"So…Will is…is…d-d-dead?" asked Elizabeth in a flat voice. Tatiana shook her head. When Tatiana had shown Elizabeth the dead heart of her hus- late husband Elizabeth had shrieked and wailed, waking the entire crew. She had even tried to jump off the ship and would've succeeded if Jack hadn't been there to stop her. "Let me go!" she had cried beating against the pirate, "Let me go! I want to die! Please Jack you can't save him now just let me join him please!" "Think of young William!" Jack had yelled turning Elizabeth to face him, "Think of your son!"

Now ten minutes later sitting in Tatiana's cabin Elizabeth looked like…well frankly like death warmed over. Her hair was a mess; her eyes were red with tears yet blank, her skin clammy. "No Will is worse then dead," said Tatiana sadly, "He's…gone…just gone…" "And what does that mean?" asked Bootstrap in a tight voice, when he had come to Tatiana asking what was wrong with Elizabeth he had nearly strangled the young captain when she told him. Tatiana sighed and said, "…When a person dies their soul moves on to the next life…when a person is…gone their soul is…is just that…gone. That person has been erased from…eternity…forever. They become a part of the River Styx….they have no body, no soul…they're just…nothing…you never see them again…only Charon has that sort of power…that's why he was replaced by Davy Jones. He was making so many people a part of the River that it spilled over to the ocean…that's why there's a World's End. The ocean between the land of the living and the land of the dead is the River Styx…expanded by millions of lost souls…"

Elizabeth unfolded the note that Will had left her and began reading it aloud; it was comforting to have other people to hear his last words with her.

My Dearest Elizabeth,

I write this now because I feel my time with you is shortening. If need be this is my goodbye letter to you, find solace in its words. First and foremost I want you to know that I will always love you. You have always held my heart and I will never regret that. You were my one bright spot during my time on the Dutchman and you have brought such joy…and pain in my life. I wouldn't change it for anything…William is lucky to have you as a mother. This brings me to my next…whatever you would like to call it. I absolve you from all guilt you might have felt or are feeling now. I free you from any sin you think you've committed. William is a wonderful boy and even though I cannot claim as my own I take great pride in the young man he has under your guidance. I know that Tatiana and even Alex will take good care of him as well. This brings me to my sorest point…Jack Sparrow. You waited for me for ten years…you stayed on that island for ten years…thus rendering me to be able to come and go on the Dutchman as I please I thank you. This wouldn't have been possible without Jack and I know you are just as grateful as I am that he helped me stab the heart. I also know that you have long nursed a…a soft spot for him. I cannot be angry at you for this, you chose me to be your husband…you waited ten years for me. For that I love you more then words can describe. Elizabeth…always know that I love you…no matter what. Eternally Yours.

Your Husband,

Will

Elizabeth stared at the letter for a moment the asked in a shaky voice, "W-What does he mean by "William is a wonderful boy and even though I cannot claim as my own"?" Alex and Tatiana exchanged tense glances before Tatiana said softly, "When I was examining William I found he had a very…distinct birthmark on his right hip." She glanced at Jack, who had turned very pale, for the briefest of moments. "So?" asked Elizabeth slowly, "He's always had that birthmark." Tatiana smiled sadly and said, "Yes well see…the thing is…so do Alex and I…and Jack and Teague…all in the exact same spot and the exact same shape as a sparrow. That birthmark is a Sparrow family trait and as far as I know…Will is- wasn't related to us." "So?" asked William not understanding why everyone was suddenly looking ten times more grim and shooting Elizabeth and Jack odd looks.

Tatiana squatted down to the young boy's level and said in a gentle voice, "William…sweetie…Will wasn't…wasn't your father. J-Jack is." William stared at her for a few moments before stammering, "W-what?" Tatiana stood, walked over to where Jack was sitting and said, "I think what happened was shortly after Will left Jack stopped in for a visit and they both…they both…well to put it frankly got drunk beyond belief and…nine months later…William…William Sparrow was born." "B-but I don't remember that…any of that!" cried Elizabeth, her face suddenly as white as Jack's. Turning to him she asked, "Do you?"

Jack bit his lip and looked up at her slowly. He nodded his head and said, "When I saw William I thought you must've already been pregnant when we…you know…" "And Will knew," said Elizabeth weakly sinking to her knees, "He knew that William wasn't his…that I had…that we had…and yet he still forgave us and loved William as his own. But why don't I remember?" "Someone…something made you forget," said Tatiana, "I don't know why though." There was silence for a few long moments as everyone digested this new information.

Suddenly out of the blue Bootstrap let out a heartbroken roar and lunged at Jack. "Bill no!" cried Tatiana stepping between the two men, pushing at his chest as Alex grabbed his waist. "Th-that foul, murderous, thieving, conniving…pirate is the reason why my son is dead!" cried Bootstrap tears pouring down his old, tired face. "No he's not!" yelled Tatiana, "I am!" The cabin went deadly quiet but Tatiana took no heed, "I'm the reason Will is dead! Killing Jack won't bring your son back! If he can forgive Jack then so should you! Think about what Will would want you to do!"

Bill suddenly collapsed on the floor weeping as though there was no tomorrow, and sadly for this pirate at least there probably wasn't. William suddenly couldn't take anymore and ran out of the cabin into the pouring rain. "William!" cried Tatiana running after him before anyone else could move. She caught up to him and grabbed round the waist, pulling the young boy into a tight hug. "Let me go!" he cried pounding Tatiana's back, tears spilling down his face, "Let me go! Let me go! Let me-." Suddenly William burst into heart wrenching sobs and Tatiana held him tighter. And thanks to the rain no one ever knew that along with William Tatiana too had tears running down her face for the first time in a long time.

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"How is he?" asked Alex softly. After standing out in the rain for what seemed like forever Tatiana had picked up her little half brother and laid him down and told him to rest. Barbossa and the crew had gone back to their duties, Bootstrap had shut himself in the galley not speaking to or seeing anyone, and Jack and Elizabeth had gone somewhere private to talk. Tatiana looked down at their sleeping brother and said, "He's going to dream that this was all a nightmare…poor kid. He'll hate waking up." "How do you think he'll take…this?" asked Alex nervously. "Oh," was all Tatiana said sighing again, "…well…I don't know. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. He might accept it smoothly as long as Jack doesn't do anything…stupid."

Elizabeth ran her hand through her hair and turned to Jack and practically spat, "How can you be…be…so calm at a time like this?! My husband is dead, I just found out that his son isn't his son and that said husband knew it and he knew that I cheated on him with you!" Jack took a swig of his rum and said in a calm voice, "Lizzie luv I-." "Don't "Lizzie luv" me Jack Sparrow!" cried out Elizabeth angrily, "You knew that we…that I… and you never said a word! You knew we betrayed Will and you just kept your mouth shut! How-why-what-….erggggg!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Then without warning she smacked the pirate hard in the face. SMACK! Jack's head went into whiplash at the force of the hit. Clutching his jaw he mumbled, "Not sure I deserved that." "Of course you deserved!" cried Elizabeth indignantly, "Not only did you take advantage of me when I was drunk-." "Now wait a minute luv," interjected Jack angrily, "You were the one who suggested we go…upstairs and you were the one who was beggin me to take ye!" "I most certainly did not!" shouted Elizabeth indignantly. "Oh yes you did luv," said Jack smirking arrogantly, "you were pleading for me to have ye saying that I was the best ye'd ever had…can't argue with that so don't you try to pin this whole thing on me!"

Elizabeth opened and closed her mouth a few times before suddenly throwing herself on Jack and bursting into tears. "Oh Jack listen to us! Poor William! Just imagine what he's going through and here we are bickering about something that can't be changed! Oh I'm such a horrible person and mother!" Elizabeth burst into tears and cried into Jack's chest. Jack rubbed her back and said, "Shhhh. Quite talking rubbish luv. Yer a wonderful mum and a great person. William's lucky to have ye as a mum. And as far as siblings go Tansy and Alex'll take care of him…the only person he didn't do to well on was the father. Cause incase you haven't noticed I'm not exactly the best dad around…but at least he had Will."

"Oh listen to you!" said Elizabeth looking up at Jack, "You're a fine father Jack! Tatiana and Alex are wonderful people and they take after all your best qualities. William will be fine with you as his father…it might take a while to get use to but it'll ok." They looked at each other for a moment…silence filling the room, saying what couldn't be put in words. 'Oh bugger,' thought Jack. Soon her lips were on his. They melded together perfectly. Jack tasted Like rum and the sea while Elizabeth tasted of salt and lavender. It seemed to go on forever but it was all to soon when they heard someone say, "Oh!...Err…Am I…interrupting something?"

They both turned to see Tatiana standing in the door frame looking a cross between intensely amused and extremely awkward. "Come with me," she said. They stopped short of the galley. Turning to them she said in a low voice, "Look…there's a grieving father and an unsure…son in there so please don't…don't act like I just saw you two acting…there are sharp, easily throwable objects in there after all." Tatiana walked in and Elizabeth made to follow but Jack stopped her for a moment to whisper in her ear, 'I was wrong darling…once was nearly enough."

They entered to see a somber looking Bootstrap, a confused looking William, and an uneasy looking Alex all sitting around a wooden table. "We're here to discuss William's future," said Tatiana taking a seat next to Alex. "What about my future?" asked William suddenly looking at his half sister. "Yes what about William's future?" asked Elizabeth putting an arm around her son. William shrugged his mother off and Elizabeth hid her hurt. "He has three options," said Tatiana, "One: He can keep the name Turner and inherit all that comes with that name…including the Flying Dutchman. Two: He can take the name Sparrow and all that comes with it. The fortune, the fame, the piracy,…the constant death threats." At this Alex snorted and Jack glared pointedly at Tatiana who shrugged as if to say 'What? I'm not gonna lie to him. That's your job.' "Or the third option," continued Tatiana, "is that you take the name of Swann. You can live in England with all the prestige of a noble son, never have to worry about pirates, curses, death threats, haunted ships…or us."

William stared at her for a second. Tatiana looked him in the eye and said, "Personally I find the third option the most desirable of the three." "You're making him choose?" asked Bootstrap sharply. "No," said Tatiana simply, "It's his choice…he can one of them, all of them or none of them at all. It's his choice…he decides." "You're letting me decide?" asked William incredulously, "What if I don't pick what you want?" Tatiana shrugged, "It's your life William not mine…but always know that I…and Alex as well, we'll always have your back and you are always welcome among us no matter what you choose." "You trying to get forgiveness?" asked William shrewdly. Tatiana smiled sadly and said, "Yes…I do seek forgiveness. But I won't ask for it until I've earned it."

To say that Tatiana was in a bad mood would've been the understatement of the centaury. It had been three days since Will's death and she was still confused over this stupid chart! They had been anchored in the place where the drawn map had stopped and this bloody riddle had Tatiana stumped. Of course it didn't help that Bootstrap was walking around like a dead man (no comment), William had taken to spending large amounts of time in his room, Alex couldn't read Welsh, Barbossa and the crew were all getting anxious, and Elizabeth and Jack had decided in the revelation of their new start to have a lot of "private time". And to top it all off the effing bird of Cotton's wouldn't shut up.

"Avast! Shiver me timbers mateys Squawk!" "Mister Cotton!" Tatiana had finally snapped, either the bird went or she did, "I f you do not shut that bloody beast up then I will do it for you!" The mute man clapped his hand over his bird's beak and scurried far away from Tatiana. Tatiana sighed and ran her hand through her hair again rereading the…instructions…again. "At ca 'r daflu i berlewyg at 'r hynys chan afalau ca 'r ddyn a cannot areithia namyn chnotiau 'r ffordd , ca eiddo anifail ddeud 'ch a anrhega 'i balog. Canlyn eiddo daflu a 'r underwater caer ewyllysia ledrithia. 'na ddeud 'r arail , " Chroesawa Addef " a chofnoda i mewn i anfarwoldeb."

"Bloody bird…gonna kill it one of these days." To find the entrance to the island of apples find the man who cannot speak but knows the way. "The little beat is worse then that damn monkey, at least Barbossa controls the thing…unlike the mute." have his beast tell you and give him a tongue. "Bloody Jack and his little wench spending bloody 'private time to reconnect and try to give William a more stable transition' bah! 'More stable transition' indeed!" Follow his throw and the underwater city will appear. "Bloody William for being all moody…and he's not even related to Will!" Then tell the guard, "Welcome Home" "I swear I'm just to bloody nice for my own bloody good sometimes!" and enter into immortality

Just then Tatiana's head shot up. "find the man who cannot speak but knows the way." 'Cotton can't speak.' "have his beast tell" 'The little beast of a bird talks more then Jack! If Cotton is…then that means...' "THAT'S IT!" give him a tongue.

"Mr. Cotton," said Tatiana making her way down to the older man. give him a tongue "I'm about to ask you some questions…I want you to answer them honestly, a simple shake or nod will do it." give him a tongue "Would you recognize the weapon the cut out your tongue?" The old man nodded. give him a tongue Tatiana pulled a dagger out of her boot and held it up to the mute, "Does this look like the weapon that cut out your tongue?" It was an unusual looking dagger, the blade was made of crisscrossing metal and the handle was made of fine jade with ordinate script written all over it, the thing was that it seemed to be in another language. Cotton nodded eagerly. give him a tongue "Do you know the way to the lost city of Atlantis?" By now the whole crew, plus bootstrap, plus Alex, plus Barbossa, plus Jack, plus Elizabeth, plus William were watching this strange game. Again cotton nodded. give him a tongue "Can tell us the way to Atlantis?" For the first time Cotton shook his head and the parrot squawked, "Hoist the sails! Hoist the sails!" give him a tongue "Well then," said Tatiana walking closer to the old man, a triumphant grin on her face, "we'll just have to give you a tongue."

With that Tatiana closed the space between them and started kissing the old man passionately. Simultaneously Barbossa's, Alex's William's, Jack's, Elizabeth's, Bootstrap's, and the entire crew in general's jaws hit the floor. Suddenly the wind began to blow and an eerie glow surrounded the kissing pair. The glow became brighter and brighter and the wind blew harder and harder until Tatiana broke the kiss and it all disappeared. Cotton was looked shell shocked as he put his hands to his mouth. Tatiana just stood there smirking suddenly Cotton ran up to her and engulfed her in a big hug and said in a hoarse voice, "Bless you young lady! Bless you bless you!"

If everyone was shocked before then there were no words to describe the feeling at hear a mute man speak after receiving a kiss from a beautiful girl. Tatiana smiled and said, "Lead the way mister Cotton." "I'll need a piece of eight, a coin, not that junk the Brethren uses," said Cotton matter of factly. Tatiana turned to Alex and said, "Alex…do you have a piece of eight on you?" Numbly Alex threw his sister the coin, still to shocked to completely understand what was happening. Tatiana caught it and smiled, "Thanks luv." "Here you go."

Cotton blew on the coin and began speaking in a language no one, not even Tatiana understood. Suddenly he threw the coin with all his might into the ocean. Suddenly the Pearl began to shake and the ocean started to froth and bubble. Slowly out of the water rose a huge minaret painted in a soft sea foam green color. Soon more and more towers began to rise up out of the water. 'It's a castle!' thought Jack in shock. Only Tatiana and Cotton looked unimpressed.

Finally a marble platform rose up out of the water and Tatiana smiled and said, "Hello James…you look well." Jack and Elizabeth were once again floored by what they saw. The man had his dark hair tie back in a ponytail and his immaculate official looking suit standing in front of them smiled when he saw Tatiana.

"Hello Tatiana," said James Norrington in a polite tone, "Welcome to Atlantis."

AN: Well hello there! Alright chapter nine baby! Not many left. But I have to give a shout out to my first ever reviewer Mrz.Turner. Thank you thank you thank you! Right so that's all I have to say other then my plea the you join the ranks of the lovely Mrz.Turner and REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! (please)