Author's Notes:
Set at end of AWE. What if Will had died, and when Jack and Elizabeth had parachuted off the Dutchman, there had been no ship to save them? Our favorite characters, JE are once again stranded. (A lot of what ifs, I know, but please try to enjoy!)
Elizabeth clung tightly to Jack's tunic, terrified and shocked. Will was dead. Will. He was gone.
And secondly, she was flying several hundred feet above the water. Terrifying. She buried her head as far into Jack's chest as possible. Neither of them spoke.
Jack was for the first time, at a loss for words. True, young Turner had been annoying and quite bothersome in the beginning, but the two of them had become...dare he say it...friends?? Looking down at her head, not seeing but knowing there were tears, he felt hopelessly lost. He would have to be strong. For her, if for no one else.
Eventually he let them down, out of the eye of the storm, in the ocean. Land was in sight but far away.
"We'll have to swim for it," he said to Elizabeth who nodded; eyes glazed over. Jack turned away and started swimming, making sure she was actually following. They went on wordlessly for several moments until the silence became unbearable.
"Almost there, love," he started. "Just keep moving..."
Neither of them spoke the rest of the way.
The sky was darkening as they took their first steps onto solid shore. Elizabeth sunk to her knees, then moved so she could draw her arms around her kneecaps. Jack knelt beside her as he faintly heard the first stirrings of thunder.
"Lizzie...I'm goin' to see if there is someplace we can get out of this storm starting."
She shook her head but didn't look at him; didn't acknowledge his presence. Hesitating for a moment, he brought his hand to her back and gently touched her.
"Back in a moment."
Jack stood, then turned, heading towards the center of the island, hoping for some sort of cave or natural space in the rock where they could set something up to stay dry.
Elizabeth sat, motionless on the beach, save for her eyes following Captain Sparrow.
Her mind repeated a single word over and over. "Will..."