A Pirate's Heart for Me

-Heart's Wings-

Ch 1

High above the Caribbean waters, a striking flash of white stood out against the bright, clear blue sky. The white mark was far too small to be a cloud, too shapely. It sailed lazily along on the warm air currents of the area. The accompanying caw gave away its identity as a seagull as it let a downward current carry it lower to the water. Its caws were a call of joy from the blissful freedom and carefree life of flying. It flapped its wings a few times in preparation for landing on the calm Caribbean Sea.

After settling, it preened itself a bit, its body slowly bobbing up and down on the waves. It shook its head and glanced around. There was not much to fear for a bird of the air out here on the water but it knew to always be aware. Its black beady eyes scanned the water and stopped on a nearby vessel cloaked in black. Everything from its barnacle encrusted underside to its billowing sails was as black as the shadow it cast across the water, making it stand out as much as the white bird had against the sky.

The bird cocked its head to the side in comical question. The wooden giants were not unusual to see but nowadays one as unusual looking and powerful was a rare sight. The gull glanced up at the mast. No flag flew. It kicked its feet a bit beneath the water, turning to get some distance from the ship. The bird didn't have the brain power to know that it was a Pirate ship, a type of ship increasingly rare to see on its waters. It did hear the voices aboard and knew of the humans on deck, one of the few dangers to it.

It glanced over its shoulder and cawed again, seeming to talk down the ship for coming into the course it was going to float in. Little did the bird know, the ship was the Black Pearl, the fastest ship on the Caribbean and manned by the legendary Jack Sparrow; a man that had once before shot one of the gulls own brethren, a raven, when it had made an annoying sound. The lucky seagull floated away without a bullet lodged in it. It seemed the captain was not paying attention to the noisy squawks.

Jack Sparrow stood at the helm of his ship, hands effortlessly guiding the Black Pearl over the Caribbean waters even as his eyes were averted somewhere else completely. The multiple rings on almost every one of his fingers glinted in the sunlight but not even the brilliance of the gems in the light could distract him.

His deep brown, kohl lined eyes were locked on the brown and blonde, sun bleached locks of a woman standing to his left, staring overboard. Elizabeth Swann, the woman who he had named the Pirate King a month or so ago; the woman who his compass kept pointing to; the woman who drove him insane in a way he had never been driven mad before; the woman who, at the moment, was looking very sad… as she had quite a bit in the past two days.

Jack had kept his distance in the beginning. He knew she needed time to think on her own. Her husband, Will, Captain of the Flying Dutchman, had left her, freeing them from their bond of marriage because the pain that the separation his duty caused was too much. Will had entrusted Elizabeth into Jack's care, thinking that maybe Jack could protect her in his absence. The request had seemed foolish and as Jack continued to gaze at Elizabeth, it never seemed more so. She was so beautiful in spirit and physically. She had an air of power that made Jack's heart pound and when she got angry, she was dangerous. He didn't see how any man could let her go into the arms of another.

Jack glanced down at the deck and the rest of the crew. He spotted the pirate he was looking for, an older man with his tongue cut out and a parrot perched on his shoulder. He signaled him over with a nod of his head. The colorful parrot on the man's shoulder flapped its wings a bit, unhappy to be disturbed from the game of cards that his master, Gibbs, Marty and some other crewmen had been playing. "Bloody unfair!" it squawked. Jack squinted his eyes at the parrot. It was known that Cotton had trained the parrot to talk for him. The fact that it was so unhappy to be pulled away from the card game could only mean that Cotton felt the same way.

As the old mute approached his captain, he cast his eyes down at the wood deck. Jack could see a sparkle of amusement in his old grey eyes. He tried to remain stern himself. "Take the helm Mr. Cotton." He jabbed a finger his parrot. "And keep that bloody birds attitude in check." Cotton met Jack's eyes, the amusement dulled a bit by the threat he knew was meant for him as much as it was for the bird. But he could see the small sparkle in Jack's own eyes and knew he was in no real danger. With a nod and a small smile, he took up his post.

Jack glanced back over at Elizabeth. She stood in the same spot, eyes following something out on the water. He decided he had left her alone for enough time. The day Will had left her she hadn't wanted Jack away from her side. She had insisted that he stay with her through the night. The memory made him pick up his step. He had never seen her so distressed and he could see why. She had already lost so many people she cared about to death; her father, her would have been husband who she cared deeply for, James Norrington, and, in a way, her own husband Will. But at least she had had Will once every ten years.

So when Will told her that he wished that she would stay with Jack, that he may not even visit her the one day he could be on land, it had been a devastating loss for her. Three people had run out of her life in some way or another.

"What'cha looki'n at love?" he asked as he came to stop at her side.

She smiled and it was one of the most genuine ones he had seen since Will had left her, one of the few he had witnessed since the loss of everyone else. "A seagull. Look, the little guy out there."

Jack followed her finger and shaded his eyes from the sun with his hand. "Oh, that little bugger? Good shooting practice, that," he joked as he reached for his pistol.

Elizabeth's eyes grew wide and she reached a hand over his to stop his progress. "Jack, no! You better not ever shoot a bird like that."

Jack gave her a lopsided grin, one he thought of as his signature pirate smirk. Every respectable pirate had some signature something and while the smile he sent her now was one of his signature things, it certainly was not limited to that.

He had a red bandanna that he always wore tied about his head and a three cornered hat. His dark hair was long and braded in dreadlocks that reached just above his shoulder blades. Amongst the hair were many trinkets and beads, each a testament to his adventures. Many of the same significant objects hung from his worn red sash around his waist and his belt. Each and every part of his attire was uniquely and unmistakably his; unmistakably Jack Sparrow.

Even the way he carried himself was a signature symbol in and of itself; a carefully executed plan. While he never seemed to be seen without a bottle of rum somewhere on his person, most of his drunken stagger and wobbly sea legs on land were fake. It kept the enemy unawares of his true skill which was great. And while he could best many with his sword skills, much of his battle victories came from his quick thinking and somewhat devious mind.

All of those things and that is without even mentioning his uncanny skill with the women.

"I suppose you have a point there Lizzie. That little feathered bird there and we have a lot in common. Both us and him or… uhh… her, are free to sail the seas when we please, go wherever the wind takes us. We have a mutual love and appreciation of freedom." He paused for a moment. "And we all have bird names," he finished proudly, the smirk still firmly in place, his exposed gold tooth sparkling, adding to his roguish attitude.

Elizabeth laughed, a loud, strong sound. "I suppose we do. I never really thought of that." Her eyes seemed to grow a bit sad at the mention of her original last name. Not four days ago she had been a Turner, not a Swann. "Freedom is important to you," she sighed more than spoke as she turned away from him.

"It is to you as well. I know a pirate when I see one." Jack grew serious, leaning against the rail in an attempt to get a look at her face. "How are you holding up love?"

She made a sorry attempt at a smile, not bothering to hide her sadness. She just shrugged and her hand began absently drawing patterns on the wet wood of the rail. Jack just watched her for a bit, contemplating what exactly to say. I never was very good at this sort of thing, he thought with a bit of a panic.

Suddenly, an idea came to him. He snapped his fingers. "Ah ha!"

He dashed to the opposite rail of the ship and peered overboard. Then he jumped up next to Cotton at the helm, looking off into all directions before he ran back to Elizabeth's side.

Elizabeth turned to look at him, confused yet not surprised. Jack's mind was known to jump from one thing to another without notice. He smiled at her, pride in his eyes, as if she already knew what he was thinking and he was awaiting her praise. She shook her head at him, her lips parted slightly as if to speak.

Jack grasped her by the shoulders. "I know just what this crew needs," he told her excitedly. Then, yelling over her shoulder "Alright you sea dogs, drop anchor!" The crew sent him confused looks, each of them frozen on the spot. He removed his hands from Elizabeth's shoulders, ignoring her own quizzical look. "Am I speaking another language? Snap to!"

Gibbs shook his head slightly. "Come on then, ye heard the captain. Ye all know what to do!" He chuckled a bit as he spoke but moved to carry out the orders none the less.

"Jack, what do you have going on in your head now?" Elizabeth followed him with her eyes as he pulled off his coat and hat, tossing them on deck beside him with a flourish. Soon, his leather belts and all his effects followed, and lastly his boots came to rest next to the rather large pile.

He jumped up onto the rail and opened his arms out wide to the sides. "Gents," He glanced down at Elizabeth. "Lizzie," He looked back and addressed the whole crew. "Let's go for a swim!"

Nobody moved for a moment, everyone taken back by their captain's abrupt change in plans. Jack's smile slowly drooped, his arms following suit as his initial excitement began to die. "Come on then. A swim!" He mimicked a swimming motion. When there was still no movement he let out an exaggerated, exasperated sigh. He turned his back to them all, crouched low, and dove into the clear Caribbean water under them.

He broke the surface with a grumble. "Unadventurous lot for a bunch of pirates." He treaded water and after a moment, he heard shouts. In a matter of seconds, the entire crew, the majority shirtless, jumped in after him, smiles on their faces. They learned not to try and figure out why the captain's mind worked the way it did. They just took whatever he could dish out. The person he really wanted to see jumping off the rail wasn't present… or shirtless, to his dismay.

He peered up and saw Elizabeth looking down at the splashing group. He put a hand up to shade the sun from his eyes as he called up to her. "Come on Lizzie. The water feels good and all that." He made a little spin in his place. "I am even getting meself a good rinsing off for you since you dare to accuse me of terrible hygiene."

She giggled a bit and shook her head at him. Jack pretended to pout. "Don't make me come up there missy. Come take a swim." He dropped his voice into an authoritative, deep baritone. "That is a direct order from your captain."

She put a hand on her hip. "Must I remind you that I am the pirate king?"

Jack cocked his head to the side, considering. He remembered the day well. It had been down to him to decide the king. Every pirate had always voted for himself or, in Mistress Ching's case, herself. Jack had surprised them all when he had given Elizabeth his vote. He had trusted her to make the right decision in the matter of what to do when they had all been faced by Davey Jones and Beckett's seemingly unstoppable fleet. And she had. He hadn't regretted putting her in the position… until this point.

With a deep breath, he dove beneath the ship, swimming across the width of it to the other side. Surfacing, he grasped a wood notch in the side of the ship and began stealthily scaling the wood ladder. He poked his head around the deck. Elizabeth was still watching all the activity below. That smirk came onto his face as he crept up behind her. Pirate King or no, she will be taking a dip today, he thought.

He saw her stiffen a moment before he reached her, the water running off of his body and onto the deck a loud, splattering announcement to his presence, but she had no time to react. He grasped her by the waist, leaning toward her and breathing into her hair. "Now darli'n, you can do this the hard way or the easy way." He felt her struggle to face him but his grip was relentless. He pulled her up against his muscled body and was pleased with the reaction he had on her as he heard her gasp. "You cannot escape my embrace love." He was teasing her, back to playing the old games they always had. "Its sink or swim, you may say. You can stay here in me arms, taking out whatever orders I give you," He smiled against her hair at the way she stiffened in his arms, no doubt taking what he had said in the way he had intended her to. "Or, you can take a swim like the rest of us. It's your choice."

As much as he was enjoying the feel of her against him, the possessive feelings it gave him over her, he knew this would get her to swim. She would never let him win when it came to their games. It was one of the things that made her so irresistible to him.

Just as he suspected, she broke free of his embrace and whirled on him. There was a challenge and anger burning in her eyes. He held back a shudder. He loved it when she was upset and headstrong. Laughter also played in her brown eyes as she set her lips in a line and pulled each boot off her foot, one by one, her eyes never leaving his. With a flip of her hair over her shoulder she lifted her chin proudly and jumped gracefully up onto the rail, steadying herself by grabbing hold of a nearby rope.

With a victorious smirk that reminded Jack of his own, she turned to face the crew and water below, the men calling and encouraging her to join them. Jack could see her shoulders rise and fall in a deep, preparing breath before she leapt out of sight. He sauntered to the rail where she had been standing not a moment ago and watched as she surfaced, laughing and nodding in the direction of the cheering men.

Elizabeth dozed happily in the rays of sunlight, the comforting rocking motion of the deck underneath her back. The crew had enjoyed a nice swim and now were all lounging around, taking naps in the sun. Just when she thought that she had Jack Sparrow figured, he went and surprised her yet again. Never before had she seen him initiate such an activity with the crew. Obviously Jack was in tune to his men's needs as well as Elizabeth's.

She had been sinking deeper and deeper into depression and although sailing greatly lessened the amount of time she had to dwell on such things, the sadness had the same weight upon her heart. It seemed that whenever she thought that she may not make it, Jack pulled her back up to the surface, back into the joys that were still left to be had. Today was no exception. The swim had definitely lifted her spirits as well as her heart.

A shadow fell across her sprawling figure and in a moment, she felt a hat come down over her eyes. She sat up and pulled the hat off, examining it. It was Jack's. She plopped it onto her head and looked up into the owner of the hat's face. "May I inquire as to why you have thrust your hat upon me?"

Jack chuckled and sat next to her. "You don't want sunburn on your eyelids. It's really very painful." He lifted an unconscious hand to his eyes and shivered. "Very unpleasant."

Elizabeth admired him for a moment. He really was a beautiful man. Perhaps beautiful isn't the word, she thought. He is rugged or maybe handsome. She found she really couldn't tag a word onto his physical appearance. He was wild and unpredictable and that was all mirrored in his outward image. But he cannot be any of those things to me, Elizabeth reminded herself. I still love Will.

Thoughts of the day Will left her on the Black Pearl came rushing back without warning as they had so many times since that day.

'The bond of our marriage is not enough, not fair, when I am with you but one day every ten years. You should be free to love another, to love the sea.'

She had realized that it was a sacrifice on his part. She could see the pain it gave him to say those words, to look her in the face and leave her practically in the arms of another. It did not lessen the pain. Was marriage not a strong bond supposed to survive anything? Thoughts that had previously haunted her, doubts about the spur of the moment way they had had the union in the heat of battle, with the threat of death hanging over their heads, wandered into her mind but she pushed them away. She had wanted to try and wait for him, to make things work. He had made such sacrifice for her in the past.

Then again, she supposed it was also for the best. After all, she had kissed Jack in her husband's absence. Twice. That had weighed heavily on her heart as well. She did not deserve Will as a soul mate. She had wanted to come clean with him when he had come onto the deck of the Pearl for a visit but so much had happened. She and Will's joyful reunion turned steadily into hurtful, accusing words and coming clean was the last thing on her mind. She was still supposed to be back on that island where Will had left her. At least, according to Will that was how it was supposed to be.

Jack had come by the island Elizabeth was on a night after Will and she had spent their last day together and he had left her to wait ten years for him. He had told her it was an island by the name of Dugs, inhabited by dangerous men and that she shouldn't be alone on it. She found his word to be true as they wandered into town for a ship. A ghost from her past in Port Royal had been there, seeking her out, a dangerous man that they later found out was the infamous, cruel, ruthless Bloody Shane. She had known him simply as a suitor named Mikan.

Of course, she had no time to tell Will any of this. Not too long after her argument with him, all chaos broke loose. He had lost his control and he and Jack had gotten into a sword fight. Elizabeth had been hurt in the process. In the end, Will was the one apologizing and then leaving her with the very man he had tried to kill not an hour before. She had a feeling Will would have decided differently had he known about their previous interaction.

She realized she must have been scowling because when she brought herself back to the present, Jack was staring at her oddly. "Jack, why would Will just leave me here with you?"

Jack was scowling now. "The boy's lost his wits is all. I never thought he was quite fit for a life on the sea. Besides, what's so terrible about being out here with Captain Jack Sparrow?"

She ignored his last statement. "No. Jack, you and I both know that it is not like him to give up so easily. He wasn't being himself at all."

Jack seemed to have thought this over before. "He always was running after you so I did find it a trifle interesting that he thrust you on me."

Elizabeth's cheeks reddened and she told herself that it was out of anger. "I am worried for him. I fear that not having a heart beating in his chest has changed him already. He seemed so quick to anger."

"Has it ever occurred in that pretty little head of yours that you don't know him as well as you may have previously thought you did?"

Elizabeth's jaw dropped in a most unladylike manner. "We were childhood friends!" she exclaimed. "I don't see how you cannot know a person very well if you grew up with them."

Jack leaned back on his hands, face tilted up towards the sun, eyes closed. He was the picture of leisure. "He certainly didn't know you as well as he thought now did he?"

"And what's that supposed to mean?" she demanded.

He spoke as if they were discussing the weather or exchanging simple pleasantries. "He is always risking his life to protect yours in ways that I find tiresomely and entirely unnecessary."

Although he didn't open his eyes, Elizabeth glared at him all the harder. "I think that is the most wonderful and thoughtful thing a man can do for a woman, protect her and always be there for her." She found half the reason she was upset was because Jack, of all people, should understand how she felt on the matter.

The first time she betrayed her husband by kissing Jack, outside of what she told herself over and over was only a kiss of deception when she chained him to the mast, was when he had rescued her in a most un-pirate like way from the clutches of Bloody Shane. She found that whole act irresistible and desirable, a man taking up his sword to protect a woman. She surely did express her feelings to him on the matter that rainy day.

Jack opened his right eye slightly to peer at her. "Well, you are quite the capable woman Lizzie. It seems to me that he worried a lot over you for nothing." The eye closed again. "It seems he does not trust in your capabilities to protect yourself and went to your aid beyond what you needed and therefore wanted, putting himself in unnecessary danger and causing a whole lot of fuss over that which not be so fussed about."

Elizabeth's eyebrows relaxed slightly into a puzzled expression that wasn't entirely from the way he had just made his statement but by what he actually said. While it was true that she found a man that protected a woman with his life extremely attractive, she hated being doted and sheltered. Had Will always crossed that barrier with her? Could that be why she was so frustrated when in his presence, especially when it came down to the dirty work of battles and danger?

"And you see love," Jack continued snapping his head around to look at her, waving his hand absently in the air. "That is why I find him not knowing you as well as he thought he may have before."

"Your one to talk Mr. Run-in-and-pull-me-from-the-island-where-I-was-supposed-to-remain-put. That's what seemed to set him off in the first place." She fixed him with a knowing stare.

To her surprise, his eyes turned serious, the cocky gleam gone. "There are some things that even the great fearsome pirate king needs protecting from."

Elizabeth realized she had gone too far, spoken words she did not mean. He had done the very thing that she admired in a men and the fact he was a pirate made it that much more noble. She was contradicting herself but she found no apology near escaping her lips. "The Will I knew would not have given up so easily."

"So am I to understand that you do not wish to sail on the Black Pearl?"

Elizabeth was lost in thought, something striking her. She didn't seem to hear Jack's question. "Jack, where did Barbossa run off to?"

Jack looked annoyed to have had his question brushed aside but he answered anyway. "The old backstabber jumped ship some time ago. Gibbs said he saw him creep onto the Flying Dutchman. Good riddance is what I say." Elizabeth met his eyes and could tell there was a hint of uncertainty as he looked out at his sprawling crew.

"You cannot honestly think that it's fine for him to be off like that."

"He didn't like his accommodations aboard the Pearl so no Miss. Swann. I find it very fine for him to be off like that."

Elizabeth knew better and if she hadn't she would have been able to tell when he abruptly stood and stretched casually. Jack never walked away from their banters. She stood beside him so fast she felt dizzy. The wound on her head was still healing but she paid it no heed. "Knowing what Barbossa has done before and what he is capable of…"

"Yes. Marrying you and the whelp was decidedly the most dastardly thing the old devil could have done to be sure" he interrupted, smiling at her once again.

"He betrayed us all before and he mutinied on you, left you to die, us to die on an island before all for the sake of his own cause."

Jack shrugged. "He's a pirate."

Elizabeth let out a sigh of frustration. "I don't think any good can come from him being aboard the Flying Dutchman with my… with Will," she caught herself. "I already fear what he is becoming without the help of a twisted old pirate."

Jack met her eyes for a moment, giving her his full attention for the first time the whole conversation. His eyes searched hers for a long while, looking for something that Elizabeth could not figure out. She searched his eyes but found his emotions well guarded.

Finally he sighed, a defeated release of breath. "We are going to continue on to the Fountain of Youth as planned. I know Barbossa wanted a share in that. There is no doubt in my mind that he would do anything to get what he wants and I assume that what I presented him, though more than he deserved, was not satisfactory to him."

Elizabeth looked determined. "So you think he went to Will instead? Will would not help him."

Jack's eyebrows shot up in uncertainty. "It depends on what old Hector had to offer him, what type of information he had to give in exchange for a ride. Your William Turner may not be as iron willed as you think. Every man has a dark side Lizzie."

With that, he walked away, shouting orders to haul up anchor, leaving Elizabeth puzzled and steadily filled with more and more dread. But what she was wondering was what exactly it was she was dreading, the fact that Barbossa may have told Will about she and Jack or rather the slowly creeping sensation, the way her eyes followed Jack as he walked away and she wasn't able to pull them away.

Will Turner stood at the head of his ship staring listlessly out at the waves as they rushed by past him. Jack was going to pay. Oh yes, the filthy pirate was going to pay. To think that he had entrusted his wife into the hands of him. He knew that he couldn't trust Sparrow with his wife but something had possessed him on that deck to give her to him anyway.

Suddenly his face changed, twisting into a grimace. He shook himself slightly. What am I doing he asked himself. Jack is a good man. And Elizabeth would never betray me by, by kissing another man. Since when do I listen to a word Barbossa says?

But is Jack really a good man, his angry side asked. Jack always looked at her in a way that spoke volumes about how he felt. It was all a ruse, all of his previous good deeds, all a ruse to get his hands on Elizabeth all for himself. And it seems that I don't really know Elizabeth as well as I used to. She has been changed from so much time at sea, changed from sailing around with pirates. I must take her back to land, back where she can recover her senses, his mind continued.

A board creaked behind him and he spun around to face the source. His father, 'Bootstrap' Bill Turner stood there looking at him with concern. "How are you Will?"

The question was timid, almost shy, and it broke Will free of the unusual anger that had been occupying his mind. "I am worried about Elizabeth," he whispered with a tired smile.

Bill did not return the smile. His face remained concerned. "Worried enough to take aboard the man who sent me to the depths of the sea for standing up for Jack? And listen to his words, no less?"

Will scowled. "I could never forgive him for what he did to you. It is just that he provided me with an interesting piece of information as payment for the ride."

"What might that information be William? I am worried about what kind of things he may be spouting."

"He informed me that while I was away, not more than a month, Jack had moved in on Elizabeth and the two had shared more than one intimate moment," he snarled.

Bill's eyebrows shot up but Will saw no trace of surprise in his eyes. "Did you not leave Elizabeth with Jack knowing that she felt something for the man, knowing that Jack may have felt the same and would protect her?"

Something started to come forward in Will's mind, some feeling but the anger seized him again and he turned back to the sea. "Jack has to pay for his deception. I left her there before I knew that they had gone forward affectionately while Elizabeth and I were still bound by marriage. I want to take Elizabeth away from all of this. He has no right to be around her."

Bill spoke slowly, carefully. "Such a fate as you have taken upon yourself may take its toll upon your thinking."

Will was past listening. The maddening anger had a hold on him and he could feel nothing else. "Jack is going to go away and then Elizabeth is going back to land where I have no need for someone to protect her while I am away." He glanced back at his father, his eyes frighteningly frigid. "Barbossa also offered me a nice tip that Jack somehow forgot to relinquish over to me. There is a man who may know a way to free me from my eternal servitude. Tell me why a good man would withhold such information from me." With that, he turned back out to sea, ending the conversation.

Bill's shoulders slumped in despair. It was happening. He had hoped that with Will's good, pure heart he would not be affected by the duty he had taken up. Somewhere along the line something had gone wrong and without his heart, he was getting bitter. The distance from his heart seemed to harden him. He had been an overly emotional man on deck of the Pearl so close to his beating organ. The time away had made the reuniting of him with his heart a rollercoaster of emotion, each feeling more intense than they normally would have been, as if he had already forgotten how it felt to… feel. And now that he was being pulled away from where his heart dwelled again, the dark, depressing thoughts were taking over.

Bill turned from his son and felt a solitary tear slide down his cheek. It startled him at first. It had been so long, too long since he had last cried. He was losing his son because a good heart mattered not when it was cut from your chest. Will was losing himself to his duty and while 'Bootstrap' knew it would not, could not become as it had for Davey Jones, it did not help ease the guilt in knowing that Will was in the position he was because of him, because he chose his deserter of a father over his love. He knew it was entirely his fault.