Title: Final Goodbye

Disclaimer: all belongs to Disney

Summary: Whilst ferrying the souls of the dead, Will comes across one soul he dreaded taking.

A/N: This is my first POTC fic, but I had a really bad urge to write a Jack/Will angsty piece after watching all three films.

This is a VERY light slash fic. Extremely tame by my standards XD

My job as the Ferryman, taking the dead to the other side is not an easy one; far from it in fact. It is heart breaking to see all the souls' young, old, male and female which die out in the ocean, it is my job to move them on to their final resting place; and one day in every decade I could spend on land with the one that I loved.

I had married Elizabeth yes, but my heart wasn't in it really; my feelings for her had changed dramatically since Jack swaggered into our lives all those years ago. My affections shifted from her to him. I don't know when or how, but I knew that when the Kraken took him, I thought I had lost a piece of myself I had only just discovered, forever, but he was Captain Jack Sparrow and death could not hold him for long. He never knew though. I doubted his attention span would last long enough for him to realise my true feelings even if I had told him. I remember seeing the look of horror on his face when I was fatally wounded; maybe he did have some feeling after all; he did give up the opportunity of being the immortal captain of the Flying Dutchman to save my life. I wouldn't be surprised if it was the only selfless thing that he had ever done. Always out for himself to achieve his own goals. The brief look he gave me as he put the broken sword in my hand and got me to stab the heart…to this day I wouldn't be able to describe it. That day was the last time I saw him for so long; I wanted to search for him but my duties kept me too busy and I had a foolish hope that he would come to me…I suppose he did…but not in the way I wanted…

We were gathering souls as always, but one stood out from the crowd, something that never happened before and at that moment, although I couldn't feel it, my heart stopped beating. Jack was standing among the dead waiting to be taken away. For what felt like an eternity I just stared at him, it couldn't be real, I tried to tell myself over and over, but no matter which way I tried to settle my mind, it was real. Jack was dead. He noticed me there and swaggered through the mass of waiting souls and smiled at me.

"Ello Luv, finally come for me then eh?" He smiled as if it was nothing.

I could only stare, my mouth worked several times to try and speak; the man that had cheated death so many times was finally dead and it was my job to… "How…"

"Our beloved friend Barbossa decided marooning me wasn't good enough. That I'd only come back…again."

"Barbossa killed you?" That bastard, he would regret it.

Jack nodded and shrugged, "Bugger eh? Least I got to see ye again," I wanted to slap that damn smile off his face; it was a heartbreakingly poignant smile.

My world was crumbling around me, "I can't do this," I muttered and walked away, it was like everyone and everything else on the ship just…vanished…it was the two of us alone.

"Ye 'ave to Luv, gotta do yer job; wouldn't want to end up like Jonesy, eh?" he tried to lighten the mood and make me see sense, but I was too far gone for that…

I shook my head, "I don't care. Jack I…" He took me by surprise then and kissed me; unsurprisingly he tasted like very strong rum, but it wasn't a bad taste and I held onto him as tightly as I could; somehow he was corporeal again…I could take him back…

"No Luv," he shook his head as he broke the kiss, reading my expression, "I can't go back, not again. Ye already did me that favour once…"

I pulled him close again and rested my head on his shoulder; I remember I had cried for him when the Kraken took him…now I was supposed to take him to where I couldn't follow…tears rolled down my cheeks as we just held each other, "I can't…" I whispered, "I can't live an eternity knowing you won't be there…"

"Shh Pet," he murmured, I could hear his voice cracking as well, "Eternity isn't that long…someday I'll be able to show ye how Captain Jack Sparrow shows his luv, savvy?" he grinned, but it came out as little more than a sad smile as he tried to hold it together.

"There has to be some way…some loophole…" I vehemently denied the inevitable; as much as he tried to reassure me, I knew I would never get to see him ever again…these were our last moments together, and yet somehow they felt like the first.

"My dear, sweet William, no more tears for me, savvy? Ye will carry on this little boat's voyage and take me and whoever else is lined up for our last ride, and ye will keep doing yer job right," he looked at me sternly and I nodded vaguely in response.

The world came back around us and everyone was just watching, keeping a silent and respectful distance; I felt numb as I barely went through the motions of commanding my ship and he was beside me all the time, giving me long looks that alternated between yearning, sadness, regret and love.

I eventually turned back to him as the lost souls started slowly fading and that smile was back on his face; his hand reached up to touch my face, but it just passed through as he faded away with the rest of them.

"Goodbye," I whispered and I closed my eyes against the threatening tears, but I couldn't stop them from falling anew.

I realised then that someone had been addressing me, shaking me gently; I looked into my father's concerned eyes, "Captain?"

Taking a breath I calmed myself, "We are to find the Black Pearl and annihilate every single one of the bastards and send them to the Locker."

I saw a slight hint of something in his eyes, more than concern, perhaps a hint of fear, that I would become another Davy Jones. What did it matter though? I had nothing left to keep going for…the one thing that was important to me was dead and nothing would bring him back. Not this time.

Let me know what you guys think