SaveroftheSun: I know, stupid girl...

callieandjack: Haha! (evil laugh) You shall find out now!

ValueMyHeart: Ooops... please don't cry!

nineteennintytwo: Here's your update!

bmdrose: Have another issue... I seem to be running out...

kerializ: Don't tell her that! she'd be so mad do you have a death wish? lol. Suicide is never the answere and it should never be a question either!

klutzygal12: Oh dear, sorry!

Fairy Skull: nah, it's k, computer's are silly! Who ya gonnna call? GHOSTBUSTERS! Not sure how they would help, but hey, the theme-tune's catchy!

Valor: T-t-t-ta! Don-n-n-n't-t-t t-t-take your-r- eyes off him-m-m-mm! (Hard task I know! (Not) lolz)

xXDeadlyRoseXx: Wow, that was a long revoew! I know, computers can be so stupid! I totally share your feelings bout Elizabeth at that bit! I love all the animals in Pirates, they're so cute. The monkey looks like the one from Friends. I'm impressed you could be bothered to read it all at once! You should get a prize or something! Obliviousness could be a word, I think everyhting's a word once you've said it!

The water cut out the sound of everything but my own heartbeat. You know how they say that when you die your whole life flashes before your eyes? Well, as I let myself sink slowly down I remembered the last time I had almost drowned and I found that I could see it happening as clearly as if I was going through it again. Maybe I was. Maybe everything that had happened since then had been a dream and I would wake up on the jetty of Port Royale and be able to re-do my wrongs. It had been a clumsy accident at the fort when I was trying to distract James from proposing to Elizabeth.

***

"James!" I called. His ears went red. He'd heard me, but wasn't admitting it. He carried on talking. I started to run towards him. "James! James! I really, really need to-"

I didn't get any further. I had my hand outstretched to grab onto James and make him listen, but he saw me coming and moved. I blundered forward, elbowing Elizabeth in the nose. I had almost stopped myself when my foot met James's and I tripped. I flew forwards. The ground beneath my feet became sky and I plummeted off the edge of the fort. My heart was beating and I was sure it had lodged itself in my throat. I do not know where my stomach was, but t didn't feel as if it was still in my insides.

***

I had walked gladly into death's waiting arms. I had been calm and poised. My steps had taken my deliberately into the murky water. I had thought about it, knew it was coming. It wasn't a shock when I hit the water. I was ready for it. I was ready for death. I wanted it, it would be a relief. I had fought so hard that day at Port Royale. Fought and fought for my survival. It had seemed so vital for me to live. My determination not to let go of my pathetic, pointless, meaningless life almost made me smile. I let the water fill my mouth and nose. I ignored the instincts screaming to me that I needed air.

***

The water hit me like a slap. The shock caused me to inhale, but all that happened was my lungs filled with water. I couldn't move. I sank down. I tried to swim upwards, by my dress was so heavy and waterlogged I didn't have the strength. The water filled my brain and I couldn't think. I hit the seabed. It was in my lungs. My eyes rolled back. I tried to fight it, but the light from the surface was fading rapidly.

***

As I floated, suspended in the water outside Tia's waiting for death's cold grip. The silence around me was quite peaceful. Death itself had so far been an altogether more peaceful experience than I had expected. I hoped that Jack had found it to be the same. It wasn't without pain, but I found it was quite easy to ignore. The short, sharp pains in my lungs as I let them fill with water were a welcome relief from the aching in my heart.

***

My waterlogged heart lifted as a pair of strong arms grabbed me round the waist and pulled me up. I couldn't look to see my savior's face. Everything was black.

...

Water was being pushed from my lungs. I coughed it up onto the wet wood. My head was pounding. I lay back. A pair of dark brown eyes met mine. I didn't know who they belonged to, but they were so deep that for a second they were all I could see. I blinked. A man's voice, light and teasing reached my ears and broke through the watery stupor of my brain. "I know those events can be boring, love, but there's no need for you to throw yourself off a cliff." he smiled at me. I felt myself half-smile back, but then my brain woke up and I saw him. Properly saw him. He was a pirate. His clothes were old and faded and his eyes were outlined by something which looked like kohl. His long dark hair was intricately braided and adorned with beads. It was also wet. I had been saved by a pirate. That didn't make any sense at all.

***

It was that image that I kept in my head as my eyes closed. It was so clear and sharp. If only I'd known then. If only I'd known how important he was going to be. I had been shocked that I had been saved by a pirate, but that's just Jack for you. He'd saved me from drowning and he'd saved me now, again, he had died to save all of us. But he hadn't had to die. He could have... I could have. It was my fault. All of it. I was glad I was dying. I had killed Jack and the world was better off wthout me.

I pushed these bitter thoughts from my mind. I wanted my last thoughts to be of Jack. I could almost hear his voice, those first words he'd said to me. I could almost feel his arms around my waist again, lifting me up. Wait, I could feel his arms lifting me up. But it couldn't be him, could it? What was this? I wasn't imagining it. The arms were real. My ebbing strength allowed me to lift my head and look up. It wasn't Jack. It was Will.