Author's Note: Just like I promised, here's a POTC fic, right after my exams have ended. Updates might be irregular though, because I've got lessons after my exams, everyday! Growl

His ship sailed towards the setting sun, awash with golden rays. A flash of green, then it was gone. Not to return for another ten years. She was not to touch him, to see him, to hear him. She wouldn't have any news of him. Ten years.

She let her tears come then, great rivers of it, running down her cheeks. She cried then, cried for him, all the laughter they had shared, their time together, their love for each other… And yet, he had to leave. Bound to the Dutchman the moment Jack helped him stab Davy Jones's heart, he had to ferry the dead to the afterlife. That was his duty. And yet…he would be away from her. She who love him, truly.

It wasn't fair, she cried. It wasn't! Why must it be this way? Why can't she and Will settle down together and start a little family of their own? Was it wrong of her to wish that?

She collapsed on the beach, sobbing.

"Why?" she screamed to the heavens.

"WHY?!"

She left the beach the next morning, rowing a little dinghy. Her belongings were packed neatly into a small box, and an odd metal chest sat in a safe corner of the boat, emitting a rhythmic thumping. She gazed sadly at it.

She was picked up by a merchant vessel in the afternoon. The older sailors immediately started muttering about how having a woman on board was bad luck, but the Captain would have none of it. He every kindly gave her the First Mate's quarters, said person preferring to sleep on the deck anyway. A foolish young man, full of lust, tried to take advantage of her, but after he ended up groaning and wincing on the deck, no one dared to anger the seemingly defenseless woman.

The vessel dropped her off at Port Royal. The little town that had been her home was no longer her home; not without her father and James Norrington and Will there. A wave of anger swept over her, anger directed at Cutler Beckett and his blasted East India Trading Company.

She strode through the busy streets, ignored by all except a peddler who tried to sell her the 'genuine' key to the Dead Man's Chest. Amusedly shaking her head, she walked up to the gates of a grand mansion.

The gate was bolted shut, but with a few quick slashes from her blade, it lay broken in the grass. She pushed the gates open and stepped in, cautiously looking around.

Silence.

The place was deserted, a quick check of the grounds and house told her that. There was a fine film of dust on the furniture, and the kitchen, which was usually bustling with activity, was silent.

She packed some of her more comfortable clothes into a bag and retrieved all her cash in a purse in a drawer. Tucking a sapphire necklace of her mother's into her shirt, she stepped out of the house to look for a lawyer.

For the house was no longer her home. There was no point keeping it.

The transaction was made. The Swann mansion was no longer her home, she thought, as she made her way to town, in search of an inn.

A pub by the name of 'The Devious Kraken' caught her eye. While it was certainly more respectable than the pubs in Tortuga, it was a drop in standard compared to the inns of Port Royal. There was laughter issuing from it, and a man was being thrown out of the pub by the bartender. Shrugging, she headed towards it. She needed a place to relax.

She met someone entirely unexpected.

"Jack Sparrow?" she said, staring at the bizarre man slumped at a table, a red bandana tied around a mess of dreadlocks and apparently drunk. He was missing his mouth as he tried to drink from the bottle, full of what she was sure was a very familiar alcoholic beverage.

"Captain," he corrected automatically, looking up blearily, "It's Capta- Elizabeth?"

"What are you doing here?" she asked, setting her bags and boxes down on the floor, a certain metal chest cleverly concealed inside one.

"Lookin' for you, lass," he took a swig from his bottle as he spoke, "Hmm… good rum."

He seemed to have forgotten a certain memorable incident on an island, which involved him flapping his arms like a chicken.

She growled. Snatching his rum bottle, she hurled it straight out of the window, ignoring the crash and the curses that came with it. Jack stared at her with horrified eyes.

"Why is the rum gone?"

She rolled her eyes.

"I'm certain you remember all the reasons I listed," she said tartly, "So, why were you looking for me?"

He scowled at her.

"I had been wonderin' if you'll go with me on an adventure."

"Where to?"

"To the Aqua de Viva."

She paused in the act of opening her bag to get some cash out, narrowing her eyes suspiciously at the pirate currently perched opposite her, who was trying to steal a bottle of rum from a neighboring table.

"And why are you approaching me for a partner? I hardly believe you will be so generous as to give me the prize for nothing."

"Because, one, I know you'll be wanting to stay young for your whelp. Two, you and your dearly beloved immortal husband have me to thank for saving his life, thereby rescuing you from a pit of misery. Three, I be needing a ship. Savvy?" he quirked his eyebrows at her.

She smirked at him.

"Why, Captain, whatever happened to that fine ship of yours? The one that is fastest in the entire Caribbean? The one with black sails?"

He growled.

"That apple-obsessed, mangy scrap of rotting sardines, Barbossa," he spat the name out with venom, "made off with my ship. I intend to get it back, along with getting to said Latin-named place," he paused, "Savvy?"

She was fighting an internal battle. She couldn't deny that she wasn't longing for a bit of adventure, and this seemed to be perfect. And she did owe Jack one. But the thing was, Jack wasn't the best partner. How many times had he lied to them and betrayed them?

She sighed and looked wearily at him.

"I know I'll definitely regret this, but fine, I'll come, signing on as," she glanced at Jack, anticipating his reaction," The Captain."

"Nonononono… I'm Captain Jack!" he protested.

"And I'm the one paying for the ship?" she reminded him sweetly.

She enjoyed watching Jack twitch as his mind battled with his pride. Finally, he nodded, scowling slightly.

"Agreed, Captain Turner."

She smiled, satisfied.

"But I get to be Co-Captain!" he grinned.

She rolled her eyes, mentally noticing that her eyes were certainly doing a lot of rolling in their sockets tonight.

"Agreed, Co-Captain Sparrow."