Elizabeth stared at Norrington, not quite believing that it was truly him. He sounded frantic and kept looking back over his shoulder as if expecting someone to storm inside.

"James?" Elizabeth asked as if to double check if it was truly him. "What's happening?"

"There is no time to lose," he repeated as he quickly opened up the cell that they were in. Most of the crew were starting to wake up by now and were looking around them with a confused expression on their faces.

"No matter what ye say, it's not going to happen!" Jack mumbled, half awake and half asleep.

Norrington looked at Jack and raised his eyebrow. If he wasn't in a hurry, he would have mocked Jack in every way that he could. But today he simply couldn't.

"Ye slimy git!" Jack said and turned the other way round and started to snore.

"Keep your voice down!" Norrington whispered as Akila attempted to wake Jack up.

"Huh?" he muttered confused.

"Wake up, ye idiot!" Barbossa growled then looked at Norrington. "What are ye doin'?"

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm helping you escape," Norrington replied and looked back over his shoulder once again. He turned back to Elizabeth. "Come on now, there is nobody up on deck. You can easily get away into the longboat," he told her.

"How do we know this isn't a trick?" Will asked him and narrowed his eyes.

"I suppose you have to trust me," Norrington replied.

"I don't think we're all gonna fit into one longboat," Pintel argued as he looked around at all of the crew. Indeed, there seemed to be way too many to fit into a boat.

Norrington rolled his eyes. "Then it will be two," he whispered and motioned for them to follow him.

When he made sure that there was nobody on deck, Norrington let the others come out and prepared the longboats for them to get into.

"James," Elizabeth whispered as she walked next to him.

"There's no time Elizabeth, you must hurry," Norrington replied.

The others had already made their way into the longboat and waited for Elizabeth to come down.

"Come on!" Gibbs urged her.

"Just a second," Elizabeth whispered then looked back at Norrington. "Come with us," she whispered. "You don't have to stay here."

Norrington looked down, as if considering doing so. "I can't," he answered and looked wearily at her. "I'm sorry. Now go."

Elizabeth sighed and smiled at him. "Thank you," she whispered before getting into the longboat next to Will. She looked up at the ship and at Norrington as they rowed away from the ship as fast as they could, before anyone else realized that they were trying to escape.

It was never Norrington's intention to hurt them. He had been blinded by his need to get his life back, that he didn't even realize that he got Elizabeth and the others in trouble. That was why he had to right a wrong by helping them to escape.

"My ship," Akila mumbled and broke the silence. Everyone turned to look at the broken-hearted Akila, who couldn't take her eyes off of Poseidon. "Those thieves! I will not rest until I get my ship back."

"I think that's the least of our concerns right now," Gibbs said, who was on the other longboat.

"He's right," Marty agreed. "We have to head for land."

"Fortunately enough, Norrington decided to drop us off not far away from an island," Barbossa informed them. He grinned and looked opposite him. In fact, there was an island there, even if it was a bit too far away from them.

Jack stared at the island and frowned. "Oh bugger," he muttered.

Elizabeth looked at him and raised her eyebrows. Something told her that they were in for something not quite good. "What is it?" she asked him.

"Tis the island of the mermaids," Barbossa spoke instead of Jack. The crew raised their eyebrows.

"Mermaids?" Elizabeth repeated.

"Aye, not quite the nice creatures ye would think they are though," Barbossa replied. "If ye bother them, ye're toast."

"That's not good!" Ragetti muttered and decreased the pace with which he was rowing.

"I thought mermaids were good creatures," Pintel said.

"They were, until Davy Jones ruled over them," Jack said. "Then they didn't quite remain good and innocent."

"They're tricksters, they are," Barbossa continued. "They'll try to make you fall for them."

Nobody said anything else, but they kept rowing towards the island until Ragetti stopped and sighed. "I don't want to go there," he whined.

"We have to. Do ye intend to keep rowing without stop until we arrive at a proper island?" Tia Dalma said. "Ye have no need to be afraid of mermaids."

"What they said was totally opposite of what you said!" Ragetti retorted.

"They are not going to hurt ye," Tia said calmly.

"I hope so," Ragetti mumbled.
They were getting really close to the island now, and it could be seen clearly. If it didn't happen to be habited by mermaids, and if they didn't happen to go there in the middle of the night, the place would have appeared to be very beautiful. Even from where they were situated, they could see that there wasn't a lot of large trees like the island they had been to before, but there was a river and lakes. Well, they weren't expecting anything else really. Mermaids lived in the water, and an island full of water they were going to get.

Will glimpsed something passing near their boat, and he looked at it sharply. However, it seemed to have disappeared. He blinked but decided to let it go.

Then he heard a soft laugh. Apparently all of them had heard it, since they all stood up straighter and looked around them. Ragetti stopped rowing and gulped.

"What was that?" Pintel asked frantically. Nobody said anything to him. Probably because most of them didn't know the answer, and those who knew were too busy sorting out their own thoughts.

Then they heard it again; a sort of suppressed giggle coming from a woman. They heard a swish coming from underneath their boats, and some of them gasped. Ragetti started rowing once again, and this time he made sure that he was rowing much faster than before. He just wanted to get to land as fast as possible.

They were pretty sure that it was a mermaid. There was no need asking for confirmation now. They kept hearing giggles every now and then, and it was getting so annoying.

They were getting nearer to the island now, and everyone rowed as fast as they could to get there before a mermaid happens to flop itself on one of the boats.

As they arrived near the island, they all stepped on the rocky beach and dragged their boats with them. They had to take care of the boats very well, since it was the only means of transport they had. How else were they planning to get away from the island the following morning?

They looked around and them and sighed. They fell silent and most of them sat down on the rocks.

"So – um – this is where we are going to stay?" Elizabeth broke the silence.

"I guess so," Jack said as he walked over to two rock and lay down between them. He looked like he was the only one who comfortable in his position. Jack looked sideways at Akila, who was sitting solemnly on a rock and staring out at the open sea.

"What's wrong love?" Jack asked her.

"Me ship," she whimpered. "I can't believe I lost Poseidon."

Jack didn't say anything. He too looked out at the open sea and frowned.

"Don't ye worry, Akila," Tia Dalma told her as she placed herself down next to her. "Ye get some sleep and we will find away to get the ship back next morning."

"And how do you plan to do that?" Will snapped at her. "The East India Company controls that ship. We stand no chance against them."

Tia looked at Will and smirked. "Get some sleep William," she simply told him. Will frowned, slightly tired of Tia's lack of explanation. However, he did not say anything else, but he and the rest of the crew wondered how they were going to be able to get some sleep that night.

- - -

Even though they all were pretty much certain that they will not be able to rest, all of them fell fast asleep on the rocks eventually. They had had a very tiresome day and the rocks were as good as any other pillow for them.

It was only Elizabeth who had woken up in the middle of the night. She had had the most horrible dream, where Beckett had captured them once again. Her father was on Beckett's side, and so was Norrington. She and the crew were walking up to the gallows when Elizabeth woke up suddenly and sat up straight.

She looked around her but everyone was asleep. Only Ragetti's snores could be heard, and they weren't pleasant at all. Without any sound, Elizabeth stood up and walked further towards the shore. She wasn't really afraid of mermaids. After all, they only tried to trick men. They weren't going to hurt Elizabeth, or at least she hoped so. She made sure that she doesn't go too far away from where the others were sleeping though.

Elizabeth bit her lower lip while thinking about everything that was going on. So many things had happened all at once and Elizabeth didn't know when they were going to get rid of everything so that they could carry on with their lives. She remembered how in love she was with Will just a few days ago, and how now they barely even spoke. She couldn't believe that they were going to get married, before Beckett interfered.

Suddenly, Elizabeth heard a grunt coming from behind her, and someone moved. She turned her head around to see that it was Jack. Apparently, he wasn't feeling comfortable in his position anymore, and was squirming between the two rocks.

Elizabeth ignored Jack and stared out at the sea once again. She wasn't exactly sure of her feelings towards Jack, but she couldn't keep denying to herself that there wasn't something. It was something that she had never expected, and she couldn't yet accept the emotions she was feeling for Jack.

As much as she wanted to carry on with her thoughts, she couldn't ignore the repeated grunting and movements coming from Jack. Suddenly, he stood up and gasped.

"Where's the rum?" he mumbled.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and shook her head, but a smile was forming on her face. She hushed him, and he stared at her.

"Ye burned it, didn't ye?" he asked her.

"There's no rum here Jack," Elizabeth whispered to him as he stood up and was shakily making his way towards her. They both tried not to wake up the others, especially Will. He would certainly think that something is going on between them. "If there were rum, it'd be already gone."

"Ah I knew you would burn it," Jack said triumphantly.

"Keep your voice down," Elizabeth whispered. Jack had arrived near her by now and he sat down on a rock next to her. "The only reason why the rum would be gone is because I would have had it already."

Jack raised his eyebrows. The only times when Elizabeth seemed to like rum was when something was disturbing her. He looked out at the sea then back at Elizabeth.

"Why so?" he asked her.

Elizabeth sighed. "Oh it's just everything," she said. "Lately my life has turned upside down, and it's mostly because of you."

"Ah there we go again, turnin' yourself into a victim," Jack told her and smirked.

Elizabeth bit her lower lip and looked at Jack. "No Jack, the thing is that I like it," she said.

Jack glanced at her from the corner of his eyes, and tried to keep his face emotionless.

"You see, even though I wanted to marry Will, I feel rather ... glad ... that I haven't," Elizabeth explained. "I don't know exactly why, but I feel free."

"Ah well, marriage does involve certain restrictions I suppose," Jack said, unable to find an interesting thing to say.

"I have never felt this way before," Elizabeth said. "Ever since I was a young child, I have been told stories about pirates, about how mischievous and evil they are. But I still was always interested in them. And now, I happen to be standing here, living the life of a pirate. It's so ironical."

"And," Jack started to say but stopped for a few seconds. "You like it?"

Elizabeth smiled and looked down. "Yes I do," she said.

Jack smiled triumphantly. "Ah so you do admit that ye are in fact a pirate!" Jack said.

"Keep your voice down," Elizabeth hushed through gritted teeth.

At that exact moment, Will moved in his sleep and groaned. Elizabeth turned around and held her breath for a few seconds. It seemed that Will hadn't woken up. She breathed a sigh of relief then looked back at Jack.

"I better go get some more sleep," she told him. "It's going to be a busy day tomorrow."