Disclaimer: Belongs to the mouse-man. Really doesn't belong to me.
Pairing: J/E
A/N: Okay, bear with me here. I haven't written in so gosh-darn long that I need to get all the rusty bits of crap out as fast as I can. Which is why this is so short. That, and it's my first official Pirates' fic ever, makes this outing slightly nerve-wracking for me. But I hope y'all can enjoy it, in all of its seven-paragraph glory.
For several months after her mother's death, Elizabeth would see glimpses of Charlotte Swann everywhere. Little wispy images in the corner of her eyes – the sway of a dress, a gentle presence, or her own reflection in a mirror. And while Elizabeth craved these images, she couldn't get away from them fast enough. Even sailing across the ocean did not ease the ache of her mother's absence.
She soon forced herself to forget every aspect of her mother. Throwing away the colors of her eyes, the wrinkles of her mouth, the porcelain of her skin, she banished all mourning to remain in a cold coffin buried deep in English soil.
But she had nowhere to bury this pain, for Jack Sparrow was not one who would die a neat and tidy death. His spirit could not be trapped in a wooden box, allowing her tears to easily drop between the boards. Instead, she was forced to see him whenever a whiff of salt water reached her nose.
The Captain and his Pearl were now forever tangled with the sea, his symbol of freedom becoming his ultimate entrapment.
And she put him there.
That guilt kept her eyes wide-open to the reality around her, and unlike her mother, she only sharpened his being in her mind. From the Kohl-tinged eyes, to the rum-tainted spirit, she made sure every knick and scar were buried deep within her.
Then, when they would finally drag him out of World's End, he would match the man that her mutinous heart had twisted itself into loving.
Hope you liked it!