A response to the prompt "Master" on the Broken Compass forum. Nothing special, just a bit of silliness and wordplay and an in-between scene as Liz brings Will up to date on the unexpected results of the meeting of the Brethren Court. This was written in about 20 minutes and is total crack, really. Enjoy.
DISCLAIMER: PotC in all its various forms belongs to Disney, not me, and so on and so forth.
"… and then Jack turns around and votes for me!" Elizabeth finished, and Will shook his head in amazement.
"This," he said, "Is the kind of thing that could only happen to you, you know."
"Isn't it just madness? Me, the king of the pirates."
"Shouldn't it be queen?" Will asked, tilting his head slightly.
"Don't be silly, there's no such thing as a queen of pirates," Elizabeth said lightly. "King of the pirates, ruler of the lawless, master of the seas…" She leaned against the ship's railing, almost but not quite posing, and Will bit back a smile.
"You mean mistress of the seas," he corrected her gently.
"No I don't. It doesn't sound as nice," she argued.
"Well, it only makes sense. I guess women can be named kings officially—didn't that happen in history a few times or something?—but since you're a woman, you'd be the mistress of the seas. It means the same thing," Will said logically.
"Yes, but mistress of the seas makes it sound as if I'm in an inappropriate relationship outside of marriage with… the ocean, I suppose, as physically impossible as that would be. Master, though, that sounds… masterful, like I have special authority, which I do," Elizabeth argued.
"It does not sound inappropriate," Will said, rolling his eyes. "You just have a perverse mind. And an exceedingly strange hat," he added with another glance over at her.
Elizabeth bridled at that and straightened her hat with a defensive glare.
"It's a perfectly normal hat in some parts of China, I imagine, and since I now rule the South China sea, there's nothing wrong with it. Besides, I had a better hat, but it was blown up with everything else after I bit Sao Feng." Will started to nod, then his brow wrinkled and he turned to stare at her.
"Sorry, did you just say it was blown up after you bit Sao Feng?"
"Oh, right, you haven't heard that bit." Elizabeth sighed. "Well, Sao Feng did me the courtesy of procuring some fresh clothes, including a hat that I rather liked, but when the East India Company attacked the ship, the hat was blown away by the explosion, and I didn't exactly have time to look for it, did I?" She spread her hands helplessly. "Besides, I was too busy being shocked that he'd given me his piece of eight, even if it only was because he still thought I was Calypso."
"All right, now let's go back to the part where you bit him." Will looked utterly bewildered at that. "Was he trying to cover your mouth or something?" Elizabeth looked away, a slight shadow in her eyes.
"A bit more than that, I'm afraid. It seems even the vengeance of a goddess is little deterrence to some men. He tried to take liberties, so I bit him, quite hard, while he was trying to kiss me." She shrugged, a tired expression coming over her sun-browned, too-thin face. "He was killed only a moment later, and it's not as if I'd any reputation to speak of at that point, anyway, so I suppose it hardly matters." Will considered for a moment their conflicts of trust and the barrier that had lain between them throughout the long voyage, then decided to hell with them and went over to put his arms around her. She gave a little sigh and leaned against him gratefully, turning to bury her face in his shirt. He stroked her hair gently.
"I really do wish you could call yourself the queen of pirates," he said in an attempt to lighten the mood. "I'm not sure I relish the idea of trying to explain to anyone that the fact that I'm in love with the king of the pirates doesn't imply what it sounds like." Elizabeth made a funny, choked noise before she broke down giggling helplessly.
"Oh dear… Will Turner, consort of the king of pirates… you must admit, it has a ring to it." Elizabeth's expression grew more serious then and she looked up at him.
"Do you really still love me, though? After everything?"
"I never stopped loving you," Will confessed, touching her cheek lightly.
"As much as I hate to interrupt this touchin' reunion,"" a voice said dryly from behind them, "'Afore ye start vomiting rainbows and ride off into the sunset, the king o' pirates has a few things she ought to be seein' to." Will and Elizabeth spun around, half-guilty, half-indignant, to see Barbossa smirking condescendingly at them. Elizabeth drew herself up and stuck her chin in the air.
"Admit it, Captain Barbossa, you're just jealous that you can't have him for yourself." The look of incredulous, horrified disgust on Barbossa's face made it hard for her to keep from grinning. She glanced back at Will, who looked like he wanted to jump overboard and drown himself at the very idea, and her eyes twinkled.
"It's just too bad for him that I'm keeping you all for myself. Lead on, then," she told Barbossa imperiously, and he scowled and did so.
King of the pirates, ruler of the lawless, master of the seas… Elizabeth Swann quite liked her new position in the world.