Author: My first venture into the POTC fandom, and personally, I think that it turned out good enough. So, here's the steps: 1) Read, 2) Gush!!, and 3) REVIEW!! I love you guys, and give a shoutout to MindoftheChildishlyNaive and Nimblnymph who both looked over this for me! I love you guys!

Disclaimer: I never owned pirates, never will... but I own pirate treasure. -grins-

Incomplete

Elizabeth stared out of the window, her eyes taking in the busy town once more. It seemed that things never settled down here. It was different from Port Royal, a world away from her home. Her heart clenched as the memories came flooding back without warning. Her father's smiling face... the way that Will's voice always sounded so gentle when he spoke to her... passionate in a way. The loving eyes of James as he watched her move around him. There were so many things that she wanted to remember and forget about that place.

For almost five years she had lived in this small house on the edge of the bustling town. She had come here with nothing, but now, she had almost everything she could ever wish for... just almost. And almost was never everything or enough. So, her life continued. It was no fairytale story, and there would never be a happy ending, but there was life and that was good enough. She turned, tired eyes landing on the door as she heard the almost nonexistent footsteps of a visitor. The action of standing up took much more effort than it should have, but she pushed the thought aside. It had been a long five years... and she still had five more to go.

"I'm coming!" her voice seemed to echo within the small house as she moved to the door. With every step, it seemed as though she'd never get to see who was on the other side. A soft knock sounded from the door, calling to her to hurry up. She wrapped her hand around the doorknob, twisting and pulling in one swift motion. Their eyes met, and a floodgate opened.

"Jack..."

Empty spaces fill me up with holes
Distant faces with no place left to go
Without you, within me I can't find no rest
Where I'm going is anybody's guess

His smile was as brilliant as the sun. His eyes shone like diamonds, the mischief in them ever present. He offered a mock bow, pulling his hat from his head and dipping himself down in one smooth motion.

"My lady."

And at his voice, she remembered. Elizabeth remembered their lips crashing together as she pushed him against the mast, choosing his fate for him the moment her survival instincts kicked in. The way his flirting was an offhand thing, as though it wasn't the most important thing in the world, but it meant something. She could recall his voice as they sat in the sand, and the rum's effects grabbed them both up. The unforgettable passion in his voice as he described the Black Pearl... as he described his freedom.

Yet, just as some of those memories warmed her, their side effects chilled her to the bone. The oppressive guilt that had held her in its grasp until they reached him. The feeling that she was no more than the means to an end with him. The idea that he needed no one but that damned ship and rum to survive. Everything in this world is cause and effect, including our memories. Standing there, staring at a man she hadn't seen in almost six years, that startling reality closed in around her once more.

I try to go on like I never knew you
I'm awake but my world is half asleep
I pray for this heart to be unbroken
But without you all I'm going to be is, incomplete

Jack looked around the small house as she let him in, a smug look on his face. Within two seconds of arriving, he had both stunned Elizabeth into silence and received a very harsh slap to his cheek. The slap he deserved, but he wasn't so sure about the dead quiet that surrounded them. He glanced down the hallway, noticing that one of the bedroom doors was slightly ajar, a faint light trickling forth from it. He knew. Without asking or looking or sizing Elizabeth up, he knew exactly what was in that room.

"How old?" his voice had a strange quality to it. Like that of a father when he first sees his child, stunned and humbled by such a beautiful being. Elizabeth looked up at him, her eyes daring a look down the hallway before she turned away. It was safe to look out the window... it was always safe, for at least she didn't have to look at him.

"He'll be turning five in a couple of days."

He raised a silent eyebrow in her direction, something in his eyes changing. Staring at her, he was reminded of why he had even died in the first place, but she also brought to mind memories of life. Memories of the sea and the Black Pearl, of the single word that he held to his heart and based his life around, freedom. Jack opened his mouth to speak, to inform her that it was rude not to introduce him to the boy, but was cut off by her sudden question.

"You came alone?"

It needed no answer. Off and on, for almost his whole pirating life, he had been alone. Even on the Black Pearl, surrounded by his crew, he knew not what it was to be in a crowd. Anyways, he had been sailing by himself for the last five years. After losing the Pearl, he had went after it, but eventually he gave up. As Barbossa had so kindly informed him, the pirates were of a dying breed. Soon, the oceans would be too small for them. A sigh escaped from his lips, letting her know that she was correct in her assumption.

"Jack, why did you-"

"You know, love, there was a chance. Between us, I mean."

Voices tell me I should carry on
But I am swimming in an ocean all alone
Baby, my baby
It's written on your face
You still wonder if we made a big mistake

"I told you, it never would've-"

He smiled, turning his eyes upon the light in the hallway once more. There, lying in that bedroom, was the only proof of the bond between Elizabeth and Will. Try as he might, Jack could never hate the boy, though. It wasn't his fault... truth be told, it wasn't anyone's fault. He had given up too soon, and she had stopped trying before it was even started.

"Joking, love, joking." he held up his hands in mock defeat, offering her another one of his dazzling smiles. Elizabeth looked away, wrapping her arms around her waist. He infuriated her. She could never tell if he was telling the truth, or flat out lying. To him, it was an advantage. To her, it was just another one of his qualities that pissed her off.

"Come now, don't be mad, love." he reached out his hand, his fingertips brushing against her shoulder as a way to grab her attention. She shivered, but looked over at him. Their eyes met, and she turned away. Her mind searched for something, anything, to lay out on the table between them. So she grabbed, and she ran.

I try to go on like I never knew you
I'm awake but my world is half asleep
I pray for this heart to be unbroken
But without you all I'm going to be is, incomplete

"His name is William. William James Turner."

His quickly turned his eyes to her, thrown off by the sudden change of subject. What was it with women and the need to talk about the most random things? He shook his head, leaning back in his seat.

"It's a good name. A strong name, for his son."

Elizabeth nodded, finally turning her eyes back to him. It was painful, in a way, to see him sitting there. To know that Will was so far away, oceans and miles and worlds away, while Jack was sitting in front of her, only feet and inches and moments away. So they sat there, only feet and inches and moments away, and let the silence surround and consume them. It was almost sunset by the time he finally stood from his chair. She looked up at him, her eyes different... more mature and somehow showing exhaustion beyond her years.

Of its own accord, her arm reached out. Her fingers twisted around his jacket, holding him there. Jack made no attempt to pull away, but just stood there, frozen. Seconds passed, and then minutes, before she finally released his arm.

I don't mean to drag it on
But I can't seem to let you go
I don't wanna make you face this world alone
I wanna let you go (alone)

"Ten years is a long time to wait, love..." he whispered into the darkening room.

Elizabeth looked up at Jack, and she really looked at him. She memorized every wrinkle and trinket, and remembered every look that she had ever seen on his face. Yet this... this was Jack Sparrow. Raw and out there, like she had been on so many occasions with Will and he with her. So, she smiled.

"I know, but these ten years... and the ten years after those... they will never compare to the time I spent waiting when he was right beside me all along."

Jack knew then, that there had never been a point to his visit. She was already in love, with a man that was worlds away and yet right here at the same time... down the hallway asleep in the last room. Without seeing the lad, Jack would bet money that he was almost the spitting image of his father. A painful reminder, if he did think so himself.

"Try to take care of yourself then, love." he turned, and he left. Jack left Elizabeth sitting at the table in her small home, he left the house and the road and the town and the island. He left, and as he was sailing, he wondered why he was trying so hard to get so far away. In the end, he would go back and visit her and the lad... eventually anyways. Maybe Gibbs would accompany him, or Barbossa. He raised the small sails on his dinghy, and he sailed on. As proud as he would ever be, considering what he was traveling in. After all, he had a ship to catch.

I try to go on like I never knew you
I'm awake but my world is half asleep
I pray for this heart to be unbroken
But without you all I'm going to be is, incomplete

Five years later, Elizabeth stood on the cliff that overlooked the ocean and all of its glory. Standing beside her was her ten year old son, William. He looked almost exactly like his father, dressed in his pirate outfit that Jack had brought for him on one of his short visits. The boy stood beside his mother, his voice soft as he sung the pirate tune that he had learned from his Uncle Jack.

The sun was close to setting, so she waited. Elizabeth wrapped one arm around her son and she waited, waited for the green flash in between sunset and sunrise... she waited for the one she loved. William's eyes were staring intently at the horizon, waiting. After all, he had never met his father before. Elizabeth held her breath, the flash so brilliant and beautiful that nothing else compared to it... nothing but the ship that appeared in it's wake.

She stood up straight, a gentle look on her face as she ship sailed closer and closer to the island. Hanging from the ropes, staring at her like she was the goddess Callipso, was Will. In that moment, all the holes from the past ten years were filled. This was the moment that she had been waiting for. The moment that she would wait for everyday until she died. The feeling of completeness that overcame her, the moment of truth between night and day... the flash of green that signaled his homecoming.

Incomplete

Jack smirked, watching Elizabeth and her soon. His eyes had picked up on the ship the moment it appeared, and he knew exactly who was on it. The man that had taken so much from him, and given so much in return to the world. The betrayer and the betrayed. A man named Will Turner. Captain Jack Sparrow pushed away from his rock and started towards the duo. Something told him, like it or not, he would be watching the lad for the night.