This chapter has been edited.
Thanks to those lovely people who have reviewed already!
Jack watched as Will stormed out of the room, grinning to himself. His grin faded, however, when Elizabeth tossed and turned in her sleep in her sleep. Why didn't she remember Will? What else didn't she remember? He glanced at his desk, wondering where the rum had gotten to, when she murmured in her sleep.
He reached for her hand, noticing that although it was calloused from working on the Pearl alongside the men, it was much smaller than his, and much, much more delicate. He was staring off into space when he felt her squeeze his hand, and starting, he turned towards her.
"Jack?" she murmured, "Where are we, exactly?"
Trying not to show his surprise, Jack calmly replied, "We're on the Black Pearl, luv. It's a ship in the Caribbean."
She frowned. "Am I a pirate, too?"
He laughed. "You've proven yourself a number of times, Elizabeth.." Becoming more solemn, he went on. "Can you tell me everything you remember about yerself and anyone else?"
"Well," she said, "I remember you, Jack. And I remember that I'm Elizabeth Swann... And I've known you for a long time, I think."
He nodded. "Four years."
When you don't remember anything, the world suddenly becomes a different place. It is oddly peaceful- since you don't remember anything, nothing is expected out of you. The sun streaked through the window as he held my hand in his, and I smile, because I remember him. Jack. My Jack.
I remember our engagement, too, though I do not mention it to him. The other man -Wilbur? Will?- lied and said he is my fiance, but it was obvious from the look on Jack's face that I belong to him, that I am his. There is no one else to whom I would rather belong.
After his crew had repaired the railing, the Captain gave orders to dock at the nearest town to find a doctor. Head wounds, he knew, were tricky to heal, and he wanted Elizabeth to have the best possible treatment so she could regain her memory. He wanted rum, too, but that would have to wait.
He slipped quietly back into his room, determined not to wake Elizabeth, but to his surprise, she was awake and fumbling with her clothes. She smiled at him when she walked in, and for a moment Jack forgot that he was the only thing she remembered.
"I was wondering if you could help me," she said brightly. "You see, I'm trying to sleep, but this dress keeps getting in the way. Could you help me take it off?"
Noticing the surprised look on his face, she laughed. "I have approximately ninety undergarments under this, Jack. Just help me get off this top layer. It's so... large."
It was that, reflected Jack. Its intricate embroidery made it wide in appearance, although her figure was as narrow as ever. "Aye," he nodded. He did not know how to cure a head wound, but taking off women's clothing was definitely something Jack knew how to do.
He also could not say that he protested when it came to removing this particular woman's clothing.
He helped her unfasten the dress and slipped it off of her right shoulder. With a quick intake of breath, he noticed an old bruise blooming across her entire shoulder. She winced as he drew the dress over it, and he tried to appear nonchalant as he asked, "Ah, so how did ye get this bruise?"
She smiled faintly. "Will it surprise you if I tell you that I don't remember?"
Jack frowned, but he it was the answer he had expected nonetheless.
He was taking the rest of her dress off when Will walked into the cabin.
Colors are my first recovered memory. Red, the color of the sun when it sets and balances on the horizon. Blue, the color of the edge of a dainty tea set I've seen somewhere, though I can't remember where. Pink, the color of my face that I feel rather than see when Jack holds my hand in his.
And then some things have layers of colors. These are the most beautiful. Like skin, for instance. Golden and tanned on top and red as blood underneath when it is opened up. Or the ocean- Green and blue shimmers above and black as night when you're underneath and at its mercy.
Everything has a different color underneath, if anyone thinks to look.
On deck, Will was pacing in circles when he inexplicably realized something; this was all Jack's fault. Jack's fault for flirting with Elizabeth and causing Will to become angry at her. Jack's fault for crashing his ship into the rock. Jack's fault that Elizabeth no longer remembered anything (except one person, but Will wasn't going to think about that right now). He would deal with Jack later.
Right now, however, he was going to visit Elizabeth. Surely she remembered him now. It had just been a fluke, that was all. He would hold her and tell her he loved her and she would laugh and ask when they could finally get married.
He was her fiance! He loved her, and she loved him, so it was only a matter of time before she remembered him, he convinced himself.
Arriving at Jack's room, he hesitated before the closed door. Should he knock? He didn't want to anger Jack, but then again, Elizabeth was in there. Indecisive, he lingered at the door until he heard voices. Assuming that Elizabeth was awake and asking for him, he opened the door to find Jack undressing his fiance.
If you remember the old version of this chapter, I took some stuff out... That's why it's a lot shorter than some of the others I've written. I took out Jack's suspicions about Will hitting Elizabeth and the really long author's note. The former I took out because I was getting a lot of complaints, and the more I thought about it, it doesn't really even apply to the later chapters anyway.