Many thanks to reviewers: Arquenniel, Calenlass Greenleaf1, willabeth0906, Wills_Elizabeth23, shewhoshallwrite, AKA Parfait, Smith, master of time and lynxlan!! You make my week with your wonderful reviews!!

Anonymous Reviewer Responses:

master of time: Thanks so much for your review! :) Oddly, enough I don't really want it to end either but as the plot has other ideas we'll be nearing the finish line very soon.

Smithy: Thanks so much for your review! And thank you for your understanding! :D

AKA Parfait: Thanks very much for your review! I had a great time writing it (when I wasn't going cross-eyed, that is)! :)

Wills_Elizabeth23: Thanks very much for your review! I was so sorry to keep you waiting so long! This chapter is almost solely Will and Elizabeth so I hope you'll enjoy! :)

I do apologize for the shortness of this chapter but I really wanted to get this chapter up so you didn't have to wait another week.

We're nearing the end, everybody, and I hope you'll stick with me. :)

Chapter 30: All That Matters

Gibbs had seen many strange things in his lifetime. After all, he'd been on the sea almost his entire life. A sailor views all manner of wild sea life when water was short and the sun was high.

In fact, he'd swear on a case of rum that he'd even seen a mermaid once. She'd been a lovely thing, too, with a glimmering green-blue tail and long curling black hair.

But what he saw now, while no where near as enchanting, was probably the oddest. Three obviously French girls were huddled in the back of a dingy across from Bootstrap's boy, who looked like he'd been keelhauled, and Miss Elizabeth.

They were partially hidden by the storm and it was a wonder that Cotton's parrot even spotted them. Jack, acting more strange than usual, had sauntered off towards his cabin muttering about "that bloody, stupid whelp". He reappeared moments later and began hollering orders for the dingy to be brought in.

Gibbs waited only a moment before he began echoing his captain's orders.

And another miracle manifested itself when the Pearl's crew managed to get the dingy on board without spilling its occupants all over the deck. Ragetti and Pintel didn't even argue about the enthusiasm or rather lack of it when working at the pulleys.

Jack remained silently watching as the three French girls' feet connected with the deck. He only moved when Elizabeth finally began to pull at Will's sleeves in an effort to get him on the Pearl.

"Come on, love."

Gibbs watched, slack-jawed, as Jack Sparrow helped Miss Elizabeth lug Will into the Captain's cabin and shut the door. When he finally managed to clear the surprise from his wits he turned to the crew, who stared in much the same shock as he felt moments ago.

Well, a swift verbal kick would get them moving. "What're you staring at, ya lazy yobs?! Get your feet moving! Prepare to make way unless you want Jones on our tail!"

Had Elizabeth been paying more attention to her surrounding, she would have noted that the candles had been lit, the ratty bedcovers had been turned down, and a fresh bottle of rum had been uncapped on the bed stand.

But with her limp husband half-cradled in her arms, she had much more pressing issues at hand. Wordlessly, Jack nudged her towards the sole bed in the great cabin, and, wordlessly still, she thanked him with a gentle nod of her head.

Will was settled on the sheets and blankets, unresponsive even when Elizabeth and Jack peeled away his overcoat and shirt. His face was deathly white, and his breathing was shallow.

"Jack…" Elizabeth took in the sight of wounds, some fresh and some reopened, as they bled and felt her heart tighten in pain. How would he survive?

He gave her a sad smile and looked down at the young man on the bed. "It'll be alright, Lizzie. A bit of sleep and rum'll do wonders."

And Elizabeth found herself trusting that Jack would keep his word.

Light.

It was the first thing Will was aware of. Gentle, warm, glowing light. The second was the gentle rocking beneath him. The third was the potent smell of medicines. The fourth was the feeling of linen secured around his chest. The fifth was an ache that consumed his entire body.

Slowly, he pried himself out of mere awareness and opened his eyes. Shapes blurred and it was several minutes before Will could make out anything.

He was lying in a bed with two surprisingly thick blankets spread over him. Next to him sat a tray filled with all sorts of potions. The light came from the windows at the stern of the room and just beyond the brilliant light he saw the soft cadence of the ocean. He was on a ship then.

It wasn't until he saw the piles of maps and the queer collection of objects strewn about the room that he finally realized just whose ship he was on. Only the Black Pearl would have such a cluttered captain's cabin.

There was a quiet click from the doorway and Will found it difficult to turn himself to see who had entered. When he'd finally maneuvered around it didn't matter as the person was rushing towards him.

"Will!" There it was. That voice that never failed to make his heart skip a beat.

Her arms were around him in a moment, her lips pressed against his. He'd forgotten how strongly she smelled of roses and the way her silky hair brushed his face.

"Elizabeth…" it came out as a sigh.

"I thought…when you didn't wake-" tears choked off her words. "I thought you might leave us."

Will's eyes widened. "The baby?"

She pulled his hand down and rested it on her swollen belly. "Waiting for the perfect moment to appear."

Will's large brown hands covered most of the swell and as she pressed them to her, the baby within shifted and turned as if he recognized the touch of his father. Her eyes shone. "He knows you."

"Elizabeth,"

"Shh," Her finger stilled his words. A weak smile dawned on her lips. "Please…"

Will sank back against the cushions gingerly, the bolts of pain shooting up and down his back reminding him to use caution.

Elizabeth's eyes were wells of unshed tears. The droplets trembled on the long lashes, glittering like bright diamonds. It wasn't until a gasping breath and the successive shudder that Will realized that she was weeping.

"Elizabeth, I'm here. I won't leave you." Will tried to take her hand but she covered her face with them. He grew truly concerned then. "Elizabeth…"

"No, no, it's not" her voice was contorted in anguish, punctuated by hiccupping breaths, "that." She ran her fingers along one of the many white bandages about his chest, trying to find composure.

Will waited, knowing she was collecting her words but hating to see her in such pain.

She took a deep breath. "If I had only listened to you, if I only trusted you, this never would have happened."

And suddenly, he understood. Cotton's death.

"They hurt you…and it was my fault." Fresh tears overcame her voice and when she spoke again the words were rushed. "I'm so sorry, for everything, Will."

"Elizabeth," His fingers stroked the smooth skin along her jaw. Hot tears soon spilled over the calluses on his hands as she wept. Brushing back damp tendrils of hair from her flushed face, Will met her damp gaze steadily. "Elizabeth, none of what happened was your fault."

"But-"

His warm finger cut off the remainder of the words and merely collected her against his chest, wrapping his arms around her trembling shoulders. Leaning in close he whispered, "I've loved you since I first laid eyes on you, and not once has that feeling wavered."

She huddled against him, tears streaming down her cheeks but said no more. So, he held her close, unknowingly holding her ear against his heartbeat, and waited. Slowly, the sniffles and shuddering breaths eased.

"Will?"

For a moment, he thought he was hearing the voice of the twelve-year-old Elizabeth, the one that had grown terrified at storm and had appeared by his hammock in the middle of the night. He remembered clearly the way her voice had quavered as she explained what had frightened her before her father had entered and hustled her away, a stern lecture about propriety ringing in their ears.

But he also remembered the way her hand had felt in his and the same rush to protect her, to hold her, to keep her safe, burning in his heart.

She looked up at him, a thousand questions brimming in her face. "Do you…do you think we could go home?"

And he found that the answer was difficult to formulate. The truth was, he didn't know. Technically, his service with His Majesty was not finished, however unlawful its beginning had been. What if he returned to his home, his smithy, only to be pulled away and punished for desertion?

But where else could he go? What else could he do?

He could stay on the Pearl. But what kind of life would that be for Elizabeth and the baby. No matter how talented Jack Sparrow was at getting out of scrapes, he tended to get out of those scraps with more than a few scars to remember them by.

A child would not be so easily patched together.

Nor would he let Elizabeth give up any hope of ever seeing her father again. Despite their disagreements, Elizabeth and her father had a close relationship and to pull her apart from that merely to ensure that he faced no punishment was not a choice he would accept.

Perhaps Norrington would understand. Perhaps nothing would happen at all. He was just overreacting. No one really even knew why he had left.

Firming his resolve, Will chose a course of action. He met Elizabeth's questioning gaze, smiled, and said, "Yes."

Elizabeth and the baby would remain safe. That was all that mattered.

TBC...