AN/ The main bit of this chapter - where the Spirit is trying to convince Jack to turn his longboat around and go back to the Black Pearl - is the very first thing I ever wrote for this fic. Right after I saw PotC 2 for the first time, I went home and wrote my first draft of it. Since then, it's been poked and prodded and added to and taken away from, and morphed into the final version you see before you. I hope you enjoy it.

I didn't say a single word as Jack silently lowered the longboat down the port side of the Black Pearl and into the water. The Kraken was more than enough distraction for him to slip away from the chaos going on upon the deck of his ship. No one would notice he was gone for quite some time, and even when they did there was no way they could chase after him. It was a good escape plan, albeit extremely cowardly.

Jack climbed down into the little boat. I started down after him, but hesitated, hovering beside the ship. The Pearl groaned, as if she didn't want her captain to leave or knew what was about to happen to her. Jack put a finger to his lips as if to hush his ship and looked up to me, wondering if I was coming. He waved at me frantically, telling me to hurry up; something that struck me as slightly flattering, in a strange sort of way, since he wasn't trying to save anyone else. Then again, it seemed likely that he wanted me along mainly to guide him through what was to come next.

I refused to move quickly as I drifted down and quietly settled in the boat, wincing slightly as my knee gave a complaint. I didn't look at my assignment. I kept my eyes on the bottom of the boat, even as Jack began to row away. I had to remember…even if I didn't agree with this, Jack was my assignment; it was my job to stick by his side.

Jack didn't have to row for very long before we found ourselves already quite some distance away from the Pearl. I knew the strong current was to blame for that. The uncomfortable silence finally prompted Jack to speak up.

"You're being awfully quiet," he said. "Would have thought you'd have something to say to me about now."

I raised my eyes to look into his. I had no usual smile to give him. My cold fear of the Kraken had morphed into a slow, hot anger. "Like what?"

"Oh, I don't know…" Jack muttered. "How about 'Oi, I'm sure glad we got away from there with our lives!', or somethin'?"

My blank face didn't change. Behind us came the sound of the Pearl's cannons as they fired at the Kraken's tentacles. I remembered how Jack could recognise the Black Pearl just by the sound of those very cannons.

Jack visibly flinched at the sound. "Or how about 'I respect your decision and I'll stick with you no matter what'?" he said hopefully.

"You're half right there," I said, keeping my voice as calm as I could. "I am going to stick with you, but I don't respect this particular decision of yours."

Jack frowned. Something in me snapped and I pointed angrily back at the Pearl. The ship was in a full-fledged attack by the Kraken. It was a horrible sight. I let some of my fury show in my voice. "Do you remember what we went through to get that ship back from Barbossa? Do I need I remind you what you once said about that ship? 'It's not just a keel and a hull and a deck and sails. That's what a ship needs. But what that ship is, what the Black Pearl really is, is freedom.'" I dropped my arm with a sigh and shook my head. I could tell my quoting his own words back at him had some effect on Jack.

"I can't believe you would give that up," I said, a small sob in my voice. "That ship is your life. And those people! You - "

Jack managed to interrupt my rant. "Calypso, it's true that that ship has always represented freedom to me…but not any more. Freedom means that I can escape, go where I please and do what I please, but ever since Jones sicked that beastie on me I've been stripped of that freedom. When a man can't be safe on 'is own ship, then there's no point sticking around on board any longer. Besides," he glared at me, "you knew that the heart wasn't in that jar anymore. Why didn't you tell me?" he asked, his rather deep voice filled with hurt and venom.

I glared back at him. Jack had made an excellent and truthful point, but I was not going to lose this argument. "I wanted to tell you, Jack, if only to save you the embarrassment, but I couldn't tell you. I wasn't allowed to, you know that," I snapped. "Even still, it doesn't matter now. You call yourself a captain, but you're sure as hell not acting like one now. A captain is a leader, and what the hell kind of leader leaves his crew behind to be eaten by a bloody sea monster!?"

Jack looked like he was about to speak again, but I didn't give him the chance to. "And even more than that - your friends are there. Those people once risked their lives to come back and save you. Regardless of how they feel about you now, Will and Elizabeth were going to be hung because when you were about to be executed, they stepped up and said 'No! Jack Sparrow is a good man! You should not hang him.' You owe them your life just as much as you owe me."

I sighed again. Jack could no longer meet my gaze. He was doing some serious thinking. He was still rowing, though his stroke was slowing. I looked at his compass.

"I once thought that thing only pointed to Isla de Meurta." I said softly. "But I was wrong. It lead to what you really wanted, a way to get the Pearl back. Let's face it, Jack, you love that ship and you care about your friends." I swallowed hard. "To be honest, I don't know what that compass would point to if you opened it now, but I don't care. You know what the right thing to do is."

There was a pause that lasted for a second, but felt like a lifetime. A thought crossed my mind. "Was Elizabeth right when she said you were curious about what it felt like to do the right thing? Something courageous, to save the day, to be a hero? Because I will tell you right now - and I mean this with every fibre of my being," I slowed my words, to make each one count. "If you don't go back, then they're all going to die."

Jack stopped rowing. He looked at the compass, then at the Pearl. We could hear screams and shouts coming from the crew of the doomed ship. He looked over his shoulder at the island in the distance. We both knew that island meant temporary safety, but taking that option meant that Captain Jack Sparrow was a coward. I knew he could live with a lot of guilt in his life, but could he really live with this guilt?

Another thought came to me. If this didn't work, nothing would. "Barbossa probably wouldn't have abandoned the Pearl," I said in an offhanded manner.

Jack looked at me with a certain type of venom. "I'm not Barbossa," he growled.

I matched his angry gaze. "No, you're not. You and him are very similar, but you're a better man than him."

Our eyes remained locked for a few more seconds. Both our wills were strong, and neither one of us wanted to back down. Then, abruptly, Jack suddenly broke his gaze away and opened the compass. He saw where its needle pointed and looked back at me. His stare shifted over my shoulder to the Black Pearl and the monster that was about to swallow her. Then his eyes met mine once more.

"You do what you have to do," I said. "And I'll follow you to the ends of the Earth, to Hell and back if need be."

"Have you ever been to Hell, Calypso?" Jack asked.

A ghost of a smile crossed my face. "Yes, as a matter of fact, I have."

"Good. You can show me around." Jack grunted as he began to turn the longboat.

I grinned in victory, and used my powers to ensure the boat made a speedy return to the ship, despite the current pushing us in the other direction. My grin morphed into a grim smile. What we were doing was suicide, but I have never felt prouder, or more terrified, about the choice that was made to do it.