True Love

Chapter 4: A Lesson

Elizabeth stared at Will for a second, completely surprised. Finally she regained her composure. "You are? You made this for me?" she questioned.

Will nodded. At that, she ran to him and jumped into his arms in delight. Will wrapped his arms around her small, lithe frame, reveling in the fact that it was he who was lucky enough to be holding her. "I take it that you like this idea?" he asked, chuckling.

"It's the best idea I've ever heard," answered Elizabeth excitedly. "I've always wanted to learn how to use a sword. But I've never been allowed. I certainly could have used the skills while we were surrounded by pirates, though."

"Precisely," responded Will. "You need to know how to defend yourself," he said, releasing her from the embrace. "But it would probably be best if we agreed to keep this a secret for the time being.'

"Agreed," stated Elizabeth with a nod. "But what shall I wear? I can't be running about with a sword in a dress."

Will grinned, pleased with himself. "There are some old clothes of mine that are too small for me that I set out for you to wear. They're back in my room." He suddenly felt a pair of lips shyly kissing his own. "What was that for?" he asked, blushing slightly.

"For being wonderful and thinking of everything," answered Elizabeth simply, before darting into the other room to change. Will sighed contentedly as he watched her close the door. He loved her more than absolutely anything or anyone. He did feel a hint of worry however, about what sort of reaction the townspeople would have to their relationship. It wasn't that he really cared about what they thought, but if they had a negative response, Will certainly didn't want them to take it out on Elizabeth. Then there was the Governor. Will knew that the man liked him well enough, but well enough to be courting his daughter? Will wasn't sure, especially after the events of yesterday. Yes, he was a blacksmith, but he couldn't fight the knowledge that there was piracy in his blood. And he had recently learned that not all pirates were necessarily bad people, Jack being his example. The way that many of the citizens viewed people as though they were black and white suddenly seemed much more annoying to him that it had been previously, due to his recent experience. The good blacksmith's thoughts were interrupted as he heard Elizabeth enter the room. He turned around and was a bit stunned to see how beautiful she looked even in his old work clothes. The outfit seemed to accentuate her curves even better than a dress did. And the best part was she seemed to feel so natural and comfortable in them, like she could become more of herself than she could in one of those stiff dresses.

"What, do I look silly?" she asked catching his glance.

"No, of course not," he stated. "It's just a different look, that's all."

"This is quite comfortable," she said, picking up the sword that Will had made for her. "Much better than that horrid corset."

Will smiled. "All right. We're going to start with defense, which I believe is the most important thing for you to learn in case anything unfortunate should happen again. If you don't know how to defend yourself, there's no point."

Elizabeth nodded as she pulled her hair out of her face with a piece of cloth. She picked up the sword her face set.

"Love you don't learn start learning sword fighting with a real sword, you've got to use a wooden one first. We'll practice with those," he pointed to the two simple wooden swords in the corner, "until you've got the gist of it, which I daresay won't take very long."

"Oh, right. Silly me," said Elizabeth as she went over and picked up the two wooden weapons, handing one to Will.

"After you learn that sword will be all yours," remarked Will. "All right are you ready? And if you need to stop at anytime, just tell me."

Elizabeth laughed, and it warmed Will's heart. He adored the sound of her laugh. "I will. Don't worry so much."

"All right, I'll try not too. The first move I'm going to teach you is called a parry. It's a basic defensive technique that blocks your opponents attack," said Will, moving behind her to put her hands in the right position. After doing so he backed away and went to pick up his own sword.

"Do you have it?" he asked, examining how she was holding her sword.

Elizabeth nodded, her face set.

"I'm going to come at you slowly. Move the sword forward to block my own. Are you ready?" he asked, a bit nervous. Elizabeth seemed to have a natural hold on the sword, but he was still afraid that he might hurt her.

"I'm ready," she said. "Just say the word."

With that Will slowly advanced toward her, moving his sword in her direction. A loud bang was heard as wood met wood. Elizabeth had blocked the attack quite well.

"How was that?" she asked, brushing a stray blonde hair from her eye. "That sword was a lot heavier than I anticipated."

"It was quite good for a first try," said Will with a smile. "Only this time try to go a bit faster. That's important when you are facing an opponent. You always need to be quicker than they are. Oh, and don't forget to breath while you're fighting," he said in a humorous tone. "If you don't breathe you'll run out of energy quite rapidly."

"Good call," said Elizabeth with a twinkle in her eyes. "I was so focused on trying to do the move right that I forgot to breath."

The couple went through the motions several more times, with Elizabeth getting faster and faster with each try. After about half an hour of this, both began to pant and agreed to call it a day. Will sat down, wiping the sweat off his brow and admiring the way that Elizabeth had learned so quickly.

"That was quite fun," said Elizabeth happily. "It was so unlike anything I've ever done before. You're quite a good teacher, Will," she said, scooting next to him and taking his hand delicately in hers.

"You're a fast learner, so I don't have to do much," he responded humbly, giving her hand a gentle squeeze.

"Don't be so modest William Turner," she said playfully. "You are a talented swordsman, and you know it. I am privileged to be your student. Will we have another lesson again soon?"

"We can have a lesson whenever you like. Or whenever you can get away, you have those social events you must attend, being the governor's daughter," he said his tone a bit wistful.

Elizabeth picked up on this instantly. "But you will come with me to all of those events. Having you there will make them much more bearable," she said sincerely. "Do not be afraid of what people think of us Will."

"I will try," he responded truthfully. "But I am a mere blacksmith Elizabeth, and you are nobility, people will talk."

"Will, look at me," she said, taking his face in her small hands, forcing him to look her straight in the eyes. "You are not a mere blacksmith. You are the man who saved my life, the man who risked everything for me, and the man that I love. You are better than any man in all of Port Royal. Do not let the talk of the townspeople affect our relationship. You are respected in the town, and they will soon forget all of the recent events and accept our relationship, don't worry."

He smiled brought his lips to hers in a loving kiss. "You are wise beyond your years, my darling," he whispered. "You are right. Nothing matters as long as we are together. But you had better go and change or I shall be in trouble with your father," he joked. "The sun is starting to go down."

"I didn't realize how much time had gone by. Time flies while you're having fun, as they say," she said, as she got up to go and change.

Once she had changed, Will took her hand, his strong fingers intertwined with hers. They walked through town, not caring whether the people smiled or frowned. They had each other's love and that was all they needed. They were just passing the market place when Elizabeth spoke.

"I'm not quite ready to go home yet, Will. Do you want to take a walk through the market?" she asked, her eyes pleading with him to say yes, and he couldn't refuse her.

"Of course, love," he answered. They walked through the market, with the merchants calling out for them to buy whatever it was that they were selling. Some called out hellos to the couple and the two went over for a few chats. At one particular kiosk that sold jewelry, Elizabeth stopped, seeing a necklace simple necklace made of shells that she stopped to examine.

"This is lovely," she said, picking it up and fingering the shells. "It's so simple and yet, so beautiful. I would love to have it," she said absentmindedly.

"Then it's yours," said Will, pulling a few shillings out of his pocket and handing them to the merchant.

"Oh no Will, you don't have to do that. I have quite enough jewelry," said Elizabeth trying to protest.

"But I want you to have it Elizabeth," said Will, firmly, handing the merchant the money and taking the necklace and putting it around her neck. "Just think of it as a gift from me to you, to remember my love by. It suits you."

Elizabeth looked at him, glowing with the happiness she felt. "You are amazing William Turner, and far too kind. I shall wear this everyday."

Will laughed heartily, taking her hand once more. "You give me too much credit, Elizabeth Swann, but if I don't get you home soon, your father will be worried and won't let me see you again."

Elizabeth sighed, but gave in. "Perhaps you are right, but let's walk slow."

They walked the rest of the distance to the governor's mansion, talking freely about whatever was on their minds. Once they reached the doorstep, they kissed, and a shooting star shot through the sky and into the heavens. They smiled as they broke apart and Elizabeth brought a hand to Will's cheek.

"Can I see you tomorrow?" she asked in a quiet tone.

"I will wait for your knock on the door," he responded with a grin. "Tell your father hello for me."

After one last kiss he smiled and walked in the direction of the smithy, and Elizabeth turned to go inside, not believing it was humanly possible to be this happy.