Disclaimer: This is fanfiction. I am a fan, writing fiction, in my basement (I really need caffeine), ie, I wish I was in the Caribbean, on a cruise, with the rights, but I'm not. Instead, I own dustbunnies. Nothing from POTC or Inuyasha. :'(

Chapter 16: Hells Own Hangover

Sesshoumaru opened his eyes. He hadn't meant to fall asleep, but he must havedosed off sometime during the night…behind him he could smell smoke, and hear the roaring of a bonfire. He blinked and turned around. Elisabeth was stalking around the fire, throwing in whatever came to hand. He hoped the pyromaniac didn't let the fire spread..

Wait…he could see! He could hear! Sesshoumaru allowed himself a small inner smile. He paused to take stock of his other injuries, and the corners of his mouth twitched ever so slightly. All healed. He started stripping off the bandages around his shoulder, anxious to forget about how they had ended up there.

No doubt Kagome would be telling him it was all due to her bandages, but he knew better. He needn't have gone through her sadistic medicinal attentions yesterday. It had healed quite fine on its own

He owed Inuyasha for that still. He owed him a lot.

Sesshoumaru frowned, and turned his attention back to the bonfire. Why was she burning everything? There had to be a reason…perhaps a signal? That was all he could think of off hand…but who would she be signaling?

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Inuyasha groaned, and shifted onto his side. He immediately wished he hadn't, and tried to stop the pounding in his skull. It was even worse than yesterday. It felt like something was trying to claw its way out of his head.

Why was there a bonfire roaring at him? Why was the ocean so loud…? It made his head hurt more…

Kagome blinked and sat up woozily. Inuyasha was lying beside her in the beach, holding his head with both hands.

"Inuyasha?"

"Don't talk so loud!" Inuyasha moaned and fell back on his side, wanting to die. What was IN those things? He was positive he'd only drunk a few bottles…..last night was rather fuzzy and missing in places, but he was pretty sure he hadn't drunk enough to deserve this monster hangover.

How could this be any worse?

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Sesshoumaru heard his brother moaning, and got up. If Inuyasha was finally awake…there were a few debts needing to be paid. And Sesshoumaru never left debts unpaid.

He wandered over to where Inuyasha was curled up on the sand beside Kagome. She looked rather concerned.

"Having fun are we?" Asked Sesshoumaru, bending down, talking a lot louder than strictly necessary.

Inuyasha glared through his bangs, and made a swipe at him. The sudden movement sent him off balance, and he fell back. The pounding in his head had only increased after his unsuccessful attempt to punch Sesshoumaru.

"This is entirely our own fault you know." Sesshoumaru said pleasantly. He calmly sidestepped another weak swing at his ankles, managing to 'accidentally' kick a lot of sand in his brothers eyes.

Inuyasha stoop up, rubbing his face. "Why you! Ung…." He bent over, not sure if he should be holding his head, or his stomach.

"You're dead…you and Jack….are dead…" he muttered. Kagome bent over as Sesshoumaru watched calmly. Revenge was all the sweeter, since Inuyasha had managed to do this entirely on his own. Idiot. He could have told him that rum was a bad idea….although he shouldn't be reacting like this to 3 bottles of the nasty stuff. Not that he'd have warned him about the rum anyways. If Inuyasha was unable to tell it was a bad idea on his own, he wouldn't interfere with the others ignorance.

Besides…watching the little show going on was far too entertaining. It always amused him to see what other people got into. Although…

The amount of alcohol in 3 bottles shouldn't be enough to make a human react this way, much less a hanyou. There was something else at work here. Sesshoumaru didn't care, so long as he got to watch his brother squirm under the weight of hells own hangover.

"Just….hold still Inuyasha…..what else did you have last night?" Kagome asked. She'd thought of the same thing as Sesshoumaru. He shouldn't be this bad after a few bottles of rum….maybe after 30, but…sometimes if you ate things, or had drugs with alcohol it reacted...

Kagome remembered vividly the one time her Dad had forgotten that rule….She'd been very small, but to this day she could still hear her dad reaching into the flower-beds after a few glasses of sake and his heart pill.

At least Inuyasha hadn't reacted like that. She didn't feel up to dealing with someone who couldn't control their stomach. She had a mild hangover herself, though nothing like the migraine he seemed to have.

Sesshoumaru just sat behind her, watching the show as though it was for his benefit. And he had a smirk on his face, as though to say 'I'm smart. I didn't drink. You did it all yourself'

He was going…. "Down!"

Splat.

"What was that for?' Wondered Sesshoumaru. He'd been doing nothing but stand under the palm trees, watching them deal with hangovers, and Elisabeth in her quest to burn anything flammable. Miroku, Sango and Jack still weren't awake.

"Um….nothing….oh…or no, …those nasty little pill things….."

"You mean the Tylenol…?"

"Talk softer…"Inuyasha pleaded. Every word was sending needles through his ears. "...yeah…..two?….of those things…."

Kagome sighed. She might have known it was that. "That's the reason right there. You shouldn't have mixed those with alcohol"

"Now…you tell me…" Inuyasha glared at her. Why hadn't she told him last night? He wouldn't have had this headache now…

Both glanced over to where Miroku was stirring with Sango in his lap. Sango yawned, and stretched, accidentally hitting Miroku on the nose with her hand. Her eyes widened as she realized exactly where she was, and she fairly jumped off of him.

Miroku just looked up and smiled. "Why'd you do that? I was comfortable…." He closed his eyes and sighed. It had been nice to wake up to Sango in his lap…too bad it happened so infrequently…

Sango's skin looked as though it would burn off her face. "What…did we do last night?"

Miroku sighed, and scratched his head. "I sat with you, and we talked about Kohaku. You went to sleep, and so did I. Somehow you ended up on my lap. "Miroku grinned. "A very nice evening…what is that stuff again?"

Sango reddened even more, despite the fact that shouldn't have been possible, carefully ignoring the rest of the world. She didn't recall anything untoward happening…they had been talking, and it had been about Kohaku. She'd watched Inuyasha, Jack, Elisabeth and Kagome dancing around the fire. She must have fallen asleep after that…she certainly didn't recall anything about climbing into the lecherous monks lap. Miroku must be telling the truth.

Privately, Sango admitted it had been rather comfortable on his lap…before she turned to where Elisabeth had just finished tossing everything she could into the fire. She didn't want to think about how comfortable she'd been just now…Why was Elisabeth doing that? They were leaving soon. Sesshoumaru would hopefully be able to fly them all after the Pearl…if he was up to it. Sango looked over to where Sesshoumaru was standing. He looked fine to her. His eyes were focused, and he was following the argument that had erupted between Inuyasha and Kagome easily. He must be better.

She had been very comfortable last night...no! Bad idea! Sango tried unsuccesfuly to put that from her mind for later, watching the argument going on for herself.

"Why did you give me those damn little pill things if they would make me sick?!"

"Well excuse me for caring. It's not my fault you decided to drink!!" Kagome shouted, then winced as her own head twinged a little. She could see Inuyasha's ears droop even more as she shouted…the bandanna he'd been wearing up till now to hide them was abandoned on the sand a few feet away.

"Like I'd have done that if I knew I was going to feel like this!" Inuyasha clutched his head harder, squinting against the hot Caribbean sun. He glared at Kagome from beneath his hands, then turned and glared at Sesshoumaru. "Stop smirking you bastard!"

Sesshoumaru smirked just a little wider. It had absolutely nothing to do with Inuyasha's last statement of course. Nothing at all.

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Below them on the beach, Jack started stirring. He was used to hangovers, so he working through it with hardly any trouble. He stared at the ocean, orienting himself for a few seconds, then wondered what the smoky smell was from. He turned around, and his eyes widened in horror as he saw Elisabeth throw another empty crate on the fire.

He ran up the beach, protesting. "No! Not good! Stop! Not good! What are you doing? You burned all the food, the shade! The rum!"

"Yes, the rum is gone. " Elisabeth said, wiping her hands in a satisfied way. Miroku's eyes widened as he heard that. She'd burned it ALL?! But…he liked it! Sango liked it…he had planned on taking some with him! How could Elisabeth burn something like the rum?!

"Why is the rum gone?" Jack asked mournfully, still somewhat confused. It was far too early for this...

"One, because it is a vile drink that turns even the most respectable men into complete scoundrels. Two, that signal is over a thousand feet high. The entire Royal Navy is out looking for me. Do you really think that there is even the slightest chance that they won't see it?"

"Elisabeth…why do you need that signal? We're flying, remember…?" Kagome interrupted. Did Elisabeth not trust her? Apparently, she didn't…or at least wanted to have a second option in the event Sesshoumaru wasn't up to it. Perhaps it wasn't such a bad thing after all that the signal was there….but it was still sad to think the other girl didn't trust her word.

"But why is the rum gone?" Miroku and Jack chorused. Why did she have to burn it all…?

"Just wait, Captain Sparrow. You give it one hour, maybe two, keep a weather eye out and then you will see white sails on that horizon…unless of course we fly" she looked at Kagome inquiringly.

Jack took out his pistol, hands shaking. He spent a moment looking at it consideringly before roughly shoving it back in his belt. Stupid, stupid world…he'd not only woken to a hangover, but to thelack of a suitable cure. This wasn't a good way to start the day. "'Must've been terrible for you to be trapped here, Jack . Must've been terrible for you'." He muttered, glaring at Elisabeth's back. "Well it bloody is now!"

Inuyasha sat up, and glared at Jack. He though briefly of throwing the pirate in the fire with his precious rum, but decided against it. His head wasn't quite as bad now, but he had a feeling Kagome would object to him threatening the pirate.

Sango smiled as Jack waved his arms at Elisabeth's back, while Miroku nodded in sympathy. He knew what deprivation of the essentials of life was like…it was no laughing matter. Although the part with the pistol was slightly over dramatic.

"Well then, shall we be going? Sesshoumaru, you're obviously well enough to fly…I think we're all ready, once Inuyasha putts his bandanna back on." Kagome said brightly. Inuyasha grumbled, and grabbed the bandanna. He'd hoped she would have forgotten about that little detail…

"Just a moment. If we're to go fight pirates, I want to be ready." Sango walked off into the palm trees to strip to her exterminators uniform. Better to fight in that than in her current clothing. A good thing she'd had it on under her other cloths when she'd fallen down the well after Miroku, or it would be more difficult to maneuver in the battle ahead.

"I thought he couldn't…" Elisabeth said, confused. Had she been wrong to doubt after all? The pirates were quite obviously cursed…why was it any harder to believe in demons who could fly?

Sesshoumaru looked at Elizabeth. "I assure you, I could do that. I fail to see why I would bother to fly everyone out of here, but it is quite within my ability."

"Liar. You can't." Inuyasha taunted him. He knew Sesshoumaru wouldn't agree to fly everyone off the island if he wasn't goaded into it first. If you put his pride at stake…

"Of course I can." Sesshoumaru answered coldly.

"Prove it, moron."

"I fail to see…"

"Stupid Fluffy. He can't fly and he won't admit it!"

Sesshoumaru glared at Inuyasha. The idiot had maneuvered him into a position where he would either have to stand down, and see his pride injured, or consent to fly humans, and his idiotic brother, around. He wasn't the ragged little groups personal chauffeur after all.

"Sesshoumaru…you'll fly us, won't you? Don't make me say it…." Kagome added sweetly.

That did it. Stupid human.

"Very well. Get over here before I change my mind."

"Thanks, Sesshoumaru! Jack, you've still got that compass to steer us, right?"

"Right here. Never lost it."

"Oh good. Sesshoumaru, listen to him He's the one who knows where we're going."

Sesshoumaru resisted the temptation to say something sarcastic or roll his eyes. Did she think he was as stupid as Inuyasha? She must, if that was the way she explained the obvious…

Jack wandered over to stand beside Sango, now in her sleek black slayers uniform, and Miroku. Miroku's hand ventured down towards Sango, but he though better of it at the last minute. He might just get thrown over the side of the cloud if he did that now…Elisabeth looked dubiously at Sesshoumaru, then stepped in beside Inuyasha. If they just waited for her father…He would come, wouldn't he? Her signal would make sure of that.

Ah well. If this didn't work, they had a plan B. So her efforts this morning hadn't been entirely wasted. She didn't feel quite so silly now.

Sesshoumaru concentrated, and summoned his red cloud, careful to make it larger than he normally would have. He had a feeling Kagome would be put out if he 'forgot' her, and he'd likely be 'down' on the sand again. It wouldn't actually hurt him if he got 'downed'…but he wouldn't let her have the opportunity to humiliate him yet again.

Red mist solidified under everyone's feet, and Elisabeth gasped as they took off, circling over the island in a lazy spiral to gain altitude. He hadn't been bluffing after all…he actually could fly! She gulped, not liking the edge of the cloud so close to her feet. The view was nice…but it was a long way down. But…apart from that…this was wonderful. Magical. Elisabeth laughed, delighted. Of course it was magical.

Soon the island was visible as a very small patch of green and gold against blue…and Elisabeth was having trouble breathing. Why were her ears popping too? Very odd…

"Take us a little lower, please. The air's a little thin up here." Kagome said, coughing and trying to fix the pressure built up in her inner ears. She might have known this would happen.

Sesshoumaru sighed a bit. Bossy human. He hated backseat fliers. But he was committed now. Might as well drop down a bit.

He dropped down to slightly less than 100 meters above sea level, making everyone but Inuyasha wince in protest. The sudden drop was just as bad as the high altitude…for humans at least. Elisabeth looked rather green as she peeked over the edge of the cloud.

Sango, Miroku and Kagome weren't as badly off, having ridden on Kirara often enough that flying was nothing new. Although Kirara had never flown that high up…

Wait…wasn't that a ship over there? Perhaps it was her father…it was worth a look at least. It wasn't too far out of the way. "Can we go over to that ship? It looks like my father…" Elisabeth said, pointing to the brown and white on the ocean below.

"Sesshoumaru? Can you do that?" Kagome asked, looking over at the white sails. It might just be the governor…they could perhaps drop off Elizabeth, then keep going after the pirates. If she wanted to be dropped off. It didn't seem like Elisabeth to stand on the sidelines. Plus, though it hadn't been brought up again, there was still the shard hidden in the treasure pile on the Isle.

Why was he doing this again? Sesshoumaru resisted the impulse to drop Kagome in the ocean, and steered over to the ship. Now he had two backseat menaces…

Elisabeth looked down at the ship beneath the cloud. It looked a lot different from above, rather than from on deck. There were red colored toy soldiers aboard it too. She was fairly sure it was her fathers ship, but she wanted to look a little closer.

"Can we go further down?"

"Sure. Take us down Ses---uh oh"

The cloud everyone was sitting comfortably on vanished as Sesshoumaru plummeted towards the ships deck. His eyes widened as he caught on to what had happened, and he cursed Kagome's slip of the tongue. Idiot human…

"Oops…." Kagome said softly, hovering in spot a few seconds, before she, and everyone else, followed him down.

Inuyasha made a grab for her, and held onto Kagome. He'd make sure she landed ok…He winced as Elisabeth started to scream, and he caught her too just before hitting the deck. Good thing they'd not been too far up…

He landed with a thump, and he set Kagome down gently. Elisabeth looked around, slightly dazed.

"Thanks Inuyasha." Kagome smiled, and Inuyasha grinned at her. What else could he have done? Let her fall? He thought not…

He looked behind Kagome at where the rest of their party had landed.

Jack, Sango and Miroku were trying to pick themselves up. Jack had landed on Sango. Sango had landed on Miroku. Miroku had landed on Sesshoumaru. And Sesshoumaru had made a sizable dent in the deck.

They were all trying to untangled themselves, falling over again as Jack rolled off the pile of people.

Inuyasha had to smirk as Sango accidentally elbowed his brother in the face. He was determined to see him suffer after his lack of sympathy this morning. Thank goodness the headache had faded to all but nothing by now.

"Stupid wench. You could have killed everyone." Sesshoumaru growled, shoving Miroku off his leg.

"Um…" Kagome looked at the floor…no, wait, deck, since it was a ship…whatever it was, it was interesting…

"What's going on here?" demanded Gillette. He'd suddenly heard a thump, and had turned around to see all these people. Where had they come from? They might as well have fallen from the sky, for all he knew. He squinted at them, trying to see their faces against the sun.

A very odd group of strangers it was too. A girl in baggy pants and a skirt with a bow over her shoulder, standing beside a man in red with white hair. He didn't look that old either…so why was his hair white? Odd…Gillette blinked as a woman…no, wait, a man…with equally long white hair got up off the deck. There was another woman behind him in black, form fitting clothing, standing with a man in purple holding a staff. Gillette blushed slightly. Those were very tight cloths…and behind her was a man with dreadlocks, and a woman in a shift…

It was the pirates they'd been hunting in port Royal…and Elisabeth! "Elisabeth! Thank goodness…Commodore!!"

"Yes?" Norington turned to face Gillette, and his eyes widened as he looked where Gillette was pointing ".…Elisabeth!!"

Elisabeth stepped away from where Inuyasha had left her, and smiled at Norington nervously. "Hello. We just…dropped in, so to speak."

Sesshoumaru stood up from the dented wooden boards he'd landed on as soon as the spell wore off. Now what were they going to do? Keep flying? He hoped Kagome would refrain from saying certain words, as well as giving any further advice, if that were the case.

"Well…I guess you were right. It was your fathers ship…" Kagome said, looking at the shocked Commodore.

"How did you get here?" Norington exclaimed, getting over his surprise. How had they gotten on his ship, when they were in the middle of the ocean, without another ship in sight?

"Erm…Sesshoumaru kindly said he'd fly us off the island we were marooned on…" Elisabeth said slowly, but Norington wasn't really listening, since he was telling a sailor to fetch the governor, and some decent clothing for Elisabeth.

Soldiers surrounded the six other people on deck. Nobody made a move. They all knew the soldiers were more for show than anything else. If they decided to break free, they could do it.

"Lets see where this goes…it's better than going on that roller coaster ride again…" Kagome whispered, loud enough that everyone but the soldiers could hear.

"Roller coaster?" asked Sesshoumaru, insulted. He didn't know what a roller coaster was, but if she would rather take a slow, human ship than fly, it couldn't be a compliment.

"Never mind that…lets get you cleaned up. Someone get some irons for these pirates…they didn't hurt you, did they? I'm so glad you're alright…" Norington kept talking, waiting for the governor.

Jack looked outraged, as did Sango and Miroku. "I am no pirate…I am a Buddhist monk good sir!"

"I am an exterminator. I am not a pirate" Sango said dangerously.

"Really? I've never seen a vermin exterminator wearing such…clothing…" Norington said, looking at the demon slayers uniform Sango was wearing with contempt. What decent woman wore clothing like that…or what the other girl had on, strange pants with Z's on them, topped by what he thought was a green skirt…if it wasn't so short. Surely no one would wear that…

Sango boiled. He thought she was a common rat catcher?! She could very probably beat this man in a fair fight, sword to sword…she could beat him easily. And yet he mocked her ability, even having the nerve to call her a common rat catcher...

"The only pirate there is Jack…we have to go after Will. Now isn't the time to be locking these people up…" Elisabeth said, trying to salvage the situation. Perhaps it hadn't been the brightest idea to come here after all…they could have flown the whole way after the black Pearl with Jack to navigate.

Her father appeared, and she watched as he sighed with relief. "Elisabeth! Thank god you're alright…" The governor hurried over, looking distastefully at the 'pirates'. "We can go back to Port Royal, and forget any of this happened."

"But we've got to save Will!" Elisabeth protested.

"Will? Isn't he with you?"

"He was captured by the Black Pearl while trying to free Elisabeth" Kagome answered, fiddling with her bow.

"I see. No matter. We can be home soon anyways." Norington decided to overlook her speaking out of place, since she'd been helpful.

"No! We have to go after him!"

"No. You're safe now. We will return to Port Royal immediately, not go gallivanting after pirates!"

Sango sighed. Will wasn't a pirate any more than she was…but it appeared these people had no sense of what was right. They were also incredibly short sighted. How was a blacksmith, of good standing, suddenly a feared and hunted pirate?

"Then we condemn him to death." Elisabeth said quietly. She had no idea why her father was being like this. He'd always respected Will in the past, although never more than what his 'station' allotted. Why would he leave a good man to almost certain death? A good man whom she loved, no less…

"The boy's fate is regrettable, but, then, so was his decision to engage in piracy."

He wasn't the one who'd really decided to go after Elisabeth…he'd been the one who came along with them "You idiots. He wasn't a pirate anymore than I am." Inuyasha snorted.

"Meaning he's turned pirate." Norington drawled.

Inuyasha's hand went to his sword. Idiots. He looked nothing like a pirate! Didn't they know a hanyou when they saw one?!

Elizabeth looked askance at her father. "He went to rescue me. To prevent anything from happening to me. He was brave enough to do that, and he did it. And you leave him to die." She looked disgusted.

Jack looked at her, and decided to try something. It would be nice if they could persuade the captain to go to Isle du Moreta on their own, since he had absolutely no wish to fly there. That little dive….and the ascent into the thin air…had not been fun. If they couldn't persuade Norington to go there, he'd have to face the terrible red cloud again… Jack pushed his way past Miroku, and over to where Elisabeth stood glaring at her father. "If I may be so bold as to inject my professional opinion. The Pearl was listing near to scuppers after the battle. It's very unlikely she'll be able to make good time. Think about it. The Black Pearl . The last real pirate threat in the Caribbean , mate. How can you pass that up?"

"By remembering that I serve others, Mr. Sparrow, not only myself."

Kagome sighed. Norington had an amazingly thick skull. It looked as though they'd have to fly there…

"Commodore, I beg you, please do this. For me. As a wedding gift."

What was Elisabeth doing? She loved Will…

"Elizabeth . Are you accepting the Commodore's proposal?"

Proposal? The other guy had proposed…?

" I am."

Kagome blinked. That had gone by too fast…why had Elisabeth done that? She didn't need to…they could have gone after the pirates themselves without forcing her to make that promise. Surely she'd have thought of that?

"A wedding! I love weddings…drinks all around!" Jack smiled, and looked at Miroku. "All the rum you could want at a wedding!" He turned to see the disapproving face of Norington. " I know. "Clap him in irons," right?" He held out his hands, grinning. No doubt he'd be able to free himself again in short order…

"Mr. Sparrow , you will accompany these fine men to the helm and provide us with the bearing to Isla de Muerta . You will then spend the rest of the voyage contemplating all possible meanings of the phrase "silent as the grave." Do I make myself clear?"

"Inescapably clear." Jack replied, smiling cockily. There was no way he'd let himself stay on the ship long enough to go to prison.

Norington turned back to Elisabeth, sure he'd missed something important, but let it go. There was no way the tables could be turned on him at this point, no matter who the prisoners were. They were outnumbered ten to one...at least. Yet why did he have a twinge of foreboding?

Nonsense. He shook his head to clear it, and climbed up to the helm. It was a fine day. 6 pirates caught, a shipload more to take, and Elisabeth had accepted his proposal. A very fine day.

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There….ch 16. New years resolution this year….update more. (wonders how long that will last…lol) Really sorry about updating times. Christmas was insane. And when I had time, I just couldn't write. It was all crap. --

Thanks to all the readers out there! Special thanks for putting up with my 'updateing habits'….--Hopefully, next ch will be up in not too long…

BlackMamba3: oh, don't worry…he wouldn't have been out for long. Lol. Thnx

Shadow-Wolf-Jedi-Demon: Thnx I hope so…

VB: lol. Save the laptop! Sometimes it's just fun to watch as people suffer….(that came out wrong, but…meh)

Naomi-Starcloud: Yes…I did think that a little funny…and hangovers are fun too. Lol. Unless you have one from new years, mixed with penicillin…yuck. And that you review at all is just fine…lol. Thnx!

Shadow Fox777: lol. I was wondering how to do that…I hope it worked. It is one of the best parts…as is the dock scene "this dock is off limits to civilians…"lol

Bomhammer: Really? Glad you liked. Hopefully this one was just as entertaining…

Lost-and-Lonely-Pheonix: Oh no….i would never do that. Besides, it's quite unlikely that would do that to him. Even a normal person, it's pretty unlikely…and yea. There's one episode where Kagome does get intoxicated…it is awesome! Lol. 135, I think…not entirely sure.

KhaosFire-Katana: Really? Thnx for that…I'm glad you like it! (lol. : I hadn't thought of that…I'd planned it out somewhat the way it was in this ch. But it would be rather funny to see the look on his face –lmao- …hm…must think about that…The cloud could hold any number, really. He just isn't normally a chauffeur, so we've not seen him flying with a crowd of peoples…