Hey guys, if you read this, PLEASE let me know. Since it's basically impossible to find out how many, if any people read your stories on this site, and I'd love to know. So just write a little I read this note type thing, PLEASE! Thanks!

And I'll put acknowledgements and all that jazz on a different chapter, so if you get an alert or anything after this, that's what it'll be. :)

Raine: Sorry it took so long. And that it's so short. I hate this! Wah.

jeyke: Fine I won't answer. :)

Chapter 20:

Her suspended hand dropped woodenly back to rest atop the coverlet as if suddenly too weak to brush against his face. The tears that welled up in her eyes spilled over. He subconsciously reached out and wiped them off of her cheeks like he'd done many times before in the past for somewhat smaller reasons. Her cheeks were so incredibly cold that he wondered why her tears hadn't frozen upon them. She licked her lips again and tried to speak, her whisper sounding strange to her own ears.

"It is you...I can't...believe it." Her words came in shallow gasps, reminding him in what critical condition she was in. Jack's mouth opened and closed as if he wanted to say something, but couldn't. She didn't seem to notice.

"I'm sorry." Her voice was so soft Jack had to strain to hear her even though the silence of the room was deafening.

"Why?" Was all he could manage.

"I must go. She'll will never stop crying if I don't." There were brief pauses between her words.

"Who'll never stop crying?" Jack looked at her curiously, trying to determine whether or not she was delirious or not.

"Little Pearl..." She was beginning to slip into sleep, and fear that she'd never wake up made him panic.

"What was she like?" He hurriedly asked, praying she'd be able to hear him through the fog of sleep and respond.

"She was...tiny....And all of her was there, even though she was born so...early. Every little finger. Every little toe. She was so....pretty, even for a baby. Prettier than any babe I'd ever seen before. And she had the longest...eyelashes. And dark hair. And itsy, bitsy ears...." A tear drifted down her cheek, but Jack made no move to wipe it away.

Jack could barely force himself to breath. There was a terrible weight on his chest, pressing him from all sides. All was quiet for several minutes. He didn't know what to say and she was trying to recuperate from her long speech.

"Don't mourn for me when I'm gone." Her words cut through the oppressing silence.

"Why not?" His words were almost bitter. She reached for his hand and closed both of hers over it.

"Because, I said not to." Her old impertinence hung dear even to death. "I won't to be cried over. I won't have you wasting away over a memory."

"I'll do whatever I please with my tears and my life!" His heart was breaking, his voice choked with tears.

"I know. I only thought I'd ask..." She murmured. Jack felt immediate reproach. He wanted her last memories of him to be good, so he could always remember her with a smile on her face.

"I'm sorry." He whispered, reaching out to cup her cheek with his hand.

"I don't want to leave you." Her voice sounded strangled and tears fell onto his fingers.

"Then don't! You can beat this! I know you can!" But his protests sounded hollow and foolish and neither of them believed them.

"I have to go."

"But--"

"You wouldn't know. You can't hear her crying, but I can. And it's awful. She's been wailing for hours and hours. She hasn't fully stopped once. These terrible, heart wrenching sobs, the little whimpers, the...The..." She broke off unable to speak for a few moments before giving herself a little shake and continuing her plea." I'm the only one who can make her stop. Not the angels in heaven nor the good Lord Himself. Only I."

"But surely she can wait a couple thirty or forty years, until I'm ready to go with you."

Melia gave him and incredulous look.

"I think not." Her tone softened. "Please Jack? Let me go." Her green eyes met his. "I always get my way in the end."

"Almost always," He said softly, freeing his hand from hers to trace the curve of her cheek lightly. "But I get my way more than you do."

"Please Jack....Don't..." She turned her head to look out the window at the faint rays of light that rose from the edge of the ocean.

"I'm coming." Jack made a strangled noise, but she paid him no attention.

"Melia!" He all but moaned. "Melia, please..."

She turned towards him, her eyes were apologetic.

"I love you, Jack. I've always loved you. With all my heart." She lifted his hand to her lips and kissed it before look of total shock dawned on her face.

"Jack! She stopped! The crying stopped!" She clutched his hand excitedly.

"Melia? Melia stop! Please! Don't go! Melia..." He trailed off, lowering his head to his hands, crying great, gulping sobs.

Melia's eyes were closed. She'd breathed her last just as the sun had burst into a great ball of fire over the ocean.

Jack buried her next to Pearl, in the gown he'd brought as a surprise for her from deep within her trunk. She wore no jewelry. Her long hair flowed over her shoulders, the auburn highlights catching the sunlight that shone down through the tree branches. He cried no tears before he closed the coffin lid, just kissed her lightly on the lips for the first time, and the last, before the dry click and lowering her into the ground.

After her death, he was never the same. The only person who had ever loved him since his mothers death, was dead. Gone. He never even questioned whether or not there would be another who could love him after her. He never even allowed the thought to cross his mind. Instead, he went to bar wenches, just to feel loved, even for an evening. He named his ship the Black Pearl in honor of her daughter, a mourning ship of sorts. With sails black as midnight. His last connection to her. He could never stand to be separated from the ship for more than a fortnight. He hadn't bothered to remove her belongings from it, he'd just moved them out of his sight. To hide himself from painful reminders. But she'd always be there. Because he would never let go.

Fin