Ok, so this is what I've rewritten, and it's very different than the original. The writing, to me, is a bit off, but this is fanfiction, haha. Anyways, I hope you like it :) Please feel free to give me suggestions on fixing it, or tell me if something doesn't make sense.
And, I am deeply sorry to anyone who read the original and I just went away for so long. I will try hard to keep focused on this :)
I will reply to any reviews, so feel free to say anything. Unless it's spam, or irrelevant to anything about this story.
I don't own PotC or any of the characters, of course.
The Sea
Elizabeth sat quietly at her desk and stared at her reflection as her maid laboriously pinned her hair up into a complicated style.
She smiled nervously at her reflection and tried to calm her nerves. She was happy. She was happy. She was getting married today. Finally after waiting so long, she was getting married. She was marrying the man she loved. Her stomach fluttered at the thoughts.
Elizabeth Turner… It felt so different using it now. She liked the sound of it, it was so clean and it sounded… nice. She shifted in her chair and laughed to herself. She never thought she'd be so nervous on this day.
When she shifted again her maid, who was in her middle years, and old enough to be her mother, sighed and jerked Elizabeth's head into a different position. "Please sit still, Miss Swann."
Elizabeth smiled at the woman through the mirror. "Sorry, Nan, I'm just feeling so restless sitting here for so long."
The woman smiled and shook her head, looking back at Elizabeth's hair. "You will always be the little girl that had such trouble keeping her clothes clean."
Elizabeth smiled and sat still as the woman worked on her hair. After a long silence she said quietly to herself, "I can't believe we're finally getting married…" She started fidgeting again.
"Miss Swann…" Nan said impatiently.
Elizabeth giggled and tried to keep her mind blank.
XXX
Elizabeth leaned on the railing of her balcony and stared dreamily out to the sea. She hadn't put her dress on yet, but her hair was finally finished and she'd slipped away to be alone for a moment.
She couldn't wait until she and Will could go out and see the world. And live on the sea…
With thoughts of the sea came memories of all the things that had happened to them. And it brought up thoughts of a certain Jack Sparrow. She smiled as she remembered him. The moment she met him she had felt herself begin to change. When he came into her life, everything had changed. She had finally gone to sea and had an adventure incredible enough for the books she'd read so many times. If it weren't for him, she wouldn't be marrying Will today…
As she thought of him, she felt a strange hollow feeling in her. She realized she hadn't seen him for several months. She didn't know where he was or if he was even alive. She smiled when she realized she missed him and his mischievous eyes and his smirk…
"Elizabeth…"
Elizabeth was jerked from her thoughts and she stood up. She grinned when she saw Will. He came to her and pulled her into an embrace.
"I finally got away. I've wanted to see you all day." He laughed and smiled at her.
"If they catch you in here, Nan will throttle you herself." Elizabeth laughed.
Will pulled her into a hug and said, "I don't care, let Nan do whatever she wants." He ran his hand lightly across her cheek and leaned in and kissed her lightly. For a moment it felt like she was on a ship in the middle of a raging storm with waves splashing on the deck and the wind whipping her hair everywhere. When the kiss ended the sea was calm again.
With her eyes still closed, Elizabeth smiled and whispered, "I can't wait to get back to the sea."
Will didn't say anything. Elizabeth opened her eyes. He looked out to the sea and frowned. "I don't want to go back to the sea. I don't like what it does to me…" He looked back at Elizabeth with a torn look. "But I feel the same way as you. I want to be on the sea now, and never leave it…"
Elizabeth stared at him in shocked silence.
"I know you love the sea, Elizabeth, but…. I just don't think that's where we should be."
"You've never mentioned anything like this before… I thought… I thought we were going to live on the sea…. That's what I've always dreamed…"
"I'm sorry; I know I should have told you before…"
Elizabeth pulled away from him and turned to the view of the ocean. She felt like she was being thrown in a cage and she could never escape. She looked back at him. "What does the sea do to you, Will?"
He'd been standing with a hand resting on the balcony with his head down. He looked up at her. "The sea turns me into a pirate," he said bitterly.
Elizabeth sighed and wrapped her arms around him. "I'm sorry…"
His body relaxed in relief and he hugged her tightly. "I love you, Elizabeth and I want you to be happy…"
"I don't need the sea to be happy, Will." She kissed his cheek. Feeling tears burn in her eyes, she watched as the key to her cage was thrown into the black depths of the sea she loved almost more than anything.
XXX
Elizabeth was avoiding Nan and her other maids. She didn't want to get dressed yet. The wedding was still a few hours away and she wanted to relax before she was smothered with everything. Not like she was exactly relaxing, sneaking away from her maids, and running across the house. Well, walking quickly.
Elizabeth found herself standing at the docks, watching the ships and the sailors. Being so near to them and the water made her heart rip. She would never ride a ship again…
Then a strange thought entered her mind: She would never see Jack again. Elizabeth looked away from the ships. That was the second time she'd thought of Jack today. She hadn't thought of him so much before… had she?
She shook the thoughts away. She was just sad that she wouldn't get the life she had always dreamed of, a life on the sea.
Poor, Will, I hadn't realized how much he hated the sea. He's never said anything about it. Elizabeth's gaze returned to the ships. I love him more than a silly childhood fantasy.
Elizabeth watched the ships for a long time. When she finally realized how long she'd been there she jumped up and hurried back to the mansion.
XXX
"Miss Swann!" Nan cried in relief. "There you are, I've been looking everywhere for you!" Elizabeth cringed; she'd hoped she would have a little more time to think.
Nan sighed in annoyance when she saw Elizabeth's messy hair and dusty skirts.
"I'm going to have to fix your hair again. You really are still that little girl." She hurried Elizabeth back to her rooms to fix her hair again and get her dressed.
Elizabeth followed without protest and thought, I am still a child, all I can think about is how much I want to be out in the sea and how miserable I'll be.
As Elizabeth was squeezed into her corset her mind wandered to the sea again.
The kiss was passionate and Elizabeth felt her mind being swept away in it. She had never felt so hungry and eager to touch anyone before. She had never kissed like this before, with such need and emotion. And he kissed her with the same amount of passion and emotion.
She felt him bump against the wall of the cabin, but didn't open her eyes. She couldn't open her eyes. She was stuck in a hurricane aboard a ship in the sea and she was hanging on for dear life.
She felt him fiddle with her clothes. Suddenly she was thrown back into the world, the hurricane vanishing. She opened her eyes.
Elizabeth pulled away and looked at him and tried to tell him that she couldn't. He just smiled at her knowingly and released her. She stumbled back and stared at him.
"Jack… We should never have… I didn't mean…" She was suddenly horrified with herself. What had she done? She despised Jack! He was a dirty pirate who only cared for himself! How could she do this to Will?
She ran from the cabin and got as far from Jack as she could.
As the memory faded she fell to her knees. Tears poured involuntarily from her cheeks. She had almost blocked that memory from her mind. It had been the stupidest thing she had ever done. She had wanted it, though. She had wanted to be close to him and kiss him the moment she came near him when Will was gone.
Nan gasped and gathered Elizabeth into a hug. "What's wrong, Miss Swann?"
Elizabeth couldn't speak for a few seconds. She finally whispered, "I don't know…"
She had been the one to kiss Jack that day, so long ago now. She had been arguing with him about something she couldn't remember. Then she'd suddenly thrown her arms around him… Will hadn't been there. They were trying to find him, and she had betrayed him and wanted the man who had put him in Davy Jones' clutches. She felt disgusting and dishonorable.
She did not deserve Will.
She wanted to be with him, though. She loved him. The only reason these thoughts were bombarding her was because of what Will had told her earlier. He had been right. The sea turned into something she didn't want to be, couldn't be. This way she would never see Jack again.
She loved Will. She had always loved Will. Jack was just a distraction to her. One she would make herself forget.
When Elizabeth composed herself she stood up and apologized to Nan.
She had never told Will about it. She had been too scared to.
Nan continued helping her put her dress on. She needed to talk to him.
XXX
She tried to tell him. She had found herself walking toward his room. She had gotten as close as her hand on his door handle. But she couldn't do it. She couldn't bear to think of what it would do to them. Instead she ran. She ran from his room, and from the mansion. She ran to the only place that ever gave her comfort: the sea.
Elizabeth was sitting in the sand on the beach with tears trickling down her cheeks. She would be getting married right now. She and Will would finally be together. She would be happy.
Instead she was sitting in the sand in her wedding dress, miserable and crying. And she was thinking about Jack.
Elizabeth sat in the sand until night fell. She couldn't move. Watching the sea let her feel like she didn't exist. Like no one existed.
When she heard the footsteps coming toward her she didn't look up. She didn't want to talk to Will. He was here and it just made her feel worse.
"What are doing here, luv?" His voice sent a shiver through her body. She looked up at him and smiled when she saw his dreadlocks and braided beard and that mischievous smirk of his.
"Jack?" she whispered. "Why are you here?"
He knelt beside her and put his hand under her chin. "I thought you were supposed to be married by now."
Elizabeth's smile disappeared and she turned away, feeling angry tears grow in her eyes. She wanted to tell him it was all because of him that she wasn't and that she was sitting here miserably in the sand. But she couldn't. She couldn't tell him that she couldn't marry Will because she was in love with… Jack.
She turned back to face him, surprised at the thought. She didn't love him. That wasn't possible.
"Jack," she started.
He smiled at her and stood up. He stretched a hand to her and helped her stand up.
"Jack," she started again.
He put a hand on her cheek and pulled her into a deep kiss. Elizabeth forgot what she had been trying to say and was swept away in the hurricane of their kiss.
