Port Royal, Jamaica.

Rose was making her third approach to this town in two years, and despite her side now having the advantage over its inhabitants, she knew the fear and bad memories she associated with it would never quite leave her.

The first time was with Ben. They came in a small boat and hid in the kitchen of the temporarily abandoned Swann household while Jack, Elizabeth, Will and Barbossa were abroad fighting over the Isla de Muerta. That was the place that marked the beginning of the end for Rose and Ben's relationship. Although the curse was broken while they were there and they were soon able to reunite with Jack and the Pearl, the trauma Ben experienced from his immortal days turned him into a creature of volatility, instability, and unhappiness. Rose would willingly give her heart to him, but his frequent rebuffing of her love began the deep hurt that followed him through his final death on the Isla de Pelegostos.

The second time was when she was utterly alone. The remnants of the Pearl's crew had been forced to leave her behind in Singapore, and she was captured and brought back to Port Royal to be hanged with thousands of other pirates seized by the East India Trading Company. She was rescued by Naval officer James Norrington, who recognized her from his previous pursuits to capture her brother. Knowing her association with Jack and the Pearl, he devised to get information about the pirates' meeting place; Shipwreck Cove, the place Rose now lived. He ultimately succeeded, as the kindness he showed Rose warped her mind and made her act impulsively upon her feelings. After a time and some significant abuse by officers Norrington had no control over, she gave up that vital information he so desperately needed to repair his own shaky reputation with the Company. He then handed her over to the enemy to be hanged. Despite freeing her the next morning, the memory still felt like a dagger twisting in her chest.

Now Rose was coming here a third time, sailing on a ship called the Bountiful, a former British expedition vessel of similar make to the Black Pearl, but had been taken by a mutinous crew and pawned off at Shipwreck Cove after the war on piracy had ceased. She was sailing beneath the command of someone who had gone from a sworn enemy to her foremost friend and ally, Captain Elizabeth Turner. This time, Rose wasn't hiding from anyone. She wasn't anyone's captive. That didn't stop her from feeling apprehensive.

Elizabeth sensed this apprehension as they approached the harbor. "Are you alright?" she asked, stirring Rose from her thoughts.

"I'm fine," Rose said with a hasty smile. "Just...thinking."

Elizabeth nodded. "This should be fairly straightforward, just like we did at the bayou."

"If anything, this will be easier," said Rose. "It took hours to sort out what was useful in Tia Dalma's home and what was, well...not." She then gave her a sidelong glance. "There's no surprise boa snakes lurking in your house, are there?"

Elizabeth laughed. "No, not that I'm aware of. Unless my father had a strange, secret hobby." She then motioned for Rose to follow her to the front of the quarter deck.

"Listen up, men!" she cried to her crew. All commotion on deck ceased as they looked up to their captain. These men were a ragtag group of misfits who had elected to stay behind on Shipwreck Island after the war had ceased. Elizabeth took command of the Bountiful and commissioned a crew of about 18 men to help her and Rose sail it to retrieve their items from their respective childhood homes. The women's plans were build their homes in the Shipwreck Cove fortress and manage the affairs of the island. It was to be a safe haven, restocking facility, and hospital for Pirates. Rose liked to think of it as Tortuga, but more utilitarian. Tortuga was a safe place where Rose has seen pirates stay sometimes without end. Shipwreck was to be a place that pirates passed through en route to far off adventures. But first, before construction of this dream could take place, Rose and Elizabeth wanted the belongings from their past lives returned to them.

Now that she had their full attention, Elizabeth began her speech to her crew. "This mission is just like the last, with one large exception; This island is teeming with people. Jefferson, compile a crew of six. You keep the ship in motion, firing the starboard cannons to distract the men at Fort Charles."

"Aye, Cap'n!" her first mate, Jefferson, cried.

Elizabeth continued. "Lenoir, Micheaux, Addario, and Sterne, you will come with me and Hexfury up to the Governor's mansion, my old home. You will help us haul items back down to the docks. I want to be clear; Anything retrieved in the house belongs to me, understood?"

"Aye, aye!" the men cried out in unison.

"The rest of you will go ashore as well. As for you, loot whatever you wish, and bring it back for evaluation and equal distribution, as promised when you took this voyage. Half of you, follow the trail to the town square. There you will find the bank and a blacksmith's shop," Rose heard Elizabeth's voice crack at the mention of Will's old occupation. She quickly pulled herself together, however, and proceeded with, "The other half of you, head to the fort. There's much valuable ammunition up there. Be warned—there are still armed guards there. This brings me to my last command.

"None of you, and I mean none of you, are to harm anyone ashore. Unless you are threatened or provoked, particularly by the men at the fort, you are to come and go peacefully. If I hear any reports of violence, you will not receive a single portion of the loot. This was my home, and I respect the people too much to resort to violence. Have I made myself clear?"

"Aye aye, Captain!" Rose and the men cried.

"Prepare the boats! Jefferson, take your crew to the guns! Step-to!" she cried out.

Rose looked at her friend amidst the sudden energy on deck. "In your wildest dreams," she said, "Would you ever imagine that you would one day be leading an attack against your hometown?"

"Honestly?" she replied. "I'm not all too positive that the past year hasn't been a dream."

They both then piled into a longboat together and descended into the sea. Once they were out of range, Elizabeth called back up to the Bountiful, "FIRE ON!" and the vessel began to fire its cannons at the fort. It took only a few short minutes for the fort to return fire, but Rose and Elizabeth shared a confused glance when they noticed that only four guns of the fort's prolific armory were actually operating. This was highly unusual.

Three longboats in sum rowed towards the docks, and among the cannon fire and the yelling and the splashing of the waves, Rose was pulled out of the moment once more.

I want you to live with even an ounce of the pain I feel. Maybe then you'd understand what you've caused, Ben's voice echoed.

James's came next, like a fly buzzing in her ear. Inform Lord Beckett that we have the name of the pirate fortress, and that our prisoner shall be executed with the rest tomorrow afternoon.

Still slave to men, cherie? Rose jerked her head around when she heard her mother's voice beside her. Sure as the sun, her mother sat in the boat alongside her, her violet eyes piercing through her. I told you that they were all the same, yet you do not listen.

Rose averted her eyes, refusing to respond to the vision, as she was uncertain in that moment of what was real and what was a figment of her imagination.

Ah, you see reason in my words! Anna's voice whispered. The memories haunt you. Ben less, the Admiral more. Reclaim it then.

Rose looked back up to her mother's form, alarmed at this phrase. Anna repeated, Reclaim the memory. Make it better. You know what you must do…

Rose did know what she must do. She had wanted to do it from the moment James betrayed her. Now was her chance. In a blink of her eyelids, Anna vanished and was replaced by a concerned looking Elizabeth, who had just asked for the third time in a row, "What's wrong?"

Rose blinked away her hallucination. "Nothing. I'm fine," she lied.

Elizabeth looked unconvinced, but let it go in the interest of the mission, for they had arrived at the docks. Upon anchoring and tying off, the pirates rushed to the shore. A small group of conversing merchants immediately cried, "PIRATES!" in terror and fled, but beyond that, the typical hustle and bustle that was Port Royal seemed to be no more. This struck all of them odd, yet they knew they had no time to question it.

"Those to the Governor's mansion, follow me," Elizabeth commanded. "You lot head up that trail to the square, the rest of you proceed up the hill to Fort Charles. Keep aware, and be back to the docks before Jefferson fires the last cannonball."

"Aye, Cap'n!" they cried out obediently, then split up. Rose, however, remained stationary.

"Rose?" Elizabeth asked. "You're coming, aren't you?"

She hesitated before replying, "Actually, I will go with the group headed to the fort. I have business to conduct there."

Elizabeth raised her eyebrows. "Oh? What business?"

"Something important to me is up there," she speedily replied. "I can't leave without learning of its fate."

"Whatever you had I'm sure is gone by now," Elizabeth protested. "I could really use you up at the mansion."

"Please, I must check."

Finally, Elizabeth conceded, and Rose raced up the hill to catch up with the others. The five pirates raced right to the fort's gates and stormed them, but were wholly unprepared for the ambush the remaining Company officers had planned. Eight men leapt out from behind a stone staircase and began to attack with their bayonet rifles. While four of them were quickly disarmed, Rose was at the rear of the group and was completely vulnerable from behind. With all of her attention in front of her, she didn't anticipate being kicked to the ground by a uniformed officer. As she turned in a roll on the ground, she froze stiff as soon as she felt the bayonet pierce her in the right side of her abdomen. She stayed there for a moment, until she felt the weapon get pulled out of her body. Then, before she quite knew what was happening, that same officer's body landed atop hers, having been dispatched by one of her crew. She threw him off of her and sat up, the pirate who had helped her offering her a hand to stand up.

It was more pain that Rose had ever before experienced, but she knew there was no time to lose; she had a job to do, and even if it meant her death, she was going to die trying. She put her hand over the wound and pulled it back to see the profuse amount blood gushing out of it. The other pirates had pressed onward, and she had to do the same.

While occupied with another group of Company officers, she charged past the rest of her men, still clutching her ribs. She had come this far; she was not about to give up now. She followed the route she had traced in her mind a thousand times. Up the stairs, around the corridor. Left turn. Skirt the courtyard. Left turn again.

She found it. The door that had haunted her memories for so long now. Her heart pounded in her chest as she thought about finally taking the revenge she sought so much. She took a deep breath, and kicked in the door.

A wigged official she did not recognize was on the inside, pistol pointed right at her. "Don't come any closer," he shouted, voice elevated in panic, "Or I'll shoot!"

Rose tightened her jaw, quickly drawing her own pistol. "Who are you?" she spat.

"I'm not looking for trouble," the official said, hand still steady on the trigger. "My name is Theodore Groves. I survived the attack on the Endeavour. I merely seek passage home."

Rose took a quick glance around the room. Had she somehow gotten it wrong? Was this Norrington's office? She couldn't have been mistaken.
"We knew you'd be coming," Groves said with a gulp. "We knew that after the war, the pirates would retaliate. The British Crown removed the settlement here and ordered us to depart. It's yours, I swear it. Just let us go."

Rose narrowed her eyes. "Who is in charge here? Let me speak to him!"

"I have the highest authority here," he reported. "I am the Lieutenant, and with Beckett gone—"

"You're the highest in command?" Rose said in alarm.

Groves nodded. "Yes," he replied.

"Um," Rose began, flustered. "I…I came here to speak with one of your officers. James Norrington? Where is he?"

Groves lowered his pistol slightly. His eyes glinted in faint recognition. "You're the gypsy girl he kept, aren't you?"

Rose clicked the barrel of her gun. "I wasn't kept," she hissed through gritted teeth.

Groves's breathing increase with Rose's increasing rage. "We don't know where he is," he said calmly. "We assume he didn't survive the war."

Rose felt as though she had been delivered a blow to the chest. Nearly half a year ago, she stood in this place, begging for James to come with her to Shipwreck Cove. The action would have freed him, and he might still be alive today, had he not made the one mistake that ultimately cost him his life.

Groves broke the silence. "He vanished aboard the Flying Dutchman. Any man who was stationed beneath him has died, so we can only presume he did as well."

Once again a slave to man, Rose heard Anna's voice say again in her mind. She seethed at the memory of his betrayal. Rose looked up at Groves. "You presume?" Groves only nodded, but she didn't believe him for a second. "With a command as airtight and controlled as yours, you cannot confirm an Admiral's death?" she cried, walking closer towards him.

"Stay back," Groves ordered, adjusting his position so that his gun stayed aimed at her. "I swear it, I'll shoot!"

"You're protecting him, aren't you?" she spat. "WHERE IS HE?"

"I WILL PRESS THIS TRIGGER!"

"WHERE IS HE?" Rose screamed.

"ROSE!" Elizabeth yelled out, standing in the doorway. Rose broke her concentration and looked towards her friend, which normally would have provided the perfect opportunity for Groves to shoot her were he not just as surprised to see her there. "Miss Swann?" he asked, dumbfounded.

"Turner," Elizabeth corrected, marching right to Rose's side. "We've got what we've come for. Let's go," she said firmly.

Rose just stood there, breathing heavily, furious at herself for letting her emotions get the better of her. Now Elizabeth would undoubtedly have questions.

"You led the assault on us?" Groves asked, incredulously.

Elizabeth nodded. "Aye. We've taken what we needed, and will harm you no further. Come, Rose," she ordered, leading her outside. Before she exited, she turned back to him and said, "Safe travels back to England, Groves."

Groves was too in shock to do anything further.

Elizabeth and Rose wordlessly made their way back to the Bountiful, walking past their pirate compatriots as they loaded the ship with the goods they were able to loot from the mansion, the fort, and the town. On their way back, Elizabeth asked Rose, "Good lord, what happened to your side?"

In the excitement of the moment, Rose had all but forgotten about her injury. The blood was still fresh on her white shirt, but she pulled it up to examine the stab wound, only to find dried blood in its place. Had she imagined it? Was it only a slight flesh wound? No, the hole in her shirt was proof enough… Rose had little time to think on it, however, for the crew had to hastily hoist up the valuables on deck and secure the longboats, fleeing rapidly back towards Shipwreck Cove.

Once aboard, Elizabeth led Rose by the arm and led her straight to the Captain's quarters as they began to make sail. There was much they needed to discuss.