Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for my lap top and a tiny TV. Please don't sue me.

AN: Just a quick one-shot that popped into my mind. Hope you guys like it.

From the first moment I met him, he was the only one who could release me from my cage… set me free. He was, after all, probably the only man in Port Royal who would ever have pulled off my corset the day I feel in the sea. The rest would have let me die rather than steal my womanly modesty.

No, that's not right, and I know it. Will. Will has always been there for me, with me. Since the day we pulled him from the sea, he has been with me, calling me 'Miss Swann', and doting on my every wish. He was my fairy-tale prince, and all I ever wanted was my happily ever after. But that was then. Since then, he has only gone to prove his worthiness, saving me time and again from pirates, and monsters, and the evils of men. He hasn't changed. So I suppose it is me.

From the first moment I saw his face, when I woke up coughing on the prow of a ship and stared into his kohl-lined eyes, he fascinated me. Horrified me, yes. But, oh, he was a pirate. Maybe not Black Beard, but Captain Jack Sparrow was just as good. Because pirates meant adventure, and what fairy-tale is ever complete without one of those?

I hated him, because I was a proper lady and he was a pirate and, really, what was I supposed to do? But thinking back to that time, and now it seems so far away, I think maybe I hated him because he had something I didn't. Something I hadn't even known I wanted. Freedom.

It's not something you think about, really, growing up in a Jamaican colony, the governor's only daughter. Freedom is not a part of the vocabulary. It was always, "Elizabeth, you must," or "Lizzy, you mustn't," or "Miss Swann, should you really…?". But that was the way life was. I never questioned it. If not for the pirate attack, I suppose I would have ended up marrying Commodore Norrington and living a miserably happy life. Or maybe not, as I did love Will so much. How I wish I still did!

Because Will is a good man. A proper, decent human being who loves me. And Captain Jack Sparrow… he is a bow-legged, no-good pirate. He only loves himself, and the Pearl, and his rum. If he has a decent bone in his body, I don't believe I've seen it to date. And yet… and yet… he captivates me in a way no one else ever has, and, I hazard to say, ever shall.

I loved Will… I still love Will, and I probably always will. He has saved my life many times, and I will forever be thankful to him for it. Will is my best friend, my savior, my confidant. And who is Jack to me, really? A pirate who stumbled into my life by chance, taking my breath and sanity. But Jack has given me a far greater gift than my life, one that I can hardly fathom, even now. Poor, wonderful Will has fulfilled ever criteria for the perfect prince. And yet, that is no longer what I long for.

I still wish for a happily ever after, but not before I satiate my hunger for adventure; swordfights, commandeering, working as hard as any man. But there will be plenty of time for that, after I find my captain. He was the one who first introduced me to freedom, and now I must return the favor. Unlike for Will, my feelings for him are complicated. Too complicated to untangle now. Maybe ever. But one thing I do know: I would go to world's end for Jack Sparrow, my captain.

A/N: Every time you read a story and then don't review, somewhere a pixie dies. Please keep them off the endangered species list!