Full Summary:
Life and death. That was the predicament of the situation that had been at hand. While most of the crew had been abandoning ship and loading the necessities into the longboat, three people were detached from the scene and stuck in a web of unfortunate consequences. Willabeth. Just ignore AWE, savvy?
Disclaimer: I own nothing in relation to Pirates of the Caribbean. It's all Disney. Kudos to them.
Hold On
.::.Chapter 1.::.
Rain as cold as the ice in the arctic pelted down on the unfortunate crew of the Mystic as the ship sailed to Singapore. The current captain, a Captain Hector Barbossa, was shouting orders at the shivering pirates on deck.
However, half the crew was just running around the ship, not sure what orders were directed at them and which were directed at their shipmates.
But the rest of the crew was dutifully making progress in taking orders. Gibbs had control of the ship, trying to make sure that the Mystic didn't swagger off course. Most of the others were trying to roll the sails to give Gibbs more control while steering. Among these calloused hands working the ropes were those of Elizabeth Swann and William Turner.
Both of them were pulling the ropes with all their might, praying that it would prove to be a fruitful task. Many of the crew members were slipping on the deck due to the fact that there were small patches of ice forming as the rain made contact with the wood. It was only a matter of time before someone aqquired a wound that would hinder their ability to work.
"Heave!" Will Turner shouted to everyone who was attempting to roll the sails.
Everyone obeyed and took a giant step back, yanking at the rope with every ounce of strength they posessed. Another good pull and they would have this sail ready. Will opened his mouth to shout another order, but someone beat him to it.
"Again!" the only female onboard shouted. She, along with everyone else took another step backwards, hauling with them the rope. The crew let out a round of cheers as Pintel wrapped the rope around the mast, securing it in place. That was the last sail that had been open, there was no more work to be done.
Marty ran over to Captain Barbossa to ask for more orders as most of the crew stood perfectly still, hoping that they could at last get some sleep.
For Elizabeth, however, sleep was the last thing in her mind.
She had been so tired these last few weeks, guilt and torment nibbling at her insides every time she tried to forget what she did. No matter how much she told herself that it had actually been a good deed to save the crew, her heart told her otherwise.
She had killed a man. She had killed a man, and in the process, broken another's heart. She was a horrible person.
Pirate.
She didn't know what to do. She wanted to confront Will, tell him everything, explain herself, but she found that she couldn't. Why? She didn't know, but she couldn't. She needed to think, she needed to be alone, they needed to hurry up and rescue Jack.
She still remembered the look in his eyes as she ran across the deck and left him chained to his ship, the Black Pearl. Fear, anger, a hint of pride, and hurt. Had she done the right thing? Was she right in tricking him to save herself and the crew?
She didn't know, but every time she thought of leaving Jack, her mind replayed the scene in her mind, causing her frustration, shame, and pain. Especially when the scene continued to when she had abandoned onto the longboat, and he looked at her. Not Jack, but another man.
A man whom she had known for eight years and counting. A man whom she loved. A man who could make her heart beat faster and make her spirit soar every time he said her name. Will Turner. And she had broken his heart.
He never told her this, though. Actually, he hadn't spoken to her much since she left Jack on the ship, telling the others he elected to stay behind. But she knew. She saw it in his eyes, she heard it in his voice, she sensed it.
And that's what killed her more than anything. Knowing that she had hurt a perfectly innocent man when she didn't mean to. She never thought anyone would see her kissing Sparrow before she locked him to the ship, she hadn't forseen the situation. But it had happened. And she hated herself for it.
She walked slowly to the other side of the ship as the rest of the crew headed to their quarters to rest. She leaned foward over the railing and stared into the depths of the churning black water.
William Turner closed his eyes as he layed in his hammock, the boat furiously moving side to side. He knew he needed sleep, his reflexes had been horibble the last few weeks. But every time he closed his eyes, he immediately opened them. The picture of them was burned into his mind.
He had been loading guns and necessities into the longboat to go ashore when he whipped his head back to the boat and saw them. Elizabeth, his fiance, the woman he loved and would do anything for, and Jack Sparrow, the rum-soaked, notorious pirate. Kissing. Quite passionately too, if you asked Will.
He couldn't get the image from his mind, or his heart.
And the look on her face when she said that he elected to stay behind. Despair was etched into her features. That's when it occured to Will. Elizabeth had loved him.
He had been everything she was taught to fear, to loathe, and that's what attracted her to him. Elizabeth was the governer's daughter. He was a pirate. She hated her prim and proper lady-like life, she wanted an adventure. A pirate. Not a blacksmith.
It tortured him to think of her and Jack together. That she would never love him, Will, as he had loved her. He didn't understand how he could have been so foolish in thinking she would settle for something as calm and normal as a blacksmith.
These thoughts haunted his mind every night, normally calling for a midnight stroll on the deck. Standing up and staggering slightly, due to the storm, he decided that the deck would be mostly cleared. Perfect for sorting out his thoughts.
Up on deck, just like he suspected, there was only the figure of the Captain, who had taken over the duty of steering the ship.
Will slowly milled about the ship, lost in his thoughts.
She had told him she loved him. Was the shift from him to Jack gradual or sudden? What had caused it? Why hadn't she talked to him about it? Why hadn't she talked to him period?
Granted, in all fairness, Will hadn't tried his hardest to talk to her, but that's because he was confused. Confused, angry, hurt, you name it. But he still loved her.
He always would. No matter what. No matter who she loved, no matter what happened, his heart belonged to her, it always had.
It always would.
As he turned and began walking in the opposite direction, he noticed a person standing by the railing, and his stomach tightened a little.
"Elizabeth?" he whispered gently.
The golden brown-haired beauty jumped a bit as she turned around, hand reaching for her sword. She relaxed visibly when she saw it was only will. She tensed up on the inside, though. "Will. You startled me," she stated, focusing her eyes on the floor. She couldn't look him in the eyes. Not when she knew what she was causing him.
He gently lifted her face to where her soft, caramel brown eyes met with his dark brown ones. They were both boring into the other's soul, wondering what pain the other was going through. Elizabeth broke the connection and looked past his head. She couldn't bear to think of what she was putting him through.
"Elizabeth, we really need to talk about this." Will immediately regretted speaking these words. As he searched her face, he saw her expression turn to one of dread and fear.
She shot past him like a bullet, running for Captain Barbossa.
"Barbossa!" she screamed. But the shout was lost in the roar of the storm.
Her actions had Will puzzled until he turned to face the direction she had been facing only seconds earlier. His eyes befell on the subject which had Elizabeth acting so strangely. There, towering high above the ship, was a fifty-foot wave, gaining altitude before it bore down on the ship.
Elizabeth, still running towards the captain, neglected to spot a rather large ice patch on the deck. The foot she placed on the frozen spot began to rise into the air as she began falling backwards.
Fortunately for her, Will had been running in her direction, about to warn her of said ice, when she began to fall. He quickly reached out to catch her before she hit the frozen ground.
Her eyes were shut tightly for the second after he caught her, as if bracing herself for the impact that was supposed to come. Her soft pink lips were pressed into a tight line, as if she did not want to scream when she hit her head on the wooden deck.
Feeling a muscular arm and torso cradling her body, she opened one of her eyes to look around as one of her hands brushed wet gold-brown hair out of it's line of vision. She opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off as the monstrous wave crashed down on the ship.
A minute or two passed. The impact of the wave wasn't as bad as the two had expected. A rail or two here and there were broken, some barrels were tossed aside, etc. It could have been much worse.
Will looked down at Elizabeth, who had grabbed ahold of him tightly when the wave crashed down. His eyes told her to go on and say what she had been intending to say originally. Whether she knew this or not, her response to his look was simple.
She spit out the salty sea water that had found its way into her mouth with a sour look on her face before walking off.