The salty air blew her fast streaming tear across her face, as a flash of bright green lit up the horizon. Her gaze was held by the fiery light that was quickly falling beneath the sea. The partly revealed sun still cast its orange glow across the beachside and tickled the palm leaves. It gently removed itself from her golden brown hair and the brightness of the beachside was taken along with her soul. The dark blue, swirling, freezing waves splashed against her legs, wetting her thin dress, mocking her incessantly. Yet she could not feel the coldness of the water, or the warmness of the sun. She could not taste the saltiness of the wind or the tears that covered her face. She could not feel a thing as she sat down on the wet sand, rocking back and forth like a child, clutching the worn chest close to her heart. As close as two hearts would ever get. She closed her eyes and breathed rhythmically to the beating of the heart of her beloved…and she cried letting go of whatever sanity she still had. The waves once again circled around her shivering body as she let out screams of agony and distress. Seagulls squawked surprisedly and flew away from the helpless female on the sand. Her screams shifted to sobs, shifted to whimpers, shifted to bitter silence. Her mind tried to focus on other aspects of life, desperately searching for some sort of light that could instead warm her from the inside. Her mind backtracked…but not so far back. She saw his lovely face again and she smiled a cold smile. A lifeless smile, but a smile all the same. His wispy brown hair danced happily in the breeze and his melting chocolate-colored eyes enraptured her once again, just as when they had first met. He wasn't the only thing in her vision though. She shifted her eyes to the open sea that was all around them. He slipped his hand into hers and whispered her name softly…Elizabeth. The ship rocked back and forth, the sails flapping eagerly in the salty wind. But her dream rudely turned a different course. The skies quickly grew dark and the calm winds turned rough. She screamed and held onto her lover, but he was fading slowly. A flash of lightning revealed the horrifying image of Davy Jones, cackling all the while, before reverting back to the sad expressions of Will. She tried to grab onto his arm, but as fast as the vision had come, it disappeared. She flung her arms around the ship's mast hoping it would end. The wooden ship turned sharply to the left and she realized someone was driving it. The ship was being directed in a direction that led to a more serene looking island, lush and sweet. Quickly she glanced at the person at the helm. Through the rain and thunder, she could make out an all too familiar face…

The dream stopped there. She awoke with a start. Sweat stuck pieces of wet hair to her face. Lightly, the rain dropped onto the beach. Her wet dress clung to her legs as she stood up slowly. The chest still buried in her arms, she sat under a large tree, sheltered by its fronds. She caressed the chest and glanced back at the stormy seas with a faraway look in her eyes. The dream she had only reminded her of the pirates she had left behind but a few days ago. The depressed looks in their eyes haunted her unguarded mind. One thing made her remember why those pirates had been a sort of family,

The fire burned, crackling every once and a while to send hot sparks flying out of it and into the starry nighttime sky. Around and around she drunkenly danced with one of the most famous pirate captains ever.

"Drink up me hearties, yo ho!" They chorused together, laughing with a bottle of rum in hand.

She hugged herself as she watched the rolling, tumbling waves crash against the sand. Quietly, she began to sing to herself,

"We're devils and black sheep, really bad eggs. Drink up me hearties, yo ho. Yo ho, yo ho a pirate's life for me…" Her voice was overpowered by the waves and was lost in the screaming of the wind.

The seagulls soared overhead and pecked at the still being. It opened its eyes one by one before flailing its arms wildly, scaring the birds away. White marks appeared on its shoulders.

"Sir, I do believe that's…" One dark-circled eye and raised eyebrow glared at the sea-mate. He bent his head in shame and scurried away. The salty waters splashed up and doused the crew unforgivingly. Although the sun was setting, and the waters should have been calm, the sea never was calm in the presence of sailors. Well, not really sailors…more of pirates.

The ship rocked back and forth on the unsettled sea, as once again, the Black Pearl sailed without a heading; its black sails billowing in the breeze and its dark, wooden hull trying to steady itself. Its captain made a charismatic face at the spinning needle on the compass and snapped it shut. His first mate swaggered next to him.

"Captain, we've been sailin' for days on end without even a clue of where we're goin'…again! Can ya please give some sort of heading?" His captain gave him the same look he had given the other mate.

"And I finally got my ship back…again!" He mimicked the first mate.

"Now listen, Gibbs. We both understand and know that I am the captain, right?" He questioned. Gibbs nodded, getting a little bit nervous at where this was headed.

"And we all know that everyone obeys the captain, right?" He nodded slowly again.

"And if the captain doesn't give any orders for the moment, then the crew members have no orders, and then the ship has no orders so the ship just sails…which isn't an order, but it still does so, savvy?" Confusedly, Gibbs nodded once again.

"So if the ship is doing its job of sailing does it not give orders to the mates to do their jobs, technically, and you all make me do my job of keeping us all good, respectable pirates 'cause you're a bunch of idiots, yes?" Gibbs began to stutter,

"B-but captain, we need to dock eventually right?"

"Yes, yes, that's all good, but I've just gotten back! The heading is of no importance right now. We're following this." He waved the compass back and forth in front of his face.

"Captain…why can't we all just admit that it's broken?" A disgusted look spread across the face of the captain,

"Bugger, you're just jealous." Gibbs surprisedly leapt back,

"Am not!"

"Are too."

"Am not!"

"Are considerably, definitely, truly…" Gibbs shook his head and left the captain before he could finish. The captain stuck out his tongue, fixed his hat, and eyed the compass again, shaking it profusely.

"C'mon you stupid bloody thing…" He opened it quickly. The needle turned back and forth but still wouldn't give a definite direction. He rolled his eyes,

"Now how come you worked for Lizzie before, eh?" He grumbled slightly. Glancing up, he squinted and saw that dark, foreboding clouds were gathering on the horizon line. An older, harsher pirate spoke suddenly,

"Doesn't work for ye?" Barbossa grinned, showing more rotten teeth than ever imagined. The other pirate grimaced.

"Just because I let you stow away, doesn't mean you get to pop up like that." The captain shuddered. The grin flashed away and he rolled his eyes.

"I forced ye to let me on my ship. What happened to Captain Jack Sparrow anyways?" Jack opened his mouth to answer but found no words to come out. He shut it; there were no witty comebacks in mind. He childishly tried shooing away Barbossa. The bigger pirate merely pushed Jack aside and began turning the wheel.

"Hey!" Jack yelled. Another golden toothed, missing toothed smile crawled onto Barbossa's face,

"Sorry, Jack. If that compass don't work for ye, I'm captain again." Jack gave a bewildered look,

"What do you bloody mean!? I never said that!" The old pirate shrugged,

"Like Gibbs said, if we ain't got a heading, someone else needs to take over." Jack growled lowly and was about to argue once more, but a loud rumble of thunder stopped both of them. They were already head-on into the storm. Gibbs shook his head. Those two idiots, too busy babbling about who was to be captain, and now was when Gibbs wished most that he was on a quiet, safe island with rum and a warm place to sleep.

"Drop the anchors!" Barbossa hollered.

"Raise the anchors!" Jack retorted. A fiery glare shot from the other pirate's eyes.

"I said I was captain!" He snarled loudly.

"Well, some captain you are for sailing us into a storm!" Rain poured down on the Black Pearl, and the seas angrily tossed it around and around. Jack fixed his hat once again and shook the compass. It spun around and around, but to his surprise, finally pointed in a definite direction.

"That way!" He called out to his crew. Barbossa shook his head,

"Don't do that! We'll be heading further into the storm!" Jack responded calmly,

"Well, if the compass is working for me now, that must mean something." Barbossa twitched, clearly annoyed at Jack's immaturity. They wrestled for a bit over who was going to steer the wheel, until Barbossa unsheathed his sword.

"I be not messing with ye Jack." He grumbled lowly at the unaware pirate. Jack raised his hands defensively and opened his mouth to respond, but suddenly the ship shook violently beneath them and flung both men to their knees.

"I be guessing Calypso or that Will be angry with ye Jack." The mangy pirate snapped, as he quickly shoved the sword back. Jack shrugged,

"A lot of people are angry with me all the time, Barbossa, you including, but I really can't quite exactly tell why they would be mad at me. I haven't annoyed either of them…" He assured himself and Barbossa. The ship shook once again and the pitch black waters sloshed themselves on deck. Jack pulled himself up and fixed his hat,

"I, uh think…" Barbossa cursed under his breath as he struggled to keep from being swished away into open sea.

"Ye think!?" He yelled at him. Jack jumped back in surprise and winced,

"Sorry, sorry!" He apologized. Gibbs cursed under his breath and yelled out above the screaming seas and winds,

"Where are we going, captains!?" He added the extra "s" at the end so as to not displease either pirate and send them back into an argument over who was captain. Jack pointed to a nearby island.

"For right now, let's port there, Gibbs! It'll be best, until we can sail out of this storm!" For once Barbossa nodded and agreed with Captain Sparrow's thinking. They turned the wheel, and the ship obeyed, following its new course of direction.

"Seems we be going with the current now, captains!" Gibbs noted. Barbossa's eyebrows furrowed in thought and slight confusion,

"That'd be strange. Usually currents flow away from land." Jack shrugged,

"Oh well, ho hum, just makes things easier the way I see it." He replied quickly. The older pirate didn't seem convinced. He grunted and headed below deck. Jack and Gibbs looked at each other and shrugged. The seas did turn unusually rough, and Barbossa's comment on currents made it all the more confusing. Supposedly, the two rulers of the seas were somehow against him. Well, that was all good and fine with him. He always managed to squeeze out of tight situations…literally at times. The silhouetted island approached their view fast, as the Black Pearl clumsily sailed on the disturbed waters. There was a measly dock ahead, but Jack spun the wheel to the right. He wasn't going to dock there with his wonderful ship. Pride always did seem to get the better of him at times. Gibbs raised an eyebrow, but turned his attention back to the sail he was struggling to keep taut. As soon as they felt the ship scrape the sand beneath them, most of the crew leaped off the edge of the ship and began pulling it into place, high enough on the sand to keep it from floating off. They heaved and ho-ed in the screeching wind that seemed to try to pull them off the face of the Earth, and into the dark clouds above. Thunder rumbled loudly and lightening chorused off in the distance with multiple flashes that set the sky a light. The waves crashed down on them, trying to yank them off their feet and pull them into deeper waters. Eventually, they were able to pull the Black Pearl in enough and tie a few ropes to some sturdy-looking palm trees. Able to rest, they slowly dragged their feet back to the ship and climbed nimbly up the side. They began filing down below deck for shelter and something to eat. Jack however kept staring off into the distance, squinting. Pintel and Ragetti shared devious looks in their eyes before scurrying below deck. Gibbs lumbered behind, clearly quite worn out. Tiredly, he asked him,

"What be in the distance that captures your eyes?" He slurred. Jack blinked his eyes a couple of times before turning to him,

"Oh, ah nothing, nothing. I just thought I saw something." He reassured the old first-mate. Gibbs nodded and followed the rest of them inside. Jack carefully looked around to make sure no one was watching and jumped down onto the wet sand. He had seen something. And he sure hoped it wasn't what he thought it was. He trudged in the receding waves, only to be hit full force with them again. He blubbered a little, and quickly climbed up the beachside. A slight dent in his pride, he walked down the beach, to try to see if there was something there. Suddenly, he fell forward. Jack grabbed a palm trunk and cursed under his breath. He looked down and saw the curled-up figure of a woman. Surprised and curious, he bent down and turned the body over. He jumped back as he recognized the face. Slowly he shook his head,

"Put you here did he?" He hoisted her body up and slung it over his shoulder. Jack wheezed slightly. To no offense of the woman, but she had gotten heavier since he had last seen her, and that wasn't too long ago. Maybe it was just because he was a little weak in the arms. Something dropped out of her arms and thudded on the ground. Her eyes immediately snapped open, and she shrieked,

"Oh my goodness, let me go!" She flailed about hitting Jack numerous times in the back of the head and stomach.

"Oof!" He gasped and dropped her. She quickly got to her feet and put a sword to his neck. A flash of lightening revealed who he was to her. Her fast breathing slowed to a normal pace. In relief, she collapsed. Jack just caught her by the arm and pulled her up. Her face went from relieved to very agitated all too quickly. She crossed her arms and stared him down, quite frankly annoyed. He bit his lip and shrugged,

"Uh…hi, Lizzie?" She shoved her sword back and threw her hands up in the air,

"Is that all you can say?" Elizabeth sarcastically remarked, placing her hands on her hips in that all too familiar feminine way. Jack blinked,

"Y'know I could say a lot of really bad…" She ignored him as she wildly looked about her,

"Where is it?" She desperately huffed. Captain Sparrow was incredibly confused,

"Where's what?" He asked. She glared at him again,

"Nothing, nothing. I…oh, there it is!" She exclaimed; relief washed over her face again. Quickly, she grabbed the object that he had heard hit the ground. He tried taking a peek at it, but she instantly turned away,

"Stop it!" She snapped. He pulled back quickly. Elizabeth was in a terrible mood. She nearly had a heart attack, thinking that she was being abducted or something, and although Jack wasn't meaning to be rude or annoying…he was. She pushed the object against the palm tree and hid it with her body. A pout stuck on her face and her arms crossed tightly in front of her, crouching in the freezing rain. The pirate shook his head. Elizabeth had always been stubborn, just like he was. Soon after that thought, he broke into a small grin. That's what he always had found interesting. He scratched the back of his head,

"So, should I just leave you here then?" The question floated in the air silently. Elizabeth's eyes softened, realizing that she had been a little obnoxious. She glanced up at him,

"How-how did you find me?" Jack raised his eyebrows,

"You answer my question first." He stated a bit immaturely. Elizabeth merely shook her head in disbelief,

"Okay…fine then. Don't leave yet; you have to answer my question Captain Sparrow."

"Initiating a "parler" are we Captain Swann?" He addressed her answer indirectly. She, instead of smiling like he thought she would, furrowed her eyebrows and the sides of her lips pulled down,

"It's Mrs. Turner now." She reminded him a little harshly. He felt a little hurt by that comment, but he didn't know why.

"I'm not a pirate anymore, Jack. I'm going to be a wife." That was why it was hurting. Not a pirate anymore… Seeing the normally drunken pirate's slightly upsetting disposition, she tried to smooth out the statement,

"What I mean is…I'm not "Captain"…" She trailed off,

"Or Ms. Swann." Jack finished her thought. He sort of awkwardly leaned on a palm tree with his shoulder, legs crossed. Elizabeth hadn't meant to shake the dark haired pirate up, but unfortunately she had. Slowly, she tried to ease him,

"So, how did you find me?" It was another awkward sentence. He shrugged, and looked out at the calming sea,

"I saw a dark lump, and I thought it was a person. Surprisingly, it was you." The slight curtness in his voice made Elizabeth feel only guiltier. She tried responding a little more lightly,

"Oh, I'm glad you found me…and that you weren't some other…"

"Pirate." He shortly said. She glanced away a little dejectedly. There was a small moment of silence,

"Well, I'm going back to my ship then." He lowly muttered. Elizabeth bit her lip,

"No, wait I'm sorry." He kept walking. She scrambled up and ran down the beachside,

"No wait, really!" He started walking faster. She picked up her pace and started to run. He started to run. Finally, she tripped over a rock and fell flat on her face. He threw a backwards glance and fell over himself. At first, a sandy-faced Elizabeth thought he was angry, as she heard a muffled noise coming from him. Suddenly, she heard laughter. Confused, she crawled next to him and sat back on the balls of her feet, staring. He pushed himself and laughed again. His laughing made her laugh. They brushed the sand off themselves.

"Well, have fun on this island then, Lizzie." He said and started off towards his ship. She grabbed his arm.

"Wait…look…I'm sorry…I just don't know what happened…" She confusedly stumbled for words.

"I just got really short-tempered…I'm so sorry." She murmured truthfully and sincerely. Jack eyed her, unsure as to whether or not to believe her.

"Do you mean every word?" He questioned her. She glanced up at him,

"I do believe I've said that line before." The pirate winked,

"I do believe you have." Signaling his untold forgiveness. He turned around,

"Although my incredibly intuitive senses, that I'm sure I've already told you about, tell me something caused this weird mood-changing stuff." He made unclear hand gestures so as to exemplify the "weird" he used in his sentence. She shook her head, hiding the smile that was forming on her face.

"It's nothing, Jack." Though as she said it, her grip on the chest tightened. This he noted. He raised an eyebrow,

"So now that things are all smoothed over, are you going to tell me what's in that?" She hesitantly paused. Slowly, but surely, she creaked open the chest. Jack's eyebrows rose, and his eyes widened. She shut it quickly, as if someone had been watching. He nodded understandingly,

"That's why you were all in a huffy fuss…it's his…" She cut him off,

"Yes, yes I know." She quickly replied. Jack tapped the chest,

"Well, under your watchful care, I'm sure nothing bad's going to happen to this…" She commented playfully,

"Unfortunately for you, Jack." He raised his hands defensively,

"I may be a pirate, but I don't go around wishing for people to get hurt or anything…" He thought for a moment,

"Oh, no wait…maybe…no I don't think that counts…" She rolled her eyes and sighed. He always had to be so literal. Jack grinned,

"Well anyways, let's just say I don't." Tiredly, she cracked a smile,

"Works for me…" He turned once again and started heading towards his ship. Elizabeth hesitated,

"I…I thought we agreed that it was alright." She called out. He nodded profusely,

"Oh yes, of course we did, but I have to get back or else somebody's going to notice I'm gone soon enough…" It was too late. He bumped into the grungy pirate he had learned to despise. Barbossa grinned devilishly,

"Mrs. Turner…" He politely said. He then glared down,

"Jack…" Surprised and nervous, he began to stutter slightly,

"Oh…um, Barbossa…hi…" His rum coated breath intoxicated Jack as Barbossa spoke,

"Hi." He sharply snapped, sending Jack back a few steps.

"Okay, where is it?" He pointed a finger at the pirate menacingly. Jack glanced down at his boots, like a child that had been caught doing a bad deed,

"Uh, where's what?" He muttered. Barbossa stepped forward abruptly, scaring the both of them a little bit,

"Ye know exactly what! Gimme the other piece of the map now!" They tussled a little bit. Pulling each other's hair, throwing a few punches, kicking… Elizabeth rolled her eyes. They could act like such children. Barbossa managed to wrestle the other piece of the map out of Jack's grasp. Captain Sparrow desperately tried to retrieve it,

"It's my part! Give it!" The older pirate scowled,

"No it's not. If you aren't going to find the Fountain of Youth, I'm going to…" Elizabeth's jaw dropped. Both pirates glanced at her hesitantly.

"What?" Jack questioned. She snapped her fingers repeatedly, as she paced back and forth,

"Yes, yes that's the answer!" They looked at each other, and then back at the seemingly crazy woman in front of them.

"What be the answer?" Barbossa asked, hoping to be interested in something. She grinned widely,

"It all makes sense!" She opened her arms widely, forgetting the chest in her arms. It fell onto the sand. Barbossa eyed it. She snatched it back up and carefully looked at the older pirate. Jack nudged him on the shoulder, flung his arm around him, and whispered,

"You might not wanna mess with her and that chest." Barbossa twitched and growled lowly at Jack, as he shoved his arm off,

"Don't touch me…" He muttered. Apparently unfazed, Jack questioned normally,

"So what makes all this sense, Lizzie?" She began to explain,

"See, I had this really weird dream before you both came…" Barbossa rolled his eyes, not amused. Jack silently jabbed him in the side of the stomach, which earned him a hard glare. Elizabeth, too caught up in her train of thought, took no note of this and continued,

"I was on this ship, and it was all nice, and I was with Will." Jack and Barbossa shared the same look this time.

"Anyways, long story short, there was this really nice looking island in my dream, and that might be the Fountain of Youth you two are blabbering about. I think that if I drink some of its water, I can live forever and then Will won't turn into Davy Jones!" She clapped her hands together, obviously very pleased with herself. Both pirates were clearly confused though,

"So…why does drinking that water make Will not turn into Davy Jones?" Captain Sparrow slowly questioned. The taller pirate added,

"And what's all this about Will turning into Davy Jones anyhow?" She waved her hand,

"Never mind, it doesn't matter…but I have to come with you both if we're going to the Fountain of Youth." She insisted. Jack blinked,

"But, I thought you weren't a pirate any…" She cut him off,

"That's not the point!" She stressed. He quieted in fear that Elizabeth's temper would tear him apart, if not her mood swings. She flipped her hair that was in her face,

"Well are you going?" She impatiently asked. The pirates looked at each other, slowly looked at Elizabeth, and then looked at each other again. She placed her hands on her hips again.

"Um, nope!" Jack replied cheerily, trying to sneak off without Elizabeth. She grabbed his arm tightly though,

"Oh no you don't!" She warned him. He stopped, defeated. Barbossa tried leaving as well with the two pieces of the map, but Jack latched on,

"No way, if I'm prisoner, you're one too." He said. Again, the pirate growled. Elizabeth looked pleadingly at Jack,

"Oh please!!!" She insisted again. He thought about it,

"Well…" Barbossa cut in,

"No, we can't." Elizabeth's face fell.

"But, why not?" She stuttered, crest-fallen. Barbossa just shook his head,

"Why should we even let ye have the chance at eternal life? How have ye really helped us in this search?" She contemplated for a bit,

"What about her whole helping us get the key and Davy Jones chest and what not?" Jack offered. Barbossa silenced him with a look,

"That doesn't count. That was only helping ye." He poked him in the forehead. Jack, in defense, slapped around unconsciously hitting Barbossa in the face hard. They began to fight again, and Elizabeth took this time to sneak onto the Black Pearl. When they had finished slapping each other about, they looked for Elizabeth, finally noticing that she was gone.

"Elizabeth!" Jack called out, worried that she had left in anger or distress. Barbossa grumbled,

"See, Jack? She'd only be trouble for us. Now come on, let's go before she gets back." He hesitated. The chest was no longer there, so she had made sure to have taken that…

"Well…okay." He admitted. They trudged back to the ship, every once and a while shoving each other. Elizabeth was laughing quietly to herself, knowing that now she could finally fulfill what she thought was the answer to her strange dream. Now that she was beginning to recall, the ship DID look a lot like the Black Pearl. She hoped that this was it. Suddenly, she felt a pull from behind, and before she could scream, a dirty, rum-smelling hand covered her mouth. She bit the hand, and kicked the person hard in the stomach. The surprised woman was relieved to turn around and only see a cringing Gibbs.

"Oh…I forgot how hard ye fight…" He mumbled, clutching his stomach. She suppressed her laughs,

"W-what was that for?" He shook his head,

"Ye're not supposed to be here, Miss. Swa…er, Mrs. Turner." She felt a sort of guilt from his tone, which made her only wonder.

"But I have to! There's something with Will I…" She heard the loud, rumbling footsteps of Jack and Barbossa from above deck.

"Quick!" Gibbs franticly whispered, as he opened up a large empty barrel. She leapt inside and hid well…although not liking the unpleasant smell of rum once again. Rolling her eyes, she cursed the demon rum, before holding her breath, so as to keep completely silent when Jack and Barbossa's voices began to be heard.

"I…just hope she's alright…" She heard Captain Sparrow mutter. Barbossa's voice snapped,

"Oh, she'll be fine. She's a fighter, I'll give her that." She felt awkward listening in on their conversation. Outside, Jack shrugged,

"Okay, at least she took that chest…" When Barbossa must've been out of an ear-range for Jack, she overheard him softly mutter,

"Though it's weird the compass pointed that way…" Confused, she felt her right eyebrow rise and a look rise onto her face. She heard a door close, and knew that Jack had left into his private quarters. Barbossa's loud boots stopped close to her barrel.

"Gibbs, there be any more apples in this thing?" He rapped against the top of the barrel loudly. Elizabeth froze. She heard Gibbs stutter,

"Oh, ah no, captain. Um, Pintel and Ragetti had the last one in there." Outside, Barbossa scowled,

"Those no good, yeller-bellied rats." He stomped off into his own room and shut the door tightly. Gibbs slowly lifted the top off of the barrel.

"Ye're one lucky gal, Mrs. Turner." He breathed, relieved. Elizabeth nodded.

"I sure am." He handed her some baggy clothes.

"Here, dress up as one of the crew, nobody'll notice, I promise." She smiled,

"Thank you so much, Mr. Gibbs." He cracked a smile too. Elizabeth slipped into a vacant room. Gibbs sat down on his stool, rubbing his temples, but turned around when he heard her voice whisper, and her head popped out from the doorway.

"Oh, and don't call me, Mrs. Turner." She shut the door again, and Gibbs smiled.