Disclaimer: Pirates of the Caribbean belongs to Disney, I own nothing
A/N: Hey guys! This is my second story here on I know I only have one chapter up for the other one but I guess I just got two ideas I have to get down! R&R, con/crit is appreciated )
A/N: Enjoy!!!
It had been only a few months since the battle with the East India Trading Company. Only a few months since she married the love of her life (at least, who she believed, or wanted to believe, to be the love of her life). Since he was killed and saved and bound to a ten-year curse, leaving her alone and devoid of company. And only a few months since she last saw Jack. Strangely enough, the latter event was the one that upset her most. She missed the dashing, cocky, and attractive pirate captain. Captain Jack Sparrow: a man to be remembered. A man that she loved. Not that she would ever admit it to him, much less to herself. Still, every night that she spent on that spit of land with nothing but the beating of her husband's (the word sounded weird to her every time she said it) heart to comfort her, she wished on all the power in the world that Jack would come back to her and whisk her off into another one of their adventures. She tried to kiss him goodbye but he refused. She couldn't blame him, after all, it was a kiss (from her) that lead to his death in the first place. Will had told her to keep a weather eye on the horizon but she was more and more tempted to look away each day. She longed for the sea. She wanted to feel the wind in her hair and breath the salty air and drink rum with… no! I shouldn't be thinking about him! I should be thinking about Will. I have to be faithful to him… I promised. No more thinking of Jack. He never even cared about you anyway. He's not going to come. And that realization hurt more than a knife to the heart.
Meanwhile, Jack was in a predicament of his own. It had only been a few months since Hector Barbossa, the mutinous traitor, once again stole the Pearl from him. He was left in Tortuga with Gibbs and the navigational charts to the Fountain of Youth. Once in his dinghy, he set a course for the fountain using his trusty compass. He had no idea that it would lead him to… her. Once he arrived at his destination, he noticed it was an island. It seemed familiar but he paid no mind to it. He was about to take out his compass when he heard a gun cock behind him.
"Don't…move." Said an all-too familiar voice.
Slowly, he turned around to come face to face with the woman that had been haunting him for the past few months. When she saw who it was, she dropped the gun in the sand with her jaw hanging down. He came! He actually came!!!
"Now, now, Luv. No need to make the same mistake again."
Her smile fell at this comment. She then remembered that they had never cleared up the kraken issue. She looked at him with tears in her eyes and gave him a huge hug. He took a few steps back, startled, but then gave into the hug and embraced her tightly. She was sobbing into his chest and he ran his hands up and down her back.
"There, there, Luv. No need to cry."
She pulled away and looked him square in the eye.
"I'm so sorry, Jack. I know I said I wasn't, I lied. I was, am, truly sorry. Please forgive me…?" she said in a meek voice that broke his heart.
"Of course I forgive ye, Luv. Ye acted like a pirate. It was quite a defining moment for you." He said with a wide grin.
"How can you be so calm? I. Killed. You. And yet you act as though you're proud of me!"
"Luv, I am proud of you. I mean look how far you've come! From damsel in distress, to distressing damsel, to murderess, to pirate, to Pirate Lord of Singapore, to Pirate King. That's quite the record, Luv."
"Jack… wait…. What are you doing here? Where's the Pearl?"
"Well…"
"Don't tell me you were marooned again."
"Not exactly…"
"Barbossa took your ship, didn't he?"
"Maybe he did. What's it to you?"
She started to laugh hysterically.
"I've yet to see the humor in this, Luv."
"Well, that would make this the third time you've lost your ship. What's with the dinghy?"
"I've been sailing it around the seven seas looking for the Fountain of Youth."
"Hmm. Any luck?"
"None whatsoever. Buggering water must be fake!"
"That still doesn't explain what brings you here… to my island."
"Me compass... I mean the winds brought me here, Luv. Coincidence? Or fate."
"Coincidence, I'm sure."
"How long's it been, Lizzie?"
"A few months. Have you heard from Will?" she said hesitantly.
He cringed when she spoke the whelp's name. Why must she always bring him up at the worst of times? He put on a fake smirk and waved his hands in the air for emphasis.
"No, Luv. I've not. He is rather busy, you know, ferrying souls and whatnot. Can't slack off on the job or he'll end up just like Jones."
"It's only been a few months and it feels like years… Not because of how long I've been away from him but… because of how much time I'm going to have to spend here. He gets to live forever and I'm condemned to rotting away on this spit of land while the sea calls to me with every wave."
"So go to her."
"Jack, you know I can't."
"Why not?"
"Because. If I'm not here in 10 years… if I don't remain faithful, then he'll be cursed to sail the seas forever. I don't want to do what Tia Dalma… I mean Calypso did to Jones. Will isn't a monster and I'd hate myself if I could ever turn him into one."
"Following your heart isn't betrayal, Luv. All that matters… is that in 10 years, you're here awaiting his return. Besides. If ye help me find the Fountain, you won't have to worry about him outliving ye. You two could have an infinite number of one-days."
Why are you saying this, you stupid idiot?! You're helping her to be with him! Why? Because you're a good man. Bugger.Her eyes did not widen and her jaw did not drop. She just smiled a small smile that did not reach her eyes. It didn't fool him. She wasn't happy, but why, he wondered.
"Oh… that's wonderful! Wait… but Calypso said that if I'm faithful for those 10 years, Will could be free from the curse… So there's no reason for me to go. There's nothing for me there."
"But he'll still be immortal. And you'll grow old. Now, that sounds like a grim fairytale ending to me, aye?"
"I suppose. Well, how will we get there?"
"We're not too far from Shipwreck Cove. The dinghy's big enough for the both of us. We'll arrive and, being the Royal Highness that you are, ye can get us a ship and a crew!"
"What about the Pearl?" she asked disinterestedly.
"I'll worry about her later. Besides! Barbossa'll want the charts that I possess. He might even trade one for the other."
"I'm sorry, Jack. I know how much she means to you. It must be awful for you… It must be terrible to lose your ship. Again."
"Aye… but not as terrible as losing other things, savvy?" he said, eyeing her up and down.
"Yes, losing immortality is horrible as well. I never got a chance to thank you for saving Will. I know how much you wanted to be immortal. But you gave it up for Will. I never knew you liked him that much."
"Truth is, Luv… I don't."
"What do you mean?" she asked curiously.
"I mean I didn't do it for him."
"Then, why?"
"I did it for you."
"For me?" she asked in shock.
"You looked so sad, so… hopelessly unhappy. I couldn't just stand by and let him die. Think nothing of it, Luv. In some ways, I punished the lad. Keeping him away from you."
"It's better to be bound to a ship than dead."
"Aye, it is. You look good."
"Thank you. It's the hair, I'm sure." She said, playing with her once-long now-short golden locks. Then she remembered the story behind her now short hair. If only he knew… After many moments of silence, Elizabeth said something involuntarily.
"I'm glad you came."
"What, Luv?" he asked, after being shaken out of his reverie.
"Nothing. I'm just… Never mind. Come on. We're not going to sail tonight. It's almost sunset. Let's go to my cottage, we'll bunk for the night and sail first thing in the morning."
"You've a cottage here?"
"Well, of course. What did you expect, that I'd be sleeping in the sand?"
"No. I didn't even expect you to still be here!"
"Then you don't really know me at all."
"So where's this cottage of yours?"
"It's just up the hill."
"Lead the way, Your Majesty."
She frowned at that comment and started walking up the hill, Jack walking slowly behind her, admiring her beautiful silhouette.