I have recently come to the conclusion that my main character might be a Mary Sue—eek! Can anybody and everybody who reads my story let me know what their opinion on it? What I might be able to alter slightly to make my character more believable? Is she even a Mary Sue in the first place? Thanks to everyone who helps.

Also, some people might have noticed that I made a slight change in Ch. 1, Washed Up. After writing that huge long chapter about Kia's past, I realized I forgot to add how she got the stab wound in her stomach (doh!). So instead of add in a section, I just deleted it from the first chapter and I'll just pretend it never happened…

As well, I've managed to come out with two chapters over the past few weeks, but I don't know where to go from here. I've got a couple ideas, but I'm running low on inspiration. Also, for a class assignment we had to do choice writing. I started another story—not a POTC one, sadly—that I'll post soon.

Now, on to the story!

Jack and I exchanged a quick glance before running up the stairs in a slight panic. We gazed out to the sea in horror as a frighteningly familiar ship approached us at a fast pace.

"I'd recognize it anywhere," said Anne, who had followed us up. She held up her telescope. "And it looks like both of them are here. Richard and his son, James."

Jack pulled out his as well, looked through it, said, "She's right," and then snapped it shut.

"Well of course I'm bloody right," said Anne indignantly. "Why the hell would I lie to you?"

Jack was slightly taken aback but he pretended she had said nothing at all. "Can your ship match pace with the Pearl?"

"Of course it can, I'm the captain, after all," said Anne cockily.

"I see where you get your attitude," muttered Jack to me. I gave a short laugh.

Anne hurried to her ship and gave them orders to keep up with the Pearl and to not fire upon us. They grudgingly obliged. Being pirates, they all loved attacking other ships. I, on the other hand, preferred just sailing upon the sea with no fights.

Once we were on the course to Isla de Indicios, there was practically nothing to do. "I'm bored," I complained to Jack, who stood at the head of the ship, leading the course.

"Well then, feel free to scrub the decks," said Jack, turning the wheel slightly.

I ignored him and looked around the ship, hoping to find something to do. My eyes fell on the sail of the ship. "I'm going to climb into the crow's nest," I said confidently.

Jack merely chuckled at me. "Right, luv. Good luck with that."

"Thank you," I said haughtilly, determined to make it into the crow's nest, high above everyone.

It took a very, very long time. The trip looked much more longer, once I started going. A couple of times, I lost my grip and nearly tumbled to the deck, only to grap onto the roping at the very last minute. Finally, I climbed to the top and fell into the tiny "nest", sweating furiously and panting slightly. After a couple minutes of recovery from the hard climb up, I took a look at my surroudings. The sight took my breath away. It was one thing to be on deck, and see the rippling of the sea on the wind and the bustlings of the deck all around you. Being in the crow's nest was like being on top of the world.

The sea looked like nothing but little wavy lines, as if a little kid had tried to draw a straight line but hadn't learned how to yet. The sky looked bigger than before... and closer. I felt as if I could have reached out and held the soft clouds in my hands. I was too far away from the crew to hear them in their work so all I could hear was the rushing wind through my ears. I felt wind on my face, making me squint and my hair blow out behind me. I closed my eyes and breathed in the fresh air.

"Lovely, isn't it?" said a voice from below me. I started badly and almost fell off. Jack was grinning up at me.

"Bloody hell, Jack," I said, trying to catch the breath that he had snatched away from me. "You scared me half to death."

"Mind if I join you?" I scooted over and held out a hand to help him in. Even once I had pulled him up and he had sat next to me, I still held his hand. For some reason, I wouldn't let go—no—I couldn't let go. Jack refused to let go either, so we just sat there, hand in hand. No doubt the entire crew would have had a feild day with this if they found out.

I stared into space, lost entirely in my thoughts, with only Jack's warm hand in mine to keep me on Earth. "Kia?" said Jack, pulling me back into reality.

"Huh?" I said, turning to him. His warm eyes stared deep into mine.

"Are you okay?" he asked me, sounding genuinly worried about me. Why was he being so nice to me? It was so... un-Jack-like.

"I guess so," I said hesitantly. He looked at me curiously, but didn't say a thing. Wanting to change the subject, I said, "Ask me a question."

"Err... what?" said Jack, giving me one of his looks.

"It's a game that my mom and I used to play, savvy? Just ask me a question."

"All right then... what is your favorite food?" asked Jack, rather tentatively.

"Hmmm... I guess it would be steak. What about you?"

"Rum," said Jack with a smile on his face.

I laughed. "That's not real food."

"It is to me." Jack's face was dead serious.

"If you could spend the rest of your life on a ship, would you do it?"

"It all depends on the ship. Were it the Pearl, I would gladly do it. Any other ship, I would be less inclined to stay. That is, unless I was captain."

"Of course," I said, smiling widely. "What's your favorite color?"

"Green. Emerald green." I only realized later that he had named the color of my eyes. "What's yours?"

"Blue. The color of the sea."

"Would you rather be a pirate or a blacksmith?"

"Pirate, of course. Pirate or king?"

"Pirates. They get to have all of the fun."

"Your preferred way of dying?"

He thought for a moment. "Being run through by a sword. Quick and easy. And yours?"

"Drinking to death. That way, it's practically painless, and you get to have fun in the meantime."

"Now that's my kind of death. Power or money?"

"Money; you can always buy yourself power with enough money. Money or love?" Jack didn't answer, he just inched his face closer to mine. "Again," I said, slightly annoyed. "Money or love?"

"Right now, I'm not so sure. How about you?"

I thought about it, wondering which I would truly prefer. "Love," I said finally. "'When love speaks, the voice of all the Gods makes heaven drowsy with the harmony.'" At Jack's puzzled expression, I said, "It's Shakespeare. He's one of the greatest writers of all time."

"Honestly, luv, I don't give a damn who Shakespeare is. Now, love or beauty?"

"Love. The person who loves you should accept you for who you are and what you are. Beauty has nothing to do with it."

"I beg to differ."

"Shut up," I said, but smiled as I said it. I tried to think of another question to ask. "Which would you pick: love or sex?"

Jack held his face barely an inch from mine and whispered, "Both." His lips met mine and we began to kiss.

Before we got too into it, I pulled away and said, "That was really corny, you know."

"Who the hell cares?" said Jack, taking his hand out of mine and grabbing my waist, pulling it to him. We kissed passionately and I wove my hands around his neck. We kissed for what felt like hours on end, yet it also seemed like it only lasted a minute. I was completetly wrapped up in the kiss when a voice from below shouted up at us.

"Oi!" Jack and I looked over the edge and saw Anne yelling at us to come down.

"Okay! We'll be right down!" I shouted back at her. Grudgingly, Jack and I parted and started down from the crow's nest. Jack went first, being the fastest and I followed after him. I was about eight feet away from the deck—Jack had already finished the descent—when I fell.