Twenty years at sea, Will Turner was. As captain of the Flying Dutchman, he could only set foot on land for one day every ten years. What he did with this one day was spend it with his lover, Elizabeth, until sunset. But he was unable to do so for twenty years, and it was a wonder to him. Why could he not find land? No matter where he sailed, land was never to be found. And that was how it was for twenty years.

Twenty years for Elizabeth went to raising her and Will's daughter, Emily, and looking out for Will every day on the horizon. Elizabeth had always thought that Emily looked like Will, and she was happy about that. It was impossible for Will to be dead, she knew that, because she owned his heart. In the small home she and Emily lived in, Elizabeth had the heart beneath her bed. At night, she would fall asleep listening to Will's heartbeat and remember how much he loved her and how much she loved him. Emily was always told by her mother to watch the horizon for a green flash and a ship, but she was never told why.

After twenty years of watching the horizon, just waiting for a green flash and a ship in the distance, Elizabeth and Emily travelled to Port Royal, where Elizabeth was raised. Emily spent most of her time in the town library, studying maps and such, after hearing from a British naval officer that her father was a pirate. What surprised Elizabeth one day, though, was the fact that the Black Pearl was docked at Port Royal. Elizabeth, in disguise, joined the crew after leaving Emily with an old friend of hers to see if she could have any way of seeing Will again. Little did she know, though, Emily had done the same thing.

Captain Jack Sparrow of the Black Pearl was, as usual, cocky and slightly insane. He was a heavy drinker of rum, and a great pirate, as far as Emily knew from Elizabeth's stories. Emily had always been fascinated with the stories about Jack Sparrow and had always been desperate to meet him, and now she had her chance. As much as she tried, the only contact that Emily had with Jack was him telling her to scrub the deck. She did as she was told, for she had heard the pirate stories before and feared being forced off the plank in the middle of the ocean.

"Twenty years' service on this ship and this is how we're treated?" came a rugged old voice from nearby. Emily stopped and looked up. A man nearby with a hairless head and a scraggly beard was complaining about his treatment while scrubbing the deck with a younger man with sandy blonde hair and an eye patch.

"Well, you can't expect the captain to give you the title of 'first mate' out of the blue, Uncle Pintel," said the young man who must have been the bald man's nephew.

"But I think we at least deserve some kind of better treatment, Ragetti…" said the man named Pintel. He continued to speak, but the younger man named Ragetti's attention was caught by Emily. Emily was a beautiful young dark-haired girl that had the appearance of her father, and anyone that knew Will Turner could pick out his daughter easily, had she not had her face half hidden, and Ragetti did not seem to pick out that fact. He was entranced by her beauty, and Emily blushed and went back to scrubbing the deck. "…and she couldn't take care of you, so I had to take you in. Ragetti, are you listening?"

"What?" said Ragetti, and he turned his attention back to Pintel. "Oh… sorry, Uncle…" Pintel peered around Ragetti's head at the young dark-haired woman scrubbing the decks.

"Oh… I don't believe that you'll catch her eye, boy… She seems too young and not for the likes of you," said Pintel, and he returned to his scrubbing. Ragetti sighed, and also returned to his scrubbing.

"Yes, Uncle…" he said in a tone of pure sadness. He was attracted to this beautiful young woman, but he knew that he wouldn't catch her eye.

…

Already, Jack Sparrow was suspicious of the two women aboard his ship, and it didn't take long for him to realize that the blonde woman was Elizabeth.

"Welcome back to the Black Pearl, Elizabeth," Jack said to her one day. Elizabeth looked at him from beneath her hat.

"Hello again, Jack. I missed the pirate life, so I joined the crew again," Elizabeth told him.

"Is that so? Well, what prompted you to bring your daughter aboard?" Jack asked her. Noticing her confused expression, he said, "She looks much like Will, I must say."

"What are you talking about? I didn't bring Emily aboard," Elizabeth replied.

"She's standing right over there tying a cannon to the bulkhead," said Jack, directing her attention to the dark-haired girl pulling the ropes on a cannon.

"Oh, dear… I'll be back," said Elizabeth, and she quickly made her way over to Emily. Ragetti had noticed Emily struggling with the ropes, so he ran over as well to help her.

"Here, let me, Miss…" said Ragetti, and he grabbed onto the rope and pulled, along with Emily.

"Thanks for that…" said Emily once they had the cannon tied firmly in place.

"Certainly…" said Ragetti. The two of them stood facing each other, just staring at each other. Elizabeth stopped where she was and just watched, along with Pintel, who was far from Elizabeth's view. "Um… I'd better go and scrub the hold with me Uncle…"

"All right, then… I'd best be scrubbing the bulkhead…" said Emily, and she watched as Ragetti hesitantly left. She leaned against the bulkhead and accidentally pushed the bucket and scrubbing brush over the side of the ship. "Oh!" Watching the water engulf the bucket and brush, Emily sighed and went to find another set. Elizabeth watched her and couldn't bring herself to yell at her for following. She had known Ragetti in his younger days, and he was too old for Emily. He certainly didn't have a good past either, but he was much kinder and more humane than his old and grumpy uncle. He seemed to be fond of Emily, and Elizabeth took that into consideration. If Will ever found out, he would probably be upset… but then again, he didn't even know that he had a daughter.