(no subject)

[bringmethatnpc]

Night has fallen, and the Black Pearl cuts through the still and glass-like waters of world's end with hardly a sound. There must be a small wind, their forward progress is proof enough of that, but the air feels stagnant and oppressive, weighing them down with the knowledge that they don't belong in this weird and haunted place.

Some of the crew fall silent over their work, or stare ahead as if the way home will suddenly present itself. Others have different ways of dealing with the tension.

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[governor-swann.livejournal.com]

His face clouds with confusion. He's reaching for the memories, for the words to convey them.

"There was this...chest, you see. It’s odd. It seemed...so important at the time."

[turned_captain]

Chest?

Davy Jones' heart. Governor Swann died because he knew something about the heart.

Although he's still hurting for Elizabeth, Will finds himself listening intently.

[try_corsets]

But it's not important. Not now.

What's important is that her father is slowly drifting away.

Elizabeth slaps the rail harder, hoping it will help him focus, and yells,

"Come aboard!"

[governor-swann.livejournal.com]

"And a heart. I learnt that if you stab the heart, yours must take its place. You will sail the seas for eternity. The Dutchman must have a captain."

He looks away, his gaze vacant and mostly unseeing. He adds, almost as an afterthought, "Silly thing to die for."

The lapping of the waves draw his attention again. He has somewhere to go. Somewhere Elizabeth cannot follow.

[try_corsets]

The words and what they mean pale to insignificance next to the knowledge that she's losing him, and if she doesn't do something drastic, it will all be over. He'll be gone forever.

Elizabeth tears her eyes away long enough to cry "Someone, cast a line!" over her shoulder, and then continues to plead with her father. "Come back with us!"

Marty had reached for a coil of rope, but he's moving too slowly for Elizabeth. She grabs for it and makes ready to throw.

[governor-swann.livejournal.com]

He has to move on now. He must. She- she'll be alright. She's such a fine girl.

He looks looks up at her, a heartbreakingly peaceful expression on his face.

"...I’m so proud of you, Elizabeth."

[touch-destiny.livejournal.com]

Somewhere amid the quiet and Elizabeth's panicked cries, between the splash of the rope and the hush of water against the boat that carries Weatherby Swann into eternity, bare feet have padded over rough boards and Tia Dalma looks up at Will with a strange intensity in her dark eyes.

"A touch," she says, as though willing him to understand her, "of destiny."

[turned_captain]

Will glances back at her, surprised.

This is what she meant? What the hooded figure calling itself Destiny meant? Will stabs Jones' heart, his father goes free, but Will himself is bound to the Dutchman?

It's not unlike having his death warrant read to him. Only that time he trusted himself to escape his fate.

[try_corsets]

The line had landed between the glowing lantern and her father, and when he doesn't react, Elizabeth grips her end and keeps pace, demanding that he take it.

She's running out of deck.

Will and Tia Dalma might as well be worlds away for all the notice she takes of them.

"Come on, take the line!" Elizabeth yells, panic in her voice. She shakes the rope, but he still doesn't notice. "Take the line!"

With nothing to anchor it, the line slips off the small boat and lands in the water. The soft splash it makes sounds very final to Elizabeth's ears. She gasps, drops the (useless) rope and races for the stern, just a short distance away.

[touch-destiny.livejournal.com]

"She must not leave the ship!"

She raps it out, sharp and clear, looking to Will even as she leaves the railing to give chase to Elizabeth.

She'll never catch the other woman, though; she's too far behind.

[turned_captain]

Will doesn't need to be told why. He races up, leaving everyone behind as he runs to Elizabeth, who is even now climbing the aftmost rigging, trying to keep pacewith her father's boat.

Without a moment's hestitation, Will reaches out to her for the first time in an age.

[pirate_jack]

One after another, the others follow after Elizabeth -- whether to catch or to comfort her or for their own reasons, who can say.

Not Jack. Of them all, he remains almost unnaturally still on the deck below, watching in silence as they move away.

After a moment or two, he turns to stare out over the water again, lost in the unearthly night and the darkness of his own thoughts.

[try_corsets]

"Please," Elizabeth is pleading as Will's arm snakes around her waist, keeping her from leaning out over the water. She doesn't think how unfamiliar the word is on her lips, not when it comes so easily now, with her heart poured into it. "Come with us!"

Will's touching her again, finally, but all Elizabeth feels is that he's holding her back. Struggling, she watches the boat drift farther away, almost out of reach, in these few precious, wasted seconds.

"I won't leave you!"

[governor-swann.livejournal.com]

The boats are drifting away now, and that which ties him to Elizabeth's world is melting away once more. He gives his daughter a final, lingering smile.

"I’ll give your love to your mother, shall I?"

With that, he turns back to face the dark, open waters. He hears her cries, but he can't help her. He can't save her. He can only be proud of her, and let her go.

Besides, Caroline waits for him somewhere out there. He has so very much to tell her.

[try_corsets]

No.

No.

He can't give her love to her mother, because her mother is dead, and she absolutely refuses to let him go.

"Please, I won't let you die," Elizabeth shrieks, completely beside herself as her father turns away.

That's it. That's the last time she'll see his face.

Will is the only thing keeping her on the Pearl.

[turned_captain]

"Elizabeth,"

Will physically pulls her back onto the deck wrapping his arms around her tightly.

None of what they were fighting about matters now. Only that he anchor her to the Pearl.

[try_corsets]

As his arms tighten around her, the knowledge that there's nothing else she can do hits Elizabeth like a physical blow to her chest. Crushed, she lets out a sob and turns into Will, hiding her face and holding on to the only other person she loves.

[turned_captain]

His hand against her head, Will holds her to him, firm and strong. It's so wrong to see her falling apart like this, that for some reason he feels resentment for all the men standing around watching.

And because he's Will Turner, his immediate reaction is to look for a way to fix this. Over the head of his sobbing lover, he ctaches the eye of Tia Dalma.

"Is there a way?"

[clumsy_auror]

Behind them, Nymphadora has watched the scene unfold, grey eyes wide and stricken. Tentatively she takes a step closer to Will and Elizabeth, and puts a warm hand on her friend's shoulder.

There is nothing easy about this.

[touch-destiny.livejournal.com]

She shakes her, head, sadly, but even in the sorrow of her voice, her words are certain and final.

(all men must be sailors)

"Him at peace."