I'M BAAAAAAAACK. Did you miss me? Yes? Good. I missed you too.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Sorry about the cliff-hanger I left you on, but y'know... these things happen.

Please review :)

Thanks for reading, love you all.
LV XX

No.

No.

This couldn't be happening… it just couldn't.

I opened my eyes again. I was back on an almost empty Pearl, sailing on an empty sea, beneath an empty sky that was so far from where I need to be. For a brief moment, despair completely consumed me. What was he doing? Why? Why?! And why was I stuck back here again? I was no use to anyone here… least of all to Jack, who needed me the most. What could I do? What the hell was I supposed to do now? My despair made me momentarily numb to everything and then the anger flared up inside me. All I could see was Jack's pain. It blinded me, burning like a fire in my chest before it tore through me.

Please be okay. Please. Please be okay.

"No!" the word ripped itself from my throat without any particular direction for me to hurl it in. My hands found the rail of the Pearl and I gripped her tightly, staring into the calm waters below. They were strange waters, ones I did not know. There was something about them that made them different to the ever-changing blue that signified home. Signified Jack.

Jack.

Please be okay. Please.

These waters were as stagnant and as still as death, as well as being completely unfamiliar. "No!" I shouted to them again, and for some reason the unresponsive waters anger me further. If I could just move faster than they were allowing me to. If I could just get back now. I hated feeling helpless. Jack's situation was beyond my control. I couldn't even see him. I couldn't even be close to him. He needed me. My chest felt tight and it was difficult to breathe. It seemed that just existing was causing me pain. My nails dug into the wood of the Pearl, marking her. It started to hurt a little, but I knew that all that tension was what was holding me together. I held my breath in an attempt to stop myself from crying, but there's only so long you can hold it for… even if you're technically dead. When I let it out, it burst out as a sob. My grip on the Pearl slackened and all the tensioned in my body flooded out of it. It left me weak. I leaned heavily on the rail, my mind filled with thoughts of Jack.

Please be okay.

Please, please, please.

How was this fair?

How could I know that someone I love was in so much trouble and not be able to do anything about it? And how could I be ripped away at such a crucial point?

I knew how hopeless I was in the Physical World… even if I was there with him; could I do anything to change the events that, for all I knew, had already happened while I'd been standing here? It was the last thing I wanted to be witness to, but… how could I not at least be there for him? How could I not at least be there to try and help him? Not knowing what had happened to him was torture. The thought of Jack, alone in his darkest hour made me feel physically sick. I had to get back. Even if I couldn't do anything to stop it, or help him, I had to be with him. That was the way it was supposed to be. Always. Especially in times as dark as these.

"Let me go back," I said quietly, my voice cracked as I spoke. I slammed my fists down on the rail and looked up to the sky. "Let me go back."

"Isabelle," my brother sounded pained as he approached me. I turned and I saw the sympathy in his eyes.

"James," I whimpered. He pulled me towards him and I collapsed into him. He held me for a moment in complete silence.

"I need to go..." I whispered. "I need to go back."

"I don't think you can, Izzy," he sounded miserable for me, hugging me as tightly as he could with his free arm, as the other one was still holding Rebecca. I nodded to show that I understood what he was saying. I didn't mean that I accepted it.

"Jack…" was all I could whisper, burying my head in my brother's comforting embrace. I knew what he was trying to do, but it would never work. I would never be okay with the thought of being here while he was in such turmoil. And there was nothing on this earth that would comfort me. "Why?" I moaned. "Why can I only see him when I sleep?"

Sleep.

"I don't know," was all James could offer, but my mind was on other things. For a brief moment I felt a glimmer of an idea spring up in front of me.

Oh my God. Sleep.

Sleep.

That was it. That was the answer. Every time I went back it was preceded by a feeling of drowsiness. I was forced into an artificial sleep. If I could get myself into a state of unconsciousness then maybe, just maybe, I would be able to get back of my own accord. I raised my head from James's shoulder and looked back towards the rail and that calm, calm sea.

Calm as death.

There was only on sure and quick way to do it.

I walked away from James and back towards the rail. Without hesitating I climbed up to stand on it.

"What… what are you doing?" James was instantly panicked. I knew that I only had a certain amount of time before he stopped me from doing what I needed to do. I glanced over my shoulder.

"Sleeping," I said before I jumped.

I heard him shout for me as I fell into the water.

I wasted no time swimming as far down into the depths as I could push myself. When the time came for me to breathe in I deliberately forced myself to inhale underwater. My natural reaction was to swim upwards immediately, but I had to fight it. I had swum so far down that I was underneath the Pearl now. There was no escaping this fate now. I didn't want a way out; I had created this situation so that there wasn't one. My body convulsed involuntarily with the pain that inhaling so much sea water was causing me. I felt like I was being stabbed repeatedly between all of my ribs at the same time. I clenched my fists and squeeze my eyes tightly shut in an attempt to block it out. Soon enough, I felt myself getting weaker and the pain dulled. I floated there, far beneath the surface and darkness started to creep into my eyes.

God, I hope this works.

Please, Jack, please be okay.

Please be okay.

Please…

I opened my eyes and felt relief flow through me. I had done it! I was at the opposite end of the room to him, but I was in the right place. Thank God, it had worked!

And I wasn't too late. Not yet, anyway.

My relief at having succeeded was short-lived. Jack had laid out all of his things- his Compass, his holster, his sword- and placed them beside him. His pistol was still in his hand, as he reached up the other one to take his hat off. His eyes were on my body. He laid his hat down too. The room was deathly silent. His hand shook as he raised his pistol, but when it reached his head it stopped.

"NO!" I shouted and started to run towards him, but I didn't know what I would be able to do when I got there. Was this a terrible idea? How could I have thought that seeing this would make it better? Then, I saw his pain and remembered that this wasn't about me. I had to do this… for him, because he needed me right now. "Jack!" I couldn't stop my tears from falling as he pressed the barrel of the gun to his temple. "No, Jack, please… don't do this. Think about our son. What about James? Darling, I love you. Please. Please don't."

I was screaming it at him, but I knew it wouldn't be any use. If I could just reach him and try to pull that gun away, he might just be alright. But then something changed in Jack's expression. It was almost as if he had heard me. The shock of it made me stop in my tracks. "Jack!" I shouted, but this time there was no reaction. Jack was losing interest in whatever it was he thought he had heard. I took another step forward and then I heard it too. The Compass rattled.

Jack and I both stared at it. I moved again. Another rattle.

Yes!

Jack lowered his pistol, but did not drop it. He frowned at the Compass and picked it up. I almost smiled, but I was too tense. I started walking again, this time in a different direction, just to test it out. I watched Jack's eyes follow the needle of the Compass. Then he looked up.

Right at me.

"Isabelle," he whispered. I stared back at him, hardly able to believe it.

"I'm here, my darling," I replied, but of course he didn't hear me. He looked back down at his Compass and shook it. I started walking towards him again. He tracked my progress until I was standing right in front of him. He looked up again and I had to catch my breath. He was staring right at me.

He was looking right at me and for once he knew it. There was a world between us, but here we were- standing, facing each other across the void between life and death. His pistol clattered to the ground as he reached out a hand. I reached towards him too. We smiled at each other.

"You're here," he whispered. I nodded.

"I love you," I said.

"I love you," he said, just a second after.

I could feel that I was fading away before our fingertips had a chance to touch. I knew I was slipping from him again, but this time it didn't matter. He knew that I was there.

And that was enough. For now.