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-Han

"Jack, Elizabeth is in danger," Will said, moving in front of him. His youthful eyes were drawn in worry and his voice sounded throaty and deeper than Anna recalled.

"Have you ever considered keeping a more watchful eye on her? Maybe just lock her up somewhere?" Jack asked, walking past him and towards the helm. Anna and Will followed quickly, her boots clicking slightly on the black deck. Absently, she looked over it, taking in the beautiful ship and rushing to stay near Jack all at once. He moved across it with a type of ancient familiarity that seemed to seep into the very fabric of his being until he was a part of the ship.

"She is locked up, in a prison. Bound to hang for helping you," Will said, fury in his eyes.

"There comes a time when one must take responsibility for one's mistakes," Jack said with an almost shaky grin. Anna looked at him piercingly, stopping in her tracks so abruptly that her balance was almost lost. Mistake? Helping him was a mistake?

Will turned sharply and yanked a sword from a passing crewmember. He pointed it quickly at Jack's throat. "I need that compass of yours, Jack. I must trade it for her freedom."

Anna looked carefully around herself until she found a sword and snatched it up quickly, feeling the familiar weight and knowing she would have something to protect herself, should she need it.

"Mr. Gibbs?" Jack asked, looking completely unconcerned with the sword at his neck.

"Captain?"
"We have a need to travel upriver," Jack said with a glint in his eyes.
"You mean a need as in a trifling need, fleeting, as in, say, a passing fancy?" He asked hopefully.
"No, a resolute and unyielding need," Jack replied, nodding his head a couple of times.
"What we need to do is to make sail for Port Royal with all haste," Will said dramatically.
"William, I shall trade you the compass, if you will help me to find this,' he said, producing an old piece of cloth. He laid it out and showed the both of them the drawing of an intricate looking key. Anna eyed it curiously and wondered if it had anything to do with him being afraid of open water. "And Annie…why are you here anyway?" he asked, his head tilting slightly.

A thousand answers cluttered her mind at once, but she couldn't possibly tell him all of them. So she smiled, and brought a hand through her hair gently.

"Same as last time," she said shrugging. He gave a small grin, one that dropped abruptly when he caught sight of her left hand. He looked like he was going to comment on it, but was cut off.

"You want me to find this?" Will asked, looking at the key.

"No," Jack replied promptly. "You want you to find this. Because the finding of this finds you incapacitorially finding and or locating in your discovering the detecting of a way to free your dolly belle ol' what's her face, savvy?" He said all of this extremely quickly and Anna couldn't help the small giggle that broke free.

"This is going to save Elizabeth?" Will asked doubtfully. Anna sobered and glanced at Jack.

"How much do you know about Davy Jones?" he asked cryptically. Anna knew quite a bit about him. She was a story person, after all. But she didn't say anything, since Will's answer seemed to make him rather happy.

"Not much," he said truthfully.

"Yeah, it's gonna save Elizabeth."

Xx

Anna gazed over the railing of the Pearl and marveled at the changes. In less than a year, it had been restored to absolute glory. The sails were still black, but also full and whole. The deck and woodwork gleamed and she imagined the sweat and blood that went into the changes. Her eyes found the horizon again and she smiled wistfully.

Her gaze was drawn to the ring on her finger and she glared at it hatefully. She belonged here, on the sea, not with Beckett. With Jack.

No. That thought couldn't possible be right. She didn't like Jack that way. She couldn't. He'd barely spoken to her at all since showing Will and her the key; simply walked to the helm and stood, looking out over open water and close land. Every time she approached him, his piercing eyes would stay trained on the horizon and she would walk away slowly, as if she expected for him to call her back. She couldn't understand his sudden dislike of her, and wondered if it would have been better for her to have stayed behind.

She sighed loudly to herself and closed her eyes. The wind blew her hair back and brushed against her face. She hummed a tune to herself and fingered the rail.

"Congratulations," Jack's voice spoke from behind her. She didn't turn to look at him; his voice was too cold and harsh.

"Whatever for?" she asked, returning the cool edge, wishing she could force her words to contract, but knowing that the lessons were too instilled in her to be easily forgotten.

"Your engagement," he answered. She finally opened her eyes and turned to him. He was shocked to see the unspoken hurt in her eyes.

"How could I forget?" she asked, her voice matching his coldness. Her mouth opened, as if to tell him something of the utmost importance, but he cut her off.

"You're not the same," he said quietly. If she could have seen his eyes, she would have fallen into the depths of their sadness. But the almost black eyes were fixed on the horizon and his hands gripped the railing.

Anna practically flinched. She knew she'd changed. She'd had to. She became the princess she was meant to be and learned to shut everyone out. She survived through lessons, learning them or being deprived of food or water for a few days. Acting out was intolerable and something inside her eventually died. She had no will to fight back. The spirit in her heart had left with Jack. Or maybe, it was her heart that had left. Her eyes filled with salty tears and she tried to blink them back.

"I-I never meant to change," she whispered, so low she couldn't be sure if he'd heard her or not. He stared blankly ahead of him, not acknowledging her. She finally turned and ran away from him, taking shelter below decks. If she'd stayed, maybe she would have heard him whisper to the wind.

"Me neither."