Disclaimer: I own nothing from the films, not the characters or anything Pirates of the Caribbean.

Chapter 1 – The Beginning of Forever

Elizabeth's POV:

I had no idea that my life was about to change forever as I sat in my living room reading on our small chair.

"Mother!" my son yelled, running in the door of our small cabin. He'd been gone for quite some time, off on a mission with the navy. Most mothers would be overjoyed at the thought of their son being in the navy. I was not. I'd never told Henry that though. I always acted apathetic towards his navy career. I knew enough to know that the navy was not always a great place. They would kill good men for pity crimes that really hadn't hurt anyone. Now, being king of the pirates I suppose my definition of "pity crimes" was not quite the same as others. Henry didn't need to know that though.

I had raised Henry to believe in justice, but fairness, and to realize that sometimes the wrong choice could be right given the circumstances. That was why I could never be angry when he came home from a navy trip in trouble for something or other as he often did. I couldn't really expect any less of my son and I never would.

Henry had grown up hearing pirate tales about his father, Will Turner, Captain of the Flying Dutchman, from myself and had shown an interest in reading about pirates and mythology of the sea ever since he was a young boy. He was convinced he could find a way to free his father from his curse and allow him to come and live with us for longer than the one day every ten years that his father's curse allowed. As much as a part of me hoped he'd succeed another part knew it was too dangerous and likely impossible. Surely if there was a way to be free of the curse of the Dutchman Davy Jones would have found it long ago when he was the captain. If being in the navy distracted my son from this dangerous mission I could not complain about his career choice.

"Mother!" he yelled again, rushing into our living room. As I said our cabin was small, merely five rooms in size; a kitchen, living room, two bedrooms (one for Henry and I both) and a bathroom. Each room was also very small in size, being able to hold only the bare essentials. We didn't have much money to afford anything better which really was quite fine. I liked to think having such small living quarters made Henry and I closer as he was growing up. There wasn't really any other option anyway, most jobs were considered unsuitable for a woman to be caught doing and with my husband at sea, our only income was the occasional gold my (formerly Sao Feng's) old pirate ship would bring in every few months. Being pirate king had some advantages. Now that Henry was older one could argue that he should too be bringing in some form of income for our family, but being consistently in trouble at work meant he never really gained much of any money from it.

As Henry entered our living room I noticed there was a young brunette woman following him. I wondered who she was, but Henry interrupted my thoughts before I had a chance to ask him.

"Mom!" he yelled again, "We did it!"

"Did what?" I questioned.

"We found the triton of Poseidon and ended father's curse!" he exclaimed, smiling, "He's free, mom! He's free!"

My brain refused to believe my ears. Free? Will was free? Henry had done it? He'd found a way to break Will's curse? He'd been going on about the triton of Poseidon for a while now, but I never thought he'd actually successfully find it and I never thought it'd actually work to break Will's curse.

As I looked at Henry's humongous smile I knew that what he was saying had to be true. He wouldn't make something like this up just to toy with me. "Free," I quietly whispered, as though I couldn't believe it was true until I said it aloud. My heart fluttered in a way it hadn't in years as I whispered once more, "Will's free."

"Yes!" Henry yelled, practically jumping up and down, "If my calculations are correct he should be here by sunrise tomorrow morning and not just for a day this time, mom, forever!"

The young woman beside him smiled clearly happy for both of us, but I didn't really pay her any attention at the time. Free. Will was free. Those three words were all that my mind could comprehend at the time. Will was free.

Henry wrapped his arms around me, pulling me out of my trance-like state. I hugged him back as my eyes began to fill with tears of happiness. "Oh Henry," I cried, "You did it."

Henry left our embrace and put his hands on my shoulder. By that point the tears were pouring from my eyes. "We did, mom," he said and I pulled him into a hug again. "Dad's coming home."

0-0-0-0-0-0

The woman Henry had brought home, I'd found out later, was named Corina. She allegedly needed a place to stay and I willing let her sleep on our living room sofa. Henry excitedly told me the story of how they had worked together with Captain Jack Sparrow and Barbossa to free the triton and end Will's curse. Corina would jump in every now and again to add a fact here or there or argue some point with him. I later learned that they'd left out parts of their story for my benefit like how Henry was possessed by a dead ghost for example. I noticed by the way he spoke of Corina and how the two interacted together that there was clearly something going on between them. In a way they reminded me of a young Will and I. I could barely focus on them though, all my thoughts were with Will and how he would come home the next day.

I barely slept that night with the excitement of the day to come. Will was coming home and not just for a day this time only to spend another ten years away, but for a lifetime. I'm certain that I fell asleep smiling that night, anticipating what was to come.

The next morning, the three of us got up shortly before dawn to head out to where Will's ship would likely come in to land. We could only assume it would be at the same place as where he came when he'd been allowed to visit us on his one day every ten years when he was cursed. Henry and Corina went ahead. I strayed a bit behind. If I were to be honest, it was out of fear. What if somehow Henry's conclusions were wrong? What if breaking Poseidon's triton didn't really free Will from his curse? I was paranoid that I had got all my hopes up for nothing and instead of Will coming on land to spend the rest of his life with us there would really be no one there. I took a deep breathe in realizing I had to face this and find out whether Henry was indeed right or not. Slowly, I headed out towards the edge of our island, far from our little town to the place Henry and Corina probably already were by then, the place where Will might come home.

I walked-scared but excited. Scared that Will might not show up, but excited at the possibility that he might. I didn't know how to feel as I reached the last hill before the edge of the island. I stopped at the bottom of that last hill for a moment, taking a deep breathe in and out. I walked up it slowly, knowing that if Henry was wrong all the hope I had of seeing Will again was about to die. Will would certainly be there by then if he was to come at all.

Then I saw him. He was there! Henry really had saved him!

I began smiling uncontrollably. I didn't even try to fight it. There are moments when the happiness one feels is so real and so overbearing that it can be felt throughout one's entire being. This was undoubtedly one of those moments. Will stopped talking to Henry and stared at me, our eyes meeting. I knew he felt the exact same way that I did, full of happiness that can barely be described.

We ran to embrace. It wasn't until that moment that I really realized how much I'd missed him. All the pain was over now though. Will, my Will, was back and this time to stay.

I wasn't sure whether I wanted to cry tears of relief as I saw him really there or whether to smile because he really was there. Smiling won out as any feeling of relief was quickly abolished by feelings of happiness. My entire being was consumed with a feeling much stronger than happiness. It was joy, pure joy.

I don't think I'd ever been as happy as I was in that moment in my entire life. Some say a wedding day is the happiest day of their life, but while to be fair mine was spent fighting for my life, those people clearly have never been separated from their husbands for long. A wedding day is joyous, yes, but seeing someone you love for the first time in such a long time and knowing that now it's forever, no joy compares to that.

I wish I could put into words how it felt to hold him again, but alas no words are powerful enough. He was back. My Will was back. I couldn't stop smiling. I had never been so happy. He was back and this time he wouldn't be leaving the next day. He was going to stay! I took in every sensation of his touch. My life had never felt as perfect as it did in that moment. I felt his heart beat against mine, something I hadn't last time he visited. That's how I knew it was real. This time was forever. My own heart felt like it could almost burst. It could barely contain the joy I felt. He was back.

I remember thinking in that moment how perfect my life was and how nothing could possibly go wrong; the joy I felt could not be taken away, not by anything. Unfortunately though, no joy can last forever there always seems to be something that gets in the way…

-000-

A/N:

Ahoy mateys! Magestic is back! Seriously, it's been forever. But I saw Pirates 5 last Tuesday and finally seeing our beloved Willabeth together again got me thinking and I could not contain my excitement to write a new fanfic. So yes, it's been forever since I posted a new story, but I'm back and I promise you guys I will not leave for long again until at least this story is complete. How I missed this site! Anyway, Magestic is back! Coming up next we're gonna have some Will's POV and then our real adventure begins. I am so excited to be back on Fanfiction though guys. It's been too long! Please review and let me know what you think.