At the sound of his wife's voice, Father froze, turning around to see her. I instantly raced across the deck past him and into her arms. As I felt her familiar warmth surround me, I felt so elated that I wanted to weep.

"I'm so sorry, Mother. I'm so sorry," I repeated, burying my face into her shoulder.

"It's fine, my sweet. You're safe, that's all that matters," she cooed, stroking my sopping wet hair. "My sweet girl! You're safe!"

I pulled away to look up at her. "We made it back together, Mother! Father and I!"

She took a shallow breath in, her eyes searching the air for his voice. "James? James!"

"Rose!" Father replied, rushing towards her. I stepped away to make room for their reunion, but neither of them moved an inch further towards one another once they came within meters of one another. She was frozen, her breath seemingly suspended, while he looked completely petrified.

For a few tense moments, no one moved a muscle, waiting for someone to make the next move as the rain continued to pour mercilessly over us. Finally, she reached forward, stepping until her fingertips making contact with his shoulder, where she traced her hand up to his face. It was only then that I noticed that her eyes were unfocused, searching blindly. …Blindly. Oh no…

Mother's shoulders released their tension upon feeling his skin. "You're as you once were!" she said, relieved.

Father's brow was furrowed as he craned his neck to peer into both of her eyes. "Yes…and I fear you are as well. Your eyes…"

She closed them, saying demurely, "Yes."

"Your nightblindness!" I gasped. "But what of your powers?"

"Gone," she said simply. "Else this storm would have ceased ages ago."

"I'm sorry," Father said sorrowfully.

But Mother was optimistic. "I've said it before and I'll say it again…I'm just as powerful without them."

He said nothing to this, just merely gazing upon her, uncertainly as she stared at the man she still couldn't see. Jack interrupted the silence by suddenly appearing between them.

"Hate to interrupt this beautiful and truly touching reunion, but you lot should retire to my quarters where it might continue inside." He took my mother by the shoulder to guide her within, and as he ushered us inside, he said snidely to my father, "As long as you behave yourselves."

He glared at that comment, but quickly followed my mother within.

I still remained in the doorway, grinning from ear to ear at my uncle.

"Well what do you think?" said he, motioning out towards his ship.

"She's magnificent. She's everything Mother described." I cocked my head to the side as I then said, "How did you free her? How did Mother get here? How did you find us? And the curse—how did you break it?"

Jack opened his mouth to speak, but my mother's voice cut him off. "Anna, come, you'll catch your death out there!" Jack then gave a crooked grin and shooed me within. "In good time, lass. All in good time. Meanwhile!" he called into his quarters. "Please try not to soil it...I know she's spent a decade or so in a bottle, but I've only just got her back and need her pristine, savvy?"

With that, the door was shut, leaving me and my parents within the Pearl's gloomy yet regal interior. Mother reached around, finding a nearby sheet of fabric on a makeshift cot she had presumably been using, then wrapped it around me to dry me off. She patted away blindly, though I watched in relief as her vision slowly came into focus with the copious amount of candle and lamplight she had arranged in the room to be able to see. When she finally could make me out, she threw her arms around me again and drew me into her. "Thank heavens you're safe."

I looked up over Mother's shoulder at where my father stood, still holding my damp bundle of books and awkwardly shifting from foot to foot as though he didn't know what move to make. "Aye, we all are," I said with a smile.

To this, Mother sat up and turned around so that she was following my gaze. Upon seeing Father, she said, "Oh James," and fetched another cloth for him. "Here."

Gingerly, he took it from her, setting the books down and beginning to pat his face dry.

"He's injured, Mother," I reported. "He was stabbed in St. Martin."

When Mother gave an alarmed look to him for confirmation of this, he added, "It didn't have a chance to fully heal." He then raised his shirt, revealing his makeshift stitchery that I too had yet to see. Both Mother and I took in a sharp take of air, seeing its inflamed, still bleeding condition. "I did the best we could with limited resources," he explained.

Mother got closer, examining it. "No, oh no no," she muttered. "That won't do." With a flick of her hands, she ordered, "Shirt off, let me see it."

I moved to take Father's jacket from him as they prepared to properly dress the wound. Mother began to ask details of the precise nature of the injury just as she would any patient, but standing there, watching my parents interact with one another for the first time, my heart felt swollen with joy. My hand instinctively reached up to my neck where Mother's locket and Father's ring hung, and I immediately unclasped it. Now was not the time to return it, but I rather thought that planting it somewhere that they could both find would be preferable. Therefore, I slipped in the pocket of Father's coat and laid it on a nearby chair back.

Mother had seated Father on her cot and had begun to undo the stitches. I would have offered my assistance normally in this scenario, but I knew that my mother could do this on her own. Additionally, there was thirteen years of separation and resentment that they needed to discuss. I was only going to be in the way. Therefore, I announced, "Well, I'm going to go."

Both of them spun towards me at this. "What? Where?" "Anna, now is not the time nor place…" they protested simultaneously.

I put up my hands defensively. "How far could I possibly go? I'll be with Uncle Jack and Henry! They're right outside! I'll be fine!"

Mother still looked unconvinced, but my father's expression was placid and proud. "Yes...she will," he assured her. Together, he and I shared a knowing look.

Mother noticed this, then hesitantly conceded, "Alright. But below decks only, understood?"

"Understood," I replied, taking my leave. As the door shut behind me and the rain once again pounded against my face, I looked up towards the skies and began to laugh. I still had no clue how any of this was possible, but I had my family back. Everything I had ever wanted was so close to me now.

A call broke my thought, "Oh aye, Anna!" Gibbs called, trudging past me with a coil of rope on his shoulder. "Glad to see you again, lass! All seems to have worked itself out, then, eh?"

"Yes!" I exclaimed. "But it wouldn't were it not for your help. Thank you!"

He shrugged it off as though it were nothing. Just then, my uncle and Scrum raced towards us. "Anna!" Scrum called. "Firstwise, happy to see you about again. Secondwise, settle a bet." Getting closer to me, he motioned with his head towards the door. "Your folks. Eh…do you think they'll uh…reconcile?"

I raised my eyebrows. "I'm…not sure?" I replied, confused.

"Just wonderin', erhm…" he said in his greatest attempt to be casual. "What the odds are that things can't be repaired, and maybe er…yer mum needs a shoulder to cry on…"

"Ah," I said, understanding. "I hate to break it to you, but I think they're going to be just fine, Scrum."

He gave a slight sneer in disappointment, then turned to go, but not before Jack tapped him on the shoulder, palm outstretched. "Oi, pay up," he ordered.

Scrum begrudgingly reached inside his pocket and slammed down a shilling into Jack's hand, which Jack then pocketed as he watched him stomp away.

I smirked. "Did I really just spot Captain Jack Sparrow place a bet for my parents? I thought you hated my father!"

Jack furrowed his brow. "Me? Never! I was rooting for him the whole time, dear. I find him to be a terrible bore and not good enough for me sister, but besides that…" His voice trailed as he gave me a wink. "Plus betting for them earned me that shilling against Scrum, the only man daft enough to think he'd have a chance with your mum!"

I chuckled at this, then asked him, "Henry! You found him, then!"

"Rather, he found me. Which by the way," he said, giving me a flick on the forehead, "Thanks for mentioning that, by the way! Springing a surprise Turner on me without a bloody word! You two were in cahoots the whole time!"

I shrugged, "I couldn't tell Father about our plan, so I had to keep his identity from you. But I trusted Henry would find his way back to St. Martin and find you. Clearly, I was right!"

"You make it sound so easy," Gibbs grumbled. "After failed bank heists and another execution attempt and star maps and undead pirates and ghost sharks and bloody tridents…I swear, if the name is 'Turner,' it only accompanies trouble."

I was awestruck. "Ghost sharks? Tridents? So you did find it! You found the Trident of Poseidon! And the Map No Man Can Read!" I looked around us. "That's it, then! That's how Father and Mother returned to normal. That's how you freed the Pearl! By breaking all sea curses."

"More or less," Jack said. "The Pearl came by way of Barbossa's magical sword or whatever. The bloke had the power the whole time and didn't even realize it!"

"Barbossa helped you!" I exclaimed. "Is the Queen Anne in pursuit? Is he here?" My voice trailed off, however, when I noticed both Gibbs and Jack's grave expressions. "…he didn't make it," I realized.

"Aye. The poor fool sacrificed himself so that we could escape Salazar and his crew."

I furrowed my brow. "Who is Salazar?" I asked.

"And all of these are still questions that would take far too long to answer, let alone in the middle of a tropical storm," Jack said, spinning me back towards his cabin door. "Your mother can't possibly want you out here, shoo!"

"No," I protested. "They need a chance to reconcile. I offered to be out here."

Jack raised an eyebrow, then said, "Then you should be below decks." An idea occurred to him as he then shifted to lead me to the center of the deck where a step ladder led down to below deck. "Yes! With Mr. Turner and Ms. Carina. Young folk like yourself who can freely gab the night away."

"That's another thing!" I cried over the wind. "How did Carina find you? When did she join the voyage?"

"All questions to ask them," he maintained. "Now shoo, niece. I don't want your mother chewing me to bits when she finds you out here with us rogues. She finally shook one soggy fish husband, don't make her endure a soggy fish daughter. Go on, now! Get!"

Though disappointed, I smiled, obeying him as I went below to the cannon gallery. Water was dripping between slats in the floorboards, but on the whole was much calmer. Another flight of stairs took me deeper within to the crew's quarters, which were empty given that the already limited crew were mostly above working against the storm. This was where I found Henry and Carina talking to each other, each seated on a hammock across from one another, talking in hushed tones. I felt elated to see them both here, but as I approached, unseen by either of them, I stopped when I saw Henry's expression. Though Carina's back was to me, I could see that he was clearly enamored by her. His eyes almost seemed to shimmer with excitement as he leaned forward, hanging onto every word she said.

I felt my heart drop a bit at this, but I continued on. Interrupting them by calling, "I seem to have a letter here for a Bloody Useless Marksman? Is he present?"

They both looked up at me, and I was frozen upon seeing Carina's eyes find me. Henry's face broke into a wide grin as he stood and said, "Funny, I seem to have a letter for a Bloody Useless Swordsman."

I then ran to him where he embraced once more. "Oh, you clever devil!" he exclaimed, separating from me. "Carina," he announced, introducing us. "I'd like you to meet the mastermind behind this whole operation. She's my escape partner, and the one that kept Jack preoccupied on the island just long enough for me to find him!"

Carina's eyes sparkled in amusement. "Oh I know who this is," she replied, extending a hand. "Anna—the girl who captured me and freed me within a matter of weeks."

I took her hand. "It's um…a pleasure to meet you properly," I stammered. "Anna Norrington," I said.

"Carina Sm—" her voice came to a halt as she stopped, then corrected herself, "Carina Barbossa."

My jaw dropped. "What?" I asked softly. I couldn't have heard that right.

"You met already?" Henry asked, perplexed.

"I wouldn't have known to find you if it wasn't for her," Carina said to him with a smile, finally shaking her hand loose from mine. I hadn't realized that I had still been holding it in the midst of this development.

"Wait, what?" I exclaimed, pointing wildly between both of them. "This makes no bloody sense! You're a Barbossa? And how did you get off the Monarch? How was the map found? How is the Pearl freed, who is Salazar, and what in the blazes are ghost sharks?"

"Oh Anna," said Henry, patting a spot on the hammock next to him. "Do we have a story to tell you!"


Back inside the cabin, Rose continued to dress James's injury. It had been a few minutes of painful silence. She knew it couldn't go on like this. Someone had to say something first. So, taking a deep breath, she began by asking, "Sword wound...someone ran you through? How did that happen?"

James snorted. "Would you believe a tavern brawl?"

She only raised an eyebrow. "Aren't we getting a bit old for tavern brawls?" After sharing an amused glance, she continued, "And from what stories Elizabeth has since told me? Aye."

Sheepishly, James replied, "Did she."

She didn't look up from her stitching as she continued, "Funny how you neglected that part of the story of how you first found yourself a crew mate on this very ship…"

"That was back when I thought the worst image of me you'd ever have to see of me was imagining me covered in mud," he muttered. "How naive of me."

Rose felt her stomach twist at this. She secured a knot and unfastened the needle. Giving a slight pat to his abdomen, she announced. "Well, it's over now. You're back to normal, and that's all that counts."

James sat up as she turned from him to wash off her hands. "Am I?" he asked. "Is it back to normal?" Only he didn't mean his physical appearance. Rose knew inwardly that no matter what, they would never truly be 'normal' ever again. Anticipating this, James lowered his head, staring at his clasped hands. "I know what I did to you. I relive every horrible word I said with each waking moment. And though I said them only to protect you, I would never think ill of you if you took them to heart. If your love for me has faded…then that is my doing." He replaced his still damp shirt, standing. "I've returned Anna. Henry is here with you, so they're both safe and sound. My promise is fulfilled, and…and as such, I know I am no further use to you."

Rose spun around. "James, I—"

"Please, let me finish," he said. He wanted nothing more than to grab her hands, bring himself close to her, but he stopped himself, keeping a frigid and stagnant distance between them. "You have raised our daughter with more grace and love than I ever could have imagined. It has been an honor getting to spend as little time as we had. But I accept that the two of you have made a life without me, and if you wish me gone, you need but say the word and I will disappear."

James's heart raced as he tried desperately to read her expression. She only stared at him, her jaw tight and eyes sorrowful.

"Please say something," he begged. "Even if it's difficult ...Rose. I need your answer."

Still, she said nothing.

"Rose, he pleaded.

Finally, she spoke, her words coming out slow and calculated. "Anna and I did build a life without you. We rely on one another, we work together, she's equal parts friend and accomplice. We're a team. We're partners." She paused here, to which he thought that was her final response. He was shocked when she continued, "But we're not a family without you. James, you're my husband, her father. Why would I ever wish you gone?"

His heart raced as he dared ask the question he feared the most. "…and…what of us?"

She stepped closer toward him, her voice shaking with intensity. "James, you asked me to forget about you. You tossed your ring at me and recommended that I find another man." He lowered his eyes, anticipating the death blow to their relationship.

But it never came. Rose's voice softened, her hand resting on the side of his face. "Fool," she whispered through tears. "I never listened to you before, what makes you think I would have listened to you then? I will forever love you, James."

When she kissed him, it was as though thirteen years hadn't passed at all. It was if thirteen years of strife and trauma and misunderstanding had ceased to be.

James then embraced her, holding her close to him, almost as though he was afraid that if he let go, she would vanish from his life once more. "Dear god I missed you." And it was there that he promised, "Words cannot begin to describe how much I love you, but I vow to spend the rest of my life...the rest of this...second chance at life that I've been granted proving it to you."