TITLE: Pearl Memories

RATING:K+

SUMMARY: The main characters (Elizabeth, Jack, and Will) thoughts after DMC.

WHAT IS THIS: A one-shot.
DISCLAIMER: The Mouse owns all, goddammit.

Warning: SPOILERS! Ye Be Warned.

Elizabeth

Her love for Will is real. Will is sweet and heroic. He loves her.

Jack was brash, rum drenched, dirty and cared for noone but himself and his Pearl. But the way he kissed her- the way she kissed him- made her doubt.

Made her doubt her love for Will.

And made her unsure.

Will inspired feelings of trust and goodness. He was the exact opposite of Jack who inspired feelings of mistrust and uncertainty.

The gleam in his eyes screamed dishonesty. She didn't know what he would do next. Would he betray her? Send her to the watery depths for his own selfish goals?

Or would he save her? Find some way to undo all the bad thoughts about him in her mind. Find some way to make her laugh or get angry.

Will is different. His hands are sturdy and his feet grounded. Will is solid and earthy.

Jack wasn't sturdy at all. He was slippery and unsteady. He was decidedly like water, slipping through her clenched fingers and sweeping her away all at the same time.

Why did she feel this way? Comparing Jack and Will wouldn't help anything. It won't make what she did okay.

It won't make what he tried to do to Will okay.

So why does she mourn him, think about him, hold the compass to her chest when she's alone?

She thinks of their kiss. His lips sliding over hers and the things he made her feel. His eyes rest on hers and he knows that not everything was done so he would be distracted. Jack isn't stupid. He respects her and enjoyed the distraction. She still feels the tingle of his lips and the taste of his mouth. The tender, knowing look is there on his face and she is momentarily surprised.

The last word he said to her was 'pirate'. She thinks he was accusing her. Accusing her of being like him. And she thinks that might not be so bad. Not when what she did was so much worse than anything he could ever do to Will.

But Will. Will could have died because of what he did. She loves Will. She values him. But...in a way she values Jack too.

And she doesn't know what to do because she thinks she might not only value him but love him as well.

But it's just a bit too late for that now. So she watches the compass needle spin and spin. Will is in the cot beside hers.

When she falls asleep she dreams of Jack. She dreams that the compass is pointing straight ahead and when she opens her eyes he'll be right in front of her and she won't be so hurt, angry, and scared like she was when she left him. She dreams that she never let him go.

Will

A shaft of moonlight on his face wakes him. Will opens his eyes slowly, painfully to look around. He sees Elizabeth turning in her sleep, the covers all the way to her feet. So he gets up groggily and makes his way to her. She's turned on her side, compass clasped in her hand.

Gingerly he pulls up the covers. She sighs and clutches the compass tighter.

Curious, he takes her hand in his gently and looks into the compass' face. He can hardly see the needle it's moving so fast. Then he knows. Knows everything and yet nothing. He knows he is no longer who Elizabeth's heart desires.

He remembers seeing Elizabeth and Jack kissing. His breath froze in his lungs. He couldn't remember ever having been so shocked or so embarrassed like this was something private, something he was never meant to know. But he does and that makes it worse.

He runs a hand through his hair letting his other linger on hers. He feels pathetic. If she no longer cares for him why should he care for her? But he knows it will never work that way. As long as she's still Elizabeth Swann he will always love her.

He knows he has nothing to offer her but his love and promise to always be hers. He still wants to be hers after all this. Still wants to be man and wife and that's the worst damn part.

But he can't be angry, only sad and filled with regret. Elizabeth sighs again and out of the corner of his eye the compass needle stops, twitches, and points to him. It's steady. He feels a surge of hope. All is not lost. He will free his father and, along the way, rescue a good man- a good pirate- from his fate. When he looks again, the needle is a blur, going faster and faster and never resting.

But it did rest on him. He climbs back onto his cot, face toward the moonlight, and makes two vows: to never stop loving Elizabeth and to never judge a man by his reputation even though he may deserve it.

Captain Jack Sparrow

Captain Jack Sparrow is drenched. Drenched in mucus, saliva, and he thinks maybe water too. Perhaps he's in the belly of the beastie. Perhaps he is just dreaming that he is in the belly of that horrible kraken. Feeling water and grime sink into his clothes he rethinks that. He most definitely is not dreaming this. And if he'd been dreaming there'd definitely be rum instead of nasty kraken juices.

Looking around, he realizes that one, it is very dark and two, that if he were in fact in the belly of the beast that it would probably not smell an awful lot like ground and earth. Now that he thinks on it it would probably smell a whole of a lot more like fish or someone's foul, rotten breath.

Perhaps the last circle of Hell isn't reserved for betrayers and mutineers after all. Maybe it is in fact reserved for handsome, eccentric, and very unlucky pirate captains.

Maybe he should stop using words like 'maybe' and 'perhaps' and just think about the facts.

The fact is that he doesn't know where he is but the last thing he remembers is confronting ol' Davy's beastie and...maybe...being eaten...? He shudders and tries not to think about being eaten.

He also seems to remember one passionate kiss delivered by one Elizabeth Swann. Cunning lass. Knew just how to get him.

He remembers her lips and he can't stop himself from wondering if she feels guilty, maybe even a little disgusted? But he didn't see disgust in her eyes. Only a shocking uncertainty and a tad bit of anger. He didn't really feel he deserved being chained. Slapped...possibly. Kicked in the family jewels...ow. But not being kissed passionately and not being allowed one more 'fore his end came.

Absently he wondered what happened to the Black Pearl. He'd practically gone down with his ship but he still didn't feel all that proud. He felt regret the Black Pearl was lost. Probably smashed to drift wood and canvas.

Elizabeth sprang to mind. Perhaps, maybe, possibly, he didn't care anymore about what happened to the Pearl. Perhaps there was something more important now that didn't have sails or a keel or a deck. Something that was freedom without all that.

And maybe- there's that word again- that freedom was searching him out.

OooOoOoOooOo

A/N

Yay! I wrote something remotely serious in nature! Praise me!

Yeah, I know Will's section is short. I really didn't know what to put for him and it not be really corny. I didn't really know what to do for Jack either but I think it came out alright. I originally thought to separate this into three seperate chappies but I decided to put the main characters together and give the minor characters their own for some reason.

I don't know if I should do the other characters but I'll do it if peeps really want me to. Review if you'd like and read if you want ta.