Hellooo! Since many of you didn't seem to mind the length of the last chapter, I wont appologise for this one actually being longer. However, I will appologise for being so bad at replying to reviews. I'll start sticking review replies in the author's note of the next chapter, because I'm very bad at remembering who I've replied to and who I haven't when I do it privately. Sorry about that, seems really rude. Also, I won't do it in this one because I'm really ill and might throw up any second. Too much information? Sorry. :P

Love you guys.

LV XX

No… no I'm not ready to move.

Isabelle was still shaking when our dingy came drifting close to the Pearl. I didn't think that she was ready to leave it yet and I would have been quite happy to sit there forever if she'd needed me to. Her face was still buried into my chest, dampening my shirt with her tears. Her crying had eased off a little bit, but her body continued to tremble in my arms. People were either staring awkwardly at her, or doing their utmost to look anywhere other than her. I glared around at them all, moving my hand to protect Izzy's pain and shield her from those who didn't seem to care. My gaze fell on Elizabeth. She was one of the ones who were avoiding looking at Isabelle at all costs.

You're the worst offender of all.

The dingy stopped and everyone filed out. I shifted to gently take hold of Isabelle's shoulders and move so that I could see her beautiful eyes. Only they weren't looking quite as beautiful as they usually do on account of them being red and swollen. "Isabel, love," I almost forgot what it was I wanted to say to her. Your eyes are just so sad… don't be sad, love. Ever. "You have to hope for him. He may get out of this. He's intelligent…" Did I just compliment the Commodore? That's not right. "Enough..." Better. "He might have a plan, darlin'."

I bloody hope he had a plan.

She nodded and blinked away more tears that were threatening to build up again. It might have been because it was what she needed to hear, or it might have been down to her absolute (albeit probably misplaced) trust in me, but she didn't shed another tear after that. I used my sleeves to wipe the remaining ones away. She looked at me with those brilliant blue eyes. How…? How did the Commodore do it? Just how could you ever leave her? Determination had replaced the sorrow in her eyes and it made me want to scoop her up and kiss her right there and then. The intensity of it almost knocked me back, which was something that was both unnerving and new to me.

Don't, though. Nothing good would come from that, Jack-y. You wouldn't take advantage of a bereaved lass now, would you?

Well… it wouldn't exactly be a first…

But no… not her. Not my Isabelle. She deserves more than that. More than me.

She turned away from me and the moment was broken.

What the hell was that, Jack-y? You've got a lot more troublesome issues to be worrying about. Snap out of it.

I was left reeling as she climbed up the side of the Pearl. I followed her, feeling a little weak- both mentally and physically. I came face to face with Gibbs, which made me feel even more nauseous than I was already feeling. "Where's the Commodore?" he asked us, immediately bringing up the one thing I had hoped he wouldn't immediately bring up. I glanced at Izzy, she looked alright… all things considered. I wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close.

Stick with me, love, I'll keep you safe.

"Fell behind," I said quickly. Please don't press the matter Gibbs.

"My prayers be with him," he said, not very sincerely. Let that be an end of it. I shot him a look to warn him off further comments and we made our way up to the wheel. As is usual with Gibbs, he was quiet only for a moment. "Best not wallow in our grief. The bright side is that you're back and made it off free and clear."

That is so true. Lucky for me I-

Oh. Bugger.

The Dutchman rose up from the depths with its fishy crew at the helm. I clung to my jar of dirt and felt twice as comforted by it. You don't scare me squid-breath, I have dirt and your heart. "I'll handle this," I stepped forward to face the King of the fish. "Hey Fish Face!" I called to him, "Lose something? Hey-"

Aaaahhh… WHAT'S HAPPENING? WHY HAS THE SKY BECOME THE GROUND?

Oh… I fell. Just walk it off.

IS MY JAR OKAY?

Yes. Good.

"Got it!" I held it above my head just to prove that I was, indeed, still with the jar. "Come to negotiate, eh?" I asked him. Well you're the lowest bidder in this negotiation. "You slimy git! Look what I got! I got a jar of dirt! I got a jar of dirt and guess what's inside it?"

I wonder if he can feel his sandy, sandy heart beating away in my lovely jar.

I grinned at him. Old Fish Face didn't grin back, which is understandable, considering that I was clearly going to come out on top of all this. I hadn't bargained on how confused he would look. And I hadn't counted on his confusion turning into rage so quickly. "Enough!" he shouted. That wasn't a guess at all. You're not very good at this. Right in front of me, hatches opened and a row of cannons were unmasked.

Bugger…

Where did they come from?

This is not how you play a guessing game, Fish Face.

It's probably best to run now… he doesn't look in the mood for guessing games or negotiations. "Hard to starboard," I said quietly, my eyes still fixed on the row of cannons that were, rather worryingly, at the same level as my head. My orders rang out across the Pearl as it was passed from person to person. The Pearl exploded into movement as Fish Face and his crew of fellow, but less annoying, fishy-faced fish faces started preparing to fight us all. By the time The Duchman had started firing on us we had already turned and began our flight. I felt my beloved Pearl shake beneath me as we were hit a few times.

HOW MANY TIMES MUST I TELL PEOPLE TO STOP BLOWING HOLES IN MY SHIP?

There was a cry of "She's on us!" as the Dutchman turned to chase us. I didn't much like the look of it, but I wasn't overly worried. The Pearl is, after all, the fastest ship in the Caribbean. Faster even than one captained by a man with the head of a squid who smells like stench of a thousand rotten fish heads. Jones opened fire with a sneaky lot of canons that he'd kept sneakily hidden at the front of his ship. I made my way back up the stairs I had so elegantly tumbled down and stood by the wheel, where a Captain should be. Gibbs was there as another piece of my beautiful ship was blown to oblivion. I batted him away from the wheel.

STOP LETTING PEOPLE BLOW HOLES IN MY SHIP, MASTER GIBBS.

He stepped back and I did a better job of steering her one-handed than he had with both of his weathered old hands. I managed to get us out of range of the Dutchman's fire and pretty soon all I could hear was the sound of cannonballs splashing into the water around us. I glanced back at the ever-shrinking Dutchman.

And that, Fish Face, is what you call the sound of failure. Get used to it.

"She's fallen behind!" I heard the celebrations starting up around me and I smiled. Nothing could possibly go wrong now. I looked around at all the happy faces and let it infect me. I grinned at them all, breathing in the salty sea air of freedom.

"Jack," I knew that voice. I'd know it anywhere and it did nothing but help to enhance my good mood. I turned to look at Izzy and saw to my surprise that she was the only one on board who was frowning at the good turn of events.

Maybe she just doesn't understand what has just happened… how odd, usually it's only Will who doesn't get these things.

"I think she's falling behind, love," I said, just to clarify and awaited her radiant smile to return my own. It did now.

"So I can see," she said and her frown deepened. I saw her eyes flicker to my jar. "What makes you think that we're going to win? What's in that jar?"

Of course, that's what she's worried about. She doesn't know. Do I tell her?

"What, this jar?" I lifted it up to show her. "Dirt."

My joke did not lift whatever kind of mood she was in. "Why would you rub it in Jones's face that you have a jar of dirt?" her eyes narrowed slightly. "What else is in there?"

You can trust her with it, Jack-y. She's the one person on this whole ship who can be trusted not to betray you. I smiled at her, so sure that this was going to make her feel as good as I did. I couldn't wait to share with her what I had secured to keep us both safe. Keep us both alive and happy. For as long as I possibly could. With any luck she won't want to go back to Port Royal after all this… I placed a loving hand on the lid of the jar. "Jones's heart," I told her and waited for the delight to dance in her eyes. I waited for her to hug me and join in my new love for life.

Isn't this just the best news ever, love? Isn't this everything that could have gone well going well all by itself? Aren't you just-

Wait… wait… why aren't you smiling, Belle?

Why are you looking at me like that?

Oh my God, what's wrong?

Her eyes had become cold and I wasn't sure what she was thinking. I was never really sure what Isabelle was thinking, but now more than ever I doubted everything that I knew about her and woman in general. She was shaking. I saw her clench her fists in an effort to stop herself from doing so. She looked like she was close to tears. What is it, love? What's happened? Please say something. Please. There was something in her eyes that I'd never seen there before. It was intense. She'd never looked at me like that, but it wasn't in a good way.

PLEASE SAY SOMETHING.

When she did, it really wasn't what I was expecting. "You killed my brother."

What?!

WHAT?

"What?" I finally managed to say it out loud.

"You have the heart?" she said furiously. It wasn't really a question. "The chest James took to draw them off was empty?! He died to save us while all the time you had that bloody heart?"

This does not look good for me…

My stomach twisted horribly. Am I ill again? "But, Isabel," I tried to form words, but I felt sick. "We can… we can live…" And we can live together.

The anger she was feeling flushed her cheeks and burned in her eyes. The knot in my stomach twisted further. I really must be very, very seriously ill. "But James didn't! You could have gone in his place!" she jabbed a finger at me. Maybe I'm dying. "You had the heart! It's you Jones is after!" I'm not ill. This is guilt. So much guilt. "James was innocent and you let him sacrifice himself, knowing all the time that you had that heart!"

She started at me with that look I'd never seen there before burning in her eyes. Say something, Jack-y. Say something to make this better. "Isabel…" I tried to reach out and put my arm around her, make her feel alright, but she wasn't having any of it.

"I hate you," she said. No. No. Don't. Don't say that. She wasn't done. "I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!" Each one was angrier than the last and I realised that the look I didn't recognise burning in her eyes was hatred. Pure, simple, raw hatred. And it was directed at me. She looked like she was about to break down again. I just want to hold her until she's okay.

But I've caused this. I'm the cause of her pain.

She turned away from me.

NO!

NO, I can't lose her!

I reached out to take her arm and pull her back towards me. I had time to see that terrible, terrible, heart-breaking hatred there before her fist came out of nowhere and slammed into my face. OUCH. FUCK. OUCH, OUCH, OUCH, OUCH! I was knocked backwards, feeling a little dizzy as she pulled herself from my grasp and stormed away from me. No. No! Come back, love! I need you! Don't…

I wanted to run after her, but my feet seemed physically stuck to the deck of the Pearl. I set the jar down on the rail and buried my head in my hands momentarily. My jaw ached, but the physical pain was nothing compared to how awful I was feeling. I deserved that. I well and truly deserved that. How… how can I fix this? For a moment I felt myself run cold with a sickening fear and dread. What if she never forgives me? What if I never get to speak to her again? I looked at where she was standing on the deck through gaps in my fingers and suddenly her outline became blurred. She'll never stay now. No way. There is no way she'll forgive me for this. I killed her brother.

I remembered her looking at me with her eyes full of pain when she'd realised the Commodore's fate.

I'll never forgive me for this.

I sank down further into my hands.

I'm a terrible person, the very worst one I know.

Fuck.

What have I done?

She's gone now, Jack-y. You've blown it now.

As my thoughts began to spiral downwards into despair I was jolted from them by a literal jolt of the Pearl. I was flung forward. Something smashed. Fuck.

I looked down to where the jar had smashed on the deck beneath me. There was sand everywhere, but no sign of the heart. Where is it? Bugger, where is it? I ran down the stairs to the mountain of sand and broken glass and hurriedly began feeling my way through it. There was nothing but sand beneath my fingertips. "Where is it?" I looked around. "Where is the thump-thump?"

Did it roll away?

I continued to sift through the sand. Where are you? Where are you? Where are you?

"Must have hit a reef," someone shouted across the deck.

Where are you? Where are you? Where are you?

"It's not a reef!" the Eunuch shouted out to everyone. "Get away from the edge!"

Come on. Come on. You have to be somewhere.

"What is it?" the future Mrs Eunuch sounded terrified.

"The Kraken."

FUCK.

No. No. No. No. No.

What do I do? What the fuck do I do?

In my state of blind panic I could neither see nor hear anything properly. There was commotion and chaos all around me, but it seemed that everything inside me had stopped very suddenly. Then it all came crashing down at once and I stood up. I have to get out of here. I need to leave. I need to run.

When I looked around everyone was far too busy to notice me slip off into a longboat. It was difficult to row with such shaky hands, but I managed it quickly enough. For a moment there was no sign of any movement below the waves. What if it knows? What if the Kraken somehow knows I'm not on board? What if it gets me here? I wasn't far off when the Kraken's giant tentacles began to snake their way up the sides of my ship. Another moment later, all the sound on board the Pearl died out.

What are they doing?

Keep rowing, Jack-y. It doesn't matter.

There was an explosion of cannon fire and I watched the tentacles sink back down. There was another moment of complete stillness. I glanced around. What about now? Does it know now?

Keep rowing.

I put my head down and concentrated on the oars. There was a sickening crash and I could hear screams even though I was now a safe distance from the Pearl.

Don't look up.

Keep rowing.

Don't look up.

Too late.

I looked up. The Kraken, having learnt from its previous mistake, had managed to grip onto the Pearl and attack her from both sides, ripping into her. I could hear people screaming, hear futile gunshots and cannon blasts, see the Pearl braking.

You'll lose the Pearl, Jack-y.

She's just a ship. Keep rowing.

There are people dying out there, Jack-y.

None of them are me, though. Keep rowing.

One of them might be Izzy.

I stopped rowing and looked at the Pearl.

For all you know she's already dead.

… So? She hates you… remember?

I glanced behind me at the strip of land I was aiming for.

I could make that. I could easily make that if I kept going.

I took a long hard look at the land. It wasn't close, but it was close enough. I could stay alive there and be free to do so. Jones couldn't get me there. These thoughts weren't as appealing as I thought they might be. What's wrong? What's wrong with you living?

It's just… It's just…

Well…

Izzy won't be there. She'd definitely be dead.

She hates you, leave her to die.

No. No I don't want to.

I turned my head slowly back around to look at the Pearl. Why? Why am I doing this to myself? I know what will happen.

I picked up my Compass and flipped it open. The needle started up its usual spinning.

Tell me I want to go to land. Where I'm safe.

Tell me I don't want to go back to the Pearl. Where there's a strong possibility I'll end up dead. And a stronger possibility that Isabelle already is.

She hates me. She hates me. It should be fine to leave her.

I could try hating her too.

I can't.

The needle kept spinning. Why?

I love her too much.

The needle stopped, pointing back at the Pearl, pointing back at my Belle. No good ever comes of falling in love, Jack-y, you knew that. And you went and did it anyway. Now look where it's got you. Now I had no choice but to turn the longboat around and go back to rescue whatever was left of my darling Izzy. That brilliant, beautiful creature I'd probably left to die. The one person I'd trusted since that fucking mutiny lead by fucking Barbossa when he'd fucked me over. And I'd left her to the Kraken. It was a good job she already hated me. I am such an idiot. The best case scenario was that I saved her, somehow, from the grip of the Kraken and she never spoke to me again on account of me being a cowardly bastard who indirectly murdered her brother. That I could live with. As long as she was alive and well and eventually happy, once she'd gotten over all the damage I had caused, that would be okay. I could deal with that. What I couldn't deal with, was if I found her dead. Because that would be my fault. I'd rather she never spoke to me again of her own free will, than because her lips had been silenced by the cold finger of death.

I sprang out of the longboat the second that it came into contact with the side of the Pearl and scrambled up the steps along the side. Where are you, my darling Izzy? I looked around at the chaos that had engulfed the Pearl. It seemed that there were very few people left on board. I ran up to the wheel, the last place I had spoken to her and looked out onto the deck. I couldn't see her. I couldn't see her anywhere.

No. Please. No.

I could see the Eunuch dangling from a net full of barrels and for a moment I was utterly confused. Then I saw his Missus dart out from my Cabin and run up the stairs to where a gun was lying. She tripped on her way up, seemingly desperate to reach it. Aha! I think I see where this is going. Clever plan. I walked over and stepped on the gun, trapping it. Elizabeth's face twisted in frustration as she tried to push my boot off it. She looked up at me and her mouth dropped open. I studied her face. She didn't look upset. I hope this means that Belle's okay… surely she'd be upset if she wasn't?

I picked up the gun and aimed it at where William was trying to cut himself free of the net. I saw him drop to the deck and held the gun steady. Not yet… not yet… not yet… NOW!

I pulled the trigger at the first opportune moment that I saw. At a time where I thought I could cause optimum damage to the massive, vile creature. Everything went up in smoke and flames. The severely injured Kraken sank back down. I looked around as what was left of the crew began to emerge. I could see Gibbs, Marty, Cotton… Where is she? …Pintel, Raget- There she is!

She's alive! She's all right.

Let's keep it that way, just like I promised.

"Captain! Orders!" Gibbs shouted. I made my way down on to the lower deck. Isabelle looked at me for a split second and then looked away again.

"Abandon ship," I said quietly. "Into the longboat."

"But Jack!" Gibbs shouted after me. "The Pearl…"

I know. I looked around at her.

"She's only a ship, mate," I said. There are more important things than ships.

"He's right," Elizabeth agreed with me for what might have been the first time in her life. "We have to head for land."

"That's a lot of open water," Pintel frowned at Gibbs and I. I looked away from them and back at the carnage that was left on the Pearl.

"That's a lot of water," Ragetti agreed.

"We have to try!" Will said. "We can get away as it takes down the Pearl!"

"Aye," even Gibbs was beginning to come round to the idea. It was after all, our only hope. "Abandon ship. Abandon ship or abandon hope."

The survivors started to do just that. One by one they turned. I stood to block Izzy's way, forcing her to look me in the eyes. I could tell that her rage hadn't died, but there was just something she had to know. Telling her would probably do nothing to repair the damage I'd done, but I had to try. "If we don't get out of this, love, I want you to know..."

She pushed past me as if I hadn't even spoken. I should have seen it coming.

… I love you.

I watched her climb to safety and my heart almost broke. I turned around to look at the Pearl, resting my hand on the mast for the very last time. I've lost the Pearl, I've lost Belle… and there's nobody to blame but myself. I walked over to look up at the sails one last time before the Kraken took the Pearl back down to the depths.

"Thank you, Jack," Elizabeth said quietly. What do you want? I turned.

"We're not free yet, love," I reminded her.

"You came back," she looked almost… proud of me? I didn't do it for you. She took a step towards me. "I always knew you were a good man." I frowned at her. It wasn't you that made me so.

She kept moving towards me. I felt my frown deepen. What's she doing? Suddenly her lips were on mine and I didn't know what to do. Get off me. I'd never been involved in a kiss that I hadn't wanted before. You would think that it might have been pleasant, but it wasn't. It didn't mean anything. No kiss of mine had ever meant anything. And I was so bored of that. I need to get her as far away from me as possible. This is all wrong. This is disgusting. What is she playing at? I feel sick. She pushed me backwards into the mast and I heard a click. I opened my eyes as Elizabeth finally pulled away from me. I didn't know whether to laugh, cry or be sick. She'd chained me up.

"It's after you, not the ship. It's not us. This is the only way, don't you see? I'm not sorry," Elizabeth said, looking a lot like what she swore she'd never become. A ruthless, selfish, backstabbing murderess who'd betrayed me, her friends and even her beloved William in order to save her own skin. Despite everything, I smiled. Well, well, how the tables have turned…

"Pirate," I taunted her. She glared at me for a moment before she turned and ran down to take her place in the waiting longboat. Nobody came back up for me. I turned to look at where my left hand was cuffed to the mast.

Right… time to work out how to get out of this one, Jack-y.

I tried pulling and tugging and wriggling and rattling, but I was stuck fast. I put my foot on the base of the mast to see if I could wrench the chain free of it. Or snap the shackles somehow. I cursed it as I did so for being so stubborn and stuck. The Pearl pitched slightly beneath my feet and I stopped.

It was then that the screaming started.

Isabelle.

I could hear her voice carrying out across the water and I immediately felt a deep pain rip through me. It was me she was calling for. She sounded in so much pain; I couldn't bear to hear it. I'm coming, my darling. As she began to scream for them to let her go I drew my sword and reached out as far as I could to hook up an oil lantern that was lying a few feet away.

I can't let her come back here. I can't. It's dangerous.

I swung the lantern and smashed it against the mast. I dripped the oil onto my hand and then pulled as hard as I could. My poor Izzy was still calling for me. I wished that I could answer her, but I didn't want to give her false hope, or encourage her to follow out her threats to swim back to me. My hand started to squeeze its way out of the handcuff. Yes! The oil was helping. I glanced up in the direction of Izzy's screams. They were getting increasingly more frantic, but fainter by the moment as they rowed her away from me. Each one cut deep into my soul. My heart began to tear.

Stay safe until I can reach you. I'm on my way.

My hand slipped free and I smiled at it. I've never been so happy to see my own hand in my whole life. Then I became aware of an awful stench and something colossal breathing down my neck. Tentacles snaked their way into my line of vision and I knew that the Kraken was right behind me. I was free now. I might not make it, but I could try. I could try and run for it. I could dive off the side of Pearl and swim to the longboat.

Swim into the arms of my Isabelle.

But it was for exactly that reason that I knew I wouldn't. I could hear the way she was screaming for me and I could hear exactly what this was doing to her. All I could picture in my head was her face and those eyes. Miserable and full of pain. All because of me. And it wasn't the first time I had caused her that amount of pain, either. She deserved to be happy. More than that, she deserved to be alive. If I tried to run and made it as the Pearl went down, she'd be in danger all over again. It was suddenly painfully obvious how her brother had managed to turn her back on her and sacrifice himself to save her, even though it cause her a vast amount of distress. She was worth the sacrifice. If there was one thought that I hated more than the thought of causing her pain, it was the thought of causing her death.

"I love you, Isabelle Norrington," I said quietly. There, I said it. Out loud. It counts. And then my heart broke because they were words that she would never hear.

I turned my back on her screams and faced the Kraken's monstrous teeth. It opened its jaws and let out an almighty roar that almost knocked me off my feet and splattered me in mucus that smelt as bad as Gibbs was fond of saying it would.

Well… perhaps not a thousand rotting corpses… maybe only nine hundred and ninety nine. Guess I'll make it a thousand, then.

That's enough, Jack-y. This is serious now.

I glanced down and saw a familiar looking hat lying on the deck. Mine. At least I'd gotten that back. I bent down and scooped it up. It felt right to have it back on my head. I looked up at the Kraken once more. It was waiting for me, it was in no rush. It knew as well as I did that I wasn't going anywhere.

I'll fight to my last breath, beasty. No matter how soon that may be.

For a moment, I was full of fear. Death had always been a thing that terrified me. And now here I was, face to face with it. I drew my sword and let the sound of Izzy's screams fill my head. I pictured her- her eyes, her nose, her lips, her hair and suddenly I didn't feel quite so scared anymore. Thank you, Izzy, for teaching me that there is something worth dying for. You. The Isabelle in my head smiled in a way that told me she'd lead a good life -a happy life, a long life- without me.

It was this image I clung to as I ran into the jaws of the Kraken.

Goodbye, my darling Belle.

I love you, enternally, even in death.