A/N: I will post the remaining chapter and give you an epilogue…as well as a sneak peak into the sequel…

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN POTC!

As Will parked his explorer behind Elizabeth's car, a fear ripped through him. The house was quiet, no lights, no sounds, nothing. Will got out of his truck and walked to the front door and pushed open the door.

The house was dark, but Will could see the shattered mirror on the floor, then the blood. "Elizabeth?"

Nothing, not a single sound. "Elizabeth, where are you?" Will started walking though the house, growing frantic with each minute he couldn't find her. 'Come on Elizabeth, I know you're here, come on baby, just call my name…' Will's mind raced.

Will walked out to the backyard and sighed with relief. She was sitting by her mother's grave. "Elizabeth…" He touched her shoulder and she turned. Her face was pale, her hands and shirt were dirtied with blood.

"Will, I couldn't tell you…I couldn't…" Elizabeth said as tears streamed down her face.

"I know." Will knelt down next to her and hugged her. "You had to do this, I understand it wasn't something I could give you."

"I've taken so much."

"No, not from me. I still have so much more to give to you." Will tipped her chin up to tilt her face up towards his.

"Will, I'm so tired."

"I know…" Will looked toward the grave. "Did you find what you were looking for?"

"My mother always knew what I needed."

"Good. I want to get those cuts cleaned up." Elizabeth looked down at her hands.

"Oh, I smashed a mirror." Elizabeth leaned on Will as he helped her into the house.

"I know, not the smartest thing."

"No, I guess not." Will helped her into the kitchen and sat her on top of a counter.

"Let me see your hands." Elizabeth extended her hands and showed Will her wounds. "Elizabeth, some of these are deep…you need a hospital."

"No, they'll think I'm mental and lock me up." Elizabeth looked at Will.

"Elizabeth, you could bleed to death if these don't clot." Will picked up her hands.

"Just wrap them up…I'm fine." Will looked at her.

"No your not, you've lost a lot of blood…your very pale…I don't like it."

"Will, please."

Will sighed. "Fine. Where is the first aide kit?"

"In the drawer next to the refrigerator." Elizabeth watched him walk over to the drawer and pull out the white box.

"I don't want to hear any whining." Will said as he took out the antiseptic.

"Not a peep." Elizabeth said.

"If these don't heal in enough time, I'm going to drag you to the hospital, I don't care." Will said as he cleaned her wounds. "Elizabeth you scared me today."

"How?" Elizabeth looked at him.

"I saw in your eyes how scared you were today. I knew something was wrong, and if it was something you couldn't tell me, well, then I knew it was bad. When I pulled up to the house, and saw your car, and saw that there wasn't any lights on…all I wanted was for you to call my name." Will then started wrapping her hands. "All I wanted was for you to need me, call my name so I could make everything better. I can make everything better Elizabeth, I can make it all go away." Will said as he finished wrapping her hands.

"Not this Will. I needed to fix it, fix me." Elizabeth then touched his cheek. "I feel sick all the time, because of what James did to me, and I know, I know, James is still alive, because I feel it. I feel his presence, and I know him better than I know anyone…he is going to try and finish me off…I know it."

"Not with me here." Will said as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"No, not with you here." Elizabeth smiled. "I'm so sorry."

"For what?"

"For telling you I didn't want to marry you. I never wanted you to think that I stopped loving you, and never did stop, I still love you Will." Elizabeth brushed his hair back with her hand. "I love you and if you're with me, I am strong, and all the nightmares and all of the pain are gone."

"Is that what your mother told you?" Will asked as he touched her cheek.

"She told me that she couldn't be my strength anymore that my strength was with you." Elizabeth said.

"So I guess I get mom's approval?" Will smiled.

"I guess."

"How do you speak to her?" Will asked.

"I listen to her." Elizabeth smiled again. "If I sit there and just be really quiet, she talks to me. I know it sounds silly, and childish…"

"No, it sounds perfectly reasonable. You could have told me this, about how important your mother was to you, how you still listen to her even after her death, I would have understood."

"I thought that much. Then everything exploded and I didn't have time, then I felt myself slipping. After I got out of your car that day, I slowly started falling apart, and unraveling. I wanted to call you so badly, but I knew I had to pull myself together all on my own, and if I did it with you I wouldn't have gotten better. My mother inspires me to this day. Now, it's you that inspires me." Elizabeth smiled and kissed his lips.

"I guess that goes for the both of us." Will said as he returned her kiss.

WEWEWEWEWEWEWEWE

James couldn't ask for a better scenario. Just when he thought he could get Elizabeth all to himself, play a little game…Detective Turner walked right in. James mouth watered at the possibilities, both would play his game, and both would lose. James enjoyed himself a good game, after all, he was the DA in Massachusetts for so long, he became accustomed to the 'game', the political one of course.

James would make sure Elizabeth would suffer, and Turner would be the one to watch. James rubbed his belly self-consciously, his belly still ached now and then from the bullets the witch drove into him. She was going to die a horrible death, a slow painful one, one to match his aching belly.

WEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWE

"I'm fine Dad." Elizabeth said into the phone as she climbed into bed. "Yes, Will is here with me." Elizabeth smiled into the phone. "Yes…" Tears welled in her eyes. "Mom talked to me…oh Dad, she's still here…you should visit…"

Will watched Elizabeth cradle the phone on the crook of her neck. As tough as Will thought she was, she was a very sensitive soul, one that would fight if provoked, or needed. If you touched her, she was glass, if she was angry she was steel. That's the big illusion of Elizabeth Swann, public defender, she was human, she was very mush indeed a woman, yet, she was different than most. She could switch on to lawyer mode, hard, no nonsense trial attorney, with a very big ego…then, just as easily, turn into the soft loving woman that was before him now, talking to her father, letting him know that she was okay, and that her mother had 'talked' to her, and that she had 'listened'. Will guessed that's what drew him toward Elizabeth in the first place, the mystery, the allure, yet, Elizabeth didn't know she was alluring, she thought she was damaged or crazy.

"Okay, I love you too. Bye." Elizabeth hung up the phone and looked at Will. "He wants me home tomorrow, he's worried about me." Elizabeth said as she nestled into Will's arms.

"He loves you."

"Yes, he does." Elizabeth kissed Will. "I think this is home."

"What?"

"Here, in this house." Elizabeth sat up. "To raise a family."

Will smiled. "Yeah, sounds good."

"Sounds great." Elizabeth looked down at him. "I could run my mother's charity full time, while taking on a few cases down here."

"I could get a job at the sheriff's office down here…"

"It's not for you." Elizabeth saw the dim in his eye. "You like cracking the big case, murder, death, and mayhem. You can't beat that."

"A wife and a couple of kids will. Elizabeth, this is what I want." He pulled her back down to him and kissed her.