After hour two of watching the thieves fail to pull the Pearl out to open sea themselves, Rose finally sheathed her sword. She was very well hidden behind the crate, and it wasn't worth spending her energy on fighting these two men if they could spend their own getting the ship out to see. Then she could declare herself their superior and the three of them could then create a diversion. Or, if they tried to fight her, she felt confident enough in her skills that she could topple them overboard just as she had with the pirates in Tripoli and man the Pearl herself.
When the first of the two made it on deck, however, she realized that these men were no strangers to the Pearl. The man stood a few paces away from her, then popped out a wooden eye from one of his sockets to clean it. Ragetti! Just as he did, however, Jack the monkey startled him by leaping onto his shoulders. Ragetti cried out in alarm and dropped the eye, sending it rolling across the deck. This sent Jack racing off after it as well and Ragetti pouncing after him.
"PULL LOOSE THE MOORING LINE," Rose heard what was presumably Ragetti's fried Pintel cry from the beach below.
Ragetti plaintively called back, "He's got me eye! He won't give it back!"
Suddenly, Rose heard the splashing of several more people approaching the ship, and she stood up from behind her crate in alarm. To get great relief, however, she saw Joshamee, Cotton, Marty, and most of the original Pearl crew begin to climb up the side of the ship and pour onto the deck. Leech and the rest of his group were gone, which sadly was probably for the best as rumors were arising of a mutiny between them. But how did the others survive? Then, Rose noticed Will, still very much alive and conversing with Gibbs on the beach below. But Rose had seen him go limp from a dart...perhaps it was just a sedative. She searched desperately for Jack—nowhere to be found. Her heart sank. But she knew she had to swallow her worst fear for the moment because there was no time. She needed to aid the existing crew at once so they could escape the island.
Just at that moment, Rose heard Jack's unmistakable voice coming from the distance. From around the mountain on the shore, she spotted Jack, running for his life with hundreds of warriors trailing him. So much relief soread through her as she yelled, "RUN!" and freed several ropes with Will's sword for the crew to climb up. The tide was far enough now, and the ship began to rock with the force of the ocean against it. The ship evened out, and they began to steer towards open sea. Joshamee ascended, and immediately saw Rose standing at the helm. "Thank heavens, child! We're saved!" he cried, grasping her shoulders. She received a similar greetings from the rest of the surviving crew, or merely sympathetic glances. Pintel and Ragetti, suddenly very uncomfortable with the appearance of the ship's old crew, awkwardly hovered, trying to blend in with the crew as if they had always been there. Will was the last to come up with the group.
Jack, completely drenched by the ocean waves, then climbed aboard, but was immediately approached by both Joshamee and Will, and as they made their way to the forecastle deck, Rose stood back and waited. After some time of talking things through with Will, she watched Gibbs and Jack descend from the deck and make his way towards his quarters. However, he stopped upon descending the last step, making eye contact with Rose.
She began to burst into tears as soon as he saw her, and then he made a beeline straight for her and embraced her tightly.
"It's alright," he said soothingly. "We're away from all of that now."
Rose pulled away, and through staggered breaths, she said, "But…at what cost? Now we're back on open sea, and—"
Jack put up a hand to silence her. "It's alright. I'm charting a course for more land. I'll figure it out, I always do." She nodded, although this did nothing to assuage her fears. "Just, take a breath," Jack said. "Get some air, then we can talk as much as you need, savvy?"
She nodded again, and he left her there to plan out their next move. Rose wiped away her tears, looking out towards the island that had just completely overturned her life growing smaller and smaller as they fled from it. After a time, her breathing relaxed to a regular rate once more, and she became lost in thought. This was interrupted, however, but Will.
"Pardon my interruption," he said, "But I noticed you here and had to say hello once more. I'm glad to see that you ultimately found Jack. I don't believe you ever told me your name…"
Rose gave a small smile, but it wasn't enough to hide her sadness. "Rose Hexfury," she said. "It's good to see you alive, Will."
Will furrowed his brow. "You're upset. My apologies, I'll leave you be."
"No," she said. "I could use the company. And," she said, unfastening his cutlass that she had picked up from where he had dropped it on the island, "I have your sword."
Will gratefully accepted it. "Thank you for retrieving this," he replied, fastening it to his belt.
"That trap was set for me. It was the least I could do. And I owed you back from when you helped save me and Jack…and Ben." His name stung as it escaped her lips.
"He…didn't make it off the island, did he?"
Rose's eyes filled with tears once more as she shook her head.
"I'm sorry," he replied, leaning his forearms on the railing. They stood there for awhile in silence, until Rose finally broke it with a desperate attempt at hope. "What about you? How does Elizabeth fare?" She turned to look at him. "We saw you two together on the bluff after Jack made his escape from Port Royal. You seemed to be successful."
Will gave a small smile at the memory, but then grew somber. "She's in irons."
"What?"
"Lord Beckett of the East India Trading Company is holding her as a prisoner for letting Jack go. He will keep her there unless…"
Rose finished the thought. "He has sent you to bring Jack in, is that it?"
"No actually. I need his compass."
Fully knowing the power of the compass, Rose tried not to show concern when she lied, "That compass is broken."
"That's what they all say," said Will. "But for some reason the head of the East India Trading Company needs his compass to free myself and my fiancée."
Rose grimaced. "But…Jack needs his compass. More than ever before, in fact."
Will shook his head. "I figured that you would say as much." He looked up at her. "If you don't mind me asking, what is it that connects you two? Why do you protect him?"
She finally conceded, letting the facade fall. "Jack's my brother."
"Brother?" Will looked taken aback. "I…did not expect that."
She shrugged. "It's true. I'm sorry I can't help you more in your quest. I very much feel for you and Elizabeth.
Will nodded sadly. "I understand. There is hope for us yet, however." Suddenly, he reached inside his vest pocket and procured the parchment with the drawing of the key on it. "Jack did just promise me his compass in return for finding this. Do you know anything about it?"
Rose gulped. She knew much about it, but she wasn't sure that she was at liberty to tell Jack about the chest of Davy Jones. Instead, she just shook her head.
"As I also expected," Will replied, looking closer at it. "All Jack said was that we 'had a need to travel upriver.'"
Rose stood straighter at this. "What?"
"Aye," Will corroborated. "And I heard Gibbs mention a, 'passing fancy?' Do you know what he meant by that?"
Rose felt rage build deep inside her. "I know precisely what he meant by that."
Rose rushed back to Jack's quarters. Slamming the door behind her, she yelled, "YOU!"
Jack spun around, grabbing his coat and his compass. "Rose, let's not lose our heads!"
Rose grabbed a nearby metal plate and threw it in his direction. He ducked behind his chair and it went careening across the room, crashing against the far wall. "NOW YOU LISTEN TO ME!"
He peered over his chair. "THAT would be losing your head, wouldn't it?"
She threw a fork. "I SAID FROM THE START THAT WE SHOULD HAVE GONE TO TIA DALMA!" She grabbed her boot and chucked it his direction, hitting the chair he cowered behind. "BUT YOU ONLY TOOK MY ADVICE ONCE IT SUITED YOU! ONCE YOU REALIZED YOU WERE WRONG. ONCE YOU HAD KILLED OFF HALF OF YOUR CREW!"
He stood upright now. "ENOUGH WITH THE THROWING!" he cried as her other boot hit his left shoulder. "STOP IT!"
Rose stood there, her hair messy and no longer tied together, barefoot and panting, completely out of breath and out of things to throw.
"Fine, alright!" he said. "You were right all along. Is that what you wanted to hear?"
Rose was astonished. "You truly have no remorse, do you? Do you even realize what I have lost because of your ignorance?"
"Listen to me," Jack said carefully, "What happened to Mr. McHenry was…regrettable. But it was a plan, nothing more. It went awry. These things happen."
"No, Jack. These things don't happen when you ask your most trusted confidante on your bloody ship for her loyalty, and then you purposefully ignore her guidance until it suits you and is far too late." She couldn't stop the hot tears from pouring down her cheeks once more.
Jack put his hands up in surrender again. "I'm honestly not sad to see Mr. McHenry go. He was rather horrible to you."
"I could have changed him," she said sadly.
Jack took a deep breath and walked closer towards her. "People don't really change, love."
"Everyone has the capacity for change, Jack!" she snapped. "Even someone as selfish as you!"
He looked taken aback. "Oi, if you're not 'me first' in this world, then you are swindled. That's what being a pirate is all about."
"It's always been 'you first.' That's why you never came back for me!"
"What?"
Rose braced herself against his desk, looking up at him with an earnest grimace. "Why didn't you return to fetch me from Tia Dalma after the mutiny? After you were on your own?"
Jack rolled his eyes in exasperation. "You've already asked me this and I've given you an answer. I—"
"'—didn't want to fetch me until we could be reunited again on the Pearl as you had promised.' Yes, I remember. That doesn't mean that I buy that line for a minute. Ben didn't, and neither do I."
Jack only gave a frustrated sneer, neither confirming nor denying Rose's position on this troubling matter. So Rose continued, "I also don't believe that you would have come back for me once you had the ship back. If Ben and I wouldn't have found our own way aboard, I'd still be in the bayou waiting for you."
"Oh come now…" Jack sighed.
"No! Admit that you never intended on coming back!"
"Fine!" he snapped. Rose raised her eyebrows in shock, which made him soften his tone as he explained, "Once I escaped that island Barbossa and the mutineers had left me on, I did think of you. But at the end of the day… Rose, you were a child. I needed experienced sailors who I wouldn't have to tend to or look out for. And I knew that in the bayou you'd be safe. That was enough for me."
Rose took a deep breath, trying to slow the pace of her heart, which felt flared in fury. "And what about when I was no longer a child, Jack? Ten years passed. Would you have come back for me after you vanquished Barbossa?"
Jack took a moment, then ever so slightly shook his head no. "Not until the Pearl was mine for good. At least."
Rose gave an incredulous smile. Even though she could never be happy about this truth, she was satisfied in that she now knew, and had heard enough. As she turned to leave his quarters, she tossed one more dig at him: "I should have listened to Ben."
Jack wasn't finished, however. This remark set him off. "Oh, and what, lived out your days with that skinless wonder?"
Rose spun on her heel. "How dare you," she warned.
"Once a mutineer, always a mutineer, Rose. How could you forgive and forget? After how he betrayed you, betrayed me, and then continued to use you?"
"As I recall, you just allowed two of your former 'skinless wonders' aboard just minutes ago!"
"And I shall treat them with no less distrust than I showed McHenry."
Rose had never seen Jack this earnest and furious. It was a side of him that she had never seen before and was certain most people had also never seen. Deep down it frightened her. Then she suddenly realized something. "You sound just like Teague," she murmured.
The comparison to the father both Rose and Jack never truly had shook Jack to his core, and Rose could see it. She felt the slightest bit of remorse, but pushed those feelings from her heart, keeping the anger fresh and still-raging like an inferno.
Carefully, Jack spoke, keeping his voice as level as he could manage. "You're here now. There's no point in thinking on the past. Yes, I left you. No I didn't return, nor would I have until it was convenient for me. Ben is dead, and will not ever return, and no, I can never mourn him because I did not condone his treatment of you." He extended his bandaged hand out to her, the same one marked with the black spot. "I need your help. There's no one I trust as much as you, you must know that."
But how could she know that? After all of the many lies Jack had produced, how could she fully believe that when things got more problematic, and they were bound to given their current pursuit by Jones, that Jack wouldn't find some other way to discard her?
She looked down and gave a small nod, saying quietly before she left the room, "I will be going ashore with you. I too have some guidance to seek from Tia Dalma."
