A/N: A quick short story for a friend's birthday. I'm not the hugest fan of POTC, but I did my best. I'm not too familiar with the character's personalities, so forgive me if they seem a little OOC.
"Why are you forcing me to do this?" a young woman, around the age of eighteen, complained.
"Your father just wants you to be happy." Her mother answered.
"Can you please hold your stomach in, miss? Maybe it would allow me to zip up this corset." A maid requested.
"Do you know I might end up fainting form this ugly thing? Take it off!" the woman named Elizabeth commanded.
"But miss—"
"Leave it to me." Elizabeth's mother interrupted. "You may go now."
The maid bowed before leaving the room.
"Oh, you look gorgeous Elizabeth."
"Gorgeous? Well I don't feel too gorgeous myself." Elizabeth Swann examined herself in the mirror. "Look at me! I look like a puppet doll! Why do you have to pick the most hideous dress ever? Why is there so much lace? I hate these ribbons. What—"
"Now, now. Don't be upset; your mother is right. You look wonderful and I'm sure your soon-to-be husband will agree with me." Her father, Governor Swann laughed.
"Please don't remind me I'm getting married to that man today." Elizabeth complained.
"What's wrong with James? I think he's well suited for you." Her mother admonished her.
"Commodore James Norrington is one of the most gruesome, despicable, and annoying men around." Elizabeth protested.
"Now, now, you're getting married today. Be positive. Commodore Norrington is very influential. He explained.
"Influence! Who cares!" Elizabeth exclaimed.
"Silence young lady. Now you will finish your preparations and after, I will meet you before we walk down the aisle." The governor scolded Elizabeth before exiting the room. Her mother looked apologetically at her daughter before following after him.
Elizabeth stared at herself in the mirror.
"Why me? Why can't I have the freedom of a normal woman? Why can't I choose my own husband? Why?" her eyes, glorified by makeup, started to close.
The tears started to flow.
Meanwhile…
"Will! Are you done yet?" a rough voice called out to a young man.
"Give me a minute!" the man named Will called back. He picked up a small rag and started cleaning a sword. With eyes filled with desire, he sighed and placed the sword in a long, thin case. Running up the stairs, he handed the case to the shopkeeper. Bowing once, he turned and went back downstairs.
He slumped against the wall, remembering the day before yesterday.
FLASHBACK
"Will! WILL! I think the governor is visiting our town tomorrow!" One of the workers in the blacksmith shop reported to him excitedly.
"And this is important because…?" Will answered with a slight frown. Who would want to see the governor? It was a waste of time in his opinion.
"William Turner, this is the first time that his daughter is coming along with him!" he protested.
"I didn't even know he had a daughter. Even so, I bet she is just as ugly looking as he is." Will shot back, annoyed. Who would want to see the daughter of a stuck-up pig?
"Who knows? Maybe you'll fall in love with her." He grinned as he punched Will in the arm. "I'll see you tomorrow."
The next day, trumpets were blasting noise throughout the whole town.
"You've got to be joking. Doesn't he know the whole town isn't deaf?" Will groaned and put on his trousers, boots, and white shirt. Leaving his house, he squinted in the sunlight before accidentally bumping into someone.
Or some people.
A crowd of villagers were gathered around the town center, excited at the governor's arrival. The chatter quieted when a fancily decorated carriage arrived. The two horses stopped trotting. Everyone was quiet when the carriage door opened. Governor Swann came out first, while his wife followed after.
"I know this is the first time seeing my daughter, and I hope everyone will treat her with the utmost respect." he announced.
The villagers nodded in agreement Will scowled.He focused his attention back on the carriage. She hesitantly got out.
He, like the other villagers, stared in shock.
She was beautiful, no doubt.
Her chestnut brown hair, curled to perfection, draped across her smooth shoulders. Her eyes, filled with curiosity, captured Will's heart. Her eyelashes, tinged with the color of the sunlight, sparkled. Her rosy red lips, spreading into a smile, sent flutters in Will's stomach.
Had he really fallen in love with a girl in just a matter of seconds?
END FLASHBACK
Yes, he really was in love with her. She was elegant, beautiful, and sophisticated. And he, Will Turner, was ordinary, low-class, and plain. He frowned as he saw his friend yet again.
"Will Turner, the woman of your dreams is getting married to James Norrington!" he seemed amused. "The governor has invited the whole town to come to the wedding in three days!"
"Three days?" Will muttered.
At the wedding—
"You've got to be kidding me." Elizabeth whispered as she peeked out the doors. "How many people did you invite?"
"Don't worry about that honey. Just smile and relax." Her father whispered back.
"Relax? I'm getting married to a man who I barely know!" Elizabeth protested.
"I'm not letting you go Elizabeth." Governor Swann replied before linking arms with his daughter.
The music, filled with the sounds of a piano and flute, echoed throughout the hall. The two maids opened the doors. Elizabeth took a deep breath, exhaling loudly, before stepping out onto the aisle. Hundreds of people stood up at the arrival of the bride and father.
It was too fake. Obviously. Too many ribbons, too many flowers, too much satin. It was all fake, just like her father. And her future husband.
Why were these people, the people who were supposed to love her and not use or show her off… why were these people so conceited and self-centered? Could they truly not understand her feelings at all, or were they ignoring them? And her mother, who was not only oblivious to her father's goals but was powerless to stop him, even if she did know.
Was she really alone?
Elizabeth braced herself as she went to stand by Norrington. She could see the bold smirk flittering on his pale face. She could see the maliciousness in his eyes. She could see the greed clearly shown on his face.
The one thing she could not see was his true love for her.
Scanning the audience (which consisted of more than five hundred people), she caught a familiar pair of eyes she had seen when she had visited that town…
These were different from her soon to be husband's.
These were eyes she wanted to trust.
"We are gathered here today…" the minister's words made her blink and focus her attention back on the wedding.
"If there is anyone who opposes this wedding let them speak now or forever hold their—"
"Excuse me. I would like to say something." Will Turner cleared his throat nervously.
It was him.
Elizabeth's heart fluttered for a slight second. She tried to suppress the smile that was starting to spread on her face. Oh, how she wished she could capture the picture of her father's face at the very moment.
"I would just like to say that I have fell in love with this woman from the very moment I set my eyes upon her."
A gasp went through the crowd. Elizabeth's eyes widened. Her father's face turned beet red in anger.
"I would like to ask Miss Elizabeth Swann here if she is willing to give me a chance at winning her heart." Will Turner continued before smiling. He bowed deeply.
"What is your name?" Elizabeth managed to ask. All eyes turned to rest on her.
"William Turner." She liked the sound of it. "Well, I would like to ask Mister William Turner if he would like to leave with me right now."
The audience stared, confused.
"You may start first." Will laughing, winking. Elizabeth curtsied to Commodore Norrington before fleeing out the doors.
"Elizabeth! Get back here, young man!" the governor roared before Will fled.
…
"Are they gone?" Elizabeth asked breathless. Will nodded. "That was amazing!" she smiled radiantly, but then winced.
"What's wrong? Are you hurt?" Will asked, eyebrows knitted.
Elizabeth groaned. "It's just these horrid shoes." She took off a heel.
"You ran all the way with those?" he asked incredulously.
"Of course." She sniffed. Will bent down, gently removing the second heel.
"I think we should celebrate." She laughed, tossing the heel in her hand. "You know, I never liked the color pink." She frowned at the sand covered shoe and looked at the sea.
"I have an idea." She grinned. Will looked at her, smiling back.
"To freedom!" Will threw the shoe into the waves.
"To freedom." Elizabeth agreed, laughing.
…
"You know, that was one cheesy dream."
"No it wasn't!" Will Turner argued, laughing.
"First off, you wouldn't dare confess to a woman on her marriage day. Especially if she isn't marrying you. Secondly, those lines were really corny." Elizabeth wrinked her nose in distaste.
"So you prefer getting married on a ship full of barbaric monsters who want to kill us?" Will questioned, a playful smirk on his face.
"Hey, anything's better than a corset and pink heels." She laughed.
"I'm glad you're my wife." He sighed.
"Same here." She smiled back.
"At least I got that part right in my dream."