Anamaria opened her eyes to find herself standing amongst a white mist. She slowly turned her head from side to side, her eyes growing wide with shock. Wherever she was, she was alone, and the mist she was standing in, stretched as far as her eyes could see. Something wasn't right with her, she could feel it, yet she couldn't put her finger on what it was. Shaking her head slightly, as thought to clear her thoughts, she sighed.

The hair on the back of her neck suddenly began to tingle, and she shivered although she didn't feel cold. Anamaria began to get even more suspicious about her surroundings, turning around quickly as though to pounce on an unsuspecting victim. Yet when she spun around, no one was there. She sighed to herself again, slightly aggravated about not knowing where she was, how she had got there, and how she was supposed to go about getting home again. Looking around once more she decided to start walking. She had to come across something or someone eventually if she walked far enough right?

Anamaria walked for what seemed like hours, days, years; to her although it had only been a few minuets before she stopped again. She was already bored of the mystery that surrounded her surroundings, and wanted answers. And waiting for those answers wasn't appealing to her. She sat down, crossing her arms over her chest while her mind went into overdrive, trying to find the answer itself. She tried desperately to remember the last thing she well… remembered. But no recent memories came to her. Old ones yes, but the new ones that might have been able to help, no. they'd disappeared somewhere, tidied away to the back of her mind and she couldn't find them anymore. The last thing she remembered was a battle. The first one that they'd had with her little boy on the ship. She remembered coming up from out of the space beneath the floor boards. And then everything went blank. Ana was fairly sure that time had passed since then, a slight nagging from her body told her so.

Everything was silent it became almost unbearable to the woman. She began humming a tune to herself, a pirate ditty, one of her favourites. Then her ears picked up a slight scuffling noise. She froze, her eyes became erratic and her ears became over sensitive. Then from behind her a voice spoke, and she spun around, silently wishing she had something to protect herself with if need be.

"Ello." Anamaria took in the man that stood before her. She recognised him as someone she once sailed with, a very long time ago. He had been one of the few people that were friendly towards her as she first started life out on a pirate ship. When she left that place, she had never seen him again.

"Andy?" The man's face brightened at the sound of his name.

"Awright Maria? What brings you 'ere then?" Ana frowned.

"I… I don't know. Where's 'here'?" The man chuckled.

"Where ever you want it t' be." The statement left Anamaria even more confused then before, and she turned away from him for a moment. As soon as she figured out what she wanted to ask next, she turned back around only to find the man gone. She turned around in a full circle, as if expecting him to appear from no where again.

"Hello? Hey? Where've you gone? I wasn't finished yet!" a laugh from behind her, caused her to turn around again, at such a speed it made her dizzy. When Ana got over her slight head rush, her eyes grew with disbelief at the man stood before her. "Dad?" her voice was barley a whisper, but the man heard it.

"Hey Marie." The pair were silent for a few seconds, the man Anamaria had called 'Dad' was smiling at her, whereas her face showed utter astonishment.

"H… h… how? What? I don't understand." The man's smile stayed in place although his eyes shone with sadness.

"Put you hand on you heart darling." Anamaria mouthed 'what' and when she didn't move her hand; her father guided it there for her. Her body shook with disbelief and her legs buckled underneath her.

"I…. I have no. I have no." She looked to her father, who confirmed what she was trying to say. She had no heartbeat. "Does that mean I'm?" He shook his head, and she crumpled into his arms, sobbing.

"Not yet darling, you're not quite dead yet. You have to make a decision though." Ana bought her head up, her eyes meeting those of her fathers. She made a swipe at her sodden cheeks, attempting to wipe away the tears that had fallen. "It's your choice whether you live on, or die right now." She frowned. "It sounds simple I know, but there is a twist as always darling. Because you're at a point in your life where you weren't supposed to die, destiny's given you a chance to go back and live until your fate had been sealed. But. But you have to believe in yourself, you have to believe you have something to live for, something so important that death couldn't possibly break it. Something so strong that nothing could break it." Anamaria coughed slightly, sniffing as she tried to get everything clear in her head.

"But how can I live if I'm already dead?" The man smiled.

"Because back on earth you're not already dead, your heart is still beating and it will do so until you have made your mind up. You don't have much time to make your mind up though darling, you have to know what you want, pretty much straight away. You have to know who you're fighting for if you decide to live. You have to realize who you're leaving behind if you decide to cut your losses and die tonight."

"If I die then I can be with you?" the hope in her voice made his dead heart pang. A lump formed in his throated, as he battled with his inner demons.

"Yes. But Marie darling, do not let that sway you. You have to decide what to do for the right reasons, as there will be no going back afterwards." Ana's eyes shone with un-spilled tears again.

"But. But I've wanted to be back with you ever since you left me." The man looked at his daughter, his grown up daughter, but all he could see was the ten year old he left behind so long again. The little girl with tears spilling onto her cheeks as she watched her father bleed to death on the deck of his ship. The child he had raised single handily only to be taken away from her after such a short time.

"And I will be waiting for you when your time comes. But I don't want that time to be today, not now, you're not ready yet, the people who love you aren't ready to let you go yet."

"I wasn't ready to let you go but you still left!" the tears were now flowing freely once again, from both of them.

"Anamaria if I could have stayed I would have. But it wasn't meant to be. I had to die then for you to become the extraordinary woman you are today. I have been watching over you all this time, and I will continue to do so until the time comes for us to be reunited once again. Sweetheart I'm incredibly proud of you, and don't you ever think that I'm not. You have become such an amazing person, so much better then I could ever have hoped or dreamed for! I love you Anamaria, never forget that." He pulled his daughter into him, and held onto her so tight that it crushed her ribs. They stayed that way for a few moments before reluctantly pulling away.

"But, I have nothing to live for." Her father simply smiled.

"Now you and I both know that that's not true." He paused. "Close your eyes." Anamaria frowned for a moment before doing as her father requested. She felt him move behind her, placing his hands on her shoulders and bringing his mouth close enough so she could hear his whispered words clearly.

"Where do I start with who and what you have to live for Marie? Maybe I start with the sea, the sun, the stars and the wind. How it feels to have them all about you, the feel of the spray of the sea on your face. The feeling of the sun warming your skin. How you spend many, many evenings lying on the deck or the ground watching the stars twinkling above you. Then finally the wind in your hair, making it dance around you as though taking on a life of its own. Maybe it's your friends and co-workers you need to live for. The way your friends need you as that unlikely shoulder to cry on, an ear to listen or just talk to and be merry with. Your co-workers needing that person to lead them through battle if no one else is there to tell them what to do. How about your son and the child growing in your stomach. How they need their mother around to tend to the scraped knees, their nightmares, worries and to be there for all the laughter and joy. Or maybe, just maybe it's him. The person that makes your heart skip a beat every time he walks into the room, is near you, touching you, kissing you. The way he makes you feel just by smiling at you, talking to you, being with you. How he manages to make everything alright with you without doing a single thing, but still tries his god damned hardest. Maybe it's him because, unlike so many others, he loves you totally and completely, and wouldn't want to change a single thing about you. And maybe, you're exactly the same with him."

Anamaria frowned, unsure if her father knew who she was thinking about when he spoke about 'him'. She felt his hands slide off her shoulders, and realized his presence was gone. Then she felt her heartbeat thump in her chest, and as she tried to breath immediately regretted doing so as it felt like her lungs were on fire. To this pain she gave an outward groan. On her cheeks she could feel moisture which most certainly wasn't her own tears. And then she heard his voice, the voice that was usually so sure and confident had been broken down into something she couldn't even place.

"Ana?" Ana slowly opened her eyes only to snap them shut again almost straight away. One thing for sure was that the white mist had disappeared and in its place was the room that she had been in for the past four or so months. She groaned again, before she felt herself be pulled in to a death-grip hug, and felt someone shower her head with kisses. Only one person that could be.

"Jack?" Her voice was barley audible but he heard it. He tightened his grip on her, as though frightened that if he let go she'd slip away from him again. His chest heaved, both from the worry and relief. "Jack, you need to let go a bit, I can't breathe properly." She felt him chuckle rather then heard it as he loosed his grip slightly, still not letting go of her completely. He had taken to stroking her hair which soothed her to the point that she was drowsy. She opened her eyes again, blinking a couple of times as they readjusted.

"Welcome back t' the land of the livin' luv." A small laugh escaped Ana's lips, followed by a chesty cough. Jack waited for it to subside, rubbing her back as he did so, before speaking again. "Gave us quite a fright there." By 'us' he meant him, and she knew it. "Don't do it again hey?" Ana smiled, not bothering to answer to the question. Her eyes were growing heavier and she was battling to keep them open. She felt Jack shift her body slightly, yet she didn't bother to enquire as to what exactly he was doing. She found out soon enough; when he laid down beside her, one hand stroking her hair still, the other resting on her bump. Ana found herself smiling again, sighing in contempt. As she began drifting towards sleep she heard Jack's words. Apparently he thought she was already there. "Love ye Ana." Those words made Ana's insides tingle in a way they never had before. She managed to mumble out 'love ye too' before falling asleep, unaware whether he had heard her or not. But heard her he had.

The last thoughts that went through her head at that moment were;

Guess I made the right decision after all…

A/N okay so that was the last chapter, i also realize reading it back to myself that both Jack and Anamaria are slightly out of character there, but i dont think it would be right another way, considering that at the moment, i've made them go through alot. :o) Look out for the Epilogue in a few days. Please review! thank you so much to those who have been reviewing through the story! i love you guys! Thanks again,Captainme