Sinking with the Titanic, Rose ends up on a ship with the pirate Jack Sparrow and a sea goddess' diamond heart. When she tries to free the cursed Will Turner things get complicated, but falling for a dishonest pirate on rum withdrawal is an even wor...
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Three days can feel like forever. When waiting for something you really look forward to, or for a boring chore to be over, time passes ever so slowly. The seconds stretch out before you in an endless procession. But when they are all you have left to live, three days are nothing.
Elizabeth felt bad for wanting time to go faster when every hour brought her friend's death nearer. But how could she not? She had waited for Will so long, liked him since they were children, seeing him grow from a pretty boy into a handsome man. When he finally confessed his feelings for her it had still taken ages until they could be married, with so many obstacles coming in their way.
And then he had died, just after their chaotic wedding, and become bound to the Flying Dutchman, caught in the same curse that had eventually killed Davy Jones. It was not right.
Now, for the first time in months, she felt hope for the future. With Calypso's gift she would get her husband back.
Before they sailed away, Elizabeth had half-heartedly tried talking Rose out of giving up the Pearl Box, but they both knew she only did it to be polite – of course she did not want Rose to keep it. She had her baby to consider now, and no matter how much she liked Rose she loved Will more. And just as expected, the girl had refused.
Elizabeth gave Rose a guilty glance. Soon she would be gone and never again smile sweetly and call her Liz. Why did she have to choose between her new friend and Will?
A thought struck her. Would Rose be sailing with the Flying Dutchman instead of him? Calypso had been vague, stating it must have a captain but failing to specify who. If so, Elizabeth might be able to see her friend again every ten years. The thought did not make her feel any less guilty.
Rose sat with Hector's head in her lap, leaning her back against the mast with closed eyes while scratching the pig's sturdy neck. The wind ruffled her copper curls, and in contrast with her pale skin her lips looked crimson. She was beautiful, inside and out.
Death was unfair. So horribly unfair, always picking the best ones. Will, her father... and long ago, her mother.
Rose seemed unusually demure and Elizabeth suspected it had also to do with the separation from Jack Sparrow – for some obscure reason the girl had taken a liking to the pirate. That problem, at least, had solved itself with him sailing away with the Black Pearl. He was not good for her, much too old and much too bad.
Still... there had been moments she herself had felt Jack's charisma. She could well understand that Rose had fallen for it, young as she was.
Elizabeth checked the compass and adjusted the Barnacle's course a few degrees. She did not really know where she was heading, just that it was away from the island where they had summoned Calypso. Perhaps she ought to ask Rose? Let her decide what she wanted to do with her last days in life. Like a condemned criminal before his hanging.
"Where would you like to go, Rose? And how would you spend the time left? Pick whatever you want and me and Gibbs will make it happen if we can. Right?" She turned to the sailor who sat cross legged on the deck, mending a rift in his shirt from the fight with Jack.
