This one's kind of lame and really short, if I'm being completely honest. But hey, they all can't be winners.

Anyway, here's chapter 17

Chapter 17: I Want Out

Later That Night

Amanda woke up with a start. Her stomach was hurting a lot lately. Tonight was no exception. She rubbed her eyes and saw Jess drawing in a small journal, struggling to see with the limited light the small fire provided.

Amanda walked over to Jess and sat down, startling her.

"It's just me, sis." Jess continued to draw. "I see you're still having your dreams."

"Yeah." She replied quickly without looking up from the paper.

"What's this one about?"

Jess drew some more then held the picture up for Amanda to see. "I don't know what to think of it."

Amanda took the journal from Jess and stared at the picture in awe.

The main subject of the drawing was Amanda herself. Her dark hair loosely braided to one side. What was being Amanda was blurry, which meant it wasn't important. Amanda was dressed in a simple white nightgown, but it seemed very expensive. At first, Amanda didn't think anything was out of the ordinary, until she saw her stomach. It was obvious in Jess' drawing that Amanda was pregnant.

Amanda's eyes grew wide.

"Anything you want to tell me Amanda?" Jess asked her, raising an eyebrow.

Amanda passed the journal back to Jess. "No, why would I?"

"You're pregnant in this picture. I don't have dreams that far into the future." She pointed to Amanda's stomach. "Are you eating for two Amanda?"

"Jess!" Amanda stood up fast, maybe a little too fast. She felt dizzy. To balance herself, she placed a hand on Jess' shoulder.

"Amanda, you can tell me, you know."

"There's nothing to tell!"

"Then why do I have a dream of you pregnant?" Jess stood up.

"I…I don't know!" Amanda tried taking deep breaths. She didn't want to push Jess.

"Amanda…have you been feeling sick a lot lately? Especially in the morning?"

She knew she had to tell the truth eventually. After a few seconds of intense staring, Amanda slowly nodded her head.

"Did you and Finn…you know…"

"I am not talking about that with you!"

"Oh my gosh you're pregnant, aren't you?" Jess yelled. She grabbed the journal and held it up to Amanda. "This isn't too far away! This'll happen in a few months!"

Amanda was trying so hard to hold back tears. Her worst nightmare was coming true. Jess' dream had only confirmed her fears.

"Yes." Amanda whispered so softly that Jess couldn't hear her.

"What was that?"

"Yes!" Amanda whispered as loud as she could. "Are you happy now? Finn and I got carried away and now I'm pregnant! If he makes it out of this suicidal mission of his, he's going to marry Charlene! Now if caring for myself out here isn't hard enough, I have to deal with a baby! I'll be all on my own when the baby comes! I'm scared out of my mind! I can't do this, Jess!"

Amanda sat down on the sand and put her head in her hands, tears streaming down her face.

Jess stood there, unsure of what to think about what Amanda had just told her. She saw the picture, but she was still shocked by her sister admitting it. Jess heard a noise not far away, and looked up to see Finn standing there.

Finn and Jess exchanged looks and it was immediately evident to Jess that he had known about Amanda's condition for some time now. He had also heard the entire conversation.

Finn walked over to Amanda and held her as she cried, whispering soothing words into her ear. Jess felt as if she couldn't breathe. Amanda was never scared. Even if she was, she would have never openly admitted it to Jess like that.

"Hey Jess?" Finn whispered to Jess, snapping her out of her daze.

"Yeah?"

"Can we keep this a secret for now?"

Jess nodded. Finn helped Amanda get up and got her to walk down the beach a little before coming back for a blanket.

"How long have you known?" Jess asked Finn.

"A few days."

"She's scared out of her mind, Finn."

Finn looked at Jess. She could tell he was just as scared, possibly more.

"I'm not going to leave her, if that's what you think. I wouldn't do that to her." He started to walk in Amanda's direction.

"What about Charlene?" Finn stopped cold in his tracks, but did not turn around.

Finn didn't say anything, which surprised Jess. He seemed like the kind of guy who always had an answer. After a few seconds, Finn continued on walking and sat down by Amanda.

Jess watched as he draped the blanket over her shoulders and wrapped an arm around her. She kept watching them as the couple whispered. She could only see Amanda's face. She could see the fear on her face subside as Finn talked. Just before Jess left to go back to sleep, she could have sworn she saw Amanda smile.

Jess knew Amanda was going to be okay. She had finally found someone who made her happy: Finn. Jess could tell that Finn wasn't going to hurt her. Finn was there for Amanda when Jess couldn't be, and honestly she felt a little jealous.

Amanda had always been there for Jess. And now in Amanda's hour of greatest need, Jess wanted nothing more than to be there for her, but Finn was doing a much better job than Jess ever could.

Had she been away for too long?

Two Days Later

"Do you think we're going to make it there on time?" Charlene asked Terry. He was currently at the enormous steering wheel of his pirate ship. "We've got two days to the summer solstice, and Philby said the trip takes about two days."

"We'll make it in time to kick Maleficent's butt, don't worry." He winked at her, making her heart skip a beat.

Then a horrible thought came to Charlene's mind. What if he doesn't make it out alive? What if he is the human sacrifice?

The distress must have shown on her face.

"What's wrong?"

"I…uh…"

Terry turned and signaled for one of his crew members to take the wheel. He motioned for Charlene to follow him to the bow. They both leaned against the railing, looking out at the ocean below.

"What's bothering you baby doll?"

Charlene rolled her eyes at the nickname baby doll. "I'm just worried, that's all."

"Why? Maleficent's nothing more than an annoying little freak. We can beat her."

"There's the whole human sacrifice element that everyone seems to be ignoring. And it's bugging me." Charlene felt Terry studying her, but she continued. "I don't want it to be you, that's all."

"Don't worry about me, Charlie. I'm right here." He placed a hand under her chin and leaned in for a kiss.

At the last possible second, there was a cough from behind them.

Terry rolled his eyes and turned into the direction of the cough. "What?"

Charlene saw Finn standing there. He looked miserable: red, puffy eyes, shaky hands, messy hair.

"Sorry, captain. I…I have to speak to Charlene." He ran his hand through his hair nervously. "Now, please."

"You couldn't wait a few more seconds to stop us?"

Charlene placed a hand on his chest. "It's fine, Terry. This won't take long, right Finn?"

"Right."

Terry looked between Finn and Charlene, then nodded.

"We're finishing this later." He said to her.

Finn sat down on his bed, with Charlene in the chair in the corner. They had been awkwardly silent for some time now.

Charlene cleared her throat. "So, you wanted to talk to me?"

Finn cleared his throat. "I want to talk about this marriage alliance."

Charlene feared this was coming. "What about it?"

"I want out."

"You don't want my army to help you fight Maleficent?"

"No, I'd love that. But…it's just…I can't marry you Charlene."

"Is this because of Amanda?"

"Yes. She's..." he paused, reconsidering his words. "She needs me. And I need her."

Charlene knew this was coming. She didn't want to marry Finn either.

There was a few minutes of silence.

"Okay."

"Okay?" Finn looked up at her, confused. Is something wrong with Amanda?

"We're not getting married, but my army is still going to help you get your throne back."

Finn's face lit up. "Really?"

Charlene smiled. "Really."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that."

"Thanks Charlie. This means a lot to me." He got up and hugged her.

When she let go, she walked over to the door. "Besides, I'd rather have Terry than you." She winked at him. "No offense."

He laughed. "None taken."

Charlene walked out of Finn's room and back up to the top deck, where Terry was still standing in the same place.

She coughed and he turned around. Upon seeing her, he smiled and pulled her into his arms.

"Now where were we?" He leaned down and kissed her.

I must apologize for the boring chapter. I needed an in between from the beach to the ancient temple

So, next chapter we're going to get into the good stuff! I'll give you a heads up, next chapter is the beginning of the ancient temple battle scene stuff (there's probably a better word to describe that, oh well). It'll be multiple chapters of fun, action & above all, pure awesomeness.

Anyway, please review! I love reading them!