Author's final note: So, the end is here! I of course finished this story a long time ago, but it's really official now because I'm posting it. Should I be happy or sad? I don't know…

Sequel: Would you read it if I write it? It could be awhile before I get the chance to write it; but if my heart's in it and yours is too, I would love to do it. So talk to me about that, all right?

THANKS TO ALL THE REVIEWERS THAT HAVE STUCK WITH ME ALL THE WAY TO THE END! It's been a fun ride, folks, and I dedicate this final chapter to ALL OF YOU! ('Cause you all are just amazing like that!)

Chapter Twenty-Six—Back to the Future

Jessie came up, coughing and spluttering seawater. She treaded water a few more seconds, then got into a rhythmic series of strokes, keeping her head out of the sea so she could look around her. Off in the distance, she saw the Black Pearl swinging Jack and Ana on board. She bit her lip, worried. So they hadn't went home, then.

"Hey, Amber, you all right?" she looked around expectantly, but she couldn't see her friend. She had never come up. Terrified, Jessie took a deep breath and dove under, opening her eyes once she was below water. They screamed in protest; the saltwater hurt nearly as bad as her injured arm did as she forced herself to use it to keep herself from sinking.

There. Still in her heavy dress, Amber had been no match for the weight of the water-soaked garments. She had slowly begun sinking, but Jessie in her lightweight boy's attire and seven years on the swim team under her belt reached her before her friend sunk too far down. She grabbed her friend under the arms and kicked madly for the surface, gasping.

"Amber," she panted, "are you okay? Open your eyes, dang it." Her own eyes were filling with painful tears at the weight presented on her injured arm, but she didn't dare release her friend.

"Get me outta this thing," Amber said weakly. With her help, Jessie ripped the heavy, water-drenched dress off and it sunk to the bottom of the sea out of sight, leaving Amber only in her shift and corset. "Better," she said happily, this time staying up without Jessie's help. Gold gleamed from her neck: the medallion.

"Can't believe you still have that thing," Jessie said disbelievingly.

Amber nodded at Jessie's own neck, where Jack's ring was still tied around. "I can't believe you still have that," she said mockingly. "I figured Jack would have taken it back by now."

"He will soon enough," Jessie said as the two girls swam in the direction of the Black Pearl. She didn't think Jack would be too keen to have her on board, but where else did they have to go? But as they looked around them, a problem was presented.

The Black Pearl was no longer there. There was no ship at all; in fact, there was nothing. Not even the cliff off which they'd dived merely minutes before.

"What's going on?" Amber said, looking around her. Distantly, she heard something like a motor humming in the distance. Her eyes widened. "Jess," she said breathlessly, "I think we're back home."

"But that's impossible!" Jessie said; "I know I saw the Pearl the first time I came up. I swear…"

"HULLO THERE!" Both girls started as a tiny little speedboat turned a corner and advanced towards them. There were two men: one leaning over the side of the boat grinning at them; the other at the wheel. "Need a lift, girls?" the tallest and oldest of the two asked, looking like a washed up old hippie from the seventies or something.

"We're fine," Amber called back immediately. She wasn't about to get in a boat with two strange men. "Just out for a little swim, is all."

"Yeah?" he replied, "and where's your boat when you're done swimming?" His eyes twinkled in a friendly fashion. "Come on aboard, Amber, Jessie."

"How do you know our names?" Jessie called back, both shocked and skeptical.

"We've been out searching for you for three days! Gave your parents a right good scare," the old man continued. "I'm Jonathon, by the way, and this here's my mate Roger. Now how about that lift, eh?"

Amber looked at Jessie. "What do you think?" she whispered. "Do we trust them?"

"What choice do we have?" she replied. "It's get in their boat or drown. Besides, I think they're telling the truth. There's something oddly familiar about them both…"

-o0o-

"Your parents will be delighted to know you're safe," Roger said officially once the girls were on board. Jonathon helpfully handed them both dry towels to wrap around their dry frames; he didn't seem to be at all curious about their strange attire, but instead dug around for a moment in all the junk in their boat.

"Ah," he said after a moment, "here." He straightened back up and handed a pile of clothes—their clothes—to each girl.

"How'd you—?" Jessie began, but Jonathon cut her short, looking at her with a sheepish, almost apologetic smile. She had seen that same smile often before, but Jessie was certain she'd never seen him before today.

"Er, took 'em from your parents' luggage when they weren't lookin'. Knew they'd come in handy when we found yeh. Means less explainin' to do, at any rate."

"Who are you?" Amber asked.

"Already told yeh," he replied; obviously the more talkative of the two men, though the other man had the air of leadership about him. "My name's Jonathon and this is—"

"Jonathon what?" asked Jessie, unable to stop herself. She suspected she knew already. Don't be stupid, she told herself.

"Sparlington," he responded smoothly, looking at his companion out of the corner of his eye. "And this is Roger Turnip—"

"Turner," he corrected, putting the boat in something like park and letting it float there as he addressed the two girls. He ignored Jonathon's shocked expression. "We don't have to lie to them, Jonathon, they already know what we do." He turned back to them. "I'm Roger Turner," he said again. "I believe you know my ancestors."

Jessie would have spit out her drink, if she'd had one in her mouth at the time. Instead, she could merely gape; beside her, she knew Amber was doing the same thing.

"Does that make you…" Pointing at Jonathon, unable to say it, though she had suspected it merely a moment ago.

He bowed. "Jonathon Sparrow, at your service."

"No," Amber shook her head, disbelieving. "That's impossible."

"As impossible as traveling into a movie?"

This time, Jessie would have given anything for a gulp of water, just so she could spew it everywhere. This TV like way of showing surprise was exactly what she wanted to do at the moment; the only thing that could begin to express her shock.

"How do you—?"

"They were our medallions," Roger said; "we sent them to you from online. Didn't mean to give you those exact ones, though. Meant to give what you asked for: two souvenir medallions. Instead, you got authentic ones made to look fake." He gestured with a nod at Amber's. "Seems we made a mistake in shipping." There was a particularly nasty glare in Jonathon's direction.

"I don't understand," Jessie said.

Roger sat down on a tackle box across from them. "It wasn't supposed to happen. But now that it has—and it's over, too, thank god, with little harm done—I suppose you should know everything. It started here, in the Caribbean, hundreds of years ago. A mystic goddess created a terrible curse on two medallions, two worthless Aztec coins. They would continue to be worthless and useless, unless touched upon with the same Caribbean water that had created it. Then, suddenly, they would have a purpose: a meaning." He looked at Jessie. "Since you seem to be missing yours, I assume you've discovered the meaning."

Jessie caught her breath. The eight hundred and eighty-third coin. "Why did she make the curse?" she asked breathlessly.

"So people would know what had happened in her time, and would be able to relive it." This made little sense to either of the girls. Jonathon scoffed as well.

"Personally, I think she only made them because she got bored one day and decided to show off her powers," he said. Jessie was inclined to agree with him.

"The medallions were in the possession of a woman we know, named Trinity. She is a descendant of the goddess herself. She placed them in our care, since we had ourselves a coin shop. That's how you ended up with them."

"What exactly does the curse do?"

"They work together; a set, a pair," Jonathon said. "One of 'em, when they touch the water, sends you back in time, and later becomes a missing piece. That would be yours," he said to Jessie. And to Amber, "yours is the key back home. When it touches water, it brings the wearer and whoever is in contact with the wearer back to their original time, just like the first one sends yah back."

"Wow," was all Jessie could say. She looked at Amber, to see why she had been quiet this whole time, and to see what she thought of this. To her surprise, her friend didn't look shocked but angry.

"Oh, please," she said. "Do you expect us to believe that? A curse created because a goddess was bored? Jonathon Sparrow and Roger Turner? Ancestors of people from a Disney film? Pirates of the Caribbean is FICTIONAL world, a fictional story!"

Jessie felt like an idiot. Roger, however, responded coolly: "People think it is. And in some ways, perhaps the film stretches the truth a bit."

"But do you really think Disney is capable of making something that amazing? They found a story from history that looked interesting, and they made a movie. They don't know descendants exist," Jonathon said. He grinned wickedly. Jessie smiled.

"You look like him," she said suddenly, studying his bronze skin and sharp cheeks. His eyes were that same mischievous twinkle of brown. "Like, an older version of him. Of Jack. Or Johnny Depp, depending on how you view it."

"Johnny Depp was just extremely lucky to be born with something resembling my face," Jonathon muttered rather darkly. This, for some reason, lifted Amber's spirits and seemed to dissolve her suspicions. She turned to Roger.

"And do you offer the same explanation about your resemblance to Orlando Bloom?" she asked. Though, personally, she thought Orlando was a lot prettier and not just because he was younger. Roger offered her a half-smile.

"Wigs and make up can do wonders for someone's looks. Hollywood magic." He got up from the tackle box and restarted the boat. "Now, if I promise not to look and Jonathon closes his eyes, will you please change into your actual clothes? You don't want to explain to your parents why you're wearing eighteenth century attire on top of where you've been the past three days, do you?"

-o0o-

"For the first time in three days, I'm wearing pants again!" Amber said happily. She tucked up the corset and shift in a bundle and set it next to Jessie's boy clothing. "We'll be back for those, I think," she said. "The perfect souvenir." She fingered the only other thing left of their adventure, aside from the ring around Jessie's neck: the medallion. They had said she could keep it as well, seeing as how they only worked together as a pair, and the other had been lost.

"Do you remember your cover up story, girls?" Roger asked one more, as land appeared in the distance. They nodded, and he took it as permission to quiz them. "Where have you been?"

"A tiny spit of sand."

"Why were you there?"

"We swam over there while they were sleeping. We fell asleep ourselves. We were stuck there when we woke up, until you found us this morning by chance."

Roger nodded. "It's a pathetic excuse, but let's hope they don't ask too many questions about why the police didn't see it before in their relief to find you safe. Now, we still need to somehow explain your bandaged arm, Jessie," he added.

Jessie looked down at it. "Any ideas?" she asked. Everyone looked like they were in a deep thought for a few minutes. Then,

"How about," Jonathon said, "you tell them you tripped and hurt it on a rock? We bandaged it for you when we rescued you," he explained..

"That's perfect for you, Jessie!" Amber exclaimed. "Completely believable, saying you tripped over nothing and landed on a rock. Totally you…"

Jessie stuck her tongue out at her friend.

"Here we are," Roger said, the dock was by now very close; Jessie and Amber could see men in uniforms now in detail. And, judging by the excited bustle, they could see them, too. Peter and David, Beth and Carly were all four there waiting for them, capturing them in hugs and kisses and tears and cries. It was hard to tell who said what in the following minutes:

"Oh my god, girls, I'm so glad you're safe! Oh, come here!"

"THANK GOD!"

"We were so worried! What happened? Are you all right?"

"My baby! Oh, my baby! You're hurt!"

"Jesus, mom, I can't breath…augh…mom… I'm fine! We're both fine!" When Jessie's mother finally released her, she began to tell them the story. Amber chimed in on the more iffy parts of their story where it was likely they would see a plot hole: Amber could pull them off. They believed every word they said without question—because who really cares how, or why—their girls were safe! They were alive!

"Thank you so much, Jonathon, Roger," Beth said when things had quieted down a bit. She hugged them, too, Jonathon looking exceptionally pleased. Carly did the same, crying emotionally, and both fathers shook their hands.

"We'll never be able to thank you enough for saving our girls," they said. Jonathon and Roger just shrugged modestly. Nevertheless, it was hours before the police were finished with their questioning, and the parents were relaxed enough to let Jessie and Amber leave their sides. Then, finally, did they get a few more minutes alone with the two men.

"Are you going home now?" Amber asked. "Back to the coin shop?"

"Aye," Jonathon said, as they made ready their boat. "We've done what we came to do. There is one thing, though." He straightened up and smirked at Jessie. "My grandpa used to tell us a story his granddaddy told him. About a strange young girl and her friend who came from another world and followed him everywhere. It's been in our family for years, that story. But it's funny, because I never knew it before yesterday, when I started getting forgotten childhood memories of listening to it. Funny how that works, isn't it?" He smirked again.

"Jonathon, you ready?" Roger asked. Jonathon nodded and they made ready to sail. Jessie was jus thinking she and Amber should get back before their parents got worried, when the old hippie looked at her one last time. "There was one thing about that story I remember more clearly than any other. Something that was always included that Jack said, almost like a message to that girl," he said.

"And that is?" Jessie felt a tingle of curiosity in her, grinning despite herself. Amber looked eager as well. Jonathon was laughing.

"He wants his ring back."