We were sailing peacefully, silently over the blue waves, when Will found me in the crow's nest.

"You spend a great deal of time up here," He commented softly, wedging himself in beside me.

I shrugged. "Helps me forget. The cold. The view."

He peered over the edge of the small encasement, nodding. "Yes," He agreed. Then he settled back down beside me.

I paused before asking. "You and Elizabeth."

He stiffened. I kept going.

"...are you two alright?" I asked, feeling protective of my companion. "If she has hurt you, I will show her how my sword tastes."

He smiled, though I could see the pain in his eyes. "We're just taking a break," He said, clearly not wanting to discuss it. His eyes were cast down, almost in pity.

I was tired of the pity. "You know, I am having no suicidal thoughts. Or ideas, and I am completely fine."

His cheeks flushed. "I'm glad," He said quickly.

"And I'm somewhat happy," I whispered. "I'll see him soon, right?"

He didn't answer.

I laughed bitterly. "I can read you like a book, William." I turned to look at him. "You wish I'd never become involved with him, don't you?"

He raised his eyes to meet mine. "To some degree." He replied flatly. "But you love him, and..." He looked as if he were in physical pain, "He apparently loves you, however hard that is to believe." He paused. "But he's caused you so much pain...And he's quite a bit older than you."

He rushed the last part, his cheeks red, and then breathed deeply; he was glad to have that opinion off his chest.

I half smiled. "All good points. But you can't control me, Will, just as I can't control you."

He smiled slightly, and nodded. "I know," He took my hand, in a brotherly sort of way. "You are a sister to me, Adeena."

I felt my eyes grow hot. "And you are like my brother," I whispered.

He smiled and opened his arms. I let him hold me under the black sky, and we fell asleep together in the crow's nest.

I finally have a sibling, was what I thought before I drifted off.

Hold on... I jolted awake, opening my eyes and stiffening. How much older is he?

I quickly counted.

Oh, my...that's about ten...

I flushed a deep red. Aren't I just a firecracker...

I thought for a moment, then smiled. A real smile.

Who gives a fuck...I thought, and then nuzzled against Will. I nodded off a moment later.

***

I was so cold. Never had I been so cold that I stuttered, that I shivered uncontrollably, that frost formed on my cheeks and I could barely move my fingers. If this is what it took, though, this is what I would do...

Barboussa had guided the ship North, and we sailed through caverns of ice, delicate snowflakes drifting downwards and resting against the deck. The sky was so bright that you couldn't look at it even indirectly, and the sheet of ice covering the salty waves was broken by the prow of the Hai Peng. I could tell it was beautiful solitude, but I hadn't packed for cold...

I sat with Pintel and Ragetti, trying to soak up the heat from their bodies but to no avail.

"So cold..." I thought out loud.

"I'm sure there's a good reason for our sufferin'," Ragetti stuttered kindly. I gave him a disbelieving look.

"Why can't that obeah woman bring back, erm, him like she did Barboussa?" Pintel grumbled, giving me a glance.

"He isn't dead," I murmured, smiling slightly as I thought of him. "He's been taken."

"Body an' soul, to a lan' not of death--" Tia appeared suddenly, her eyes flashing. "But of punishment!" The two bumbling idiots gazed at her fearfully. I peered up at her while sinking lower into the blankets. "Da wors' type of punishment a man can bring upon himself. Dat 'tis what awaits at Davy Jones's locka!"

I shivered. It was hardly his fault that the kraken had to go and eat him. He hadn't brought anything upon himself.

And you know this how? A voice whispered in my head. I frowned.

I mustered my courage and rose from the floor, leaving Pintel and Ragetti to huddle together. Will and Tai Huang were consulting over the Navigational Charts. The charts were about as bewildering as a map could be, with different parts that spun and formed words.

"These aren't set," Will shivered, speaking between gasps of frigid air. "They can't be as accurate as modern charts." He slowly spun the circles.

Tai Huang smiled with amusement and nodded. "But they lead to more places."

I plopped down next to Will, leaning into him for warmth. I doubted he minded; everyone was just trying to not freeze to death. I reached out and spun a section, furrowing my brow.

Rotating the worn parchment, I spoke the riddle inscribed across the map. "Over the edge," I stuttered slightly, my teeth chattering. "Over again. Sunrise sets, flash of green." Will nodded, though he looked slightly confused.

"Care to interpret, Captain Barboussa?" Will asked sort of defiantly. Barboussa was standing nearby, stroking his monkey.

The monkey grinned at me.

I decided I hated the monkey.

"Ever gaze upon the green flash, Master Gibbs?" He asked, as Gibbs was too standing by. Pintel and Ragetti scooted closer to us to listen in.

Gibbs nodded, smiling as if in recollection. "I reckon I've seen my fair share." He had a way with words; a way to rope you into his story. "Sometimes, just when the sun sinks below the horizon, a flash of green will light up the sky. Some say it's an omen, some say--"

"It signals when a soul comes back to the livin'!" Pintel injected excitedly. Gibbs glared at him, and his grin wavered. "Sorry..."

I gazed into my lap. "Trust me, Mr. Turner," Barboussa went to the helm, and spun the wheel. "It's not gettin' to the land of the dead that's the problem." He looked to us and grinned maliciously. "It's gettin' back."

My throat felt sore. I stood and walked away, wanting quiet. They spoke of me after I left, in low voices, though somehow; I wondered if it had anything to do with my screams, their voices carried.

"Could you be kind?" Will exclaimed. "She's not getting over him anytime soon, and you all are just making it worse!"

I stopped listening as I climbed the rat lines to the crow's nest.

I hadn't sung in a while. The habit had faded along with him. They had coaxed me into singing in Singapore, so that they could follow my voice.

I gave the heavens a glance before opening my mouth.

There was a time

When light would thrive

But now it's so cold

The time has come

For lanterns in the night sky

Tell the dead good bye

The need to vocalize left me as a tear slid down my cheek.

Just some time alone, I thought.

Apparently, I needed more time than I had originally thought. I was up there until the stars appeared and reflected across the murky water, making it seem almost as if the Hai Peng was sailing across the sky. It was beautiful, I could tell, but I couldn't find it within me to appreciate it.

I narrowed my eyes. Then, my eyes widened and I shot up, my gaze finding what was ahead.

My jaw nearly hit the floor.

We were about to sail over World's End: a gigantic waterfall, cascading down, down, into oblivion...

I slid to the deck as fast as I could and darted to Barboussa, who was at the helm. "Barboussa!" Will cried. He rushed up beside me, frantic. "Ahead?"

"Aye, we're good and lost now," He grinned, adjusting the helm.

I panicked. "Lost?" I screeched.

"Aye," Barboussa had that evil glint in his eyes, the one I knew meant that he shouldn't be messed with. "For ye have to be lost to find the places that can't be found, elsewise everyone would know where it was!"

My eyes widened. "For all dat we want," Tia manifested next to me, startling me beyond belief. I stared at her, suddenly understanding. "A cost must be paid in da end." She stared at me with her unearthly eyes. "For da sea is also ya domain."

I stared at her for a moment before it sank in. Whatever power I possessed, I wouldn't be killed when we fell over the edge.

It hit me like a brick wall.

If I could save myself...I could save my friends.

My gaze snapped to the sky once more. Save them?

The star I had been gazing at seemed to wink.

What will he think of this? I thought, with amusement. Amusement....I hadn't felt amusement for a long while.

My thoughts came back to the present, and I realized what a commotion the ship was. Everyone was panicking, scrambling around like the mice that used to inhabit the Pearl before I helped him fix her up after we retrieved her from Barboussa.

"Come about!" Will yelled, pulling on some ropes and leading the mob. "Hard to port! Gather way!"

Barboussa pushed his way through, looking like a madman. "Nay, belay that!" He bellowed. "Let her run straight, and true!"

I pulled on Will's arm. He spun to me, looking fierce. "We have to," I said, but he was interrupted from responding.

"You've doomed us all!" Elizabeth yelled, her anger and fear competing for dominance. She looked wild, and suddenly I saw what Will loved about her.

Barboussa laughed mechanically, and held onto the helm as the Hai Peng began to tip over the edge. "Don't be so unkind, Miss Swann! Ye may not survive to pass this way again; these may be the last kind words ye hear!"

"Tie her off!" Will yelled.

The ship was backwards now, and we were slowly but steadily backing over the edge.

"Hard to port!" Elizabeth cried in desperation.

"Hold on!" I yelled, and screamed a few curses. I'm sure they thought I was mad. I think I was.

Barboussa was laughing, gripping the main mast for dear life.

I shreiked as the Hai Peng flipped, and we tumbled through the air and into darkness, crates and crewmen falling in the corners of my vision.

Something hit my head, and the last thing I heard before everything went black was Cotton's parrot...

"Dead men tell no tales..."