A/N: Once again, sorry that the past few chapters have been so short. This one is a bit longer, so I hope it will make up for my lack of length in chapters and you will all forgive me and continue reading
Chapter Eleven
Elizabeth returned to Sarah's house at the time she promised, and was greeted with a wary looking Ana Marie.
"You better have good reason to be here, traitor." she hissed.
"I know you're mad, but I have a way to make it up to you." Elizabeth said both hands in her pockets. One hand was fondling the compass nervously.
"I'm sure. You have five minutes." Ana Marie tapped her foot, and studied Elizabeth, waiting for an explanation.
.x.
"The little miss has a good idea?" Barbossa inquired, turning to Elizabeth.
"Aye." she nodded and showed the crew her compass. "We use this."
"How'd you get that? I thought Jack had it when he heroically died." Will said sarcastically.
"It's not his. It works the same, but Tia-Dalma gave this to me." she explained.
"Well, do we have anyone that really wants Captain Jack Sparrow?" Barbossa asked finally.
"I think I might've found someone. If she's willing to help."
.x.
"So what do you want me to do? I always thought the compass was to find the Black Pearl." Ana Marie explained, eyeing the compass laying on the table between them.
"That's what we all thought. Well, most of us anyway. In reality its used to find whatever the holder wants the most." Elizabeth explained. Ana Marie looked up at Elizabeth, beginning to understand the plan.
"So you want me to want Sparrow?" she asked.
"Pretty much. And it shouldn't be too difficult, considering your feelings for him." Elizabeth pointed out. "All of us want to find him, but not enough to make the damn thing work."
"I'm in." she agreed.
"Before you board the ship, I need to warn you of a few things." Elizabeth began.
"What things?" Ana Marie asked, already reaching for the compass.
"There's, um, a lot of tension." she explained, mostly thinking about her and Will. But also about a lot of the crew's attitude towards Barbossa. "And of course, Barbossa is a problem in himself. He's quite polite and all, but…well, with his history, I gather he's mutinous."
"I'll be ready to leave by tomorrow morning." Ana Marie agreed, and left Elizabeth at the kitchen table alone.
.x.
"How did it go?" Barbossa asked, as soon as Elizabeth got back to the ship.
"She's coming with us." Elizabeth nodded.
"Now that we have solved that small issue, we have another to address." Barbossa said, leaning against his desk. Elizabeth raised an eyebrow at him.
"And what might that be?" she inquired.
"A small situation between a nice young woman and her fiancé." Barbossa began.
"I don't even know what to do about that." she sighed, with unintended emphasis on the word 'that'.
"Just talk to him. Tell him the truth." Barbossa insisted, "If he's anything like his father, he'll understand. And he'll forgive you."
"I'm not so sure." she disagreed.
"At least give it a try. For the sake of the rest of the crew."
"I guess I have no choice."
.x.
"Well, I have good news once again." Ana Marie piped up during dinner.
"You got a job many, many miles away from here?" David asked sarcastically. Sarah shot him a venomous glance, then smiled sweetly at her sister.
"What might that be?" she asked, even though she had known since earlier in the afternoon.
"Saving Captain Jack Sparrow." Ana Marie said mysteriously.
"Saving him? From what?" asked William, with his usual skepticism.
"He's dead. And we're gonna bring him back to life." she said, raising an eyebrow for effect.
"How do you plan to do that?" David asked.
"It's a secret." Ana Marie explained.
"I don't want you filling my children's heads with this foolishness. Thank god you're leaving tomorrow. I'm going to end up with pirates as children." David replied. "You're excused from the dinner table." Ana Marie shot David a venomous look, before leaving the table and going up to her room to gather her stuff and get some sleep.
"You have no business treating my sister like that!" Sarah exclaimed. "Children, up to your rooms please. Your father and I need to have a private discussion."
The kids looked at each other sullenly, knowing that 'private discussion' usually meant 'heated argument.'
.x.
Will looked out over the boat at the town of Tortuga. The sun had set and the lights had come on, and the town seemed more happy than it actually was.
Yes, he was jealous of the town for looking happy. He sighed and glanced at the Captains cabin where Barbossa and Elizabeth were discussing the plan.
"She's probably with him too." he muttered.
"Why is it that I leave you alone for a few days, and you already have gone to the dark side. Darker side." Jack asked. Will whipped out his sword with great skill and chopped off Jack's head.
When he failed to decapitate Jack for the fifth time, he finally gave in and began asking questions, "What are you?"
"I'm a ghostly spirit…of the haunting type." Sparrow explained.
"Are you really Captain Jack Sparrow's ghost?" Will asked, raising an eyebrow, "Or are you just here to make me feel worse about myself."
"Both." came the answer.
"Figures." Will sighed, "You know, I trusted you."
"Clearly, that was a mistake."
"Yes. Apparently." Will agreed.
.x.
Elizabeth closed the door to the Captains Cabin quietly and approached Will, who seemed to be talking to himself.
"What are you talking about, didn't steal her? I saw you!" he argued to…quite possibly his sword, which he was holding in front of him defensively.
"Talking to yourself?" Elizabeth asked, taking a place next to him along the rail.
"What? No! Don't you…Never mind." Will sighed, and put his sword back in its sheath. He looked around for Jack's ghost, but it had completely disappeared.
"I think we need to talk." Elizabeth sighed.
"I think that anything you have to say won't really matter." he retorted. She was taken aback by his rudeness, and frankly was a good bit hurt. But, in all fairness, so was he.
"You seem mad at me. And I have a pretty good idea why, but I think you should let me know your reasoning, just in case I'm wrong." Elizabeth said finally.
"Well, it's nothing really. You were just going behind my back with Sparrow. But that's all." Will replied sarcastically.
"It wasn't like that." Elizabeth differed.
"Then what was it like?" Will asked, trying not to yell.
.x.
As the sun rose, Ana Marie gathered up the last of her belongings, and wrote a quick letter to her sister and the kids.
She went as quickly as she could and met up with the rest of the crew that was waiting on the dock for her.
"Our boat is a little small for our liking." Barbossa explained.
"So we're going to commandeer that one." Gibbs explained, pointing to another boat.
"Sounds like a plan." Ana Marie agreed.