Pirates of the Caribbean: More from Beyond the World

Disclaimer: If I owned Pirates of the Caribbean I would be able to meet Johnny Depp... But, hey, you never know, maybe I still will! But that still won't mean that I own Pirates of the Caribbean!

Wall of Flame

A/N: I'm back! I LOVE YOU, EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED! I can never repeat that quite often enough! Okay, some more ripping off Voyage of the Dawn Treader again!

Two weeks later, Elizabeth was able to get out her cabin and walk around. She was desperate to be on her feet again, but she spent most of her time with the child. Jack now had only a very vague idea as to which way there were sailing, because as his compass kept spinning confusingly and often pointing to Ana Maria, who was steadily avoiding him, he had to use Gibbs' compass. Unfortunately, the compass didn't work to well, and considered north to be south, but that might just have been because they were beyond the world.

One day, when Elizabeth was leaning on the railing of the ship, with Ana Maria holding little Jack at her side, Jack came over to them. Ana Maria turned her head away, and busied herself with fussing over the baby. Jack sighed. She had been acting this way ever since the affair with the compass.

"Jack, what's that?" Elizabeth asked, pointing over the side.

Jack took his eyes off Ana Maria and looked in the direction Elizabeth was indicating. There was something red and fiery there. He got his spyglass and looked. He was very surprised by what he saw, but not overly so. He had seen so many strange things that he could believe anything now.

"It's a wall of fire," he told Elizabeth. "And it's right on the water,"

"It can't be on the water, Jack," she said reasonably. "There must be land behind it."

"There isn't. Here's look for yourself," Jack said, proffering the spyglass. She looked and shook her head.

"A little longer, and I'll be turning as daft as you, Jack," she remarked.

"Not a bad thing, love," Jack told her cheerfully.

"Here, give me Jack, Ana," Elizabeth asked, reaching out to take the baby from her. Jack stepped forward instead of the baby. Elizabeth laughed.

"My baby's all grown up!" she cried, still laughing, and hugged Jack. "Well, I'll call him Jacky to avoid confusion in future,"

She took her baby and went back to her cabin, leaving Jack and Ana Maria alone. Ana Maria seemed to struggle for a second, then turned to Jack.

"Lemme have a look at that fire," she asked.

"How about 'please', love?"

"Gimme that, Sparrow!" Ana commanded, snatching the spyglass from Jack's hand and looking out at the sea. "Good Lord," she muttered. "It really is on the water."

Jack took the spyglass back and looked at it again. They were sailing steadily closer and closer.

"Do you think it's real fire?" she asked.

"We'll probably find out when we sail through it," Jack grumbled.

"Stop it," she snapped. "You're insufferable, Jack,"

They had reached the fire with alarming speed. Jack turned the Pearl to sail along the wall of fire. It didn't seem to go on for very long, but heat radiated from the flames, leaving no one in any doubt that the fire was indeed real.

He and Ana Maria leaning onto the side of the ship and stared out at it. The tongues of flame were hypnotizing and Jack couldn't seem to tear his eyes away from them. When he finally did, he looked at Ana's face. Bathed in the sinister light, it looked oddly beautiful and her eyes shone, mirroring the flames.

Before Jack knew what he was doing, he was leaning forward, and he was turning Ana Maria's head towards him and their lips met. The fire seemed to feed their desire, and, boldened by the heat and hypnotizing flames, they kissed fiercely. Jack wound his arms around Ana and felt hers encircle his neck. She certainly wasn't holding back.

Suddenly, they were past the fire, and as if by magic, they broke apart, gasping. They were still staring at each other in surprise at what they had done, when Elizabeth called across the deck,

"Are we past it?"

Jack looked over his shoulder and saw that the wall of fire was a mere speck on the horizon. He looked around at Ana Maria, only to find that she had gone. He saw her climbing up the tallest mast, probably in an attempt to get as far away from him as the ship would permit. Jack sighed resignedly.

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