A/N - It's the longest chapter so far:) I just couldn't decide where to split it into two chapters, so I decided to leave it like that. I hope that's OK.

A/D (Author's Digression) - 14 days to AWE!!!

Disclaimer: I don't own POTC.

Chapter 21

They stood right before the entrance to the dark mountain, from which they just got out, and there was nothing that they would rather do, than walk away from where they were standing. But unfortunately, they could not do this, because the ground on which they were standing was rather limited... There, where before was land, now was water. It looked as if the mountain stood on an island, not bigger than the mountain itself. The murky ocean seemed to be consuming the place which looked frighteningly dark under the black starless sky. And only the moon glittered above, like a ghastly lantern. The shapes of the ships loomed in the darkness. The water seemed to be everywhere. Endless, terribly black ocean.

Elizabeth, Jack, and Will were stunned into silence by the view. They stood looking around in bewilderment, when they heard a quiet noise, which stood out against the soft swoosh of the waves. From behind the corner, keeping closely to the mountain's side, two silhouettes were approaching slowly.

"Jack?", one of the shadows called hesitantly.

"Most likely", replied Jack without enthusiasm, wrinkling his forehead.

"Thanks God!", exclaimed Gibbs happily, coming towards them a little faster. Governor Swann followed him impatiently.

"Elizabeth", he said with a sigh of relief, noticing her. So he did bring her back, after all...

"Father! I'm glad you're alright", she said guiltily with a faint smile. Somehow Elizabeth felt as if it was all her fault. Again.

The Governor embraced her briefly, noticing her hand in Jack's hand, their fingers laced together, neither of them letting go of the other even for a moment. She looked tired, but there was the happy glint in her eyes, this glint that he wished he would see someday, yet he was afraid to see it. And now it was there. And he knew he has eventually lost her, in a way.

Governor Swann looked at his daughter with concern. He knew that someday she would get married, have a life on her own, her own new family. But it did not mean that he would lose her. No. She still would be the same person marrying James Norrington, marrying William Turner. Yes, even Will Turner. When they were engaged she looked happy, but she still had this sense of reality in her eyes, she was conscious, able to concentrate, able to listen, able to take part in what was going on around her.

And now, to his inexorably ongoing surprise, it was all different. She looked at him as always, she smiled at him as always, but he could feel that her thoughts were elsewhere, that she was emotionally in a different world. She was in Jack Sparrow's world. He still could not understand how it was possible, but it was painfully obvious that this man bewitched her so completely that there was not a piece of her left. There was no sense of reality in her eyes now. Now in her eyes it was only him.

"Mr. Gibbs", called Jack, still looking around.

"Captain", replied Gibbs less than firmly.

"What happened... to the land?", he asked with a trace of accusation in his voice, glancing at Gibbs questioningly, although he did not seem to expect hearing a satisfying answer.

"The land... Well, we waited for ye to return, and all of a sudden the water began to approach, so having a choice of climbing up the cliff, or waiting for ye here..."

"We have to swim to the cliff, climb up and go through that forest over there", cut in Will, pointing at dark silhouettes of the trees in the forest above them. The forest from which Jack and Gibbs came here before.

Jack looked curiously at the sea, and drew back a little pulling Elizabeth further away from the water as well.

"We can't", he stated solemnly.

"And why is that?", asked Will, irritated.

"Actually ye can if ye want", said Jack after a moment of consideration.

Elizabeth turned towards Jack, and looked him in the eyes, trying not to smile.

"Why we cannot swim, Jack?", she asked knowingly.

He looked at her, thinking of how beautiful she looked in the moonlight. And he suddenly felt an absurd urge to kiss her immediately, but regretfully suppressed it for many reasons, only one of them being that it would not be an answer to her question...

"Look at the water, luv."

She looked at the water. And everybody else looked at it as well. It looked ordinary, Maybe except for the mist that... No, it was not the mist. Suddenly they realized why it was so humid there. The humidity came from the sea, from the water, because the water was... steaming.

"It's hot", whispered Elizabeth in disbelief.

"Aye", nodded Jack. "But as I said, if Mr. Turner wishes to be boiled, I feel in no position to interfere."

The Governor raised his eyebrows, finding the advice doubtfully funny, while to his surprise Elizabeth did seem to smile a little, but then she quickly put on a serious look. Will stared at the water bewildered, not even hearing the comment.

"We might need to go back inside", stated Jack with a barely audible sigh.

"Is this by any chance just one of the options we have?", asked Gibbs hesitantly.

"No", countered Jack. "We have no options. And this is just one of the options we don't have."

"If it's not an option, we don't have to do this, then?", asked Gibbs with some hope, but without much conviction.

"Just on the contrary", said Jack to Gibbs' disappointment. "We have to do this, because it's the only option we don't have that we have."

"Aye", answered Gibbs mechanically, with a reluctant nod.

Will stood silently observing the scene, glancing from time to time at Elizabeth. What should he do? Should he tell Jack about the man with frightening eyes? About the conversation? How much did he know already? They were here (They, he chuckled), Jack knew about the Pearl. But did he knew that the man with a scarred face considered the Black Pearl to be his ship? That the man wanted to kill Jack for his fulfilled request to drag the Pearl back from the depths? And what was the story behind it all?

At least he was sure that it was not his story. Neither was this Elizabeth his Elizabeth. Will stared at her, her eyes turned to Jack, looking at Jack, thinking of Jack, belonging to... Thoughts began to rush through his mind.

Will rescued her so many times. He proved he loved her. He risked his life for her. He could not do possibly more than he did. And the only thing he wanted in return was she. Just her. Marrying her and living a simple life together. Happily. Ever. After. It cannot just disappear. This dream of his. He deserved it. Nobody cared whether he was good, noble, honest. At least Elizabeth did not seem to care. It did not matter. And who knows? Maybe she would even liked him better if he had not been so ideal... What an absurd justification. Yes, very absurd. A justification?...

He glanced grimly at Elizabeth. She looked stunning. Despite her disheveled appearance, and dirty dress, she looked stunning; as always. She was beautiful. And she was his. And no filthy pirate is going to change that. Perhaps Will could make a deal with the man with a scarred face... After all, he just wanted Jack. He has no profound reasons to harm anybody else...

"Yes, we must go back inside", Will heard himself saying.

Everyone looked at him. Did they notice? No. He inwardly laughed at himself. He must stop thinking that whenever he lies or has some dark thoughts people can immediately see it. They cannot.

And they did not. The water was almost reaching them, as they stood near the entrance. After yet another brief discussion, they reluctantly went back inside.

As soon as they did, the entrance loudly slammed shut behind them, leaving them in darkness. But the darkness did not last long. Soon, the dim light appeared. The light from a lantern, carried by somebody...

"I had a feeling you shall come back", said captain Harness, looking at them with a half-smile.

"We forgot something", said Jack unexpectedly, attracting general attention, as everybody else was stunned into silence, and did not dare to move, nor understand how he could move or talk.

"Oh really?", asked Harness seemingly intrigued. "And what would that be?"

Subconsciously, Elizabeth squeezed Jack's hand, either from her own feeling of fear, or out of concern for what he may answer. She trusted him infinitely, but she had to objectively admit that the best solutions to Jack's problems were the solutions that happened to find him, rather than solutions that he tried to find... And now it seemed that he tried to come up with a solution on his own.

"Well", began Jack, taking a few steps forward, still holding Elizabeth by the hand, and although she did not really feel like stepping forward, she did not want to let go of his hand either.

The situation was dramatic and difficult. And in Captain Jack Sparrows' world the best and the only thing that you could do in a difficult situation, was... make it more difficult.

"My ship", said Jack with an innocent smirk. "We forgot me ship."

Elizabeth blinked, and turned her head slightly towards Jack, trying to read from his face possible explanation for uttering the most inappropriate sentence in the given circumstances.

"Jack?", she said in a barely audible whisper.

As an answer, he just squeezed her hand reassuringly.

Harness, on the other hand, took some steps forward, and it crossed Elizabeth's mind that he looked slightly shocked at the bluntness of Jack's remark. Clearly he has never met Captain Jack Sparrow before...

"And that ship would be...?", asked the captain staring at Jack steadily.

Everyone held their breath.

It occurred to Will that Jack must have been be aware of the story. That he must have known that the Black Pearl was once this man's ship, and that he wanted her back. He cannot be that stupid as to tell him now that...

"The Black Pearl", announced Jack almost happily.

Yes, he can.

Will sighed. Gibbs' eyes flew wide open. Elizabeth blinked. Governor Swann did not understand what exactly was going on, and could not believe that he actually was in such circumstances in the first place.

"The Black Pearl", repeated Harness in a strange voice.

"Yep. Me ship, the Black Pearl", confirmed Jack cheerfully.

Elizabeth wanted to scream, and really tried to convince herself that Jack knew what he was doing when he was infuriating this man. But there was always a possibility of a bitter disappointment...

"That's my ship", muffled captain Harness, staring at Jack with a trace of disbelief in his eyes. He expected everything, but arrogance.

"I know ye've the Black Pearl now, but I was thinking that we could negotiate the exchange of the Pearl", said Jack, showing his gold teeth in a knowing grin. "Aye?"

Elizabeth winced at the word exchange. They had nothing for exchange. Apparently.

"And what so valuable do you have, that it makes you think that I would be willing to exchange my ship for it?", asked Harness, not even noticing, when he got drawn into the conversation which he did not even planned to have.

And it was not until Elizabeth heard her father say something in a loud voice, that she realized that she actually heard correctly, and that among many words with which Jack filled his complex reply, for reasons that she could not imagine, in the context that she must have failed to notice, somehow appeared also... her name.