LAST CHAPTER! I would really really really like some final reviews on this and then I'm gone for ONE WEEK, before taking it back and finishing it off with Beyond Freedom. Thank you so so much for all the support through this, the great reviews and kind words. Everything you guys have given me, means so incredibly much. Thank you guys, I really can't thank you enough.

-Han

Tortuga seemed to glint in the sun, the harbor before it reflecting bright morning light into Anna's eyes. She breathed deeply, eyes scanning the hung-over crew on deck and the city of sin they were approaching. She braced herself against the railing, her eyes drifting to the water almost against her own will, tracing the lapping waves like they could tell her secrets. Her mind flicked back to the night before, a smile rising to her face at the thought. First they were drinking, washing away memories they would rather forget and living eternally in bliss disguised as amber liquid. And when the moon hung above them like a pendulum preparing to swing, the celebration started among the crew, screeching music in place of a tune floating down to them until Anna couldn't stay still. They could hear the stomping boots of the men on deck, laughing away their worries with drink and living without fear for the first time in months. They deserved it.

So Anna had hauled Jack up, the man dizzy with his drink, and bid him to dance, bright smile refusing to die on her lips, even when he tried to kiss it away. The grin was contagious and soon they were swirling around each other like idiots around a fire, like drunks in Tortuga, like small children in the streets. When they'd gotten too dizzy to stand, she'd fallen into his bed, laughing like she'd been told a secret. She'd expected, in some sober part of her mind, for Jack to move towards her, take her up in his arms and kiss her until fire burned through her veins. But he'd only ambled to his chair and sat down, holding onto the bottle like he would stay up later. Anna let him, too far gone on rivers of alcohol to give it more than a passing thought.

The next morning, she'd found him asleep in that position; head down on his desk, fingers still gripping his bottle. She'd grinned to herself and walked quietly from the room, shutting the door quietly behind her with a whisper of three words she knew she would rarely say out loud to him. It wouldn't be like Will and Elizabeth, drowning each other in 'I love you's would only make them feel trapped. It would be enough for them to know, taboo to speak too often, but they would know.

At the sound of still-drunken footfalls on the steps, Anna allowed herself to grin, keeping to staring at the water absently. They still at the helm, and she wondered if Jack was gazing at the wheel like he should go to it, a home he could grip with his hands and turn to his choosing.

"Ever a fine day for adventure, eh love?" Jack asked to her instead, moving to stand next to her and watch water lap against the ship. Barbossa's shouting on deck me their ears before she could answer and a dangerously coy look made its way into her eyes. She could see Jack flinch from the corner of her eye at the sound of the other Captain's harsh demanding orders, forcing the crew out of their stupor and into motion. She could tell he wanted the older man gone, away from his ship because he couldn't take the possibility of it being stolen again.

"I think it's a might time Barbossa had his own," she said conspiringly, a spark in the blue of her eyes that made them look deep, like the sea. Jack wondered if he would ever grow to fear that look the way he knew Gibbs feared his own, feared the promise of adventure mingled with rash decisions and danger. But Jack Sparrow wasn't afraid of anything, after all. He could handle the plans of the lass next to him, and she would always be next to him, willing to follow him like he would be willing to follow her.

They moved as one body, something Barbossa was unaccustomed to when every pirate fought for only himself and his interests. But these two were fluid, lighting sparks beneath the crew with quick words and quicker movements, swords drawn and pointed at his chest, and Barbossa wondered if they knew of his plan to leave them in Tortuga, to steal the ship. To sail into a sunrise that would envelope him in a new adventure.

It seemed like seconds, less than that even, and he was faced with both of their swords, as if they had planned the way they parted the crowd on opposite sides of the helm, turning the crew against him with quick words and standing before him with hard eyes. Eyes that spoke of determination tinged with regret and some part of his crass body knew that Jack didn't want to do what he was doing. Didn't believe in mutiny because he'd suffered it and knew what it was like to have to watch your home sail away.

"It's not personal," Anna said with kinder eyes, the blue clouded with a mixture of regret and assurance. She would do this anyway, but a part of her would miss the older man and his strange humor. "And it's not much of a swim," she added with a slight smirk.

"S'a gesture I'm not likely to forget," he said with a dignified bow, tempted to reach for his sword anyway, battle his way out and jump ship to retain a bit of pride.

The crew parted as one, a section breaking off to retrieve the plank with cheerful faces, jeering whispers and smiles passed amongst them and they knew what kind of Captain Barbossa was. The long plank of wood spoke volumes to Pintel and Ragetti, and they remembered when it was Jack on the end, Jack staring into Caribbean waters with broken eyes, Jack they left behind. They knew they were making the right choice, this time.

Barbossa's steps echoed around them as Jack and Anna came to stand at the front of the crowd, watching him reach the edge. He turned back to face them, expecting jeering last words or some prophetic epithet to drip from lips like they were reading a verse from their own version of the bible, proclaiming him a heretic in their eyes.

Jack was smiling, something that had refused to die on his lips since the night before and it was something he found fit him. He was tired of wearing deep looks of worry and sorrow and madness. He was ready to be himself, on his own ship, on his own home. He was ready to sail beyond the edges of the horizon, beyond freedom itself and find something just a bit greater.

"Well Hector, I believe I'm assured in sayin' that our time together has been disparaging, abhorrent, and all aroun' dreadful. I highly doubt you'll merit an invitation to my garden party, mate, and it'd probably be superlative for us all if you just left us," Jack said amiably, not traces of bitterness in his voice.

"But ain't it a shame to be losin' somethin' so fine lads?" Anna spoke up, moving forward slightly, a smirk on her lips as she repeated the words Barbossa had spoken on their first adventure, when Elizabeth stood in his place and she was waiting in line. Now the man glared at her, though humor mixed in his eyes. "So I'll be havin' them charts before you go," she said with a threatening twitch of her sword.

Barbossa's smirk dropped and he growled low in his throat, reaching into his coat to pull them out and toss them to her. She caught them deftly, surprised by the weight and turned her attention back to the man standing above sparkling, inviting water.

"Suppose this means you were first to the finish," Barbossa commented, his gaze on Jack as the younger man nodded triumphantly. "It was a fine match, just the same."

The crew pressed in, weapons drawn and he turned back to face the harbor, Tortuga in sight. A moment held still between them all and Anna took the moment to slip her hand into Jack's the rough skin a comfort to her as Captain Barbossa dove into the lapping waves. The crew seemed frozen, eyes on the former Captain as he swam on towards the sleeping city.

"Well?" Jack asked suddenly, demandingly, as he pulled his hand from Anna's and faced the crew. "Move you mangy dogs!"

A flurry of movement greeted his words as men split apart from the whole to work. Gibbs passed him with a mischievous glance between him and Anna, a spark in his eyes that spoke of many stories he would be telling soon, spreading gossip like wildfire among the pirates of the sea. Jack Sparrow was a taken man. The thought alone might drive some maidens to their end.

Anna rolled her eyes at the look and turned back towards the helm, steps slow as if taking in everything again, like she'd been born new. Her hand slid easily on the railing of the stairs and she remembered the way it had blown apart beneath her fingers before, the way fear had pumping through her veins when now there was only content. She was a wanderer who'd finally found a home. Home amongst the waves that belonged to the Goddess once more, the waves her brother would sail on for eternity, riding the green flash there and back again.

She felt Jack's presence behind her and turned to him, a smile on her lips that fit back where it belonged, where she had been without it for so long, now. This was elation, joy in her chest that could take her anywhere, let her do anything. This was a hand to hold and a body to wrap herself around and an adventure to be explored. A new world of possibilities neither had thought existed.

"What great adventure should we face next?" she asked lightly, coming to stand beside him at the wheel, watching as he moved the Pearl with gentle touches until she faced the empty horizon once more. He gave a long look at the charts still tucked under her arm and she smiled, taking the hint. Both bent over the ever-shifting maps as she laid them out, hands reaching out to turn the pieces to line up with another destination.

Anna's blue eyes met his black with excitement, a question to if they would pursue it. Jack grinned, nodding to her as it sank in. There is more than one way to live forever, he thought to himself as he gazed down at yellowed papyrus, La Florida in his sights and the glowing cup.

"The Fountain of Youth?" she asked, mounting eagerness building in her voice and Jack recognized the spark in her eyes as one he wore in his own. He wondered if she knew he considered the gaze smoldering, teasing, like she was running her fingers down his back lazily, a coy smile on her lips. He wondered if she knew that every time she glanced his way he thought of a hooded gaze tinged with sated lust that would make shivers roll down his spine. He wondered if she knew how much restraint it took for him to sit at his desk with his hand wrapped around his bottle and not curl himself around her body. He feared his own straying hands.

He pulled himself back to the present and adopted a smirk, meeting her eyes and trying to quell the lust burning in his chest, the passion he could let loose between them both. Trying to stop the spark before it caught and the flames would caress their skin and burn them to embers of bonded lovers bathed in the warm glow of a sunlight that had risen in their souls.

"It's another horizon," Jack said with an almost conspiring grin. They stood as one, moving back towards the wheel as Jack fished for his compass, bringing it up with a wink in her direction.

He watched the needle spin, and wondered if it would keep going, like it had for months before, endlessly spinning with no direction and he would feel lost among the waves of his own life, unsure of where to go or what to do. When it stopped his head tilted in confusion, annoyance seeping in a moment later.

"You're messin' with my bloody compass," he said with a grunt, his face scrunching up in exasperation. Anna turned back towards him, honest surprise coloring her features as her eyes landed on the little black needle, pointed towards her.

"I am?" she asked curiously, her own head tilting causing tangles of brown hair to fall into her face in a fashion Jack would never admit he found adorable. He moved closer to her, his body pressing hers into the wheel in one fluid motion. He couldn't help but love the way she trusted him, the way she allowed him to take control, press her back into a corner and had faith he would take care of her. He'd never known a woman who was willing to place that kind of irrevocable trust in him, willing to follow him anywhere.

"Aye," he whispered huskily, leaning in and trapping her mouth in a kiss, one that made passion burn white-hot and flow through them both. He could feel her hands moving up to his shoulders as she rose up on her toes to meet him easier, eyes closing in easy bliss. It felt like the space between them was too much, like they should be connected at the soul, the heart, every part of their bodies molded together until they were one being. The felt like they had the wind on their side for the first time since a storm, the sun shining on their skin, and the stars to guide them to a home of welcoming arms, ready to envelope them and make them feel loved.

Jack hadn't known a pirate could love, could feel a warming of his chest and a singing of his heart like a siren's call. He could only pray that it wouldn't cause Anna's end among the rocks his call could lead her to. Anna was smiling, and Jack could feel it as they kissed, something that made his chest burn with something he couldn't even define. She trusted him, the pirate with a girl in every port and smile that could make any woman weak at the knees. She trusted him with her heart and as he cupped her chin, he promised himself he wouldn't break it. He wouldn't stumble, or fall into anything other than her arms. He wouldn't tame himself, or clip his wings. He would only remember that he had another bird to fly next to him, catching the wind and chasing the horizon.

When they pulled away, loud cheers greeted them, a sound Anna could only explain as the mirror to her own heart, her own blood pumping victoriously and with something that she still couldn't explain. A combination of joy, fear, trust, and love all swirling together until her head felt fuzzy and her limbs shaky. This world was new to her, new to them both. She could only hope that she wouldn't break this, break anything.

She ducked her head away, a blush rising on her cheeks as bits of the crew clapped and shouted like the drunken sailors they were. Her face buried into his chest, breathing in the scent of rum and salt water, the intoxicating fragrance making her heart beat even faster.

"Back to work you bilge rats!" Jack shouted, an arm thrown almost protectively over Anna's back as the crew turned away. She looked up at him, a soft look in her eyes that Jack could swear he would get used to seeing. He could get used to waking up next to her, seeing her across his ship, battling beside her, chasing horizons with her.

He moved her with gentle touches, turning her around in his arms until she face the wheel, his body still pressed against hers. His hands cradled hers, rough skin against the soft tan of her own and moved them to the spokes. A breathless look over her shoulder let him know she understood how much it meant for him to do it. His way of showing he trusted her too.

"Dadada…dadada," he hummed, checking his compass again with an almost careless glance, not really caring where they went, as long as they were going together. He adjusted her hands lightly, pushing them in the right direction, the horizon in their sights. "And really bad eggs."

Anna grinned, that elation bubbling over into her smile and her grip was tight on the wheel as she steered, something she'd never even considered, never even hoped for. She could feel Jack against her, one hand on top of hers, whether to keep contact with her or to steer her right, she didn't know, or care. All that mattered was that they were together, pirates like she'd always wanted with freedom coursing through her veins like the sea water surrounding them. And it didn't matter if her father hated her, if she was scorned by the royal family, if she didn't know who her mother was, or if she might never see her brother again. Not then. All that mattered was the horizon in front of them, Jack's body against hers, her still-tingling lips, and the adventure they would face next. Her life would never be the perfect sunset of romance sonnets or plays, but her pirate was standing with her and neither had to sacrifice anything. They were going to be okay, in the world of adventure and danger and fear and sadness. They would be okay. She smiled, and allowed her voice to mix with Jack's for the line of their lives, the song of their people, and the mantra of their mugs.

"Drink up me hearties yo ho!"

This is Han, signing out.