Again, I am soooo sorry for the late update. Hopefully you guys will like this chapter :)
Chapter 9
As Elizabeth's tears continued, the sound of her cries was the only noise they heard. A single tear rolled down Calypso's cheek and she wiped it away with a surprised look in her eyes. Smiling, she leaned down and gently touched Elizabeth's shoulder. When the young girl pulled back, her eyes were red and swollen. Nodding at her, Calypso pulled Jack out of her tight grasp.
"It's okay child," she whispered when Elizabeth wouldn't release him.
When she finally let him go, Calypso magically raised Jack's body into the air.
"He gave his life for your father's because he loves you so deeply," Calypso began. "And you almost dove into a whirlpool because you love him the same."
Elizabeth nodded softly through her tears and rose to her feet.
"As a Goddess, I am bestowed with a power, child, to bring people back from the dead. I am allowed to do this only twice. The first I used on Barbossa," she explained, pointing to the speechless Captain.
"So you can bring him back?" Elizabeth asked in a hopeful tone, taking a step forward.
Calypso's face saddened by the question and she sighed softly.
"The second time that I perform this spell…it be a bit different," she expressed.
"Different?" Elizabeth asked firmly, wiping her tears away. "Different how?"
After a moment's silence, Calypso spoke.
"An exchange has to take place," she stated quietly.
"What kind of exchange?" Elizabeth asked, her voice growing dark.
"The only way for witty Jack to live…be for someone to take his place," Calypso explained.
The sudden news caused quite a stir amongst the crew aboard the ship. Everyone glanced at one another and mumbled quiet words, but no one dared volunteer. Elizabeth moved her gaze from a torn Gibbs, to a quiet Barbossa, to a confused Will and finally back to Calypso.
"Take me," she suddenly said, her words creating a greater stir amongst everyone.
"Elizabeth!" her father exclaimed, grabbing her shoulders roughly. "NO! I will not let you do this!"
"He gave his life for you, father," she exclaimed firmly. "The first time he died was because of me. It was my fault."
"Elizabeth, I am the last person to defend Jack, but I know that he would not want this," Will expressed, joining in on the conversation. "He would never forgive himself."
Pulling away from them, Elizabeth shook her head.
"The solution here is simple," she stated.
"None of this is simple, Elizabeth! How can you stand here and say that?" Will snapped at her. "The world will not be any better a place if you're not in it!"
"The world will be just as bad a place without Jack!" she retorted.
"So you're willing to give your life for him?" he said angrily. "As if it wasn't bad enough that you gave up your family, respect and honor in his name, now you're willing to die for him?"
"I love him!" she replied, her voice carrying such conviction and strength that even Will was baffled. "That's what makes this simple."
With that, she turned and faced Calypso.
"Take me!" she snapped.
"No!" her father expressed. "Take me! Take my life!"
"I'm sorry," Calypso said softly. "It has already been decided."
With that, she extended her hand to Elizabeth who took it without hesitation. When Governor Swann tried to reach for his daughter once more, Calypso created a shield around them and Jack's body so no one could touch them.
"Close your eyes child," Calypso stated in a warm, motherly tone.
Glancing back at Jack's lifeless body for another moment, she took his hand in hers, inhaled deeply and closed her eyes. Calypso began chanting quietly with her eyes growing pitch black while Governor Swann desperately tried to break through the shield. Once Calypso was finished, a single shot of light suddenly came from the sky and hit their joined hands. Elizabeth's body arched forward sharply for a few seconds before the light and the shield vanished and she fell down next to him. Everyone stood frozen in their spots, staring down at the two bodies that lay before them on the deck. Suddenly, Elizabeth's eyes snapped open and she glanced around herself in surprise.
"Elizabeth!" her father exclaimed, rushing to her side and pulling her into a deep embrace as he cried. "I thought I had lost you."
Pulling away from her father, she quickly glanced down at Jack. When he didn't move, she gazed up at an equally confused Calypso.
"I don't understand. Why am I still breathing?" she demanded.
Before the Sea Goddess was able to respond, Elizabeth felt a sudden movement coming from Jack. Gazing down at him in shock, she and everyone else watched as his eyes slowly fluttered open. Blinking a few times, his eyes focused on Elizabeth's face.
"Lizzie?" he asked after a moment, causing her to burst out into joyful tears.
Grabbing the sides of his face, she pulled him in to a long and rather private kiss. It was anything but private, however, since everyone's eyes were cast upon them. When they pulled back for air, she planted small kisses all over his face, forcing both Will and Norrington to look away uncomfortably.
"How?" Gibbs suddenly asked as Elizabeth helped Jack to his feet and held his body in support as he draped his arm over her shoulders. "Elizabeth should be dead."
Confused by his first mate's words, Jack looked over at Calypso with a frown.
"What does he mean?" he asked.
"Elizabeth volunteered her life in exchange for yours," the Sea Goddess replied. "She would die so you would live."
Immediately facing her, Jack shook his head.
"I can't believe you'd do that," he exclaimed as she smiled at him. "How could you possibly think I'd want to live if you were dead?"
Elizabeth's smile widened at his words as they faced Calypso once more.
"But I don't understand either," she began. "Why am I still alive?"
"There is always a loophole to every spell," Calypso expressed. "When a love so pure and unselfish exists, like that between you and Jack, you are both granted life."
As if it were the final nail in his coffin, Will nodded in understanding as he stood in the background. All of a sudden, Beckett cleared his throat and walked before them.
"This little reunion has been swell, but very pointless," he exclaimed as everyone faced him. "Because you see Jack, I'll simply kill you again and this time, you won't come back."
Smiling softly, Jack gently shook his head and took a couple steps towards his enemy.
"Now you see Becky, that's quite unoriginal of you," Jack began. "It's the original ones you should fear, honestly…because you never know when they're going to do something originally stupid."
"And am I to understand that you are the original one?" Beckett asked with a frown.
Everyone else stared between the two in confusion as Jack smiled.
"And what ace do you have up your sleeve that is deemed original?" Beckett inquired.
"Well, I could stand here all by my onesy and go on and on about how I intend to kill you, but I'll do you one better," Jack exclaimed.
Before anyone was able to respond or object, Jack swiftly removed Elizabeth's sword from its sheath and plunged it into Beckett's chest. As everyone watched in a mixture of shock and horror, Lord Beckett began coughing up blood and gasping for air. Falling onto his knees, he winced from the pain before leaning his face up to meet Jack's. The rest of the Navy Officers were too stunned and frightened to act and therefore stood frozen in their spots as Jack slowly leaned his face down.
"That's the difference between you and me mate," Jack began. "You're all about the torture and the drama and me…I just want you dead."
With that, he pulled the sword out of Beckett's small frame and watched as Cutler fell onto his back in a pool of blood.
"After all, it's just business mate," Jack finished, causing Beckett to smile.
After another few gasps and a slight grin on his face, Beckett's eyes closed and his labored breathing came to an end. Everyone's eyes shifted from Beckett's lifeless corpse to Jack, who threw the sword onto the ground before glancing up at the stunned faces.
"I'm not one for speeches," he began before smiling. "Well, there was that one time in Spain when…."
Realizing that he had drifted off topic, he cleared his throat and lost his smile.
"Unless you wish to end up like your deceased boss, I say ye'd be best to drop yer swords," he exclaimed.
A long, silent moment passed through the deck of the ship before swords began clanking down on the wooden floor. As a few pirates began collecting the swords, the rest of the people began celebrating their victory. Word quickly reached the other ships and they, too, followed suit. An overwhelmed Elizabeth buried her face in the crook of Jack's neck as he wrapped his arms around her in comfort.
"I can't believe I almost lost you again," she expressed.
"Lizzie, think of me as a cat with nine lives," he said with a smile.
"And which life was that?" she asked, leaning back.
"I try not to think about that part," he said as she shook her head and chuckled softly.
As they leaned in to kiss, Will looked away just in time to see Davy Jones leaping onto the deck of the ship with a sword in his hand. Pushing past all of the celebrating pirates, he raised his sword and charged towards the two of them who were too distracted to see him coming. Will began screaming their names from the other end of the deck, but it was useless over all of the shouts and victorious shots being fired into the air. Looking around frantically, his eyes finally landed on the chest of Davy Jones and the key that had already been placed in the lock.
From the corner of his eyes, Jack noticed Jones lunging towards them at full speed, a murderous look in his eyes. Quickly pushing Elizabeth behind him, he moved both of them back to the edge of the ship. Just as Elizabeth let out a scream, Jones' hand stopped midair and he dropped the sword onto the deck. The shouts aboard the ship suddenly died as everyone watched the vicious Pirate Captain freeze in his spot. Gasping in confusion, Jones and everyone else looked back at Will who stood with the heart in his left hand. His right hand held the tip of a dagger that had pierced the heart. Turning back to face a stunned and desolate Calypso, Jones coughed as he stumbled to the edge of the ship.
"Calypso…," he choked out, holding her gaze before tripping over the side of the ship and falling into the water.
The Sea Goddess let out a enormous scream filled with pain before her body lifted into the air and she disappeared. Jack and Elizabeth both turned to face Will in surprise as he offered them a weak smile from the other end of the deck. All of a sudden, Davy Jones' crew boarded the ship and began cornering Will, who dropped the heart back into the cage and moved back.
"Will?" Elizabeth began, not understanding what was going on.
"The ship always needs a Captain," one of Jones' crew stated in a deep and dark tone.
"A Captain, a Captain…always a Captain," another pirate said, lifting a dagger as they approached a scared Will.
Sighing sadly, Will's father walked towards them and placed his hand on his son's shoulder in comfort.
"Whoever kills Jones must take his place," he explained. "Ten years aboard the Dutchman before he could come to land."
When Will glanced at the pirates and back at his father, Bootstrap smiled in assurance.
"They need to take your heart, son," he said.
"Will…," Elizabeth repeated, tears forming in her eyes as she quickly realized what was happening. "No! Will!"
Will gazed at her from between the pirates and offered her a warm smile as Jack tried to hold her back, he too understanding what had happened. Accepting his fate, Will held his father's hand as the pirates quickly scooped him up and carried him aboard the Flying Dutchman.
"Will!" Elizabeth screamed, running to the edge of the ship and watching as they took him away.
Jack sighed sadly and approached her from behind, but kept his distance, allowing her the chance to grieve. Shaking amidst her tears, she spun around and buried her face into his chest as he wrapped his arms around her in silence. A loud scream came from Will from the Flying Dutchman before the ship disappeared below the ocean surface. Everyone stood at the edge of the ship and gazed into the water in silence for a minute when suddenly the ship remerged from beneath the water and Will appeared alive and well, wearing a bandana as he stood at the helm of the ship. Crying happy tears, Elizabeth rushed aboard the ship and into Will's arms, embracing him tightly as Jack, Barbossa and Gibbs silently followed.
"You're alive," she exclaimed, leaning back.
Smiling, Will nodded and motioned the chest which now carried his own heart.
"Ten years aboard the ship as its Captain," he exclaimed. "And then I could come back to land."
"But…the woman you love has to be waiting for you…," she said, her sentence trailing off. "Will…."
"Don't worry," he said, reassuring her. "I do love you Elizabeth and I probably always will. But I understand now that the love you share with Jack isn't wrong. It's deep and very real. You two are actually perfect for one another."
Elizabeth let out a soft chuckle while wiping her tears away.
"I'm given several weeks before I have to begin my ten year pact with the sea," he explained. "I figure I could go to Tortuga or Spain….and find someone I can love who can love me back."
"Oh Will…," Elizabeth began, shaking her head. "I never meant for any of this to happen. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt either of you and he died once because of me and now you're forced aboard a ship for ten years. I am so sorry."
Holding her arms firmly, he smiled at her. "We're best friends, Elizabeth. There's nothing you can ever do that I won't forgive…and I do forgive you for everything. I only wish that you, too, will forgive me for my sins."
"You haven't done anything wrong to ask for forgiveness," she said in a gentle voice, causing him to smile at her in relief.
Crying softly, she pulled him into another embrace.
"Besides," he said, leaning back and glancing at his father. "I have my father with me. There are a lot of years we need to make up for."
Nodding, she smiled and wiped her tears away as Will turned to Jack who sighed and smiled slightly.
"I honestly don't know what to say mate," he began.
"Please, I've betrayed you just as much in the past," Will said as both men shared a small laugh. "Pirates, right?"
"Pirates," Jack agreed.
"Besides, it's the original ones you should fear," Will added as Jack nodded.
"Right mate," he said as Will smiled and turned towards his father.
"Tortuga?" he asked as his father smiled and nodded.
"Tortuga," he agreed.
"I'll see you again," he said to both Jack and Elizabeth with a quick wink.
With a final glance at Elizabeth, Will moved back towards the helm as the others left the ship and boarded the Black Pearl once more. Standing at the edge of the ship, they all watched as the Flying Dutchman moved out towards the horizon. Sighing, Jack turned towards Barbossa.
"Well, what now?" he asked.
"Now we kill all of the officers," Barbossa said with a grin, but Elizabeth crossed her arms at her chest and raised her eyebrow, causing him to sigh. "Fine, we drop them off at a pier."
"Much better," Elizabeth said as her father approached them.
"Elizabeth," he said, pulling her aside. "What are you going to do now?"
Gazing back at Jack who stood with Barbossa sharing a laugh for the first time, she smiled back at her father.
"Follow my heart," she replied.
"He will never live on land, Elizabeth," her father reminded her. "He will live at sea aboard his ship except for the time he wishes to visit land. But his home will be this ship and the sea. Is that what you want?"
"He and I are very similar, father," she began. "I love the sea as much as he does because it gives me freedom…so yes, this is what I want."
Realizing that his daughter had set her mind, he nodded. "I guess I could always go back to London."
"Or you could stay here with me," she suggested. "Never to perform any acts of piracy, of course, but my future children will need their grandfather, don't you think?"
Smiling at his daughter, he pulled her into a tight embrace. Back at the helm of the ship, Barbossa turned towards Jack and scoffed.
"You actually did it," he stated. "The Pirate King actually won the war for us."
"It was a group effort," Jack said before laughing. "Who am I kidding? I take all the credit."
Shaking his head and laughing, Barbossa sighed.
"So what becomes of us, lad?" he asked.
"Well, we could create a fleet," Jack offered.
"You said that last time…right before you killed me," Barbossa reminded.
"But I didn't like you back then, mate," Jack replied. "You've proven yourself quite useful."
Smiling a rugged smile, Barbossa gazed out into the horizon.
"And who gets the Pearl?" he asked.
"Who do you think, mate?" Jack asked, pointing to himself. "You can get Beckett's ship."
With that, he turned and walked towards Elizabeth as Barbossa watched him go with a sinister smile on his face.
"We shall see," he whispered before cackling aloud and heading towards Pintel and Ragetti.
"So it's finally over," she said as he nodded and gazed out at the horizon.
"Finally," he repeated. "Frankly, I was getting tired of all the fighting."
"Poor Jack Sparrow," Elizabeth said, touching the side of his face as he gazed at her.
"That's Captain Jack Sparrow, luv," he reminded as she smiled.
"I love you, Jack," she suddenly said.
Smiling, he nodded confidently. "Of course you do, dearie."
"Jack!" she said, hitting him playfully as he leaned in close to her.
"I love you too," he whispered, a form of softness in his eyes which made Elizabeth's smile widen.
Leaning her body onto his, they both gazed out at the horizon as the Black Pearl made its way through the sea, the sun setting majestically across the sky.