He needed to see her. Needed to make sure that she was all right. Captain Jack Sparrow wasn't usually one to worry about someone else, which is why he never allowed himself to get close to a woman other than physically. He couldn't help worrying about Elizabeth Turner, nee Swann. Jack knew he shouldn't be worried about her since she was smart, cunning, knew how to use a sword, and was the Pirate King. Oh, how he had been proud of what she had become. Proud that she finally turned pirate. He wasn't happy that she left him as an afternoon snack for the Kraken, but he understood why she did it, so he wasn't that mad at her.

The only thing that bothered him was her "I'm not sorry." Those words made his blood run cold. They were so cruel and heartless. He knew that she wasn't heartless, but those words did sting, and he would only ever admit that to himself. Jack thought he was going mad- er, for wanting to see the woman who handcuffed him to his ship about to be devoured by a sea monster. Elizabeth leaving him proved that she really was a pirate, and that her heart belonged to Will. He should have known he'd never have a chance. Ever since their first adventure with Barbossa and his skeleton crew, Jack had thought that he and Elizabeth would be a good match, but she was so determined to save Will, that he knew that he would never have her heart. When she had kissed him, a little bit of joy filled him. By coming back to the Pearl, he was playing the hero, and she had come over to his side. Sadly, that wasn't the case. After she and the others rescued him from the Locker, it felt like Elizabeth didn't even care about him at all. He had to admit it hurt. Of course, she never said she didn't care, but she acted like she didn't. When they were back on board the Pearl, she never once talked to him over what she did.

To Jack, it seemed like he did everything he could for her, but she never really did anything for him. "Not true, mate. She stood up for you when Norrington was having you arrested. Yes, but only after I saved her. Would she have stood up for me if I hadn't? Probably not, because she'd be dead at the bottom of the sea, you blithering idiot. Well, what about when she burned the rum, which resulted in me once again being clasped in irons? It got you off the island, didn't it? You would have starved to death otherwise. Don't forget she saved you from the Locker. Yes, only after putting me there."

"Jack, you need to stop talking to yourself all the time. It's getting annoying."

Jack jumped, startled, to find Elizabeth standing there, smiling at him. He was embarrassed. Not because he was talking to himself, but because of what he was saying.

"Did you hear what I-?"

"Bits and pieces. What are you doing here?"

"Well, my liege, I came to see how you were faring."

"Oh, just fine, considering that I'm all alone, six months pregnant with a child who won't be able to see his father until he's nine, and the only husband I have is a beating heart locked in a chest."

Jack cringed at her tone of voice. She sure turned into a ruthless bitch since she became a pirate, but he liked it. For some strange reason, he liked it.

"Won't you come inside?"

Jack followed Elizabeth inside the cottage she was staying in at Shipwreck Cove. It wasn't much, but it was cozy, he had to admit.

"Care for some tea?"

"Rum, if you haven't burned it."

Elizabeth, surprisingly, did have rum. She handed a bottle to Jack, and he took it, bowing in thanks, and sat down in a chair. Elizabeth sat opposite him on the couch.

"How have you been, Jack?"

"Peachy. Barbossa took off with the Pearl again."

"Oh."

"Yes, oh. I outsmarted him, though. Got the charts to the Fountain of Youth."

Elizabeth couldn't help but let a small smile grace her face. Jack sure wasn't one to give up immortality. Well, except for when he did for herself and Will. For that, she would always be thankful.

"I heard everything you were saying, Jack. When you were talking to yourself."

"Oh?"

"Yes. And for the record, yes, I am a pirate now, I am no longer the damsel in distress Governor's daughter. I'm not sorry I burned the rum, I'm not sorry I used your feelings for me to distract you, I'm not sorry for chaining you to the mast for the Kraken, I'm not sorry I kissed you. I'm not sorry I stood up for you when you were being arrested, I'm not sorry I traded you to Beckett and Jones for Will, I'm not sorry I married Will, I'm not sorry I rescued you from the Locker. I'm not sorry I met you. Everything that's ever happened between us, Jack, I'm not sorry. I have no regrets."

Wow. Harsh words. Well, not all of them. He liked the fact that she wasn't sorry for the kiss, and not sorry for meeting him or rescuing him, but he sure didn't like her other answers. But he wasn't going to admit that. Wasn't going to admit that she had hurt him more with her words than anything else. He was a pirate, and wasn't about to let this one woman hurt him.

"But that doesn't mean I didn't feel guilty about leaving you. I would never do it again, but I'm still not sorry for doing it the first time."

Well, those words made him feel a little bit better, not much, but a little.

"So, what you're saying, luv, is I never had a chance with you, did I?"

"No, Jack. It was always Will, and always will be."

"I see. Well, now it's my turn. 'm not sorry I met you, either. 'm not sorry I gave up my chance at immortality for you and the whelp. 'm not sorry you kissed me. 'm not sorry I sent Will over to the Flying Dutchman to settle my debt. 'm not sorry I saved you from a watery grave, or for coming back to the Pearl when the Kraken was attacking her. 'm not sorry for anything that happened between us, either. Savvy?"

Elizabeth nodded her head, yes.

"Well, just came by to see how the King was doing."

"I resigned. The Brethren are in no need of a king at the present time, and I have no desire to be one any longer, anyway."

"Don't blame you. Those meetings are mostly boring, anyway."

Elizabeth knew Jack was hurting from what she had said, no matter how hard he tried to hide it. She would never admit to Jack that deep down, she really was sorry, and only told him otherwise, because she knew that he wanted her, and deep down, she wanted him, too, but she didn't want to hurt Will. If she broke and told Jack how she was really feeling, then she would hurt Will, and she had hurt him too much already.

"Well, I best be going."

"All right, Jack. Good luck with finding the Fountain."

"And good luck you you with the wee one," Jack said, motioning towards Elizabeth's round stomach.

"Thank you."

With that, Jack nodded and left. It was the last time the two of them would ever see each other.

FIN