Well here's another update! I tried to make it long, but it only seems long when your writing it and you go back and read it and your like "well darn thats short".Oh well! Have fun! Im alreay writing the next one and ive got the whole thing planned out sooo stay tuned and give me your thoughts.

PS: Just so you know, you dont have to worry about me being one of those writers who abandons their story lol. I refuse to do that. So updates will be frequent. Enjoy. :D

Disclaimer: Sadly...I own nothing. Sniff.

POTCPOTCPOTC

2- A Pirates Life For Me

Elizabeth gripped Will in to a tight hug. Today would be the day she left to go and live her wildest dreams and she had Will to thank for all of that. He had given her the courage to go through with it. He had been with her when she went to tell her father and now he was there to say good bye. To say that she owed him would have been an understatement.

"Your not even gone yet and I miss you already." Will said to her, and she laughed a genuine laugh. She pulled back to look him in the eye and gave him a dazzling smile and he grinned in returne. He was doing a good job of hiding it but she could tell that he was saddenedto see shewas going.

"Will, I really have to thank you…for everything. For…well just being you." He smiled shyly and she stroked the side of his face affectionately.

"You will make some women very happy one day Mr. Turner…just not me." They both shared a sad smile and he nodded in understanding.

"You think you can find the time to grace your father with a fare well Elizabeth?" Governor Swann was standing on the dock amidst the dirty sailors and dock workers in his powdered wig, tailored suit, and stockings looking every bit as optimistic as he usually did. It was rather comical.

Embracing her father in a warm hug she smiled at him.

"If I told you I was happy to see you go…well that would be a lie. I don't think this is the wisest choice you have made…but I support you in everything you do and I just want you to be happy Elizabeth. " He finished with a slight frown creasing his old features but made up for it by holding her hand and gazing at her lovingly.

"And that means more to me than you will ever know." She said gratefully. A flash of recognition traveled over his face and he was once again smiling, reminded of someone long passed.

"You are so much like your mother in every way Elizabeth. She would have been proud of you." She felt pride swell up in her at the mention of her mother. Like mother like daughter is what her father always told her and she would never get tired of hearing it. They were approached by another.

"Norrington." Will said politely.

"Turner. Governor." Norrington greeted. He came to a halt in front of Elizabeth. " Elizabeth."

"James." She said smiling.

"I hear your departing from us today." He said and she nodded.

"I wanted to thank you again for this." She pointed to the ship that was currently docked and waiting for her to board. Norrington had allowed her to board one of the Royal Navy ships on a run to England. The Valor was a decent ship that made good time with a decent crew. It was more than Elizabeth could have asked for.

"Elizabeth even though I'm not exactly ecstatic about all this, I would rather you on a ship of mine then a random sailors." He said seriously.

"And Thank you for doing this. It means so much to me…You're a good man James."

He smiled, something James Norrington rarely did. "And you're an exquisite women Elizabeth."

There was a relaxed silence between the four as they stood silently saying their good byes. It was soon broken by the sound of Captain Hansley of the Valor calling for the crew and Elizabeth to board. She grabbed her small bag, with few clothes and a satchel of money and quickly gave Norrington an Awkward hug.

"Watch over my father for me, and make sure Will's alright won't you?" He nodded silently, shocked at that fact she had hugged him. She quickly hugged Will and her Father before flying up the planks to The Valor. "Goodbye!" She shouted to them as the ship slowly started to move out of the harbor.

"I'll be expecting some post's!" Her father called to her as he Will and Norrington waved to her.

"Don't worry! I shall! Bye!"

They watched from the docks as the ship sailed further and further into the horizon, each man feeling the loss of her presence. Governor Swann turned to Will and gave his shoulder a slight squeeze and nodded a goodbye to Norrington before walking off the dock. Norrington and Will sat in silence staring after the ship.

"You do love her don't you?" Will asked Norrington in all seriousness. James turned to look at Will, his hands clasped behind his back.

"Yes, Mr. Turner I do." And Norrington walked off the dock leaving Will alone with the sounds of the dock workers. His gaze once again rested on the retreating Valor and he felt a slight ache in his heart. There went the love of his life. Swallowing down the sting of tears he turned to leave the dock.

"Goodbye Elizabeth." Then he was gone.

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Elizabeth had been on the Valor for two days now, and although it hadn't been filled with the excitement of being on the Black Pearl she could feel happiness seep into her body by just standing on the deck. Norrington had been right about it being a decent ship with a decent crew, although there were the few sailors who thought she was "frightful bad luck" but then again she supposed every ship came with it least one of them. She was currently standing at the helm watching Captain Hansley steer the ship. He was a slightly chubby joyous man with a rough black beard and green eyes, and Elizabeth found herself making polite conversation with him to pass most of the time. They had come to a short silence from their last conversation and were just enjoying each others company when Elizabeth interrupted.

"What do you see?" she asked. He looked at her with a grin on his face.

"Well I see a pretty young lass who has a free-spirit and taste for adventure." She chuckled and smiled at him.

"No, not me." Looking out at the ocean she continued. "What do you see in the ocean Mr. Hansley?"

"Well yer getting' into some deep stuff…hmmm…" He contemplated her question for a bit and then answered. "Well there be more than one way ye go about answerin' that question there Ms. Swann…but if ye ask me…Old Mr. Hansley says the he be seein' freedom amongst these waves."

Elizabeth smiled at his answer, remembering a certain captain who said something of the sort.

"That's what a ship is you know? Its not just a keel and a hull and a deck and sails. That's what a ship needs, but what a ship is…what the Black Pearl really is…is freedom."

Elizabeth felt a jolt go through her heart at the thought of Jack Sparrow. She found her self smiling remembering the charming, swaggering, rum-obsessed, rogue pirate who managed to make her smile yet still infuritated her beoyond belief, who had saved her from drowning six months ago. Has it only been that long? She felt herself asking. It seems like so much longer.

"What about ye Ms. Swann? What do ye see when ye look at these waves? When yer starin' at that there horizon, what do you see?"

"Why Mr. Hansley I believe we see the exact same thing…Freedom." Looking at her curiously, he called over Mr. Barnes to steer the ship and hobbled over to her, leaning against the side of the ship next to her.

"And what is it exactly ye need to be free from Ms. Swann? From what I hear you're the Governors daughter. Sounds like some mighty fine livin' to me?"

"You'd be surprised Mr. Hansley." She said absently as she stared at the ocean. "Society, Propriety, bleakness…corsets." Chuckling he joined her in staring at the sea. "And so much more. Would you want to spend your life having tea four times a day, trying to impress everybody around you and keeping all your thoughts and opinions to yourself when you could be on a ship sailing the seas and seeing the world?"

"Well…I wouldn't know Ms. Swann…although the corset thing does sound a wee bit…uncomfortable." She laughed at this.

"You wouldn't be wrong." Silence enveloped them as they stared at the horizon, the only sounds coming from the ocean and the hard working crew. By now it was nearly dusk and a slight chill had come into the air. Hansley broke the silence and asked Elizabeth where she planed on being dropped at.

" Tortuga." She said simply and Hansley stared at her confused.

" Tortuga? Ye know what that there place is Miss?" He asked her concerned.

Elizabeth nodded and wrapped her arms around herself. "Yes I do, and I would like to be dropped there please."

"Well no offense Ms. Swann but what would a refined lady like yourself want to be doin' in a pirate port?"

"I'm actually looking for someone." Nodding, he smirked at her.

"Would this someone happen to be a…pirate perhaps?" Turning to him she smiled politely and started to walk away.

"That is for me to know and you to never find out Mr. Hansley." She said grinning as she went below deck. Hansley turned back out to the sea with a smile on his face.

"Strange lass that." He spoke quietly to himself returning to steer the ship

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Elizabeth stepped down off the ramp from the Valor. She had arrived in Tortuga late that afternoon with anticipation running through her. Only hearing stories from Will of what it was like, Telling her that it was a rowdy and noisy place where three-fourths of the population was either drunk or getting drunk. Surely it couldn't have been that bad? As she took in her surroundings she had a nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach that she had been wrong. It was that bad.

"You sure ye want us to leave ye here lass?" Hansley asked. For a moment she actually considered his offer, but she politely declined, thanked him and told him how much she was grateful for what he had done. It was as she was watching the Valor sail away that she thought maybe she should have took him up on that offer.

Taking a deep breath she turned around and began marching her way into the island.

It was defiantly something. You couldn't walk fifteen feet without getting hit, shoved, shot at, poked prodded…or hit on. It was madness. Pirates stumbled around in a drunken stupor while wenches threw themselves at men that passed by them. A few times some even offered to help satisfy Elizabeth, and when this would happen she hurried on past and pulled the hat she was wearing further over her face.

The island was littered with tavern upon tavern with a couple shops thrown in between. Smells of smoke, beer, sweat and rum filled the air and she scrunched up her nose at the bitter sweet smell. It was A dirty place with dirty people with dirty shops and taverns. What was she doing here again?

Why is the rum gone!

The corners of her mouth tipped up in a smile. Now she knew why Jack adored this place so much. There was rum everywhere. She would think that Jack would die a happy man if he were to drown in rum. God knows he consumed it more then water.

After searching for Jack and having no luck finding him Elizabeth made her way back down to the docks (not without difficulty of course) and plopped down on a rickety bench. If she couldn't find Jack then she would wait for him. If she was honest with herself she just didn't want to walk around Tortuga alone. On her way back to the docks she had been hit on so many times that she had lost count, and one pirate even made to grab her wrist, before she pulled away and jogged towards the docs. After that encounter Elizabeth was perfectly content to sit at the docs and wait for The Black Pearl to show up.

Stretching her arms out, she made herself as comfortable as she could and fixed her gaze on the sea.

Thoughts ran through her mind questioning her action and motives. Was this what she really wanted? Did she throw away something good? Did she take her life back in Port Royalfor granted? Would Jack even let her on his ship?...Would Jack even show up?

When she was leaving for her little adventure Elizabeth had never really thought things through. All she knew was that she wasn't happy and it was slowly killing her and now she found herself miles away from home sitting on a bench on a pirate island. Now all she could do was hope that Jack would take her aboard the Pearl.

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"I want all you back here tomorrow mornin' bright an early!" A series of groans erupted from the crew of the Black Pearl. "Oh common' now gents-" Jack was cut off with a glare from Ana Maria. Backtracking he cleared his throat. "Gents and lady , stop your pissin' and moanin' and go have some fun, savvy?"

They cheered and made there way to leave the Pearl but came to a halt when Jack stepped in their paths.

"Hold it there my faithful crew!" Frustrated groans were directed at Jack and he gave them a mock hurt expression. "Whose watchin' me ship?" The whole crew went silent and they all stared dumbly at Jack who held out his arms and gave a small smile revealing his gold teeth. "well?" The crew started walking past him without giving Jack an answer.

"Oi! Wait no! You can't just leave! Someone has to watch me ship!" The last of the crew were making there way down the ramp when Jack spotted Ana Maria. "Ana Maria-"

"Watch your own damn ship!" she hollered at him before walking down tothe dock. He let out a frustrated sigh and looked around the deck to see who was left behind, and he spotted Marty the dwarf tying off the last knot to hold the ship in place.

"Marty be a darlin' and watch me ship?" Jack asked hopefully. Marty glared at him and crossed hissmall armsbefore walking down the ramp. Mumbling something about no good, stupid dwarfs Jack turned around just in time to see Gibbs come from below deck with a small satchel of money.

"Gibbs mate!" Jack greeted over enthusiastically.

"Jack." Gibbs replied happily before moving towards the ramp. Jack moved in front of him blocking his path.

"You know, I bet you would have a wonderful ole' time on this lovely evening if you stayed and…uh watched me ship." Jack suggested to Gibbs who actually seemed to contemplate the idea before giving a friendly "have fun Jack" and walking down the ramp.

Frowning at the empty deck before him, Jack dejectedly took a seat on a barrel of rum. Grunting and mumbling to himself he turned his gaze and gave a longing look towards Tortuga before placing his head in his hands and continued mumbling. The flutter of wings interrupted his inner monologue and he looked up to see Cottons Parrot sitting on the rail of the ship.

"What say you to mindin' me ship?" He asked the parrot.

It squawked loudly before saying, "Wind in the Sails." Jack jumped up and made his way down the ramp taking a parrot watching his ship as good as any crew member.

"Well technically he is a member of me crew…:"Jack said to himself as he swaggered down the dock. He stopped mid thought when he saw a figure sleeping with its hat pulled over its face on a bench at the end of the dock. He looked around curiously and slowly walked over to the lump. Reaching out his hand he poked theperson a few times in the side, and getting no response he lifted the hat and dirty blonde hair spilled out. Recognition dawned on his face.

"Elizabeth!" Her eyes cracked open at the familiar voice.

"Jack!" She sat up quickly and brushed herself off.

"Ms. Swann…not that I'm not glad to see your well mannered and properly educated self, which brings me to the main topic of me question, what are you doing here?

She bristled at the way he asked the sentence and quickly snatched her hat from him, placed it firmly on her head and stuck her chin in the air.

"As a matter of fact Mr. Sparrow-"

"Captain!" Jack reminded her. She glared at him and continued.

"As a matter of fact Mr. Sparrow." Jack winced at her harsh tone of voice. "I came here to find you."

"I'm terribly flattered love." He said smugly. "I knew you couldn't resist me."

Staring at him disbelievingly, she went to move past him.

"Why do I even bother with wretch like you?" Quickly chasing after her he gripped her arm and hauled her around to face him.

"Forgive me luv, I'm a bad rude man. Happy?"

"Not remotely, no." She said trying to move past him again. Falling in step beside her, he quickly tried to make amends.

"Well how about I make it up to you by seein' what I can do for you? Savvy?" Turning around she came face to face with a grinning Jack Sparrow holding his arms out in surrender. Crossing her arms she began.

"I have a proposition for you." She said defiantly. Curiosity flickered through his eyes and he stood up straight and started playing with the braids on his chin.

"What might this proposition be?"

"I want you to let me join your crew." His eyes widened and she saw that he was about to decline but she intervened. "Jack I swear that ill do my part. I wont slack or-or cause trouble, and face it you could use me for-for writing and mathematics and such!" At her last statement he bristled.

"I can write and do mathematics just fine, thank you." He said. Elizabeth looked at him surprised. She would not have expected Jack Sparrow of all people to be well educated as she was, but then again Jack couldn't have always been a pirate could he?

"Jack I didn't mean to offend. I assumed you weren't well educated forgive me…but…the truth is that…I have no where else to go…" she finished quietly. Throwing up his hands he smiled at her.

"Well how bout' I take you to Port Royal, and shove you in a row boat?" The suggestion made her roll her eyes. Jack may be a smart man but he really could be dense some times.

"Jack what I'm saying is I want to join your crew!" She nearly shouted at him. His nose scrunched up at the tone she was using with him. He did not appreciate that tone. Plastering a huge smile on his face, he watched as her eyes brightened with hope.

"...No!" he responded still smiling. The hope vanished from her eyes and instead was instantly replaced with a hard glare.

"Mr. Sparrow you are going to make me part of your crew whether you like it or not."

"I'm afraid your seriously mistaken. It's my ship not yours therefore I say who comes and who doesn't." Feeling he got his point across he straightened up and stared down at her with a smirk on his face. Less then a second later a resounding crack echoed through the docks as Elizabeth's hand connected with his cheek.

Moving his facial muscles he brought his hand up to feel his tender cheek.

"…I'm not sure I deserved that." He said quietly to himself. Fearing another slap he straightened himself up with a smile on his face.

"Elizabeth-" He was cut short as she tried to slap him again, but he caught her wrist.

"Now that's not very nice." He said seriously. He was about to continue until he felt pain exploding in his shin. She had kicked him. She had kicked him! Grabbing his shin and cursing as he hopped around for a moment.

She watched unimpressed and bit back a chuckle. This was the infamous "Captain" Jack Sparrow.

Composing himself he stood up straight and held his arms open.

"Welcome to me crew darlin'."

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"Correct me if I'm wrong Elizabeth, but are you telling me that you want to become a pirate?" Jack asked her doubtfully. They were sitting in the Faithful Bride while Jack nursed a rum and Elizabeth stared at hers as if it had caught the plague. All around the bar there were whores looking for paying customers, pirates singing songs, and every now and then if you were lucky you saw someone get a bottle smashed over their head.

"No!...maybe…Jack I haven't really had the time to think all of this out. All I know is that I want to see the world and sail the seas, and I'd rather do it with you than someone else." At her last statement he looked thoughtful. It was a reasonable enough answer and he couldn't really blame the girl for leaving Port Royal or the lad. Seems to me he had a stick up his- Jack was interrupted mid thought when he saw Elizabeth spit out the rum she had just tried to swallow.

"That is without a doubt the most disgusting, vile drink I have ever tasted!" She said pushing the tin mug away from her. Jack eyed it for a moment then looked up at her disgusted face.

"You won't be drinking that I presume." It was a statement more than a question. She vigorously shook her head no. "Oh…so you won't be mindin' If I just take it then?"

"Jack." His eyes moved from the rum to her face.

"Yes?"

"You're a pirate." She stated simply.

"Oh. Right. Yes. I'm just going to steal this from you darlin'." Rolling her eyes, she watched as he drank half the tin in one gulp.

"I don't understand how you could possibly stand that…that…stuff." He gave her a lop sided grin and polished off the rest of the mug.

"How can ya not?" Signaling the waitress (who looked more like a commen wench then a waitress)over he ordered two more rums then quickly turned back to Elizabeth. "So you want action and adventure on the high seas eh?" She nodded and he continued. "Well your gonna have to earn your stay aboard me ship savvy? I'll not have you slackin' off while the rest of us maintain the ship."

"As far as I'm concerned Jack all you do is steer the thing." Her voice was clipped and annoyed.

"Ship. I steer the ship. Nautical Term." He told her like he was a teacher and she was a student. "And I'm the captain…I think of our next course and give orders." He said defensively.

"Jack that's not work."

"It is for me, and that's beside the point. The point of which I'm tryin' to make is that you need to earn your keep. You stay on me ship as long as your workin'…do we have an accord?" Elizabeth saw no other way of negotiating with Jack, and all in all she thought it was a fair trade. She reached out and shook his hand, sealing the deal. "Excellent! Oh, and here comes the rum to celebrate!" He said joyously as the tins were placed in front of him.

"So Jack, where are we heading to?" She asked trying not to let the excitement into her voice.

"Well." Jack took a swing of rum. "We haven't really decided on a location as of late, so well most likely just sail round till something catches our eye." Her face fell.

"that's it!"

"Well what were you expecting Ms. Swann? A repeat performance of cursed pirates and aztec gold?" She frowned.

"Well I was expecting something more exciting! Your bloody pirates! There are all these marvelous stories of your adventures and journeys and your telling me your going to sail around in circles in the ocean?"

"…You hit the hammer on the head." Jack said taking another gulp of his rum. Elizabeth's jaw fell open as she looked at him.

"I come here looking for freedom and excitement and all I get is a room filled with drunken pirates who can barely stand up straight and a infamous captain who sails around in circles! This is redic-" She stopped mid- sentence as she heard a loud crash from behind her. Turning around she watched along with the rest of the room the scene that was unfolding before her.

Two pirates were at each others throats, the long forgotten table and chairs knocked over in their haste to smash the others face in. Both were shouting curses at the other as their fists flew. Then suddenly like a chain reaction it happened all over the place.

"Duck!" She heard Jack shout at her, and she ducked just in time to see a bottle of rum sail over her head and smash into the wall opposite her. Crawling down under the table with her, Jack hauled her towards the staircase leading to the bottom floorand the exit.

"You wanted excitement? Look a bloody bar fight and your right in the midst of it!"

This is complete insanity! Was the only thought going through Elizabeth's mind as her and Jack slowly made their way to the exit. Chairs were flying along with bottles and tables. People crashed on the floors left and right as they wrestled with their partners. Some where in the distance Elizabeth heard the band strike up an upbeat tune and she wondered how they could play in all the ruckus going on around them.

She screeched as she stuck her hand on a piece of broken glass, and Jack turned around at her scream and in the process got hit by a stray fist and he toppled over side ways.

"Jack!" Elizabeth yelled as she tried to get to him. She saw him sit up and rub the side of his face while ducking a flying chair that sailed past him.

"I'm alright! Move!" He said with a smile on his face. Why the bloody hell is he smiling? Was her thought as he grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the stairs. They made their way down slowly but effectively dodging all flying objects as best they could. If possible the bottom floor was worse than the second and they hopped, crawled, jumped and ducked objects and fists that came in their path.

Just as they were about to reach to door Elizabeth felt a hand wrap itself around her hair and she shouted as she felt herself falling backwards. Turning around she came face to face with a dirty, grimy pirate who was about to grab her wrist. Looking over her shoulder she screamed for Jack to help her as the man kept pulling her closer and closer. She dug the heels of her boots into the hard dirt and flailed her free arm about searching for something to grab on to. Her fingers closed around something smoothand she realized it was the neck of a rum bottle. Violently she swung it over her body and smashed it on her attackers head and she watched wide eyed as he sunk to the floor in a heap of dirt and fat.

Again she ducked as a table leg flew over her and she felt Jacks long slim fingers wrap around her wrist and jerk her towards the door. The door swung open and Jack and Elizabeth tumbled into the cool night air, sprawled on the ground.

All she heard were the gasping breaths of her and Jack and the slightly muted sounds of the bar fight raging within. Then suddenly she couldn't contain it and she burst out laughing. Genuinely laughing. Complete and utter insanity. She thought. Jack swung his neck up and looked at Elizabeth rolling on the ground clutching her stomach and laughing.

"Do help a fellow out and tell me why your laughing." He said. That just made her laugh all the more. Staring at her as if she'd gone completely mental he waited patiently for her to collect her bearings. A smile graced his feature's at her giggly laughter.

"It's just-just-"She giggled a bit and looked up at him with a flushed face and her hair all messy with a few leaves sticking out. Jack felt himself go into a momentary stupor. He'd never seen her look so beautiful. "I thought I wasn't going to get out of their alive!" Laughter bubbled up again and she doubled over.

"And this calls for insane laughter because?"

"I'm not sure…" taking a breath and moving the hair out of her face she continued, still chuckling a bit. "It just struck me as funny." She said listening to the sounds of the on going bar fight and her lips tipped up into a smile. " that was one of the scariest and most enjoyable experiences I have ever been through in my life." She admitted sheepishly.

Jack quirked a brow at her and got to his feet, brushing himself off. Holding out his had to her, she took it and mimicked his actions. Stumbling a bit on his slightly drunken feet he straightened up and strode towards the docks.

"Well I imagine that's enough excitement for one day."

I couldn't agree more. Elizabeth thought silently as she followed him.

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XD