Charlotte crept like a cat, refusing to look anywhere but the path in front of her. If she tripped, if she stubbed her toe... she was not going to be the reason her sister stayed trapped in this tomb of gold.  She was not returning to face her father as his only daughter.

BANG.

Charlotte let out a little gasp and Will stumbled as the gunshot blasted back and forth through the echoing cave. A stone bumped by Will's foot splashed into the water but their eyes were too busy searching Elizabeth's red dress for a sign of blood to even realize that the gun wasn't pointed at her, much less note whether or not a pirate had noticed them. 

"He shot me," A pirate whined. 

He did not seem concerned.

The pirates around him began to settle from the shock. Charlotte tapped Will's arm and they moved forward, finally slipping behind the captain's hill and out of sight. Charlotte leaned against it and found herself slipping to the ground with her hands pressed over her mouth, trying not to hyperventilate. She had a  sword. She had a pistol. Apparently, they were useless.

"You, maid!" Charlotte looked up in panic. But no, of course, the captain wasn't talking to her. "Your father, what was his name?"

There was a pause. Charlotte stood and waved a hand until Will looked at her. "Climb?" She mouthed. 

He touched his sword, considering the slope of the hill. Yet again, a gravelly voice interrupted their plan. 

"Was your father William Turner?"

Charlotte's eyebrows shot up. Will met her look with a shrug. 

Fine.

Stay focused.

Except where was that filthy pirate who'd brought Will here? 

"Where's his child? The child that sailed from England eight years ago, the child in whose veins flows the blood of William Turner. Where?"

William began to stand, opening his mouth to say who-knew-what. Charlotte reached out and yanked on his arm. "They'll just take you, too." He pulled. "If she wanted you caught, she would be tal--"

Elizabeth flew over the edge of the hill above them, tumbling stunned down the slope.

"Um," Charlotte said.

"Oh," Will said. 

And Elizabeth bowled into them. 

Will managed to half catch her, collapsing to kneel with Elizabeth half in his arms. Charlotte was knocked back, hitting her face on a sharp bit of rock, and barely caught herself from rolling into the water. She stared into the dark river for a moment, weirdly proud that she was starting to break the habit of needing rescue from falling, and then her eyes caught on another flash of gold. 

She hesitated for a moment, imagining her own face a skeleton as her fingers brushed the medallion that had landed by her side. The skull grinned back, reading her mind, but nothing happened as she wound the chain around her wrist. She shoved herself back onto her feet and moved in on her sister and the only one of them to actually be a Turner. 

"Where's Jack?" She hissed at Will.  Elizabeth rose awkwardly to her feet. "Are you alright?" Charlotte asked, instantly distracted. Elizabeth nodded. "Will, Jack knows who you are. Where is he?"

"Fell behind."

Will looked a little guilty.  Charlotte's shoulders slumped with relief. 

They crept back the way they had come, still in shadow. The medallion was cold where she'd tucked it in her sleeve and when she rotated her wrist as though waving a sword, the chain bit into her skin. They arrived back at the boats and Will began preparing theirs, snatching up ropes. Elizabeth studied the other boats for a moment, looking for a way to cripple them, and then began awkwardly tossing oars into the boat Will had chosen. Charlotte watched Elizabeth stumble over her dress once and then began tossing the oars to her sister, letting Elizabeth stay by Will's side. 

"Ready," Will said. He settled down with the oars and Charlotte grabbed a seat beside her sister, wrapping her arms around Elizabeth the way Elizabeth usually did to her. Elizabeth smelled awful. Her skin was freezing. Charlotte held her tighter.

"I'm alright." Elizabeth patted Charlotte's hand and managed a laugh just as a cry started behind them. The pirates knew she was gone.  "Really."  

"Of course you are. I, however, am miserable." Charlotte let go of her sister to kick a few of the oars off the boat. They floated uselessly away into the small bay. "I'm wearing trousers, Elizabeth."

Will smiled then returned to looking grimly over his shoulder at their ship. 

"Just don't let Father see," Elizabeth teased.

"He might already know. Quite a few soldiers saw me. I don't think anyone but the Commodore recognized me." Charlotte unwound the chain and medallion from her wrist and pulled her braid from beneath her collar, meaning to stash the gold around her neck. The braid came loose, almost instantly releasing all of her hair to blanket her face. Elizabeth leaned forward with a frown and Charlotte didn't resist when her sister carefully took the medallion and studied it for a moment. "Do you think he told?"

Elizabeth finished hiding the medallion around her own neck and then leaned over,  wrapping her arm through Charlotte's. Charlotte didn't move, just accepted the mess of hair on her face and the comforting weight of her sister. "You did it to rescue me. How could any of them think badly of you?" 

"Well, we're about to board the Interceptor which I stole and gave to pirates." 

"All by herself," Will added. "No one dragging her along for the ride."

Charlotte frowned as she finally parted the hair from her face. "It is hard to take the blame without stealing the glory... " She reached out as they bumped into the ship, her hands seizing the rope ladder. "But yes, all by myself."

"You're worse than the pirates," Will muttered just loud enough for her to here. 

Charlotte shook her head distractedly, then darted up the ladder to give Elizabeth a moment of alone time with Will before they were surrounded by people again. She instantly regretted it as she found herself alone with them instead. 

Several of them raised an eyebrow. Two of them exchanged gold. Charlotte touched the loose curls and then the hat that she'd forgotten to lower to its proper shadowy spot over her forehead. Then she drew her sword. 

"What are you waiting for? We're here. That means the enemy's coming too." Will and Elizabeth arrived behind her and Charlotte began to panic as the pirates found a new diversion. Her eyes found the quarter deck and she moved toward it. "Anamaria?"

"Ay," Anamaria studied Charlotte's straighter posture from the wheel of the ship. "No Jack?"

"No, captain."

"Weigh anchor! Hoist the sails." Anamaria swung the wheel, the ship following as sails began to catch the wind. Charlotte arrived at her side and tried desperately to find something to help with. "Does this mean I can have my hat back?"

Charlotte flinched. "Oh, I..."

"That's alright." Anamaria rolled her eyes. "I'll just wait for Jack to turn up again and he'll get me a new one."

"A better one?" Charlotte joked weakly.

"Of course." Anamaria glanced behind and the younger woman copied the movement. The island was disappearing and no pirates had appeared. Anamaria turned back and barked a few orders as Charlotte continued to stare. 

It was the middle of the day, wasn't it? 

So why was the ocean so dark right now?

And something smelled foul, fouler than any pirate she'd met. Something was burning, choking her lungs like in the blacksmith shop. What could possibly be on fire?

"You know, you can put that sword away now," Anamaria said brusquely. 

Charlotte snapped out of her thoughts and found the day clear again. 

"Oh. Right." 

Good; now Anamaria could think even less of her.

Charlotte slid the sword into its sheath and then hesitated, staring at the glitter of metal and the sun-bleached wood beneath it. She took a deep breath and sure enough, when she looked up, the clouds of smoke were back.  She turned starboard and found the cloud growing thicker and thicker.

"What's that direction?"

"West," Anamaria said dryly.

"No, I'm sorry: what's in that direction?"

Anamaria squinted past her. "You mean that island? Some dead volcano probably."

Ah.

"Thank you," Charlotte moved to the side of the ship, several pirates having to dodge around her. Could she remember this place? Would it matter if she didn't? There was no way she was going to remember this. 

The wind tugged at her loose hair. 

"I can't." Charlotte looked back and, sure enough, a ship had appeared on the horizon. "I'm not losing her again. Or Will. Or the rest of them. And I can't sail by myself." 

The wind slowed. 

"I'm sorry. We need to escape first. Find a safe harbor." That seemed unlikely. "Or the navy." 

Oh... Oh, what if the wind in their sails stopped, too?

But it didn't.

Instead, a wave crashed against the hull below her. Then another.  A third, hard enough that she stumbled backward and there was a lull in activity as several pirates muttered about sea monsters before Anamaria reminded them about the actual monsters and Elizabeth and Will appeared to discuss them. They began planning, discussing the ship. Charlotte ignored them.

Charlotte looked down. 

The world disappeared.

And then she was in a small room staring at a map of the British harbors and naval routes. 

Oh.

She leaned forward, not sure how much time she had and someone beside her moved as well. She wasn't alone. There was a uniformed man beside her and he...  this wasn't just a vision, because he had noticed her...

Oh.

Oh.

Oh, no.

...

James Norrington stood at a sunlit desk in his ship's cabin, a plate of food set beside him and forgotten as he poured over a map of the Caribbean. Captain Swann was out pacing the deck and the men were darting around him to keep the ship moving. It was up to Norrington to decide where to go. Where to possibly find Swann's daughters. 

What had Charlotte been thinking? Sailing away with the same grim face she'd used when someone stepped on her toes while dancing and she didn't want to be rude. Had he missed some hint the night before, when she came home injured and dazed?

Of course, he had. She'd instantly offered to help. She'd had a sword. 

But still, it was Charlotte.

And then, he glanced to the side and there was Charlotte.

She was studying the map and the marks he'd made. She looked up when he jumped and she had drying blood and a gash on her cheek. Her hair was pulled over one shoulder, tumbling down from a misshapen hat and glittering in the sun as it streamed through the cabin's windows.  

He opened his mouth to ask if she was a ghost.

Instead, he said calmly, "Miss Swann, are you alright?"

Her face twisted into a sad, affectionate smile. "Yes, Commodore. How do you fare?"

"Well."

The grim face returned. "And my father?"  

"He is anxious but well." He reached out a comforting hand and it went right through her. "What about your sister?" 

"With me." She pointed to an area near Tortuga and the hat shadowed her face for a moment. Then she looked back at him and the shadows were gone. "I think... I'm not sure... The pirates are behind us. I don't know what to do."

"We'll come. We'll find you."

"How will you explain?" She wasn't teasing.

"I'll find a way. You can count on me, Miss Swann."

"I know."

She took another look at the map.

She was gone.