Disclaimer: don't own POTC...

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Will sat by the bedside, holding Elizabeth's hand. There was little, if anything, else he could do. He had tried every conceivable means to try and wake her - cold water, hot water, yelling, shaking her gently and then not so gently - none of it did any good. And now, after a day of futile, wasted efforts, he was at a loss for what to do. He just wished Jack would hurry up and get here. That is, if he was coming at all. For all he knew, Jack could be the cause of the snow, not the solution to getting rid of it.

Night was falling, and Will was contemplating on whether or not he should take Elizabeth back to her house. If he did, she would be in the best of care and in a safe - safer - environment. But if he did, what would her father think? If indeed Governor Swann had sided with him, this incident might bring back around to Norrington's side. What the hey - might as well go the whole mile: they might even have him hanged because of this. And if Elizabeth did eventually wake up, where would she be then? No doubt all set up to marry the Commodore while his body still swung from the gallows. No. She was staying here. It was better not to risk it.

Suddenly there was a loud crashing noise from the back of the forge and the shouting of several very rude profanities that won't be published for the sake of all the seven year olds that accidentally find themselves reading this. Will almost groaned aloud. It was probably Brown, waking up from his alcohol induced stupor. With a MAJOR hangover.

Will reluctantly rose to go help the "master blacksmith". He really didn't need this. Not now.

Will trudged over towards the back of the shop, almost dragging his feet. " 'ey now, whelp, why the long face?"

Will's head snapped up. "Jack!" he exclaimed. "How - what - why -!"

Jack held up his hands and waved them about wildly. "StopstopstopstopstopstopSTOP! One thing at a time 'ere!" Will shut up and Jack continued. "Tha's be'er. Go get th'fire goin' or somethin', Ol' Jack's freezin' his arse off."

Will just stared at him in incredulous joy. How lucky was he? The answer to all his problems had arrived on his doorstep! Now Elizabeth would be fine!

"Oy, eunuch, I ain't got all day. 'urry up 'fore I become th'firs' human icicle!"

Will snapped out of it. He headed towards the dying forge and began pumping the bellows. "I - resent - that," he said, forcing out each of the words on the downstroke of the bellows. "I'm - NOT - A - EUNUCH!"

Jack shrugged and plopped down on the chair which Elizabeth had occupied upon arriving in the smithy the night before. As the coals heated up again, Jack tugged of his knee-high leather boots and emptied about an inch of water out of them. He dropped them as close to the fire as he could get - which was pretty close - and they almost immediately started hissing. He then stretched out with a sigh, slouching low in the chair and started brushing ice crystals out of his dreads.

Will watched him mutely. Jack seemed unconcerned by Will's scrutiny and started picking his teeth, flicking his finds into the fire. Will watched for about another minute out of morbid fascination before saying quietly, "I'm assuming that because you're here you know what's going on."

Jack shrugged nonchalantly. "Yeah; so what if I do? What's it ter ye?"

Will had been keeping his temper in close check, but Jack's irresponsible manner and his worry for Elizabeth got the better of him. "If you don't mind, Jack, I would like to know the reason why ELIZABETH IS LYING THERE LIKE A CORPSE!"

Jack jumped and fell of his chair. "Jeez, Will, no need t'get yer knickers in a twist! She ain't dead, y'know. She's just...sleeping, like."

"I know she's not dead! But WHY isn't she waking up?"

"Yeah, well...y'know...gettin' yer soul stolen would make anybody snooze a lil'..."

"WHAT!" cried Will. "SOUL STOLEN? So she's DEAD?"

"Nonononononononono!" exclaimed Jack, waving his hands about wildly. "She ain't dead! Far from it! 's possible t'separate th'soul from th'body. Just takes one hell of a magician to do it. Or a ghost. Angry soul. Spirit. Whatever. Th'point is, is tha' 'liz'beth's soul's been stolen by this crazy japanese lady from five 'undred years ago who wants revenge on all pirates."

"I'm not a pirate, Jack! I'm a blacksmith!"

Jack waggled a chiding finger at Will. "Now, whelp, y'know that ain't true, Th'blood of Bootstrap Bill flows in yer veins - yer a pirate, boy! Even yer bonny lass can see it, lest me spies tell me wrong. An' as a result, our ladies hafta pay th'prices fer our crimes."

Will slowly sat down on the chair as Jack looked up from the floor indignantly. "Oy, whelp, ye took me bumrest!"

Will turned his head to face Jack, an almost hesitant grin on his face. "Sorry Jack, but your 'bumrest' is a chair that I made myself, and therefore have the right to sit on whenever I want to." Will paused, looking back towards the young woman on the bed. Then in a quieter, sadder tone, he said, "What are we going to do Jack? Is there anyway to save her?"

Jack snorted rudely. " 'Course there is, m'boy! We've just gotta kill th'guy in alliegance wiv th'pissed off spirit! Which would be m'ex-bosun, Ben Alderman. Otherwise known as Deadeye Alderman. I gouged 'is eye out m'self. ... 'm very proud o' that..."

Will smacked his forehead in dispair. "I don't CARE, Jack1 If we can save Elizabeth, then let's go! Now!" He started frantically gathering every object that could be necessary and trying to stuff them into a sack.

Jack hauled himself off the floor and cuffed Will soundly on the back of his head. Will dropped his half-full sack and started rubbing the back of his skull. "What was that for?" he complained.

Jack plopped back down on the fireside chair. "Fer one thing, gettin' yerself inter a tizzy ain't gonna help Liz's situation any. Second, in case ye haven't noticed, ye blind dingbat, it's dark. An' it's snowin'. I ain't budgin' 'til I get a hot meal, 'bout a bucket o' beer, an' a good night's sleep. An' neither is me crew. We've walked fer bloody ages t'get 'ere, and we ain't about to run outta 'ere as soon as we got 'ere. So jes' siddown an cool yer boots a lil'. 'liz'beth'll be fine 'til mornin'. Now piss off, whelp; ol' Jack gonna try t'get a bit o'shut-eye." With that, he propped his feet up on the edge of the hearth, pulled his tricorn hat low over his eyes and promptly began to feign snoring.

Will sighed and stopped rubbing the welt Jack's ring had raised when Jack had walloped him. With a last resentful glance, Will went back to his bed. He perched himself on the edge and stared off at Jack, snoring for real this time. (Incredible how fast that man could fall asleep, eh?) Jack was right. There was nothing he could do until morning. Will brushed the dust off the soles of his feet - he hadn't even bothered to put his shoes on - and slipped under the sheets, still fully clothed. It was getting chillier. He then hesitantly snuggled up to Elizabeth and, with his arm protectively around her waist, drifted off to a fitful, tormented sleep.

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A/N: tada! the end! (of the new chappies.)

now: explanations. my skool, it's almost half term break, so the blasted teachers are giving us loadsa boring revision and "practice exercises" snort yeah right! more like sophisicated torture in the form of algebratic equations. so, cuz of this load of HW, i wasnt able 2 write & update as often as i did when i started, cuz i think i started writing this during a skool holiday. (if i remember correctly...) and now, since this weekend starts our 2 week half term break, i can write loads:) yay!

dont worry: i promise not to ever do this again. (if i can help it) if i do it again, u have my permission 2 hire snipers 2 cum and hunt me down. that is, if u can find out where i live! mua aaa aaa! BANGBANGBANGBANG! dammit...

and if yer in the USA, look fer my updates in the morning. it's the evening 4 me, cuz of time difference. (does that give u a clue where i live)