forty four➵ one day

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Twenty years later...

Jack

As the years wore on, I spent every moment searching for a way to get back to Evelyn. After the events with Beckett and Jones, Elizabeth I assume went off to live a somewhat peaceful existence with the whelps' offspring and I haven't heard of anything from her since.

My life since Evelyn has been changing, fleeting. There's never been another woman, I've never had time for them. There've been lapses in sobriety, in judgment and nights with women that I didn't remember the next morning as none of them were memorable to begin with.

There is no one like her and there never will be again, which is why I have spent every day since I lost trying to get her back.

Over the years, I've heard tell about the famed Fountain of Youth, and about ten years ago I was lucky enough to be part of a daring mission to find said magical fountain. Unfortunately for me, the leader of this escapade was none other than Blackbeard, one of the only pirates I have ever feared. The journey required obtaining the tear of a mermaid and I was hopeful I would stumble upon Evelyn, but no such luck was found.

She continues to evade me, and I haven't laid eyes on her in about twenty years now. I've begun to forget what she looked like, but I try my hardest to not forget the first time we met. The way she smirked at me, the youthful, cocky flicker in her eye, us saying 'savvy' at the same time. She's unforgettable, even as time passes and my memory ages.

Blackbeard's daughter-turned-not-daughter-turned-daughter again was the only woman I even considered being with since Evelyn, but she still could not hold a candle to my mermaid. I've learned over these lonely, miserable years that I'd rather live one more moment next to Evelyn than the rest of my life with someone else. That kind of love is rare, and while her face fades from my mind, my love for her could never die. She's it for me. I've known that since the moment I met her, and I'll know it until the end of my days.

Now as I sail this boat back with Henry and his witchy girlfriend (long story) to greet Elizabeth and possibly Will, I have to wonder if the epic journey we just went on did anything in my pursuit to find her.

Let me backtrack.

I knew that the fountain of youth would not make Evelyn come back to me, but I figured that if I could gain some more time and add some years to my pointless existence, I could have more time to think of something that will bring my girl back to me.

Just a few weeks ago, I stumbled across the whelp's offspring - well, not really stumbled, we were all going to be tried and killed for our crimes...once again, long story. Regardless, Henry (their son) informed me and his newfound witch friend that he was on a mission to save his father (my old doomed-to-roam-the-seas-forever friend Will) and bring him back to shore for good, but the only way he could do this was by finding (and destroying) Poseidon's Triton which will release and end all curses at sea.

This, obviously, piqued my drunken interest as even through the fog of alcoholism that has only increased in the past two decades, I realized that Evelyn's curse - like Will's - could be broken by this triton.

I'm sure you can guess where I am now. After a long, arduous battle, with lives lost, the three of us are on our way to where Elizabeth and Henry made a home, in hopes to see those we've lost and who just might be found.

"You ready for this, Jack?" Henry questions, taking Carina's hand as they both look to me, renewed hope flashing in their youthful eyes. I don't know what to say, so I just nod. I try not to get my hopes up anymore.

When you have successfully failed at finding your long-lost lover/mermaid for the past twenty years, it becomes hard to believe in anything.

Only when I see a familiar face trundling up the hill across from us does my heart do a flip in my chest. It's only Will, and to be truthful, I'm not all that excited to see the whelp seeing as he tried to steal my girl all those years ago. The only reason this ignites any flame within me is the sudden realization that what we did...worked.

"Dad," Henry whispers as him and Carina rush off to where Will and Elizabeth are now embracing, him lifting her in the air and twirling her around. It makes me sick.

"Well isn't that a sight for sore eyes,"

No. It couldn't be. But it is. Only one voice could have that effect on me. Only one voice could make my heart race and make blood pump faster in my veins. Make me want to live. Make me journey across the world in search of a way to find her.

"You gonna greet me like that or should I just be going now?" I can't help but laugh at the sarcasm dripping off her heavenly voice. Slowly, oh-so slowly, I turn around.

And there she is.

Just as I remember her. Her wet hair is shining in the sunlight, her sapphire eyes glowing. She doesn't look a day older. In fact, she looks just as she did the day I left her. The same clothes, same boots, same sword...same scar under her eye.

I try to take a step closer, but I just stumble, having lost all feeling in my legs. She catches me easily, her hands on me causing goosebumps to run down my arms.

"Jack, it's me," I meet her eyes as I take a deep breath, breathing in her familiar scent. And just like that, everything comes back to me.

Her snarky comments, her witty jokes, how quick she is with a sword, her bravery, her courage. Her smile that makes the whole world stop and blink for a moment. She's really here. In the flesh. Holding me.

"You found me. You saved me," My lips are on hers in a moment, all feeling coming back to me as I wrap her in my arms.

She's smiling against my lips and I can honestly say if I died right now, everything would have been worth it. The past twenty years of being alone, the misery, the drunken, lonely nights.

It was all worth it for just a second of this heaven with the woman I've dedicated my life to.

"I found you. And I'm never, ever, letting you go again," I breathe as I step away from her.

And of course, we both say the next line in unison.

"Savvy?" 

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