Chapter 26: One Day

Will

The Flying Dutchman is once again the lonely place it had been before Elizabeth's arrival. I miss her already. Ten more years of ferrying lost souls. Ten more years added to the two hundred or more I've already spent doing this duty. Elizabeth's cries from the dock do not make this separation any easier either. I want to be alone to collect my thoughts of her. That's why I sit in my cabin, trying my best not to focus on our parting but on the wedding we'll share the next time we meet.

"One lifetime is an awfully long time, isn't it?" Calypso coos as she suddenly appears in the middle of my cabin, "Yet compared ta two lifetimes, it can also be awfully short." She muses.

"What do you want from me this now? Have I not given you enough yet?" She smiles coyly, ignoring my frustration.

"Tell me William Turna', can ya bear ta be separated for one you love fer the whole of a lifetime?" She places a fist over her heart passionately as she speaks. What us she asking of me…. She smiles that coy smile of hers again, "Fer all o' her lifetime, till the day she die."

"What?" A sweat has broken on my forehead. I'm on the verge of a panic. Not see Elizabeth again? Not see her until her own death? "What about my one day? Every ten years I can go ashore for one day! Why are you taking that away from me?"

"Don' worry," she laughs, "dey'll be der when ya get back."

Elizabeth

The day of the funeral is a mockingly bright one. A crowd of people have gathered at our small island cemetery to say their final goodbyes two the three souls lost at sea during that storm, the story James told them. As the priest drones on about finding God and them being in better hands James and I and the only ones who know the truth. Jeffrey Norris, James' brother is the only one truly dead for us. He was not killed by a storm or rogue wave either, but by a murderous pirate with a penchant for dynamite. Across from me James stands with his parents, consoling his mother's tears. Andrew Durden was nearly killed by the point of a sword. He now resides as part of the crew of the Flying Dutchman, immortal for one hundred years. Andy's mother also cries, those his father keeps an unemotional composer, though I know inside it must bein g killing him that I'm the only one who returned and not his son. Ann Marrisol on the other hand is very much alive, going by the name Anamaria, a pirate aboard the Black Pearl. Her father stands quietly, swaying in a wave to rival Captain Sparrow with a brown paper back clutched in his fist. He hasn't shed a tear yet.

I stand alone, not really listening to the priest's final words. The sun is setting, and from where I stand I cannot see the horizon. The sun continues to sink from my view. I'm missing my daily ritual.

The priest finishes and the crowd begins to dissipate. As everyone makes their way to the grieving parents I stand still. I already offered them my condolences earlier. As the only survivor of this "tragedy" I was not received well. Nobody comes to me saying "I'm sorry for your loss," either. They were my friends as well.

"Fear not Miss Summerset," the raspy voice of the priest says beside me, I continue to watch the sky grow dark, "If it makes ya feel any better I know that they be in good hands now."

"I know," I say quietly, not wanting to go further with this conversation.

"I mean real good ones," he says enthusiastically, "as I'm sure ya know."

"Are you trying to tell me the hands of God?" I know where my friends really are.

"No Miss, that's what I was tryin' to tell that gullible lot." He rolls his eyes "You and I both know better then ta believe that always be the case. I'm certain the only reason why I found religion in this life was ta pay penance for my sins in the last one. God knows I'd rather be standin' anywhere but here," he jokes.

"So you lied to them?" he merely chuckles, "You know Father I recall one of the Ten Commandments being something along the lines of thou shall not lie."

"Ten Commandments you say? Well, I always figured them ta be more like guidelines then actual rules. Good day, Mrs. Turner." I gasp.

"Barbossa?" he turns his head back to me as he keeps walking.

"No. I'm Father Hector, didn't ya hear?" He replies with a hint of humor, "I'll be seein' ya Mrs. Turner."

"It's Captain, actually," I say. He groans, rolling his eyes at the way I reminded him of his mortal enemy Captain Jack Sparrow.

With that Barbossa leaves me. So much has changed in the past few days. So much involving life and death and pirates. The girl everyone knew me to be, the girl I grew up as, no longer exists. I am Elizabeth Turner, Pirate King, forever and always. Even the island has changed. It's now missing three of it's residents, while three others secretly share the knowledge of once dealing in piracy. Or currently dealing, who knows what Barbossa will soon be up to. Nothing is the same as it used to be. Things that held meaning to me before seem useless now, and thing useless to me before are what I now hold dear. On my way to the cemetery I passed a little Chinese Restaurant where Andy took me on a date once. It's been closed down since I was there last. I remember receiving a fortune cookie there, "The sun will never set on love or royalty". Perhaps there is some truth in that little slip of paper.

I begin to walk, not saying goodbyes to any. They'll hardly notice my absence now that I'm not in potential danger anymore. I walk down the quite street planning on bypassing the beach, seeing has the sun has nearly vanished, and continue straight to my little cottage. A cottage still practically in ruin, bloody pirates, but a home no less.

Something bright flashes, catching in the corner of my eye. I stop and turn to spot it but it's already disappeared, along with the sun leaving the sky a velvety blue. A woman stands on the edge of the street watching me. She too is dressed all in black, with a hat obscuring my view of her face. We stand there, frozen and watching either for several minutes before either of us move. It's she who moves first, ever so slightly. I watch in fascination as a grin creeps across her face, revealing a blackened set of teeth and mouth.

"Calypso," I take a step closer, moving to cross the street between us. She containers by walking off in the other direction, toward the beach. She slips from view as she descends the small set of wooden stairs leading to the sand. I run down after her. My shoes slips from my feet when they hit the sand. There are no other recent footprints in that spot now but my own. The beach is empty.

"Calypso!" A yell down the sand, "Calypso!"

"Elizabeth," someone whispers softly behind me, paralyzing my body "What happened to keeping an eye on the horizon?"

I spin to find that I am not hallucinating. There he stands in his pirate attire, the wind playing gently with his open shirt and loose hair. His feet are buried in the sand by each wave that passes over them. His deep brown eyes match the smile dancing over his features, and the jagged scar on his chest has never looked so beautiful. My heart flutters, and new tears slip from my open eyes unable to blink.

"Will?" His grin widens.

"Over two hundred years at sea," he says, "one lifetime ashore...your lifetime Elizabeth."

"Calypso…" he said without warning, the rest of his words were mumbled and I could barely understand him "Calypso…the…heart… Cal…lypso…will free…will…you will" his eyes glossed as he tried to deliver me his final message, "love you, Elizabeth."

"Will," I whisper, still unable to move. Calypso set him free. She set him free for one lifetime. Will can stay for as long as I live. My heart pounds with joy, "Will!" He opens his arms wide as I leap at him. He catches and lifts me high as we spin in the sand, before lowering my lips to his. He keeps his arms locked around me tight as we kiss. You'd think it already been ten years since we saw each other last. I keep my lips pinned to his, unable to stop kissing him. I'm happy, happier then I've ever been, to have Will's arms around me once more.

"I love you," he breaths between kisses.

"And I you," I reply in the brief seconds our lips part.

Will pulls his lips away from mine abruptly, I move to follow but he holds me back. He lowers himself to the sand on one knee, grasping my hands tightly. "Elizabeth Turner," he laughs, by now we're both crying tears of happiness, "Will you marry me? Again?"

"Yes," I fall into the sand, throwing my arms around him once more. Again we kiss, and as we kiss I feel as though I can see everything in our bright future that lies ahead.

THE END