Disclaimer: I don't own Pirates of the Caribbean, nor do I claim to. This is just for fun; I get no monetary profits, and no copyright infringement is intended. (Does it have Freudian significance that I originally wrote by accident, "no copyright infringement is not intended"?)
Author's Notes: Okay, so it's been done a million times. But hey, these are short! I would even promise to give your money back if you don't like them, but it doesn't cost you anything in the first place, so I guess you'll just have to tell me exactly what you like or don't like about it, and all I can promise is that I'll try to do better next time. If you're actually giving this a chance... well, thank you over and over. And now, on to the plotless story...
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Freedom and Curiosity: Part I
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"Elizabeth. It would never have worked between us, darling. I'm sorry."
It's such a stupid, silly moment to remember, really. Even sillier to wonder if it truly could not have worked between us… But I could not possibly have captured a man like him—a man who has spent his life in a never-ending treasure hunt, chasing after that unattainable horizon and positively reveling in its intangibility. A man of such absolute freedom.
I remember watching from the ledge—that ledge he stumbled over so haplessly, though I had to wonder if even that was all part of the master plan he always seemed to have—and seeing him take hold of the wheel he held so sacred once more. At last. And I did wonder, then, what it would be like to hold that kind of freedom. Nothing behind you but the wind, nothing before you but that great horizon, nothing below you but the vast sea, nothing above you but the endless sky, nothing beside you but your crew. A life all of water and air and wood and ocean-scented wilderness, a no-holds-barred kind of life. Your whims were your only master. Your curiosity...
And this curiosity, the one I refused to confess, is haunting me now. The kinds of freedom you opened to me are such a stark contrast to my governor's-daughter life of corsets and arranged marriages that I have to wonder if I could have lived that way. You believed that I could—just as I believed that you could fulfill the curiosity I tried to make you face. After all, I nearly always knew that you were both a pirate and a good man, but to let go of all notions of self-preservation and the easy way out must have seemed to you unimaginable.
But we brought out these sides in each other. There's no denying that you made me yearn for freedom, and I think there were times when maybe, just maybe, I made you long for respect—from others, perhaps, but especially from yourself. Wouldn't it be nice not to have so many dishonorable actions weighing down on your conscience? You can pretend they aren't heavy, just as I can pretend that kiss was nothing more than a distraction, but we both know better.
I tried to give that respect to you, as a last gift to help atone for my betrayal, for I think the others believed me when I said you bravely chose to stay behind. "Pirate," you whispered then, and the understanding in your voice, echoing through my memory, makes me feel even more guilty. I know you would not begrudge me saving my own skin. But I don't have my own respect anymore, and I don't think I deserve yours.
And neither of our curiosities will ever really be fulfilled unless I can bring you back. Travel beyond the edges of the world and back again? It is nothing to me if it will return to you your future, your freedom.
I won't rest until you are chasing your horizon again.
And just maybe—I hardly dare to think it—but maybe... maybe I could be by your side.
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A/N: Hate it? Like it? Love it? Please tell! And in the meantime, I'll post the next part tonight as well. Thanks!