"So tell me, what's become of my ship?"

Alice choked on the rum in her throat, coughing roughly. IT CAN'T BE... She turned and ran into the shack, shoving the others out of the way to get to the bottom of the staircase, and froze.

Standing before her was none other than a very alive Hector Barbossa.

Alice stared in shock, her heart leaping into her throat. On the bottom landing of the staircase, Hector Barbossa - alive, in the flesh - stood tall and proud, Jack the monkey on his shoulder, and a freshly bitten green apple in his hand. His eyes were wide and he stopped chewing, the juices still running down his chin.

"ALICE!" The apple hit the ground with a dull thud as she and Barbossa threw themselves at each other in unison. They clung tightly to each other, tears immediately coming to Alice's eyes as she felt herself enveloped by home. She took a deep breath: He smelled like musk and seawater and rich earth; like sweet rum and dark tobacco and summer storms. His warmth touched her very bones and made her racing heart swell. He released her all too soon, but gripped her by the upper arms, gazing deep into her bewildered eyes.

"Yer still here," he said in amazement. He suddenly released her left arm and grabbed her hand, lifting it. He gazed at the ring for a moment and his eyes shot back to hers. "An' yer still mine," he growled quietly with a smile and pulled her close to him once more. She felt him press his face to the top of her head and suddenly went still.

He seemed to have realized that they were still in a room full of people, and his hold softened. He cleared his throat, and Alice released him, turning to gaze at the room.

"I'm sure ye all be havin' a whole mess o' questions fer me," he said in amused annoyance. One arm was still gently around Alice, telling her to stay by his side.

"I got a few," Ragetti said, his face still stunned but now smiling.

"Master Ragetti, I'm glad to see yeh 'ere still, all wide-eyed," he chuckled, and Ragetti goofily chuckled in return. "And Master Pintel is still wit' ye, I see."

"Kept 'im alive for ya," Pintel added, and Ragetti gave him a playful push. "Ey!" Hector chuckled, before he spoke sternly.

"We've got quite a lot of plannin' ta do, if we've any hope of rescuin' that pest what calls himself a 'Captain', and were it up ta me, I'd say let 'im rot in that purgatory. But that doesn't seem ter be the case." He gazed around the room. "It's been a long night already, though, so I'll grant ye the time of one drink to scratch yer itchin' minds. The rest can wait fer mornin'."

They were all seated around a long table, hanging onto Barbossa's every word as he chatted with them to some degree. He sure loves his mystery, Alice thought with a warm smile as she sat beside him at the head of the table. He spoke animatedly when he was excited, she noticed, and took a reserved position when he didn't want to speak on a subject further. He didn't give much in the way of details on his resurrection, nor did he speak much on why they were going to World's End to get Jack. He seemed to speak in riddles more than ever before, and Alice wondered if that was an after-effect of his previous condition. She noticed several times that she could feel the heat of him near her, and it made her heart skip a beat.

She also noticed, with a bit of pain, Paul's sullen face. He sat furthest away from them, absently drinking his rum, and shooting her the occasional glances. His eyes were filled with confusion and worry, and a deeply masked hurt. He was always quick to look away when he caught her eye, looking either at objects in the room, into his drink, or at the table itself. She knew he saw what had occurred on the stairs, and that he noticed the way Barbossa would look at her and smile - a smile that seemed to convey he was happiest about being alive again because she was there. She couldn't help but feel a bit guilty, though she also felt that she had no reason to. She hadn't told Paul about Barbossa because, well, he was dead. She figured there would be plenty of time for them to discuss it at some later date, when she had further figured out her current feelings for him. He has no right to be upset about this, she thought. Not after what he did to me. But I also know this comes as a bit of a shock, she sighed. Alice's main concern was whether Paul was worried that they might decide to leave him behind, especially once the captain found out who he was.

"Alright, ya feckless pack of ingrates," Barbossa said with a jovial grin. "The hour bein' what it is, get some sleep. Tomorrow we begin our plannin'." There was some groaning and sounds of discontent, but no arguments. Barbossa laughed pleasantly at them and stood.

"C'mon, Missy," he said to Alice, holding his hand out for hers and pulling her gently to her feet. "You and I have quite a lot o' catchin' up ta do." Alice smiled at him lovingly, before looking across the table for Paul. But he was no longer there.