Disclaimer: No, I do not own POTC or POTC: DMC

A/N: Hi everyone, please review; this is my first ever one shot!

Summary: We all know that the "kiss of death" only occurred because Kiera Knightly begged director Gore Verbinski for a kiss with Johnny Depp. But what if Gore had refused? This is my idea of how DMC would have ended if there had been no kiss at all…

Without that Kiss

Elizabeth stumbled across the lurching deck of the Black Pearl, narrowly missing a flailing tentacle of the Kraken. The crew member beside her, however, was not so lucky. Swept up by the sheer force of the Kraken's strength, Elizabeth heard his chilling scream as he plunged into the gaping hole that was the great beast's mouth.

Elizabeth didn't have the strength to contemplate the poor man's fate- just a growing statistic in the Black Pearl's casualty list. And their captain wasn't even here to fight with his crew in the final battle, Elizabeth thought furiously as hot anger coursed through her veins. No, Captain Jack Sparrow had rowed away from the ship, the Kraken and the crew, like the coward he was. Knowing him, he was probably trying to find a way to save his own skin, not thinking about anyone besides himself. Elizabeth shook her head as she remembered a conversation she had had with Jack on this very same topic, only a few days ago:

"There will come a time when you will have a chance to do the right thing, Jack"

"I love those times… I like to wave at them as they pass by"

And Elizabeth had really thought that he was joking. She really had.

"Coward" Elizabeth spat vehemently, as the deck rolled violently, flinging Elizabeth's body as if it were a rag doll into the bottom of the mast. Above her, she could hear Will shouting incoherently.

"Elizabeth!" he cried. "The pistol! What are you doing!"

Elizabeth put her hand to her mouth as she realized with she had meant to be doing, why she was even crawling across the deck in the first place. She was supposed to be getting the pistol!

Suddenly, her eyes trained on a spot across the deck, where she could just see the barrel of the pistol amidst all the fighting. Bracing herself against another Kraken tentacle that swept across the deck, she stumbled forwards, dodging about five bodies as they went flying past. She knew that about two years ago, she would have fainted at the sight of a dead body, not to mention a Kraken- but a lot can change in a year.

Just as a section of the Black Pearl caved in behind her, Elizabeth leapt, hand outstretched, towards the barrel of the pistol. She landed with a thud on the deck, but as she made to grab towards the pistol, she saw a pair of feet kick it even further across the deck.

Almost sobbing with frustration, Elizabeth clambered forward, only to find out that the pistol was being trodden on by a dark, scuffed boot. With basically no strength left in her body, she tried in vain to budge the boot- and when she couldn't, she finally lifted her head to see who it was that was ailing her task.

Elizabeth couldn't believe her eyes. For there above her, looking as noble and heroic has she had ever seen him, was Captain Jack Sparrow. In one of those random moments of perfection, a ray of sunlight had broken through the dark clouds, illuminating Jack's rugged face in a blaze of light.

"You came back…" Elizabeth whispered fervently, but Jack took no notice. Cool as can be, he picked up the pistol, cocked it, and taking aim, shot a perfect bullet into the barrels that were dangling just below the mast.

There was a giant explosion, and out of fear more than anything else, Elizabeth grabbed onto Jack's leg. She was momentarily blinded, and for a moment, all she could hear was the screaming of the crew and the roaring of the sea, and finally, silence.

She felt Jack's leg shift in her grip, and she let go, slumping to the ground in exhaustion. "It's gone!" she heard someone cry.

Gibbs shook his head, and Elizabeth sat up, disbelief in her eyes. "What?" she asked incredulously. "It's not gone?"

"No, it's not gone… we've just made it angry" Gibbs said solemnly. He then turned to Jack, who had remained silent, staring out to sea. "Orders, Captain?"

After a long pause, Jack spoke. "We've got to abandon ship" he said softly. Elizabeth gasped quietly- she knew how much the ship meant to Jack.

"What the Black Pearl is… what it really is… is freedom".

"But… the Pearl!" Gibbs exclaimed. Even Will looked thunderstruck at the thought of abandoning the ship.

Jack gave Gibbs a small half-smile, and tilted his head slightly, in a most Jack Sparrow-like way. "It's just a ship, mate" he said quietly, and the air hung with the weight of his words.

Suddenly, Jack's eyes hardened. "So what are you waiting for, get the boats ready!"

Everyone scurried away to the boats, leaving Jack by himself. Everyone, that is, except Elizabeth. She was staring out to sea, lost in thought.

She had been so overcome with happiness that Jack had decided to do the right thing that she hadn't thought of the motives behind it. Would Jack ever walk into almost certain death to profit someone other than himself? Elizabeth had hoped that deep inside, Jack would do that, but now she wasn't so sure. How could someone who had ruthlessly used and manipulated her and everyone she cared about ever become honest and decent? Perhaps she had become cynical over the past year, but Elizabeth found it harder and harder to identify the words "Jack Sparrow" and "good man" with the same person. And what would be the good of abandoning the ship? Was it really the Black Pearl that the Kraken wanted? Or was it…

"I'm dishonest, and you can always trust dishonest people to be dishonest, honestly"

"Jack" Elizabeth whispered, and as she said it, she realized something she had known inside her for a long time. It was Captain Jack Sparrow- rogue, scallywag, pirate- who Davey Jones and the Kraken were after. If Jack escaped with the crew, Davey Jones would never stop hunting him- and once again, Jack was putting other people's lives in danger without a thought, only thinking about himself. Elizabeth felt a lead weight drop into her stomach as she finally understood that Jack Sparrow would never change, that this was the extent of his character. No matter much she had hoped and believed that deep inside, there was a shred of goodness inside him, it was to no avail. Elizabeth's insides went hard as she knew what she had to do next, to do the final right thing, the final selfless act. Elizabeth's eyes sought out Will, helping the pirates onto the smaller boats. She shut her eyes and clenched her fist tightly, fighting the tears that were threatening to spill over her eyelids. Will doesn't have to know.

"Jack" Elizabeth said softly, plastering a smile on her face. Jack slowly turned around, and Elizabeth let out a hiss of breath when she saw the haunted look in his eyes. Nevertheless, she steeled herself, and tried to convey a look of love and adoration in her own eyes.

"Thank you for doing the right thing" she said, smiling gently.

Jack flashed a grin, but it didn't reach his eyes. "We're not out of it yet, love" he said.

In two quick strides, Elizabeth crossed the space between her and Jack, so she could smell the wood, sweat and rum on his body. She put one hand on the side of his face, while the other hand fingered the cuffs at her belt. She said nothing, but she was sure Jack could hear her heart thudding loudly in her chest.

Jack's eyes held a question, his lips parted in expectation. For a fleeting moment, Elizabeth felt something inside her give way- she wanted to kiss Jack, she wanted to know what it was like, she was curious…

Jack eyes darkened and his arm slipped around her waist, and suddenly, Elizabeth snapped out of his spell. She pulled away- kissing Jack was not part of her plan… or was it? "Jack, why are you doing this?" she murmured softly, her eyes searching.

"What, love?" Jack said, his arm still around her waist. Elizabeth forced a sweet smile.

"Jack, the Kraken is after you!" she said urgently. "If you come with us, it'll keep hunting you… you'll be putting all of our lives in danger! How can you be ok with that?" Elizabeth said, her voice rising in exasperation.

Jack said nothing for a long moment, his eyes refusing to meet Elizabeth's own. Then he released his arm from Elizabeth's waist, and looked her in the eye. "'Lizabeth, 'Lizabeth, you don't understand how difficult this is for me. The compass…" his voice trailed away, and he looked away, at the darkening sky. "I'm a pirate, Elizabeth. And I'm dishonest. I was all out for going back and getting Davey Jones' heart, and abandoning the crew and the Pearl and…" Jack shook his head, and became fluent instead. "But then I checked the compass, and it told me where I really belonged. Here. With the Black Pearl. With the crew. With… you"

Elizabeth's eyes widened. "What?" she whispered.

Jack twisted his hands frantically, trying to convey the conflicting emotions inside him. "But I'm a pirate, savvy?" he almost cried. "What I long for most in the world is freedom! I can't be weighed down with… affections! I need to be free… but I couldn't". Jack let out a long sigh, as if he had failed a great test in life. "Aye, Captain Jack Sparrow was betrayed by his own heart… ironic, eh? Next thing you know I'll be growing a tentacle beard", he murmured, half to himself. All of a sudden, he noticed the cuffs dangling from Elizabeth's belt. A crooked smile formed at his lips. "What's all this, love?" he whispered, his eyes glinting.

A lot of things suddenly happened at once. Elizabeth attached one of the cuffs to the mast of the Pearl, and had the other once closed around Jack's wrist. Then she heard a loud click beside her left ear, and, knowing what she would see, she turned and looked right down the barrel of Jack's pistol.

"So, what have we here?" Jack said, looking right down at Elizabeth with almost a smirk on his face. "Thought that you'd try and trick me, eh Elizabeth? Thought that perhaps you were going to go sacrifice old Captain Jack for the sake of the greater good?" Elizabeth struggled to move, but she was trapped awkwardly right up next to Jack, between the pistol and the mast. Stalemate. "The ultimate selfless act, maybe?"

"It was the only way!" Elizabeth cried furiously, desperately. "At least I care about others more than myself!"

Jack grinned at Elizabeth infuriatingly. "But was it really selfless? Were you really thinking about saving the crew… or were you thinking about saving yourself?"

And Will! The rational part of Elizabeth's mind prompted, but her mouth couldn't say it. Instead, she looked out towards the sea, which was frothing mutinously. Elizabeth knew there wasn't much time left, but she couldn't escape what Jack had said. Was she really thinking about herself while she was planning to chain Jack to the mast of the Black Pearl? Was she really that much like Jack?

"Like I said, love, peas in a pod" Jack murmured, but his voice sounded very far away. Elizabeth looked up at him, and to her fury, she saw his face through a blurred veil of tears.

Jack removed the pistol from Elizabeth's temple, and wiped the tears from her eyes with his thumb. "Come now, love, don't cry" he murmured.

Elizabeth stiffened, fully aware the pistol had gone and this would be her final chance to chain Jack to the mast. But did she really want to?

But that moment of hesitation was all Jack needed. Twisting out of her grasp he spun Elizabeth around, and before she knew it, she was the one with her back to the mast, and one of Jack's hands had the cuffs clasped around her wrist. The other hand had the pistol pointed at her head.

If you were waiting for the opportune moment… that was it.

Elizabeth hung her head. She had failed.

"I really am sorry, love. Honest. But I do have to say, it's much easier to condemn a dishonest person than it is to condemn an honest one… and you are a dishonest one, love. Yet I stand by what I said before… it never would have worked between us." And Elizabeth shut her eyes to hide the tears as she heard the cuffs click shut around her wrist.

"No, Sparrow!" Elizabeth's head snapped up, as Will, her Will, leapt onto the deck, brandishing a sword. Jack's pistol fell to the ground with a clatter. "What are you doing? Everyone else is gone already!" Will said incredulously. It was then that he noticed Elizabeth, chained to the mast. His eyes widened in amazement. "Set Elizabeth free!" he cried, his voice charged with anger.

Jack stepped back from Elizabeth, appraising Will. "Well, if it isn't Mr Turner", Jack said playfully, and the ship gave a violent lurch. Both men toppled, and Elizabeth smashed into the mast. She slumped to the deck, groaning.

"Elizabeth!" cried Will, rushing towards her, sword flailing. However, he was stopped by Jack, whose sword clashed jarringly with Will's own. A flash of lightning lit up Jack's face as thunder rumbled menacingly above them.

"Mate, you'll have to be getting out of here. Or else I will have no option but to kill you, savvy?" Jack said calmly.

"Jack… I thought I was your friend!" Will cried out of desperation.

Jack lowered his sword, and looked Will straight in the eye. "Will, Will… I'm a pirate, savvy?" he said. And with those words, the sea exploded.

Everyone was thrown onto the ground, as a large Kraken tentacle crashed through the mast, just above where Elizabeth was lying. "ELIZABETH!"Will screamed, as the mast teetered precariously, preparing to crash onto the deck right on top of Elizabeth.

"Jack Sparrow I am going to kill you!" Will cried, his voice cracking with rage. He spun around to look at Jack… but Jack was gone.

Instead, Will found himself looking into the large, gaping hole that was the Kraken's mouth, ringed with rows upon rows of sharp white teeth. Its entire head was above the water now, tentacles flailing magnificently around it. The Kraken was truly the untamed beast of the sea.

"Jack?" Will whispered fearfully.

Elizabeth sat up, groaning. Her head felt like it was about to explode, and there was something cutting viciously into her wrist. Then she remembered. Jack. Looking up at the sky, Elizabeth gazed, speechless, at the scene that was unfolding around her.

The Kraken was towering above the Black Pearl in all its magnificence, mouth ready to devour the ship. Will was standing, thunderstruck, on the deck, sword hanging limply by his side. And Jack… where was Jack?

"Hey, beastie!"

Elizabeth heard the voice coming from up above her, and as she craned her head to look up, what she saw amazed her.

Jack was standing in the crows nest, about halfway up the precariously leaning mast, holding a rope that was hanging from the top of the mast. His hair was flying in the wind, and his sword was raised. Lightning flashed behind him and thunder exploded just after it, signaling that the storm was nearly on top of them.

"Hey beastie, come and catch Captain Jack!" he hollered, and as Elizabeth and Will watched, Jack swung out from the crows nest, flying around the mast. And then the Kraken was following him, tentacles flailing, only narrowly missing him every time.

"Jack, watch out!" Elizabeth screamed; she had heard the crack of the mast, but it was too late- the mast split at the base, and the crack ran right through. The mast toppled, and Jack, drawn by the weight of the falling mast, was going down with it. Suddenly he let go, and the mast crashed through the deck, the water began to rise- the Black Pearl was sinking, there was nothing anybody could do about that- but then incredibly, amazingly, Jack flew through the air, and landed, with a thud, on the back of the Kraken.

All of a sudden, Elizabeth realized she was free- she slipped her cuffs off the broken end of the mast, where they dangled limply from her wrist- but she could not keep her eyes off the amazing sight before her. The Kraken roared, tentacles flying, trying to remove whatever it was that had attached itself to its back, but Jack held on, ever determined, trying to tame with wild water beast. To Elizabeth it looked almost as if he was enjoying himself.

Then the Kraken gave another, final, almighty roar- and while Elizabeth and Will watched, standing on the remains of the Black Pearl, thunder and lighting split the sky as one and the Kraken proceeded to sink back into the water, Jack still riding on its back. For an instant, Jack and Elizabeth's eyes met, and Captain Jack Sparrow raised his arm in a chilling salute as both man and monster sank beneath the rolling waves.