It Isn't Over Till It's Over
By: xBuffyxSparrowx
Rating: PG-13 for mild language
Paring: You/Jack
Category: Angst, Romance
Disclaimer: I do not own Johnny Depp, Jack Sparrow, or anything incorporated with the two. All I lay claim to is my numerous fantasies… oh… and the 'you' character.
Summary: Sequel to 'When It's Over'. You let go the only man you've ever loved in order to save yourself from a life of waiting… wanting. Can you finally put aside your foolish pride in order to fill the hole his absence has left in your heart? Or will your unyielding nature force you to suffer the rest of your days with out him?
They say that forgetting someone you love is like remembering a person you never met. She doesn't know who 'they' are, but she damns them none the less for being right. Two weeks seem like an eternity to someone as empty inside as she is, despite the fact that it's her own damn fault. Ever since she forced away the only man she's ever given her heart to, the only person who could ever make her feel significant in a world of forgotten faces, she's paid dearly for it. He's always on her mind, her precious pirate, and appears on the face of every body walking down the street. The smell of him lingers on the wind, the taste of his skin on her tongue, and it's driving her to the brink of insanity.
Hope shines through the darkness of her despair because she knows that come sunrise, she'll hear news of him; just like she ordered. Yes, with pride thrown out the window, she had the object of her devotion followed by only the most trustworthy of people. No matter the cost or the additional pain, she's needed to know whether or not he's turned to one of them in her absence. That unspoken promise she'd made to him that fateful night still rings loudly through her mind like an unwanted mantra and it silently demands she follow through. So her best of friends will come to her with the new dawn bearing tidings of either grief, or the possibility of starting over.
As the morning light begins to force its way past her curtains of tattered silk, the moment she's been waiting for finally arrives. The knocking upon her door constricts her heart with the anticipation she's been trying to keep hidden and she calls for Liam's entrance into her quarters with a quiet whisper. His face is enough to almost kill any prayers of renewal, but that alone cannot stop her from pretending otherwise.
"What news?" She asks, daring to speak despite her shaky voice.
The silence that follows is deafening, bringing fear to her soul and it takes every ounce of will power to not begin weeping right then.
"Do you love him, this Captain Sparrow?" Liam questions.
"You know the answer as well as anyone, my friend. I would not have had you watch him were it any other way."
"Then dawn your hooded cloak tonight and follow me without question. There is something you need to see for yourself. Something no words from my own mouth could possibly assure you of."
The worst of scenarios flash through her mind, tearing her already bruised heart to pieces as tears fill her eyes.
"Is there another? If nothing else at least tell me if he has found solace in another," she begs.
"Just do as I say and all your questions will be answered."
A feeling of death and suffering no worse then she deserves fills her world with foreboding as she sits in the shadows awaiting Liam. She wears her hooded cloak, just as he asked, in order to better hide her shamed face and allow herself a small bit of comfort in knowing that her pirate would not be able to recognize her. Should her eyes bear witness to his legendary ability to move from one woman to another at least the sanctuary of her cover will shield her tears from penetrating gazes.
Out of the corner of her eye, she notices the staggering gate that only one man could possibly possess and her breath catches in her throat at the sight he presents. The keeper of her heart looks worn and bedraggled, like he hasn't slept in far too long and a feeling of guilt balls itself in the pit of her stomach. Could this possibly be the result of her rejection, or just the appearance of a man that's spent every night awake pleasing a lover who isn't her? With a shake of her head, she forces the imposing thoughts away and follows her pirate into a tavern before seating herself in the far corner of the room. The shadows continue to keep her from his sight while at the same time leaveing her in the perfect position to watch him as he orders a tankard of rum from a voluptuous bar maid.
Time passes with no meaning as she stares in confusion at this man who seems so beyond her reach now. Glass upon glass fills his table as he drinks himself into stupidity while refusing to look upon anyone who approaches him, including the one woman she knows he's never resisted before. The pout on the whore's face tells of his disinterest, but the expression seems lost on him some how. Questions plague her as the events unfold before her very eyes and it almost seems beyond belief that he's actually passing up a night with the islands most wanted of girls. With lips set in a grim line of determination, she keeps her seat and fights against the urge to go to him. A pirate doesn't change his ways, doesn't stay faithful and certainly doesn't fall in love.
Her resolve crumbles in an instant when those chocolate eyes penetrate the darkness to find her own and a spark so warm seems to fill them when before they were only void. What this sudden brightening means, she's not sure, but than again she's never been sure of anything when it came to him. An unseen force wills her to her feet before taking slow and unsteady steps in his direction and taking the empty seat beside him. Moments of quiet stand between them like a wall, built the moment she walked away and would crumble if only he touched her.
"I was wondering when ye'd show up," he says sadly.
"I'm meeting someone," she replies before the words can be stopped, inwardly smacking herself for saying them.
"Yer lover?"
"A friend. There was never another after you, Jack, though you can hardly say the same about me."
That light in his eyes dies quickly, dashed out by her words of distaste. Her hand finds itself reaching across the table for his, grasping the warm, calloused hand as if it is all that matters in the world and he stares at it as if hopeful.
"Pirate," he whispers half-heartedly.
A sigh escapes her lips as she brings her hand back to its rightful place resting in her lap and turns her gaze away from this sorrowful man before her, a shell of his former, cocky self. There isn't a doubt in her mind that something tragic must've occurred to make him like this, but the thought that it was possibly her leaving is just too much to hope for. After all, she was only ever a warm bed to him… right?
"Why are ye here?" He asks after a moment.
"I told you already…"
"Yer meeting a friend, aye I heard ye. Still doesn't explain why yer sitting at me table."
"If you're looking for me to admit that I've missed you, then you will be left wanting. In all honesty, I do not know why I'm sitting here. Maybe it's because I happened upon you lacking for company."
The familiar words spark something in his mind and she can almost see the wheels of thought turning inside him. His eyes search hers rapidly, hope shining through them in a manner that makes her wonder. Does she dare even dream that he shares her wish of starting over? The look in those chocolate pools certainly gives her reason to believe, but what of this past week? Has he taken another and what she's witnessed tonight only a charade? So many questions best kept silent for fear of their answers, but she just has to know.
"Jack… before another word is uttered that could give either of us the illusion of a tomorrow, there is something I must ask you. Has there been someone else… since that night, I mean?" She asks in desperation.
His sigh is deep as he averts his gaze to rest upon his drink and her dreams seem dashed in that very moment. Heart broken, she prepares herself for leaving when something peculiar catches her eye. A smile, a slight twitch upon the corners of those beautiful lips, which seems so out of place given the situation. He notices her stare and immediately the smirk fades into a look so serious that she becomes stuck in her seat.
"Luv, I've taken many women into me bed and all of them were cast aside by morning, if not before."
"I do not need to hear of your conquests…" she begins to interrupt.
"Just listen to me a moment. I've had a lot of women. I tried to find something inside of them that none of them possessed. Even while I had ye, I still searched, an' there's a reason for it. What I was looking for happened to be everything ye carried but I never realized it. Not until ye were gone. I looked for the smallest part of you in all of those women an' twas only once ye left that I understood what I was missing. You, darlin, an after ye were gone there could be no one else."
The truth of his words is evident in his eyes and because of this, tears spring into her own. It's with complete understanding that she gazes upon him now, knowing that this is the man behind the pirate speaking to her. All of it seems so surreal, like something her mind has conjured, that she can't believe the reality until she finds herself pulled onto her feet as his hands grasp her own. Those chocolate orbs stare down at her, bearing into her soul, and it's beyond any wish her heart might have made.
"I love you, little one. Forgive a man too blind to see the treasure right in front of him," he whispers, pleadingly.
Too choked up by tears to answer, she simply nods before throwing her arms around his neck. As she clings to him, he gives her shoulder a gentle kiss and then lifts her into his arms. Laughter bubbles from her throat as he carries her out of the tavern and down the street, heading in the direction of her home.
"Jack, I can walk you know," she giggles.
"Not once I'm through with you, luv."
The End.