Charlotte paced the deck as she waited.

She had a map of the island and its cave in her head and every step she took, she discarded another idea. If they stole Will, the pirates would come after them. If they broke the curse and snuck off with Will... would the pirates accept it? Or would they come after the 'Turners' again? How could they sneak off the island if the pirates noticed someone had broken the curse?

A distant part of her noticed that there was a mat for her to sleep on just below the mast, where her coil of rope and sometimes sails had been with Will and Jack. Jack... Could she talk to Jack?

Charlotte made her way to the front of the Phaeton and peered at the closed hatches of the larger ship's cannons. No, Jack's cell was probably not near one... Could she call through the ship- oh, no, he wouldn't hear her while she was on the Phaeton anyway.

Charlotte sighed and went back to pacing.

Elizabeth appeared, dressed in a soldiers' trousers, sword, and red coat now, her hair still loose in a way that made Charlotte wrinkle her nose and check that her own was still out of danger of falling in her face at the least opportune moment. Elizabeth stood and held one hand over the rail.

Oh, right. The rope.

Charlotte scrambled up the mast, hurrying to get high enough as Elizabeth waited calmly and unable to see any of her sister's efforts. Some of the soldiers started to watch her out of the corner of their eyes, trying not to be noticed by the women's distracted father.

"Elizabeth, wait!"

James Norrington reappeared, eyes on Elizabeth, hand reaching out to stop her just a moment after Charlotte reached her goal and stopped to catch her breath. He must have seen her from his cabin and... well, she wasn't the first Swann sister to jump ship this week. Charlotte bit her lip. She made his life so difficult.

And he was about to do the same to her if she didn't hurry.

Charlotte launched the rope again, managing to land it across Elizabeth's forearm. Elizabeth let out a gasp of relief. She seized the rope in both hands and quickly stepped up onto the rail, readying a jump.

Charlotte threw up a hand.

Elizabeth stumbled slightly but managed to stop.

"We need their help," Charlotte called.

"Of course," Elizabeth said primly. She turned with a look that stopped the commodore in his tracks. "James, Charlotte and I are going after Will."

The commodore sputtered.

"If you would like us to succeed, I'm sure Jack can help you find us." Elizabeth began to turn back.

"And tell him I'm sorry for all the trouble?" Charlotte suggested.

Elizabeth turned dutifully back. "And Charlotte apologizes for the inconvenience."

"Tell her..." James shook his head, trying to clear it. "Tell her its quite alright." He finished with a sigh.

Elizabeth jumped.

Charlotte seized another nearby rope in the crook of her elbow and launched herself off, letting the padding of fabric protect her from any rope burn on her hands. Her eyes trailed away for a moment as her sister landed with a few running thuds; a second later she focused again with a new bump on her head from the mast beside her. Her own landing was less graceful then Elizabeth's, a stumble as she tried to grab her head and move toward the helm and not trip on the rope all at the same time.

Charlotte straightened her back and tried to look dignified as she steadied her sword and gave up on walking anywhere. She waved a hand, using her most formal voice. "Welcome to the-"

She trailed off with a squawk as Elizabeth imprisoned her in a very undignified bear hug.

"Elizabeth?"

It was good that Charlotte's arms were trapped at her side: she wasn't sure how to return such an enthusiastic greeting.

"Lottie," Her sister squeezed her even tighter. "You're alive."

"Yes…" Charlotte said, bemused at being called Lottie for the first time since… since Mother died? Since she was six? "I am still wearing trousers, however, so it may be a wash."

Elizabeth hiccuped out a laugh and let Charlotte free. "Your hair is neat, at least."

Charlotte laughed out loud and tried to hide how pleased she was to hear the compliment. "We need to go."

"Of course."

A moment later the Swann sisters were at the helm, ignoring the muted hubbub of their father and the soldiers on the ship beside them.

"How do we find…?" Elizabeth began.

"Phaeton, please take us the the Isla de Muerto."

Was she right to talk to the ship or should she be asking Eos? Whichever was the polite answer, the ship obeyed and spun away from its course at the side of The Dauntless with a graceful spray of water.

Elizabeth ran a hand along the dark wood of the rails and took a deep breath, relaxing into the wind that curled around her. Charlotte wrapped her fingers around the spokes of the ship's wheel, realizing she finally didn't feel alone. And soon she'd have Will back and things would be better. Things would be wonderful.

'Someday, you get back on this ship. And you work for me.'

Things would change.

...

The two women sailed for thirty minutes with no incident before Elizabeth broke the silence.

"James kept his word."

Charlotte whipped her head around, half expecting to see Norrington in a rowboat-but no, the entire ship had turned to follow just a hairsbreadth slower, the tiny figure of Jack at the helm. Was that better or worse than attacking alone?

"Do you think Jack will tell them about the curse?"

"I told the commodore what I could." Charlotte ignored the look her sister shot her. "The question is how much they'll believe."

"You've spent more time with Jack, though. Do you think he'll betray us?"

"I spent the entire time lying to him." Charlotte turned back to the wheel and then away from it again, taking a step to the side and collapsing to the deck with a sigh that rivaled the greatest of Eos' winds. "We should have a plan."

"Your first rescue went well enough." Elizabeth replaced her sister at the wheel and laid a hand between the spokes, letting the ship continue to guide itself. "Sneak in, sneak out."

"We got lucky." Charlotte began to rub the bump on her head again. "But I don't see us surviving a fight against a ship's worth of pirates, Will or no."

"Get a sword to Will," Elizabeth offered.

"Make him figure that rest out," Charlotte joked. "We could offer money… They don't want money."

"I could say I stole one of the coins."

"It would be easier to fight them if we held the tunnel." Charlotte leaned her head back against the rail. "Say you have the coin and that they can cut Will's hand and then hand him over."

"They may kill us to take the 'coin'." Elizabeth picked at an invisible stain on the wheel. "We'll tell them we've hidden it."

"Sounds like Jack."

Elizabeth smiled wryly. "I did spend a little time with him as well."

"Oh?"

"The pirates marooned us," Elizabeth replied primly.

"I'm sure you'll love to tell that story someday." Charlotte murmured, closing her eyes. The sun was so warm. The deck was so solid below her. It occurred to her that if Eos wanted her to work for her, Eos must want Charlotte to survive. "Eos, would it offend you if I threaten them with you… If I say I work for you and use that?"

..

Charlotte's face did not show much emotion as she asked her question but what little was there was followed by the grim eyes of Elizabeth Swann. Every little piece of her sister was a gift she hadn't expected: the loose hair tickling Charlotte's face, the waves of the ocean they moved through once again, the wind that had seemed to carry hints of her voice even when they were miles apart. So many times on that island, Elizabeth had been tempted to turn and search but when she did there had been only miles of empty sea. An empty sea that she'd thought held the grave of her sister.

Now, though, the wind seemed to be a different voice. Stern and confidant.

Unintelligible.

Elizabeth watched as Charlotte's nose wrinkled with thought. "Would you be willing to make that mist again?... What do you mean we're forgetting something?" Charlotte opened one eye and Elizabeth had to fight to keep surprise off her face as she caught a faint bit of pink light glowing like a thread through the dark brown. She felt silly a moment later: the sun was setting behind them, of course, Charlotte's eye hadn't been glowing.

"Charlotte?" Elizabeth asked.

"Did the pirates maroon the… the other pirates?"

Elizabeth was the one to grip her sword now. It was not a pleasant memory, being tossed off a ship, tossing the dress to the pirates before she did so, seeing Will's… Will's eyes. Will. But Charlotte's pirates had remained tied up behind him.

"No. Will told them to free me but he didn't mention them."

"Then we free Anamaria. I think I can convince her and the others will follow."

Had Charlotte ever been this sure before? Elizabeth looked closer. No. No, Charlotte was still not sure.

"Charlotte… What if you can't…" Elizabeth trailed off and took a new tactic. "Charlotte, where did you get this ship? What happened to you?"

Charlotte's face fell.

"Charlotte..."

"It's a long story. It's…" Charlotte took a deep breath. "I'm still not sure. I think I had a vision of the future? But maybe not the future."

Charlotte threw herself to her feet and was halfway to the lower deck before Elizabeth followed. "Charlotte!"

"It's nothing." Charlotte began digging through storage barrels, pulling out a few servings of salted meat, and tossing some to her sister. "It wasn't real."

Elizabeth let out an indignant noise. "Not real? You were just speaking with the wind. Charlotte!"

"It's nothing."

"Am I going to die rescuing Will?"

"No."

"Are you going to die?"

"No!"

Hesitation before she'd answered but still... Charlotte wasn't lying. Elizabeth considered her sister for a long moment, then turned to look deliberately between her twin and the ship that followed far behind them now.

"James?"

Charlotte's shoulders slumped. "None of it is certain. It was… It was at a fort. This isn't a fort."

Elizabeth half expected to find tears forming in her sister's eyes… but of course, there was nothing as Charlotte stormed away again.

"It's going to be fine!" Charlotte said to no one, almost out of earshot.

Elizabeth didn't follow this time, simply watched Charlotte take a lookout at the bow. Elizabeth turned away and leaned over the rail, studying the disappearing ship behind them. She stared until it was lost completely, eerily disappearing into darkness as the night arrived and the wind rolled in a cover of clouds. A particularly sharp wind made Elizabeth shiver and then Charlotte was beside her, wrapping her twin in a softer embrace.

"I'm sorry," Charlotte said. "I feel… I feel like I'm in the adventure you always wanted."

Elizabeth nodded. "I can do it alone if…"

"No."

"Alright."

And they turned together to see the Isla de Muerto welcoming them once again.