Chapter 3: Down through the Maw, and Memories of Old

"Maw?" Elizabeth asked worriedly as she turned to face her husband. "What maw? What is Gibbs talking about?"

"The maw is a whirlpool." Will answered as he kissed the top of Elizabeth's head before continuing on. "It is the only way that I know of to get to Tír na nÓg."

"But- how do you know that it is the only way" Elizabeth asked worriedly as she clutched onto Will for safekeeping as the Dutchman began to rock.

"Mister Gibbs was the last one to see Jack as he headed out to sea on a dingy," Will explained as quickly as he could. "And then there were reports that a dingy sporting a sparrow flag was drawn to the depths."

"But there has to be another," Elizabeth stated. "Isn't there another way? Will, tell me that there is another way please!!"

"There is no other way," Will stated simply as he pulled away from his beloved wife. "Now, go to Liam this is going to be a bumpy ride."

"He is a strong boy," Elizabeth protested in a tome that cut Will like a knife. "He can survive anything that we can."

"Be that as it may," Will began, shouting over the rising wind. "I do not want you out here. It would be better if you were with him, please Elizabeth listen to me."

Elizabeth's shoulders slumped in recognition. "Very well." She stated with a slight grimace as she moved to go below, passing Bootstrap Bill on her way.

"Lass he's only trying to do what is best for you," Bill explained as he grabbed Elizabeth's arm preventing her from going any further. "And I will have you know that when we weren't ferrying souls, my son was searching the ends of the earth to find some way, anyway to return to you."

"Really?" Elizabeth asked, her voice swallowed by the sound of thunder as the Dutchman came ever closer to the maw. "For the first two years of Liam's life I spent the summers searching for a way, anyway for us to join him but I found none."

"Well you have now." Bill pointed out as he let go of Elizabeth's arm. "And as long as forever sounds, being together is a lot more preferable than being apart."

"What are you saying?" Elizabeth asked, but Bill's reply was cut off by the sound of a wave crashing against the side of the boat and Elizabeth was ushered inside Will's room where she spied Liam huddled up in a corner.

"Ma!" Liam cried running from his hiding place to his mothers awaiting arms. "We're not going to be destroyed are we?"

"No dear one," Elizabeth promised holding her son tight. "We are aboard the Flying Dutchman and she is the fastest and strongest ship in the all the seven seas. Nothing can destroy her; we're just travelling to Tír na nÓg to find Jack. There's nothing to fear."

And yet, while Elizabeth said that she herself wasn't sure of the ships stability as the wood creaked and moaned around them as they were tossed about.

---

Meanwhile, while Elizabeth was holding on to her son below deck, the crew above were working furiously to try and survive the raging storm. They all knew that this was the only way to Tír na nÓg and yet none they all knew that Mister Gibbs, Elizabeth and Liam were the only ones who were vulnerable- and therefore they knew that they had to make it through in once piece.

"Steady as she goes men!" Will cried out, the rain falling in his face as he steered the Flying Dutchman in, horribly reminded of the events that took place ten years earlier… Elizabeth had been fighting Davy Jones, and Will had gone to help her but had failed. Both of them were apart and then Jack had come, taunting Jones with his own heart and then Jones had stuck the sword that Will had made long before into his own heart and then all had gone back. When he had come too he was standing aboard the Flying Dutchman and they won the battle. Elizabeth and he had spent a blissful day on the beach, watching as the sun set …and then he had sailed away. The last soul-crushing kiss that he and Elizabeth had shared on that deserted beach was enough for them to confirm where Elizabeth would meet him again and it was the last time that he had been able to tell her how much he truly loved her.

"I love you Elizabeth Turner." Will whispered in her ear, clinging onto her for dear life.

"And I you William Turner." Elizabeth cried, clutching onto her husband with all her might. "I will keep a weathered eye on the horizon, and wait for you to return…ten years…"

"Be strong my love," Will said quietly, kissing her one last time. "…and rest assured that I will spend as much time as possible searching for a way to come back sooner"

"Captain!" Mr. Gibbs called out with worry as he hung onto the riggings near a secured cannon. His familiar voice jolted Will out of his memories and brought his attention to the fact that a large wave was descending upon them. With one mighty pull of the wheel, Will steered the Flying Dutchman down into the maw, the great waters of the ocean swirling around them all.

---

All was still for a moment in the captain's quarters as Elizabeth held her young son tightly. But then she realised that the sounds of the storm outside had ceased and that the rocking of the ship beneath them was not the frantic rolling of a storm-tossed ship, but the gentle sway of a ship on calm waters.

"Mama?" Liam asked tentatively, pulling away from his mother. "Is it over?"

"Yes." Elizabeth stated, slightly out of breath. "I think that it is…"

"…let's go see!" Liam announced with a sudden burst of enthusiasm and as he pulled her from Will's quarters Elizabeth made the decision that if she had to, she would be able to spend the rest of her life in them- but still there was a nagging part of her that realised that if she were to live forever, she would never be able to see her father again, or her mother for that matter either.

'Why are things always so complicated?' Elizabeth thought as she followed her son. 'Why, can they never be simple…?'

---

When Elizabeth and Liam came on deck they saw that the sky was a brilliant midnight blue and that there were millions of stars lighting up the sky and that there was a crescent moon hanging low on the horizon. In the distance, there seemed to be a shadow of land, but as Elizabeth gazed upon it, it seemed to shift in and out of focus.

"Elizabeth, Liam…" Will began coming to stand beside his wife and son. Elizabeth smiled at her husband before turning her gaze back to the mysterious land, and this prompted Will to answer. "…that is Tír na nÓg. It can only be accessed at sunrise."

"Papa…" Liam asked, trying to stifle a yawn. "…how did you know where to find it?"

"Well," Will began with a laugh picking up his son. "-as captain of the Flying Dutchman I learned a lot of things." Will paused and looked at Elizabeth who looked thrilled that her son and husband were getting along so well. "And I learned a lot from Captain Jack Sparrow as well…"

"…Jack Sparrow!" Liam exclaimed with excitement, despite the fact that his eye-lids were drooping. "You got him to help find mama when she was kidnapped by Captain Barbossa."

"That's right…" Will confirmed with a small nod as he took Liam to his quarters, prepared to set him up on the small cot that he had dragged from another room. "…and in the morning I'm sure that Jack will be thrilled to tell you all about it."

---

When Will returned moments later he found the ship deck was empty of his crew, save for his father at the wheel and Elizabeth on deck, still staring at the near translucent shores of Tír na nÓg. He approached his wife and placed a comforting hand on her shoulders, before whispering to her.

"Do not worry." Will promised, rubbing Elizabeth's shoulders. "We will find Jack and convince him to leave the 'land of youth' and take his place as the immortal Captain of the Flying Dutchman just as he had planned."

"And what of us...?" Elizabeth asked the uncertainty of never seeing her father again gnawing at her as it had for the past ten years, just as much as the pain of not having Will at her side did.

"…we will find the Fountain of Youth," Will assured lovingly. "And together you and I and young Liam will sail the seas forever…"

"Forever is a long time Will," Elizabeth stated quietly, her voice almost too quiet to be heard. "-and what of Liam? What kind of life would he have?"

"The kind of life that we would have..." Will stated turning Elizabeth to face him. "Is that not what you would have wanted?"

"If I could have the past ten years back and sail the world with you then yes," Elizabeth declared quietly. "-it would be what I wanted but now…"

"…what are you saying?" Asked Will, frightened that Elizabeth was changing her mind and regretting everything.

"All I'm saying is that why should I become immortal and live forever when we know that our souls live on forever …" Elizabeth explained, knowing that holding in her burden was what had caused them to lose so much time together ten years ago. "…we would spend forever together anyways Will. We would be able to grow old together, and watch Liam grow and marry and… " She shook her head, "…and when the time came for us to leave this world we would still be together, and I would be able to see my father again, and my mother…"

"…you miss them." Will stated, embracing Elizabeth allowing her to shed her needed tears into his shoulder. "You want to see them again."

"Yes." Elizabeth sobbed, nodding in agreement with Will's statement. "My mother was pulled from me far too soon, and father..." she shuddered at the memory. "...he was pulled from me too soon as well. He never got to see his grandson and..." she choked up and shook her head. "I don't expect you to understand Will, your father's immortal like you are but-"

"But nothing my love," Will began with a small smile. "-we will help Jack find the fountain of youth and not do anything about it ourselves."

"But what of your mortality?" Elizabeth asked, looking her husband in the eye.

"I'm sure that I can strike a deal with Calypso…" Will suggested with a knowing smile before deciding to change the topic. "…but tell me, what did you do after our one day on the beach?"

Elizabeth's face broke into a grin remembering that blissful day. And as she and Will stood aboard the deck of the Flying Dutchman she told him of how in the twilight she had sailed back to the Black Pearl and had had Barbossa and Jack (who were still arguing about who was captain) take her back to Port Royal where she assumed her duties as the Governess of the town in her father's absence.

Elizabeth related the tales of her struggle in her fathers post as she tried to repair some of the damage that Beckett and the East India Trading Company had wrought. But in many cases it was too late although she was able to reinstate many of the rules and laws for proper procedure again.

Elizabeth also told Will of how her stomach had begun to swell and how she had begun to feel nauseated all the time and how she had realised that she was pregnant. Elizabeth told him how she had decided that when her son was born she would take him to the island that held Shipwreck cove and how she figured that she would live among the pirates that were living there.

"I was after all still a pirate lord and king at the time…" Elizabeth stated with a smile, the moon now over head as she continued to tell her story. She told Will of how Liam had been born in Port Royal and how immediately afterwards the King had sent a new Govenor to replace her and how it was at that time her old crew of the Empress had landed off shore and offered her her place as captain once again.

Elizabeth told Will of her fears of brining a young baby boy on a pirate ship but the members of her crew assured her that he would be fine. And Liam was, for that first year they went pirating, most merchant ships surrendering before a single shot was delivered either way. Elizabeth's crew was most displeased but realised that they had a very famous Captain, who was a pirate lord and the Pirate King to boot- not to mention that she had reformed many things in the 'legitimate' world and that many of those things had stuck.

Elizabeth went on to let Will know how through their profits, she had been able to build her own little cottage on the island and that it was there that she had taken Liam when he had become sick after visiting a particularly exotic place. The Empress docked with Elizabeth every winter and slowly over the next eight years more pirate ships took refuge on the far side of the island as Tortuga became more and more crowded with the pirates of the world fleeing there.

Slowly, as the sun came up, Elizabeth finished her story with how she brought Liam up. Explaining how his father had saved her from a cursed pirate crew with the help of a pirate captain, and how the East India Trading Company had ruined their first wedding and how his father had gone away to save their lives and how it had all climaxed on the seas outside ship-wreck cove when they had been finally married by Barbossa, the same captain that had kidnapped Elizabeth in the first place and how Davy Jones had tried to kill Will and that was the reason that he couldn't be with them for a long time.

"Did Liam understand?" Will asked, the sun coming up and Tír na nÓg becoming visible in the distance. "Did he hate me?"

"He never hated you Will-" Elizabeth reassured, realising for the first time that while she had aged in the past ten years, Will had not and a part of her mind reconsidered the prospect of immortality…

"But I was never around."

"I made sure that he knew how much you loved me." Elizabeth assured with a loving smile. "I made sure that everyday he understood that you were alive," Elizabeth paused and pulled a familiar key from around her neck and showed it to her husband. "I made sure that he heard your heart beating and that he understood that it was beating for me and for him…."

"Oh 'Lizabeth…" Will sighed, wrapping his wife up in a huge hug, a smile breaking over both their faces. And after another kiss Elizabeth pulled back and looked into the distance, the land of Tír na nÓg glowing brightly in the rising sun.

"What do you say that we find our dear friend and make him a deal?" Elizabeth asked with a smile which Will returned gladly with an added nod and he signalled his father to steer the Flying Dutchman closer to Tír na nÓg and to wake the crew.

They were approaching a paradise….