Title: Nevermore

Author: WonkasChocolate

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: Disney owns, not I. No profit is being made.

Summary: I tried writing from Jack's point of view. Jack is reflecting on Elizabeth's betrayal, and how much he longs for her.

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Nevermore

The sky was blank, as it always was in this place. No clouds, no birds, just the occasional blinking star. Time never moved. The only life that seemed to be on the barren land were the bizarre crabs teeming over the seemingly infinite, black, sandy beach.

But there, in the middle of the sand lay a pirate. Dreadlocks spread out over his shoulders, hands clasped behind his head, and kohl rimmed eyes closed, he lay thinking. Something he had been doing quite a lot of lately. Not that there was anything better to do with his time. But time didn't matter in this weird abyss. It was always twilight, or at least as far as he could tell it was. In his endless wanderings he had found nothing more than crabs, sand, and an increasing feeling of emptiness.

His mind seemed forever set on replaying one memory, which was surprisingly vivid considering he could barely remember the events that preceded it, or how he ended up in this wasteland. He remembered those light chestnut brown eyes, and how they looked at him before she pressed her lips onto his, taking him by surprise. How his back hit the mast, and how sweet her lips tasted. And how cold the metal cuff was against his skin, and her hand sliding over his. It was excruciating how much detail could be crammed into one single memory, how so much pleasure and pain could be felt in that same moment.

"This is the only way don't you see?" She leaned in closer, her breath tickling his face. "I'm not sorry." She pulled back to stare at him with seemingly sorry eyes, that also held an angry determination.

His eyes stared back at her with solemnity, masked by a calm and almost consenting demeanor. A smirk played across his lips that never quite reached his eyes. "Pirate."

She stood there a moment longer before quickly turning and walking away. He couldn't bring himself to do anything but stare at her retreating figure, feeling his heart slowly being pulled apart with every step she took. Only after she disappeared from his line of sight did the metal cuff start to feel heavy around his wrist, the sense of foreboding bubbling up through the unfamiliar emotions she left him clinging to, as he was swallowed whole by the monstrous beast.

He couldn't remember much of what happened after that. Small fragments of the following days were littered among all the other memories of the young Governor's daughter, and her kiss, and her eyes, which left him more than confused.

There was a cold, damp, reeking, black hole, he remembered. But he couldn't remember when he first felt the fresh, clean, air rush over him, causing him to open his eyes and see sky and sand. And though he welcomed it at first, he soon grew tired of the endless beach and the twilight time.

So he took to thinking, thinking about whatever came to his mind at first, which was usually her. But then she too became something that he wanted to escape; something that he would rather forget than remember. And even in the desolate land of the crabs and the shadowy sand he continued to try and lie to himself about her, telling himself that she meant nothing, that he would only ever love the sea and the Pearl.

But then the memory would come rushing back. It played over and over in his head, making him relive it once again, until the emotions took over and almost brought him to breaking point. By then he would have almost admitted it to himself. Almost.

But he never could.

He never could admit that he cared for her. Never admit that the kiss would be something he would remember for the rest of his life, if he was in fact still living. Never tell himself that she did mean more than the Pearl. Never admit to the fact that he loved her, really and truly loved her.

And time must have passed, though it never seemed like it did, and it dragged on like eternity, giving him nothing to do but slip into his thoughts. The inner workings of his mind trapped him in one moment of time, refusing to let him out until he finally told the truth.

But he never could.

Never.