Disclaimer: I do not own Pirates of the Caribbean or any of its characters used in this story. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no profit is being made from it. No infringement is intended.

He tastes like the sea.

It's the first thing that comes to Elizabeth's mind when Will crashes his lips unto hers.

He smells like the sea too. It's a beautiful, comforting scent.

Elizabeth opens her mouth and Will's tongue slips inside. Her husband kisses her like he's going to devour her whole, going to suck all the air from her lungs, her soul from her lips.

Elizabeth wraps her hands around Will's neck and they move up his head, through his hair. One hand trails down his chest and feels the firm and strong heartbeat.

Will groans when Elizabeth tugs at his hair too hard, but he doesn't care. It tells him that she's real, that this is real.

They break away all too soon, gasping for breath. Their foreheads rest against the other, their chests heaving up and down.

"You're here," Elizabeth whispers, her eyes closed. She breathily trails clumsy kisses all over Will's face, his forehead down to his nose, to his lips, and back up to his cheeks. "Tell me this is real."

"It's real, love." Will looks at her, slightly amused at his wife's appearance. She still has her eyes closed. "Elizabeth, look at me."

His wife shakes her head. "I'm afraid if I do I'll wake up to a dream."

Will roughly pulls Elizabeth's body against his, eliciting a gasp from her and forcing her to open her eyes.

"This is not a dream." The voice that Will uses is commanding and firm that Elizabeth cannot help but believe.

She allows herself to look at him properly. His face is rounder, his eyes almost deeper, but beyond that, age has not touched him.

Elizabeth hugs Will again and it is at that moment that she realizes they're neglecting two other people.

Henry is grinning from ear to ear at the sight of his parents. He isn't vaguely disturbed or disgusted that his mother and father are not far from removing the other's clothing and getting right back to the business of intimacy. Henry has been bereft of that sight for more than a decade for it to bother him.

His parents break away from each other and move towards him, hand in hand.

"Thank you," says Elizabeth to her son upon reaching him. "You did this."

Henry blushes and when his parents hug him together, he tries to blink away the tears threatening to spill from his eyes.

They all finally make their way back to the house, Henry introducing Carina on the way.

Carina is given a room to stay at the Turner residence and Henry is delighted that they won't have to part ways so soon. He doesn't really know what to do next, but he's happy that Carina will be there.

Stories are exchanged over dinner. It's their first family dinner since Will's second return.

Henry notices that his parents always find any opportunity to touch each other. Passing a bowl is accompanied by the brushing of fingers, resting a hand on the table is an opportunity of hand-holding, rising from the table sees a hand on the back, washing the dishes includes the bumping of hips.

Henry knows he will never be sick of such open displays of affection. It is one that was hard-won.

Elizabeth and Will retire soon after that, the former taking the time to remind Henry and Carina not to stay out too late.

"Yes, mother." Henry blushes under his mother's gaze while Carina resists an amused smile.

Hand in hand, the reunited couple go up to the master bedroom.

Closing the door behind them, Elizabeth allows Will to take a good look around the room, their room now. It boasts a wide bed and a dresser, and there is also an opened chest on the floor that Elizabeth had set aside in a hurry after having discovered its content's disappearance.

Will bends down, closes it, and then picks it up with a hand on each handle. Elizabeth is suddenly in front of him. She engulfs his hands with her own and Will averts his gaze from the chest to meet his wife's eyes.

"Your heart is back where it belongs," she says softly, taking the chest from his hands and depositing it on their bed. "Right here," she adds, putting a hand on Will's chest, her other hand around his waist.

Will shakes his head, a small smile on his lips. "It's always belonged to you...and you've kept it safe all these years."

"Well, of course. Someone had to make sure you stay alive." Elizabeth grins.

Will chuckles, cupping his wife's cheek. "You saved me when I was a lad. And you continue to save me a thousand times over. I cannot thank—" Will's voice breaks and he takes a moment, one breath in and then out to calm himself. "You and Henry mean everything to me. Everything."

"I know. You mean the world to both of us too, you know."

Their foreheads rest against the other, their breathing the only sounds in the room.

Elizabeth hums and Will finds it comforting. Their arms wrap around each other and they gently sway to the rhythm of their heartbeats.

It is Elizabeth who makes the first move, her hands grasp Will's own and she leads him to the adjoining room where all the bathing is done.

Elizabeth unbuttons Will's breeches, removes his linen shirt. Next comes off his bandana. Will pulls at Elizabeth's waist, turning her around to untie her gown, but she slaps his hands away, giggling.

"You first, Mr. Turner. I'll not have you all sweaty and dirty on my bed."

"Our bed, Mrs. Turner."

"My mistake, love. Our bed."

Will steps inside the tub full of water.

Elizabeth crouches down beside the tub, her hands dipping in the water. Will takes it in his own.

"Besides," adds Elizabeth, raising their entwined hands to plant a kiss on Will's fingers, "the tub can only fit one of us, darling."

There is a gleam in Will's eyes. "I think I can rectify that little detail, love."

His long and firm arms snake over the tub and around Elizabeth's waist. The latter shrieks in surprise as Will hoists her over the tub and Elizabeth finds herself astride her husband's thighs.

"Better?" asks Will, smirking.

Elizabeth, with her dress soaking, leans down and presses her lips to Will's, whispering, "Much better."

Later in the night, the two fall asleep in each other's arms, quite at peace for the first time in a long time... that is, until Will finds a barnacle under the bed the very next day.

A/N: tell me what you think.