Chapter twenty-eight: Loosing Will

Elizabeth hung over Will, her brain shutting down as she saw the light in her husband's eyes fading. Her breathing came in shallow quick breaths, erratic and agonizing as hysteria flooded her and the world fell apart. Her hands hovered over him, shaking as she cried. He was getting colder and colder, his body going limp as the life drained away. His eyes were dull as they looked to the heavens.

It wasn't right. She wanted him to smile at her, tell her he loved her and kiss her. Just like at the end of their first adventure. He wasn't supposed to die, he wasn't supposed to leave her. He couldn't leave her. He was Will. He was the one who wouldn't give up, the one who would fight an army of undead pirates and take on the British navy for her. He was the one who held her and whispered sweet nothings in her ear like there wasn't anything else in the world but the two of them.

"Will?" she asked, touching his face and he wasn't crying. His eyes turned to her, and through the dullness she could still see the love, and it made her heart feel like it was the one that was pierced. She guided his head to keep looking at her, to make sure he knew she was there. She would always be there. "Will, please," she begged as his eyes fluttered. A sob tried to tear through her but she wouldn't let it. She had to be strong. She had to be strong for the both of them. "Look at me," she said as his eyes went back to the dark sky above them. "Look at me, Will," she begged. His eyes landed on her and they were so dull, they were so dull. "You're all right, stay with me," she said smiling at him, tears still falling as she broke and rebuilt the denial she so desperately needed to not just crumble. "Stay with me," she whispered, needing him.

"William?" Bootstrap said, barely loud enough to be heard by himself. The recognition of the blade and the promise shot into his eyes. "My son," he breathed. The pain ran through him as he pulled the knife out and turned to see Jones still standing over Will's body. His son unmoving and sword in his heart. The pain turned to rage and he charged at Jones, planning to kill the man who murdered his only child.

He jumped on his back, locking his arms around his neck in a death grip. The captain turned and pulled away from the sudden attack. Bootstrap wouldn't let go, his instincts as a father far stronger than that of the debt he owed Jones.

Ella fell to the floor as she saw the sword twist in her brother. He was her brother, by blood or not, he was her brother. She saw him limp, life draining and slipping away. She screamed. The sound tore through her and she fell to the deck. She collapsed in on herself, her body small and her arms wrapped around the back of her head, holding her folded to the wood. She couldn't breathe until a sob pulled itself from her body, demanding air to let the sound out.

She could hear Elizabeth talking to him, begging him to stay. Ella lifted her head and Will's eyes rolled away from Elizabeth's and locked with hers. She stared back, broken and numb. Suddenly she found herself crawling, pulling her body to his and she sat by him, holding him in her arms as Elizabeth did too. She touched his cheek, the coldness scaring her more and she put her forehead onto his.

"Will," she whispered, and Elizabeth kept begging him to not leave her. Ella's heart wouldn't stop pounding but she couldn't feel anything but anguish. She cried over him, her tears falling on his cheek and she kissed it. Her hand felt warm and she looked to see the deep red thick liquid coat her hand by his side. "No," she said and she went to the hole where the sword no longer stuck out from. Her hands went over it, trying to stop the blood from pouring out. "No, no, no, no, no, no," she repeated as it flowed between her fingers and ran over her hands. She sobbed as she kept her hands there, refusing to give up. "I won't let you die, I won't let you," she said looking at him and he didn't seem to hear her. He was too far gone. Ella screamed as she tried harder to block the blood from coming.

Jack hadn't moved. The shock that it happened still not absorbed. He watched the scene in front of him with fear, so much fear he didn't know it was possible to feel the way he did. Elizabeth was holding onto Will, keeping him looking at her and pleading for him to stay. Ella was covered in blood, trying to stop more from coming. They were sobbing, screaming and begging over Will's body. Jack watched as Ella fell apart and broke. When he looked at Will he couldn't look away as the boy he could not deny as a friend lay dying. He never expected the pain he felt, or the tears to threaten to spill as he held the key to eternal life in his hand.

His broken sword was inches from piercing the heart but he hesitated. Ella looked like she would drown in Will's blood before she gave up and Elizabeth was in hysterics, clinging to his body like if she let go she would die too. Jack didn't know what to do. He looked down to the heart. He could do it. He could stab it and live forever. Will would die and Elizabeth would be left as nothing. Ella would be a shell as she mourned his loss. But he would live forever.

"Will," Ellascreamed, collapsing on top of him. She grieved over his body, shaking violently as she ignored everything around her. Elizabeth kissed Will, trying to make him wake up, like a fairytale she was told when she was little. Her face crumpled as he didn't kiss back, too weak and too close to death.

Ella looked up at Jack and he met her red, broken eyes. She looked at him, seeing the heart in his hand and the sword hanging above it. They ignored the fight to the death that Jones and Bootstrap were having. Ella's eyes begged him as she held her brother. "Don't let him die, Jack," she whispered and somehow he heard it. The wind carrying it to him and he swallowed at the desperate plea it was. He didn't move, his mind racing as he tried to decide what to do. "You can't let him die," Ella begged. Elizabeth screamed in panic, her voice rising to a shriek as Will's eyes started to close. "Please," Ella said and she felt Will's hand go limp in hers and she snapped her attention to him, begging him with Elizabeth to not go.

"Will, look at me," Elizabeth asked, her face in front of Will's. Her fingers traced his lips as she cried and shook. He couldn't leave. They were finally married, finally together and their life as such was waiting. A life full of happiness and children and growing old together and reminiscing about their adventures. They had so many more adventures to go on. He couldn't leave yet. He just couldn't.

Jones threw Bootstrap off of him and watched as he fell against the rail. The man clung to it so he wouldn't fall and Jones moved in for the kill, the only thing he enjoyed these days. The red clouded his vision, his body yearning to feel the high that came with his sword submerged in someone's heart.

"You will not forestall my judgement," Jones screamed at him, sword raised. Bootstrap watched the blade glisten, the blood of his son already coating it. Fear engulfed him as he thought about the abyss waiting for him. He wondered if Will's mother would be there, waiting for him with their son. The blade came down and he waited for the pain that didn't come.

Davy Jones froze as his chest tore. The first feeling of real pain he had in years, searing his heart. He could feel the sharpness of the tip and the slide of steel as it slid in, the jagged edges nicking the tissue around it and ripping it further. His sword dropped to the ground, clattering as it landed. He turned around, needing to see that it was truly possible for him to feel.

His hand went to his chest, clawing at the pain that resided in the hollow space. Mouth open in attempt of a scream that didn't come, he begged for it to stop. If death was to come, let it be quick, he asked as he wished for peace. He looked to his heart, bloody and dying, pulsating around the broken sword. The hand holding it in place was Will's, but it was aided by another. Meeting his eyes, Jones saw the dark, unremorseful blankness that filled Jack's eyes.

Elizabeth saw Will's hand fall from the blade and Jack let go. She also saw the life leave Will's eyes as the heart twitched below his hand. She cried, cradling his head as his rocked to the side. She screamed to him to come back, look at her, stay with her. Ella watched Jones as her brother's hand slipped away, his body completely limp and the blood still warm as it trickled down her arm. She watched Jones and hoped he felt every bit of pain Will had. She hoped the blade cut in deep enough he could taste the steel. As Jones's tentacles twitched she hoped he knew the fiery eternity he had waiting for him.

Jack watched the captain stutter in his step. His body jerk and eyes grow sharp with pain. He watched his eyes fall away to acceptance. Jack looked to Ella, who was staring intently at the man's pain. He saw her covered in red and shaking in the cold rain as she grieved for Will and burned of hatred for Jones. He watched Will's hand slip as he took his off and he saw the heart slow its rhythm.

Jones felt the cold fingers of death on him, and his mind went to his lover. He hoped she knew, hoped she was watching. He wanted her to forgive him, as he did her. With the crack of thunder and right strike of lightening he knew she did. He accepted his death, and thought of a promise made long ago between a young sailor and a goddess. In death their love would blossom. In death their love would never sever. So Davy Jones looked to the heavens, the swirling storm and pouring rain, and smiled.

"Calypso," he whispered to her. Closing his eyes, he let himself fall and be taken into the sea, into her arms. His heart stopped beating as submerged into the water. He swore he saw her smile at him before everything went black.