(I've decided to write a fan flick about Elizabeth Swan. She decides to get Will back, and heads out looking for him. I've already got so many ideas for this one, I can't wait to write them all, so if you like this story and want to know what's going to happen next, please review!)

Chapter 1

Contemplations of a Journey

Elizabeth was tired of crying. It didn't matter how many tears were shed, they would never bring Will back to her. The sea had stolen him away and she was left here.

But "here" is such a neutral word. "Here" is one of those words that can be changed. Why would she stay "here" when she wanted to be "there", when she wanted to be with Will on the Flying Dutchman, even if it meant carving out her own heart to stay with him?

Elizabeth slipped out of bed and donned her bed robe, tying the belt around her waist as she walked across the room to her bureau. Her slim fingers searched round the back of the chest of drawers until they found the lever that released the secret drawer. The drawer slid silently out from the side of the bureau, the mechanism snapping softly as it slid into place. It was a wide and rather deep drawer, cleverly hidden within the wooden structure so that no one would ever be suspicious of its presence. She slowly reached into it and retrieved three objects, one after the other.

The first object was the chain that once had held a gold pirate's medallion. It was the very same one that first brought her and Will together at the beginning of all their adventures. She fondled it lovingly as she reminisced, before gently laying it to the side. Next she pulled out the long, slim saber that Will had made for Commodore Norington, a lifetime ago, it seemed now. Carefully she slipped her hand around the handle and pulled it an inch from the sheath. What was now exposed of the blade was very beautiful and very well crafted steel. Yes, she could definitely use this where she was going. Gently she laid it to the side.

Last of all she pulled out an intricately carved chest, bound in iron. It had a curious lock on its front, a lock with a double key hole. Her hand strayed to the heavy chain around her neck and she pulled the weighted item that was strung on it out from beneath her robe: it was the key, a two pronged key and the only thing that could open the chest. There was no locksmith in all the world could unlock the double lock without the proper key. Elizabeth always kept it close to her heart.

Laying her hand upon the chest, she could fell the beat of life pulsating from within. She slipped the key into the lock and gently turned it. A soft snick sounded through the room as the lock mechanism slipped open; the chest sat unlocked at her fingertips.

Elizabeth inhaled a deep breath. She knew what lay inside the chest, could hear the steady rhythm of each beat, but it seemed so strange just to look at it. It was not really a thing that should be seen, but a secret that should only be felt by the heart. She could feel it now, even through the chest, pulsating, breathing, beating…

Quickly she slid the key back into the lock and turned it, returning the key to its place close to her heart. The thing in the chest was not something she would relish seeing, though she loved it dearly and would lay her life on the line to keep it from harm. She needed only to have it close, and she felt safe. And she could do that without ever seeing the contents of the mysterious chest. She laid her hands on the lid, feeling the comforting beat one last time before she set the chest aside.

As she looked at all the items she had brought forth from the drawer, now bathed in a stream of moonlight shining through the window, she fingered another item hidden beneath the silk fabric of her robe, another secret that did not quite fit with the life of luxury she had returned to after Will had sailed away on the Flying Dutchman. It was a small, silver piece of eight, half melted along one edge and with a hole through the middle so it could easily be strung on the chain around her neck. As she fingered it, her mind replayed all that had happened since she first received the small silver piece from Captain Feng as he lay dieing in his ship's hold. He had given it to her and named her captain, making her his heir as one of the nine pirate lords. Then it was, as she was in counsel with the other eight lords, she was named Pirate King. It was just happenstance, she knew; a trick, really, played by Captain Jack Sparrow of the Black Pearl to mislead her good intentions for his own twisted purposes. In all honesty, when she thought on it, it was because of Jack Sparrow that Will could not be with her now.

But she would make that change. The piece of eight would only aid her on her mission. As the Pirate King, all pirates were to respect her; she would be able to get a ship, a crew, and provisions without hardly any trouble, thanks to Captain Jack. She would find Will, and she would change what would be a lifetime of loneliness.

Quickly she dug through the drawer again, pulling out the outfit given to her by Captain Feng when he thought she was the sea goddess Calypso. It was truly a beautiful getup, sewn of cobalt silk and embroidered with gold thread. More importantly it was fit attire for the King of all Pirates to wear. All those bloody cutthroats would respect her, if they knew who she was. And they would. She pulled on the breaches and tunic, fastening the gold buttons on the over coat, and pulling up her hair so it would be out of her face, fitting the three-cornered hat on her head last of all. When she was completely dressed, she belted Will's sword around her waist, slipped the medallion chain into her pocket, and picked up the chest. It wasn't very heavy, though it would be bulky to carry, but she hated to leave it behind lest somebody find it and do harm to the contents… Will's heart was in there, and if it was harmed in any way, hers would die of grief.

I must take it, she thought to herself, looking towards the window. It was a long way to the ground from her balcony, but to go down the stairs and out the front door would mean announcing her leave to everyone. It wouldn't be hard for a pirate. The thought turned her resolve hard. Taking the chest to the balcony, she hurried to her bed and grabbed the sheets, tearing them into strips. Quickly she knotted them together, making one end of the make-shift rope fast around the banister, and tying the other through the handles of the chest. Carefully, slowly she lowered the chest to the ground and slung one leg over the banister, but just as she was about to descend, she heard footsteps in the hall outside her bedroom door. The handle was starting to turn…

Elizabeth swung her other leg over the banister and looked down. It seemed a very far way to the ground below. For a second or two she hesitated, but then she heard the sound of a key in the lock of her door. She thanked the stars she always locked her door at night, and leapt from the balcony.

Air rushed past her face. Her stomach was turning summersaults within her and her heart was beating in her throat as she fell, down, down… Thud! Her legs crumpled beneath her and she tucked them in and rolled to soften the impact. Then she leapt to her feet, grabbed the chest and ran. She didn't know where she was running, she just ran. Behind her she heard a scream and the high-pitched voice of the maid calling her name over and over, but she never once stopped or looked back over her shoulder. The wharf was a far way off yet, and she needed to reach it before morning or she'd probably be picked up by the search party and dragged back to her house. But she wouldn't go back! She wouldn't!

After what seemed like hours, she finally stopped to catch her breath. She would never reach the docks at all if she didn't stop to think and pace herself. It was still many hours before dawn; she had time to think as she walked, and to plan out what she should do next. The Flying Dutchman was not a ship to be called on a whim. One had to know how to call it. It was a very serious matter. Will was now the courier of the souls of the dead, and to the dead or the dying he would come, but to her voice? Who knew? It was a cruel fate that they were now separated, but she planned to remedy that. One way or the other, she would find him, if it meant calling upon Calypso herself. Surely the Sea Nymph would now how to locate the ghost ship…

Elizabeth kept walking. The peer could not be too far off now. First things first. She needed a ship, and a decent crew. Surely the Pirate King, could easily obtain those. How hard could it be?

(Ok, so I'm already working on Chapter 2 titled "Trouble at the Wharf". If you liked this first chapter, please tell me so and review!)