The following night was a warm and soundless one in the bayou. Rose had had a rather nice day. Barbossa, seemingly fully recovered, had spent the entire day upstairs in the storage room pouring over charts, which allowed Rose time to herself. She helped out around the shack with various odd jobs until Tia had her begin work on making a large pot full of a drink Rose had never heard of. It was a bizarre mixture of rum, fruit juices, and rose tea, and she was instructed to make enough to fill the largest pot in the shack. She must be expecting company, Rose rationalized as she brewed the mixture. As she finished up and began preparing various cups and bowls to serve the brewed drink in, she heard a strange rhythm coming from outside and went to investigate.

Tia stood at the front doorway, her eyes distant. Rose went to stand next to her in order to see what she was looking at. There, in the waist-high water were about fifty local people with candles in hand, humming to a steady drumbeat produced by one of the chieftains in a nearby cabin.

Rose cocked her head to one side. "A funeral procession? Who passed on? Anyone we know?"

Tia waved off her question instantly. Rose knew something was extremely wrong. After about five minutes of waiting for something different to happen in the crowd, she grew impatient and sat down on the corner of Tia's desk. There she waited. And waited. Until the humming grew louder. And louder. And louder still. She rose to her feet and went to look outside once more, but Tia spun around to stop her before proceeding onward. She put her hands on Rose's shoulders, stopping her motion entirely. "Rose," she said, her voice hardly above an excited whisper. "For whad we want most, there is a price dat must be paid in de end."

Rose rolled her eyes. "Tia, stop talking in riddles." She tried to sidestep her, but Tia's grip on her shoulders only increased. "Ye must be brave, Rose. Have faith."

Just then, Rose saw movement behind Tia's head. To her great astonishment…it was Joshamee Gibbs!

"Gibbs!" Rose cried, prying herself free from Tia's grasp, rushing to him. "Back so soon!"

But Gibbs only pursed his lips and let out an exhausted sigh. He wouldn't look into Rose's eyes. She would have inquired about this, had it not been for Cotton, Marty, Pintel, and Ragetti's sudden appearance as well.

"How nice it is to see all of you so soon!" Rose said merrily to them, but the lot of them were just as unresponsive as Gibbs. They just stood in the doorway awkwardly until Tia invited them to make themselves comfortable. Suddenly, an unmistakeable feeling of dread spread through Rose as she read the misery possessed by everyone in the room.

Will then entered, followed by a woman Rose did not know. No…she did know her, just never as she looked now. Her hair had turned yellow from many days of direct sunlight, her skin was tanned and dirty and her eyes full of tears. This was Elizabeth Swann, the woman who had leapt out of the moving carriage that had nearly run over Rose on Port Royal, the woman Will was going to marry. Tia walked briskly past Rose and led Elizabeth to a seat in the room. Rose followed this action briefly, and then looked to Will.

"Will? What's happened?" she asked. If there was anyone she knew would be direct with her, it was Will. But even he was at a loss for the right words for Rose. But this did not stop her from pressing him for details. "What is going on, why isn't anyone speaking?"

Then it hit her. Someone wasn't among them. Rose rushed to the doorway, leaning around the edge of the balcony to see if Jack was on his way up, but he was nowhere to be found. His crew just sat there in silence, until Rose, in disbelief, asked, "Where's Jack?"

When still no response came, panic rose up inside her. "Where is he?" she said sharply. Tia walked up behind her to give her a reassuring touch, but she pulled away from her grasp. 'No! No, I just want to know where my half-brother is!"

Silence still. Aghast, Rose nearly shouted. "Do any of you hear me? I asked you a question! ANSWER ME!"

Will finally had the courage to approach her, eyes sorrowful. "Rose, please try to understand what I am about to tell you." He put his hands on her wrists.

But Rose already knew what news he would bring. Deep down, she knew it from the moment she saw Gibbs's expression towards her upon entering. All the air left her body and her world began to spin. She pulled away from Will and covered her face with her hands. "No!" she cried. How can this happen? He was my only family. How can this happen?

Will laid a firm hand on her shoulder to comfort her, but she was inconsolable. "How?" she managed to ask, with quivering lips.

This time Gibbs answered. "Kraken. The bloody creature attacked, and he let us escape, while…"

"RAAAAW! Captain goes down with his ship." Cotton's parrot finished. Gibbs nodded. "Yes, that."

Rose couldn't contain her anger and sadness. She moved to retreat back up the stairs and into the privacy of her room, but Tia stopped her by grabbing her wrist as she passed. Hot tears poured down her face as Rose turned on her mentor. "You knew the whole time, didn't you? Why couldn't you just tell me that this was going to happen?"

Tia's face was sorrowful, but she wisely said nothing. No words could possibly cure Rose's broken heart. She watched as Rose ripped her arm free and rushed up the stairs, slamming the door of her room behind her. Tia then quietly retreated back into her supply room to serve the brew to help the crew cope with their grief. She knew exactly what had to come next, and Rose was not a part of the plan. Though it hurt her to see the girl she raised in such pain, there were more important matters than one girl's heart to attend to.

Rose fell to the ground upon entering her room, where her sobs overtook her. Already a huge void was present in her heart that Jack had once filled. The indestructible figure, the epitome of good fortune and invincibility was gone.

But Rose could not be alone with her grief, for a voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Do ye mind?" Barbossa asked, standing near the window. "I can't hear what's goin' on downstairs with yer dramatics."

Rose was in disbelief and rapidly filling with rage at Barbossa's cruelty. Voice shaking, she hissed, "Do I mind? My brother is—"

"Dead? Yes, yes, I knew all that."

Rose stood, wiping her face though the tears continued to fall. "You knew nothing! You simply overheard what happened just a moment ago."

"Well," he corrected. "Yer not wrong, but I've known this was goin' to happen for days now."

"So Tia really did know the whole time..." Rose realized.

"SHH!" Barbossa hushed her, holding up a black-nailed finger toward her and leaning closer to the window. After a moment, he shook his head and looked back toward her. "Yes, she did."

Rose still was baffled as to why Barbossa cared what was being said beneath where they stood. "What are you doing?"

"I'm waitin' for me entrance, what does it look like?"

Rose rolled her eyes. "My god, just go down there and let me be in peace!"

Barbossa tossed aside her plea with a dismissive wave of the hand leaned closer to the window, listening again as a finger tapped against a green apple he held in his palm. Rose began to put it together. "Wait a moment," she said, "Your entrance! This was all planned. Tia knew Jack was going to die all along, so she brought you back to take his place!"

Barbossa considered this. "Eh. Yer close enough."

"You both knew this whole time and said NOTHING to me! Why?"

Barbossa gave a sidelong glance at Rose. "Look at yerself, dearie. That's why."

Rose was livid. "So I'm not allowed to grieve for my brother? I have no other family, don't you understand?"

He sneered and put his full attention on Rose. "Why was I saved, ya ask? Think, Miss Teague! Tia Dalma wasn't just on a generous streak, no! I am the Pirate Lord of the Black Sea. Jack's the Pirate Lord of the Caribbean!"

Rose could feel her pulse echo in her ears. She didn't understand what he was saying; were they to go find Jack's body and bring him back just as Barbossa was? If he was devoured by the Kraken, wouldn't this be rendered an impossibility?

In the silence that followed, Rose and Barbossa heard Tia's voice coo from downstairs. "Den, ya need a Captain who knows dose waters."

Barbossa's eyes gleamed as he left the room. Rose watched as he descended, taking his time to build anticipation for his big reveal. This would be the moment that all of his former enemies would realize that he was no longer deceased. Rose, tears still clinging to her cheeks, froze in horror, realizing that it was now Barbossa, one of her foremost enemies, who now had Jack's future in his hands.

"So tell me," he said with a smirk, "What's become of my ship?"