Annalise frowned as she sat on the top step of the stairs leading up to the sterncastle deck. From her place, she stared down at the crew… or rather, she stared blankly toward the crew while her mind wandered with thoughts of the ones she couldn't see.
Elizabeth was huddled as usual on the stairs leading down to the lower deck. It had nothing to do with the freezing cold as they sailed passed icebergs, the very air they breathed bringing pain as their lungs tried to fight the sharp needle-like pricks each icy breath punctured into them. No, what kept Elizabeth out of sight was the same thing that had kept her away from Annalise for months now.
Guilt.
It was written all over Elizabeth's face, even if it had taken some time for Annalise's grief over Jack's death to subside enough for her to recognize the emotion that hung in the very air around her sister. It had only taken witnessing a few interactions between Elizabeth and Will, as well as Will's own bitterness, for Annalise to realize what had most probably triggered her sister's odd behaviour.
Elizabeth had fallen in love with Jack; and now, she felt guilty for her feelings for a man that was not her fiance, a dead man her sister had loved. It was the only explanation.
At first, Annalise had refused to believe the possibility. Elizabeth had loved Will too much and too long, besides which she had never exactly seen eye to eye with Jack (and that had been putting it mildly, Annalise thought). But the longer Elizabeth avoided her, the more the doubt crept in. And the more Elizabeth jerked away from Will, the less Annalise could deny it. Will's terse attitude only seemed to seal the fact because it was clear he had witnessed something, possibly something around the time of Jack's death, that made him just as stiff around Elizabeth as she seemed to be with him.
And it hurt. It hurt far more than Jack's rejection of her and it made the dread of finding Jack and bringing him back (if it was possible as Tia Dalma and Barbossa said it was) twist in Annalise's stomach. Because she could picture that day all too clearly: Elizabeth, standing near the rails of the Black Pearl, staring back at Jack as the pirate captain smiled charmingly at her while he took back his compass from the elder Swann sister.
And if that was the picture she would have to see every day for the rest of her life, Annalise was certain she would rather jump off the ship and go straight to Davy Jones's Locker herself. Perhaps Will would join her.
And speaking of Will… Will was avoiding her too now, she was sure of it. Ever since Jack's death, there had been a tension between all of them too, that was true - Annalise figured it was from his own heartache at Elizabeth's changed feelings. But since Singapore, Will had been more distant than ever. The friend, almost brother, had disappeared and in his place was a cold stranger.
Annalise closed her eyes and leant back on the step, turning her face up toward the bleak sun. And not for the first time, she wondered just exactly what her place in the world was meant to be.
'If we find him… if we find Jack, what next?' She asked herself for the upteenth time, her heart sinking even further. 'If he's not my future but Lizzie's… what will be left for me? If he takes my heart and my sister… and if my brother sails away without me… what am I to do?'
Annalise's thoughts were broken as Will suddenly strode up onto the deck, his face set in a cold mask that had nothing to do with the icy tendrils that kept their muscles locked. He walked swiftly up to where Barbossa stood at the helm, not even looking at Annalise as he went.
A flash of irritation burst through and Annalise stood, trailing Will and intending to snap at him; but her anger dissipated as Will thrust the chart he'd been poring over right into Barbossa's face.
"Over the edge over again. Sunrise sets flash of green."
Annalise frowned at Will's words, but he didn't notice as he fixed his gaze on Barbossa and only Barbossa.
"That's what it says on those charts. Do you care to interpret, Captain Barbossa?"
The ire in the younger man's voice was unhidden but Barbossa just smirked.
"Ever gazed upon the green flash, Master Gibbs?" He called abruptly, and Gibbs glanced over before he shrugged.
"I reckon I've seen my fair share." The first mate mused. "Happens on rare occasion' the last glimpse of sunset, a green flash shoots up into the sky."
He turned to face them as he continued, "Some go their whole lives without ever seeing it, some claim to have seen it who ain't, and some say-"
"-It signals when a soul comes back to this world from the dead!"
The group, startled, turned to stare at Pintel where he and Ragetti had been listening with wide eyes. It was obvious that the pair had been trying to warm up from the cold when they heard Gibbs start his story and the impatient pirate had butted in excitedly, glad to have something else to do and focus on than the cold that threatened to stop their very blood in their veins.
Catching the look on Gibbs's face at being interrupted from his tale, however, the pirate ducked his head and mumbled awkwardly. "Sorry."
Barbossa coughed before he faced Will again and said, handing back the charts, "Trust me, young Master Turner. It's not gettin' to the land of the dead that's the problem."
The pirate captain swung the rudder, turning them away from another glacier before looking at Annalise this time as he continued.
"It's gettin' back."
Annalise shivered, and for once it had nothing to do with the cold. Will meanwhile took the chart slowly, his expression thoughtful.
"What be on yer mind, Miss Swann?"
Annalise looked up sharply from where she had been staring blankly across the frozen sea. Barbossa raised a brow at the way she tensed as soon as he had spoken and he chuckled.
"Ah… two months of sailin' together and ye still haven't come to trust me, I see."
"You're the man who once mutinied against your own captain." Annalise pointed out tersely. "And you threw me off a ship to die on an uninhabited island."
"Come now, my lady, what else did you expect from a pirate?" Barbossa shrugged as he came up beside her. "Would have thought you'd be well used to it by now and perhaps even admire me actions, what with you and Jack being so close."
Annalise's hand tightened on the blanket she held around her shoulders; despite the darkness of her skin against the cloth, brought on by the unbearable cold, Barbossa noticed.
"So, you and Jack had a fallin' out."
"Don't act like you didn't know." Annalise grumbled sharply. "I know you figured it out ages ago."
"I guessed as much, tis true." Barbossa acknowledged as he turned to stare out into the ocean with her. "I must say, though, I was a bit surprised."
"Why?" Annalise asked despite herself, more out of annoyance than real curiosity.
"I've known Jack for many years." Barbossa began, leaning back casually. "Far more than I ever wished I'd known him, to tell the truth. I've seen him charm many a woman, fine and not so fine, and I've seen him chase many a skirt only to leave and ne'er come back. Sometimes I even think I've witnessed more women havin' their hearts handed back to them by Jack Sparrow than I have plundered ships."
"If you were trying to make me feel even worse about myself, you succeeded." Annalise snapped. But Barbossa's next words surprised her.
"I thought I'd seen it all, Miss Swann; but I never thought I'd see the day when Jack Sparrow lost his heart to a woman."
Annalise frowned and glanced at Barbossa.
"I don't think I follow." She said slowly and Barbossa's lips twitched with humour.
"Oh, I think ye do."
"Jack didn't love me - he said so himself." Annalise answered flatly and Barbossa let loose a hearty laugh.
"What did ye expect, Miss Swann? Did you think he was a swashbuckling hero that would declare his love fer ye to the world the way young Turner would do? Nah, Jack Sparrow was a pirate, through and through. The call of the sea is a powerful thing to us, and the fear of the fiercest beast that hunted in it is still more powerful. It takes a brave man to stand against that, fer a woman no less; and Jack Sparrow was not a brave man."
"You're wrong." Annalise mumbled, finding herself somewhat surprised to be defending Jack. "He was brave, even if his reasons weren't always noble. He still came back to help us, and it was despite the call of the sea and the fear of the Kraken."
Barbossa shrugged. "I'm not about to argue with a woman in love."
"I'm not in love with him." Annalise said sharply. "Not anymore."
"Oh, ye're not?" Barbossa challenged, cocking his brow.
"I said I wasn't."
"You're sailing the seas with a bunch of thieves and crooks, riskin' the life of not just yerself but also your sister, and about to go past the edge of the world itself to enter Davy Jones's Locker with no guarantee that ye will make it back out." Barbossa raised both brows. "Sounds like the actions of someone desperately in love to me."
"You're wrong!"
Annalise whirled on Barbossa with eyes burning with anger. For him… and for herself.
"I'm going to save him because it's the right thing to do for everyone. Only the Brethren can stop Beckett and Davy Jones, that's what you said. I need the Brethren to help me save my father from Beckett, and you said the Brethren need Jack. That's all there is to it! And you're certainly the last person to talk about love, Captain, when the only things you've ever cared about are green apples and a monkey named after the man you betrayed!"
"If ye say so, Miss Swann." Barbossa shrugged again and loped off, leaving Annalise fuming after him, before he paused.
"Oh, but, if ye don't mind me askin'," he added without looking back. "If I'm wrong, then why is there a sparrow hanging from yer neck?"
Annalise's hand jumped to her chest, touching the ice-cold metal in the shape of a familiar bird that was hidden beneath her clothing. How did he know?
Annalise's eyes flew back to Barbossa in shock to see him grinning back at her. For once, there was no malice in his expression, only amusement and a touch of something - almost nostalgia. And then he was turning and he walked off while whistling as best as he could through frozen lips, leaving Annalise to stare speechlessly after him.
They had sailed past even the cold by the time Annalise had worked through her anger at Barbossa only to sink into depression. He was right, after all - if she didn't love him, why had she been so anxious, desperate enough to volunteer to steal the charts alongside Will, to bring Jack back even if it meant costing her heart all over again?
'Because you're pathetic.' Annalise thought morosely. 'Because even if you want to hate him, you can't help but think he's a good man. A man worth loving. And, more importantly, worth saving.'
She sighed as she stared at the familiar pendant sitting in her palm while she leant over the rails to the rear of the ship.
But she was broken from her reverie as Will came dashing onto the sterncastle deck, shouting, "Barbossa! Ahead!"
"Aye!" Barbossa agreed cheerily. "We're good and lost now."
That gained everyone's attention fast and Annalise whipped around to stare at Barbossa along with the crew.
"Lost?" Elizabeth repeated, aghast, but Barbossa was unruffled in his reply.
"For certain, you have to be lost to find a place as can't be found. Elseways, everyone would know where it was."
Gibbs meanwhile had noticed something else and he peered over the side of the ship before looking back at everyone with a white face.
"We're gainin' speed!" He cried.
Annalise peered over the side of the rails and she too paled at what she saw while Barbossa just agreed with Gibbs cheerfully.
"Oh, my god." Annalise whispered as she stared at what appeared to be a huge waterfall coming up - a huge waterfall, in the middle of the sea, that ran the length of the horizon as far as she could tell.
"Over the edge." She gasped, while Will shouted at the crew.
"To stations! All hands to stations!"
The men dashed about, Elizabeth and Annalise joining them as they all made a mad rush to try and turn away from what was apparently their impending doom.
"Rudder full! Hard to port! Gather way!"
"Nay! Belay that!" Barbossa yelled, making everyone stare at him again. "Let her run straight and true!"
"He's mad!" Annalise gasped while Elizabeth accused, "You've doomed us all!"
"Don't be so unkind." Barbossa chided, letting go of the wheel to walk over to the ratlines where he grasped the ropes securely. "You may not survive past this way again and these be the last friendly words you'll hear."
Elizabeth scowled before whirling back to stare at the waterfall. Will was still running about the deck with the men, getting them as prepared as possible to face the literal edge of the world, but Barbossa grasped Annalise as she ran by.
"So, Miss Swann." He asked far too calmly for her erratic mind. "If this ends up being your final moments, your final words - what have you to say?"
She stared at him, at first ready to snap at him sharply. But something in his yellowed gaze made her pause and Annalise frowned.
"Who was she?" She asked abruptly, surprising the pirate captain. "The woman you lost? The one you were thinking of when you died on Isla de Muerta?"
Barbossa remained stunned for a moment before he let her go with a chuckle that was far too sad to not be true.
"Ah, Miss Swann." He said with a small smile at her. "I can see why Jack liked you."
Annalise's eyes widened while Barbossa's smile turned into a smirk.
"And I must say - it is very fitting that yer last word would apparently be the dead."
Annalise sucked in a sharp breath of realization, just as the ship tipped over the edge of the world. The wood strained and creaked as the crew fought to keep her from falling completely over; but fighting the tide was, as any sailor worth his salt knew, a battle lost. With yells and screams - and a laugh from Barbossa - the ship tumbled over the edge and they all fell into darkness.