids whether he wanted it or not…at this point, he could almost see the attraction Shippo had for watching the little dramas within their group. They were always entertaining. As long as it wasn't you who was getting sat of course.

"Yes, I will. You are going to fly us out of here and therefore you need to be healing. Therefore I need to work on those wounds. Now." said Kagome, rolling her eyes at the stubborn youkai. Couldn't he see the sense in that?

"They will heal without your assistance. I need nothing from you."

"They will heal FASTER if I look at them."

"They are fine as is."

"Really? Are you sure about that?" said Kagome dangerously

"Yes" said Sesshoumaru dismissivly.

"Down, boy."

THUMP

Sesshoumaru scowled at the sand horrifically. Damn the wench with her necklace! And now he had SAND in his tail too!

He could feel her walk over, and set down her bag. Sesshoumaru tried wriggling away, but still couldn't see where to go. He managed to wriggle into a palm tree, hitting his head hard. He cursed under his breath.

Kagome laughed good-naturedly. "Hey, Inuyasha, could you come here for a minute? I've got something you could do for me."

Inuyasha came over, curious. Why would he want to help her help Sesshoumaru? This had better be good…

"Sit on him." She whispered, grinning.

Thump

"Oh dear…I'm sorry! I didn't mean that! But…could you hold him down?" asked Kagome softly enough that Sesshoumaru wouldn't be able to hear her.

Inuyasha grinned. He could do that…it wouldn't be his fault if Sesshoumaru was trying to get away and accidentally got a foot in his mouth now, would it?

Kagome noticed Sesshoumaru trying to get up to escape.

"Down"

Thunk

"Bitch." Snarled Sesshoumaru.

"Why do I even bother?" sighed Kagome, leaning down and unpacking her first aid kit. Inuyasha plunked himself down on Sesshoumaru's legs, and while he writhed, Kagome wrapped up his arm and shoulder detachedly, occasionally muttering a 'down' when Sesshoumaru got too out of control.

Inuyasha grinned. This was fun! Especially since he'd 'accidentally' elbowed his brother in the side just now…

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Sango, Miroku, Jack and Elisabeth just watched…from a safe distance. They were all smiling, and had made resolutions to stay out of Sesshoumaru's way for the next little bit. He wasn't looking too happy at all, since he was now covered from nose to feet in damp sand, where he wasn't wrapped up like a mummy in various lengths of gauze and Band-Aids.

"You know, I think we should have a fire." Said Jack absently as the light glittering on the water faded. He set down his half empty bottle, and got up in search of wood, dragging a few branches over to clear spot on the beach.

Jack leaned down over the pile of wood, and made a little nest of tinder, striking it with flint and steel. He blew on the tiny flamlet gently, feeding it on dried palm leaves and bits of wood, gradually working up to a driftwood log as the flames grew under his careful tending

Finally he leaned back from his work, watching it burning merrily on the timber as darkness grew.

Sango and Miroku got up, and sat by the fire with their drinks, smiling as the warmth reached them.

Kagome and Inuyasha came over too once she'd put her bag away. Behind them, Sesshoumaru stood up stiffly, and walked towards the fire. He could see a bit of lightness flickering in front of him, but unfortunately, couldn't see the palm tree. He fell down, and then picked himself up, finding his way to the fire by trial and error. When he was almost there, he stopped beside the latest palm tree he'd hit, and sat down with his back to it. He wasn't going to move until he could see properly!

Inuyasha stopped, and then looked at Jack. "Where's the water around here?"

Jack paused, thinking hard. Now that he though about it, there wasn't any water. "There is none…just rum, really." He smiled. This could be an opportunity for Inuyasha to try rum! "Why, are you thirsty?"

"Yes!"

"So thirsty your throat is sticking to your tongue?"

"Yes!!"

"Your going to die you're so thirsty?"

"Yes, I said!!!" Inuyasha scowled at the pirate. He was far thirstier now….no thanks to Jack

Jack smiled, and sipped absently at his rum bottle, tossing one to Inuyasha. "That's all there is. Take it or leave it."

Inuyasha glared at the bottle, then popped the cork and drank a huge gulp, trying to ignore the fumes. He coughed as the rum burned on the way down, choking him. He didn't know it would burn! He finished coughing, then took a much smaller sip. Funny, but it didn't seem to burn as much this time…

Kagome frowned. No water? That wasn't good at all….at least they had something to drink, but she didn't want to have rum…the one time Kagome had tried some imported beer, which she thought was similar to rum, she'd not cared for it at all.

Ah well. Jacks little speech had made HER thirsty too, so she took one of the bottles stacked in the sand, and ignored the grubby glass.

Kagome took a drink and sat beside Sango and Elisabeth, watching as Inuyasha took another sip before helping Jack build up the fire to bonfire proportions. It did taste nasty, but that was all there was. So be it.

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Elizabeth and Jack were singing, hand in hand, around the fire. Sango giggled, and leaned on Miroku. Miroku grinned happily, and put a bottle of rum away for future occasions…he hadn't known Sango liked it so much!

Kagome laughed and stoop up unsteadily, reaching down to Inuyasha. He grinned, and grabbed her hand, and both of them joined in Jacks and Elisabeth's staggering dance. Kagome started singing too "We're devils and black sheep and really bad eggs. Drink up me 'earties yo ho! Yo ho, yo ho a pirate's life for me!"

Elisabeth laughed, and fell over in the sand, watching as the three wobbled happily around the fire.

"I love this song! Really bad eggs! Ooh." Said jack flamboyantly, tripping and falling beside Elisabeth. " When I get the Pearl back, I'm gonna teach it to the whole crew, and we'll sing it all the time!"

"Can we come to?" added Kagome, before starting off again "Yo ho, you ho.." Inuyasha grinned, and then started singing, reaching for his third bottle of rum. By now, he couldn't care less what the stuff smelled like…and it went down a lot easier too. "We can sing it travelling!"

"And you'll be positively the most fearsome pirate in the Spanish Main!" laughed Elisabeth "You'll be the most feared crew of demon pirates ever to sail the sea!"

"Not just the Spanish Main , love. The entire ocean. The entire wo'ld. Wherever we want to go, we'll go. That's what a ship is, you know. It's not just a keel and a hull and a deck and sails that's what a ship needs but what a ship is…what the Black Pearl really is…is freedom." Slurred Jack

"Freedom!" chipped in Sango, leaning into Miroku and settling in. His robes made a very comfortable seat, warm from the fire on one side, and from his own body heat on the other. Sango was getting drowsy…if only Kohoku was here…

She started crying silently. Miroku started as tears hit his hand, then leaned over. She wasn't hurt…she'd been fine when they came out of the ocean…what was it? He hate to see her cry…"Sango? Sango…its ok….I'm here…."

Sango kept sobbing, and buried her face in the monks sleeve. Miroku gave her a hug. Poor Sango…

To his amazement, Sango hugged him back fiercely. So Miroku kept right on holding her, till she fell asleep. She looked so different when she was sleeping…no hard lines from the cards she'd been dealt, no fierce demon slayers face…just her. Just his beautiful Sango.

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Inuyasha and Kagome were still dancing around the fire, singing at the top of their lungs. Kagome laughed, and then spun around.

"I'm going to teach you how to tango!"

"Tango? What's that?"

"Oh, its really, really fun…you put your left foot here….and your right here….and your arms here…" Kagome directed Inuyasha, and put his hand in hers, blushing…why was she so daring all of a sudden…wait...wasn't rum 40 alcohol? Or something…

Who cared?

She and Inuyasha stumbled, trying to dance on disobedient feet, until Kagome tripped. Inuyasha caught her, and both half sat, half fell down for a break. Kagome looked up at the stars. So different from Japan….but the same stars…

Inuyasha's hand crept closer to hers, and she held on tightly. This had been so much fun...they sat there together, sharing the sky and the fire. Kagome sighed happily….if only they could do this all the time…

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Elizabeth ignored Kagome and Inuyasha's off key singing. "Jack …it must be really terrible for you to be trapped on this island."

" Oh, yes." He watched the fire, before leaning closer "But the company is infinitely better than last time, I think. The scenery has definitely improved. He glanced at Kagome and Inuyasha's dancing, and at Sango's nodding head. He glanced quickly at the shadows where Sesshoumaru was sitting, then shrugged. Oh well. He didn't know what fun he was missing. If he wanted to be so uptight, it just meant more rum for them.

"Mr. Sparrow …I'm not entirely sure that I've had enough rum to allow that kind of talk."

"I know exactly what you mean, love." Jack smiled broadly, curling his mustache.

"To freedom."

"To the Black Pearl." Jack tossed back his sixth drink, falling back, back….he was floating on a red sea of rum…

He fell over in an unconscious heap.

Elisabeth sighed, and got up unsteadily. He wouldn't wake up soon….Everyone was asleep but her. She was alone with her worries for Will…or almost alone.

She could see Sesshoumaru leaning against his palm tree, ignoring all of them. Especially Kagome and Jack, who had been the worst offences to his dignity.

She could tell he was still angry that Kagome and Inuyasha had actually dared to sit on him to patch him up for tomorrow.

Elisabeth wandered over, and sat down. Sesshoumaru ignored her.

"Just us awake…are you really going to fly us out of here tomorrow?"

"Why would I fly anywhere with you?" wondered Sesshoumaru, talking down to Elisabeth. She smelled of rum, just like the rest of his 'companions'.

He'd taken the time everyone was drinking rum in to fix his tail, drying it out an attempting to clear the salt out. It still felt salty, but at least it was no longer sopping or tangled. He'd managed to fix all fbut the worst of his hair too. One good thing to come of this.

Sesshoumaru smiled, and Elisabeth shivered slightly. That smile couldn't be good.

She leaned back, lying on the sand. There had to be something she could do besides drink herself to sleep. She had to get to Will somehow…she was so very frustrated…Where her father and Commodore Norrington looking for her? She knew the Interceptor had been stolen by Will to find her, but they should be looking for her too. Her father must be worried sick…

Wait…if they were searching, they'd be in a boat. And if they were in a boat…they could go after Will….but how to get her father to find her…Elisabeth bit her lip and looked down. At the rum bottle. She stared at it for a few minutes, then broke out into an enormous smile. Rum would burn, and give her smoke. And if there was enough smoke…her father would find her, or the commodore would. Someone would.

Elisabeth closed her eyes, and went to sleep with a purpose.

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Sesshoumaru stared out blankly at the flickering yellow blur that must be the fire. He still couldn't see clearly, but at least the use of his eyes was returning to him. Slowly.

He was going to get back at Inuyasha tomorrow for sitting on him…he needed to repay each and every kick, or elbow he'd received from Inuyasha, and especially for trying to yank his tail out by the roots. It ought to be easily done while his brother was suffering from the world's worst hangover…

Sesshoumaru wasn't normally much for revenge. He had been going after Naraku, true, but that wasn't so much for himself as for the fact that he had desecrated his fathers grave. Naraku had used Rin against him…he'd told his puppet to kill her. Sesshoumaru hadn't been about to let that slide, but unfortunately Inuyasha had killed Naraku before he'd gotten to him.

Revenge would be sweet. He started thinking of what could be done, blinking slowly against the fires twisting orange smere….Sesshoumaru fell asleep against the palm tree.

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There….another chappy. I did try to keep in character. I know a few things might be a little ooc for peoples in this………but before you do, consider. Alcohol does affect you, more so when taken with things such as Tylenol….lol. Thanks for reading! And thanks to the following peoples for reviewing! Love you guys and your reviews!

Consumed Rachel: Welcome….owe me……? For what…..? (is somewhat confused)

Mystical Demon: lol. Thnx!

Shadow-Wolf-Jedi-Demon: thnx!

Shadow Fox777: lol. I have tried to update faster….and when I promise an update like that, I try and deliver. Makes life easier in the long run.

Gangsta-girl: if he hadn't been in need of recuperation, would they have gone to the island to get drunk? Nope. There's my whole reason right there. Lol. I couldn't skip that part!

CometsChaos: very sorry….but if there was no incentive to keep reading….ie no cliffie…lol. And yes. He's pretty good at recovering.

Lost-and-Lonely-Pheonix: again, there had to be some reason to go to the island….and I never intended to make him permanently blind….that would be too cruel. Lol (he is recovering from both bullets and sand as you read)

Thankyou to all the readers out there!! i'm still suprised every time i get a review....lol