Angelica assisted Jack to one of the benches after breaking from the embrace. As soon as he sat down, he painfully lifted his left leg up, bending the knee with a groan and propping the foot on his peg-leg. The pant leg was torn in many different places where the shark's teeth had pierced it- and his skin too. The pant leg was stained red and sticking to his skin. It didn't look good.

A hand on his back made him look up and his gaze met with hers. "What was it?"

"A shark." He admitted. "Pretty bad, eh?"

She sat down beside him and grabbed the hem of his pant leg. She carefully began pulling it up, as to not cause the wounded leg any extra pain. She pulled it up past the injuries. She nearly gasped and even he flinched a bit at the sight of his bloodied, chewed up leg. Most of his skin was torn up, revealing what looked like the remaining intact fat and muscle, which was left red in irritation. The injuries went from his mid thigh down to his mid calf. That shark had had quite a few rows of teeth.

"Si." She finally answered, nodding. She fell silent for a moment. "Jack?"

"Aye?" He glanced back up at her.

"If we don't find land soon and get you treated, you are going to die." She realized.

"We will." He put a hand on her shoulder. "I promise, Angelica. We'll find land soon enough."

"What if it's too late?" Angelica asked, dreadfully. "I don't want to lose you, Jack."

"I wouldn't want to lose me either." Jack assured her, jokingly. Then he grew serious. "Trust me, love, I'm not goin' anywhere. Don't worry about me, it'll all be fine in the end."

"How do I know you're not making that up to keep me from worrying?"

"I'm not, I promise."

"Good." She leaned against him, feeling him wince as she unintentionally brushed up against some of his wounds. "If I lose you- you're the only thing I have left to lose, Jack, ever since my father died. I don't want to lose you. I love you."

"It'll be alright." He assured her softly, kissing the top of her head. Then he suddenly realized something. She's all I got left now too."I love ye too, Angelica. No matter what bloody stupid thing I do to ye next, I always will care for ye."

Angelica gave him a smirk. "When did I make you go soft?"

"Soft?" Jack repeated, raising an eyebrow at her, though he knew very well what she meant. Then he retorted playfully,"I haven't gone soft!"

She grinned, a mischievous look in her chocolate colored eyes. "Are you sure?"

"Of course!" He smirked back.

"There's something different about you, Jack." She murmured. "Ever since I found you during the battle, you've been more serious. Why?"

His smirk faded.

"Let's jus' say that I finally learned that life's not jus' a game, love." He responded quietly, looking away from her.

"What do you mean?" She cupped the side of his face in her hand and turned his head to face her.

"Pirates. We don't jus' kill our enemies or anyone who opposes us." He was trying to avoid a certain topic, it was in his voice. "We kill for sport, or jus' 'cause we feel like it."

"Jack?" Her eyes narrowed in worry and suspicion. "What are you talking about?"

"I-Nothing." He cut off abruptly, clearly not wanting to say something. He shook his head, pulling away from her hand and gazing out across the water. "It doesn't matter."

"Yes, it does, mi amor." Angelica argued, gently resting a hand on his bruised right shoulder. "What's bothering you?"

Jack unattached his mother's shrunken head from his belt and held it in his palm, studying the long dead face. "Ye know what this is?" He didn't wait for an answer. "Me mum's head. Me dad killed her himself. He told me, durin' the battle. I was angry with him, never gave him a proper goodbye when he died in front o' me very own eyes. I should've forgiven him sooner, should've given him a farewell. Now they're both gone. Never got to say goodbye to either o' em." He paused, the air tinted with silence besides the roaring of the stormy waves. "I know I sound bloody selfish, but-"

"Shh," She hushed him, reaching into his dreadlocks and holding his head still as she tilted her head up- her lips meeting his.

Recovering from his momentarily surprise, he wrapped an arm around her, using his other to reattach the miniature head to his belt. Once that was done, his other hand wrapped around her as well and he held her as physically close as possible. She climbed onto his lap and straddled his waist, her hands cupping the back of his head. He held her as firmly as his injured arms could allow, gently rubbing her back with his rough hands. He ignored the pain that coursed through the stub of his right leg and the whole of the injured area of the other one.

After a minute, Angelica broke the kiss so they could both breath. Jack pressed his forehead against hers as he panted, only slackening his grip on her a little to allow them room.

"You're...all that..I have left as...well." He gasped out in between breaths.

She broke the silence after they caught their breath. "Then stay with me, Jack. Don't leave again, for a third time."

"Don't think either one o' us could survive it if I did leave." He told her, sighing. "I'm not goin' anywhere without ye, 'Gelica. I promise. I swear I will on…"

"On what?" She asked, hearing him hesitate.

"On return to Davy Jones' Locker." He decided. "I'll stay with ye forever, Angelica, I promise."

"I trust you." She murmured, closing her eyes as their lips brushed momentarily. "Confío en ti."

"Let's keep it that way." He fought the urge to say savvy.

"Yes." She agreed, nuzzling his cheek.

He, in return, gently kissed hers. "It'll all be fine in the end."

"I hope so, mi amor." Angelica responded, her voice soft. "I love you, Jack."

"The feeling's more than mutual." Jack assured her, giving a small, fond smile.

She shifted on his lap, unwrapping her legs from around him. He grimaced and his recently wounded leg twitched in pain from her movement. She froze as he felt him move, glancing up into his eyes with worry.

"I'm sorry-"

"No need to be, love."

"Are you alright?" She cupped the side of his face in her hand as he tried to look away.

He met her gaze, nodding grimly. "Sticks an' stones, love." He pulled a weak smirk. "I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" She persisted, twisting to glance at his leg.

He grabbed her shoulder and turned her back to face him. His voice was gruffy as he responded sharply. "Don't worry about me, alright?" He saw her flinch and sighed, looking away from her. A feeling he rarely felt settled in his chest, tearing at his heart. Guilt. Heaving a heavy sigh, he quietly cleared his throat. His voice was softer when he spoke. "I'm sorry…but ye don't need to fuss 'bout me that much, love."

"Jack…" She spoke finally, her voice hushed. She couldn't continue, her eyes becoming moist. A tear trickled from her eye, trailing down her cheek.

"Really…" He said it both annoyed and trying to calm her down. "I'm fine, don't ye see?"

"You...are barely s-strong enough to stand up." Angelica choked out. "You need treatment, but...we have nothing with us."

"We'll reach land soon, then all will be well." Jack promised her, gently, pulling her against him.

She leaned against him, accepting the comfort, and sobbed quietly into his neck. He held her as tightly as his arms would allow, yet not too firmly. He rested his chin on her head, gazing off at the dark horizons, losing himself in his thoughts.

Years ago she wanted to kill me, now she can't get enough of me. What happened between us?

"'ey," He murmured softly into her ear, trying to sound as soothing as possible. He wasn't good at this kind of stuff. "Relax, Angelica. Ye're fine, I'm fine; we both are. It'll get better soon, I promise. Jus' calm down an' stop cryin'."

"Jack-" She tried to speak up, but she was cut off as another sob escaped from her.

"What's the matter? Surely, somethin' else is buggin' ye besides our talk." He knew he hit a solid lead as she sniffled and didn't answer. "I know that somethin' else is worryin' ye. Please, tell me. I can help ye, love."

"I-I had a dream, Jack." She began, pausing.

"And what happened in this dream? I need to know the details." He insisted.

"Y-you…you d-" She cut off, unable to continue, weeping again.

Something inside of him knew what she was going to say. I died in her dream, didn't I? He gently rubbed her back, listening as her sobs gradually grew quieter until they died down. He felt her breathing slow and knew she'd fallen asleep.

Jack rested Angelica in between two of the benches, ignoring Will's curious glance- the man had clearly seen everything. He sat down in the very back of the boat, as usual, crossing his arms on the edge of the wood and resting his head on them, closing his eyes.

The memories and nightmares came back, worse than before.