Will relished this moment. For twelve years he had been so close and yet so far, and in this point in time, these long seconds, the far has disintegrated.
"No. He's a pirate."
Just days ago to hear anyone accuse him of such a thing, using those words toward him, would have had a quick flash of steel to their throat. But that was before he knew the freedom and true connotations the word held. And now, above all else, it was coming from the lips of the one person who could call him anything and now, finally, called him her own.
He felt nothing now but those lips against his own as he eagerly accepted and gave back a hundred fold the feelings Elizabeth had been holding onto for so long now. His hand grasped her face as if he were afraid she would fade like the mist of a dream. In fact, he had dreamed and hoped for this so many times, but no amount of imagination could have captured the trueness of this moment. He kissed her passionately, not hearing the waves beating against the fort, only the beating of his heart and hers, molded together in a long-awaited symphony.
Finally, he pulled away for breath, and to take in a long look at the face he held in this hands. The last time she had stood up here, she had fainted, and she felt now that may happen again just as easily, yet this time her corset could take no blame for it. He rested his forehead against hers, his hands still protectively, softly holding her face. As he traced her cheek with his thumb, he looked down into her eyes, which immediately flashed up into his with a brightness that could burn out the beating Caribbean sun. Her cheeks immediately flushed with color, and he felt pleasure in being able to take credit for the lovely shade of pink.
"Elizabeth." The only word he could seem to manage to get out right now. He was immensely distracted.
"Ms. Swann." She corrected him, looking rather serious for a moment. In his hesitation and sudden shock, she felt amusement, and her serious demeanor melted into a smile. "I'm only joking. Call me Elizabeth, Will, of course. Just as I've been asking you to do for ages."
"Elizabeth," the word he whispered into her ear melted off of his tongue and sent a shiver through them both. "I couldn't have imagined this moment more perfectly. I promise to spend my days filling yours with moments like this for as long as you wish. Perhaps longer. I'm afraid now that I have finally held you I won't be able to let go. I couldn't stand having that wall put back where it was for all these years."
He wandered deep into his own thoughts, and she pulled him to the surface again with nothing more than her words, a laugh, a smile.
"Don't think I'll ever let you." Her hands traced down his arms, slipping her fingers of her right hand through his, locking them tightly in place while her other hand tucked his brown waves of hair behind his ear while still trying to hold onto the hat she had removed from his head. "I'm not a patient person, Will, you know that as well as any. If I'd have had it my way I'd have had my hand in yours before we stepped one foot on Port Royal after you were rescued. No. I'll stay with you forever and a day, Mr. Turner."
" All those years trying to catch you eye-"
"My eye! You had both of my eyes locked on you the moment I saw you on that raft and all the years after. No, you seemed to be ignorant of every look I sent your way. What, did you think all of those times I had smiled at you were out of politeness? I will have you know I do not look at my father's other business associates that way."
"Elizabeth," he laughed as his free hand slinked firmly, yet gently, around her waist "I assure you no look you sent my way went unnoticed. I held onto each of them. I just couldn't risk filling up my hopes with something that seemed so out of reach."
"I seem to be rather in your reach now." She remarked, noticing how their interlocked fingers, her hand resting on his chest, and the close proximity the arm he had wrapped around her had brought them. She smiled up at him, feeling his warm, sweet breath on her face.
"All I've ever wanted to do was hold you in my arms. You are the most beautiful thing I have ever laid my eyes on, Elizabeth. Even more than your beauty, though….. It's your spirit. No matter how much you try to play the part of the high-society Governor's daughter, I see something much more than that burning inside of you. I always have. You are a free-spirit. You aren't a bird to be caught. You need so much more than you've been given, and while you've been given all the riches in the world, I know that's not it. You have always needed room to fly. Watching you soar has always fascinated me."
"Well, I promise, I will not fly away from you. Perhaps that is one reason that I love you. You can give me everything I have ever wanted. My father has looked for money, stature, to give me in men he would find for me. But he couldn't give me the only two things I needed. The adventure I'd read about for so long in books and things I could only hope where more than fiction… and you. Now I've had a taste of both, and I could never turn back, and now I have everything the world has to offer and you to thank for it. "
Will was filled by Elizabeth's words. She gave him wings, and he was far above everything now. Unable to hold back any longer he looked deep into her eyes, through to her soul. "I love you," he said with so much raw, true emotion, she knew he meant it with every fiber of his being. He then pulled her chin up with his finger, bringing her lips to his in an embrace filled with a love that he knew was worth waiting for. They breathed through their noses well enough, the only difficulty was remembering how to use their lungs, how to do anything. All there was to them was each other, and he felt her lips parting with his, as his hand held the back of her neck in a soft protectiveness. Her hand dropped his hat she had been holding carefully onto the stone floor and proceeded to wind its way into his hair, memorizing every touch. As he leaned in a last time, she kissed his lower lip and, staying there, she whispered so he could both hear the words she felt, truer than (and harder to keep back than) anything she had ever known, and feel them on his skin. "As I love you. Forever and a day."
He leaned his forehead to hers and stood there for a time that he didn't know. A minuet could have turned into an hour, and neither would be aware. He held on to her and felt her every movement, each one sending his heart beating with a new strength that only she could ever give to him.
She was his Elizabeth.