𝐉𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐃 𝐔𝐏 𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆, then offered bella his hand to help her climb out of the longboat.

"no worries, mates. tia dalma and i go way back. thick as thieves. nigh inseparable we are . . . were . . . have been . . . before . . ." jack trailed off anxiously.

"i'll watch your back," gibbs assured him, joining them on the landing.

"it's me front i'm worried about," jack replied. bella chuckled as she and jack entered the small hut.

"mind the boat," gibbs said, following behind them.

jack cautiously crept through the door, glancing around nervously. standing behind him, bella saw a woman look up and break into a smile.

"jack sparrow," she greeted.

"tia dalma," jack answered, waltzing over to her.

"i always knew the wind was going to blow you back to me one day," she said, approaching him. but then, she spotted will and pointed to him. "you. you have a touch of . . . destiny about you. william turner."

"you know me?" asked will.

tia dalma reached out and touched his cheek. "you want to know me," she leaned in.

jack hurried over to intervene between them. "there'll be no knowing here. we've come for help and we're not leaving without it," he led tia dalma away from will. "i thought i knew you," he added.

bella rolled her eyes.

"not so well as i'd hoped," tia answered, heading to the back. "come."

"come," repeated jack, motioning the rest of the crew over.

"what service may i do you?" she asked, caressing will's face once more. then, she turned forcefully in jack's direction. "you know i demand payment."

"i brought payment," jack replied. he whistled for the cage to be brought over, then showed her the monkey. "look . . ." he shot it. "an undead monkey. top that!"

tia opened the cage door, and jack the monkey quickly escaped.

"no," gibbs winced. "you've no idea how long it took us to catch that."

"the payment is fair," said tia, turning back to the table.

"we're looking for this," will stated, laying out the drawing of the key. "and what it goes to."

"the compass in your possession, it cannot lead you to this?" tia questioned jack. bella glanced at the compass at jack's waist.

"maybe," jack replied. "why?"

"ah . . . jack sparrow does not know what he wants," tia smiled. "or do you know, but are loath to claim it as your own?" she continued, gazing at bella.

taking the implication, jack's eyes met bella's for a second.

"your key go to a chest," tia announced. "and it is what lay inside the chest you seek. don't it?"

"what is inside?" asked gibbs.

"gold? jewels? unclaimed properties of valuable nature?" pintel interrogated.

". . . nothing bad, i hope," ragetti added, looking rather fearful.

"you know of davy jones, yes?" tia spoke. the crew nodded in response. "a man of the sea. a great sailor. until he run afoul of that which vex all men."

as tia was speaking, jack sneakily pocketed a trinket from her table. nobody noticed expect for bella, who looked up at him with a small smile and almost laughed. jack gave her a grin, then wrapped his arm around her waist.

"what vexes all men?" will wondered.

"what indeed?" replied tia, stroking will's hand.

"the sea," gibbs voiced, sounding certain.

"sums," declared pintel.

"the dichotomy of good and evil," ragetti suggested, earning a strange look from the other two.

"a woman!" jack said. bella glanced at him in surprise, and he tightened his grip around her waist.

"a woman," tia confirmed. "him fell in love."

"no no no no, i heard it was the sea he fell in love with," gibbs broke in.

"same story, different versions and all are true!" responded tia. "see, it was a woman as changing, and harsh, and untamable as the sea. him never stopped loving her. but the pain it caused him was too much to live with, but not enough to cause him to die."

"what exactly did he put into the chest?" asked will curiously.

tia placed her hand on her chest. "him heart."

"literally or figuratively?" ragetti looked spooked again.

"he couldn't literally put his heart in a chest," scolded pintel. he turned back to tia with a face of anxiety. "could he?"

"it was not worth feeling what small, fleeting joy life brings," tia went on. "and so, him carve out him heart, lock it away in a chest, and hide the chest from the world. the key he keep with him at all times."

the crew appeared to be dumbfounded.

will, however, stood up forcefully. "you knew this," he said to jack and bella.

"we did not!" they denied in unison.

"we didn't know where the key was," jack noted.

"but now we do!" added bella.

"so, all that's left is to climb aboard the flying dutchman, grab the key, you go back to port royal and save your bonnie lass, eh?" jack quickly began to push bella in the direction of the door, but tia interfered.

"let me see your hand," she commanded, reaching towards jack.

he tried to offer his healthy right hand, but bella elbowed him. he sighed and gave tia his wrapped up left hand. she undid the makeshift bandage and everyone was able to see the black spot on jack's palm.

gibbs gasped in fear. "the black spot!" he dusted himself off and spun around, spitting on the ground once he made a circle.

"black spot!" pintel and ragetti exclaimed, repeating gibbs' ritual.

"my eyesight's as good as ever, just so you know," jack joked as tia turned around and started rummaging through the back of her hut.

she returned with a jar in her arms.

"davy jones cannot make port," tia said. "cannot step on land but once every ten years. land is where you are safe, jack sparrow, and so you will carry land with you."

she offered jack the jar, and he took it hesitantly.

"dirt," he finally observed. "this is a jar of dirt."

"yes," responded tia.

"is the... jar of dirt going to help?" jack wondered.

"if you don't want it, give it back," answered tia, sounding offended.

"no!" jack argued, clutching the jar close to his chest.

tia smiled. "then it helps."

bella raised her eyebrows at jack. he hugged the jar defensively.

tia stared at the two of them. "keep each other close," she spoke. "two souls like yourselves do not find each other by accident."

jack and bella looked at each other. tia was right, but they didn't understand what she meant.

" . . . it seems we have a need to find the flying dutchman," announced will, breaking the silence.

"yes . . . a touch . . ." tia picked up a handful of objects and threw them out on her table. ". . . of destiny!"

a/n

hey so this is off-topic but read it anyway:

i'm working on a harry potter fanfiction, and it's nowhere near done — but if i ever published it, would any of you read it?

comment your response please!! 

love you all so much, sarah