Steam

She had fire in her soul

It was easy to see

How the devil himself

Could be pulled out of me

Elizabeth was in the midst of a war. The battle was a fierce one where losses were felt on both sides. As the violin's hauntingly sad and sweet melody cut through the air she contemplated the situation she had suddenly found herself flung into. Here sat Jack Sparrow, childhood idol and teenage fantasy, her rescuer and had been friend. She felt the loss of that friendship strong as she sat in a situation similar to one from her past. She had been young and naïve years ago, back when the game was the same but the rules were much less strict.

She couldn't help but wonder, had she known then what she knew now would the outcome of one night have been different? Had she felt then how she felt now, could the mark on the timeline back then have been altered?

And so it was that Elizabeth Swann sat watching a fierce battle wage between Elizabeth Turner and Lizzie. Both sides were cunning and their points were both valid. Elizabeth Swann felt deeply for a man whom she had cherished and dreamed of since she was a child. He protected her and had on many an occasion rescued her. He was always by her side through battle and had her best interests at heart. He was a good man, a gentleman. She knew that with this man she loved, she would always be respected.

The only problem was this man… was men.

This man that she loved, these men, were William Turner and Jack Sparrow. She had loved Will since childhood. She could not tell you when it was that she actually tagged the word "love" onto "Jack Sparrow," but she knew that it stuck with him now without a doubt. She felt love for the both of them. But only one could truly hold her heart and in this, the battle of Lizzie against Elizabeth Turner was waged.

Elizabeth Turner was not-so happily married to the Dutchman Captain and immortal William Turner. The man was as kind and gentle as any woman could hope any man to be. He would be, Elizabeth knew, an excellent provider, had he ever been able to be there for her. A husband whose occupation kept him at sea for ten year intervals with only a day in between to step foot on land made providing for her a, needless to say, impossible task.

But Will was fair and just. He held her on a pedestal, cherishing her every move as he always had. While the act of said worship and cherishing could be suffocating, she always felt protected with Will. She knew he would never intentionally do anything to harm her. He was strong and brave. She knew him to have a heart of gold, even as it lay in a cold metal chest rather than his warm one; he was the calm in the end, a man now well acquainted with death and its eternal peace and solitude. William Turner was her earth, her roots, her rock.

Lizzie was the woman born the day Jack blew in off the ocean into Port Royal as if off the pages of her many books about him. She was a woman made strong and free by this legend she had always wanted to meet. In Jack Sparrow she found fun and danger that made her feel alive. Jack was the eye of the storm; his ease in times of both trial and peace while chaos raged around him reminded her of the powerful eye of the Caribbean hurricanes. This chaos was, more times than not, caused by him, thus putting herself in constant danger when in his presence. Being a pirate, Jack had a very strong, undeniable love for his ship and the sea.

But Jack always protected her. Elizabeth knew that when Jack was around, though danger always was hot on his heels, he would never abandon her completely and always pulled through. He was a better man than many a person could ever believe a pirate to be. She had tasted him once and was not disappointed. He promised a life of freedom and carefree living. He had a passion for life itself; he was human representation of life at its strongest. Jack Sparrow was her sea, her wind, her fire.

Will had no room for any love but her. Jack had a love for the sea and the Pearl that she feared left little room for anything else.

She couldn't help but think that the result of two of the elements that she saw Jack as, fire and ice, when put together made steam…

She smiled at the thought, even as she knew she should not be dwelling on such things. The idea could not be denied; Jack Sparrow was a man who could very quickly and efficiently make her melt.

A low sound rumbled in Jack's chest as he started humming along with the young musician boy and his violin. Elizabeth admired him for a moment as she began swaying ever so slightly to the song. While the battle between Lizzie and Elizabeth Turner had yet to produce a winner, Elizabeth Swann, the Pirate King knew one thing for certain; she valued her relationship with Jack too much to leave past grievances in place in their hearts or past wounds without mend.

"I'm sorry." It was a simple whisper in the wind, a soft sound quieter than the waves as they gently lapped at the sand of the beach. But Jack's head snapped towards Elizabeth as soon as the two words were uttered, his eyes cautious and guarded.

"What was that love?"

Elizabeth averted her eyes, frustrated in the awkwardness it took to bring up the subject, afraid it would shatter the fragile, pins and needles companionship they sat in. She found herself a bit frustrated to have to say it again. A bit louder this time. "I said I am sorry."

"Whatever for?"

When she looked up, Jack was staring pensively into the fire.

"I think you know what I mean." She didn't want to have to say it; the words caused her pain. For that reason, her own type of self punishment - for surely she deserved the pain in exchange for that she had caused him- she made herself say it. "Your death."

His head snapped back to face her again. His mask dropped away and the chill she both saw and felt there made her shiver. It was a chilling look of both anger and betrayal and she found she wished for the absence of the latter the most. She deserved his anger but that look of fear in her betrayal, the look of loss, she knew she had to take away.

Or die trying.

"The day I left you, chained to that mast… and the way I left you... I mean, the fact that I left you at all…" She couldn't get the words out, her throat tightening. Nothing was coming out right. She took a deep breath to calm the shaking in her hands but it did little to help. "Jack, I am sorry for leaving you like I did. I am sorry for not giving you a chance. I am sorry for betraying you and your trust. I… I am sorrier than you will ever know."

The silence that followed was stifling and for a moment Elizabeth feared that she couldn't breathe. She didn't expect an immediate answer, didn't really expect one at all. Jack studied the trembling form beside him and pondered what she had just said. The fact that Elizabeth had not apologized after his escape from the locker had not escaped him, nor the fact that said lack of apology more often than not had been denied him because of a certain whelp. There had been times he had seen in her face her want to speak, her regret.

"Tell me something Lizzie." The sound of Jack's voice through the night startled Elizabeth and she jumped, eyes still studying the sand carefully, unwilling to look at him. "Of the things you regret, the choice you made, the outcome of said choices, was there a time that you may have… lied?" It was an honest question, one he had been asking himself for a long time.

When she didn't offer him her gaze it was his turn to be startled. This was not the Elizabeth he knew, so straightforward and proud. In that moment he knew her apology true.

He cleared his throat when she didn't answer him, grabbing her face gently in his hand, tilting her head back to examine her. He tilted his own back too, observing her down his nose. His attempt to lighten the mood had the desired effect; she smiled softly but quick as a flash the happy look was gone.

"Lizbeth," he started again, sobering. "On the decks of the Pearl that day, just before me doom, did you lie? At all? About anything?"

Elizabeth dropped her eyes again but Jack wouldn't have it. "Look at me Lizzie; eyes r' the window to the soul. Want to see your soul."

"When you came back to save the crew, it was a valiant act that deserved nothing of the reward," she spat the last word "that I gave you, the fate I cruelly left you to. When I told you that I always knew you to be a good man I was telling the truth. Coming back was the bravest thing you could have done. In that, I never lied."

Jack felt relief deep in his heart with her admission that he had not known he harbored distress about. In her eyes he could see the truth in her words. The pain in recalling the day was honest and real, a reflection of his own. She held his eyes as she continued, no doubt knowing what he could see in her brown eyed depth and shamelessly exposing herself to him.

"When I told you I was not sorry, that was both the truth and a horrible lie. I was sorry for leaving you, for chaining you as I did. My heart screamed with the pain of it. But what I truly wasn't sorry for and will never regret… is kissing you."

Her admission set his heart aflame. He jerked back, eyes wide. Doubt started overshadowing the hope before it could even take hold. Couldn't be so easy. "Never regret it for you knew it was the one thing that could distract me, love. Never do you regret it because you wanted me; you wanted to save Will. Two sides of the same coin. Slake your lust, as it were so you could go on with ye life with dear William Turner. I've been down this road many times, kissed many women, heard every breathless whisper, every wanton beg, seen every lusty sparkle in a pretty batted eye of a woman." He smirked even though he knew how his words stung her. They stung him too. "You wanted a taste of 'ol Jack and when you got it and the safety of your dearly beloved, you were right as rain."

Elizabeth was, indeed stung, his words making her flinch back. She regained her composure quickly, any anger fading away. She deserved his accusations. "Denying what you said would be a lie; some of your statements hold some manner of truth." Jack snorted at this, looking away. "But the… feelings did not go away and I am not a woman so like a harlot that I would advance on you in such a way as I did over lust. Not in you. There had been too much between us. Never think that sending you to that fate had been the slaking of lust. Will's and my freedom was a priority, this is true. But I was afraid of how much I cared for you." She looked away. "Shameful to have feelings for anyone but my husband."

Jack's ears perked to this, his hope back in full, making him bold again in his conquest for answers.

"Prove it…"

She looked at him. "Pardon?"

He smirked, all ivory and gold. "Prove it."

"I don't know what you mean. Prove what?"

"If what you say is true Mrs. Turner, interesting admission that it is, prove its worth." He smiled as the violin started up another tune, upbeat and joyful. Men shifted around the fire, the change in atmosphere apparent. "Dance for me."

"Excuse me?"

Jack rolled his eyes, waving his hands in the air. "Dance! You know, up on your feet, swaying about to the beat of the music in a pleasing and graceful way. You know the drill. I want you to dance for me. Can see the truth in a person's body language as well as their eyes, savvy?"

Elizabeth glared at him, taken back by his demand. This had not at all been how she expected him to respond. Dance! He expected her to dance for him.

"Aye lass!" Elizabeth and Jack both looked over at another pirate seated about the fire. "Dance for us King!"

Elizabeth sent Jack a chilling look. When he met her eyes, they were filled with compassion and gentleness and, to her surprise, honest curiosity. Above it all was something she had seen before in the eyes of another but didn't dare dwell on or try to name. He really would find the truth to her admissions through her dancing. That smoldering look melted the chilly ice of her glare and the result his heated look had on her was the steam she had thought about earlier. Her anger melted, leaving her blushing, the fire all too hot.

Under his appraising and hungry eyes, she stood, defiant yet knowing the weight this seemingly playful demand held. If this would show Jack Sparrow the truth of her heart she would dance.

And she would ask Jack after if he could explain it to her for she didn't know her own heart anymore.