Weeks had passed, and a newfound sense of authority suited James well. He had spent the morning prepping the ship for a voyage to Earth, where he led a team to clean up the wreckage of a reef sinking in Indonesia and ferry the resulting lost souls. Then, he corroborated with Will that his plans for the rest of the day could be executed. Once this was solidified, he walked from the main deck down the corridor to the room he shared with his wife.

He opened the door gingerly, peering inside, finding her sitting cross legged in her hammock, pouring over several large books she had balanced in her lap that she had retrieved from a recent visit to her old storeroom on Shipwreck.

"Rose?" he asked.

She looked up, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "Oh good!" she exclaimed, scooping up as many books as her arms could carry and leaping out of the hammock to rush to their bed. This action knocked several over and onto the ground as she did, but she was too impassioned to notice. "Come! I have to show you something!" she cried.

James grinned in amusement, stopping to pick up the strewn volumes she had dropped before sitting by her side, wrapping his arms around her from behind as he peered around at the hasty scribblings she had made on several pieces of parchment.

"I've been looking into our situation," she began, running her finger along one of the pages of these hefty books, "And I've been pondering how we can be freed in the future, if at all, despite us having plenty of time to sort it all out."

"Found anything?" he asked.

She turned to him, smiling widely. "Yes actually!" Picking up one of her books, she flipped through it wildly. "So we can assume that Calypso is not going to undo her bestowal of her powers unto me, aye? Even if she did know how to do it, and having known the woman for years, I am positively certain that she does, why would she?"

"It makes her vulnerable to being bound on Earth again, yes," James reasoned.

"Precisely. So we need to go over her head. Where do you reckon Calypso got her powers from?"

James furrowed his brow. "Well…I was raised to consider all of these…things to be paganist and false, so I'm not overly familiar with the history of it all, but I would assume…her. Seeing as she's a god herself."

She looked back at him. "Aye, at face value. But there was a time without Calypso. She is Poseidon's daughter."

James raised his eyebrows at this. "So we must confer with Poseidon, then?"

"Not so easy to confer with a god, I'm afraid," she said. "However, according to several written accounts over the past century really, stories and myths have emerged that his all-powerful trident has been left somewhere on Earth.

James considered this. "So we find the trident, then confer with Poseidon once we use it as leverage?"

"Or," suggested Rose, "We use it ourselves. Imagine the power it must possess!"

"Any idea as to its whereabouts?"

"Sadly, no," Rose admitted. "That'll take some work yet. Astronomer Galileo Galilei tried charting it, and I happened upon his notebook. Only since have I discovered that the two are connected, and sadly I gave it away to Barbossa."

James raised his eyebrows. "Really? What a terrible waste. Any chance of us getting it back?"

"Doubtful," Rose sighed. "However, hope might not all be lost. He gave it as a gift, but to who I do not know. Here's hoping that whoever has it now uses it to the utmost."

"Indeed," he agreed. Then, with great interest, he asked, "Do you think the trident can reverse your situation?"

"Not only for me," she said, shaking her head. "James, I think this trident has the power to free all of us, including Will."

His head was spinning with this new information, as it was a lot to take in. She did have an excellent point though. If this trident could be procured, it might be the solution to all of their problems. He turned to her, looking at her from the corner of his eyes and smirking. "If I didn't know better," he stated, "I'd say you were trying to usurp my role as a Captain."

She smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck. "But you do know better, and realize that I'm trying to usurp your being dead."

"And what of you?" he asked, leaning forward and touching his forehead with hers. "Would you really want to give up your powers, now that you've mastered them?"

"Of course," she murmured. "I'm powerful with or without them. I just want happiness, whatever that means. Whether it means Captain Norrington or no."

He gave a small smile. "Well, that's all I will be for now, so until we locate this supposed trident, that's all we can do. I do find the notion intriguing, however." He then pulled back, saying, "But first, it's time to go."

Her expression fell, and suddenly she grew very reluctant. "Must we?" she complained.

"We've been through this, and yes, we must. I've just come from Turner, and he approved of our voyage."

Rose only groaned and rolled toward the wall in response. James shook her shoulder gently. "We have to go!" he insisted gently.

"Mrrrrrrrrr..."

"Rose!"

"We don't HAVE to..." Rose said, voice muffled in her sheets.

"Yes we do," he said firmly. "We've got until sunset, love. In that time we need to find Jack, which you and I both know will not be an easy task."

She turned over and looked up at her husband. "We really don't," she protested.

"Rose..."

"I mean it! Your family doesn't have to know, so why does mine?"

"First of all," said he, grabbing her arm and yanking her slowly up into a sitting position, "It would be a bit hard to explain to my parents that I am undead, and secondly, I highly doubt they would approve of you."

She knew deep down that he was right. Now that James was staying with Rose for perhaps an eternity, she had to tell her most beloved member of her family about her new husband, even though she dreaded just the thought of it. Still, she grumbled, "I'm not sure what you're expecting from Jack. You honestly think he'd approve of you?"

"I don't care," James retorted. "You still have ties to your family. He deserves to know."

"Can't I just tell him on my own then? Seeing you with me...especially with Jack—"

James leaned over her and said softly, "I'm going. That's that."

She finally conceded with an exasperated sigh, tying back her hair with a bandana and putting her boots on. Together, they stood, ready to meld into the wall and transport to…wherever Jack was.

"Location?" James asked her.

She shrugged. "The Pearl? Given that he's freed it from that bottle?"

James rolled his eyes. "If he hasn't figured out a way to free the Pearl yet, there's a bigger problem."

Without another word, they both visualized the Pearl and transformed to that vessel through their own. They both simultaneously arrived on the ever-familiar black deck of the ship, but were immediately taken aback by their surroundings. The ship was completely still and the atmosphere was stiflingly hot and stuffy, and the sky was oddly reflective. They were most definitely on the Pearl, but they were also most definitely on the Pearl inside the bottle.

James and Rose exchanged a perturbed glance. "Well," James said in monotone, "It would appear that there is indeed a bigger problem."

Just then, Rose started when Jack the monkey landed on her shoulder with a screech. "Oh my god!" she cried, putting a hand over her pounding heart. She then turned and patted his head, as the poor thing clearly remembered her and was starved for affection. "Well now at least we know what happened to you," she cooed. "Barbossa will be missing you dearly, no doubt." He then screeched out again and leapt off her shoulder, skittering across the deck into an unseen nook of the ship.

She then looked up, squinting past the glass enclosure. "Do you see that?" she asked James. "I'm fairly certain that we're inside another vessel."

His eyes searched the sky above him, trying to catch a glimpse of anything that would distinguish this other ship and allow for their transformation to it and out of the bottle. Finally, he said with certainty, "I've got a visual, grab onto me."

Rose instantly grabbed hold of his arm, and they backed up into the Pearl's starboard railing, coming out the other side onto the new ship. Sure enough, James's visualization was enough to get them there, as they found themselves in the Captain's quarters of an entirely new ship, where the Black Pearl bottle was sitting motionless on a desk. The couple immediately unsheathed their weapons and stood back to back, uncertain of if they were alone. Once they were sure that no one was within, James and Rose began to search the room. Where was Jack, and why did this foreign ship have the Pearl?

Rose walked towards the desk, examining the papers sprawled all over the top of it and underneath the bottle. The words were in a strange language Rose could not make out. "James," she called, motioning him over to her side. "What's this?"

"A Scandinavian language of some sort," he replied, examining it closely. "Norwegian, I'd warrant."

"I would have said that the ship is docked, but I can feel it moving," she said in confusion. "Do you reckon we're alone?"

"Doubtful if we're in motion," he replied. "Perhaps they're undermanned. Shall we go out on deck and ask politely where Jack might be?"

Suddenly, they heard gunfire and shouting out on deck. They exchanged a glance, knowing instantly that not only were they not alone, but the ship was definitely not undermanned.

James tried again. "Shall we go out on deck and exercise force, then ask politely where Jack might be?"

Rose nodded. "Yes, let's."

They immediately burst out of the doors and leapt straight into battle. Sure enough, they were met by about a dozen confused Norwegian sailors traversing the Atlantic, who immediately turned their swords and rifles on James and Rose. They tagged-teamed and coordinated their fighting, which was really the only way the two stood a prayer of besting them. Despite their efforts and inability to die, however, Rose knew that this was going to take too long, and she had neither the time nor energy to keep this up. She stopped fighting, raising her arm instead and summoning up a giant swirl of seawater to surround the ship. Then, using that swirl, she used both hands and turned them in towards her quickly to make twelve sharp streams of water to graze each man upside the head. The force of this blast made them all fall together at once, rendering them temporarily unconscious.

James turned around, eyebrows raised. "Really?"

She shrugged. "There was a problem, I saw a solution! Simple as that!"

He crossed his arms. "And now that all of them are completely unconscious, how do figure we interrogate them, mm?"

Rose hadn't considered this. "Oh," she said demurely.

James chuckled to himself, shaking his head. "Stay here and blast them again if they come to before I come back with enough rope to tie them to the mast. Then we'll wait."

She obeyed, and after James had gone below, she paused, finally having enough time to look around at her surroundings. It was a bright, cloudless day on the water, and everything was generally quite peaceful. Rose nearly leapt out of her skin, however, when someone leapt seemingly out of the sky and landed nearby her. She immediately poised herself for attack, but who should she find at the other end of her cutlass but her half-brother.

Jack too looked rather surprised to see her. "Aah!" he cried sharply. "I forgot you can show up anywhere now. Quite good timing I must say!"

Rose rolled her eyes but laughed, placing a hand on her chest in relief. She smiled and embraced him. "And aren't we all the better for it?" she said. She then pulled back, brow furrowed. "So that's who they were shooting at. You were up in the sails?"

Jack squinched up his nose. "Eh. More or less."

"Your ship's in that room back there, you know."

"Yes, I'm aware," he said, lips pursed. "Got separated from me crew back in Hispanola."

"How?" Rose asked, intrigued.

"Long story," he replied. "All I'll say is that it involved the search for a crossbow, an hourglass, three goats and a trumpet, and it really didn't go at all according to plan. And somehow I ended up here," he sneered, motioning to the vessel with flailing arms. He then looked down at the twelve slumbering bodies of the crew. "Quite a display, I must say!" he said her with a gold-toothed grin. "Very nice work with your…Calypso…watery…things."

She smirked. "Thank you. I've been practicing."

"Clearly," he replied. "What brings you here on such a day as today, though? Running away from Turner so soon?" He then puffed up his chest. "Not nearly as magnificent a leader as I, hmm?"

Rose laughed, but her smile soon faded with the fear of what was about to come. "Actually," she said somberly, "I don't come alone."

Jack nodded. "Ah yes, the other bloke you're with." Suddenly, he froze, eyes wide. "It's not Will, is he? Because if it is, and he's suddenly standing right behind me, I didn't mean any of that!"

"No," Rose reassured him. "But…promise me that you won't be upset."

Jack narrowed his eyes. "Why?"

"Just promise!"

"Fine, alright! But what's going on?"

Just then, James returned with his arms full of rope, entering from behind where Jack stood. Only Rose could see him and his bemused expression upon discovering that Jack was right there.

Jack, however, followed her concerned gaze and spun around to find James there. "For God's sake, man!" Jack said with utter exasperation. "Why won't you just leave me alone? Every time I think I'm rid of you, you then somehow pop up out of the blue once again!"

James gave him a moment to rant, then remarked, "Are you finished?"

"No!" Jack cried out like a cranky infant. "However, while you're just standing around, make yourself useful and tie up these sailors and set them adrift in that longboat over there."

James narrowed his eyes, challenging him as he sauntered towards Jack confidently. "Sorry, Sparrow," he said smugly. "I don't think I will. I'm not your deckhand anymore." He then promptly shoved the rope into Jack's hands.

"James," Rose pleaded. "Come, we'll do it together." When James still looked skeptical, she begged, "Please?"

"Yes, James, pretty please?" Jack mocked.

"Jack…" she said warningly.

Despite both men wearing a begrudging expression, they obeyed her orders. While she readied the longboat and loaded it with enough provisions to last them a few days, they tied up and loaded the men inside. Then, altogether, they lowered them down into the water and Rose sent a westerly wave to guide them towards the nearest harbor.

Once this was completed and the three were alone, Rose and James exchanged another uneasy glance.

"Jack," she began, swallowing her fear. "I'm afraid that we…well, we come here for…other purposes."

Jack's eyes darted in alarm between them. "Dear god," he said, "The last time a vision from the past visited me from the Dutchman, it was to warn me that a terrible beastie was set upon me. Now there are two of you here," He suddenly jerked his head around, looking all around him, then muttering to them, "…Will hasn't befriended any giant seahorses lately, has he?"

Rose opened her mouth to speak, then closed it again, struggling to find the right words. Finally, she decided upon, "No. It's worse, I'm afraid."

Jack looked horrified. "Lobsters?"

"No!" she cried, rolling her eyes. "Jack, I brought James here because…well… I'm here because you don't know the relationship between us."

Jack's face fell once he started to understand her meaning. "No," he said quietly. Then, more emphatically, he exclaimed, "No! This is a dream, isn't it? You're not really here!"

"Please don't get upset," Rose pleaded. "You promised!"

Jack began pinching his arm. "Nope," he said. "A dream. That's what this is. A horrible, horrible dream."

"Jack, stop that!" Rose cried, taking his hands in hers. "We met some time ago, and—"

"Some time ago? Infancy is some time ago! Briefly on Tortuga is not some time ago!"

"No, no! We met again after Singapore!"

Jack finally realized. "I knew it! This is the bloke that saved you? You said it was just some officer! Some officer indeed, who apparently is back to being a pirate from the looks of him!"

James said in monotone, "I'm dead, Jack."

"Well not dead enough! You're here telling me that you wish to court my younger sister, and not in some grave where dead people belong!"

James and Rose exchanged a guilty glance, to which Jack groaned, "Oh dear Lord, what does that mean?"

"Well," Rose whimpered. "We're um…"

"Married!" James finally cried triumphantly, pulling his wife into a sudden kiss.

Rose quickly pulled away, embarrassed and dared look at Jack's expression, which has been since described to me by Rose as "a mixture of horror and immense pain."

"This is a joke, isn't it?" Jack said finally, coming to. "Ha ha!" he laughed. "You two certainly got me! Very funny!"

James grabbed Rose's waist and pulled her up against him. "No joke, brother-in-law," he grinned boastfully, holding up his left hand. "We even have rings to prove it."

Jack began to hyperventilate, his words coming out in staggered breaths. "You…married…you…him…you two…I'll kill you!"

"Whoa now!" Rose cried, stepping in between Jack and James, pushing against Jack as he tried to wildly attack her undead husband.

"You did it just to get the better of me, didn't you?" Jack yelled.

"Believe it or not, Sparrow, I can feel affection, and it just so happens that your sister holds mine!"

"And you felt this starting when? Singapore? After or during Elizabeth?"

James fumed, "You really just can't stand it that I'm taking one of your things, can you? Well how does it feel, after all the things you've taken from me?"

"I didn't take yer sister, mate! That's too far!"

"Well I didn't take your life, although I really should have!"

"I let you on my ship, you bloody moron!"

"Who set Rose free?" James asked rhetorically. "Who set Elizabeth free? Without them you would have been back in the Locker where you probably belong!"

"James!" Rose exclaimed. "Stop it!"

"I saw you though!" Jack added. "Back on Tortuga. You bloody bought Rose in that bride auction. You hated her!"

"And she hated me for years! People change," said James.

"Well I certainly don't!"

"Jack, please!" Rose said sharply.

"No!" he protested. "This is too much! You've married without my blessing knowing full well that I wouldn't give it to you!"

James rolled his eyes. "We needed your father's blessing, although we all know how highly you think of yourself."

Jack glared at James. "And did you get that blessing from good ol' Dad, Norrie?"

James grinned. "We did, actually."

Jack only laughed. "Of course! Teague probably LOVED you! The two of you are thick as thieves!"

"Jack," Rose pled again. "Please can we just stop?"

"Yes we can, Rose," he replied. "All of this can stop." Backing away, he looked between his sister and her husband as he said, "We're done here for now! My regards to the happy couple, and good day to you both!" He spun on his hill and disappeared into the Captain's quarters.

"Jack!" called Rose in exasperation. "Please don't do this!"

"Aye," James called as well. "I always thought you were, 'rooting for me all along!' What on earth changed?"

Jack audibly winced from inside the room upon hearing James's witty remark before slamming the door behind him.

"James!" Rose cried, slapping him in the arm. "Enough! Was this the reason why you wanted to come here today? To antagonize him?"

James considered this for a moment, then said, "I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a large part of why I wanted to come here, yes."

She gave him a warning look. "Stay here," she said gently. James began to protest, but she silenced him with a glare. "Please! You really aren't helping things."

James pursed his lips. "You're certain?"

Rose rolled her eyes. "Yes, I am quite capable of walking to and from a room!"

"I honestly thought he would react better," James muttered.

"Well, you've got my father's approval, and we're clearly never getting yours. That's about as much as you can expect, unfortunately," Rose sighed. "Now let me go! I'll be along soon!"

Leaving James behind, Rose went to go find her brother. She found him sitting in the Captain's chair, staring angrily at her.

"What?" Rose said firmly.

"You know perfectly well what," Jack spat. "You are dead to me."

Rose came around the desk and sat on the arm of his chair. "Good thing I'm immortal, then," she joked.

Jack only stared at her. "Him? You picked him?! What could he possibly offer you?"

Rose smiled, thinking of her husband. "Love. Love in spite of loss."

"And you think he...loves you?" Jack said, gagging at the thought of his old enemy in love with his younger sister.

"I know," she replied with certainty.

Jack huffed, "Any man! You could have any man on that ship and you pick the one who hates me!" He sighed, and after a moment, finally gave up his battle. "And you're...happy?"

"I promise," she grinned. "And you? Are you happy?"

He pondered this, then settled on, "I got everything I need, love."

"Everything save the Pearl..."

Jack leaned down looked down at the bottle on the table which still housed his beloved ship. "I'll figure it out someday," he mused.

They peered into it together.

"Why is it everyone I know seems to have achieved eternal life before I did?" Jack suddenly complained. "Turners big and small, you, even bloody Norrington!

Rose chuckled. "There are other ways and you know that."

"It continues to evade me," he said skeptically.

Suddenly, an idea occurred to Rose. "Here's one for you," she said. "…The trident of Poseidon."

Jack raised his eyebrows in interest and leaned closer towards her in interest.

"I'm hunting for it to reverse the Jones curse altogether," she said. "It's bound to have unspeakable powers, one of which might include eternal life."

Jack's eyes lit up. "…I like the sound of that…"

"Start your search then," she encouraged.

"Have you told Will yet?" Jack asked.

"I've just barely figured it all out myself! I want to sort out a few more details before I bother him with it, but it's sure to be of interest to him. This may take awhile, however. Years, in fact. If you find it, you simply must share it with us."

Jack gave a sly, sideways grin. "How about first to the finish, eh?"

Rose gasped in faux outrage. "Is that how you treat your little sister?"

Jack smirked. "Pirate."

"So be it, Sparrow," she replied, standing and extending her hand out to him. "First to the finish."

He too stood and shook her hand. "Then I shall see you there, Mrs. Norrington."

"Oh hush," she silenced him. "You know as well as anyone that I'll forever be a Hexfury. The only Hexfury."

Together, they walked back out to the main deck where James was waiting for them.

"I took the liberty of setting you out on a Southward course," James said arrogantly to Jack. "You're welcome."

"Sorry, I wasn't listening," Jack spat in response. "My head was reeling at seeing you without your trademark wig."

James looked over at Rose, lips pursed. She just laughed and shook her head, then crossed to his side.

Jack regarding the couple, still clearly uncomfortable with the union. He finally conceded, however, seeing how happy Rose was, and said to James, "I trust my sister to eviscerate you with her magic water arms or whatever if you are stupid enough to hurt her, but if not, I will personally see to it that you are a dead man."

"Little late for that," James fired back.

"Deader," warned Jack.

"We'll be fine, Jack," Rose assured him. "And what of you? You're alright to sail to…wherever you're going on your own?"

He shrugged. "Eh. Probably. I always land on my feet, love."

"Keep it that way," she said with a smile. She then nodded to James, indicating that it was time for them to depart back for the Flying Dutchman and the Locker. James went first, transforming back into the deck.

Rose, however, stayed behind for a moment. Looking back over her shoulder, she reached around her belt and produced the mother of pearl pendant and held it up. Jack did the same with his nearly identical pendant, a token their father had given to their mothers all those years ago. The pendant that had connected them since the beginning. The pendant that started it all.

Rose knew that she would see Jack again, especially if the trident was in his future. But leaving him would always pain her, remnants from past dreams she had had as a child of sailing the seas with him forever. She would sail the seas forever, just not with him. Her dreams had changed, as had his. Life moved on, and death moved right along with it. Their paths were intwined, but hers and James had been joined.

And for an eternity, if need be, would they stay that way.