Keep a Weather Eye on the Horizon
I was sorely disappointed with the reunion of Will and Elizabeth in DMC. Second part of my short one-shot could've been's with W/E. Enjoy.
Elizabeth had her arms propped up on the railing of the Black Pearl, her hair flying astray in the wind. Damned compass, she thought to herself bitterly. Captain Jack Sparrow is certainly not the thing I want most in the world. Will was the one who would risk everything for her while Jack would eagerly trade one hundred innocent people to ensure his own freedom. She let out a long sigh and closed her eyes, the only sounds she heard were Gibbs shouting orders and the crashing of waves against the side of the Pearl. An unfamiliar banging sound forced her to open her eyes and peer over the ship's edge. A floating piece of wood was being carried with the waves and smashed into the side of the Pearl again and again.
She let out a gasp of realization as she recognized the figure struggling to stay on the broken piece of wood. "Mr. Gibbs! It's Will! Down there!"
Mr. Gibbs rushed next to her and looked down and sure enough, there he was. He tossed a rope over and motioned for a couple crewmembers to come over. Will saw it and held on, looking up and squinting through the sea spray and water. "PULL!" Gibbs commanded. "Pull like yer bein' paid fer it!" Cotton, Pintel, and Ragetti pulled as hard as they could. Once he was hovering above them, Will let go of the rope and collapsed on the deck.
He coughed and wheezed as he spat up salt water, his weight increasing with his soaked clothes. "I'll get him down to my cabin," Elizabeth said. "Thanks."
"Aye," Gibbs nodded and spun on his heel. "Well? Get on with it! Back to whatever it is you lot was doing!"
He felt someone's hand on his forehead, brushing away the hair in his eyes with care. He slowly opened his eyes, "Elizabeth… is that you?"
She nodded and smiled. As he struggled to sit up, she gently pushed him back down, "Shh… you need your rest." She raised a cup to Will's lips and he drank the water deeply and laid his head back on the pillow. He let out a sigh of relief.
"This is familiar," he said softly and laughed. "Me stranded on a piece of wood, you spotting me, saving me." He took her hand in his.
She nodded and kissed his fingers. When she looked up she had tears in her eyes, "I was so afraid I'd never see you again," she whispered, trying to choke back the flow of tears. "That we'd never get a chance to be with each other."
His hand immediately flew to her cheek to brush away her tears, lightly caressing her skin. He pulled her down in a fierce kiss, full of longing and desire. "I've been wanting to do that for so long," he said and stroked her hair lovingly. "I've been wanting to be with you for so long."
"I the same," she said and bent down for another kiss. She kissed him deeply, overwhelmed with the feeling that she wanted him closer, wanted him to simply melt into her and become part of her forever.
Without breaking the kiss, he stood up with little effort, cradling her head; he backed her up against the cabin door, kissing her back with equal passion. She let out a sigh against his lips as he ran his hands all over her body: her arms, her hands, and her waist.
With great hesitation, he pulled away with reluctance. Elizabeth, who was still leaning in for another kiss, was dumbfounded when her lips did not meet with his.
"Elizabeth," he murmured, cursing slightly, "I apologize, I cannot continue. If we do this, I'm afraid we won't be able to end; and that wouldn't be very… proper. I'm sorry."
She nodded in understanding, leaning to his ear, "I never want this to end," she whispered. "I never want us to end."
That was all she needed to say. He pulled her back into his embrace, her back still held up against the door. Her fingers move over his face and her hair a complete mess around the two of them. His hands run through her long, wavy hair just like they've been longing to do so for days, caressing the tendrils in his grasp with roughness but equal tenderness.
She pulls Will's coat off his shoulders, landing with a thud at their feet. In return, his hands work at the buttons on her brown vest, pushing it off her eagerly. Elizabeth let out a sigh as his mouth latched onto her neck, kissing while his hands run up and down her back underneath her shirt.
After making quick disposal of his shirt, her hands explored all too familiar territory, tracing the contours of his chiseled abs, his strong chest; his broad back. She sucked in a breath as he held up her arms to remove her shirt, her upper half bare and completely visible to him.
He attacked her lips with such passion that she thought he was going to break the door. She lost all inhibition and closed her eyes to enjoy the moment. Just as his hands were on the frayed button of her pants, there was a harsh knock behind them and Will put a protective arm around his fiancée's shoulder, but it was only Mr. Gibbs.
"Hey boy, we've spotted land! Get yerself out here!"
Will shouted a response back telling Gibbs that he'd be out in a minute, then turning back to Elizabeth. "Sorry love," he muttered as he brushed his lips against hers for the last time. "Perhaps on our wedding night."
She repeated those words again and again in her head: our wedding night, our wedding night. She was going to marry William Turner, the blacksmith, but the love of her life. She smiled and helped him put his shirt back on, him doing the same.
She followed him outside as he pulled his coat back over his shoulders, the rest of the crew too busy looking at the half sunken island in blue and green water. They joined everyone else at the railing; Elizabeth resuming her position from when she had spotted Will, except this time with his arms around her and his chin resting on her head.
She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, feeling Will's lips on her cheek for a brief second, then trying to imagine them saying "I do".