It was fitting that he'd wake to the sounds of a battle after he'd died with one waging inside him.

James jerked at this sudden awareness, becoming immediately aware of every ache and pain, every inch of his body, as well as his racing thoughts. The clothing against his skin itched; his skin felt tight from the dried salt water; his gut felt bruised; every breath he took burned and his throat was raw as if he'd screamed himself hoarse. Fear gripped him then, once the initial awareness wore off. Was he onboard the Dutchman still? Had Davy Jones ignored his desire for death and revived him anyway as a type of torture?

Starting with his feet and working his way up to his head, James slowly twitched and clenched each muscle group he could, making sure that all limbs were indeed intact. Satisfied that he was still wholly together, James reluctantly began to blink away what felt like a sealant that kept his eyelids shut. He ended up having to reach up to near pry his lids open.

Before he cloud blink the world into focus, whilst everything was still blurry and he could only make out shapes and shadows, he felt a presence come alongside the cot he lay in. He drew back, pressing himself against the wooden wall, and held up his hands to keep the presence at bay. Instead of being attacked or reprimanded, the presence quietly seized his hands and drew them closer to itself. It was when he felt warm lips press against the back of one of his hands and then again against the back of the other that James realized he was most definitely not onboard the Dutchman.

"Elizabeth?" Unable to see he relied upon his memory and the last person he'd seen who'd even be tempted to kiss his hands had been she.

As quickly as his hands had been kissed they were now dropped and the presence drew away, the door to the room clicking shut. James was left reaching into the air while the shadows and blurs kept him from seeing who had been in the room with him. He lay still then, for a few minutes longer, waiting. He didn't know what he was waiting for exactly. A sudden explanation of why it was he was once more on a ship, and alive at that, perhaps. Or who had been in the room with him before, since it apparently it had not been Elizabeth. She would've responded to him, he knew that for sure.

In the distance he could still hear the sounds of battle and with it now the sounds of a storm. Yet the ship he was on swayed back and forth as if it were not being waylaid with attacks or harmed by the storm. Since he'd of recent become accustomed to the otherworldly as a near constant in his life, he found himself unworried with these facts. Most likely Sparrow had gotten into more trouble and the ship he was on was observing that trouble from a safe distance.

The door opened and James turned his head towards it. His eyes were clearer now and he could see that the newcomer was a female, although her features weren't clear enough to recognize who she was at this distance.

"How is it that you are barely awake five minutes and you've already managed to muck everything up?"

James recognized the voice but couldn't quite pinpoint where from. It was a distant memory, or one that he'd tried to wipe clean from his mind. Most likely it was a voice from his time on Tortuga, though that time was such a blur of mistake after mistake that he typically tried to forget it ever happened.

"Who are you?" he asked while the figure slowly came towards him.

Her head was still down when she was close enough for him to study in more detail, her eyes focused on the tray she held in her arms. On it was a bowl of broth, a towel, and a spoon. It was only after she set the tray down on the table nearest the cot that she brought her head up and James felt his stomach plummet with recognition.

"Yes, now you remember do you?" Ashlynne's sister shook her head at him and he read disappointment in her eyes. "It would have done you good to have remembered about ten minutes ago."

James licked his lips and struggled to sit up, "Ashlynne?"

"Aye, the woman who drug your body out of the sea and had been wearing the deck out by your bedside, up until about ten minutes ago, was Ashlynne." Hope clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth. "You are a very talented man, James Norrington. Even in death you are able to irk my sister to an irrational level. I know she's always had a temper and that between the two of us I'm the more even keel one, but still, you really must tell me your secret because it is most morbidly fascinating to watch." She leaned forward and finished helping James sit up against the wall before she handed him the bowl and spoon. "Eat. You'll need your strength if you're going to try to repair the damage you just rendered."

James stared at the bowl then back up at Hope, "How...I mean why…" His voice tapered off and James couldn't seem to put his confusion into words.

"Food is good for strength and I'm fairly certain you put the spoon in the broth and drink from it after you bring it to your mouth." James frowned while in contrast Hope smiled. "Well I know I should leave it up to Ashlynne to explain but given the tendency you two have for misunderstandings and miscommunications I'll take matters into my own hands and tell you at least a wee bit." Hope waited until James shifted on the cot before she sat on the edge, given the fact that there was no other place for her to sit in the small quarters. "You see Ashlynne needed three enchanted items to break the curse," James nodded and waved his hand, trying to convey the fact that he already knew that much, "Ah well, I'll hurry on then." Hope narrowed her eyes at him and James blushed, embarrassed that he'd inadvertently tried to hurry her along whilst she was doing him a favor. "In any case, we were able to track a third item to Sao Feng. His ship, as I'm sure you are quite aware, was being towed by the Dutchman by the time we were close enough to retrieve the item. Of course Ashlynne was not pleased to find Sao Feng dead, as they'd been amiable at one point in time."

"Amiable?" James tried to keep his voice even and not betray his curiosity over just how amiable they'd been.

Hope wasn't to be fooled and sighed in response, "Are you more interested in my sister's past or are you more interested in why your corpse isn't being eaten by fish right now?"

"My apologies, please continue." James began to eat the broth, figuring if he ate it'd keep him busy enough to no longer ask ridiculous questions.

"Well, it just so happened that once they were on the dingy and ready to head back to our ship with the third item, they witnessed the attack against you and so when Davy Jones had your body thrown into the water Ashlynne and the others were close enough to retrieve you. As Ashlynne still had the pendant on, it was logical that she be the one to fetch you, in case things went wrong you see." James felt a chill come over him and for the first time he noticed a strange weight around his neck. His hand gripped the spoon tighter as he continued to listen to Hope's explanation. "Of course, after they fished you out of the water it seemed to be too late. But undaunted, Ashlynne broke the curse on herself and, as I'm sure you are becoming quite aware, she laid the curse upon you." Hope leaned forward and momentarily pressed her hand against his chest and James felt more keenly the pendant under her hand where it dug into his skin. "This did not seem to help at first though, as you did not start breathing and your heart seemed to have stopped."

Hope sat back again and waited a moment, perhaps for James to gather his wits about him again now that he was aware of his newly gained immortality. So as to not spill the broth in his lap, James raised the bowl to his lips and drank the rest of the liquid before he handed both spoon and bowl to Hope. As she placed the items back on the tray James finally spoke.

"Did the curse restart my heart?"

Hope smiled, "Nay but it did begin the healing process on the wound Jones gave you." She pointed towards his abdomen and James became more aware of the stiffness that emanated from that area. "No your heart restarting was from a combination of Ashlynne and I pounding on it, and just so you know, it's my breath that filled your lungs again so do not go wasting it on frivolous things like pride and stupidity when dealing with my sister."

"Your breath?" James raised his eyebrows, not quite comprehending.

"Since you were not breathing I breathed air into your lungs, to make sure that if there was fluid in them you'd cough it out, should your heart restart again, which it did." Hope shrugged. "It is a technique I learned from an old Chinese sailor that I treated back in Tortuga. They have apparently known to do that for years while the rest of us seem to think that once the heart stops then that's it."

James nodded but kept silent. So Ashlynne had saved him, even after he'd been the one to kill her at least once and had had a hand in a few other times. Of course, she'd cursed him too, but did he not deserve a curse after all the things he'd done with his life? What sort of curse was immortality though? Did it not offer up the answers to mankind's questions, hopes, and dreams? Or did it also feed into their worst nightmares? An eternity spent watching others die and the world spin on without his being able to stop the worst atrocities? Yes, that was hell.

"This curse," James heard the tremor of fear in his voice and so cleared his throat before he continued, "can it be broken the same way that Ashlynne broke hers?"

"I am not sure. We have not tried. Ashlynne thought it best to wait until your wound was fully healed before we tried. She had no grievous wounds on her when she broke her curse and so we don't know if when we do the same for you if your body will continue to heal or if all will be reversed." Hope held up her left hand and James saw a ring on her middle finger. "Parlan has the dagger still and Ashlynne gave me this for safe keeping for the time being. She was hoping to take a break from enchanted items for a wee bit, and I do not blame her."

"If each of these items is cursed, the pendant with immortality, then what do the others do?"

Hope shook her head, her eyes then taking in the details of the ring on her finger, "Well we can take the ring off and put it back on without any problems, unlike your pendant. As Sao Feng was deceased when Ashlynne retrieved it, we are not sure what it does. However, we do know that the dagger Parlan has is somehow able to make it difficult for others to see him at times. It's almost as if he becomes a shadow himself when he wants to be one. Gave me quite a fright the other night because of it." Hope tipped her head to the side then and gave James a long look, "So why did you call out another woman's name when you woke? Have you moved on from my sister?"

"What?" James tensed. "No, I mean I did call out another woman's name. I called for Elizabeth, I am not sure if you know her." Hope continued to stare at him relatively blankly so he continued. "I had last seen her before my death and so I naturally assumed that it had been she who had somehow retrieved and revived me. If I had known it was Ashlynne-"

"You would've called her name instead?" Hope stood up, a frown on her face. "So when she is not readily seen by you you have no need for her? It is only when she is available that you want her?" James frowned in response but kept his mouth tightly shut, realizing that by listening to Hope he would glean some insight into what Ashlynne might feeling now as well. "That does not seem entirely fair, and I'm not even referring to the fact that she saved your life. Take that out of the equation and I would still think that it is highly selfish of you to only want someone when it seems convenient for you to have them and not at all times, even when it highly inconvenient."

"I never said such a thing." James growled, not at all liking the accusations thrown at his feet by a woman who only had one side of the story in her head.

Hope gave him a sad sort of smile then, "You may not have said that but that is what your recent actions have said to my sister. What you may not realize yet, Mister Norrington, is that my sister is just as much a woman as I." James raised his eyebrows in response, a brief memory of the taste of Ashlynne's lips concurring with Hope's statement. "Yes she is stronger than most, more capable than most, more confident than most, and decidedly more deadly than most, but inside she still desires the same thing that most women desire." Hope picked up the tray. "She desires unadulterated love from a man who feels he must live at his best in order to deserve her. He may not be the best, and he is most decidedly not perfect, but to have her heart, he wants to be the best, and that is what makes the difference."

"What of my desires?" He called after her when she seemed finished with her lecture and had started towards the door.

He heard her snort and she didn't bother to turn around but instead spoke over her shoulder, "Do you even know what you desire Mister Norrington?

She was through the door and he alone before he could muster up a grunt for an answer. Did he know what he desired? For so long he'd desired a successful career in the navy, a proper wife to come home to, and the prestige that went along with such a lifestyle. Then he'd met Ashlynne and the whole fiasco with their first encounters, and his subsequent betrayal of her. He'd been left confused, bewildered, but then hardened from that time.

After that he'd again tried for a successful career, and convinced himself that he'd wanted Elizabeth as his proper wife. But again Ashlynne had resurfaced, as if to torment him with the reminder that he was not just rules and order, that he was also flesh and blood. The things he hated most about pirates and those who broke the law was their passion, their ability to risk everything in the moment, gambling that it'd pay off in the end. He'd not risked it then and had instead caused harm to Ashlynne once more.

Then when he did attempt to risk everything it hadn't paid off and it had been for the wrong reasons. He'd caused the deaths of most of his crew and he'd fallen from grace in the eyes of the navy and polite society. Even after Lord Beckett had granted him a new commission he'd seen the way others looked at him, pity and distrust in their eyes. Even Groves spoke to him differently; after the last encounter with Ashlynne, the man had never approached James unless he absolutely had to and even then he never made polite conversation as he had before.

With the new commission James had felt he'd had a chance at redemption but for whom, and what for? Elizabeth did not want him, she was for Turner and James earnestly wished them all the best. He'd made a deal with the devil but that very deal was the gale force wind that'd finally broke him two, as Ashlynne had predicted. He'd died a failure as a naval officer, a failure as a lover, and a failure as an honorable man.

What was he now to live for, since Ashlynne had taken it upon herself to curse him with another chance? What were her reasons for rescuing him? Revenge? The desire that he know intimately what she'd had to live with for years? Or was it something else, as her kisses to his hands earlier led him to believe. Their last encounter had been bittersweet but she'd even admitted to the fact that they typically brought more harm than good to one another and their parting had had a sense of finality to it. Now, however, he had a chance…to do what?

He could not take up the mantle of being a naval officer again. He was sure some of his men had witnessed his death, and by now most likely Elizabeth had reported his death to others—if she'd survived at all that is. But even if they had not, if she had not, he wondered if he'd even want to rejoin the ranks of absolute rules and order. The cold comfort of regulations had only brought him pain and destruction, though on the other side of the coin the complete compromise of his ethics and morality had also brought about death, his own.

James could stay "dead" to polite society and instead pursue a life of…what? He knew nothing of farming, nothing of fishing, nothing of trade or business. He'd spent his life in the navy and only knew how to be a good officer. What was he to do? How was he to live? A man without purpose was a ship without a rudder, and unfit as a partner.

Until he knew these answers he felt incapable of figuring out what he wanted from or with Ashlynne. He knew he still loved her, as he'd never loved any other woman, but loving someone does not always mean that you should be with them. Staying away from her could ensure her future happiness and success, as well as his own. Or it could spell out their misery. He felt in his heart that she still loved him, or else she would not have saved him and cursed him at the same time. But was love enough for her as well? Or rather, was their love strong enough to last?

James realized, lying there with the sounds of the battle finally dying out, that he knew very little about the woman beyond the snippets he'd gleaned from her, or from others. They'd never been allowed the privilege of a proper courtship and because of that the nuances of her character that he hadn't seen—he knew well her tenacity, her sense of duty, her willingness to martyr herself, but little else—were still a mystery to him. He had not been given the opportunity learn of her desires for a more "traditional" relationship, and neither had she been given the chance to see him as anything other than a hardened naval officer, unwilling to compromise or when he did compromise did so for the wrong reasons.

He threw back the coverlet and lowered his feet to the floor. He knew what he desired now. James smiled, even though he didn't exactly know where to start. He was going to court Ashlynne Fitzpatrick and properly win over her heart, as she deserved.