Author's Note One: So. This was part of a series, but the series died and can't be called a series; if it still were a series, this would be the first one. Now it's more or less a stand alone oneshot, and I kinda like it. (I like it more than the others that would've been in the series, anyway.)
Diclaimer: If this were my movie, this oneshot would cease to exist; Elizabeth would've never stabbed Will in the back, and Will wouldn't be sitting there heartbroken. Jerks.
Author's Note Two: Let it be known I'm a Will/Elizabeth shipper. This oneshots sounds Jack/Elizabeth, and to an extent maybe it is...because poor Will doesn't know Elizabeth's reasons for what he saw. This has to be at least a little close to what he was thinking, then...Gosh! Poor guy!
BETRAYED
Thunk.
Will Turner pulled the knife his father had given him out of the wooden table for a number he long ago lost count of.
It wasn't the only thing he had lost. The woman he loved sat mere feet away from him, refusing to meet his gaze. If what he had seen was the truth, then Will knew he had lost her too.
Thunk.
His eyes bore into her figure, trying to understand what he had seen. Trying to comprehend what it had meant. Trying to read the true meaning of the grief written all over her face.
Because, surely, it couldn't be there for the reason he thought it was.
Thunk.
The knife went into the table, and moments later was removed, a new indent present amongst the many others.
He assumed Elizabeth Swann was grieving over the loss of Jack Sparrow, as were they all. But her grief was deeper than the rest, and Will thought he knew why.
Thunk.
While the rest of the crew, he included, file into the longboat, Jack and Elizabeth had stayed behind. Will had only looked up at them once, and it that single moment his entire life hung in balance.
There was Elizabeth, his fiancée, the love of his life, kissing Jack Sparrow, a man he begun to trust to a certain extent, to consider a friend.
Thunk.
Now here Elizabeth sat, lost in her own thoughts, wallowing in grief. She was much more affected by this than any other, even Gibbs, the closest thing Jack had to a best friend.
There was only one explanation, though Will found it hard to accept.
She loved him.
Thunk.
If there was one thing Will knew about Jack Sparrow, it was that he was a selfish man. Always putting himself before anyone else on God's green Earth.
But, in his last moments, Jack had done something Will would have never thought he was capable of. He had put others before him. He had volunteered to stay behind. To give them all a fighting chance.
Why would Jack condemn himself to death, and let everyone else escape?
It was a funny thing, what someone would do out of love for another.
Thunk.
Take him, for instance. He should be beside himself with joy that the man who had almost taken Elizabeth from him wasn't here anymore. That he wasn't there to keep Elizabeth from returning to him. That he was dead.
That's the way he should feel.
So why was he wishing there was some way to bring Jack back?
He loved Elizabeth, and wanted her happy—whether it be with him or not.
Funny thing, having so much love for one person that you could let them go.
Thunk.
Elizabeth had betrayed him, sure as he was sitting here. No one would be surprised if he was angry with her, if his love for her wasn't within him anymore, if he hated her.
Was he angry with her? Will could only describe what he was feeling as shock. He was too numb to do much more than throw the knife into the table and stare at her. Maybe, when the situation fully grasped him, he would be hurt, but never angry. Not at her.
Not love her anymore? No, he loved her still. How could he not? Will couldn't fall out of love with Elizabeth anymore than he could control her feelings for him.
Hate her?
He could never.
Thunk.