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Piratey elf = Aww... girl! I STILL want to be in your thank you speech at the Oscars. Thanks for the kick in butt you've given me SEVERAL times to update.
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........ or Nanashi = You were my first reviewer and for that I grin upon you.
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You know I would love to mention all of my reviewers but you guys surpassed 150! Just know that I love ALL of you to bits!! You guys made my days, weeks, months and years with your reviews. Know that you made my life a little brighter whenever you wanted me to update. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

Chapter 26:

They arrived at Port Royal under the cover of midnight, stars their only light as the new moon had just waned and was still to wax into the sky again. The Rouge had anchored some distance away and a small gig headed by Jack Sparrow was drifting its way to shore. Along with Sparrow was Patricia Taylor, Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann-Norrington. The latter was to stay and, those other than the pirate, were to get some business arranged before they left Port Royal for good.

"Are you sure about this, Elizabeth?" Will asked her again. "You don't have to go back..."

"Yes, I do," Elizabeth answered patiently for the hundredth time that night. "Norrington will go after all of you. You'll never have a moment's peace until I'm safely back with him... Don't worry too much about it, Will. I'll be fine." Will rolled his eyes and turned to Patricia taking her hand as he shook his head.

"Why are you not even questioning her actions?" Will asked Patricia. "You, of all people, I'd think, would be the one most against what Elizabeth is doing."

"We already spoke of this," Patricia replied. "We have an understanding. She'll be okay, Will."

"No she won't," he muttered. "She's setting herself up to be suffocated for the rest of her life!" Patricia's hands took his when she saw how agitated he was becoming.

"It's not in your hands to decide whether or not she walks into that trap... And just because she walks into it doesn't mean she won't survive it," Patricia countered. Her thumbs were slowly rubbing the top of his hands and she gulped as she readied herself to say some words that she REALLY did not want to even think about. "If Elizabeth wasn't so strong, you would have never fallen so hard for her." She forced a smile and Will saw the way her eyes flickered between her previous jealousy and hatred and the battle she was still fighting to accept Will's love for her. He quickly gave her a chaste kiss and smiled.

"Ahh!! No kissing on this boat!" Jack cried loudly, nudging Will with his boot. "All that kissing leads to WAY too many things I don't want to know about when it comes to the two of you!" Patricia just grinned, apologetically. Except for Jack's incessant humming to a song Elizabeth had recently taught him, it was silent until they reached the sands of Port Royal. "All right, lad and ladies... Elizabeth shall be the first order of business to do away with..." With a flick of his hand he motioned the trio to a slow and hidden march to the governor's house, sitting on the hill.

Lights were still shining through and they could see figures, lazily and slowly, passing through the beams of the candles. Every now and then a shout could be heard. At the front yard, a regiment was stationed, ready to pull through any action it was ordered. Though it was significantly past midnight, it was obvious the household was still awake.

"... It's almost a month, commodore," the governor snapped. "Yet no man has seen hide nor hair of my daughter and your wife. Is this not the British Royal Navy?! Why has there been so little action been done?!"

"Governor, I assure you, we have been doing everything we are capable of in trying to find Elizabeth," the commodore answered. They were sitting in the patio, the heat forcing them to be outside where the cold currents could relieve them. The tension however was from the ceaseless worry that lined the faces of the two men. No mere wind could carry those worries away.

"But... it seems like... How can NO one see her?!" the governor said, almost whining.

"She might have been on sea for most of the time... Maybe she was never off the boat... Jack Sparrow was seen in Tortuga a few weeks ago but his whereabouts are unknown now. It seemed he was off some other buried treasure again and refused to mention his destination..." James said, tired. "If we find him, we find her."

"Elizabeth is all I have left, commodore. I gave her hand to you in the hopes that you could try to keep her safe..."

"And that is all I can do but try until the last breath has left my body. Can you not see that we are trying?! All our resources are going into finding my wife. That is all I want to do now! Find her and keep her safe! But we... I am not inhumanly perfect... I can't keep her from all harm. I intend to do everything I can to find her, but if the Lord finds that I don't... Then may He give me the strength to accept that..."

"Accept what, commodore?" a female voice called to the patio. The two men turned, the ranking officer cocking his gun and pointing at the silhouette in the darkness, in instinct.

"Who are you?" James asked. The silhouette took a step forward and James pressed the hammer at the butt of the gun. "Identify yourself or I will be forced to shoot!"

"Can a woman not even come into her own household without being held at gunpoint after being in that position for a month?" the voice joked. The figure continued its journey and it stepped into the light. The governor's heart skipped a beat and James Norrington dropped the gun he held at the vision before him.

There, dirty and raggedy, but alive nonetheless, was Elizabeth. Her smile was timid... From an outsider's perspective, obviously forced but the two men were so ecstatic at seeing her they couldn't care less! Her husband was the first to reach her.

"Elizabeth!" James cried out in joy. He put his hands on her cheeks, leaning down to kiss her and caressed her skin to the neck. "Elizabeth... you're safe..."

"I am," she said softly, taking his hands off her face and held it in her own as she looked to the side to see her father sobbing just behind James. "Papa... Papa, don't cry..." Elizabeth didn't realize until that moment, when she saw the tears in her father's eyes, just how deeply she had hurt them when she left and didn't return.

"My daughter... You're alive. I was afraid... I was so afraid that you..." the governor stammered. Elizabeth took a step to put her arms around her father and her own tears came from the shame in the realization she caused this fear in the man she loved most.

"It's all right, Papa... It's all right..." They let each other go after a few moments and the governor put his arm around her waist, leading her into the house. James and the governor didn't notice the quick glance Elizabeth threw to the back, smiling into the darkness they thought was empty, her hand subtly gesturing the success of her return. Jack, Patricia and Will saw it however. They smiled at the happy reunion and the drifted deeper into the shadows.

"Where to next?" Jack asked as they slinked away in the darkness.

"The bank..." Patricia answered.

"Won't it be closed?" Will asked, a bit confused.

"Not to us..." she grinned.

"Oh! Hooray! Are we robbing it?" Jack interjected excitedly. The couple looked at Jack as if he said the most ludicrous thing possible... (It WAS a tad ridiculous.)

"No, Jack!" Patricia rolled her eyes. "One of the owners was a good friend of my father's.... You remember him, right, Will?"

"Andrew... something ford?" Will shrugged.

"Yes... he brought the cocoa beans to the house a year after we took you in," Patricia reminded him. "Tetherford." All three went into the dark alleys, Jack slightly dejected that they weren't doing anything very exciting. Patricia stopped at an old wooden back door and knocked on it several times. A few minutes later, a candle was lit and a light traveled from one window to another. The door opened and an old man answered.

"P.. Patricia!" the man exclaimed. "Patricia Taylor.. Is it really you?!"

"Hello, uncle Andrew... May we come in?" Patricia smiled.

"Of... Of course. It's such an unusual hour to visit though..." Andrew Tetherford replied.

"I have an unusual request... The timing seemed fitting," she quipped. She stepped in and Will and Jack followed. Andrew recognized the two men behind her but didn't bother to mention anything. He had known about Philip Taylor, his true occupation and the history that went with it. He only marveled at the fact that he was even in the least bit surprised that Patricia would end up on the same general course. What he DID mention however was the clasped hands between his friend's daughter and the boy they had fostered for almost a decade.

"You've been wanted and missing for almost a month, my dear," Andrew said, amused.

"You've heard of what happened then?" Will asked.

"Of course... everyone has.. Two of Port Royal's most law abiding citizens, one in love with the other and the other in love with another who happens to the governor's daughter, are wanted for being an accomplice to the escape of a pirate.... I presume that's him?" Andrew pointed at Jack and laughed. "I thought you would do something like this... you and your father were never able to fit comfortably into the niche society dug out for you..." Patricia just smiled sheepishly.

"Wait..." Will interrupted. His brow creased processing what he had just heard. "How did you know about Patricia... I mean.. my falling for Elizabeth was common knowledge after a year or so but... I didn't know about Patricia loving me until two weeks ago!"

"My boy, you were the thickest young man to have ever stepped into Port Royal that had any of the gossips told you, you still wouldn't have seen how much Patricia cared for you," Andrew laughed. Will just blushed and stepped behind Patricia, his hand still clutching hers. "Now what can I do you for you, Miss Taylor?"

"I need a transfer slip, Uncle Andrew," Patricia explained. "Will and I... we're going to Southampton."

"Never to return?" Andrew asked. She shook her head.

"Our part in Jack's escape is too much... We'd never be able to escape the consequences here," Patricia replied. She took out a slip from a little bag secured to her wrist. "That's all our savings... I need the transfer slip so I can access it in England." Andrew hesitated for a moment and then turned to a cabinet holding financial papers.

"All right..." he answered. He took the slip and quickly wrote down the appropriate amount and notes necessary for the gold to be transferred to England. "Here..." The new slip was folded and put back into the bag on Patricia's wrist. "Take care of yourself, Patricia..."

"I will, Uncle Andrew," Patricia sighed falling into the old man's frail arms. He stepped back after a few moments and looked at Will.

"Don't be as stupid as you seemed to be, Mr. Turner. And you take care of Patricia as well. If any news comes to me that any harm has come to her by your hand, I will send Norrington, happily, your way," Tetherford threatened.

"Yes, sir," Will nodded. They exited the building, Patricia waving at her Uncle Andrew one last time then turning away. When they reached the beach where the gig was hidden, Patricia hesitated in boarding the boat.

"Come on, love," Jack called. "Light's a-coming and we won't escape safely if we have British vessels behind us."

"I'm... I'm a little..." Patricia stuttered, her hand clutching the little bag.

"Don't be... Don't even say it... Just get on the boat," Jack coerced. Will was just at the end, holding his hand out to her.

"Board the boat, Tricia-love."

"If I come onto the boat, there's no turning back," Tricia whispered, her doubts finally catching up to her. "I'm leaving everything I know..."

"For something new and better," Will finished the sentence for her. His hand was still held out, steadily calling for hers but never reaching out to grasp it. If she were to come with him, it had to purely be her choice. All he could do was try to persuade her. "Don't doubt me... US now... Please... let's just go... I'll take care of you... I promise..." Will begged her with his eyes and Patricia slowly nodded. Her hand reached out and touched his.

"Okay," she murmured. Will's arms slipped around her waist and carried her onto the boat, sitting her between his legs. His arms untangled themselves but his hand remained in hers. She smiled weakly at him, still a bit fearful of the new journey she was about to embark on, but a kiss from the man behind her was enough to ease them into excitement more than fear. Patricia felt herself warm underneath Will but the heat was cooled by the harsh splash of cold seawater.

"I told you two already! No kissing on the bloody boat!" Jack whined. Patricia smiled, amused, as Will and Jack began to bicker.

'Yup,' she thought, her hand at Will's knee as she leaned back into his body. 'This is just another adventure... And anyways... it's a two month crossing to England. I'm pretty sure all my doubts will be erased by then.'

ANSo I bleeding STINK at endings! Haha.. but yes it is the end. No more 'Things Change' for me to write... But a sequel seems a good possibility since I haven't even BEGUN on touching the subject of their past and how it can catch up to them... Plus Barbossa hasn't even been introduced.

Favourite chapter to write: Chapter 16: More than that... notice that it's the only one that has a chapter name?

Least fave chapter to write: Chapter 19 and 22... I wrote it at midnight, in my bed, on the laptop, lying down on my stomach. My imagination was in overdrive and I kept feeling as though Mack and Dylan were looking down at me in all their zombie-like gory... I mean, GLORY. And who would EVER want to write about Will dying?!

It's the last chapter you guys. PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW