Another response to the 1sentence challenge on LJ. This set (epsilon) includes the time after Will's ten years of service is over. See A/N at the end.

#01 - motion

After ten years of being aboard the Flying Dutchman, he reels almost drunkenly when he steps foot on land for the first time; the lack of motion will take some getting used to, Elizabeth tells him as she laughs through her tears, wrapping her arms around his waist to steady him and hold him close.

#02 - cool

His demeanor, as she walks towards him across the heated sand, is cool and remote; when she quietly tells him that she's been aboard the Dutchman, he sees in her eyes that she now truly understands his cause, and he softens, the first cracks in the ice of their estrangement appearing.

#03 - young

He remembers the time he'd delivered the specially-commissioned sword to the Governor's mansion, bound by propriety and calling her Miss Swann; they were both so very young and innocent then.

#04 - last

She tries not to think, as their one day wends its way towards sunset, that everything is somehow a "last" - last kiss, last touch, last gaze, last words.

#05 - wrong

He stares bleakly at his adored new wife across the distance that separates their two ships; his father tells him "Where you are bound, she cannot come," and he rails in silent anguish at the injustice of destiny.

#06 - gentle

She guides William to her breast, smiling at the gentle pull of his mouth as he suckles, gazing down at this tiny miracle that is their son.

#07 - one

Sailing over the Seas of the Dead, he sometimes thinks he would give his soul for just one hour with her.

#08 - thousand

It isn't until he has been released from his service to the Dutchman that she finally sits down and counts out the days that he was away from her - 3,652 of them.

#09 - king

He never ceases to smile at the idea that he is the consort of the Pirate King.

#10 - learn

As the ten years come to an end she knows that, in many ways, they will have to learn each other all over again.

#11 - blur

The first weeks of his service are a blur - sailing the Dutchman to lead the countless small boats to the Far Shore, reaching into the cold Seas of the Dead again and again to pluck out the lost souls; it is only his memories and dreams of her that keep him from losing himself to the dark business of death.

#12 - wait

She has set the rhythm of her existence to the rhythm of his, and waits for the day when he'll be free, each sunset bringing her that much closer.

#13 - change

He's held ferociously to every memory of her through ten long, lonely years, yet he knows that it is inevitable that they both will have changed.

#14 - command

When she gives the command to hoist the colours, it is to him alone that she speaks; he's never set a limit on how far she could go, and his proud nod is a vindication of all that she's always known he's believed of her.

#15 - hold

He gave her the heart that was always hers to hold, and takes comfort in knowing that the most integral part of himself is with her.

#16 - need

Sunset finds her on the beach, staring at the horizon; although the end of their ten years is far in the future, the longing for him this particular day has been as sharp and keen as the edge of the knife that he wears strapped to his hip, her need for him as pulsing and rhythmic as the blade he'd buried over and over into Tia Dalma's table.

#17 - vision

The vision he holds to as he sails the Seas of the Dead is a simple one - to return to his wife, to build a life with her and their children, and to grow old with her by his side.

#18 - attention

She wearies of the attentions of men who attempt to woo her, in spite of the fact that she tells them in no uncertain terms that she has a husband whom she loves, who is away at sea, and who will most assuredly be back; there are days when she must restrain herself from reaching for her sword to rid herself of the most persistent among them.

#19 - soul

Ten years of being beyond world's end, of enduring that hard, lonely, brutal existence, have sapped his soul; ten years of being in the world of the living, with its wealth of opportunities, temptations and bright joys that offered forgetfulness like the sirens of old, have tried hers as well.

#20 - picture

She lies unabashedly naked on the white sand, her small breasts, slim waist and slender legs drenched in sunlight, her gaze luminous with love; he traces every part of her with his eyes, his hands, his lips, striving to use every sense to commit this moment, and how she looks, to memory.

#21 - fool

For all the wrongs done to himself and his wife, there is a special hatred that he reserves for Cutler Beckett; as the former Lord walks the Dutchman's decks, he still carries himself with that air of privilege and superiority, right up until the moment when the Ferrier of Souls delivers him to the Far Shore to face the terrifying reward for his deeds.

#22 - mad

Before the battle begins, she stands near the helm of the Pearl, rage, fear and doubt assailing her; he comes to stand at her side, and the madness inside her calms to match his own steely resolve.

#23 - child

He learns from a newly deceased pirate that their king has safely delivered a fine baby boy; retreating to the privacy of his cabin, he falls to his knees under the intensity of love and elation, loneliness and longing, and breaks down completely.

#24 - now

It's been over 40 years since he was released from the Dutchman's service; their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren gather beside their new graves overlooking the sea, none of them surprised that, within days of his beloved wife's death, he followed her on that final journey.

#25 - shadow

Holding her close in his arms one night, he gently tells her everything about guiding her father to Fiddler's Green; the next day, he can see new serenity in her eyes, and knows that she is finally at peace with his passing.

#26 - goodbye

She is not afraid of death; when her body gives out with age, he holds her for the very last time and smiles through his grief as, with her final breath, she whispers that she'll be waiting for him, and will be keeping a weather eye on the horizon.

#27 - hide

She hides the chest as carefully as she'd hidden his pirate medallion so many years ago; she is still and always watching over him.

#28 - fortune

His treasure is his wife and their children; his wealth is the freedom he has to live out his years with them.

#29 - safe

She returns to Port Royal long enough to settle her father's affairs; the small village that she moves to comes to know them simply as Elizabeth Turner and William, and she finds a certain amount of safety in their relative anonymity.

#30 - ghost

When she tells William about Aztec curses and undead pirates, she is amused at the irony that they aren't ghost stories to him, but family history.

#31 - book

She comes across her old pirate adventure books as she packs to leave Port Royal for good; she takes a few for sentimental reasons, wondering if anyone will ever write about the Ferrier of Souls and the Pirate King.

#32 - eye

The first time he catches her eye, after the ten years is over, his breathing hitches and his heart skips a beat; how he could have forgotten what a mere glance from her can do to him?

#33 - never

He's been released from his service to the Flying Dutchman for years, but even now she can never fully rid herself of the fear that destiny might one day touch his shoulder again, and take him away from her.

#34 - sing

William sings a familiar shanty as he skips ahead of them down the path towards home; he smiles, remembering Elizabeth teaching him the very same song when they were young.

#35 - sudden

She stands at the sea's edge, staring at the spot where the Flying Dutchman disappeared; the grief suddenly washes over her, and she takes deep, anxious breaths, almost doubling over, clenching her jaw hard against the desire to keen in her anguish.

#36 - stop

He watches her as she kneels in the dirt to weed their garden; when she rises to her feet rather awkwardly, her belly gently swelling with their second child, he wonders when he will finally stop thinking that this happiness will be snatched away from him.

#37 - time

While time had flowed around him during his service, it had moved on for her; she finds her first grey hair and uncertainty plagues her, right up until the moment that he wraps his arms around her waist, pulls her back against his chest, and whispers huskily in her ear that there's something incredibly decadent about being in love with a beautiful "older" woman.

#38 - wash

She pinks his shoulder with her blade during one of their impromptu sword fighting sessions and, at her insistence, he removes his shirt so she can care for it; even after all this time, her eyes still fill with desire and her lips still part breathlessly at the sight of his naked chest, before she collects herself to sit beside him and wash the wound.

#39 - torn

When her father had showed little concern at her protest that his arranging of a fair trial for Will would end in his hanging, only telling her that there would then be nothing left for her in Port Royal, she'd known a sudden hatred for his callous abandoning of Will to yet another regrettable fate; she'll always love her father, but even now she's been unable to resolve her feelings about it.

#40 - history

When it's time for bed, he and William will each tell the other a story about themselves, learning each other through the sharing of their pasts.

#41 - power

Being the Ferrier of Souls comes with certain abilities; he can move from one place to another with a simple thought, something he utilizes on their one day together so that he can wring out every last second of time with her.

#42 - bother

While they remain law abiding most of the time, when the love of the sea calls to them and bids them sail her waters, it doesn't bother them at all to join the crew of the Empress or the Pearl and engage in a bit of piracy.

#43 - god

She jealously wonders, during the ten years, if Calypso ever visits her husband as he sails the Seas of the Dead.

#44 - wall

He rarely talks about his service aboard the Dutchman, but sometimes, in the safety of her embrace and the darkness of the night, he will speak of the things he's seen and things he's had to do; he keeps that time separate, and she understands that he shares it only when he's ready to do so.

#45 - naked

As they lie naked in each other's arms, she traces his scars with gentle fingers - the cuts and burns on his hands and arms from his blacksmith days, the thin white line on his palm from the Isla de Muerta, the lash marks on his back from being held captive on the Flying Dutchman, and the jagged, horrific slash on his chest from the removing of his heart; each one tells her a story, and all of them are beautiful to her.

#46 - drive

What makes her strong is that she has so very much to fight for; she has a heart to guard, a son to raise, a husband she waits for, and the promise of fulfillment on the horizon of her existence.

#47 - harm

He finally confides the darkest moment of his service to her; it was near the end of seven years when he realized that he would never be able to ferry the dead for eternity, that he would lose himself and his soul long before time itself would end, because man isn't meant to live forever.

#48 - precious

She guards her love for him as fiercely as she guards his heart, feeding it with his promises, and nurturing it with her memories and their hope.

#49 - hunger

There are sultry, passionate nights when he thinks that he will never get enough of her.

#50 - believe

The first day has passed, and sunset finds the three of them standing on the shore, watching the last of its light flicker away; he raises her hand to press a kiss to the inside of her wrist, and quietly tells her that their love, and their faith in each other, has led them to this victory.

A/N: I know there are two schools of thought regarding the end of the ten years. Each has its proponents, and each has its merits. I like both. Will having to serve forever fulfills my need for extreme, unrelenting angst. Will being released after ten years gives me my happy ending.

If asked, though, I believe that Will is released after ten years. See #47 for the reason why. I honestly don't believe that living forever is a sustainable thing.