Nerd's United: I'm glad you like it! Thanks so much! gives cookies to first reviewer

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Mysti did not sleep at all that night, on board the Black Pearl. She was capable, naturally, of going without sleep for a number of days without appearing wearied or uncomely in any way. She spent this particular sleepless night staring over the edge of the boat…ship…into the waters below, lamenting her fate and wondering what could be happening to her poor twin. How horrible this was, to end up in this wretched place, kidnapped by this horrible pirate, whom she felt absolutely no attraction at all towards. It was all very unsatisfying, she thought, pouting slightly. A single tear trailed down her beautiful pink-tinged cheek, and fell into the ocean below. Several fish spontaneously died of grief, their tiny fish hearts unable to bear the heavy burden of knowing that Mystery Cooper was crying.

Jack Sparrow watched her from the window of his cabin. It was heartbreaking, really, watching her this sad. But if there was one thing more heartbreaking than seeing Mysti cry, it was the notion of living the rest of his life, even a little tiny moment of it, without her. That wouldn't do at all. Since the moment he laid eyes on her, he knew he loved her. There was nothing for it. He left his cabin, and went to stand by her side.

"Mysti." he said, softly. "I know this is hard for you, love. But cheer up. You're in the Caribbean, you're aboard the most feared pirate vessel in the entire world! And I love you!"

"If you loved me, you would not force me to remain your prisoner, captive to your barbaric whims!" said Mysti heatedly, naturally posessing the ability to speak in the terms of the times without previously having had any exposure to such linguistic tendencies.

"Aye, but you're something of a pirate yourself already, love." Sparrow said, the corner of his mouth turning up in a smile. "After all, you've stolen something of mine, and have yet to give it back."

"Indeed!" Mysti huffed. "And pray, what might that be?"

"My heart." Sparrow told her, dramatically sweeping his hat from his head and placing it over his chest.

Mysti rolled her eyes, and several clouds which had been hovering overhead immediately fled the scene, not wishing to further darken her day.

Meanwhile...

"I'm afraid she's not here." Krysty said wearily. She and Will had been searching for Elizabeth all night amidst the senseless forms of pirates and sailors in the pub.

"I'm afraid we had a bit of an argument." Will said, sighing. "She left me in Port Royal, told me she had unfinished business to attend to."

"I can't think what that would mean." Krysty told him innocently. "But it's obvious she's gone now."

"Well, thank you for your help." Will said, making for the door. "I suppose I'll have to find a ship, and track down Jack Sparrow. He might have seen her."

"Wait!" Krysty cried, alarmed at the thought that their newly-forged purely platonic relationship should be coming to an end so soon. "You can't leave me here alone!"

"I can't?" Will asked, confused.

"No!" Krysty asserted. "You must remember that my sister and I share the title of Most Beautiful Woman in the Entire Earth and Probably Universe! It would be terrible for me to be left alone in this pit of despair! Besides, doesn't go against your honor to leave a helpless woman lost, unfriended, alone, and completely without protection in a pirate port?" With this last plea, she drew near to him, clutching at his sleeve and widening her beautiful azure optical orbs at him in an expression that was capable of making lesser men fall to their knees begging through sobs that she never leave them and certainly never be unhappy.

Will shrugged.

"All right." he conceded. "I suppose you can come along."

Krysty was somewhat confused at his reaction. He didn't seem to be upset at all by her...upsetedness. Not that she wanted him to be, mind you, she still viewed this as a completely just-friends arrangement, but it was somewhat odd. All the other boys she'd ever met had done various extreme things in order to gain her favor, including murder their grandmothers, shave their heads, overthrow dictatorships of small countries, and throw themselves in front of moving vehicles to save puppies and kittens.

Of course, what she did not know was that Will was already blinded by his own version of that true love, given to his own Elizabeth, who was, after all, the third most beautiful woman on the earth. (Only the third, though, which was why he let Krysty come along.) The fact that Krysty did not realize that, however, was just because she was not as intellectual as her twin sister. Between the two of them, the sisters shared every valuable skill necessary to be the best at Absolutely Everything.

"But if we're going." Will told her. "We have to leave now. The Black Pearl probably left while we were searching."

"Right. Besides, we have to find my sister." Krysty agreed. She followed Will out of the pub, and without much trouble, they managed to find a ship. This was quite easy because the author needed it to be, so a captain with nothing else more important to do agreed to take them on an almost-aimless voyage to hunt down Jack Sparrow.

Meanwhile...

Mysti was in the Crow's Nest because that was the most heroically dramatic place for her to be at the moment, even though no real sailor, pirate or otherwise, would have let an inexperienced sixteen year old girl keep watch. She tilted her head back, relaxing in the now afternoon sun. Her tan was already perfect, but it was always nice to feel the warmth of the sun on her face. She opened her eyes for a moment, and that was when she spotted the sail on the horizon.

"Ship!" she shouted, standing up, waving her arms energetically. "Ship!"

Jack, who stood below, looked up at her.

"What's that? What're we swearing for?"

"No, you stupid pirate!" Mysti yelled, and of course, she had every right to be upset. She had been kidnapped and dragged onto this boat against her will by said pirate. "Ship! s-h-i-P! Like, a boat!"

Jack understood that time.

"I see her, love!" he called back. "Men, run out the cannons! Raise the colors!"

The cannons were readied, and the Jolly Roger was hoisted. Mysti, of course, was appropriately repulsed by this behaviour, in a ladylike sort of way, and climbed down from the Crow's Nest to voice her opinion without any further misunderstandings. Jack was observing the approaching ship through his spyglass, and made a thoughtful humming sound deep in his throat.

"What is it?" Mysti asked, her curiousity getting the best of her because in this situation it was perfectly safe and wouldn't make her do anything stupid.

"Royal Navy." Sparrow replied. "We've got the wind with us, men...steady as she goes, bring us up alongside when we get in range."

It was only a short time before the ship was in range, and the Black Pearl slipped alongside her, canons primed and ready.

"Ahoy there!" Jack called, waving. "Commodore Norrington, I presume?"

"Indeed." came the dry reply. "I can't say it's a pleasure to be seeing you again, Jack Sparrow."

"Captain! Captain Jack Sparrow!" Jack retorted, in a clichéd frenzy which could not possibly have escaped mention in any self-respecting PotC story.

"My mistake." This remark was made through the gritted teeth of James Norrington, the male character who held the esteemed title of Third Most Abused by Mary Sues.

Mysti wanted to call out, to say something about Sparrow having kidnapped her and her being dragged across the ocean against her will, but she felt the cold tip of a knife against her back, and remained silent. She didn't dare turn around, either, but kept looking straight ahead, managing a false smile which kept the Navy on board the other ship convinced that she was merely vacationing with these pirates. Norrington waved politely...after all, it isn't every day that you see one of the Most Beautiful Woman in the Entire Earth and Probably Universe just sailing along. Mysti smiled back sweetly, and three sailors on board Norrington's ship saw it and jumped overboard, unable to live with the thought that she would give that smile to someone but themselves.

"Yes, indeed, one of many, isn't it?" Jack replied, in answer to Norrington's last comment.

"I don't suppose you've seen William Turner in these parts, have you?" the Commodore called.

"Left him in Tortuga, sorry, mate." Jack shrugged. "Might still be there, though, if you hurry."

"Ah, I see. Thank you for your help." Norrington told him. "Make for Tortuga!" he shouted to his men.

"Sir? We going to let Sparrow escape?" asked one of his crewmen.

"Well, we can't very well fire on him. We might hit that gorgeous creature he has on board. That would cause suicidal tendencies to arise in well over half the male population of the Caribbean, and would without doubt result in some sort of imbalance which would allow evil to overtake the earth."

"Oh, right. Sorry." the crewman agreed, apologetically, and went to follow the Commodor's instructions. The ship headed off in the opposite direction of the Black Pear's current course, and Mysti felt the knife taken away from her back. She turned around to face Elizabeth. It was Elizabeth, of course, because no male pirate would ever have had the heart to get a knife anywhere near the glowing and flawless skin of Mystery Cooper.

"How dare you!" Mysti demanded, and Elizabeth shrugged, unaffected by the look of anger on Mysti's face, a look which would have made any member of the male gener plunge the knife into his own heart at the thought of having been the cause of it.

"I couldn't let you hurt Jack." Elizabeth explained. "If you'd screamed, my ex-fiance #1 would have opened fire and might have hurt the man I lust after and am willing to abandon Will for."

"Well, he doesn't love you!" Mysti said, heatedly, attempting to think up the meanest thing she could. After all, Elizabeth had threatened her life! "He seems to love me. I don't know why. I certainly don't love him. I think he's horrible."

"Of course you do." Elizabeth said, patronizingly.

"I do!" Mysti insisted, and went to the rail, crossing her arms and refusing to say any more.

Meanwhile...

Will and Krysty were getting to know one another aboard their ship. They were seated on a pair of barrels near the rail, talking. They had been talking for the entire journey, because Will couldn't really help being fascinated by the pair of red wooden clogs she made in fifth grade, and the fact that Juicy Couture had discontinued her favorite sunglasses; and Krysty threw this much passion and interest into all her platonic friendships.

"Oh, Will." Krysty sighed, laughing melodically at a joke he had made. "I think you're my best friend."

Will smiled happily. This was wonderful. He had the third most beautiful woman in the world as his fiance, and now the join holder of the Most Beautiful Woman in the Earth and Probably Universe was telling him he was her best friend. Could things get any better?

At that moment, because it was needed by the author, a huge storm blew up, and tossed the boat violently. If not for the courage of the fearless crew, the Minnow would have been lost. Krysty stood at the mast, clinging to it as if her life depended on it. Will was running about on deck, helping when he could. Then at that fateful moment, a huge wave washed over the deck, sweeping Will right over the rail. Krysty watched in horror, as he clung to the rail for a brief second, long enough to say "Stay safe!" and then disappeared into the water below.

"Will!" Krysty shrieked, in a choked sob that chased away a small portion of the storm. She let go of her safehold on the mast, and scooped up a length of industrial-grade rope from the deck at her feet. Regardless of the fact that a rope of that length should have been impossible for any girl her age to carry, she ran with it to the rail, and threw one end of it down to Will, who was quickly falling behind. "Grab the rope!" she yelled.

Will complied, and all alone, without any help from the busy crew, Krysty hauled him back up onto the deck. The storm, having achieved its intended purpose in the story, immidiately dissipated.

"Oh, Will." said Krysty, tears mixing with the rain and seawater which soaked her to the skin. "I thought I'd lost you."

"I thought I was dead." Will admitted, giving her a long hug. "I told you to stay safe! Why did you let go of the mast?"

Krysty sobbed into his shoulder, then looked up, her hair and makeup suddenly perfect.

"How do you do that?" Will asked.

"I don't know." Krysty admitted. "But that's not the point. You asked me a question."

"Oh, yes." Will nodded. "I asked you why in the world you would risk your own life and selflessly throw yourself into the path of danger to heroically save me."

"Because..." Krysty answered, realization dawning in her beautiful blue eyes. "Because I...I lo...I love you, Will Turner, and that's that."

Will staggered back, stunned by this completely unpredictable plot device. Really, who saw that coming at all? It was completely unexpected. Krysty certainly hadn't planned on falling in love with Will while helping him look for his fiance. Some things couldn't be helped, though.