A Pirate's Life for Me

Chapter 32 Boats

By the time night fell, the tension between the sisters and their former lovers (each with all the other three) was almost palpable. Despite this, most of the crew remained mostly ignorant, too used to the coldness between three of the four by now to really question it anymore.

Only Gibbs's eyes darted constantly back and forth between Jack and Annalise, then Annalise and Elizabeth, then Elizabeth and Will, then Will and Annalise, and back again. Several times the first mate debated opening his mouth to ask - only to shut it again and shake his head. Barbossa appeared as oblivious as the rest of the crew as he strolled about as casually as ever; but if one had been watching closely, they would have noticed the way his gaze often darted and lingered on the four whenever one of them was in sight. Usually, it was either Jack - who sauntered about as carelessly as usual - or Will, who was often brooding on deck. Annalise and Elizabeth had mostly locked themselves in the hold and kitchen respectively, unwilling to see anyone unless absolutely necessary.

Of the four, Annalise in particular was angriest with the situation and so very, very confused.

The anger was an outlet, and perhaps a natural reaction to learning her sister had not only killed the man Annalise (damn her bleeding heart) loved but also lied and hidden it from her. Who would probably have kept it from her forever if they hadn't rescued Jack and he'd revealed her, if accidentally. But that knowledge also left Annalise feeling helplessly... lost.

She'd spent the majority of her life pretending she fit into high society to please her father but at the expense of constantly feeling life was lacking if not downright suffocating. The most recent part of her life she'd spent fighting to save her sister, then her sister's fiance and Annalise's own good friend, then her sister, friend and father all at once. In between all of that, she'd fallen in love with a man her mother would have decried and her father despised, but who had made her feel so much freer than any ship ever could. And what she had gotten for it was to be hanged as a pirate if she was ever caught, her father likely held a captive somewhere because of her, she'd lost faith in her sister and in her friend, and her heart had been put through the wringer enough times by Jack that Annalise was fairly certain she was through with love.

'Mother... what do I do?' Annalise wondered in despair, before bustling and noisy voices (unusual since they'd found themselves trapped in the never-ending and absolutely still sea) from above deck drew her attention.

Reluctantly, Annalise made her way to the upper deck. If there was any danger, she figured she would at least be more help to the crew if she were with them. However, upon reaching the upper deck, Annalise was puzzled to see the entire crew peering over the side of the railings as though in fear.

She slowly made her way over, her steps even more reluctant as she spotted Elizabeth belatedly making her way closer to the crew as well. It seemed her sister had only had a minute, maybe less, of a headstart on her as Elizabeth reached the railings and peered over the edge to see what had the rest of the crew on edge.

"Father!"

At Elizabeth's delighted cry, Annalise's eyes widened.

"It's my father, we've made it back!" Elizabeth cried delightedly as Annalise hurried over to join the others by the railing, ignoring the fact that it placed her beside Jack as she rushed to the nearest open spot.

Annalise's eyes widened as she spotted the rows upon rows of eerie boats floating passed the Pearl, each of the occupants seated facing forward with a single light in front of them which threw eerie shadows on the occupants' blank faces. Her heart, which had lifted at the prospect of being back in the living world and the hope of seeing her father again, sank instantly. Something was wrong, she was certain of it even before her eyes finally spotted the familiar figure of her father, sitting in a boat just like the others and appearing to not hear his eldest daughter's calls.