Hello! It's finally here, the scene we've been waiting for!

Thank you to JackieReynolds and Jessicalook86 for adding this story.

As always, I do not own Pirates of the Caribbean.

Enjoy!


Chapter 3

The sand under her feet felt unsteady as Lena watched the boat near them just as a familiar figure stepped out onto land. Just as she remembered him, Jack walked towards the crew as if nothing had changed. Still dressed as he had been on the Pearl, despite missing his hat, he looked every bit of the crazy captain she knew him to be.

At the sight of him, the crew raced forward, yelling as they did, but Lena didn't move an inch. The world faded out as their yells were muffled by the own sound in her mind. She stepped forward, eyes never leaving him as she struggled to take a breath, as if her lungs couldn't get enough air. It was a feeling she had become familiar with in the past couple months, just before her eyes started to blur from the tears.

Fighting past an almost lightheaded feeling, she stepped forward as her face crumpled, processing so many emotions as she realized everything had truly worked. With each step she could, she began moving faster, stumbling over the sand as she struggled to see through the tears in her eyes. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest as she sped up, eyes glued to Jack as he spoke to Gibbs.

Nothing else mattered as she ran into him, not caring how fast she had been going, as she wrapped her arms around him. Try as she might, she couldn't stop the cry that escaped her as she clung to him, holding as tight as she could. "Jack!" she cried as she clung to him desperately, afraid to let ago. Afraid she would pull away and lose him again. "You're really here," she choked out as she pressed her face to his chest, muffling her words against his shirt as she said it.

Jack chuckled as he placed his arms around her, holding her tight as rested his chin on her head. "This is a bit of a change."

Even if she didn't know what he meant, she didn't care at that moment when she knew he was there. That was all that mattered. She clenched her fists into his shirt despite him pushing her back slightly. Reluctant as she was, she eventually let go of him as he rested his hands on her shoulders, looking her over.

"A nice improvement, even if a bit emotional," he commented with his trademark grin, looking down only at her with a look she hadn't quite seen before.

Lena couldn't help but be even more confused and almost insulted. She could only imagine just how much he had gone through and what had changed during the months trapped. Swallowing as she looked up at him, she took a moment to look over at him before she registered the silence lingering nearby. Looking over, she spotted the entire crew watching as she flushed, embarrassed at the scene she had just made. There was little to do now though.

Finally, the silence was broken as Barbossa stepped forward. "Jack Sparrow."

Jack shifted to look at him, dropping his hands from Lena as he did. "Ah, Hector. It's been too long, hasn't it?"

As he stepped away from her, moving towards Barbossa, Lena stepped back slightly, falling in line by Gibbs. She shouldn't have expected to stay by his side after finally finding him, but she had to admit to herself that she didn't like the empty feeling that followed as she let him go.

"Aye, Isla de Muerta, remember? You shot me," Barbossa said with a smirk, almost as if he weren't bothered by that fact.

A pause followed as he gave no response before finally saying, "no I didn't," almost like a child in denial before he walked on. "Ah, Tia Dalma, out and about, eh? You lend an agreeable sense of the macabre to any delirium."

At the strange comment, Lena shared a look with the others. It seemed she wasn't the only one thrown by the statement.

"He thinks we're a hallucination," Will said, voicing what everyone was thinking, as he stood in his spot further down the line.

At his words, Jack turned his attention to Will, walking the rest of the way to him. "William, tell me something. Have you come because you need my help to rescue a certain distressing damsel? Or rather a damsel in distress? Either one."

"No," Will said before Jack continued, not giving him a chance to say more.

"Then you wouldn't be here. So you can't be here. Q.E.D. you're not really here."

Lena ran up to him, distressed and unsure of how to convince him otherwise. She had travelled so far, doing so much, and now that he was in front of her again, he didn't even believe them. "We're not hallucinations Jack. I'm right here," she cried as she grabbed his arms, looking up at him. She didn't understand how he could think any of this was fake.

"Ah, but I've seen this before, you and I," he said with a wave between them. "So as lovely as it is to have you here, you always show up eventually."

Lena's grip on his arm tightened as her the feeling in her chest did as well, heart clenching at how difficult it must have been for him. "But this hasn't happened before. Jack," she pleaded as she finished, as if she could will him to see the truth in her eyes.

Jack ran a hand through her hair as he looked at her, but didn't say anything in reply. He simply stood there, a torn look on his face, matching her own.

"Jack, this is real, we're here," Elizabeth said as she pushed her way through the group, speaking to Jack for the first time.

And all at once, Lena remembered all her doubts and fears as she heard her voice. In the silence that followed, Lena was almost too afraid to see the look on Jack's face, choosing to keep her eyes focused on his chest. She might just shatter then and there if anything turned out to be true. It wasn't until she felt Jack's hands slide down her arms, tightening, that she finally looked back at him.

She didn't know what his look meant, but it was almost fearful as he looked at Elizabeth before his eyes flickered back down the line. With Lena still in his grip, he tugged her along, sliding his hand down to grab her own as he backtracked to Gibbs.

Jack slid up to his first mate's side as he asked him, as if for clarity, "the locker, you say?"

"Aye," Gibbs confirmed while sharing a concerned look with Lena.

Elizabeth hadn't stopped when he failed to reply. Following after them, she said, "we've come to rescue you."

Jack rounded on her suddenly, surprising Lena from the tension and anger in his voice. "Have you, now? That's very kind of you. But seeing as I possess a ship and you don't, it seems as though you're the ones in need of rescuing and I'm not sure as I'm in the mood."

"I see my ship," Barbossa said as he stepped forward, rising to the challenge as he pointed to the Pearl, "right there."

Peering around him, Jack looked out towards the water, scanning it with all the dramatics one would expect as he said, "can't spot it, must be a tiny little thing hiding somewhere behind the Pearl."

Lena couldn't help herself as she tried to stifle a laugh with her hand, amused by the banter between then. It seemed she was the only one amused however. Everyone began stepping towards him just as he stepped away, moving to leave them on the beach, though he wasted no time in grabbing Lena's hand again, bringing her along.

"Jack," Will called first as he chased after the captain. "Cutler Beckett has the heart of Davy Jones. He controls the Flying Dutchman."

Jumping in, Elizabeth continued, "he's taking over the seas."

"The song has already been sung. The Brethren Court is called," Tia Dalma finished as he was surrounded on all sides, reasons being thrown at him.

"Leave you people alone for a minute and look what's happened," Jack said with a flourish, "everything's gone to pot."

"Aye, Jack," Gibbs said in agreement, jumping in to make him see reason. "The world needs you back something fierce."

Will reminded him then, "and you need a crew."

Jack let go of Lena as he faced the group of them, letting out his thoughts as he spoke. "Why should I sail with any of you? Four of you have tried to kill me in the past, one of you succeeded."

His words settled over the group, heavy as the information sunk in. The shock was clear as the pieces fell into place, eyes drifting to the last person to speak to Jack before he died. Before he was killed.

"What?" Lena asked in disbelief, horror at learning the truth. "Lizzy?" she muttered, as if it would somehow change the truth and make things better. But suddenly everything made sense, why she had been distant, not speaking to her or Will. The secret, perhaps even the guilt.

Lena felt like her whole world was breaking again. Everything Jack had been through and everything she had gone through; it was all because of Elizabeth. She trusted her to have her back, even when they didn't see eye to eye. Even if she feared what might have been hidden underneath, she had believed she could always trust Elizabeth. But this? Lena could hardly process that fact in her mind.

"Oh, she's not told you? You'll have loads to talk about while you're here," Jack taunted Will, pulling Lena from her head. He turned to Tia Dalma then, apparently addressing those who had tried to kill him or even simply about who could be part of the crew. "As for you."

"Now, don't tell me you didn't enjoy it," Tia Dalma said flirtatiously, trailing a hand down his cheek, "at the time."

"All right, fair enough, you're in," Jack conceded, making Lena feel slightly sick at the exchange, though it was hard to tell what she truly felt with so many emotions running through her.

As if catching her thoughts, Jack looked back at her. Lena could only imagine what she looked like at that point, feeling nauseous and confused, barely able to think anymore. "And of course my girl's coming," he said as he pulled her to his side, wrapping an arm around her waist.

Jack then proceeded to walk down the line, awkwardly pulling her along with him as he passed judgement.

Before Ragetti, he said, "don't need you, you scare me."

Moving on, "Gibbs, you can come."

Down again, "Marty. Cotton." Said with approval. He paused then, considering the parrot. "Cotton's parrot, I'm a little iffy, but at least I'll have someone else to talk to." His quick judgement paused as he landed in front of Tai Huang, clearly unfamiliar with him. "Who are you?"

"Tai Huang," he said then gestured to the crew behind him. "These are my men."

Considering the group before him, Jack asked, "where do your allegiances lie?"

"With the highest bidder."

"I have a ship," Jack said, perking up suddenly as he gave his offer.

And without missing a beat, Tai Huang approved. "That makes you the highest bidder."

"Good man," Jack said before he turned, addressing everyone with a shout. "Weigh anchor, all hands, prepare to make sail!" And to finish up his plans, he pulled out his compass to find a heading.

Catching a quick glance of it from her spot beside him, Lena watched as it spun continuously, no sign of stopping.

"Jack, which way ya goin', Jack?" Barbossa asked with a grin, holding the charts in hand, tapping them just as Jack the monkey jumped onto his shoulder.

It seemed that regardless of Jack's intentions, the entire crew would be coming. Without the charts, they wouldn't be getting far.

With only one boat to begin with, the first crew was sent aboard to help get it started and to make the transition back to the ship quicker. However, both captains remained on shore for the time being. It would be a quick transition with no supplies to bring along, just themselves.

Lena lingered a short distance away as she watched Jack speak to some of the crew while others sat and relaxed with no other job to do. There was so much she wanted to say and do, but she didn't know where to begin. Even with him so close, finally back in her life, she was torn. She should have realized what actually happened and tried to help. Perhaps she could have changed something. And worse yet, she hadn't trusted her own feelings. The last thing she wanted to do at the moment was speak to Elizabeth so she was trying to avoid her. Honestly, she was trying to avoid everyone as she worked through all her thoughts, trying to reach a place in her mind where it wasn't so loud.

"There's that face again," Jack said with a smirk as he walked up to her, "where you're overthinking."

Lena returned it with a weak smile. "Sorry, there's just a lot on my mind." Her voice cracked at the end and she dropped the smile. A hand flew to her mouth as she spun around, turning her back to Jack as she tried to compose herself. She was so tired of crying. She should be happy that she had found Jack! So why was she so conflicted?

"Love," was all Jack said to draw her attention before he stepped around her and pulled her to him as he wrapped his arms around her tightly.

"I'm sorry," she cried as she broke apart in his arms, clinging tightly to him as she reminded herself that he was back. "Please don't leave again." The words were broken and breathless as she tried to say them, but it was her main thought at that moment. Even with so many other things on her mind that she wanted to say, she just wanted to know she wouldn't lose him again. He was all she had in the world and she couldn't bear to go without him.

She could feel his chest rise as he silently chuckled to himself before he kissed her head. "I've no intention of dyin' again, Lena. Don't you worry about that." And they stood there, a quiet surrounding them aside from the occasional chatter of the crew, until she was calm.

As she relaxed against him, no longer holding him like a lifeline but simply resting against him, he pulled back just enough to look down at her. "There is one thing I've been wanting that no hallucination could satisfy," Jack said with a smile that almost stopped her heart as she looked at him. And then he pulled her in, hand wrapped behind her neck as he kissed her, a kiss that certainly tried to make up for the past two months apart.


I hope you all enjoyed their reunion! I feel like Lena needs a mental health day now, the poor girl.

Let me know what you thought! I've revamped this scene multiple times since starting the story so I hope it delivered enough feelings. The next chapter will be out some time this week. I doubt I'll get much started today so I'll be working on it during the work week. Until next time!