Annalise stood with a stony face beside her sister as they stood on the raised ground, looking out into the courtyard below. Their father stood to the side, Norrington beside him, the two men unaware of the turmoil behind the dark-haired woman's expressionless face.
Only Elizabeth knew, and she held her sister's hand surreptitiously, squeezing it in sympathy as they watched Jack being led onto the gallows while Annalise's other hand clutched at the bird pendant on her neck.
It was an almost cruelly beautiful day as Jack was placed before the noose, with the sun shining brightly in the blue sky high above as the sombre drumbeats began.
To be honest, to Annalise, it felt a little like it was mocking her as she was forced to watch the man she loved about to hang after all he'd done for them... well, she was forced to watch him hang.
Jack himself was looking more muted than Annalise had seen him, and she clenched her hand around her sister's as the official opened his scroll and began to read the proclamation that would end with Jack's death.
"Jack Sparrow, be it known that you have-"
Annalise saw Jack sigh and roll his eyes, mumbling something and she didn't know if she wanted to laugh or cry. Was this really the time to be petulant about his title as Captain?
"-For your willful commission of crimes," the official continued, "against the crown. Said crimes being numerous in quantity and sinister in nature, the most egregious of these to be cited herewith – piracy, smuggling..."
Annalise's jaw had clenched, and Elizabeth squeezed her sister's hand as she murmured in agreement: "This is wrong."
Their father heard her, and he stated firmly: "Commodore Norrington is bound by the law."
Elizabeth looked over sharply, while Annalise bit her lip, but their father remained firm as he added: "As are we all."
Annalise shook her head in silent disagreement, but remained silent, her eyes on Jack the entire time as the official continued to list: "-Impersonating an officer of the Spanish Royal Navy, impersonating a cleric of the Church of England, sailing under false colors, arson, kidnapping, looting, poaching, brigandage, pilfering, depravity, depredation, and general lawlessness."
Annalise chewed her lip, her heart stuttering as the official began to finish: "And for these crimes you have been sentenced to be, on this day, hung by the neck until dead. May God have mercy on your soul."
Suddenly, a familiar walked up before them, and Annalise glanced down briefly to see with surprise that it was Will. Dressed smartly, as the occasion called for, with a red cape fastened to his shoulders and a feathered hat on his neat curls, Will greeted them: "Governor Swann. Commodore. Annalise."
Annalise nodded once back in greeting before glancing back to Jack, and Will's eyes moved to the fair-haired twin.
"Elizabeth."
Elizabeth blinked while Annalise also looked back down at Will, surprised.
He went on firmly: "I should have told you every day from the moment I met you."
Elizabeth frowned slightly, questioningly, and Will stated bluntly: "I love you."
And after flooring the elder Miss Swann, Will turned, and started to walk away. Elizabeth gaped after him while their father scoffed, annoyed, and Annalise frowned.
'What is Will thinking?' She wondered, just as the drumroll began and the noose was placed around Jack's neck.
Her eyes snapped up, wide and horrified, when suddenly Elizabeth's hand tugged on hers urgently.
Glancing at her sister, a little irritated at being distracted right now of all times, Annalise saw Elizabeth looking off to the side and followed her sister's gaze. She gaped, eyes growing wide as she saw a very familiar tropical coloured parrot flying off the wall of the battlements.
Her eyes shot to Jack, and then down to Will as she spotted him shoving his way through the crowd towards Jack, both her and Elizabeth suddenly understanding exactly what Will was planning.
Unfortunately, Norrington had spotted Will's small disturbance in the crowd, and he started to move, saying: "Marines-!"
Elizabeth thought fast, and she gasped quickly: "I can't breathe."
She fell back, Annalise's hold on her helping to cushion her landing stealthily, and Annalise pretended to fawn worriedly over her sister as both their father and Norrington turned to her in alarm.
"Elizabeth!" Governor Swann gasped, kneeling down and starting to fan Elizabeth with his hat while Norrington also hurried over.
Annalise snuck a peak at the crowd, to see Will shoving his way more forcefully now, but then her view was blocked as Norrington knelt down and she turned her head back to Elizabeth in feigned concern.
The drumroll cut abruptly, signaling Jack's drop through the gallows to hang by the noose, and Elizabeth shot up as Annalise whipped her head around to look.
Both sisters let out a faint sigh of relief to see Jack alive, balancing on Will's sword that was stuck through the wooden floorboard under Jack's feet. As long as he stayed on the sword, he wasn't hanging by the rope.
Elizabeth quickly looked at her father, her gaze sheepish, and he frowned in confusion, asking: "What? Oh."
He groaned, realizing what his daughter had done at the same time Norrington did. The Commodore spun back around, starting for the courtyard, when Annalise slid her foot slightly out and 'accidentally' tripped him. He went crashing down before he turned and glared at her.
"Oh, my apologies Commodore." Annalise said with all the false sincerity of the noble class. "I was merely trying to move out of your way."
He scowled at her but didn't have time to reprimand her.
Instead, he turned and rushed once more for the courtyard, and Annalise looked up anxiously to see Will fighting the hangman on the gallows while Jack struggled to find a way free.
"Lisa, look." Elizabeth whispered, pointing to the side, and Annalise looked to see Norrington starting to swarm with his men towards the gallows.
"They're going to get trapped." Annalise murmured anxiously, and both young women started forwards, when their father grabbed them by the arms in alarm.
"Where are you going?" He asked, and Annalise pleaded: "Please, papa-!"
"No, Annalise!" He cut her off, his own eyes staring right into hers as he in turn begged her: "Don't do this. Don't throw away the life I have given you for a pirate like him."
Annalise hesitated, torn by the utter fear and entreaty on her father's face as Elizabeth also bit her lip.
Behind them, Will had maneuvered his fight with the hangman in a way that the large man accidentally cut through Jack's rope when he swung at Will. Jack went toppling down, losing his balance on the sword as the rope around his neck abruptly went slack, but Will ignored him for the moment as he focused on his own duel with the infuriated hangman.
He tackled the large man suddenly, pushing him off the gallows and – as luck would have it – right on top of Norrington and his men. Norrington ducked out of the way, but several of his men were squashed as the heavy man came crashing down on them.
Jack meanwhile had managed to cut the ropes around his wrists using Will's blade, but the sword was too deeply imbedded in the rope for it to be of use to him. Thus, deeming it better to abandon it and hope to escape in the confusion Will had caused, he ran out from beneath the gallows, meeting the boy as Will leapt down.
Jack tossed one end of the thick rope that had been around his neck previously, and Will caught it as another group of guards came running towards them. In complete synchronization, Will and Jack ran at the men, stretching the long rope taut between them and using it to trip up the soldiers.
They continued to use their newfound technique as they ran up the steps to the battlements, though Jack did briefly wonder why the boy was taking them up and not down where they could escape. Did he intend on jumping from the battlements? Not even taking into consideration the rocks below, but where would they go from there?
All these questions were in the periphery of his mind, however, as he twirled and moved in sync with Will to continue to trip up and take down their opponents as they made their way quickly away from the courtyard.
Using the rope, their ran around each side of a pillar, trapping a few marines on the other side of the pillar, and pulled harshly, causing the other men to be thrust against the pillar and knocked out.
But Jack and Will were now quickly becoming surrounded, and they dropped the rope as each blocked the swords the marines thrust their way. Grabbing wrists and punching their opponents, Jack and Will rolled away quickly and dodged their way onto the battlements as Will managed to snatch a sword from one of the guards.
But there, their luck ran out, and Jack stood back to back with Will as they were completely surrounded by marines armed with bayonets. Will held out his sword, clicking it warningly against the bayonets, but they were helplessly outnumbered, and Jack unarmed.
Norrington made his way through his men, lifting his own sword against Will's as he said disdainfully: "I thought we might have to endure some manner of ill-conceived escape attempt."
Jack turned, peering over Will's shoulder to look at Norrington just as Governor Swann joined them and Norrington finished as he looked at Will contemptuously: "But not from you."
"On our return to Port Royal," Governor Swann said to Will disbelievingly, "I granted you clemency. And this is how you thank me?"
It was then that Annalise and Elizabeth also joined them, having taken longer in their heavy dresses and high heels. Elizabeth glanced between her father and Will, while Annalise's eyes instantly met Jack's.
He looked surprised to see her, but glanced back at Governor Swann as the man said to Will: "By throwing in your lot with him? He's a pirate!"
"And a good man." Will answered, dropping his sword.
Jack looked to Will, surprised again – it seemed to be his day to be astonished. Well, given it was likely his last day, he figured it was better late than never.
Will meanwhile was saying firmly: "If all I have achieved here is that the hangman will earn two pairs of boots instead of one, so be it. At least my conscience will be clear."
Norrington's jaw set and he stepped forward, his sword close to Will's neck as he snarled: "You forget your place, Turner."
But Will met his gaze evenly as he answered determinedly: "It's right here...between you and Jack."
"As is mine."
"Annalise!" Governor Swann gasped, horrified, as his youngest daughter slipped passed Norrington and behind Will.
She briefly made eye-contact with Jack before she turned to face Norrington and her father, placing herself between them and Jack. Norrington looked surprised, but Annalise ignored him as she said to her father: "I'm sorry, papa. But I can't just stand by and watch any longer as the man who saved my life dies."
"Annalise, come back here." Her father whispered, pleading, and Jack murmured softly: "What are you doing, love?"
"What's right." She answered firmly. Her hand reached back and took his, and Jack glanced down at it as Norrington's jaw locked.
"As am I."
"Elizabeth!" Governor Swann gaped, as Elizabeth also strode forward, placing herself right before her sister and beside Will.
Their poor father was now looking completely flabbergasted, but the sight of both his daughter's standing in the centre of bayonets was more than he could stand.
"Lower your weapons." He ordered the men around them. When they hesitated, he said sharply: "For goodness' sake put them down!"
The men slowly did as they were told, lowering the bayonets while Norrington stared at Elizabeth with a mix of shock and a little heartbreak.
"So this is where your heart truly lies, then?" He asked Elizabeth, his voice quivering faintly, and Elizabeth answered firmly but apologetically: "It is."
Norrington blinked, before lowering his head in disappointment but acceptance, and Annalise almost felt bad for him. Almost. Perhaps if he hadn't – and was probably still – been intent on killing the man she loved.
Speaking of which.
Jack squeezed Annalise's hand, and she glanced at him. He was looking worried, for despite the mood, he was certain that she had just signed her death warrant with his. Deciding he needed a hint, she moved her eyes to the side pointedly.
Jack frowned slightly before following her gaze, and she watched as his eyes widened imperceptibly. He glanced back at her as Cotton's parrot flew off from where it had been settled on the edge of the battlement, and she gave him a tiny smile as hope shone in those deep orbs.
Jack grinned back before he called loudly to the gathered mass: "Well! I'm actually feeling rather good about this."
Elizabeth and Will made slight faces, as Jack let go of Annalise's hand and walked around them to face Governor Swann and Norrington.
"I think we've all arrived at a very special place, eh?" Jack continued, swaggering over to Governor Swann first, and Annalise smiled a little as she saw her father recoil disgustedly, no doubt from the stench of rum that always surrounded Jack.
Jack was undeterred as he continued: "Spiritually... Ecumenically... Grammatically?"
He then turned to Norrington, leaning in as he added in a serious voice: "I want you to know that I was rooting for you, mate."
Norrington frowned, his expression similar to Governor Swann's, and again Jack ignored it as he pointed a finger at Norrington's face, saying in a deadly serious voice: "Know that."
'Oh, Jack.' Annalise sighed but she perked up as Jack started back towards her with a wide grin.
He paused, however, as his path took him around Elizabeth and Will, who were now staring at each other lovingly. Unable to resist, he called: "Elizabeth..."
The elder Swann sister turned, looking at Jack curiously before her face filled with annoyance as Jack said, mock apologetically: "It would never have worked between us, darling. I'm sorry."
Annalise rolled her eyes as Will frowned, and Jack tacked on as he walked passed: "Will ...nice hat."
Will glanced up at his hat in surprise before he grinned in amusement as Jack snagged Annalise by the waist, pulling her against him.
"Come with me." He said quietly, and Annalise's heart leapt.
"Annalise!"
Annalise glanced at her father, reading his aghast expression as he stared at Jack's hand around her waist. Jack didn't move, his eyes watching only her as she slowly turned back to face Jack.
"I can't." She whispered, and Jack's expression fell just slightly though he looked unsurprised.
"You want to." He pointed out, and she smiled a little as she gazed into his eyes.
"I don't deny it." Annalise answered softly. "I do want to go. But... I have ties here still, duties I cannot abandon. Not yet."
Jack nodded, looking disappointed, but before he could let go Annalise leaned up and pressed her lips against his. Ignoring the shocked gasps that elicited from her father, Norrington, and the guards, she held Jack as he softly kissed her back.
"Keep a weather eye on the horizon, Captain Sparrow." Annalise murmured as they broke apart, her words ghosting over his lips. "One day... I'll be sailing there."
"I shall be waiting."
With that, they broke apart, and Annalise stepped back with a smile. He gave her a wry grin back before he backed away, alone, onto the battlements as the group gathered around him, most of them confused.
"Friends!" Jack announced as he walked back along the battlements. "Commodore."
Norrington scowled.
"Anna."
He gave her one last look, his eyes saying everything he couldn't as hers held her promise shining in their blue depths.
Jack grinned, and he stated loudly to the assembled group: "This is the day that you will always remember as the day that-"
He broke off abruptly as he toppled over the edge of the battlements, falling down the side of the cliff and towards the sea below as Elizabeth had fallen just a few weeks ago.
The group crowded around in alarm, Annalist standing beside her sister and father as they all peered down in time to see Jack splash into the water.
"Idiot." Gillette said scornfully. "He has nowhere to go but back to the noose."
"Sail ho!"
The group all looked up in shock at the voice, while Annalise smiled widely as she saw the Black Pearl appearing from around the corner of the cliffs surrounding Port Royal bay.
Down below, Jack also grinned as he saw his ship, before he swam off towards it and to safety.
At the battlements, Norrington gaped, while Gillette asked quickly: "What's your plan of action?"
Norrington's mouth parted, but he was unable to answer, hesitating as Gillette questioned: "Sir?"
Governor Swann glanced over at the torn Commodore, and he suggested lightly: "Perhaps on the rare occasion pursuing the right course demands an act of piracy. Piracy itself can be the right course?"
Annalise turned to look at her father, eyes wide and hopeful.
"Papa?" She asked, and he smiled sadly down at her while Norrington weighed Governor Swann's words in his head.
"My Annalise." Governor Swann sighed, taking his daughter into his arms. "Thank you, my girl."
Annalise hugged him back, a part of her still torn from her decision. She'd wanted to follow Jack – more than she'd wanted anything before – but as her father embraced her, she knew. Not yet... but someday.
"Mr. Turner."
She pulled back from her father at Norrington's call, and anxiety filled her again as Will turned to face the Commodore, pulling himself gently from Elizabeth's concerned grip and ready to face his punishment.
He stood straight before Norrington, who drew his sword. Observing it casually, he stated: "This is a beautiful sword. I would expect the man who made it to show the same care and devotion in every aspect of his life."
His eyes shifted to look at Will, who blinked before he said softly: "Thank you."
Norrington simply quirked a brow before he turned, starting to leave, when Gillette asked: "Commodore! What about Sparrow?"
Norrington paused, and – glancing briefly at Annalise – he said nonchalantly: "Well, I think we can afford to give him one day's head start."
A wide smile spread across Annalise's face, and Norrington turned with a smirk.
'Thank you, James.' Annalise thought as she watched him go, taking all his men with him. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all... Maybe.
Governor Swann, meanwhile, had turned to look at his eldest, and he asked as his daughter stood in Will's arms once more: "So, this is the path you've chosen, is it? After all...he is a blacksmith."
"Oh, papa." Annalise laughed, and Elizabeth elaborated as she looked at Will with loving eyes: "No."
She removed his hat, saying with a smile: "He's a pirate."
Their father smiled, before he turned and walked away. Annalise smiled at her sister and her friend before she followed her father away, leaving the new couple to kiss on the battlements.
************
Jack landed with a thud and a splash of water on the Pearl's deck, the force of his crew's heave on the lifeline to him having pulled him right out of the water and up high into the air.
As he gathered his bearings, Jack looked up to see Gibbs, grinning down at him like a fool.
"I thought you were supposed to keep to the Code." Jack stated, pretending to be angry, and Gibbs hid a smile as he shrugged as the rest of the crew joined him.
"We figured they were more actual...guidelines." Gibbs replied, smiling at the end, and Jack's lips also quirked. Guidelines.
As Gibbs reached out a hand, Jack took it, letting his first mate help him up to his feet. Cotton handed him his hat as he did, and Jack brightened considerably, accepting it with a soft: "Thank you."
"Captain Sparrow."
Jack looked over at Annamaria's call, and the woman stepped away from the wheel. Coming over to Jack, she placed a dry coat over him as she murmured: "The Black Pearl is yours."
Jack slowly looked over at the abandoned wheel, swaggering carefully over. Reaching out, he touched the smooth wood and a smile appeared on his face as he patted his old girl fondly, warmly. It felt... perfect. It felt right.
'If only she were here to see this...'
Suddenly realizing he still had an audience, Jack glanced around at his crew, and he ordered: "On deck, you scabrous dogs!"
The crew quickly moved, dashing to positions as Jack shouted: "Man the braces! Let down and haul to run free."
As he was left alone by the wheel, Jack glanced up at the Port Royal battlements, just once. Just once, he let himself look back, before he turned to face the front. Towards the sea. Towards the future... and freedom.
"Now..." Jack murmured. "Bring me that horizon."
A smile spread across his face at the thought, and anticipation filled him once more. Taking out his compass out of habit more than anything else, Jack hummed as he set course: "And really bad eggs..."
Jack paused, remembering that night by the fire and then Annalise's parting promise to him, and then he smirked.
"Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho."
*A/N And... that's it for now! I WILL be doing the rest of the movies, at least until the end of At World's End, but unfortunately I just don't know when that'll happen. I do promise it'll happen, though! Thank you to all my readers for sticking with this until now. I hope to see you again!