a/n: yes, i keep proofreading and trying to make this easier to read :rolleyes: i want to make it longer and better but i can't figure out how to do it without breaking what little flow i've managed to create. ahh well. a writer's work is never done. well... remember to review...

disclaimer: sadly. No. i do not own pirates. otherwise jack and elizabeth would have made out a lot more. (i'm such a fangirl... :sigh:)

Elizabeth sits outside Tia Dolma's house, thinking to herself.

The compass points to whatever you want most in the world.

He had it right. That fool of a pirate, that despicable scoundrel, that courageous, misunderstood idiot of a man.

Who tastes like everything I've always wanted.

Who tastes like freedom.

Curiosity.

Maybe we are more alike than I thought.

You want to act on selfish impulse.

But I had a reason. The Kraken, it was after him, not us. I needed to save us; I needed to save me. It wasn't selfish and it wasn't impulsive.

He's wrong. He has to be.

I didn't want him like that. I didn't want him at all.

I thought it through, for all of a second. It took me only a second to make my decision, only a second to decide to do what I thought was necessary.

My reasons don't seem so noble. Not anymore…

Perhaps because I've wanted it, ever since he saved my life, ever since I read my first tale about Blackbeard.

Ever since I realized I love pirates.

But Will…

He's everything any girl could ever dream of. Devoted, sensitive, intelligent, passionate…He's kind, loving; he's the perfect man.

But then why do I dream of him. Of a sea salted, rum-soaked, swaggering, lying pirate who lacks morals, personal honor, integrity… everything I value in a man.

Will.

I must think only of Will. He is my fiancé and I am his, of my own free will. I love him, always will and probably always have.

Then why did the compass point to him?

I was never the good girl. I dreamt of pirates and plundering before thinking of gowns and 'Prince Charming's, clambered up the riggings in britches and stole an amulet from a boy I had just met because I feared he was the one thing I wanted most.

You want to see what it's like.

I've kissed Will before. We've even been together, only once, while we were returning home on the Interceptor. It was quiet, strong, but still gentle. It was amazing, everything I could have ever dreamed it would have been like.

He refused to come that close to me again before the wedding. Now it looks like we might never get married.

I know what it's like.

So why do I keep thinking of Jack? Of that dirty, sea-loving pirate who plunders my thoughts more and more often.

I dream of what it would be like with him.

Rough, passionate, loud and freeing, a pure delicious release. Dark and wild, we'd end up tousled, legs entwined, grinning and tasting like salt.

But a pirate's first and only love is the sea. And no matter how untamable I wish to be, no matter how free and independent, I can never match that which he loves most.

You long to do what you want to do because you want it.

I did want it. I still do. I wanted it even as he told me I longed for it, even as he spoke those words, even as I toyed with him, with his mouth, with his body. With his mind.

And I did it.

One day, you won't be able to resist.

We were preparing to leave. To say farewell to the one thing Captain Jack Sparrow loved almost as much as the sea… His ship.

He wasn't expecting it. His mouth was open when my lips met his. His lips were firm, dry, with a slight tang of salt and bitter hint of rum.

No matter how long I live with Will. I'll never be able to forget the feel of Jack's lips before he reacted.

I pushed my tongue into his mouth, pushing away with it, all thoughts of Will and our engagement. Jack realized what was happening, he's always wanted it. He's always known that he's wanted it, I suppose. Unlike me.

I kissed him with a fierceness I never felt with Will.

It was a need, a lust, and it took over me even as I chained him to the mast. I kissed him hard, with all the passion left in my body. He brought me to the horizon and kept me there.

And in that kiss, I found the freedom I had always sought, had always wanted, had always dreamed of… and turned away from it, leaving it locked to a boat doomed to the Kraken's jaws.

In act, I did my duty and chose Will over Jack, the blacksmith over the scoundrel.

In mind, the captain went down with his ship, and took with him my heart.

The sun is just beginning to rise over the swamps around Tia Dolma's home.

Curiosity.

I know what it tastes like now.

It tastes like Jack.