SparrowsVixon, darkpenholder, Myri78, GoodnightxGoodbye, Faerygal189, and CrownedBlackHearts.pub amazing. :)

P.S. Thanks for the tip, CrownedBlackHearts.pub, but I looked it up and it is Ching. :) But I appreciate it!

Who could the new stranger possibly be?

Well, only one way to find out!

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Chapter 21: The Final Choice and a Different Voice

"…Daddy?" Charlotte whispered, but no one heard.

"Very well," Mistress Ching said after a pause. "What say you, Captain Dove, king of the Brethren Court?"

Charlotte was still in a state of shock. "Char?" Elizabeth hissed, nudging her friend gently in the side. Charlotte slowly looked at the other and nodded her head. "Captain Dove says we fight," Elizabeth declared. Charlotte nodded her head, seemingly coming back to life.

"Prepare every vessel that floats," she ordered. "At dawn… we're at war." She caught Jack's eye, who gave her a wary look. What was going on?

"And so," Sri Sumbhajee stood, speaking in a high-pitched tone that made it hard for Charlotte to contain a giggle. "We shall go to war!" The room applauded, forgetting about the multiple arguments they had shouted in moments before. Charlotte walked towards Jack in a hurry.

"What's going on?! How in the world did this happen?" Charlotte tried to say, but all that came out was, "What…? How…?"

"I don't know," Jack replied, pulling her into his arms. "But we can't just stand here and wonder, can we?" Giving her a final squeeze, he kept an arm around her shoulders as they made their way over to two people they had thought of as dead.

"Daddy?" Charlotte whispered. Captain Dove smiled, opening his arms wide. "Oh, Daddy!" she wriggled out from Jack's grasp and rushed forward, hugging him tightly. He returned it, chuckling as he did so. "Daddy, you're alive!"

"I suppose you could say that," he grinned. Charlotte let out something that was halfway between a laugh and a sob. Leave it to her father to crack a joke after they'd been separated for over a decade. "It wasn't our bodies they found in the fire." Charlotte looked up, raising a brow in confusion. "The fire wasn't an accident. Former enemies of your mother and I found their way to our home and set it to blazes. Unfortunately, as the Sparrow home was so close, it caught on fire too."

"Why didn't you tell us?!" Charlotte exclaimed.

"You were long gone by the time we were able to come out of hiding," he replied. "We were told that Jack had stolen a ship and that the two of you had taken off a year before." Charlotte slowly nodded, trying to take all of this in.

"Is Mother alright?" she questioned, fearing the worst.

"She's fine, off in Tortuga as we speak," Captain Dove chuckled.

"Poor woman," Charlotte sighed. Her father let out a laugh, which made her smile. She'd missed his sense of humor, his smile, his laugh…

She'd missed him.

"How are you, dear?" Captain Dove's enthusiasm seemed to fade. "It feels… so odd asking my own daughter that. But I… couldn't be there for most of your years, obviously. Years…" his smile returned. "It's been well over thirteen. How old are you now? Twenty? Twenty-one?"

"I'm nineteen, Daddy." she giggled. "Twenty in summer."

"Married yet?" His question fazed Charlotte, suddenly making it hard for her to consume oxygen.

"Not exactly," she said after a long pause. Was she?

Meanwhile, Jack was facing his own father. The man was still nerve-wrackingly calm, just as composed and strong as Jack remembered. Neither had said a word, but Teague was smirking at him as though he knew something his son did not.

"What?" Jack asked. "You've seen it all, done it all. You've survived. That's the trick, isn't it? To survive?" He was hopeful maybe this answer could help him in his decision between being immortal and being with the one he loved.

His father had done it all. He had seen it all. He'd been around the world twenty times and back. When he was younger, Jack had vowed to be just like him. Some of that feeling still lingered in Jack's heart, although they had been apart for several years. But the question was, would Teague have chosen immortality over love?

Unfortunately, Jack already knew the answer.

"It's not just about living forever, Jackie." Teague replied with an air of wisdom Jack never thought he'd see again. "The trick is living with yourself forever." Jack let out a sigh, letting his father's words sink in.

Well, that's just maddeningly unhelpful.

Teague threw a look to Charlotte, who still had her arms tightly around her father. "Married her yet?" he muttered under his breath. Jack glanced towards Charlotte, a small smile lighting up his face.

"Not quite," he replied. "I was actually, uh… planning to try so tonight." Liar, he scolded himself. Teague let out a laugh.

"I knew you two would be together," he grinned. "Since the moment you laid eyes on her. Your mum says you near had a heart attack when she first said hello to you."

"How is Mum?" Jack asked after a long pause. Teague replied by lifting up a shrunken head with a pile of white locks on the top out of his coat pocket. Jack winced. "She looks great," he said nervously, before glancing at Charlotte. A strange sadness filled his heart.

She had her family back.

A family that would probably approve of her marrying a blacksmith much more than they'd approve of her love for a pirate.

So what would become of him?

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Before any of them knew it, darkness fell. Charlotte bid her father and Teague farewell for the night and set off for the Pearl, Jack close behind.

"Captain Dove?" Tai Huang shouted behind her. She closed her eyes. Damnit. She hadn't gotten away with it.

"Er, yes?" she turned to him, tapping her foot impatiently.

"Where are you going?" he looked confused.

"Um," she racked her brain for ideas. "I uh… have to discuss legal matters with Captain Sparrow." She nudged Jack in the ribs with her elbow, as though to tell him to play along. "I'll leave you in charge of the Empress until morning, aye?" Tai Huang's eyes lit up with possibility. Charlotte suppressed a grin. Perfect.

"Yes, Captain," he bowed his head low and quickly hurried off to the Empress. Letting out a quiet laugh, Charlotte set back off for the Pearl.

"Nice," Jack grinned at her.

"I do what I can," she replied with a soft giggle.

Once aboard, Jack pulled her into the pitch-black cabin, closed the door behind them, and kissed her fiercely, as though afraid she wouldn't take him seriously if he didn't. "Lot…" Jack breathed, cradling her face in his hands. Although it was dark, he could see her grey eyes in the moonlight. The two were nearly the same color. "Lot, there's…" he tried, but it barely came out.

"What is it, Jack?" she questioned. Jack glanced away, obviously trying to think things out. Bugger, bugger, bugger…I can't even do it. How am I supposed to get through the rest of my life if I can't do this one thing?

"Charlotte, I…" Jack began, feeling a little stronger this time. "I… uh…" his sudden burst of confidence gave out. What if she says no and leaves? "You see… er… I…" It would be putting her in danger… more than she is already in.

"Yes?" she prodded. Jack stared at her for a moment, a hand still on either side of her face. Her arms around his neck, her lips inches from his… there had never been a more perfect moment to try it.

"Marry me," he blurted out after a long pause. Charlotte's eyes widened. He closed his eyes and shook his frantically. That went well. "Er, that didn't come out right," he stuttered. "I… I meant…" he took a deep breath, opening his eyes yet again. "Charlotte… will you marry me?"

"Jack…" Charlotte whispered, staring up at him uncertainly. She searched his eyes for a lie, but there was none. "Jack…" Her heart was racing. The question played over and over multiple times in her head. "Charlotte, will you marry me?"

Will. Before her kiss with Will, before she'd learned that he had feelings for her, she would've said yes before Jack had even finished the question. But now she'd betrayed him in a way, making things a little different. He still didn't even know. Was it right for her to marry him when she wasn't sure about her feelings for the other?

"It's… just something to think about," he replied after a moment. "I'm… going to go for a walk, alright?" Releasing her face, he backed away, heartbroken.

"No, wait!" Charlotte cried, reaching for his wrist. He stopped, watching her with hopeful eyes as she stared up at him.

Jack. He'd always been there for her. He'd searched the world for her and loved her the entire time. It had never once swayed or faltered.

Will. Her best friend. She'd always loved him, deep down, but had never really known how much. And she'd never realized just how much he'd cared, either.

Charlotte stared off into the distance of the moon. In the clouds she could've sworn there was a face… a smiling, handsome face.

The face that she loved more than anyone.

Charlotte had made her choice.

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I am SO mean. :D

R&R, and I might put up the next chapter... haha.

Ex's and oh's,

Elle