A/N: Thank you so much for all the beautiful reviews!

Disclaimer: I don't own POTC.

Chapter 4

"I'll just see what he wants", said Jack resignedly, cupping Elizabeth's face in his hands. She nodded absently, instinctively pulling her dress back over her shoulders.

Jack went to the door, and opened them hastily. "What?", he asked in a loud voice.

"At last", muttered Barbossa drunkly, forcing himself into the room, before Jack had the time to protest. "Oh, I'm sorry", he said with a low chuckle, noticing Elizabeth.

He looked slightly different, his eyes were brighter, and his step was rather brisk, even if right now it was affected by the state quite opposite to sobriety.

"So what's the matter?", asked Jack with slight impatience, pulling Barbossa by his sleeve, and drawing his attention back to him.

Elizabeth stared at the scene as if she was not even there. All of a sudden it was so very clear that she was in the past. And even if she had known that already, only now it finally occurred to her what it really meant to be in the past.

It meant to watch your nightmares happening once again, while you could not do anything about them.

Or could you?...

"We've got enough supplies", answered Barbossa, looking at Jack, but still glancing from time to time at Elizabeth. "We can set sail first thing in the mornin'."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Glad to hear it", he said, tapping Barbossa on the shoulder. "Now, if ye please", he motioned him towards the door. "I'm", he lowered his voice, "rather busy right now."

"Aye, I see", replied Barbossa with a chuckle. Jack opened the door for him, pushing him out of the room. "When ye'll finish with 'er, send 'er t'me, alright?"

The words reached Elizabeth, immediately snapping her back into the reality.

Jack blinked, astonished. But not by the question itself, which was not all that unusual after all... What astonished him was this odd, unexpected, sharp feeling of fury and irritation that for a moment overwhelmed him. He shot a look at Elizabeth who paled, and he was not sure whether it was because of fear or indignation.

"Ah!", exclaimed Jack, as if suddenly remembering something. "The introduction" He took a few steps towards Elizabeth, grabbed her by the hand, and led her closer to the door. She stared at him in stupefaction, wondering what he was up to. "Hector Barbossa, me first mate..." Barbossa smiled slyly, reaching for her hand. Elizabeth froze, glancing at Jack questioningly. "And...", Jack narrowed his eyes, shooting Elizabeth a warm look, which calmed her down a bit. "Miss Lizzie... Sparrow", Elizabeth's eyes widened. Jack smiled casually. "Me cousin."

Barbossa raised his eyebrows. "Yer cousin", he echoed sceptically.

"Aye", smiled Jack. "Me father's younger half-brother's third wife's youngest daughter", he explained smoothly.

Barbossa blinked. Elizabeth blinked as well, but quickly regained her composure. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Barbossa", she said with a polite smile, noticing a small twitch of Barbossa's mouth at 'Mr.' Having grand plans already, she thought with an inward snort.

"All pleasure's mine", replied Barbossa with an artificial grin, and kissed her hand. "An' what brings ye here, Miss... Sparrow?", asked Barbossa, squinting.

"A funeral", cut in Jack, before Elizabeth had a chance to even start thinking of an answer. "Lizzie brought some", Jack took a deep breath, putting on a serious look, "grievous news." He sighed. Elizabeth bit her lip, looking at him intently. "Our beloved... granduncle... Nelson Sparrow has passed away three days ago", said Jack with a grimace, in a solemn tone of voice, darting his eyes to the floor.

Barbossa narrowed his eyes, and glanced at Elizabeth, who shifted her eyes to the floor as well. "My sympathies", he said, eyeing them both suspiciously.

"Aye, aye", nodded Jack, tapping Barbossa on the shoulder, and Elizabeth struggled not to smile at the thought just how annoying that slightly patronizing gesture must have been to Barbossa. "Thank ye, mate. But now, ye understand, we have to discuss some... family matters, last wills, last won'ts, and all that, so..."

"'Course", said Barbossa with a sour smile. "I'll see ye in the mornin', then", he said, shooting Elizabeth a long look before staggering out of the room.

Jack quickly closed the door behind him, and swirled around "Now", he said in a low voice, immediately pulling Elizabeth into an embrace. "Where were we?", he murmured with a smile, looking at her intensely.

Despite all the disturbing thoughts that were running across her mind at the moment, Elizabeth could not help but smile seeing him smile at her like that... Like that. Like... Jack.

"I'm not sure", she started in a shaky whisper, just when he was about to press his lips against hers, "if this is an appropriate course of action between cousins."

Jack smirked, and caught her off guard by kissing her fiercely, before actually responding to her comment. "As a matter of fact", he whispered, breaking the kiss. "I must point out that me name goes very well with yers", he said with a roguish smile, which unfortunately quickly faded at the sight of tears welling up in her eyes. Again. Not again. No, no, no, please, not again.

"Yes, it does", she said, and grimaced, tears slowly rolling down her cheeks.

"Lizzie darling, ye ought to stop crying, or else I'd begin to think that it's me who actually causes it", he gave her a small smile, and gently brushed the tears away from her face with the back of his hand.

To his dismay, she cried even more at that.

"I'm sorry", she said in a quivering voice, wrapping her arms around him tightly, and pressing herself to him as close as possible, as if afraid that he might disappear if her embrace will not be strong enough.

Jack sighed inaudibly. "Shhh", he held her close, slowly rubbing her back, and resting his chin on the top of her head.

And for a moment he felt absolutely content.

Content? He blinked, and tightened his embrace. More than content. Very content, very glad, very... happy? He knitted his eyebrows together, and tried to understand why holding her was making him feel as if he was happy. As if. Happy. Making him... feel happy. Making him... happy? Now, that was getting ridiculous. She was not even out of her clothes yet, and he was already out of his wits. He closed his eyes, and buried his face in her hair, listening with wonder to his quickened heartbeat mixed with her quickened breathing, breathing in her scent; a wave of warmth washing over every inch of his body, and not only his body, but also his mind, his heart (that was really strange), his soul... Soul? He had not thought much about his soul anyway... His soul... Somehow the notion brought certain grim thoughts back to him... "...Thirteen years ye'll be her captain, and then-"

"Jack?"

He drew back, and looked at Elizabeth thoughtfully, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

"What are you thinking of?", she asked in a barely audible whisper, leaning into his touch, trying to focus on something else than that painful, vexing feeling of an urgent need to tell him, to warn him. Didn't she owe him that? The truth. Some truth. The warning. Some warning. Didn't she owe him... a chance to escape his fate? Like he had helped her so many times escape hers...

"Nothin'... important", he said in a low voice, cupping her face in his hands. "Just some old business", he added, not really knowing why he had actually felt the necessity to tell her the truth.

"Either not so old or not so unimportant", she answered quietly, pressing her lips against his in a soft kiss.

"Aye", he smirked slightly, quickly capturing her lips in another kiss. "Not all the memories are sweet...", he whispered, slowly pulling the dress off her shoulders. "But the past is not so important...", he kissed her shoulder, and looked up to see her face. She had her eyes closed, her head slightly tilted backwards, her lips parted. "If there is enough stars to carry ye through the present...", he kissed her neck, and the side of her face, until he reached her lips again, kissing her ardently. "To the future."

Elizabeth opened her eyes, and he drew back, looking into her eyes, and wondering how it was possible that he had an impression that if he looked into her eyes long enough, he would forget about the entire world, he would forget who he was; he would even stop caring who he was... He leaned down, and kissed her, hoping that it would help him shake off that frightening suspicion.

But, quite to the contrary, it only seemed to make it more plausible.

"Lizzie Sparrow." For some reason, the expression reverberated in her head, accompanied by a bitter-sweet feeling, a twinge of sorrow interlaced with-

Ah, a sneering voice resounded in her head, but you killed them both. That Sparrow, and that Lizzie...

Deep in thought, she only half-consciously noticed that he sat her down on the bed, and began taking her shoes off her feet.

"Jack", she whispered, not really knowing whether she wanted him to stop, or... never to stop.

He just looked up at her giving her his lopsided grin, and putting her shoes aside, climbed onto the bed, forcing her to back up, until she lost her balance, and fall on her back, her head landing softly on the pillows.

"Do ye even know how beautiful ye are?", he asked placing his hands on either side of her, his face hovering just few inches above hers.

Elizabeth smiled at him weakly, and drew her hand across his face. She could feel the warmth under her fingertips. The warmth of his face, the warmth of his flesh... He is alive. She gritted her teeth, the feeling of dismay paralyzing her. He was alive.

The kiss was gentle, yet the feeling it evoked caught her by surprise. It was as if she knew everything... Even though she did not know what it was that she knew... Even if she did not know anything... It was as if she had all the answers to all the possible questions at her disposal, as long as his lips were pressed firmly against hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer, but then suddenly an image sprung in her mind. An image of him... on the Black Pearl... in the Locker...

Jack broke the kiss terrified by what sounded like as if she was suffocating. He thought that it was the lack of air that caused it, but the half-jocular apology froze on his lips when he saw the expression of absolute dismay on her face. "Liz-", he whispered, but she broke into sobs before he even had a chance to finish saying her name.

For a moment he thought that he had done something wrong, but then he noticed that she was not pushing him away. She was just crying, and tracing some chaotic lines all over his face with her fingertips, then she cupped his face, kissed him gently, and then cried even more. And he was at a loss of ideas as to what he was supposed to do, because apart from the fact that she had most certainly some serious mental problems, he was unable to draw any further conclusions. He stared down at her, slightly baffled, and indecisive. On the one hand he thought that he should move away, and maybe get her a drink to calm her down, but on the other hand he quite liked her hands caressing his face, her lips kissing his lips repeatedly... But seeing her cry was a disturbing sight nevertheless, and he was slightly astonished just how disturbing a sight that was. Disturbing... He just did not like seeing her cry. He did not want her to cry.

"Lizzie, Lizzie, don't cry", he said in a low voice, wrinkling his forehead and trying to wipe the tears away from her face with one hand, while propping himself up a bit with the other. He tried to ignore the absurdity of the situation, and just concentrate on comforting her. Which was unfortunately not so easy with her body being conveniently underneath his at the moment... He argued with himself for some time, before finally rolling over on the bed with a muffled groan. He laid on his back, and pulled Elizabeth close, so her head could rest on his chest. He wrapped his arm around her, and began gently stroking her hair with his other hand, feeling utterly ridiculous. "Hush, luv. It's alright. Nothin' to worry 'bout", he said trying to sound convincing, and beginning to think that her behaviour had nothing to do with her being scared of... well, him, in a way... There was something else, only he had no clue as to what that something else might be. Maybe it was the mourning? He had never mourned anybody, so he was not sure whether frantic outbursts of crying could be classified as mourning... But perhaps they could. Maybe that was it. She was crying after that man who had drowned.

He closed his eyes, furrowed his brows, and continued rubbing her back, and stroking her hair, while pondering why the thought of that man irritated him...

"I'm sorry, Jack", she said quietly after a longer moment of silence between them.

Jack opened his eyes, and looked down at her. "Tell me, luv", he said in a low voice, and paused, waiting for her to look up at him. And she did, and he thought that he had never seen such a beautiful, tear-stained face... "Why exactly are ye cryin'?"

She blinked, and bit her lip, slowly pulling herself up to sit on the bed. Jack quickly sat upright as well, facing her, and looking at her intently. She tapped the bed cover absently with her fingertips, staring pensively at her hands.

"I don't know", she whispered without looking up at him. Jack opened his mouth to speak, but she continued before he said anything. "I don't know how to tell you without telling you...", she said quietly, brushing a single tear off her cheek.

Jack tilted his head to the side, repeating her last sentence to himself in his mind, and finding that he quite liked it.

...Unless it meant something bad...

"I just... don't know...", she continued in a soft, barely audible tone of voice. "And if I told you, what would happen... and what would not happen... what should happen... even if it will not happen, because it can't happen..."

Jack glanced around the room hesitantly. For some reason, however, he was beginning to like her even more... even though she was making no sense... or maybe because she was making no sense...

He leaned toward her, and rested his forehead against hers, smiling slightly when she shivered at the contact. "Ye don't have to tell me if ye don't want to... I just... don't want ye to cry, an' I thought that maybe if ye'd tell me why ye're cryin', I could do something to stop it", he muttered, sliding his arms around her back on an impulse to make sure that she was close, and she was not going anywhere.

Going anywhere... Why should she be going anywhere?... Going... Go... Gone...

Elizabeth smiled weakly. "There is no way to stop it, Jack", she said in a faltering voice, burying her face into his chest. "It's already over", she whispered blankly.

She could not think of anything to say... Except that she was sorry... What else could she say? Still, the thought about the mutiny stuck in her mind, and was not going to go away. If only she could tell him... There would be no mutiny, he would have never lost the Pearl. As for the Aztec gold... She would have told him about the curse, so he would not have gone after that treasure. And then... What then? He would have never shown up in Port Royal on that day when she had fallen from the fort... He would not have rescued her, and maybe she would have drowned. But wouldn't it be a fitting punishment? She should not mind, really.

But there was a problem with every change that she could make... That every change would trigger another change... And it was dangerously easy to lose control over the course of events... Yet, maybe she owed him just telling him about the mutiny and the Aztec gold... And he could do whatever he wanted with those pieces of information... It was not up to her to change his future... But perhaps it could be up to him? She would just tell him... a bit about it...

She would, but she couldn't. She could not tell him. Tell him. Tell...

"Nay, luv. Nothin' is over as long as ye live", said Jack confidently, unconsciously tightening his embrace around her.

She shook at that, and he wasn't sure whether it was a sob or a laugh. She tilted her head backwards, and looked up at him with glassy eyes. A sob, then.

"...can't tell him anything about the future..." "Jack", she said quietly, looking at him hesitantly.

"I'm all ears, luv", he smirked faintly, brushing her hair away from he shoulders, and placing his hands there.

"Could you...", she trailed off, and averted her eyes.

It was naive. It was ridiculously naive. It was just a word play that she was playing with herself. What was she trying to do? Surreptitiously, she took a look at the medallion. Five hours. Only five hours. She sighed, pushing away the thoughts about the commotion that she might cause. It was before the mutiny, and not warning him that he was about to lose his beloved ship was like killing him again... She could not leave him here without at least trying to warn him...

"Jack, could you...", she looked up at him. "Could you fetch some paper and a quill for me?", she asked in a soft voice, trying to smile.

Jack blinked. "Paper", he repeated, slightly baffled by her request.

Elizabeth nodded. "Yes. And a quill."

He looked at her, and she could not quite guess what he was thinking at the moment.

But whatever he was thinking, at last he smiled, muttered "'course, luv", slid off the bed, and walked out of the room.

And it was only after he had closed the door behind him that he growled in frustration, bumped his forehead against the wall, and sighed, before actually setting off to find the paper and the quill, (which were decidedly not the most popular items to be found in Tortuga), and wondering what did she even need the paper and the quill for right now!?