Disclaimer which I rudely forgot to add in the first chapter: I (unfortunately) don't own anything PotC (except perhaps the plotline of this and maybe some new characters) It all goes to the wonderful geniuses of Disney. (Oh, this is random, but did you know that Isla de Muerta means Dead Island in Spanish?)

A/N: Thank you to my reviewers, I (like all authors on this site) LOVE reviews, so if you haven't already, please review! (If you have, review some more!) And thanks to Florencia7 for the nice little quote about a "diplomatic silence." Anyways, I know that the first chapter wasn't really anything and this one might be a teensy bit more exciting. There is in fact a… subplot? to this—I mean, it's not completely romance: I wouldn't be able to continue if it's completely romance…Oh, and if you hate lots of description, sorry, but please bear with me. I do have a tendency to get kind of carried away. :) And also, please just assume that Davy Jones was defeated, I don't really want to develop some complicated alternative to that. Anyways, to the story!

I eagerly helped with the sails the next day. The wind was stronger now, and according to Gibbs, who had been informed by Jack, we were making good time.

During the late afternoon I found free time on my hands and strolled contentedly to the starboard side of the Pearl. The sunset was always amazing to see, especially in the open ocean. I watched that great fiery orb sink ever so slowly beneath the horizon--that wonderful abstract line where the sea met the sky. I watched it throw its brilliant rays over the dappled surface of the water, and I watched it make a thousand tiny winking lights dance across the ocean. I watched it turn the water just below it to liquid gold, and I watched it falling, little by little, until I could see only the top curve of the magnificent circle of light. I watched as it finally fell beneath the horizon, as if coming home from a long and tiresome journey, and the sky above it was a flaming orange that faded to golden yellow and slowly to the palest of beiges, up and up till here was a tiny strip of white that changed immediately to blue. Already I could see the moon in the distance when I finally tore my eyes away and looked in the opposite direction.

"That was stunning, wasn't it?" said a soft voice beside me. I turned to find my fiance.

"Oh, Will," I said, smiling and turning back to stare dreamily at the patch of orange. "Yes, it was. It was one of the most beautiful sights in the world. Especially on the water."

"We're definitely not going back to Port Royal, then."

"Definitely," I agreed. "I can't leave the sea anymore."

"I've become attached, too," said Will slowly. "It runs through my blood."

We were silent for a while, as the orange and gold faded away.

"You two," said the voice of Jack behind us. "The lovers. I have to tell you that the sillhouettes really don't look too romantic from here. Quit staring--you're needed in my cabin."

We turned, and strode below deck with Jack leading us to his cabin. He opened the door, and we found that Gibbs, Anamaria, and Tia Dalma (who had been sailing with us since we had defeated Davy Jones) were already seated by his desk inside. Will and I found a pile of raggedy cushions lying around a sat down. Jack took his place in the only actual chair in the room, in front of his desk, and cleared his throat strangely.

"Well," he said awkwardly--he obviously hadn't been preparing a speech. "As you all know, I don't usually have it so... erm, formal, but I thought you might want a little details here. So, we are heading toward a place called Isla de Profecia, which is the island where the famous pirate prophetess Morgana divined some futures... She was buried there too, if you wanted to know. Anyways--"

"Jack?" I interrupted. "I mean--Captain Jack?" Jack looked at me in what seemed to be an extremely annoyed manner.

"What?"

"Well—Isla de Profecia just seems quite like… Isla de Muerta, and I think you might benefit from not meddling with other pirates' curses or things of that sort, unless, of course, they or their ships happen to be related to you somehow—"

"And I think," Jack, sounding even more irritated than he looked, "that you, my dear Miss Swann, might benefit from maintaining a diplomatic silence at times!"

There was a short, very un-diplomatic silence before Jack spoke again.

"Anyways," he said. "There is a certain prophecy that the old hag said, the Prophecy of the Silver Wave… Says that a man—a pirate, to be precise—by the name of Merlow, will come to power with a single gun that he never has to reload, and if one of the bullets touches you for so much as second, you will be dead, in a matter of minutes. And Merlow has a ship called the Silver Wave that is supposedly faster than even my Pearl and he has a crew of supposedly invincible fighters. However, the prophecy says that if any person willingly dies from the gun's shot, Merlow will meet his downfall and suffer for eternity at World's End."

"Where did he come by this gun of his and how do you know, Captain?" asked Anamaria immediately.

"I know things, Ana. Apparently the goddess of the sea gave the gun to him. He bribed her," said Jack dismissively. "It is identifiable by a golden glyph inscribed on it."

"So the prophecy came true, then," said Tia Dalma.

"It did," said Jack. "Merlow and his crew have killed many and he is quite notorious in the Caribbean. Actually, people now think he's some kind of immortal being; after all he keeps his gun with him at all times."

"And we are going to Isla de Profecia—" said Gibbs.

"Because I seek help from two people who live there," replied Jack. "And I do intend for Merlow to be defeated, because one—he has something of mine that I have every intention of reclaiming, two—he may be a threat to the welfare of the Pearl, three—he may lead us to a very large amount of valuable items that we may need, and four—he has an overwhelmingly enormous stash of rum that I find myself wanting. Savvy?"

We nodded dumbly.

"Why... hasn't anyone been brave enough to willingly die so that this Merlow might 'meet his downfall'?" asked Will.

"Because not everyone has the benefit of being a crew member aboard the Black Pearl, which has a captain who happens to know many very interesting things of this sort," said Jack. "And in case you're getting any ideas, we do in fact need you, so please try not to do anything extremely stupid, because I think you have a tendency to do just those things."

"Depends on what you call stupid," muttered Will.

"So," said Jack, ignoring Will, "that really concludes this discussion." He pulled out his compass, opened it, and pointed in the appropriate direction.

"We'll go that way," he said. "Now, excuse me, please. I think I'd like to get some more rum."

He looks stressed... I thought. Maybe I shouldn't have said all that yesterday, but I am engaged. Still, as we filed out of the cabin, I turned around to give Jack a small, quick smile. If he noticed, though, he showed no sign of it. I gave this a mental shrug as I emerged on deck and heard Gibbs shouting a few orders, including mending part of the rigging.

Lovely, I thought. A perfect time to be up there. I climbed up and worked quickly while the ebony black sails rippled in the wind. I involuntarily glanced at the horizon that I could barely see in the distance. Somewhere... somewhere out there, another adventure. And afterwards, marriage. I thought about Jack. It'll be fine, I told myself firmly. He fancies me, but he will get over it. I looked down to see the captain swaggering across the deck, holding a bottle of rum.

"We're devils and black sheep and really bad eggs, drink up me hearties, yo ho!"

The rest of the crew and I joined in enthusiastically, putting down any worries about Merlow or anything else.

"Yo ho, yo ho, a PIRATE'S LIFE FOR ME!"

Hope you liked this chappie! I'm sorry about the shortness of them (and the length of the A/N at the beginning), I'll try to make them longer now. I put a big emphasis on the fact that this is romance, but if any of you are wondering whether this is Willabeth or Sparrabeth (it's definitely not JA)... can't tell you yet:) Now you should go review!!!