Jack had disappeared into his cabin to study the chart and find a way out of the Locker. Elizabeth had remained on deck to help the crew but there was really nothing to do. Barbossa was still glowering over the new colors that now blew gently in the breeze above him. Elizabeth caught him glaring at them as though he could make it burst into flames. Most of the crew was lazing about on deck but Elizabeth had taken her place in the crow's nest. The Pearl was completely surrounded by the ocean of the Locker. The only land they had scene was where they had found Jack. Now there was nothing. Not a bird, cloud or sight of land. It was very beautiful, hypnotizing. She could see why Jack would come up here sometimes, it was the perfect place to think. Elizabeth sat down carefully on the floor of the crow's nest, stretching her legs out in front of her and crossing her ankles. She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned her head back. She starting thinking back to what had happened recently. She had been so angry at Jack for selling out Will and for lying to her about it, and keeping her unformed. She should have been upset with all his shameless flirtations but she had enjoyed the banter. All the anger she had ever felt towards Jack, or about something he done vanished completely when he was taken by the Kraken. Now her engagement to Will was broken off and she had declared herself to Jack and had her declaration reciprocated. Things were looking up, except for the being trapped in the Locker, Beckett taking over with The Heart of Davy Jones' in his procession, and the meeting of the Brethren court as soon as they could find their way out of this place. Elizabeth sighed and closed her eyes. She heard someone climbing up the rope and before long Jack's head popped up next to her.
"Not thinking too hard I hope Lizzie love." Jack said climbing up and crowding in next to her.
Jack sat the same as Elizabeth only she leaned to one side to rest her cheek against his shoulder. Jack smiled down at her and lightly kissed the top of her golden head.
"Have you had any luck with charts Jack?" Elizabeth asked cuddling into Jack's side.
He wrapped an arm around her. "Not as yet love."
"I'm sure it will come to you." Elizabeth said sitting up to look him in the face. "After all, you're Captain Jack Sparrow."
Jack flashed her a gold toothed grin and pulled her into his lap and she tucked her head under his chin. She wrapped her arms around his middle and squeezed gently.
"I wanted to stay you know," Elizabeth whispered staring out to sea. "I didn't want you to have to face that thing alone."
Jack hugged her tighter. "I know Lizzie. I know."
"I'm glad we got you back. The world was not the same without Jack Sparrow."
They sat together like that for hours. There were too many things that needed to be talked about but none of them mattered until they
were free of the Locker. As the sun began to set, they descended from the crow's nest and joined the crew, hand in hand, for dinner.
The dark night of the Locker was unnerving. The very idea of sleep was near terrifying. Elizabeth found herself pacing the entire ship in
agitation. She felt trapped and feverish at time, even with the ship surrounded by water, the dark made it feel as though walls were
closing in around them. She wanted to run and hide with Jack in his cabin, but letting him try and find a way out of here seemed the
better idea. She worked her was slowly back up from the hold of the ship. She passed Jack's closed cabin door. She ran her hand
across the cool wood lovingly before making her way to the deck. She saw Tai Dalma chastising Pintel and Reggitti, each of whom were
holding a cannon ball. The rest of the crew were looking out over the sides of the ship. Elizabeth walked slowly over to the side and
glanced towards the prow of the ship. She saw boats coming towards them. Thousands of long boats with one or two people each
holding a lantern. It was very curious. She leaned a bit further out to get a look at the faces of the people in the passing boats. One
boat in particular caught her gaze.
"Father?" Elizabeth cried surprised.
"Elizabeth?"
"It's my father! We're back!" Elizabeth stated overjoyed.
They had escaped the Locker and her father was here to greet them.
"We're not back." Jack said to her from away's down the deck.
"Of course we are! Throw him a rope!" Elizabeth shouted to Gibbs.
The older man looked at her with a mix of pity and sadness. Elizabeth ignored this and went to grab a rope to throw.
"Father grab the rope!" Elizabeth shouted tossing the rope down.
"Elizabeth are you dead too?" Her father asked looking up at her. The lantern light was tossing eerie shadows across his face.
"No," Elizabeth said her voice catching. A feeling of horror was creeping up her spine.
"I think I might be," Her father spoke slowly looking away from her. His boat gently bobbing further away from the Pearl.
"No! Father!" Elizabeth shouted and moved to climb down the ship to get to her Father's boat.
"Don't let her leave the ship!" Tai Dalma cried.
Elizabeth was roughly pulled back and found herself encased in familiar rum scented arms. Her sobs were inconsolable. She could stop
herself, the tears hadn't started yet but her chest was heaving. She couldn't get a breath. The horrorable truth crashing on her like
waves. Her father was dead and the only cause would have been murder. Cutler Beckett had murdered her father, she was sure. She
was gasping from breath, her hands trembling as she held Jack's shirt in a death grip. He was guiding her slowly down the stairs
towards his cabin. His voice was soothing but it barely penetrated her grief stricken mind. He kicked the door shut behind them. He swung Elizabeth's knees out from under her to carry her bridal style towards the bed. Jack laid her down gently in the bed. Elizabeth curled herself into a tiny ball. Jack kicked off his boots and came to sit on the other side of the bed. He laid down next to her and pulled her still balled up body into his chest his arms coming around her and his legs coming up behind her's to encase her completely.
"Lizzie," Jack said gently his breath warm across her ear.
She felt him squeeze her gently. Now when Elizabeth felt completely safe and comforted did she let the tears come. Jack held her as
she cried. He didn't say a word and Elizabeth was glad. Foolish words of comfort was not what she needed. She cried until she was too
exhausted to cry anymore. Elizabeth fell asleep. She woke hours later. Jack was still holding her. She had stretched out of the tightly
curled ball but Jack remained with his arms tightly around her chest and his knees spooned up behind her. Elizabeth opened her eyes
to the gray of dawn. As she had been mourning the loss of her father an even stronger and more piratey emotion had begun bubbling
beneath the surface. A desire for revenge and retribution. Beckett would pay for murdering her father, for threatening the lives of so
many of her fellow pirate brethren. Davy Jones would pay for all the suffering Will had gone through, for all the suffering he
had put Bootstrap Bill Turner through. Jones would pay very dearly for sending Jack to the Locker. Elizabeth clenched her fists, she was
feeling better. She knew that the life she had chosen would distance her and father sooner rather than later. She never could have set foot safely
in Port Royal again. She would avenge her father and fight to keep all that she had now. She looked down at Jack's darkly tanned,
bejeweled fingers holding her. She smiled to herself and reached a hand up to wipe the dried tears from her face. She felt Jack stir
behind her. Elizabeth rolled to her back to look up at Jack. His dark chocolate, kohl lined eyes were filled with sympathy and love.
Elizabeth reached up to run her hand down the side of his cheek. Jack closed his eyes and turned his lips toward her hand to kiss her
knuckles as the passed.
"Are you alright love?" he asked gently, the trinkets in his hair tinkling together as Jack turned his head owl-like to one side.
Elizabeth had always wanted to ask him for the stories about each one. They had never really had the time to get into such tales.
"I'll be fine Jack. Once we get out of the bloody Locker."
Jack smiled at her use of profanity. "I know you'll be darlin"
His eyes seemed to get warmer the longer he looked at her.
Elizabeth reached up and tugged gently on a dread lock. Jack leaned in closer.
"Thank you for staying with me last night."
She tugged again and Jack obligiled her with a kiss.
"I love you my Lizzie," Jack whispered while lazily running kisses down Elizabeth's neck.
They stayed cuddled together until the sun was fully up and the bustle of the crew and smell of coffee rising from the galley had them rolling out of bed and starting the day. The crew was lounging around again. The Locker was full of these lovely moment of complete doldrums. The wind would be going strong and the Pearl would be moving across the waves quickly and with purpose, and then...nothing. They'd hit a patch of nothingness. No wind, no clouds, no birds or land, just hot awful nothingness. Elizabeth had sat down on the stairs to watch Jack study the charts again. Pintel's wooden eye rolling back and forth across the chart as Jack spun it.
"Sunrise sets a flash of green...Over the edge and over again. Ups is down. Well that's maddeningly unhelpful." Jack mumbled.
Elizabeth had placed her elbows on the stair above her and leaned back, her hair fanning out on the stair behind her.
"Why doesn't he do something!" Will said loudly.
Elizabeth opened one eye to look at him. Will was pointing toward Barbossa, who was standing by the wheel. Elizabeth shook her head and closed her eye again. Barbossa had done his job getting them to the Locker and if any one could figure out the chart it would be the one, and the only: Captain Jack Sparrow.
"Why are these things never clear?"
Elizabeth focused back on Jack's voice.
"Stab the heart."
Jack's voice said seeming to be slight further away then before. Elizabeth opened her eyes again to look at him. Jack seemed to be talking to himself.
"Don't stab the heart. Come again?" Jack asked facing forward but his eyes slanted to the right. "The Dutchman must have a captain...well that's even more than less than unhelpful." Jack leaned back over the charts. "Sail the seas for eternity." He said looking left. "I love the sea..." Jack said smiling and looking out towards the prow of the ship. "What about port?" From the right."I prefer rum... Rum's good." Jack nodded to himself with a smile.
Elizabeth felt her lips lift into a smile of her own remembering their adventure on the Rum Runner's island. This conversation Jack was having with himself was slightly disconcerting, not entirely un-Jack like, but more odd.
"Making port, where we can get rum and sultry wenches... once every ten years." he spoke leaning to the right."What'd he say?" leaning left. Once every ten years." was the answer Jack gave his left side."Ten years is a long time, mate." from the right. "Even longer, given the deficit of rum." Jack said definitively.
Elizabeth shook her head. Ah, the deficit of rum, every pirates nightmare.
"...But eternity is longer still." Came from the left."And how'll you be spending it? Dead?" leaning to the right."...Or not...The Immortal Captain Jack Sparrow." from the left. "Ooh, I like that!" Jack spoke proudly. "Come sunset and it won't matter." Jack suddenly looked up. "...Not sunset...Sundown! And Rise...Up!"
Jack was on his feet running to the side of the ship. Elizabeth was watching him carefully. This was very odd indeed, even by Jack standards.
"What's that!" he shouted pointing.
Gibbs and Will came over to look.
Jack dashed to the other side. "What's that over there?"
He dashed the other side. More and more of the crew following him. Elizabeth got to her feet. She saw Pintel's eye rolling back and
forth on the chart. Barbossa grabbed it, stuck it in his mouth, grabbed Pintel and shoved the spit moistened wooden eye into Pintel's
socket. Barbossa then leaned over the charts. He looked back up and grinned his rotten tooth smile.
"He's trying to flip us over!" Barbossa shouted laughing.
Elizabeth joined in with the rest of the crew trying to flip the ship. She took her position next to Jack who flashed her a wink and a gold
toothed grin. The boat was rocking back a forth at a good keel. Pintel and Regetti were lashing themselves upside down to the mast.
"Release the cannons!" Barbossa shouted.
"Release the cannons!" Will yelled down to the hold.
There was the sounds of ropes being cut followed by the bashing of cannons, cannon balls, and various crew members yells coming
from below with each rock of the boat. Now each time the ran to a side they had to grab the rail and wait for the boat to go back down
before running to the other side. The sun was sinking quickly towards the sea.
"Hold on!" Will shouted.
Elizabeth grabbed the rail, Jack next to her. Everyone else grabbed hold. As the boat was nearing hitting the water, Will's grip gave out.
"Will!" Elizabeth shouted reaching back as though she could grab him.
Will caught hold of a rope just as the Pearl flipped over. The water was refreshingly cool after being trapped on the hot deck for so
long. They were all waiting holding their breath, literally waiting for the green flash to take them back. Elizabeth looked over at Jack, his
dread locks floating in the waves like dark brown tentacles. She smiled, glad that even if they drowned now at least she could look at
him. There was a bright green flash from above them and a loud boom that echoed through the water. Elizabeth was suddenly dizzy as the
boat was flipped still under water. The water suddenly whooshed out from around them. They were all left breathless and soaking on
the deck like flopping fish. Pintel and Regetti remained upside down still tied to the mast.
