The Pirate And His Fish III (Final Story of POTC Trilogy)

Depends On The Day (Ch. 14)

Elizabeth clung to Will, refusing to let go. Hysterical and unintelligible as she pleaded for him to be okay. Will's last breath came as a sigh, a whispered goodbye. Kat's eyes went wide, shaking Will and yelling for him to get up, to open his eyes. Elizabeth lost every sense she had and screamed a slew of 'No's as her husband died in her arms.

Kat's tears flowed nonstop and all Jack could do was hold her. Kat sobbed into his arms as she tried to come to terms with what had happened. Her best friend just died, that would never sit well with her. Jack looked up to see the men coming towards them, walking forward with purpose. He watched as they surrounded them, chanting as they did. Jack saw one of them pick up the chest as Bootstrap came at them with the knife he gave Will.

"Part of the crew, part of the ship. Part of the crew, part of the ship. Part of the crew, part of the ship," they chanted as they came. Jack looked to Elizabeth holding Will's face in her hand and Kat curled in his arms.

"No!" Elizabeth screamed and she felt Will's body move with her but she held onto it, she wouldn't let him go. "Don't leave me! I won't leave him," Elizabeth called to Will.

"Liz..." Kat started, she didn't know what else could be said.

Suddenly she felt pulling on her, strong and familiar hands, pulling her away. She curled up tighter against Will. "No, no, no, let me go, I won't lose him," she screamed, holding onto Will. Jack pulled her up and turned her into him, holding her there to cry as he moved back.

He unraveled the rope next to Elizabeth. He reached for a gun and snatched it up, still letting Kat cling to him.He stood up on the rail, Kat in one arm as he pulled Elizabeth into his other. He managed to shoot the rope that remained tied to the ship and Elizabeth watched her husband's dead body for the last time.

"Hold on," Jack yelled over the roar of the water and chant of the crew. Jack the monkey grabbed onto Kat's back. The wind caught the bit of sail that was attached to the rope in Jack's hand and lifted them up. Elizabeth held tightly to Kat and Jack, her shoulders shaking as she cried and whispered apologies to her dead husband for leaving him.

Kat whispered to Liz, "I don't know how, but we'll find a way to be okay Liz. We'll find a way..."

Kat clung to Jack, her arms around his neck, legs wrapped around his waist. It was a position she knew well and knew he had the strength to hold her easily. She looked back to Will, her heart heavy with grief. He died helping her, he died saving her. 

The wind picked up and blew them in just the right direction. The parachute started to fall as the Pearl came sailing by. They plopped into the water, the sail falling around them.

Kat quickly morphed and came up for air. She went to help Jack and Liz swim over to the Pearl. They hadn't been on the ship for more than a moment before the crew began hounding Jack for answers.

"Thank goodness, Jack. The armada's still out there, the Endeavor is coming up hard to starboard, and I think it's time to embrace that oldest and noblest of pirate traditions," Gibbs said in one breath. Kat looked between him and Jack. 

"We're not running away from this fight." Kat said with a hardness in her voice that had never been there before. This wasn't a suggestion, it was an order.

"I've never been one for traditions," Jack said as he looked at his lover. Gibbs's face fell as he watched Jack walked the opposite side of the ship. 

Kat watched the armada waiting for them. Their own ships were behind, watching the Pearl for guidance. If they ran it would be over. Piracy would fall and the seas would belong to Beckett. Freedom forever taken. Kat wouldn't let that happen and she didn't think Jack would either.