As always, I am so sorry it took so long.

LotsOfLovin: Thanks for the review. And yeah...I didn't want to kill her, but it had to be done

Upisdowngirl: Thanks

Guest: Thanks for the reviews. You find out in this chapter :)

Dannyboy: Thanks. My name is Courtney. Is it safe to assume that your name is Danny? Lol

Sabina: Thannk

Enjoy:)

CHAPTER 25

Drake took hold of his wife's hand and moved to a protective position, blocking her from Death. "Last time I checked, we weren't friends," he said defiantly.

"Oh, but my dear Drake, last time you needed something I gave it to you, didn't I?" she replied.

Drake sighed. Of course she was right. She had sent back his wife and unborn child. He owed a great debt to her. It was doubtful that he could ever repay it, and at this point he figured it would be next to impossible to deny her anything. "What do you want?"

"I come to you as a gift from Calypso. Unfortunately, as you have probably already discovered, you no longer control the winds and tides, correct?" Death asked.

"Yes," he said curtly.

"Calypso sends her apologies. But in order to give you back your family, she had to relinquish the powers to another. It was not her first choice," she said. "Nevertheless, in a way to seek your forgiveness, she has offered you a life. A life in Port Royal that without her would be impossible." She smiled at them. "A life in this very home."

Arden hadn't spoken. Drake had assumed this was because of her cousin's death. But once the redhead had finished saying what she had just said, he could feel her tense up. Try as he might, he couldn't guard her from Death because she fought to get a good look at the other woman. "You expect us to live here! After you took the lives of my cousin, her child, and her husband?" she shouted. Before Drake could stop her, Arden had slapped Death across the face, leaving behind a red mark.

"You wretched little mortal!" Death shouted, holding her cheek. "It was not my decision. It's not like I decide every single person that dies every single second. I'm not omnipotent. There's only one being that is, and it is certainly not me. It was His decision. I just didn't argue." She moved her hand. "Anyways, Calypso wants me to give you this house. It technically belongs to no one. Everything in here can be yours."

"And we're supposed to just take it without anyone saying a thing about it?" Drake asked. This woman was daft if she believed it work like that.

"No, I expect you to pay for it with the money previously belonging to your wife's family. It's yours if you want it." Sighed and looked at her nails. "Unfortunately, you have minutes to decide. Victoria will awaken soon, and your decision must be before she does."

"You mean you didn't kill her too?" Arden retorted.

"Not yet." She turned around. "Make your decision before I reach the top of the stairs, Beagleys."

Drake turned to his wife. "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, Arden. We can start over." Surely she could see the positives of taking this house, right?

"Start a new life in the house where Marie ended hers?" she asked quietly.

"Yes," he said frankly, "if that's what it takes. I want to give you the life you so deserve, Arden. I know that means living here…but isn't it worth it?" Arden looked around the house. Drake could almost see her imagining Marie living here, the life she could have had if her child would have survived. She looked back into his eyes. Without speaking, she nodded. It was a slight nod, but a nod nonetheless. Not looking away from his wife, he called to Death, "We'll take it."

"That's what I thought." Death said nothing else.

Arden fell into Drake's open arms. They walked outside.

Jack and Angelica walked together, searching for Drake and Arden. "Did you tell Elizabeth about the engagement?" Jack asked.

Angelica answered, "No. I should have, but it seemed unimportant when compared to…the other news. I didn't want to say anything."

Jack put his arm around her shoulder. He loved her so much. Although he would never admit it to her, she made him a better person. He used to never put anyone else above himself. Angelica swooped back into his life, and everything changed. "I think it would have made them happy to have some sort of ray of light in the darkness now enshrouding them." It was only after he had said it that he realized how that could be taken as him chastising her. He quickly added, "But I think it might have been a good idea not to. It could have made things worse." He kissed her head. "Better to play things safe."

Angelica wrapped her arm around his waist and leaned into his side in silent agreement. Jack remained quiet. He wanted to enjoy this moment with her. He didn't even want to imagine what poor William must be going through. But in a way, he knew exactly how he felt. When Death had finished claiming Bootstrap Bill, she had told him, down to the second, how much longer she would have to wait before he became hers. He shuddered at the thought. But his time left was still more than Will's time left. "What's wrong?" Angelica asked.

"What do you mean?" Jack asked. She had probably felt him tense at his thoughts.

"You seem so quiet. You're usually talking," she laughed. "It's different."

"I'm just thinking," he answered.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Would you ever want to live in a town like this? Not Port Royal, of course, but another town?" he asked.

Angelica sighed. "I haven't given it much thought, actually. One day, perhaps, but I enjoy living on the ocean far too much to be thinking about leaving it right now." She let go of him and looked into his eyes. "What brought this about?"

Jack smiled and took her hand. "Well, I just kind of figured, with us getting married, you might want to take time away from the sea." To be honest, it calmed him to know that Angelica loved the sea just as much as he did.

"I've thought about it, but I'm afraid I would get bored living in a town. There's just so much you have to do to survive in one. I would become frustrated, always being cooped up on land. I don't know if that's really the life I want." She smiled at him. "At one point, that's what I always wanted with you, but now I can't imagine a life with you that's not at sea."

"So you would never want to live on land with me?" he asked.

"What's this about?" she asked him.

"Oh, nothing," Jack lied. "Just wondering." Drake and Arden were walking toward the pirates. "Ah, there they are." Jack stopped moving and waited for the others to reach them. Once they got close enough, Jack asked, "So the two of you are coming back to the Dutchman with us, aye?"

"We're planning on it," Drake answered.

Jack nodded, and the four of them began walking back to the doctor's house.

Elizabeth sat on the deck. Cole wouldn't be too much longer, hopefully. Willie had woken up and was now running around the deck. She already dreaded the day that he grew up. So for now, she just wanted to enjoy watching him run around. The crew seemed to treat him like a little mascot, always willing to do something odd to make him happy. There was one time that she could distinctly remember when Willie had become particularly restless. Some of the men had creating almost a jungle of ropes for him to climb on and play. That didn't make her nervous. What had made her nervous was when Christopher, a rope tied to him, had crawled to the crow's nest with Willie in his arms and jumped off to make a type of swing for the little boy. Will had laughed; she had screamed. Needless to say, Willie was the entertainment when the crew became stressed.

Elizabeth was about to call Willie over to her when black fog rose from the deck. She immediately had a bad feeling about it, and she froze. What confirmed her fear was Will's face of shock. He walked over to her and placed his hand on her shoulder. His tight grip on her only made matters worse. Then she appeared. Death stood in front of them.

"Hello," she said to them cheerfully. She looked down at Elizabeth's leg. "You haven't had that checked yet? Yikes. It must hurt." She didn't the least bit sympathetic. Opening her palm, she came toward Elizabeth.

William drew his sword and pressed the tip of it against Death's neck. "You won't lay a hand on her," he growled.

Death looked from Elizabeth to Will. "I was going to help her. As a favor…from a friend," she answered calmly. "Now if you'd rather me not, I can leave." She pulled her hand away. "It's your choice, William."

Fog rose from the wooden boards. William's face remained hard, his sword still drawn. Without a clue as to why, Elizabeth wanted to know how Death could help her. She silently willed her husband to say something. The fog was at Death's waist. Somehow Elizabeth knew that if it went much farther, Death would disappear, and she knew that William would not listen to a thing Death said. He'd hated her since she'd killed his father. He acted like he was the only person to ever lose a father. Well, he wasn't; and he needed to learn that. Her father had been killed as well. Sure, it had hurt beyond measure when he'd died, but she didn't hold it against Death. Everyone died eventually. Biting back her doubt, she shouted, "Wait." The fog began shrinking back to the deck.

"Yes?" Death asked.

"Who asked you for the favor?" Elizabeth questioned.

"Well, when he died, he didn't know what was going on with you and William. Once I returned to my home, I met him. He was nice guy. It's a shame he had to die when he did…" Death paused for a second. "He didn't ask to come back. No, he asked for one thing. He wanted me to help the two of you in any way possible. So here I am, doing what I can for you." She smiled at Elizabeth. "I'm going to heal your broken leg."

"Who asked the favor?" Elizabeth repeated.

"Oh, right," the redhead answered, "it was Christopher."

Will lowered the sword. "Christopher?"

"Yes, now, if you'd be so kind…" Death let the sentence hang but motioned to Elizabeth's leg. William nodded and stepped aside. With an open palm, the woman touched Elizabeth's broken leg.

Pain surged through her. Elizabeth's hand flew to the side and grabbed Will's leg. She held back a scream. Then it was over. She released her husband's leg and looked down at her own. She moved it back and forth. It didn't hurt anymore. Looking up, she locked eyes with Death. "Thank you," she whispered, standing to her feet. "Thank you so much."

William offered Death his hand. "Thank you." The other woman accepted the handshake. The fog rose up and claimed her. Death was gone once again.

Cole's longboat was approaching the Dutchman. Elizabeth needed to do something extra for him to thank him for running the errand so quickly. She couldn't see Jack or Angelica yet. With any luck, they would be just a little while longer so she and Will could finish up. A moment later, Cole was climbing aboard. He walked over to her, carrying everything she had requested of him.

"I did the best I could," he said, breathing deeply. There was a trace of laughter in his voice. "I ran all over that port."

"Thank you, Cole," Elizabeth said.

The man handed her the pouch that had once contained the money that he was to use. "I even managed to have some change."

Elizabeth refused the pouch. "Keep it…as compensation for your hard work."

His face lit up. "Are you sure?"

"Of course."

Cole walked away.

William went to Elizabeth. Helping him would be much easier now that she could walk.

"What do you mean you won't come aboard with us?" Jack shouted. Angelica wanted to disappear. The doctor had been so nice to them, and here Jack was screaming at the poor man. "There's a woman out there who needs your help!"

"It's not my policy to go out to a ship to help someone, sir. She should have come ashore like the rest of you." He was obviously just as angry as Jack was but better at keeping his voice at bay. "Good day to you," the man said before turning and going into the back.

Angelica sighed. He wouldn't be returning to argue with Jack. She put a hand on his arm. "Let's go, Jack." She gave him a slight tug. "It'll be fine."

The foursome walked through the town, headed to the longboat that would carry them back to the ship. They were quiet. Jack and Angelica had been quiet since they'd left the doctor's, but Drake and Arden had been quiet since they had met back up with them. Angelica wanted to ask what was wrong but didn't know how to ask. Jack was the one to speak up. "So you found your cousins?" he asked.

Arden rested her head against Drake's chest as she walked with his arm safely around her. Drake answered for her, "Her cousin is…gone."

"Gone like…gone? Or gone like…away for a while?" Jack asked. Angelica struggled to keep back her laughter at Jack's oddly asked questioned but managed for Arden's sake.

"Gone," Drake replied.

"I'm so sorry," Angelica whispered, touching Arden's arm.

"It's not all bad," Arden answered. It was obvious that her upbeat voice was fake, but no one commented on it.

"What do you mean?" Angelica asked.

"We're getting the house," she said.

They were getting the house. Angelica smiled. But the thought also made her sad. She had grown fond of Arden and could honestly say that she was going to miss her. "Congratulations," she said. "But if you don't mind my asking…how?"

"Death," Drake answered. "She was in the house. She offered it to us."

Neither she nor Jack had anything to say. It was safe to say that both of them were in shock. Death never did anything for anyone. Either way, Angelica was happy for them. After all that the two of them had been through, they deserved a quiet home to raise their child.

The ride to the Dutchman was silent. No one had spoken since Drake's announcement. Angelica sat next to Arden. The women were across from the men. Angelica found herself blankly staring at Jack as he helped Drake row them through the water. As badly as she wanted to, she couldn't tear her eyes from him. He was hers; and she was his. The thought itself put her in a state of bliss. Then Jack met her eye. She could feel the heat on her face rising and silently willed herself not to blush. That would be far too embarrassing. Jack smiled at her.

The rest of the time she just stared at the ocean as it moved along, resisting them from leaving the port. She didn't know what Jack had been so worried about. They'd made it out fine.

When they finally made it to the ship, she and Arden were the firsts to board. Things were different on the deck. There was nothing fancy, but the deck had obviously been cleaned. The desk from Will's cabin had been dragged to the middle of the deck. On it were pastries. Elizabeth ran over to her, which was more shocking than anything. "Your leg," Angelica said.

"I'll explain it all later," the other woman answered.

"What is this?" She motioned to the deck. Elizabeth got on one side of her, and Arden got on the other. They each took one of Angelica's arms. They began leading her to the captain's cabin. "What's going on? What is this?" she repeated.

"Your wedding!" Elizabeth exclaimed.

Angelica turned her head, trying to find Jack, but he was gone, as were William and Drake.

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