A/N: I would like to thank Girlz-Rule and StarSplit144 for R&R-ing.

Disclaimer: once again, I do not own the characters of Will and Elizabeth. They belong to Gore, Jerry, and everyone else at Disney.

Chapter 2: The Long Goodbye

A few hours later, Will and Elizabeth sat on the empty shore wrapped protectively and possessively in each others arms. The newlywed couple knew that their time together was running out, for at sunset Elizabeth knew that her beloved Will must leave her, against his wishes, to carry out a duty that was now before him: to ferry the souls of those who died at sea from the world of the living, where he would rather stay with his beautiful bride, to the world of the dead on the opposite side of the horizon.

"I love you" Elizabeth sighed.

"I love you too, with all my heart. I just can't believe that we are finally married. It makes me so happy to think about it. It's like I've been waiting for it my whole life, and now it's actually happened."

"Do you remember when we were younger? How we would play together every day at Mr. Brown's and even though he got so angry at us we kept on anyways. I remember that whenever he would get mad at me but not you, you would always stand up for me."

"I do remember. I stood up for you because you were wrongly accused. It was both you and I that caused the trouble, not just one of us. I would never have let you take the blame for my actions."

"Oh, Will. You can't leave, you just can't. I will never be able to get by without you here to stand up for me, and to guide me. I will go crazy without my Will!" Silent tears began to flood the young woman's porcelain cheeks, and Will's heart broke to know how much she wished him to stay when there was no way that he could.

"The years that lie before us will be difficult. To be apart for so long will only make us yearn to be together more and more. But we have to be strong, for each other, because once I have fulfilled my task we will again be joined. After all this is over, we can be together. Be strong for me Elizabeth, make it through everyday thinking that we will be together once more. Let that be your reason for living on until we meet again." He then took both her hands in his and held them tight, assuring her that everything would be okay.

Elizabeth clung frantically to Will's arm and he enveloped her in a comforting hug while she silently wept on his shoulder. She knew that he was right, this wasn't goodbye forever, they would see each other again, she just had to wait; she had to pass the time in some way other than moping and just sitting around waiting for love to return to her life.

She looked into the young man's eyes and could see that his emotions matched her own, meaning that his thoughts also matched the ones that were running through her head right at that moment. They would soon be parted for an entire decade and they had just married. Some needs couldn't be subsided by thoughts of the days when they would reunite, some needs must be met preceding young William's departure to the seas. The two had only hours left until they would be separated and therefore had no time to waste.

Will must have been thinking the same thoughts, for right at that moment he began to kiss Elizabeth more passionately than he had ever kissed in his life. As this continued, Will slowly began to slip the woman's shirt up and over her head and she began to unbutton his dirty, once-white tunic. Soon the two lovers were entwined in an endless mass of flesh as they became one with each other and finally let down any barriers that there may have been between the two of them.