A/N: Hello! If you're new here, I hope you enjoy and take time to review, favorite, or follow. If you have read this before, I would recommend rereading it, as a few parts have been removed and a few have been added.

Elizabeth and Will Turner were finally at peace again, reunited permanently. He had returned only twelve hours ago, and the two had not parted at all since then. At present, they were both sitting on the sand, staring out at sea. Henry and Carina were assumed to be sleeping back at home. Earlier that day, Elizabeth had casually suggested that Henry show Carina the sights of Port Royale to give her plenty of alone time with her husband. When the two had returned, Will and Elizabeth took a walk around the fields by the lighthouse. Now, with the moon high in the sky, they found themselves sprawled on the same beach where they had spent their honeymoon.

They were fully clothed once more, and Elizabeth was tucked under his arm and looking up at the stars with him. "Do you believe this is real?"

"Not completely."

"Me neither." She admitted. "But I'm a little more convinced than I was when I first saw you. That was absolutely surreal. This … this feels more real." She said as she traced a nonsense pattern on his thigh. He smiled softly, "I'm slowly being reassured that it is. That I'm not leaving at sunset."

"Don't worry about that, I won't let you leave."

"I never want to leave again." He admitted. "I could use some time away from sea."

"Please do take a break from sailing. I don't want you or Henry to leave me again anytime soon." She implored in earnest, turning to look over at her husband. He kissed her forehead delicately. "I promise you, we won't leave you again so soon. Although, you may have a harder time convincing Henry."

"Oh, I'll just use mother's guilt, it shouldn't be too hard after that." She said honestly. This brought a laugh out of Will, and it was music to her ears. She curled closer to him, her head resting on his shoulder. They both turned their gaze to the dim horizon line. The sky was lightening ever so slightly. "So, what now?" Elizabeth asked curiously. She had her own project that she had been working on since Henry left home for the sea back when he was twelve, but she was not at liberty to disclose it to her family just yet. She wondered, however, what her sea-loving men were going to do with themselves. "I'm not sure. I haven't given it much thought." Will answered truthfully, "Perhaps I can help around the docks. The only thing I'm truly good at any more is working with ships. I couldn't go back to work with the blacksmith if I wanted to, all of that has gone from my memory."

"But perhaps that's what Henry can do." Elizabeth suggested without much thought to it.

"That's – actually a really good idea." Will agreed. "He could certainly fare well with a better understanding of the sword."

"Do you think so? What use may we have of swords ever again?"

"Better safe than sorry." Will said plainly, not having any specific reason for hoping that Henry became the blacksmith's apprentice.

"Fair enough."

"And what about you, Mrs. Turner?" He asked, still taking a great deal of joy in saying her name. It had seemed like eons ago that he had refused to even address her by her first name, and now she had his name.

Elizabeth still had no intent to tell him what she was up to, he would know when she was ready for him to know. "Oh, I'm just going to enjoy your company again. Although, I suppose I might get to know Carina."

"Considering there's a good chance she's going to be our daughter some day?"

The thought had actually not occurred to Elizabeth, "You think they're that smitten with each other?"

"Just a guess I suppose." Will ventured. A brief silence fell between them in the cool air. Neither minded this. One would think that after nearly ten years of having been apart, they would never be able to stop talking. But they were able to understand each other without words at times, and much of the past ten years that Will had missed had been quickly accounted to him by his son and wife. The catching up phase of his return was mostly in the form of physically reconnecting with his true love. But soon that phase would be ending, and his return was soon going to be normal and no longer a novelty or unbelievable. Elizabeth would always believe it to be a blessing, but the fanfare would wear off with time. "Should we head home?" He asked softly after a while. Elizabeth shook her head, despite the progressive paling of the night sky. "No, not yet. Let's stay and watch the sun rise together." He had no objections, and the two remained on the beach until the sun had fully risen. They celebrated the sun's long awaited return with a tender kiss.

Two Weeks Later

Somehow, despite her best intentions, Elizabeth had barely exchanged any words with Carina in a fortnight. She had tried to find time to speak with her on numerous occasions, but always found herself interrupted in some way. But now that Henry had found his apprenticeship with the blacksmith and Will had begun work at the docks repairing ships, Elizabeth finally found time to talk to her. It was mid-morning when she headed downstairs after dressing. She half expected Carina to still be asleep, but found her in front of the cold fireplace in the sitting room, occupying a single plush maroon chair. She appeared to be staring off into the space between the fireplace and the window.

Elizabeth sat in the chair beside her, looking her over. Carina sat up a bit straighter when she noticed Elizabeth had joined her, looking over and smiling at her. But despite this smile, Elizabeth could tell she was not doing well. Her eyes were darkened, almost hollow. "I haven't had a chance to talk to you properly. I apologize for that." Elizabeth said kindly.

"Please, there's no need to apologize. You haven't seen your husband in years. I can hardly blame you for needing to catch up with him these past couple of weeks." Carina waved it off with little concern. She had truthfully been terrified to get to know Henry's mother. She was pretty certain Will liked her enough. But Will liked her because he knew that Carina was half of the reason he was back with his family. But Elizabeth didn't know that yet. Nobody had had a chance to tell Mrs. Turner what actually happened on their adventure to save Will.

"Well, thank you. I'm glad you understand." Elizabeth sighed softly, "Do you mind if I ask a question?"

"Not at all," Carina assured.

"How did you end up helping Henry? I've hardly heard anything about how Will was saved. All I know is that the trident was broken and that's what did it, but how it came to be found, much less broken, I'm still not sure about."

Carina sighed softly, folding her hands in her lap and looking at the floor, "Great question. It's really kind of a long story."

"I would love to hear it." Elizabeth countered. She turned her chair a bit to better face Carina and made herself comfortable. With no further hesitation, Carina proceeded to tell Elizabeth the majority of the story. Elizabeth didn't interrupt, didn't look away, and paid the fullest attention. It was hard to not get alarmed at the stories. She was suppressing her motherly concern every time that Henry's life was jeopardized in the story. Finally, Carina caught up to when Will returned.

"So," Elizabeth finally said when Carina concluded, "Your name is Carina Barbossa then?" Carina nodded quietly, not looking up at her. "I don't know if you know this," Elizabeth started, "But Barbossa was the one that married Will and I."

Carina looked up at Elizabeth in shock, "You knew my father?"

This made her laugh, "Oh, yes, I knew him. Almost as well as I knew Jack. I suppose nobody could have told you my stories. I stopped telling Henry stories when he got too interested in the sea myths. But, if you'd like, I can tell you stories about your father."

Carina smiled weakly, "That would be incredible. I really …" She stopped, trying not to get too emotional. The image of her father falling to his death was popping into her mind's eye. She tried her best to wash it away. "Yes. Please. I want to know more about him."

Elizabeth was more than eager to share stories with her. She had been so surprised to hear that Carina was Barbossa's daughter. "The first thing you need to know about your father is that, like any other pirate, he was neither bad or good. He died to save you, but he's also done some pretty idiotic things. Just like Will. Just like Jack. It's part of piracy." The last thing she wanted was to completely ruin Carina's world by telling her the truth. "I met your father when I was just a bit younger than yourself, actually. He was terrifying. The giant hat, the scraggly beard, and the creepy little monkey on his shoulder.

"I had a pirate's medallion that I knew he wanted at the time. I threatened to toss it overboard, so he agreed to make a deal with me. I should have known better than to make a deal with a pirate, but I did it anyway. Naturally it was all a trick. He kept attacking the town despite our agreement, and kept me as his prisoner. That night, he told me – or perhaps warned me – that the medallion I had was part of a curse that he and his crew were under."

"He was cursed?" Carina said in surprise. If he had been cursed, why hadn't the trident broken it? Could it have saved his life? No, this didn't make any sense.

"Yes, at that time. Anyway, he eventually had me walk the plank and I was left on an island to die with Jack Sparrow. Which, as you can imagine, was terrible."

"I was stuck on an island with him for a few hours and it was unbearable. And I wasn't even stuck by myself with him!" Carina laughed. She really was not a big fan of the notorious Jack Sparrow. She was grateful for the part he played in their adventure, but he did get on her nerves. She was grateful to know she was not the only one.

"It's alright, I set all of his alcohol on fire the next day."

Carina looked at her with wide eyes, "You set his rum on fire?" She said in total shock. She had assumed that Elizabeth was a snooty socialite, given her general appearance. But it would appear that Mrs. Turner was a lot more adventurous than she had expected her to be.

"Of course I did." Elizabeth grinned, remembering the stupid look on Jack's face. "I did what any smart woman would do. I signaled for help. And of course it worked!" She carried on the story, having to fill in the details here and there. Finally, she reached the part she was a bit nervous to tell Carina about, "He was going to kill Will. They were going to cut his throat to end their curse. But thanks in part to Jack's tricks, he was able to get away before that could happen. Jack and Barbossa were relentlessly fighting back and forth. I really did not know who I could trust besides Will. I still don't trust Jack, to be perfectly honest. To be fair, he doesn't trust me either." She stopped herself from spoiling what came later in the narrative, "Anyway, eventually it ended with all the medallions being returned, Will cut his hand and let his blood fall on them. The curse was broken. But Jack had also just shot Barbossa straight in the heart at the same time. And I watched him fall to his death."

"That's impossible!" Carina said, suddenly stricken with fear. One of them had to be wrong. They could not both have watched him die. It wasn't possible. Nobody could die twice, science said so.

"Oh, trust me. He was dead. Jack made sure of it. He wanted his revenge and he got it." Elizabeth said, smiling knowingly.

"No, no, no. I watched him die. You can't die twice."

"He did." Elizabeth assured. "Relax, I'll explain. But if I'm to keep this up, I'm going to need some tea." She got up and wandered into the kitchen to fill a pot with water. She continued her story, talking as she set the pot up in the fireplace and started a fire beneath it. She left out a great deal of details in this particular telling, knowing that Carina mostly cared about Barbossa and his involvement in their history. "I left Jack to the kraken. Hence why he can't trust me."

"Again, he could not have died."

"Don't worry, it'll all make sense later." Elizabeth assured, stoking the flames a bit. "We found ourselves with Tia Dalma. I felt horrendous." A pain resurrected in her chest. Even after all this time, she still was not proud of having killed Jack, even though she knew full well that it had been for the best. "I wanted to be freed of this guilt. So when Tia Dalma offered a journey to the ends of the earth, to Davy Jones' Locker, to save him … I immediately agreed to do it. And that was when Barbossa came down the stairs."

"Not possible." Carina insisted.

Elizabeth shook her head, taking the now boiling pot of water off the fire. She carefully filled the cups with small scoops of loose tea, followed by the water. "You know, for someone that saw a ghost pirate herself, you seem oddly doubtful of magic."

"I'm sorry, it's the scientist in me. I don't believe what I can't see." Carina said, softening her tone to sound a little less accusatory.

Elizabeth just smiled as she handed Carina a cup of tea, "You cannot see the stars in the daytime or on a cloudy night. But they're still there."

Carina took the cup and looked up at Elizabeth. She was almost certain that Henry had said the exact same thing to her once before. "Alright, so how was he alive?"

"Tia Dalma was not just an obeah woman," Elizabeth explained, gently blowing on the hot tea in her cup, "She was, and still is, the sea goddess, Calypso. Trapped as a human. She's free now. But she still possessed a great deal of power in her human form. And she used this power to bring Barbossa back from the dead. But because Jack's soul was trapped in limbo, we had to make our way into the Locker to get him out. Which we barely managed to do."

Carina had forgotten her tea before she had even take a sip, "You really travelled to the Locker? Is that like the underworld or something?"

Elizabeth shook her head, "No. Purgatory. It was terrible. I saw my … nothing. It was just a generally unpleasant time. Will was mad with me, I was angry at myself." She couldn't think about it much longer. She took a sip of tea to calm her nerves. "It was shortly thereafter that we found ourselves in the midst of a war with the East India Trading company. It was in the middle of a hurricane and this war that Barbossa married Will and I. It was really quite funny, actually. He was very annoyed at us for making him do it while he was taking on Jones' crew." Carina looked down at her tea, sipping it quietly as she listened closely. "I'll always be grateful to him for doing that for us. I think despite the fact that he had tried to kill both of us in the past, he rooted for us. He was truly an amazing captain, and a good man in the end. I wish you could have had more time with him."

Carina's hand started trembling, the tea in the cup rippling. "So do I." She choked out. She had had on and off periods of intense sorrow the past couple of weeks. Henry had been there for her through most of these incidents. But she had tried very hard to avoid thinking of her pain around Henry's parents. She didn't want them to think she was a weak willed, overly emotional woman. That was not who she was. Carina did not notice that Elizabeth had set her own cup down. She did, however, notice when Elizabeth was suddenly standing beside her, carefully taking the cup out of Carina's hands before she spilled. "I lost my father when I was your age." She said at a barely audible whisper.

Carina looked up at her, begging silently for her to tell her more. Elizabeth let out a quiet sigh. She grabbed the small footstool in front of her chair and pulled it over in front of Carina and sat down on it. She folded her hands and looked up at the young girl. "In the Locker, we saw a stream of boats drifting by us. They were the souls that had died at sea, that were meant to be ferried by Davy Jones. But he had neglected his duty, so the souls drifted through the Locker in corporeal forms. We all watched them float past us. That was when I spotted my father in one of the boats. At first I thought we had somehow made it back to the other side. But, of course, we hadn't. Our enemy had tricked him, and it ultimately lead to his death. I cast him a line, praying that there was some way that he would be able to grab hold and come aboard and make his way back with us. But he didn't even seem to see it. He knew he could not come back. But I refused to accept it. I nearly launched myself off the ship. Will was the only one who was able to grab me and pull me back. I'm pretty certain now that if I had gotten in the water I never would have escaped the Locker."

Carina let a moment of silence fall between them, out of respect. It was comforting to know that she was not totally alone in this pain. While they had not had the same experience by any means, it was still the same sting of losing a father. "How did you — get through the pain of losing him?" Carina asked quietly.

Elizabeth shrugged and smiled weakly, "Well, I got my revenge on his murderer. But, truthfully, that didn't help a great deal. My grief was more or less overshadowed by the grief I felt shortly thereafter of losing Will. Eventually, the pain got weaker. Time heals all wounds. Supposedly." She paused, glancing at Carina. She knew that this advice was of no real help to the young woman. She reached out and took Carina's hand. Carina looked at her curiously, wondering why. "The pain will always be there. But I promise you, it will hurt less eventually. But if you ever need someone to talk to, well, you know where to find me." She squeezed Carina's hand reassuringly before letting go and stepping off into the kitchen.

Carina shut her eyes and ran a hand through her hair. It was a huge weight off her shoulders to know that Elizabeth was not the person she had expected her to be. Perhaps there was hope yet that Mrs. Turner could like Carina.

Later, at Midnight

Carina had been sleeping soundly in her bed in the spare room of the Turner residence when there was a small sound that woke her. It was the sound of a floorboard squeaking. She sat up and looked about her dark room. The door was open and a man stood at the foot of her bed and had clearly been in the midst of stepping toward her. She gasped and nearly screamed, but Henry had the common sense to rush forward and cover her mouth before she could. "It's just me," He whispered. She relaxed instantly and he let go of her. "Henry, what are you doing?" She whispered harshly.

He smiled brightly, "Having fun. Come on, let's go."

"Go where?"

"Out where my parents can't hear us?" He said as if it had been perfectly obvious. He stood and held out his hand to her. She glanced up at him, seeming a bit apprehensive before finally taking his hand and getting out of bed. Her nightgown skirted her ankles as they carefully and quietly headed outside. When her bare feet first fell into the dewy grass she couldn't help but let out a high-pitched squeak of surprise. It was much colder than she had expected. "Shh, you might wake them. We're not far enough out yet." Henry reminded her with a little laugh. They remained quiet until the house was far off in the distance and they were close to the lighthouse. Henry let out a sigh, "Alright," He spoke at a normal volume, "We should be clear."

"Henry, why are you doing this?" Carina immediately asked as they continued walking.

"I never get to see you. I'm always working, and then when I come home we're around my family. I never get a chance to see you in private. I couldn't sleep for thinking about you, so I thought this was the best solution." He explained, reaching out and taking her hand in his.

Carina couldn't help but smile the slightest bit. She sometimes wondered if he was too good for her. She squeezed his hand. It said all she needed to say without words.

"Hey, you want to race?" He suggested with a raised eyebrow. She gave him a curious look, but before she could answer he had let go of her hand and started for the hill. She picked up her skirt a bit and started running, but he had already had a lead and started running faster than her. The wind whipped her hair out of her face and she couldn't help but laugh, her laughter disappearing into the wind. She panted for breath as she tried to race him in the moonlight. She had not expected him to be so playful. She got a burst of energy and managed to increase her speed just enough to edge out past him and headed up the hill and made it to the top of the hill first. She bent slightly, hands on her knees to catch her breath as Henry came up beside her — equally out of breath.

"You're … awful." She said between heavy breaths.

"Yeah … I know … but … you love me." Henry said as he collapsed onto the ground on his back. He looked up at the stars. She looked down at him in surprise. They hadn't used the "L" word before, and it had taken her off guard. He patted the ground beside him, "Sit." She slowly eased down onto the grass beside him, but did not lay down and look up the sky like he did. She looked down at him instead. "Henry," She started, but couldn't complete the thought. Her mind had drawn a total blank. He looked up at her and realized how stunned she appeared. "What's wrong?" She stared at him as if it was blatantly obvious. It took a moment for it to dawn on him. His cheeks flushed, "Oh! I – I hadn't meant to say that. It just …"

"You think I love you?" Carina said, her voice shaking unnoticeably.

"I – I don't know. Do you?" He had not realized until that very moment just how anxious he was to know her true feelings for him. Despite this eagerness to know, he was also terrified.

Carina felt a warmth flood her cheeks as well. Neither could see each other's blushes through the shadowy night. She tried to formulate a logical definition of love for herself. She had never had cause to think of it before. No man had ever paid mind to her, not the way Henry did. She thought of the only love she had ever felt before, that for her father. The love she had for him before she even knew who he was, and the agony of heartbreak as he sacrificed himself for her. She wondered how she would react if Henry's life was in jeopardy. The thought terrified her. She wondered how she may feel if, like Elizabeth, she was only able to see him once every ten years. The thought was nearly as painful. But she knew that she could have waited her whole life for him. She didn't feel her heart flutter like women in cheap romances did. She let out a breath of relief. She knew just how she felt for him. There was no questioning it. Henry watched as she slowly laid down beside him, keeping her eyes on his. He turned onto his side to better face her and she rested a hand on his cheek and smiled. "Yes. I do love you Henry Turner." She said confidently.

Rather than thinking first and returning the expression of love, Henry was overwhelmed with his own joy and impulsively leaned in to kiss her. Her lips curled up in a small smile as she returned the kiss. She could kiss him for hours without a care in the world. After a while, he did finally pull away and murmur, "I just realized, I forgot to say it back."

"That's alright. Actions speak louder than words." She reminded him.

"Nonetheless." He whispered, "I love you too Carina Barbossa."

She gazed up at him. She loved the gleam in his eyes. After one more bout of affection, the two fell back onto the grass, gazing up at the stars and moon above them.

"Where are you?" He asked quietly.

She looked around for a moment, and quickly pointed out the brightest star, "There."

"Beautiful, as always." Henry said, looking up at the star with a silly grin. She looked over at him and couldn't help but lean over to kiss his jaw.

The stars were quickly forgotten about and the young lovers became lost in each other.

Before dawn

It was the loud hooting of a dove in the distance that caught their attention. Carina pulled away from Henry and looked up at the sky, her eyes narrowed as she examined the stars. "Henry, it's getting close to dawn. We should go." Indeed it was very close to the sunrise, and he was going to be expected at work very shortly. He would be exhausted all day, but he didn't care that much. He was more than happy to have a weary day on the job if it meant he was able to spend the night with his love.

They headed back toward the house. As they got close to the back door Henry squeezed Carina's hand, "I'm actually going to head straight to work. It's just easier that way."

"You're not even going to change?"

He shrugged, "There's no point. I'll just sweat through fresh clothes in an hour anyway. No reason to change out of yesterday's attire."

She couldn't really argue with that logic. But she didn't want him to go so soon. If only she could have a little longer with him. She let go of his hand and instead wrapped her arms around him, hugging him close. He smelled like steel and the ocean. They exchanged one last affectionate kiss before he left. She stood in the garden and sighed, looking wistfully out at the horizon before heading into what had somehow become her home.

She opened the back door and ran almost directly into Will. She jumped in surprise, stepping back and awkwardly letting him pass. "So sorry." She muttered shyly.

"Where were you?" He asked curiously, walking out into the yard as she stood on the steps looking terrified.

She fumbled over her words before finally spitting out a somewhat believable excuse, "Watching the sun rise."

Will's expression was unreadable. As he turned away she barely noticed that the corner of his mouth had turned up into a smirk. She headed inside before she could further embarrass herself in front of him. Will knew precisely where she had been, but he wouldn't say anything about it.

She scurried up the stairs to the second floor quietly. She hoped to slip into her room and pretend she had been there all night. But just as she was making it to the top of the stairs, Elizabeth was walking out of her room. She was in the middle of tying her hair up when she spotted Carina standing frozen in the hall. Elizabeth smiled around the hairpin she held between her teeth. She took it and pinned a loose tendril of hair back, "Get some rest, dear." She said calmly as she headed toward the girl.

"I — I —" Carina stammered, her eyes wide.

Elizabeth stood in front of Carina, "It's fine. I was young once too, you know." She smiled knowingly and walked past Carina, heading down the stairs.

Carina stood stock still for a moment. It was obvious Elizabeth knew where Carina had been all night, or at least knew that she had been up all night and out of the house. But she wasn't mad. Why wasn't she mad? Carina just assumed she would be mad. It occurred to her that it might be best to not question it. If she was being told to catch up on her sleep, she wasn't about to say no. So, Carina crawled back into bed, and was asleep within minutes.

When she woke again, she headed downstairs only to find that she was alone. The house was empty. No matter how many times she called out to see if anyone was around, her calls were never answered. She popped her head out the back and front doors, but nobody was around. She couldn't figure out where Elizabeth had gone. Carina's thoughts wildly scattered around her brain. Her biggest fear was another threat had found them. Based on the stories she had been told by Elizabeth, the Turner family was hardly unfamiliar with danger and enemies. Was it possible that an old foe had come back and managed to capture Elizabeth while Carina slept?

Carina paced and logically concluded that unless the foe was a ghost (which she begrudgingly admitted was possible) there was no way someone could have so easily captured Elizabeth without Carina hearing it. Unless of course she'd been out in the garden. But Carina remembered Elizabeth's tales of sword fights and battles she had come out victorious in. Even without a sword, she doubted Elizabeth would be an easy target. Carina solidly decided that she could not have been captured. She tried to deduce where on earth Elizabeth might have gone. They were stocked on food, and whatever produce they needed was grown in the garden. There was no reason she would head into town. No business she had to attend to, no purchases she needed to make.

She suddenly had an idea. Perhaps she was out at the shore? She was just as tied to the sea as Will and Henry. Carina slipped into her shoes and headed out from the house, going back to where she had been the night before. It was an iconic place for them. Henry had told her the night before that it was where her mother and father had been separated, and she had seen them reunite in the same place not long ago. She climbed up the hill with little struggle. She was not unfamiliar with physical exertion. When she reached the peak, she was disheartened to see nobody else on the hill. She looked around, eyes skirting the surrounding hills and valley. No sight of her. She looked down at the shore far below, looking up and down it – nothing.

She sat on the hill, starting to get nervous. Perhaps her scientific deduction was inaccurate. It was still possible that she had been kidnapped. Anything was possible, or so Henry told her. She folded her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. The men would be home soon. What was she supposed to tell them? Her eyes flicked up to the horizon naturally as she fretted. She saw a ship sailing toward land. She watched it and thought of Henry. She knew how bad he wanted to head back out there. But Elizabeth had told him he needed to wait. But it was possible Elizabeth was gone. Carina's heart slammed into her chest with fear. She was going to have to tell Will that his wife he had been so elated to be reunited with was missing, and who was he going to blame? As she panicked, her eyes and mind vaguely registered that the ship was approaching the hill, instead of the port down the shore. It finally dawned on her that it was a rather odd thing for a ship to deliberately aim for washing up on the shore rather than making port. There couldn't have been any place to tie the boat up down there, could there?

She edged over to the cliff side. She carefully leaned over and looked down below. She saw the ship carefully meander through a tiny creek into what must have been a cavern in the cliff face. A single person stepped out of the cave a few moments later. Carina squinted carefully at the figure. She was far enough away that if she yelled, the person wouldn't hear her. But she was close enough to make out vague details of the person. The person turned to look down the shoreline and Carina could tell it was a woman. But she was wearing trousers and a shirt, just like male sailors did. A sword even hung at her waist. It wasn't until the woman started walking along the shore, stepping right underneath Carina, that it finally hit her. It was Elizabeth. The golden hair was unmistakable in the sunlight.

Carina carefully edged away from the cliff. She stood and ran back to the house. She couldn't really be certain of what she had seen. Her glances from afar were not circumstantial evidence. She arrived at the house and rushed through the front door. She did a quick check of the rooms. Sure enough, Elizabeth was still nowhere to be found. She decided the best thing she could do was wait until Elizabeth returned. She sat at the dining table and tried to keep herself preoccupied with some knitting. She was terrible at it. So she started making a crappy little square of stitches to get her nervous energy out.

The door opened some time later. She stayed still for a moment and continued knitting. Footsteps sounded down the hall. "Carina," It was Henry. "Where's mum?"

"Good question." Carina said, giving up on the false pretense of knitting and throwing the needles on the table. "I slept in and when I woke up a few hours ago, she was gone."

"You checked the garden?"

"Henry, of course I did." Carina said, rolling her eyes. "I checked everywhere. She was nowhere to be found. I thought I saw her on the shore, but I couldn't have been sure."

"Well, I'm sure she'll be back soon."

"Henry?" Will's baritone sounded through the house. "Are you home?"

"Yeah, dad." Henry said, poking his head in the hall. "Mum's not though."

Carina cringed in her seat, terrified of what would happen next. As soon as he spoke again, she could hear the change in his tone. "What do you mean, Henry?"

"Carina said she woke and mum was gone. She's probably getting food in town, or shopping for clothes. Something like that." Henry said, trying to be the voice of reason.

Will seemed to push back Henry and appeared inside the dining room, facing Carina. "Where is she?" He said.

"I have no idea. I swear." She said. "I woke up a few hours ago and she just wasn't here. I looked every —"

The door clanged open and closed. "Mum!"

"What are you doing back so —" Elizabeth started to say from the entrance. Will stormed out of the dining room and out into the hall. Carina couldn't help but stand in the doorway, looking down the hall. Will had her in her arms. "Where were you?" He asked. He let go long enough to look her over as if checking for injuries.

She looked up at him, opening her mouth to speak but unable to find the words. She looked frantically over at Henry and Carina. She sighed in defeat. "I didn't want to tell anyone until much later. But I suppose I don't have a choice now." She paused and added, "It's better if I show you, rather than tell you." She headed back out the door. They all silently followed.

The group naturally fell into pairs. Henry and Carina walked several yards behind Will and Elizabeth as they headed toward the shore.

"I think I know what she's going to show us." I mumbled to Henry.

"What is it?" He asked with a mixture of fear and excitement.

"I don't want to say. I can't be certain. If I don't have full proof, there's no point in making claims." She said seriously.

Elizabeth guided them all straight toward a massive cavern that existed in the side of the cliff face. "Wait here," She said softly to Will. He stood stock still outside the cavern. Carina and Henry stood at his side. They heard a faint noise of waves splashing from within the cavern. Carina could see just how wide and tall the cavern was. It was amazing that the rock did not split totally in half, separating the land above into two distinct pieces.

Within a matter of moments, a ship appeared from within the cavern and careened through the thin creek to the sea. The creek was barely wide enough and deep enough to sustain the ship. But 'enough' seemed to be all the ship needed. Elizabeth stood at the helm, carefully navigating it through the tricky creek. The ship was gorgeous, stretching high up above their heads. The wood was shining in the sunlight, and the sails looked like clouds. It was even equipped with cannon. The figurehead at the bow of the ship was not that typical mermaid or angel of radiant beauty, but instead looked a lot like Mrs. Turner herself in some kind of strange armor.

She steered the ship out into the open water where they could see the ship's name, King, engraved in the back. She dropped anchor and took the longboat out to the shore. When she reached the sand at which her family was still standing dumbstruck she didn't get out. "Would you like to see her?" She asked with a smile. Will sighed deeply before walking over and stepping into the longboat, Henry and Carina followed suit.

After a few quiet minutes, they all boarded the ship. Elizabeth helped them get on deck. Once they were all on the ship, Elizabeth gestured to the King with a wave of her arm. "This," She paused to sigh with satisfaction, "has been my project. Ever since Henry left. I had to give myself something to do. So I built her. I only just finished before you came home Will. I've been taking her out once in a while and giving her test runs. She'll be able to handle up to thirty cannon." Elizabeth was beaming with pride at her ship. Then she turned and saw the look on Will's face, and her expression slowly diminished. Her smile faded.

"Henry," Elizabeth said matter-of-factly, "Go show Carina below decks. You can see where the cannons will be." This was a rouse, and they all knew it. But Henry nodded, took Carina's hand, and headed below deck. He didn't say anything as he silently pulled her down onto a step halfway down the flight of stairs. They were just out of sight of his parents, but still able to hear them speak.

"What need do we have for a ship that can fit thirty cannons?" Will said tersely.

"Oh, I don't know," Elizabeth said with thick sarcasm, "We're only getting bloody chased around by our enemies every other year it would seem. I know he doused all of the curses, but it is still possible there are enemies of ours out there waiting to kill us."

"Like who? Beckett is dead. Jones is too. Hell, Barbossa is even dead." Carina flinched when she heard this. "Who do you think is going to come after us?"

"Will, it's not as if I have a list of possible suspects. We're pirates. I'm the king of the Brethren Court." Henry and Carina exchanged looks of confusion. "We will always have targets on our backs, even if we don't know who is aiming the gun."

There was a pause and Will huffed, "Be that as it may, why is it that you refused to speak of either Henry or I going out to sea when you were in the middle of building this ship?"

"Technically the ship was already finished when I asked you not to head out to sea again." Elizabeth muttered.

"Elizabeth."

"Oh, alright." She sighed in defeat, "I didn't want you to leave … without me. If you went out to sea again, it was going to be all of us on this ship. You know I cannot bear to be separated from you again."

Henry decided now was the time to pop up and interject. Carina followed and tried to keep up with him. "I'm in. Let's go." Henry declared.

"Henry," Will sighed. "This doesn't concern you."

"Of course it does!" Henry said defensively, "Mum built this for us. And I want to go back out there, and so does she. So why don't we?"

Will made a sour face, crossing his arms across his chest. I kept my eyes on Elizabeth, whose expression started to change as she watched Will. It was as if she had made a sudden realization. "Will," Elizabeth murmured, "What is it that you're not telling us?"

After several moments of intense silence with everyone staring at him expectantly, he finally spoke. "One of the first nights home I … I thought I heard something. I dreamt I saw Davy Jones standing in our room. But I woke up from it, and he wasn't there. Although, there were some barnacles on the floor that I stepped on the next day." He paused briefly. "I don't know what to make of it."

"You may have stabbed his heart, but Henry broke all curses. He could be back." Elizabeth guessed, sounding quite convinced of it already. "We might need this ship, before he can find us first."

"You don't know that he's alive." Will countered.

"You don't know he's not." Henry chimed in.

"It's dangerous." Will tried to argue, knowing precisely where this conversation was going. Henry and Elizabeth both laughed at this, and Carina couldn't help but smile as well.

"Need we remind you that we've all had our lives in danger numerous times? Danger is hardly enough to stop us." Elizabeth reminded him.

Will could see he was losing this argument. Perhaps he shouldn't have told them about his worry about Jones, but he knew that they also had a point. There was a good chance he was somewhere out there, and it would be better for them to be out at sea than be sitting ducks on land. "Won't we need more than four people to keep this thing afloat?"

Elizabeth smiled, "Technically, but we'll manage fine on our own."