Disclaimer – As much as I might like to, I do not own Pirates of the Caribbean, Jack Sparrow, Will Turner, or Elizabeth Swann, or any other characters from the Pirates movies. This story is straight from my imagination and has no relation to Disney whatsoever aside from my borrowing the characters.
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A/N: Just a quick note – I have set this story just at the end of the second movie. Very, very few things (if any) will be taken from the third movie. So pretend you never even saw the third movie. Now that we have that clear, on to the story…
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Curiosity. She had threatened Jack with it, but now it was coming back to haunt her. Or was it something more than just curiosity? Maybe it was something stronger. Maybe, just maybe, she was really beginning to have feelings for Captain Jack Sparrow, as impossible as it sounded.
No. It couldn't be. There was no way.
These were the thoughts flashing through the mind of a young woman standing at the bow of a ship. Her long, brown, messily pinned up hair was falling down, making itself available for the wind to playfully blow into her face. Her brown eyes were pensive, and it was obvious to anyone that Elizabeth Swann was deep in thought. No one could have ever guessed what those thoughts were, however. She would never have guessed just a few days ago. Nor would they have been able to tell how much turmoil these thoughts caused her. She abruptly turned away from the railing and walked slowly along the length of the ship until she came to her fiancé, Will Turner, who stopped her with a hand on her arm.
"Elizabeth, what's wrong?" he asked her quietly, gazing intently into her face with a little frown.
"Oh, nothing, I was just thinking," she replied, forcing a smile. Here was the last person she wanted to know what she was thinking. She looked away. "I think I'll go sit down for a while."
Will pressed a light kiss against her cheek. "I know you're still upset about Jack. We're doing what we can."
"I know." Elizabeth tried to smile again before hurrying away, not wanting Will to guess what was truly upsetting her right now. True, she was upset about what had happened to Jack, but that wasn't the cause of her concern at the moment. No, what concerned her more was the fact that she was the one who had caused it, and, more than that, the things she was feeling now and that she couldn't explain to herself, let alone to her fiance.
She did find a place to sit, on a barrel about in the middle of the ship. She made herself as comfortable as possible, leaning back against the cabin wall with her face toward the sky and let her thoughts drift.
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"What would you do? What would any of you do? Would you sail to the ends of the earth and beyond to fetch back witty Jack and him precious Pearl?"
The words that Tia Dalma had asked that fateful night lingered in the air around them. One by one they all answered with their own version of "yes" and one by one they committed themselves to search for Jack until they found him. Even if it meant literally sailing to the ends of the earth.
Elizabeth pretended she could not feel Will's eyes on her as they sat there discussing what they would do after Tia Dalma posed that question. There were no solutions presenting themselves immediately, but none of them were willing to just let it go. There had to be a solution; there had to be a way to find Jack. Elizabeth did not take part in the conversation as much as the others. She was coping with the feelings of guilt and sadness that had plagued her since she had left Jack behind on the Pearl. There were other feelings, too, feelings that she couldn't figure out.
They talked late into the night, Tia Dalma giving her own input where needed. Finally they came up with a plan – not much of one, but a plan nonetheless. They would set sail immediately, scouring the oceans for any sign of Captain Jack Sparrow. Elizabeth was a little fuzzy on the details; she really wasn't paying attention. The only things she could think about were the fact that she had left Jack to die and the realization that she would do anything to find him alive, anything at all.
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That had been the first in a succession of many long, sleepless nights. Elizabeth was plagued by her conscience every waking moment, and even in her dreams. Even when she did manage to fall asleep after tossing and turning for a long while, her horrible nightmares did not let her sleep long. Elizabeth felt as though she was being torn apart inside. She was directly responsible for the death of a good man. Pirate Jack Sparrow may have been, but she knew that he was really a good man, too. And not only that, but now she wasn't even sure of her feelings for her fiancé anymore.
Elizabeth Swann put a hand to her forehead. She had a headache. Things were too confusing. She had gotten herself into quite a mess. When had things turned upside down for her? With a rueful smile, she acknowledged that it all came back to Jack Sparrow. Somehow, everything she was thinking and feeling right now centered around Jack. If he hadn't washed up in Port Royal that fateful day, none of this would have ever happened. She would still be avoiding the attentions of Commodore James Norrington and trying to get the attention of blacksmith Will Turner. Instead, she was thinking of neither of these men. She was thinking about a pirate, Jack Sparrow.
True, pirates and tales of pirates had always fascinated her. But somehow she knew that what she was feeling was more than just a simple fascination with pirates. She was fascinated with one pirate in particular, one who had a sparrow tattooed on his right arm.
Why, oh why had she ever paid any attention to pirate stories?
Curiosity.
Why had she ever given Jack Sparrow the time of day?
Curiosity.
Why in the world had she ever kissed him?
Curiosity.
Elizabeth sighed. Curiosity killed the cat, but what did it do to the Swann?