210hey my lack of stories on the new computer,I have rummaged through my room and found that I still have the last chapter of "PS" on me longhand that I wrote in geometry sometime last sorry to keep you all waiting for this,the last chapter of "Pirate Switch" for my other stories,well,I'm still trying to recover them.
Warnings:psh no warnings, fangirling and lots of fluff between everyone's two favorite know who I'm talking about.
Disclaimer:i don't own "Pirates" 1-3,and as shocking as it may be,I'm not as madly in love with johnny depp as I used to be.i find myself becoming infatuated with Owen Wilson.i I feel guilty about beating him up in my err…PM me if you're curious.
Note:yes,this is the last chapter of Pirate there will be a sequel.i honestly don't know when I'll post the first chapter of the sequel because the outline of the first chapter is on my old computer,which is about to …we're still working on this chapter,though.
Special Thanks To:YOU!thank you all so much for sticking with me for so long and quenching my reviewing needs.i honestly didn't plan for this to take two years to complete,but it did,and thank you all again…but there will be you are all welcomed to come visit me again and review (hinthint).
Chapter 31:the journey home
"AAAAAAAHH!" Again, we found ourselves hurtling through the time portal, again amongst the swirly multicolored lights that seemed to go on forever. Again I was visited by the irritating sense of nausea, like something crawled down my throat and took a crap (AN:cookies to those who caught the Simpsons reference).
"WHAT'S HAPPENING?" Leah screamed.
"We're going back to the 21st century, apparently," I said.
"Yaaay!" Monnie and Steffie cried. "We're going back home!" The trip to the 21st century was a lot shorter than the trip to the 18th, since a few seconds later, we were thrown into warp-drive and launched into the washing machine.
"OWW!"
"OH HELL, WHAT THE F—!"
"Why did we all have to get thrown in here at once?"
"GET THE HELL OUT!" The lid was flung open and I lurched out of the cavity of the washing machine. My foot got caught on the machinery and I fell onto the floor. I was about to get up when the weight of my five companions came crashing down on me.
"You're crushing my ribs…" I groaned. "Get off." I pushed Leah off of me. Jack offered me a hand, and I looked up at him. Cheeks burning, I took his hand and he hoisted me up on my feet. Leah, just getting up, tripped over my extended foot with a small yelp. Will dove and caught her, grabbing one of her hands tightly in his. He quickly pulled her up and stepped away from her while Monnie and Steffie exchanged sly grins. I looked around.
We were clearly in the 21st century again. Bubbly Wash was residing quietly behind me, the masking tape "X" discarded on the floor.
"How long have we been gone?" Steffie asked. Monnie glanced up at a clock mounted on the wall.
"Just under a minute," she said. "We were in the Caribbean for like, a week, but it was only a minute in our time. Truly a Chronicles of Narnia experience."
"I guess so," I said. We all stood there for a moment, embracing our surroundings and feeling…home.
…At least until a sharp knock on the front door reminded us of what was happening before we fell through the washing machine.
"The fan girls!" Monnie said. "Crap, I forgot they were still here!" We rushed to the front door to find the same mob of fan firls screaming and cursing at us from outside the house.
"Oh hell," I muttered. "Jack, Will, get back. I'll deal with them."
"Yeh sure?" Jack inquired.
"Look," I said. "I've been dragged through the Caribbean more times than I would have liked, kidnapped, shot at, threatened, imprisoned, and sliced. A couple dozen fangirls? Psh. That's nothing. Gimme that." I grabbed Jack's pistol and stormed to the door. The fan girls stopped jumping a screaming when I opened the door. The others watched me cautiously.
"Where's Orlando Bloom?" the ring leader shrieked at me.
"Last I saw, on an episode of Robot Chicken," I answered. "Look, tell your posse to scram before I call the cops."
"We're not going anywhere until you show us Orlando Bloom!" the girl said.
"And give him to us!" another one said. My face contorted.
"Man, you guys are sad," I said. "But I'd rather beat you all senseless than call the cops. I've had enough. Beat it."
"Who do you think you are?" the ring leader sneered.
"I'm a person who still has her dignity," I said.
For the most part...
I pointed the pistol skyward and fired a shot. "BEAT IT!" The hoard of fan girls ran screaming down the street. "And good riddance." I slammed the door shut and walked into the living room where the others were staring at me in awe. I glanced at them.
"What?" I said simply. "They were annoying me."
"And that automatically means you can threaten them with Jack's gun?" Steffie questioned.
"Of course."
"I see…"
"Kendra…" Will said as I tossed Jack's gun back to him. "I want to thank you for defending me back there." I cocked my head.
"I wasn't defening you, Will," I said. "I was defending a guy that looks like you." Jack waved his gun at me.
"Thank yeh, Kennie girl," he said, somewhat bitterly. "I'm sure that was one shot well spent." He sat down on a couch.
"But it was totally worth it," I replied. He patted the seat next to him. I raised an eyebrow. "You can't be serious."
"You just told me you loved me," Jack said, looking hurt.
"Jack, I—," I said. I was cut short as someone (probably Leah) pushed me onto the couch. I landed roughly next to Jack, and he immediately placed an arm around me.
"Crap…" I muttered.
"Well hold on, luv," Jack said. "Let's set things clear: Do yeh love me or not?"
"I didn't, at first," I said, and nothing else. Leah sighed and glanced up at Will. He looked at her from the corner of his eye and she looked away. Steffie and Monnie took a seat, and Leah fidgeted.
"Will, I have to know, since you never really answered me back on Connor's ship," Leah said. Steffie sniffed lightly at the sound of Connor's name. "Do you love me?" Will bit his lip before breaking into a smile.
"You do have an active imagination, Leah," he said. He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. "Use it." He sat down on a loveseat next to the couch Jack and I were on. Leah squealed.
"Is that a yes?" she said, near screaming. Will patted the seat next to him. Without hesitation, Leah leaped onto the empty seat, promptly throwing her arms around Will's waist.
"You're getting soft, whelp," Jack said.
"And you're not?" Will retorted. "You've never been known to settle down with anyone before."
"Who says I'm settling down?" Jack replied. Without even looking at me, Jack gave my shoulders a reassuring squeeze.
"Well I think it's cute," Monnie said.
"She's certainly growing on me," Will admitted.
"You guys going to start dating or something?" I inquired.
"YES!" Leah said.
"No," Will said, smiling.
"What about you and Jack?" Leah asked.
"No," Jack and I said together. We glanced at each other and said "Maybe" in unison again. Will thought for a moment.
"Maybe," he said. "It's so odd that I could ever find myself interested in her. She's so…energetic…and not exactly in the good way."
"We know what you mean," Steffie said. "We hang out with her every day." She smiled.
"You say it like it's a bad thing," Leah said, scowling.
"Maybe it is, maybe it isn't," I said. Without warning, Jack stood up. I almost fell over. He made his way over to the couch Will was sitting on.
"We should go," Jack said. "We do eventually have to get back to our time."
"Yeah, but do you have to do it now?" Leah asked. "Can't you stay a little bit longer? We don't want you to leave yet."
"None of us do," Monnie said. "Come on, stay a bit?"
"Don't you want to watch the movie again?" Steffie asked. Jack glanced at Will. Will glanced at Leah.
"I don't know," he said.
"Norrington's probably going to be there still, anyway," Steffie pointed out. "Do you really want to risk getting shot at again?" Jack and Will considered this.
"Ahh yer probably right," Jack said, giving in. "We'll wait here until nightfall and then head back. How's that?" The four of us sighed in relief. We had successfully convinced them to stay a little bit longer, but they would be leaving later tonight. We had a few hours left to spend with them.
"Well, let's not spend our last few hours staring at the wall, then," Monnie said, breaking the silence. "Let's watch the movie." She held up the "Pirates of the Caribbean" DVD.
We watched the movie in near silence, with only a few words spoken during the entire movie. I was snuggled up against Jack once again, and Leah found her fingers intertwined with Will's. The whole incident was just like the first time we met, back when Jack and Will first found themselves in the 21st century. I remember being so in love with him, I was no better than those fan girls mobbing outside the door. I had my head resting on Jack's shoulder once more. The only difference was that Jack had his arm around my shoulders now.
Things were also changing for Leah. She was, in a way, like me, in that she was completely obsessed with Will. The thing that separated us was that her feelings for him never faltered. She held on to determination, and eventually Will gave in, though not resentfully. Leah seemed quite happy, now that she had gotten her way, and I was quite happy as well.
Steffie still seemed a bit torn up about losing Connor, her boyfriend of…however many hours or days. I still had not confirmed how long we were in the 18th century Caribbean for, but in the 21st, we were only gone for minute.
One minute…
I shifted against Jack's shoulder, and he glanced at me.
"What's wrong?" he asked. I shook my head.
"Nothing…" I answered. He shrugged and went back to watching the movie, which was at the part with the fight scene with Jack and Barbossa. So I was happy, Leah was very happy, Steffie was recovering, but I couldn't help but wonder…how was Monnie?
Monnie didn't exactly have anyone to call her own, and nothing exciting really happened to her that didn't also happen to the rest of us. No one showed extreme affetion for her, though she did contribute much to our journey. But through it all, she still remained optimistic and cheery about everything that's happened, and she was still happy about what we had. She's a real trooper.
The movie ended, the DVD switched off, but none of us moved. We all sat there for a while, savoring the last few moments we had together.
"What time is it?" Stefie asked. I glanced at a nearby clock.
"About nine-thirty," I said. Jack and Will stood up.
"We should really get going," Will said.
"It's only nine-thirty," Leah said. "Are you sure the guards are gone yet?"
"They alternate shifts several times during the night," Will said. "We can never be too sure. But we can affort to take the risk. We have to go." We knew he was right. We could avoid it any longer. Jack and Will didn't belong here, and they needed to go back to the time in which they did.
The six of us walked quietly to the laundry room. Bubbly Wash was contently waiting for us, waiting to take Jack and Will back to whence they came. We decided to say our goodbye's.
"I don't want you to go," Monnie said. "You two saved our lives so many times, and we never got to thank you properly."
"And we just started something together," Leah said to Will. "Will I ever see you again?"
"Jack?" I said. He shook his head.
"I don't know, luv," he said. "I really don't."
"If we find a way to come back and visit you again," Will said, patting Leah on the head, "we'll definitely take the chance." We smiled.
"Thank you," Steffie said. Monnie opened the lid of the washing machine. The room was immediately illuminated with dancing colors.
"Well, this is it," Jack said. "Any last goodbye's?"
"Lots," we said. Monnie gave both Jack and Will a kiss on each cheek before hugging them. Leah hugged Jack before squeezing Will tightly. He returned the favor by willingly giving her a kiss. Steffie followed suit. I hugged Jack before finding the courage and self-control needed to hug Will. I thought all was said and done, when I felt one ring-clad finger tap me on the shoulder.
"Oh, and luv?" Jack said. I turned to him. "For luck." It was at that moment that I knew what was coming, and I closed my eyes as Jack kissed me.
"Goodbye, girls," he said. He and Will jumped into the washing machine, the lid closing after them. I sighed.
"I can't believe they're gone," I said. "Who knows if we'll ever see them again?"
"I don't know," Leah said. "But I think it was nice how you finally made up with Will."
"Not really," I said. "But call it whatever you want to." I opened the lid to see if the lights were still there. Instead, all I saw were machine parts. Bubbly Wash was nothing more than a washing machine. I sighed again.
"Yep," I said. "That's the end of it."
"I hope we can see them again," Monnie said. "I miss them already."
"Me too," Steffie agreed. I smiled. I knew they wouldn't stay. I knew, somehow deep in my heart, that they would leave us. I knew, somehow, that the washing machine would turn back into what it was supposed to be. I knew Jack and Will would leave. Will might stay, because one already, he's tried to settle down. On the other hand, Jack may say that his only love is the sea, but deny it all he wants, I know for a fact that he can love a girl as well, though I know in my heart that I could never make him settle down. No one can tie him down, not with rope, not with superhuman powers. Because Jack is an adventerous pirate. Raiding and sailing is what he does best, and no one can keep him in one place. His nature makes him roam free, and he'd much rather do that than live a quiet life on shore. And while he might come ashore for a while, I could never talk Captain Jack Sparrow in to staying forever.
End Chapter 31
End "Pirate Switch"
Well kids,that's the end of SO SO MUCH to all my readers/reviewers for sticking with me for so long.i hope the journey was worth it!questions or comments?review or PM me!contrary to what I said about starting the sequel right after this ended,I can't do that the outlines/ideas for the sequel are on my old computer,and I still can't get it onto the new it'll be a while.i'm sure you guys can wait,right?the sequel will be called "There and Back to those who caught the Lord of the Rings reference again to all my faithful readers!