I will always be there

My everything

It was dinner time and Elizabeth was sitting in the dining room along with her father and James Norrington – the man she agreed to marry to save the man she loved.

It was a week since they have returned to Port – Royal from the Isla de Muerta.

Elizabeth was almost forced to come down to dinner as she claimed she didn't feel well and did not want to eat.

She was not lying. Ever since she woke up, for an unknown reason, she had this odd feeling of something wrong that was going to happen.

So now she was forced to listen to boring conversations and pretend they interested her, when the thing she really wanted to do was to go downtown and visit Will. She hasn't seen him ever since they got off the ship. She wanted to go to the smithy and tell him how she felt for him, tell him that she was sorry, tell him the real reason she agreed marrying the commodore. While being on the ship, she and Will had a great fight, in which were included her engagement and his cold behavior; Will avoided her ever since this row. None of them meant what he had said, but they both were too proud to admit their mistake.

However, the sudden arrival of Lieutenant Gillette made her raise her head up from her plate.

"Commodore, we need your help, sir!" he gasped trying to catch his breath, as it seemed; he had been running to get here.

"What is it, sailor?" Norrington asked

"A fire in town, sir"

Elizabeth dropped her fork and that one made a great noise when it met the floor. Elizabeth's face was scared "Where is the fire?" she asked with her voice shaking, while getting up from her chair.

"In the local smithy, miss" answered Gillette. Elizabeth's heart sank within her chest and her eyes widened with horror. Her face paled and she started shaking. She pressed her hands to her mouth to stop the horror-stroked scream that was about to get out of her throat.

"We'd better take the carriage" Norrington said.

"Elizabeth, are you alright?" her father asked with concern after noticing her paleness.

"Will…" she whispered, her eyes widened and then it hit her – Will was in the smithy! "Will!" she screamed, panicked, and did the only thing she thought of – started running toward the door.

Before anyone in the house could stop her Elizabeth had already reached the gate.

"Open the gates" she screamed toward the gateman "Hurry!" that one hurried to do as she said.

Elizabeth was running through the streets of the town in complete panic. She didn't know where exactly she was or who she was seeing on the street. Her mind has blocked all her thoughts. The only thing she had in her mind was to find Will.

'He's alright, he must be! He can't leave me! He said he would never leave me! He promised! He has probably gone out and left the fire to burn… He's alright!' she thought while running.

"Oh goodness, Will never goes out!" She argued with herself.

Then, after what seemed to her as a long time she reached the smithy, gasping, she had never run so fast.

The crowd around the smithy was enormous. As making her way in the crowd she bumped into the coughing Mr. Brown.

"Mr. Brown, have you seen Will?" she asked him still panicked.

"He saved me… He came into the flames for me! "Mr. Brown's cough got worse and all he could do was to point toward the burning building.

Elizabeth's heart went heavy again and she was now, more than ever, determined to get to the smithy and find Will.

She had just got to the front line when she heard a big explosion and then saw the building collapsing.

"WILL! No!" she screamed and ran forward catching a lot of curious eyes while doing so. It was dangerous but she didn't care. She would give her life if this meant to find him, because a life without him was even worse than death.

She lost any connection with reality and looked around with her eyes wide. When the smoke faded a little bit, she saw a body that was lying near the collapsed building. The man was apparently out of conscious.

She ran to the body ignoring the warnings of the soldiers. The person that could stop her from seeing him was not yet born and would never be.

"Will" said Elizabeth with her voice weak as dropping down to her knees next to him. She ran her fingers through his face. He was out of conscious. He didn't respond.

The curious crowd was now gathering around her and Will.

Elizabeth laid her head on his chest to check his pulse. As she did that she heard a strong cough. "Will, you're alright." she breathed softly "You fool! You could have been killed! Why do you always scare the hell out of me?!" her voice lost its loving tone and turned angry.

"I… Love…You…" Will barely managed to whisper

"And I… "She stopped "Will?" she whispered as running her hand through his unconscious face "WILL… WAKE UP! "She shouted through her tears after seeing he did not respond. "WILL… NO… YOU PROMISED! … YOU PROMISED ME!" she kept shouting, not wanting to accept the destroying and cruel reality "I'm sorry… I love you!" she whispered "Please, wake up! WAKE UP! DON'T LEAVE ME…" she shouted, completely panicked. And then she broke down. "Don't leave me… You promised… "She leaned over him and started crying.

She felt arms tightening around her waist and pulling her away from him.

"No! Will! Don't leave me! I won't leave you! No!" she shouted, desperately trying to release herself from the arms that were holding her.

"There's no use, Elizabeth, he's gone" Said the voice of James Norrington, who was the same holding her

"No" she shook her head strongly" No, he can't be! He promised… You promised!" she whispered as looking at her beloved for the last time before she was taken away from the place.

"You promised…" this she was repeating ever since she was taken away from Will.

Elizabeth had lost any connection with her common sense and with reality ever since that night. She didn't eat nor drink. At the days she wasn't talking to anyone, just walking through the house like a ghost. Her nights she spent drown in tears; she could not sleep, as each time she tried, she saw Will laying unconscious in her arms, and was waking up, crying.

Her father was very concerned for her. He tried to talk to her a few times, but she just passed him by as he wasn't there. He had never seen her in such grief. She had stopped paying any attention to her appearance. Her face was pale, her hair messed and she had pockets under her eyes. She did not even bother to put her night gown off.

As it seemed the previous cheerful and alive Elizabeth was gone, in her place came the grief – stricken Elizabeth, a new Elizabeth with no desire for life, with no desire for anything. She felt so empty inside, she was like fruit from which had left only the peel. Living had lost any meaning for her. Actually, the only reason for her being still among the living was her organs functioned properly. Her body was alive, but her soul had died the night she had held the unconscious Will in her arms.

This situation was going on for nearly a week now.

Elizabeth had locked herself in her room; drown into memories of her lost beloved.

She heard a knock on the door but decided to ignore it. The person knocking did not give up, but Elizabeth was just as stubborn as he was.

Then, she heard a key turning into the keyhole, the door got opened, but she did not pay any attention to this either.

"That's enough! You can't behave like this for ever!" she heard her father saying angrily. "Elizabeth Catherine Swann, look me in the eye when I'm talking to you!" he frowned after she did not pay any attention to him.

Elizabeth raised her swollen, red eyes and looked at him. Weatherby Swann shivered. What he saw on his daughter's face terrified him.

Her eyes had lost their shine and life; they were now looking at him in a hollow, meaningless way. Her cheeks had lost their peach color; her lips were dry and pale. It was like every sign of life had left her face and made room to grief. It was all over her, washing her face, mind and body.

"There's someone I insist you to meet!" he said "Do something with your appearance; you can't greet him looking like that!"

"I don't want to see anyone" she whispered quietly, not having enough strength to talk.

"He is waiting for you. "Her father claimed "We will be in the library, don't be too long." And then he left the room closing the door behind him.

She hated when he did that, she hated when he made her do things against her will. Whoever this person was he could keep waiting. She didn't want to see anyone. The only person she wanted to see was no longer with her.

She got up from her bed, picked up the first dress she saw and put it on. Then she sat on her chair in front of the mirror and started brushing her hair. The moves of her hands were like a robot's ones. After deciding her hair could not be more combed than it already was, she stood up and for the first time in two days got out of her room.

Her legs were literally carrying her through the hallway as she had no desire of doing so.

She opened the library's door and froze on her place. The three men in the room stood up instantly, although Elizabeth had eyes only for one of them. She could not believe her eyes. She could not believe she really was seeing the man who standing in front of her.

"Elizabeth" James Norrington got closer to her "I'm glad to see you're better; you've scared me so much" he said as taking her in his arms.

But Elizabeth remained indifferent to this act of attention and kept gazing at the young man who was standing in the middle of the room.

She pulled herself away from the commodore's arms without breaking her eye contact with the man.

"Will…" her lips whispered and her voice died in her throat. Her eyes got fill with tears and she felt her kneels soften. "Is that you?" she whispered again

Will smiled toward her, "I'm afraid I have to confirm your suspicions." He said

Then, for the first time in two weeks Elizabeth laughed. This was a laughter caused by relief, joy and most of all happiness. For the first time in a week' time she felt alive.

Her eyes shined again and the cheerful smile took its place back on her lips.

"Will…" she breathed and crossed the room falling into his arms and burring her face in his neck. She breathed his savor deeply and felt her heart beating in her chest again. She ran her fingers through his wonderful brown hair while he buried his into her dark blond one.

"Will, I'm so sorry for all I've said on ship! I didn't mean it, I swear… That night, I thought I'd lost you…" she sobbed "How… Who saved you?" she suddenly asked.

"The person responsible for my recovering is you, but the one that made it possible was your father. He called a doctor and took care of me." Will explained as seeing her confused look.

"What?!" Elizabeth amazed "Why haven't you told me he was alive?!" she addressed her father

"I didn't want to give you fake hopes… Yet, even if I had tried you wouldn't have listened to me, as each time I've tried to talk to you during these two weeks." Her father said

"Two days ago your father came to me, really worried, and told me about your behavior. About you refusal to eat, and contact with anyone… You've scared him Elizabeth and you scared me as well; that was one of the reasons for me to recover so soon" Will involved

"What do you mean 'so soon'? What's wrong with you?" Elizabeth asked, paling again

"I'm fine" he said" I will be" he confessed after surrendering her look. "Just a broken rib, that's all"

"A broken rib?!" Elizabeth shrieked "You are not supposed to be here. You need to rest!"

"Yes, but I also need you to promise me you will not behave like that ever again, my life does not worth yours!"

"You're right, Will. It's worth much more than my life! It is exactly you who brings meaning to it, don't you understand that? You are the reason I live, you are the reason I wake up and open my eyes every day, you are the reason I breathe, it is you who makes me feel, it is you who had taught me to love; and when you're gone, I have no reason to do any of these… You are my everything! So do not ask me to move on as everything is fine, if something happens to you because I can't and I won't."

"On the 'Pearl', before you gave me my medallion, I made you a promise, remember? I promised you, you shall never lose me and that I shall always be by your side and never leave it and I am going to keep it. That's why I need you to promise me, you will never let the grief take over you in such way again." Will looked straight in her beautiful hazel eyes with his dark chocolate ones. His look was so demanding and enchanting that it took all over her senses.

"I promise" she heard herself whispering, still being under the spell of his look. Her face came closer to his.

Her father cleared his throat, but it seemed neither his daughter nor Will had heard him.

"I love you, William Turner." She whispered softly

"And I love you, Elizabeth… Turner" Both of them chuckled to the mentioning of the fake last name she had presented her with.

"It's Swann" fixed him up Elizabeth "Yet" she added with a smile and pressed her lips against his.

Elizabeth felt as if she was flying, she had never thought it would feel so good kissing him. She felt how her heart lightened and her mind stopped. She felt him moaning into the kiss and smiled.

"Don't stop" she breathed as they broke apart

"We do need to breathe, you know. " Will grinned.

"I am breathing."

It was as they have completely forgotten that the commodore and her father were still in the room.

"He is a blacksmith!" James said coldly, interrupting this romantic scene.

"No, he is a pirate… My pirate" Elizabeth grinned as addressing her last words toward her beloved.

"Your pirate indeed, but I'm afraid this would mean you are a pirate as well" Will said softly

"I am much more than a pirate, I am your pirate!" the last words she whispered in his ear, causing him to take her in his arms tightly and meet her lips into a kiss once again.

s…And this was the end of grief and the beginning of happiness…

The End