"𝐆𝐔𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐎𝐀𝐓; mind the tide... don't touch my dirt," jack told pintel and ragetti, stripping off his coat and starting across the island.

bella, elizabeth, and norrington followed after him. soon enough, an abandoned bell tower came into view.

"i didn't expect anyone to be here," norrington said to bella.

"there's not," she answered plainly, at first unwilling to converse with him.

"you know this place?" he asked in disbelief.

"isla cruces," she began, turning around to him and demonstrating her vast knowledge. "being a pirate for the past year, i've heard no shortage of stories. the church came to the island, and brought salvation. . . and disease. . . and death. they say the priest had to bury everybody one by one. he went mad and hung himself."

"better mad with the rest of the world than sane alone," he replied, stone-cold.

bella stared into his eyes for a second, a little worried.

jack appeared next to her, breaking off their silence. "no fraternizing with the help, love," he stated.

bella turned to him, glanced back at norrington, then moved over to stand by jack. he gestured for norrington to move along.

"oh, no, after you, sir," norrington said sarcastically. jack grinned and pushed his shovel into norrington's hand.

bella gazed up at her pirate laughingly before they walked after elizabeth, hand in hand.

they reached a sandy clearing, and elizabeth started walking in circles. she glanced down at the compass, then back up to jack. bella flexed her jaw, irritated as she realized what that meant.

elizabeth shook the compass. "this doesn't work. and it certainly doesn't show you what you want most," she complained, sitting down on the sand.

jack walked over and looked at his compass. "yes, it does," he said. "you're sitting on it."

"beg pardon?"

jack shooed her away. "move." he whistled to norrington to start digging.

* * *

norrington suddenly hit something solid, making a noise. bella got up from her seat next to jack.

they all looked down into the hole. 

it was the chest.

after they pulled it out, bella swept the sand off the wooden box. jack grabbed a shovel and broke open the lock. there were dozens of letters inside, but he dug through them and pulled out a smaller chest.

they put their ears to it.

thump-thump.

thump-thump.

thump-thump.

"it's real," elizabeth gasped.

"you actually were telling the truth," norrington looked at jack in shock.

"i do that quite a lot, yet people are still surprised," he answered. bella raised her eyebrows at norrington.

"with good reason!" someone yelled from behind them.

the group whipped their heads around to see will on the beach, soaking wet.

"will!!!!" exclaimed elizabeth as she ran to him. "you're alright, thank god! i came to find you!" they kissed passionately.

norrington watched jealously, but jack grabbed bella's arm and pulled her near him.

"how did you get here?" bella asked in disbelief.

"sea turtles. a pair of them strapped to my feet," will answered, glaring at jack.

"not so easy, is it?" he responded.

"but i do owe you thanks, jack," continued will.

"you do?" jack questioned.

"why?" added bella.

"after you tricked me onto that ship, to square your debt with jones . . . " will began.

"what?" interrupted elizabeth.

"what?" jack repeated in a high-pitched mocking voice.

". . . i was reunited with my father," will snarled smugly.

"oh, well, you're welcome, then," smiled jack.

"everything you two said to me, every word was a lie!" elizabeth stormed toward him and bella.

"pretty much," bella nodded.

"time and tide," jack shrugged. beside them, will took out a knife and kneeled next to the chest. "oi, what are you doing?"

"i'm gonna kill jones," will replied.

jack let go of bella and unsheathed his sword, pointing it at will.

"can't let you do that, william. cause if jones is dead, who's to call his terrible beastie off the hunt, eh?" will looked like he agreed and stood up, key still in hand. "now, if you please. the key."

will reached over and snatched elizabeth's sword, then pointed it right back at jack. "i keep the promises i make, jack. i intend to free my father. i hope you're here to see it."

bella frowned at will.

suddenly, norrington took out his sword and pointed it at will. "i can't let you do that, either. so sorry."

"i knew you'd warm up to me eventually," grinned jack, only to be answered by norrington's sword in his face.

"lord beckett desires the contents of that chest," norrington continued. "i deliver it; i get my life back."

"ahh, the dark side of ambition," jack commented.

"oh, i prefer to see it as the promise of redemption," stated norrington.

"i must protest, james," bella broke in, not bothering to pull out her sword. "if beckett has the chest, he controls my entire world. and i'll be shipped right into his arms."

"i'd listen to the blonde," jack agreed. "don't get on her bad side, she's quite headstrong."

"are you flirting or starting a fight?" bella asked, narrowing her eyes at jack.

"probably the first," he replied, grinning.

"tragically, it seems the latter has already commenced," norrington broke in, swinging his sword at jack.

the three men all started slashing at each other, in an attempt to get the key.

"stop it!" elizabeth screamed. will tripped and fell next to her. she kneeled to help him, but he scrambled to his feet.

"guard the chest," he told her and bella, then ran after jack and norrington.

"no!" elizabeth screamed.

"i think you can handle that," bella patted elizabeth on the shoulder before hurrying after will. she saw jack fall to the ground, but he got up and ran away from the other two.

bella hurried in pursuit of him. when she caught up, he glanced over at her.

"probably better if you stay out of this, love," he said as they ran towards the abandoned bell tower.

"i'll pass," she answered, glancing over her shoulder. norrington was catching up. "here he comes."

they ran into the tower and climbed up a couple flights of stairs, before norrington was right behind them. whipping around, they slashed at him violently.

bella kicked norrington backwards and started to run up the stairs again, but he tripped her in return. she fell into jack's arms and he quickly moved her aside, swinging even more angrily at the former commodore because he had attacked bella.

their swords connected with a clang, and norrington shoved jack back against the wall. he seized the key.

jack lost his balance and grabbed one of the bell-ropes. he plummeted down, and will suddenly flew up, grabbing the key from norrington's hand.

"by your leave, mr. norrington," will yelled down.

norrington and bella looked at each other awkwardly. quickly, he shoved past her to catch up with will.

bella ran down the stairs to find jack, and she saw him following the other two at a leisurely pace. he jumped down by will, and tried to catch the key from his hand. he finally snatched it, but norrington and will turned on him.

jack was disarmed, so bella hurried over to his rescue.

"please excuse me as i kill the man who ruined my life," norrington snarled.

"be my guest," will replied.

"let us examine that claim for a moment, james!" bella exclaimed. just in time, she hurried out onto the ledge where a weaponless jack stood.

"yes, let's!" jack agreed. "who was it that at the very moment you had a notorious pirate safely behind bars, saw fit to free said pirate and take your dearly beloved all to hisself, eh?"

bella looked at norrington sympathetically. "so whose fault is it really that you've ended up a rum-pot deckhand who takes orders from pirates?"

norrington stared at her for a second, shocked. finally, he screamed: "enough!" and took a swipe at jack. he grabbed bella, and they flew through the air, landing safely on the ground.

"perfect," bella smiled, finding jack's sword on the ground and handing it to him.

"unfortunately, mr. turner... he's right!" they heard norrington turn on will.

"still rooting for you, mate!" jack called back to them. he reached over and took bella's hand, the two strolling through the tall grass.

however, they didn't watch where they were going and fell straight into an empty grave. bella landed right on top of jack, who smirked suggestively. she rolled her eyes and got off of him.

jack looked around in confusion, then realized where they were. "oh," he said, then starting hoisting himself out of the grave.

bella heard something loud approaching them. sure enough, just as jack pulled himself up from the grave, a wheel rolled over him and his upper body was stuck in it.

"jack!" she screamed as the wheel rolled away, jack inside it. hurriedly getting herself out of the grave, she sprinted after the wheel. just as she was nearing it, she heard a loud "clunk!"

jack dropped to the ground, knocked out.

pointless a/n

this chapter is a bit longer than usual, hope you're proud of me :)

love you all, and thank you for reading! i can't believe we're almost at 8K views!

sarah