Rose stood at the wheel of the Flying Dutchman, a task she relished having at last. It had been years since Anamaria originally taught her how to do so, and now, as the vessel navigated to a new island in the Locker, she was so pleased to have the duty once more. She could very easily use her powers to steer the ship, but there was something nostalgic and comforting about doing it manually.
Once she was on a straight course, she allowed her gaze to wander to James, who was working alongside three others of the crew. She smiled at seeing him finally start to collaborate with others of the crew instead of remaining separate and isolated as he had been for so long. Finally, the Dutchman was starting to feel like home, and it was high time, as it was now going to be their home for a exorbitant and indefinite amount of time.
"Mind if I join you?" Bootstrap's voice cut in as he joined her at the wheel.
Rose grinned and looked over at him, noticing a light violet bundle in his arms. "What's that?" she asked.
He unfurled it, revealing a lavender-colored dress. "I found it below in the cargo hold awhile back. We must've looted it among other items from a wreck. I thought to throw it overboard, but then I thought that there might be someone aboard who could use it," he said with a sideways smile. "Especially if there was to be an important occasion coming up in her future, as I thought there might be."
Rose looked down in embarrassment. "James and I tried to be discreet. How apparent was our affection?"
Bootstrap chuckled, "Very apparent."
Rose laughed, then reached out with one hand to gingerly touch the dress. She was truly touched by his generosity, and said softly, "Thank you, Bootstrap. I absolutely will wear this at my wedding."
He grinned again, but then his gaze drifted to the main deck where Will was walking. Will cast a pointed glance back at his father and gave a slight nod, which Bootstrap also did in response. Will then made his way towards where James was, holding a scabbard in his hands.
"Martin!" Bootstrap said to a man who was fiddling with the rigging nearby where he and Rose stood. "Could you relieve Rose and take the wheel for a moment?"
"Oh no," Rose protested, unwilling to leave her beloved task. "Must he?"
"It's no problem, miss!" Martin replied, standing closer towards her.
"Just for a moment, I promise," Bootstrap assured her.
Reluctantly, she handed the wheel over to Martin and joined Bootstrap at the railing overlooking the rest of the deck. That's when she noticed Will approaching James. He got his attention and walked him over to the forecastle deck, where they began conversing, though their words were inaudible to Rose.
She furrowed her brow. "What's happening?" she asked Bootstrap in concern.
"Shh," he said. "Just watch."
Rose obeyed, watching James as Will spoke with him. Will was still speaking even as he handed the scabbard to James, a shiny, elaborately designed handle of a sword poking out the top. Rose's eyes were fixated to James as he tentatively accepted the sword from their captain and gingerly pulled the sword from its sheath only slightly. He looked pained, and slid it back into its sheath, handing the entire ensemble back to Will while shaking his head.
"He's refusing it," Rose said in confusion.
"Aye, we expected as much."
Rose shook her head. "I don't follow. What significance is that sword?"
"It's his."
"James's?"
"Aye."
"But," Rose protested, "He already has a sword."
"This one's a sword from many moons ago," Bootstrap explained. "The day your brother came to Port Royal, the same day my medallion called to the Black Pearl, Will had been commissioned to make that sword for Norrington. It was the day of his promotion, and Will still credits it as his finest handiwork. James died with his sword raised in defiance towards Jones. Jones took it off him, and used it to kill Will."
Rose's eyes widened. "So…Will died by the blade of his own sword."
"A sad irony," Bootstrap corroborated. "It's been sitting here ever since. We thought it might be time to offer it to him again."
Rose looked back to where her fiancee and her Captain were conversing. Her mouth fell ajar when Bootstrap ended his speech with, "…as he's due for another promotion."
Her eyes instantly filled with tears as she spun around to look at him. "You didn't!"
Bootstrap smiled and gave a shrug. "It's a solution, isn't it? James Norrington, Captain of the Flying Dutchman? The heir of Calypso and his bride commanding the seas he must traverse to ferry souls into the next world? That was how it was originally intended—Calypso and Jones, together for an eternity. It was his reluctance to do the job and her infidelity that spoiled the whole thing. That won't happen again. His sense of duty to the cause, your profound love for one another…the seas will bow to you both."
Rose bounded into him, embracing him tightly. "Thank you so much, Bootstrap. How can I ever thank you enough?"
He released her. "It was Will's decision as well." He motioned with his head over towards where Will and James still were standing. "Plus, we don't know that James will even accept the position."
"But…when?" Rose asked concernedly. "Neither of us are ready to take on such a task suddenly…"
"With any luck, you'll have many years to learn," he replied. "Once Elizabeth dies, Will would have no interest in going on with the duty, nor I without Will. On that day, he'll release me and have James stab the heart. You'll place James's heart in the chest. Does this sound alright by you?"
"Of course it does!" she grinned. "And that's what Will is proposing to James right now?"
They turned together to watch the conversation continue between the two men; a once proud man of authority and a once inferior man of no rank or status, who in a decade had their roles completely reversed, yet it was the once inferior one who now had the power to redeem the other. Rose watched the man she loved intently. She watched as his expression faded from that of attentive listening, to silent awe as Will's intentions became clear. James's rate of breathing increased, and a slight smile formed at the corners of his mouth, though he tried to suppress his joy. Rose knew James had a secret desire to command a crew once more, and she could only imagine the surprise and elation he was feeling at that present moment. She grinned widely when she saw him nod to their Captain, shake his hand, and thank him sincerely.
"Looks like he accepted," Bootstrap commented.
"Aye," Rose replied as she watched James take his gift back from Will just as he had so many years ago, a symbol of the life James had lost but now was given back to him in such an unexpected way.
Rose thanked Bootstrap again with another embrace. Bootstrap smiled, then motioned towards James once more. Rose followed his gaze and saw her love now standing alone, gazing at her and smiling broadly.
"Go to him," Bootstrap said. "There's much you two have to discuss."
James stood in front of the looking glass in Will's quarters, brow furrowed. He did not expect to be looking at all like he did on this his wedding day, and was generally vexed at his appearance. His blue Admiral's jacket he was wearing when he died and currently wore now was the one article of clothing he possessed that would have been the same had he wed according to his status, but even now it was dingy, missing many buttons, and had an unmistakeable hole made by a spear from when he was murdered by Bootstrap all those years ago. No matter how hard he tried, he was going to look disheveled and not to his preferred liking, but he nonetheless knew Rose wouldn't care. She constantly teased him about his Navy wigs from the past, so he supposed what he was left to work with was "good enough."
Will was kind to lend him his quarters to get ready in, although James still somewhat seethed out of pure habit at even associating "kindness" with his former enemy. Will had been kind in many ways towards James, however. He had found him in the Locker, he gave him an opportunity to ease his suffering, he had ultimately allowed him to marry Rose, and now had appointed him as his successor. Will was kind, but James quickly vowed to never again let it become apparent that he truly felt that way.
James took a moment to look around at Will's lofty cabin. One day, all of this would be his. He did not anticipate or relish the promotion, however—his being Captain of the Dutchman would mean that Elizabeth would have died, which was a harrowing thought. But he would take on the job. He knew he was up for the task, he enjoyed having power and status, and he would no longer be alone. He would sail for as long as Rose would have him.
The slam of the cabin door drew him from his thoughts and he concernedly walked around the wall to see who had so hastily arrived. He smiled when he first saw that it was his fiancee who had caused the commotion, especially when he noticed how beautifully she had been made up for their wedding that evening. Her hair was twisted in elaborate braids, and she wore a lavender dress he had never seen before. But his joy plummeted when he saw her rapidly pacing, her hands cupped over her mouth and nose. There was something incredibly worrisome on her mind, enough for her to storm Will's cabin. James, having built up so much anticipation upon this day, could only imagine the worst: She no longer wished to marry him. This had been a ruse the whole time. It was over.
"Um…" he said, walking cautiously towards her. "Rose?"
She looked up at him in alarm and rushed towards him, her eyes as wide as saucers.
He took her hands in his and tried to keep his voice level as he said with anxiety, "You do know how much bad luck it is for us to be meeting before the wedding, don't you?"
She grimaced. "It is?"
"Yes."
She gave a breathy laugh. "I didn't know. I've never done this before." Her eyes then grew distant, although her mouth remained upturned in a smile.
"…Rose?" he asked again. The silence almost too much to bear.
She shook herself back to reality. "Apologies," she said again with a laugh. "It's just…I can't…" Her voice trailed off as she held his hands tighter.
"Love, why are you here?"
Rose bit her lip, eyes smiling. "You're the dead man!"
James frowned. "Rude, but…alright."
"No," she replied, leading him towards a bench where they sat together. "I mean, it's all coming true! You remember what I told you of Calypso?"
"Aye…" he cautiously replied, still bewildered.
She put her hands on his shoulders. "She told me a great many things that have all come to pass. That I wouldn't go aboard the Pearl until the tides turned, which meant not until the missing medallion called to her crew. That I had to find Jack and keep him safe. That I would find the one who I searched for and lost; my father. That I would get more power than any man could have, and that the seas would bow to me. These all came true, but one that I never thought was fulfilled and eventually gave up on altogether was the prophecy about the dead man."
James smiled again as he listened to her story, finally all putting it together. She continued, "Tia at first told me that 'he who has much heartbreak' would be my husband, and that he would be dead. Well, at this point I didn't even know you existed, and naturally, I assumed that the 'dead man,' would be…"
"Ben," James finished. "The Curse had made him undead."
Rose looked at him squarely in the eyes, "But then he was killed for good on the island of the Pelegostos, his body ravaged and never to be returned. When I confronted Tia about this, she told me that it wasn't him. She said that I wouldn't be in love with you at the time of your death, which utterly confused me, but also that I would be 'broken,' when you died."
James gave a bittersweet smile. "Because you were disappointed that you didn't get to kill me yourself, that is."
Rose lowered her head in embarrassment as she laughed, "Just as she said, I wasn't in love with you then!" She took a moment before she looked back up at him. "So, that's what I needed to say to you. You're my destiny after all. You're the dead man."
He snorted. "And here I was thinking that you had arrived to deliver bad news."
"Never! That would be awful."
He glanced at her from the corner of his eyes, "Just don't go running off with a blacksmith, alright?"
She leaned in closer to him. "I make no promises," she whispered.
He pursed his lips. "Very funny. Now will you please leave? I mean that in the best way possible."
She drew back from him, standing. "You really think my being here is unlucky, don't you?"
He stood. "Well…best not to risk it?"
She grinned and threw her arms around his neck. "We make our own luck from now on," she declared, drawing her face close to his. He readied himself for her kiss, but just before their lips were able to touch, she pulled away and rushed to the door, teasing him. She called over her shoulder as she left the room, "Best hop-to, Norrington. Like time and tide, I wait for no man!"
After the door shut with a firm click, he chuckled to himself, "'More power than any man can possess,' indeed." He then turned to give one final, skeptical glance at his appearance in the mirror, and then started for the door when something occurred to him. He backed up and went straight to the starboard window of Will's quarters. He forced it open on its rusted hinge so that he could look into the frothy ocean waters below.
He leaned his head out the window and said softly, "I never met you, and I'll never know if this was your plan but…thank you for her. Thank you for this." Satisfied with his one and only comment to Calypso, he closed the window and then made his way to the main deck to marry his destiny.
