Disclaimer: If I owned Pirates of the Caribbean, I'd be rich. Disney already has that taken care of for me, methinks. Used without permission, but not for profit, etc.
Homecoming
by misaoshiru
"I never expected you would see me here." Elizabeth was as gorgeous as she had been so many years ago, although she had transformed from the untamed beauty that had fought beside him against the East India Trading Company and Davy Jones's crew to a more subtle, mature look.
"Neither did I. Nor did I want to." He looked her in the eye, but she turned away, almost guiltily. "How...?"
"How do you think? I drowned." While her appearance may have become somewhat subdued, Elizabeth's personality was every bit as fiery as ever. "I found that I couldn't resist the sea any more than you or Jack could, and...here I am."
"Oh, God. Elizabeth, I never wanted to have to ferry you. Any of the others...Jack, or Gibbs, or any of them, well, I'd be sad for a moment, but I could do it. But you..."
"Whoever said I'd just sit back and let you ferry me? What if I wanted to join your crew, Captain Turner?"
"What? But, Elizabeth..."
" 'But' what?"
"I...you...it's no place for you. It's all harsh, backbreaking labor with very little time to rest; that's why I refused to let you come along before, and I'm standing by that choice."
"So, you're saying you don't think I can handle it?"
"What? No, that's not what I'm saying at all! Listen--"
"Because that's what it sounded like to me, Will. Have you forgotten the times I fought by your side, or the times when I near worked my tail off trying to save you or Jack and ne'er once complained?"
"Elizabeth..."
"No, Will. No more excuses. No more arguments. I can handle manual labor, but I could never survive - figuratively, of course - an eternity without you."
A reluctant smile. "I take it that you're not going to give me any other choice?"
"No."
"If I must, then. Do you fear death?"
"Only as long as you're still alive."