Disclaimer: This story is not owned by me in any way, shape or form
Thank you for your reviews for the previous chapter. Well, here's the final chapter of this tale. I hope you enjoy it.
The group trekked back to the Pearl after saying their good-byes and thank you to Tia.
"How long is it going to take for us to get back?" Will asked Jack once they were at the longboat.
"A few days, give or take the winds."
"I can't wait till we're home. I've got a wedding to start planning again," Elizabeth said.
"I thought I was doing fine on my own," Will said with a pout.
"Only I can pout like that," Elizabeth said with a smirk, "nice try though."
"Damn," Will muttered.
Once at the Pearl, Jack boarded the ship first followed by the other two. Philip helped Elizabeth leaving Will to help himself. "And to think, if I was still in that body then I'd be the one getting help."
Everyone in the vicinity turned to stare at him.
"What?" Will said, "There were a few perks to being a girl. I'm man enough to admit to that."
Silence.
Will coughed and continued on his way.
Later that night, Elizabeth stood on the deck and stared up at the stars. They twinkled brightly above her head, making her feel small and insignificant.
"I miss being taller," she muttered to herself.
"You do Love?" a voice behind her asked.
Elizabeth turned to see Philip standing right behind her with a smirk on his face. "A little. I was just starting to get used to it."
Philip stood by her side and the two of them just stared out at the sea. "So this Will...and I don't mean you of course. He seems like an all right man. Spent half the night near him, as you, in a ship's brig. Even though I thought he was really a girl at the time."
"Did he mention me?" Elizabeth asked.
"Well...no," Philip said scratching the back of his head. Elizabeth frowned and looked ready to yell. "Not that it wasn't an option. It was, but we had other things to worry about at the time such as escaping. He told me all about you as in you the real Elizabeth Swann. His voice filled with pride whenever he talked about himself; meaning you."
Now Elizabeth looked confused.
"Will respects you; that's all I'm trying to say."
"All right then." Elizabeth then yawned and rubbed her eyes. "I suppose I should be getting to sleep. How far are we from Port Royal?"
"A day or two at most."
"All right then. Good night Philip."
"Miss Elizabeth," Philip said with a bow.
Elizabeth rolled her eyes and walked into the cabin that Jack was allowing her to have for just this voyage.
The next day, Will was helping the rest of the crew on deck. Though he wouldn't say it aloud, he felt a need to test his worth after his comment the day before. Last night, he heard them in the galley mocking him saying he'd gone soft and Elizabeth smiled at him and held his hand.
At that moment, Elizabeth suddenly appeared on the deck and made her way over to Will and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"Did you have a good sleep?" Will asked.
"Not bad," she said stretching her back, "but I can't wait to be back in my own bed. How much longer till we're home?"
"I think Jack said that in twenty four hours we'll be home once again to plan our wedding and so forth," Will told her with a smile.
"Mmm, my own bed. And not yours," Elizabeth said, poking him on the shoulder.
"What's wrong with my bed?" Will asked indignant.
"It's too...too...hard. It's like sleeping on the deck."
"Oh yeah," Will said. "Well, yours is too lumpy. Lumpy, lumpy lumpy."
"Hard."
"Lumpy."
"Hard."
"Lump-"
"Will you two just pipe it down already?" Jack came out of his cabin looking very angry.
Will and Elizabeth turned from their shouting match to look at him.
"If you two don't quit talking about beds at the tops of your voices, I'm going to be stopping on the next spit of land and leaving William there."
"Why me?" Will asked indignant.
"You don't expect me to leave Miss. Swann on an island again do you? Besides, you never had the opportunity to experience it and all that."
Will frowned and Jack smirked, knowing that he'd won the fight for now. The crew went back to doing their jobs and Elizabeth stayed by Will's side for the rest of the afternoon.
Day slowly turned into night and at half past one in the morning they arrived at Port Royal.
"Philip is going to be taking the two of you to shore," Jack said after putting his spyglass away.
"Thank you Jack," Elizabeth said giving him a hug. Will then just nodded to him and shook his hand. Will then helped Elizabeth into the longboat and helped Philip lower it into the water.
The ride back to shore was oddly silent. Elizabeth excitedly watched as the shore came closer and closer. It was still so close and yet so far away.
"How much longer?" she asked.
"Twenty minutes," Philip said, making a face at Will who just shrugged back.
They got there within ten and were surprisingly met by someone standing on the dock.
"James?"
James Norrington, wearing his civilian clothes for a change (and no wig) helped Elizabeth onto the dock.
"Elizabeth, it is you...?" he asked with a frown.
"Yes James; we're nice and back to normal once again," Elizabeth said with a wide grin.
Will climbed up to the dock next and placed a hand on Elizabeth's shoulder.
"Nice to have you back Turner," Norrington said extending a hand. Will shook it and sighed.
"Well you lot, it was nice meeting you. Take care. Have a good wedding," Philip said. He turned around and began to row back to the Pearl.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth, Will and James all began the long walk to the Governor's mansion.
"You don't need to take us the entire way James. I think we can make it on our own," Will said before sighing.
"Just want to make sure everything is safe and sound. Is it?" James gave them a searching look and Will just shrugged.
"We're back to normal. You haven't told anyone about this have you...?"
"Of course not. Doubt that anyone would actually believe it anyway."
"Good. Thank you James," Elizabeth said.
They finally arrived at the gates.
"Well, I suppose I should return to my household then for the night. Good evening to the both of you," James said, bowing his head ever so slightly in respect and walking back the other way.
The two waved until he was gone. Will and Elizabeth then both turned to each other and kissed.
"I'll be by tomorrow to help with more of the planning," Will said.
"Are you sure?" Elizabeth asked. "I thought you'd be busy in the smith all day?"
"I can make an exception for you."
The two of them smiled. Will wrapped his arms around Elizabeth as the moon shown down upon them.
"Good night then Elizabeth. Sleep well in your lumpy bed," he said with a laugh.
".wood. But good night Will. Until tomorrow then."
Will smiled as she walked inside. "Tomorrow," he whispered before walking away and returning once again to his normal life.
Once again I want to thank everyone for reading this story. I'm glad you've stuck around and I hope you come back for my next story (if you've been by my profile, then you'll see what is coming next) Thanks for reading. See you all soon.
