"Jack Sparrow," the officiate called. "Be it known that you have..."

"Hangings are barbaric," Joanna opined with a frown. The statement was factual, just as grass is green and skies are blue; in other words, Joanna had never given much thought to the vile nature of public execution. But now, faced with Jack's impending death, Joanna's stomach had twisted itself into tight knots. 

At Joanna's side, Will nodded his agreement. His face was drawn and anxious, but the line of his shoulders was proud.

"...for your crimes against the crown," the officiate continued to drawl. "Said crimes being numerous in quantity and sinister in nature, the most egregious of these to be cited herewith..."

"I'm nervous," Joanna whispered, pressing her shoulder against Will's.

Will looked at her, his eyes severe beneath the brim of his flamboyant hat. "Me too," he replied, flashing a slim smile. He confessed, "But I'm glad I'm doing this with you."

In spite of her worries, Joanna beamed. "The same to you, William."

Without stopping to breathe, the officiate droned on, "...sailing under false colors, arson, kidnapping, looting, poaching, brigandage, pilfering, depravity, depredation, and general lawlessness."

Joanna whistled under her breath. Her eyes were on Jack -- he looked vaguely amused in the face of humiliation. "Someone's lived a full life."

"I'm off," Will said shortly and sharply turned away. The alabaster feather decorating his hat caught Joanna's ear.

Joanna watched him go, silently wishing him all the luck. She took deep, calming breaths. She wished for a cursed coin to dull her anxiety.

She had no cursed coin, so she turned her eyes to Jack Sparrow. His hands, clasped before him, did not shake. His gaze, steady and sure, did not falter as he observed the crowd. Joanna wondered if he was looking for her.

When the crowd began to murmur with unrest, Joanna knew it was time. She had circled her waist with Jack's old sword belt; she drew her dao from it, sure of nothing but her commitment to removing that noose from Jack's neck. Women and men alike gaped in shock as Joanna divined a path through sheer force of will.

Joanna surveyed the path Will's cutlass carved through the air. With an ineludible thud, the blade buried itself in the wood beneath Jack's feet.

Will had made his move in the nick of time -- Jack fell, his eyes wide with alarm as the noose around his neck tightened. Jack's feet scrambled for purchase as they hit the sword blade, but his neck remained blissfully intact.

Amid a squalling crowd, Will shot to the top of the hanging platform. He cut a fantastic figure against the sun, spinning around Jack's figure as he exchanged blows with the hulking hangman.

Will's aim was flawless, but that did not compensate for the minimal surface area of a sword. Joanna raced to stand beneath Jack's scrabbling feet. "Jack!" She cried, waving frantically.

"Hi!" He shot back in high-pitched panic. Despite his alarm, Jack understood Joanna's urgent gestures. He presented his hands to her waiting blade.

Joanna had spent an hour over the dao, sharpening and shining its edge to sublimity. It swept through Jack's bonds like butter, freeing him to loosen the tether around his neck. Jack, still wobbling on the flat of a sword, rushed to pull the noose over his mass of hair.

Joanna held her breath as Jack, free of bonds, tumbled from above. She caught his arms, steadying him as he circumvented the dangerous edge of Will's sword. "Anna," he said with a breathless smile.

"Jack," she replied with a wild grin. She wrenched Will's old sword from the wood and pressed it into Jack's waiting hands. "Let's go."

They burst into the crowd, joined by Will not a second later. Without speaking, three of them charged forward.

Jack still had his hanging rope; he tossed the other end to William, who caught it with hardly a glance. The taut rope tripped two trios of redcoats, foiled by their predictable habit of storming in flat lines. Joanna brought up the rear, kicking marines in the shins and slapping guns away with her sword.

They came upon a stone column. Joanna and Jack capered around the left side; Will took the right. A pair of soldiers paraded toward them -- Joanna swallowed her fear and dealt with them, sending one tumbling to the concrete and the other stumbling away with a bloody nose. Behind her, Jack and Will used their long rope to incapacitate a handful of zealous officers.

With that particular task complete, the three of them pressed forward. Will and Jack performed simultaneous somersaults as if they had rehearsed the chaotic escape the day previous (Joanna hastened behind them, unable to execute such a feat in or out of a cumbersome dress).

The next stone column became their downfall. As they sprinted around it, crimson-clad soldiers surrounded them on all sides. Joanna, Jack, and Will spun in a frenetic circle, their swords kissing the intrepid tips of fifteen bayonets.

"Damn," Joanna breathed as they slowed, synchronous in their realization of failure. Beside her, Jack blew Will's pretentious feather out of his eyes.

Commodore James Norrington, looking disheveled and out of breath, pushed through his men to face them. His narrow eyes fell on Jack's eccentric figure. "I thought we might have to endure some ill-conceived manner of escape attempt," he said placidly. His hard eyes flicked to Will and Joanna. "But not from you two."

Joanna felt patronized. Although her heart thrummed furiously in her chest, she tried to draw herself into her full height. Ill-conceived, she privately scoffed.

Governor Swann materialized beside Norrington, cheeks pink with outrage. "On our return to Port Royal, I granted you clemency," he said to Will and Joanna. Behind him, Elizabeth stared with wide eyes. "And this is how you thank me? By throwing in your lot with him?" He made an aborted gesture toward Jack, who did his very best to look innocent. "He's a pirate!"

"And a good man," said Will and Joanna at once. They looked at each other in surprise. Beside Joanna, Jack proudly mouthed to the surrounding officers, that's me!

Joanna thought that if she spoke again, her words would come out as nervous squeaks. She tried to indicate this to Will with her eyes; he seemed to understand, and continued.

"If all we have achieved here today is that the hangman earns three pairs of boots, instead of one, so be it," Will said equanimously. He stared down Norrington without flinching. "At least our consciences will be clear."

Norrington's gaze was ice cold. He said, "You forget your place, Turner."

"It's right here," Will replied coolly. He raised his chin, dismissing the blade at his throat.

Joanna swallowed hard. Jack's hand brushed briefly against hers, inspiring her into speech. "Between you and Jack," she said. Her voice wavered, but her feet did not.

For a breath of time, Norrington, Will, and Joanna remained locked in a heated contest of morals. Perhaps they would have stood there forever, hearts racing, had Elizabeth not made a decision.

"As is mine," she said, stepping forward and taking Will's hand. Will glanced from their entwined fingers to her face, a small, surprised smile growing on his lips.

Behind them, Joanna and Jack grinned at each other. Finally, they silently agreed.

"Elizabeth," Governor Swann gasped in dismayed shock. He said to the marines, "Lower your weapons. For God's sake, put them down!"

Reluctantly, the soldiers obeyed. Without the threat of a bullet, Joanna found breathing an easier task. She briefly seized Jack's hand and squeezed, unsure how else to convey her gladness that all three of them had lived. Jack glanced at her, a smile dancing across his face.

"So this is where your heart truly lies, then," Norrington said haltingly to Elizabeth.

"It is," Elizabeth replied, apologetic but grave.

Joanna heard the ruffling of feathers. She looked up, hardly daring to hope, but there it was: Cotton's parrot, taking off in a flurry of lapis and yellow. Joanna glanced at Jack, eager to inform him of the latest development, but Jack's dark eyes were already fixed on the bird.

"Well!" Jack suddenly exclaimed, startling everyone within the vicinity. He pranced around Joanna, Will, and Elizabeth to face the Governor, assiduously invading his personal space. "I'm actually feeling rather good about this. I think we've all arrived at a very special place, eh?" Jack's eyes gleamed. Governor Swann shrunk away, face scrunching in disgust. "Spiritually, ecumenically...grammatically?"

Jack claimed Norrington as his next victim. He raised himself onto his toes to better look Norrington in the eyes, tapping his nose intimately. "I want you to know that I was rooting for you, mate. Know that." He backed away slowly, topping it off with a lascivious wink. Norrington looked as dumbfounded as if Jack had slapped him.

"Elizabeth," Jack began, a tad softer. She compliantly tore her eyes from Will's. "It would've never worked between us, darling. I'm sorry." As Jack sadly turned away, Elizabeth looked peeved and bewildered.

"Will!" Jack called. Will looked at him with a sanguine expression. After a thoughtful pause, Jack said, "Nice hat."

Will grinned.

Joanna recognized a master at work -- Jack's eddy of words and gesticulations had distracted the gendarmerie from noticing his slow progression toward the edge of the battlement. She waited with bated breath, wondering what he would say to her.

"Joanna," Jack asserted. She cocked her head, listening with a smile. Jack finished with a precocious grin, "Nice shoes." Joanna beamed, pleased someone had noticed her fresh footwear.

"Friends!" Jack declared, dashing to the fringe of the fort. The marines tripped over themselves in an effort to follow, clutching at muskets they weren't sure of using. Slowly treading backward, Jack gleefully proclaimed, "This is the day you shall always remember as the day that --"

Jack cut himself off, tumbling backward off Fort Charles.

With Will and Elizabeth and a dozen soldiers at her back, Joanna raced forward to look over the edge. She was quick enough to catch the result of Jack's descent -- an impressive, painful splash.

"Ouch," she murmured in sympathy, but she couldn't keep from smiling.

"Idiot," Gillette enthusiastically accused. "He's nowhere to go but back to the noose."

"Think again," Joanna murmured. Gillette looked at her hatefully, but he gasped with everyone else as the graceful hulk of the Black Pearl sailed into the harbor.

Joanna looked at Will. We did it, she mouthed with a thrilled grin. Will's rejoining smile was emphatic. Tucked beneath his chin, Elizabeth Swann looked luminous.

~

That evening, Will still looked as though someone had hit him in the face. His amazement at his own happiness was contagious.

"You were right," he told Joanna's back. "I know you love hearing that."

"I do," she affirmed and tossed a grin over her shoulder. She was hovering over her bed, studying her possessions spilling across it. Joanna wasn't sure what sort of items one needed to abscond from civilized life, so she had gathered a variety. "What am I right about this time?"

"I'm going to marry her," Will said with determination. Dreamily, he added, "She said the same of me."

It was so cute that it was a little gross. Will couldn't see Joanna's wrinkled nose, thankfully. "I'm very happy for you," she said honestly, turning to face him. "I really am, Will."

Will's smile hadn't dropped since he kissed the Governor's daughter on top of Fort Charles with the sunset at their backs. "Thanks, Jo."

Turning away, Joanna flicked her gaze over her things. "What do you think, Will? Too much? Not enough?"

Will peered over the collection, arms folded contemplatively. "I think you could go without the second dress."

Joanna groaned. "I made them. I'm hesitant to leave them."

"I'll take care of them," Will promised. "For when you visit. You and Jack are invited to the wedding, of course."

"I can't imagine he won't find some way to attend," Joanna said with a laugh. "Fine, just the one dress."

With the latest conflict resolved, Joanna began sweeping things into her satchel. She paused fondly over a long string of black pearls, allowing them to trickle through her fingers, before packing them as well.

Will, unstirring beside her, suddenly spoke. "I'll miss you."

"Oh, Will," Joanna said tightly, turning immediately to hug him. "I'll miss you too. I promise I'll write."

He held her tightly. Joanna felt him take a deep breath. "I will, too."

Joanna's eyes were stinging. She had seen William nearly every day for eight years. She would feel his absence like a gaping wound.

They drew away from each other, both pretending they weren't choked up. "Like you said, I'll see you at your wedding, for sure," Joanna said in a watery voice.

"Right," said Will, a tad high-pitched.

They looked at each other, damp-eyed, and cracked matching grins.

~

Nightfall arrived.

Joanna clasped her satchel shut. She donned men's clothes. She wrapped her belt, heavy from the dao, around her waist. With a leather band, she tied her hair into a queue.

She said a final goodbye to William Turner. She looked over her shoulder several times as she walked away from the smithy, waving and sniffling.

Joanna felt untethered and strange. She wandered down the road to the beach -- craning her neck to see the stars, breathing in the dewy night air, listening to the crunch of gravel beneath her boots. She could turn around any time, but she didn't. She kept walking.

The beach was soft and quiet. The wind was minimal, only coaxing ripples from the wavering sea. The slice of moonlight bounced off the waves.

Across the sand, a small rowboat waited. The dark silhouette of a man lounged inside.

Joanna stopped in front of the boat, crossing her arms with a playful smile. "Hello there."

"'Ello, Anna," Jack Sparrow grinned with a flash of gold. He hopped gracefully from the rowboat and swaggered to join her. "How scandalous, meeting me so late at night."

"People might talk," Joanna agreed. She watched with pleased amusement as Jack grabbed her hand and bent over it, pressing his lips to the back of her palm. "You're not helping my image, Captain Sparrow."

"That's the point, innit?" Jack asked, straightening to face her. He extended a chivalrous hand toward the boat. "Your chariot awaits, milady."

One last time, Joanna glanced over her shoulder. Last chance, she thought perfunctorily.

Joanna stepped toward Jack. She stood on tip-toe and boldly pressed a kiss to his cheek. Jack breathed sharply in reply.

"Let's go, then," Joanna said firmly. Leaving Jack dumbstruck on the sand, she clambered into the boat.

Joanna sat, situated her satchel between her feet, and looked up. Jack was still staring at her, his hand pressed where her lips had vacated. "Are you coming?" She asked with a shy laugh.

Jack snapped out of it. Cheerfully saluting her, he pushed the boat into the sea and hopped inside. "Aye-aye, darling."

Beneath the stars, Joanna and Jack drifted toward the Black Pearl.