Thaw

The tension on the Black Pearl was as thick as the fog surrounding the ship.

The crew went about their work, mumbling to themselves, and giving each other significant looks to the three members who were trying their best to pretend the others didn't exist.

Elizabeth Swann looked out toward the sea, the wind whipping her long hair back, her scarf barely keeping it from becoming a tangled mess. She sighed deeply as a tear ran down her cheek. They had fulfilled their mission, they had gotten Jack back thanks to a bit of luck and magic, but the space between she and Will still felt large.

She hadn't been the same person since leaving Jack to his death. That was the kind of thing that changed someone forever, and no matter that she sought to make it right, it had still caused great tension in her relationship with Will. She had been single-minded in her quest to find Jack, and though the voyage had caused a strain on their relationship, Will had remained her kind and loyal friend, always at her side no matter what. He never said, but she believed that he knew what had happened and just how it was that Captain Jack Sparrow, scoundrel of the seven seas, had suddenly gone noble and decided to go down with the ship.

Elizabeth wiped the tear away. Could Will forgive her for leaving Jack to his death when she couldn't even forgive herself?

William Turner expertly sharpened the blade in front of him. It wasn't really dull; he just needed something to do. He glanced over at Elizabeth and sighed sadly. Ever since Jack's death, she had become more and more withdrawn. She had been willing to do whatever she could to bring Jack back, and Will had to admit it bothered him a little. Her passion for him had waned when her obsession to bring Jack back had surfaced.

And after what he witnessed…

Will shook his head. His rational mind understood what Elizabeth had done. She knew the Kraken had been after Jack and not them. And as much as Will was an honorable man and Jack was a friend, there were only so many times you could be made an unwilling sacrifice by Jack to some beastie before you realized that your loyalty to each other was a bit shaky. No, he didn't want Jack to die, but he didn't want Elizabeth to die either, and Jack had gotten himself into this mess to begin with, so if consequences had to be met, he was the one who should take them, not the others. And when the opportunity to save Jack arose, and he saw how much it meant to Elizabeth, he joined in.

But a bit of his mind couldn't get past the kiss.

His rational mind understood it was her way of tricking him to chain him there.

But the irrational part of his mind wondered if she had wanted to do that all along.

He glared at Jack. The pirate was alive and well, now he was going to pay for the ruin he had caused in his wake.

Captain Jack Sparrow stood at the wheel, eyes to the horizon. He had been uncharacteristically silent since his return, which had caused some of the crew to question whether he was yet alive. A ghost, some said, or one of the undead, chained to the ship for all eternity. He smiled at that. Sometimes he felt like that, a thing of the ether whose only reason for being was the ship. Without the Pearl, he would disappear, for what else did he have? The only company he had in his bed at night he paid to be there, and the crew had mutinied once, it wasn't out of the realm of possibility that they would do so again. His gaze shifted between Elizabeth and Will, the closest thing to friends he had.

And one had killed him and the other looked like he wanted to.

Jack nodded to Gibbs, who came to take the wheel.

"I'm goin' for a stroll," Jack said to him.

Gibbs followed Jack's gaze. "I'd leave her be, Cap'n. That one's been in a bit of a mood since you've been gone. Having a woman aboard's bad enough, but a weeping one, that makes the crew a bit skittish."

"She's doing it again, Gibbs," Ragettisaid as he passed.

Jack smiled. "Well, if the lass is mourning my untimely demise, mayhap I best go attend to her."

"Regretting your decision now, love?"

Elizabeth looked up to see the swaggering Jack looming over her. She narrowed her eyes. "What, going through all of this trouble to save you, you mean?"

"Meaning your sending me to my watery grave," he said, sitting down next to her. "Now I have to tip my hat to the pirate that bests Captain Jack Sparrow in a battle of wits to save her own hide." He took off his hat to hold it over his heart and regarded her seriously, his dark eyes seeming to look into her soul. "And the hide of the inestimable Mister Turner." He gave a meaningful glance to where Will was sitting, obviously pretending to ignore the two of them and failing. "But when the ever-so honorable William Turner looks at the beautiful Miss Swann..." he trailed off to run a grubby hand along her cheekbone. "Does he see the heart of a woman who would do anything to save her love?" He grabbed her by the hair forcefully and brought her head closer, so that their lips were so close that they were almost sharing the same breath. "Or does he see the black-hearted murderess pirate?"

Elizabeth was torn between wanting to close that narrow gap and put her back to respectability forever and wanting to draw a weapon on the charismatic pirate. She couldn't deny an attraction to the rebellious Jack, what good girl who until recently had always done what was expected of her wouldn't, but after all that she had been through, all that she had seen and done, attraction was wearing thin. The wild, adventurous life of a pirate was rapidly losing its glamour with her.

Jack moved closer to just barely nip her lower lip, when they both heard the unmistakable sound of a sword being drawn. Jack reacted with a knowing grin and slowly moved away from her.

"Kindly move away from my fiancee," Will said, keeping his sword pointing into Jack's back.

Jack smiled holding his hands up, and turned to face Will. "You're going to run me through after going through all the trouble to get me back in the first place?"

"I didn't do it for you," Will said, gaze steely. "I did it for her." He fixed Elizabeth with his eyes, seeing the look of awe on her face. He would do anything for her, didn't she realize that? Jack would do nothing but serve his own interests from now until the end of time.

"So you know what your dearest love did to me then?" Jack said.

Will frowned. "She lead you to your death, the same as you have done to us time and again."

"Right, but do you know how she outmaneuvered me?"

"Will," Elizabeth tried to interrupt, but Will answered him.

"She used what you wanted against you," he said, holding her gaze. Elizabeth looked away, but not before he could see the regret in her eyes. "It's been clear that there's a part of you that wants to be me."

Jack laughed. "A eunich? Hardly."

"An honorable, decent man. You cast aside respectability years ago, and a part of you wishes you had the back. Otherwise why'd you come back to the ship in the first place when the Kracken was attacking?"

Jack was silent.

"Elizabeth wants an honorable, decent man with the heart of a pirate. One that loves her and would do anything she asked." Will moved Jack aside and took her hand. "That's me, Elizabeth. I know we've been through so much since our postponed wedding, but I don't regret anything. My feelings for you haven't changed."

"Mine either," she said, tears springing to her eyes. "I love you, Will."

Will thought his heart would burst at seeing that. He gathered her into his arms and kissed her passionately, feeling the tenseness and pain of the past thaw from her body.

Jack smiled and turned away. "Not honorable or decent, eh? What would you call that, then?"

The End