Chapter One

A lone figure stood at the rail of the magnificent ship Empress, looking out at the dark waters of the sea. The billowing sails of the beautiful ship towered over the deck, casting ghostly shadows over wooden crates, empty rum bottles, and coils of rope. Still, the figure at the rail stood motionless. Captain Elizabeth Swann, King of all Pirates, stared longingly at the island that was slowly slipping below the horizon, as the sun slowly rose to take it's place. She gripped the sides of the ship so hard her knuckles bled. A tear slowly slid down her cheek and fell with a splash into the calm waters below, adding one more drop of water to the infinite sea below her.

It had only been approximately sixteen hours since she had last set eyes on her beloved husband, and she already felt as if she would crumble at any moment. William Turner would not set foot on land for another ten years.

Ten years! she thought, as another tear joined with the softly rolling waves. How will I possibly live through this?

As she thought of Will, she could almost hear the steady beating of his heart in its wooden chest. She felt the chain around her neck, felt the cool touch of the rusty key on her breast, and she thought of the last words she had heard Will say to her. "It's always belonged to you. Will you keep it safe?" The tears came faster now, slipping noiselessly down her pale cheeks.

Of course she would keep it safe. She had thought long and hard of where to keep that precious chest, and finally decided to bury it on the island that was now miles away from her own heart. As she thought of this, she wondered if she should not have kept it with her, on the Empress. No, she thought to herself, It is perfectly safe where it is. But still, she wished she had something other than the memories of William's warm lips on hers to console her.

As she stood on her beautiful ship, thinking of the past days, she thought of Captain Jack Sparrow. What had become of him after that last goodbye? When Elizabeth had said goodbye to Jack's crew on the Black Pearl that day, she had had high hopes of seeing them all again some day. But when she had got to the end of the line of sailors waiting to bid their farewells to the King of Pirates, all thoughts of seeing them again evaporated. Captain Jack had stood there, last in line. As Elizabeth approached, Jack had started to take a step back, but stopped himself. He had seemed to have a forced smile on his face as he refused her goodbye kiss, and his eyes were full of pain. He had said that one kiss from her was enough, but Elizabeth had a suspicion that Jack was trying to forget about her. In truth, Elizabeth had been trying to forget about Jack as well, but to no avail. Her dreams were full of images of the pirate, his dashingly adventurous face smiling down at her.

A loud yell from her first mate, Kevou Hiang, startled the Captain out of her thoughts.

"Orders, Captain?"

Overwhelmed by a sudden wave of exhaustion, Elizabeth struggled to think straight. In her thoughts, she hadn't noticed that the sun was rising steadily higher into the sky. In a burst of thought, she decided to change course.

"Hiang, turn the Empress in the direction of Tortuga."

Hiang blinked at her, confused. "But just last night you wanted to go to Cutthroat Island!"

"You will obey your Captain, Hiang," Elizabeth said in a low and threatening tone.

"Y-yes, Captain!" Hiang mumbled, and he scurried away to carry out the Captains orders.

All sailors on Elizabeth's ship never dared defy her. The minute she stepped on to the ship as Captain, the sailors new that if they even thought the word mutiny, they would find themselves swimming with the sharks.

Elizabeth stumbled to her cabin below, and collapsed onto the small cot in the corner. To find Captain Jack Sparrow would be a hard thing to do, for Elizabeth suspected he did not want to be found. But, she would try. As she tried to get comfortable in the small cot, she had an inspiration. Why was the ship heading towards Tortuga? The Captain sat up.

Jack would never be there, it would be to easy a place to find him. She jumped off the cot and threw open the door.

"Hiang!" she looked around hurriedly. "Hiang where are you?!"

Hiang skidded around a corner and came to a stop in front of Elizabeth, out of breath. "Yes, Captain?"

"We will be changing our course again," Elizabeth said.

Hiang started to protest, but thought better of it. "Where to, Captain?" He said, in a strained voice.

"To Jamaica, to Tia Dalma's place. Make sure to hurry!"

"Yes, Captain," Hiang bowed his head and scurried off. "All hands on deck!" Elizabeth heard him call as she turned back to her cabin. "We're changing course!"

The Captain smiled. For once in what felt like a long time she felt the glimmer of some kind of hope.