Love Always Forgives

Disclaimer: Yes, I own it all! Disney? What are you talking about!

Elizabeth woke up in the morning slowly, as she usually did. Only this time, her head hurt. She vaguely remembered drinking… laughing with Jack… with Jack! Suddenly, memories of the previous night rushed it. She sat up in horror. There, right next to her, lay Captain Jack Sparrow, with not very much on, fast asleep. Actually, to be precise, with absolutely nothing on, but at least there was a blanket. Then Elizabeth realized that she wasn't wearing much either.

Good God! She couldn't believe she had done this! Now that the first shock began to fade, she burned with shame. Will… she was supposed to be faithful to Will… How could this have happened? In horror at the position she was in, she scrambled out of bed, and hurriedly put on her most modest dress, one that buttoned all the way up to her neck.

She was powerless with despair. Will had trusted her, and she had broken that trust, betrayed him, and with Jack! She had mistaken passion for love, and hungry for a man, she had almost thrown herself at Jack… she buried her head in her arms and sobbed helplessly. Not only had she been unfaithful, she had ruined any chance at a normal life with Will. Because now he was doomed to sail the seas as captain of the Flying Dutchman forever. And it was all her fault.

Then a wild idea occurred to her, like someone grasping at a thin strand of hope where there was none. No one must know about it. She would make Jack promise that he would never tell and if nothing came of it… Why, no one need know! She could keep this from Will for the length of her life, hide it in her soul.

Jack turned over, drawing her attention to him.

"Oh, morning, love," he muttered, turning to face her sleepily.

"Jack, please don't tell anyone," she blurted out frantically.

"Tell anyone what? Oh, our activities of last night! I must say, that you were very enthusiastic…"

"Jack! Promise me you won't tell anyone!"

"Don't worry, I won't. But I trust you'll be just as obliging next time?"

She slapped him in merciless fury. "Shut up! I can't believe I did that! I won't ever betray Will again, do you hear me? Never!"

"Really?" Jack asked. "My presence tends to work miracles on you, my dear Lizzie."

"Get out!" she screamed at him. "Get out of my house and never come here again! I never want to see your face again!"

"Really, love?"

"Go to hell!"

"Been there and back," Jack answered casually.

"Well, stay there next time! Get dressed and get out!"

Jack got out of bed, apparently unperturbed, and Elizabeth sank down weakly on a chair and buried her face in her arms again.

"Why are you so worried about it, love?" Jack asked. "I've never yet seen a woman who didn't cheat on her husband at least once,"

Elizabeth looked up, hatred in her eyes. "Don't you understand? I wanted to make the best wife I could for Will! And you came and ruined it all!"

"Did I?" Jack asked, raising an eyebrow. "I don't remember forcing you into my bed."

She stood up. "Get out! Don't you see? I've doomed Will! I've doomed him for eternity! And it's all your fault!"

She was so angry, she grabbed a kitchen knife from the table and jumped forward, at Jack, the knife ready to sink up to the hilt into his chest. She wanted to kill this man who had caused her downfall. But she felt a hand stronger than hers around her wrist, wrenching the knife from her.

"Stop it, Lizzie," Jack whispered, holding her back.

"I hate you!" she sobbed brokenly. "I hate you!" and she was sobbing it into his shoulder and she wasn't sure why she was there.

"Please leave," she whispered. "Please,"

"Alright, Lizzie," he said, "I'll come back in a few months, shall I?"

"No," she said, surprised at how steady her voice was. "No, don't come back. I'm going to try to repair the damage I've done,"

"Goodbye, then." Jack said, and with a swift kiss on her forehead, he left.

TEN YEARS LATER

"Will," Elizabeth whispered. "I'm so glad you're back."

Will kissed her, and she couldn't help but remember that the last time a man had kissed her was Jack on that horrible night.

Later that night, when she lay by Will's side, she couldn't stand it anymore.

"Will, the curse isn't broken," she blurted out.

"What are you talking about?" Will asked.

"I – I haven't been faithful to you," she whispered. The silence that followed the words was awful. She had to speak.

"I was almost ten years ago. Jack came to see me only a month after you left, and I – I still can't believe I did it,"

There was another long silence, more dreadful that the first.

"Whose child is it?" Will asked. His voice was, to her surprise, gentle.

"I – I don't know," she whispered.

Then Will said something she never expected. "Don't worry about it. Elizabeth, would you be happier with him?"

"No!" she cried, sitting up it bed. "You don't love me anymore, but I'll do anything to get your love back!"

"But I do love you," Will whispered.

"You – you still love me? After what I've done?"

"It doesn't matter," Will told her softly. "If you don't love him, it doesn't matter. It's love that counts, not who you spent one night with."

"But the child – "

"It's ours," Will told her. "Yours and mine,"

"How do you know?"

"I just do," he said. "I can feel it."

"Oh, Will, I don't deserve you. You're so good."

The next evening, they stood on the beach.

"Will, the curse isn't broken." Elizabeth said.

"I don't care," Will said. "I've waited for ten years for you, and I won't wait anymore. Even if it isn't broken, I'll be here."

They watched the sun sink in silence. And relief exploded in both their hearts as nothing happened.

"It's broken!" Elizabeth cried, and Will caught her up and swung her through the air, laughing aloud with joy.

When Elizabeth and Will got home, she found a rolled-up paper on the window sill. Wondering who on earth could have done that, she picked it up. Opening it, she saw Jack's surprisingly neat handwriting. She was tempted to throw it right back out the window, but she read it instead.

Dear Elizabeth,

I petitioned to Calypso on your behalf. I told her it was my fault and that I had forced you into it. The curse is broken.

Captain Jack Sparrow.