Disclaimer: I…own…zip. Uh—dee—doo—dah. Woohoo.

Au/N: The last chapter, "The Ultimate Sacrifice," earned the most reviews out of any chapter so far! 41! Thank you so much for all your support! This will be the last chapter of this story, except for maybe the epilogue. I haven't put much thought into the epilogue…I'm beginning to think it isn't such a great idea. But tell me what you think in a review!

-:-WE HAVE AWINNER! -:-As previously mentioned in my last chapter, I promised to give the 410th reviewer of this story a prize! A one-shot of their choice, any characters they want (so long as I am familiar the movie/book/TV show/etc. that they came from)! And the winner is….Hanna! (By the way, in case there is more than one Hanna, this is the review she left on the 27th of August: This story is absolutely amazing. You are an amazing writer. Talented and witty. Update soon. Very soon, because I love this.) I don't think she's a member of this site, but Hanna, you can send me a message and tell me what you'd like your story to be about! Yay for you!

Chapter 17, Interesting Fellow

Elizabeth Swann

I stood, feeling quite alone, in the midst of a cold river, staring through a few inches of water into the face of Captain Jack Sparrow. His eyes stared straight ahead, looking through me to the heavens. I had stopped crying now; I realized rather quickly that it would do no good, and that Jack would not have me cry over him. He'd call me weak and pathetic, hardly a pirate at all. He would not have wanted it.

Ragetti and Pintel stood nearby; Barbossa stood staring into the heavens on the porch of Tia Dalma's home. Will looked down on the scene with what I thought were tears in his eyes. Ragetti took out his Bible and flipped through it. Satisfied, he began to read it, and then closed his eyes, praying.

It won't do any good now…

Then, in the middle of wallowing in self-pity and recognizing my sudden, excruciatingly painful loss…I felt Tia Dalma's hand slowly slip over my shoulder and grip it gently. I swallowed hard and blinked back tears, unable to tear my eyes away from Jack. His face was so, so different…his eyes didn't sparkle and his skin seemed faded and gray. He wasn't like the Jack I knew and loved at all.

Here I go pretending again

Falling into a façade so deep

That Houdini would beg

For it to end.

I'm biting my lip now

'Cause it's the only way I get to bleed

And I've taken so many different pills

Illusions are starting to look just like reality.

So this is another "last time"

I'll succumb to this devastation

And maybe if I can hold my breath till my heart stops

I can blame it on a lucid imagination.

I'm not assigning faults here

I'm just looking for something back

'Cause my heart's been broken so long

I think I'm starting to collapse.

So I've built a fortress around me

To block out the pain of the abyss

And as the stars and planets align

I realize the sound in your voice is what I miss.

I'm not sure how long my walls will last

Cause everyone's vendetta is clashing with my own

And their ideas are cluttering up my mind

Just like a garden that's been overgrown.

Yet this destination isn't the one

That I'd had hoped for us to achieve

And with everything that has happened

I wish in my words he would still believe.

'Cause I just can't help but to want him

On a night such as this

And all I need is one more, "I love you"

And a last "long distance" kiss…

Suddenly, Tia Dalma leaned forward, confident sounding, and the words she spoke filled my heart with a fleeting, but relevant, hope.

"He gave himself for you, Elizabeth. He is not de old Jack! When old t'ings die, what is reborn in their place?" she hissed, urging me to respond.

I heard Ragetti gasp from the side. Tears burning my eyes, I turned to look at him. Tia Dalma, whom I could see from the corner of my eyes, was smiling widely.

"Second Corinthians…chapter five…verse seventeen…" Ragetti mumbled, his voice faint and disbelieving, staring down into his Bible.

"What did you say, boy?" Tia Dalma asked loudly. The throng of people around us began to get excited, whispering loudly, forming a sort of strange rhythm.

"Second Corinthians…" Ragetti said again, becoming louder, "chapter five…verse seventeen!"

"What are ye goin' on about now? Let me see that thing!" Pintel shouted, snatching the Bible from Ragetti. He looked at it for two seconds and then threw it back to Ragetti. "Why did you throw it on me when you know I can't read! What's the matter with you, eh?"

Ignoring him, Ragetti cleared his throat loudly. Smiling, his voice shaky, he began:

"'…he is a new creature: old things have passed away; behold all things are become new.' Second Corinthians, chapter five, verse seventeen!" Ragetti exclaimed happily. I didn't understand.

"T'ink about it Elizabeth!" Tia Dalma said when she saw the confusion on my face. "When things grow old and die, what takes their place? New life! And when an old life is given so that a new life can begin…" Carefully, she placed both hands on my shoulders and turned my body to face the place in the water where Jack had been. I looked down, preparing myself for more pain. But, to my surprise…Jack was not there.

"H—how…what did you do?" I asked her quietly, stroking the top of the water with my fingers to be sure I wasn't dreaming.

"Interesting fellow, that Captain Jack Sparrow. Took him all of five seconds to give up his life for you. Never once ask me how long he'd have to stay dead!" Tia Dalma screeched, her voice high pitched. Cackling, she threw back her head and raised her hands to the sky.

After a moment of realization, I knew what Tia Dalma had done. She'd performed nothing less than a miracle. Because of her, Jack was alive. Instantly, I felt joy surging through me. But I did not see Jack. I vaguely heard the mass of people around me singing and dancing…I saw Ragetti, Pintel, Barbossa, and even Will talking merrily. But I would not be entirely happy until I saw Jack.

"But…if he's alive…then where…?"

"With Feng, child. When one dies, your soul is doomed to wander de earth until you fulfill your… 'unfinished business.' I told you dat not'ing of dis world could kill Feng, did I not? And Jack, now, bein' a doomed soul…is not of this world at all. Oh, yes. And, those that dwell on de other side…are not the kind to turn away bargains! They would give you anything if you gave them a soul as evil as Feng's…even your life. I imagine dat very, very soon…when his 'business' is done…dat he come back to you, yes. Be patient. Good t'ings come to those…who wait."

I smiled along with her, silent understanding slowly filling me. Another thought, one that was not of Jack for once, struck me, and I felt compelled to ask Tia Dalma about it. She had turned and begun to walk away, but my quiet question stopped her dead in her tracks.

"Do you miss him, Tia?" I asked, my voice hard to hear over the deafening roar of the celebration going on around us.

"Who, child?" she asked, not turning around; I knew she knew perfectly well who I was talking about.

"Davy Jones. You were his lover, weren't you?"

Turning only her head, I saw a tear rolling down her brown cheek, but a smile, wide and full of sincerity, covered her face.

"No, Elizabeth. I do not miss Davy Jones. How could I miss him, when I be the one who damned him?" she asked, her voice slowly fading into laughter. I grinned again as she turned from me and ascended the steps to her home.

I did not know it then, but I would never see Tia Dalma again.

Suddenly, the air around me grew eerily still.

The voices ceased. Children stopped laughing. Even the crickets refused to sing.

Turning around, I heard watery steps approaching me. I kept my eyes on the water, afraid that Jack's drowned corpse was returning to the top. But I saw nothing.

"Elizabeth," a familiar voice said.

My heart stopped.

"Elizabeth," the voice repeated, this time louder.

I bit my lip. I was delusional. It could not be.

"Lizzie!" the voice screamed. Startled, I jerked my head back and gazed, rather shockingly, into the smoldering eyes of Captain Jack Sparrow.

"It's the Cap'n!" someone whispered.

"He's alive!" said another.

But I had to feel it for myself. Slowly, my fingers cautiously approaching the dripping figure of the man I loved, I prepared myself to be hopelessly disappointed if it were a dream. However, I could not help but get my hopes up.

Then, a warm hand snatched my outstretched one away and pulled it up to his bronzed face. His black hair curled around his shoulders, and his clothes clung enticingly to his body. Grinning, he took my astounded face to his, closed his eyes, and pressed his lips against mine.

It was better than the most wonderful dream I'd ever known.

As he pulled away, he rested his sweaty forehead to mine, his hands still slid over my jaw on either side. I breathed in his scent and felt more tears coming forth.

"Elizabeth—OW!"

In a matter of seconds, I'd leaned back and slapped him—hard—across his sopping wet face. He reeled back and felt with a loud splash into the water behind him. Everyone stared on, dumbfounded.

It took him a moment, but he stood, holding his face. It made me smile to see that I'd drawn a bit of blood from his bottom lip. He wiped it away incredulously. Staring at the fingers covered in the blood from his lip, he shouted:

"You…made me bleed! Woman…you…made me…bleed!" he said, completely amazed. He held out the bloody fingers to me, shaking them at me. I giggled. He looked positively angry at my laughter. "What did you hit me for?" he pouted, rubbing his lip.

"Because you are, without a doubt, the worst pirate in the Caribbean!" I giggled.

"Oh? And what makes you say that, love?" Jack asked, coming closer, slipping his arms around my waist.

"Only the worst of men leave their beloveds to fend for themselves in such a cruel world!" I argued, smiling widely at him.

"I had to take care of…certain matters…that we shall not discuss at this precise moment if you don't mind, Lizzie dear." He came closer to my face, but I slipped a finger up between us and pressed it to his lips.

"Do you hear that, Jack?" I asked, closing my eyes. He was quiet for a moment. When I opened my eyes, I blushed when I saw that he was staring, transfixed, into my own.

"I do hear it, Elizabeth," he said, his voice calm and pleasant. And he said, just before he pressed his lips to mine again: "It's the end of what we knew."

FINIS

Ah! Don't you love happy endings?

Review…and tell me why you do…or why you don't. Savvy?

p.s. Laura Carnes wrote the poem titled "Long Distance Kiss" featured in this story. She and her brilliance also came up with, "Interesting fellow, that Captain Jack Sparrow!" and I love her to death, 'cause it rhymed!