for those of you who did review I LOVE YOU ALL!

Disclaimer: While camping, I acquired some new merch…unfortunately…I did not acquire the movie…which sadly, means that I do not own it. My damn cat is crawling on me like a jungle Jim! Oh right! I do not own pirates of the Caribbean! Tear.

Alright we haven't got all day! Tout Suite common!

POTCPOTCPOTC

7- Ara Tempus

"Just one moment darlin'

Elizabeth let out a groan of frustration as Jack once again readjusted her feet. It was only the seventh time he had done it within the hour…and it was really starting to get on her nerves. As he droned on and on about proper technique she amused herself with the thought of throwing down the sword she was currently holding and stomping below deck. At the moment it seemed very appealing. Reluctantly she controlled her self from following through on that thought and instead tried to concentrate on the task at hand.

Positioning her feet properly.

At the moment Jack was teaching her how to properly use a sword. Turns, twists, parries, blocks, strikes, swings, lunges, the works. She had been having a small lunch with Ana Maria when he had come over to her, swung his arm around her shoulder and walked her up to the helm. His exact words had been to her "Elizabeth, it has just occurred to me that you were never taught how to properly handle a blade." Then he had gone on about teaching her the way of the sword, yada, yada, yada…

Upon him mentioning it, it had seemed like a fantastic idea. She would get to learn how to properly sword fight and she would get to spend more time with Jack, seemed like a no lose situation. Oh how very wrong she had been.

Not even thirty minutes into the first lesson he had made her repeat certain moves and exercises various times while lecturing her on the certain ways to turn and block and such. It was highly annoying, and Elizabeth being an independent and defiant woman did not like to be told she was wrong…at all.

Dropping herself from her stance she turned to Jack with a bored look in her eyes.

"Jack, I think I'm done for the moment." She made to set her sword down and turn around, but instead was faced with a very persistent Jack.

"Now, now, lets not be hasty luv. We've barley just begun." Rolling her eyes, she moved past him, looking defiant and crossing her arms, she held her chin high.

"I can handle a sword perfectly well, thank you." Falling in stride beside her, Jack carefully chose his words as to not offend her.

"Not that you aren't marvelous at it 'Lizabeth but you must admit that you need a little work." She brushed off a flicker of anger that had passed through her at his last comment and continued on her way below deck.

"Mr. Sparrow, I am well enough acquainted with a sword that I can defend myself, just as I did four weeks ago."

True enough, it had been four weeks since the attack of the enemy pirate ship. As Elizabeth had said, she had managed to defend herself with a sword…but just because she was able to defend her self didn't mean that she was necessarily good with a blade. Barely decent was more like it. She had managed to messily hack her way through a rather weak looking opponent…but that was all she had done. Captain does know best, and Jack knew Elizabeth should be taught to handle a blade rather sooner than later…You can never tell when you're going to be using one next. Jack absently mindedly had wonder why Will had never shown her the ropes of using a sword.

"And I know that as well as you, but you still need-" Cutting him off she whipped around to face him, looking rather angry.

"I'm done for the day. Go bother someone else." Turning around, she quickly made her way below deck, but not before catching a slightly wounded look in his eyes. As she plopped herself down on their bed she felt a slight pang of guilt course through her.

She had officially moved into his cabin two nights after the turning point in their relationship. She had quickly explained to Ana Maria what was happening before she took what little she had and almost skipped into Jacks room, and from then on everything had been well.

Running a hand through her hair and leaning back against the lumpy pillows she sighed. There really was nothing to do below deck. Not in the day anyway… She thought to herself and a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.

Oh, the activities that took place after the sun sunk down into the horizon…what could be said about those?

She really hadn't known what she had been expecting for her "first time". A year ago she had thought it would be on her wedding night with her newly wed husband, but she had known from the moment that she and Jack had started to develop deeper feelings for each other that there would be no way in hell her "first time" would have happened in wed-lock.

She had known that he would be the one. Her first. The one she would willingly give one of the most prized and greatest gifts she could ever posses. Her purity. Her innocence. It was all for him, a pirate…and she didn't mind one bit. Along with her body she had also managed to give him her heart, and so far he had successfully managed to not even damage it in the slightest way.

She also knew that with Jack there would be no marriage. He wasn't the kind of man that would be married, not even to the love of his life. To him it was another form of imprisonment, another chain around his ankle. His freedom was his most cherished possession, even more than his pearl. He had explained it to her one night after they had made love. He had told her that marriage wasn't needed to create a solid and faithful union between two people, saying how a piece of paper and a roomful of witnesses present was only a fancy way of saying "hey! These two people are in love for what they hope will be the rest of their lives, and this little piece of paper and speech of fancy words is their own false sense of security that the person will not slip off and roger the first breathing thing of the opposite sex on two legs that they can find! And if they do so happen to fall out of love with each other then they just screwed themselves over till 'death do they part!' This little scrap of parchment and ink just verifies it!"

Of course Jack had said it much differently at the time, but Elizabeth had just chalked it up to that…and it had all made sense to her. She thought that maybe she was finally starting to understand Jack Sparrow, but then came to the conclusion that he was constantly surprising her and the she would never for the life of her ever completely figure him out, which was a terribly good thing.

Half an hour had gone by and Elizabeth had done nothing but chase her thoughts around in circles. She was actually missing Jack correcting her stance. The hurt that had shown in his eyes flashed through her mind, and she reluctantly swallowed her pride, dragged herself off the bed and grabbed a sword that was in the corner of the room next to a desk with all of Jacks navigational tools on it.

Just as she was about to walk towards the door something Jack had written caught her eye and she slowly walked back to the sturdy desk and looked down at the paper. There were two words she had never seen before scrawled out in surprisingly neat handwriting. A series of blotted and crossed out words were beneath it, but at the bottom of the small mess of ink there were three words that sparked her curiosity.

Ara Tempus

Altar Of Time

Her eyes widened a bit. Altar of time? What could that possibly mean? Setting down the sword, she looked behind her for a moment at the closed door before lifting up the frail paper to see if he had anything else written.

Underneath the first paper, there were two more that were messily placed beneath it. The first was a drawing of what appeared to be a quarter of a half of a sphere. The bottom had a triangular base and it was flat, with a small hole directly in the center of it. Coming up from the base was a curved portion of what would have been the outside of the sphere if had been a complete sphere, that would have formed into a point, if it weren't for a perfectly cut quarter of a circle at its top. It appeared that if it were to make a whole sphere it would have been hollow.There were lines and symbols on the drawing that she couldn't make out, for it was partially faded. It was definitely a peculiar object…whatever it was.

Setting it down, she looked at the other paper. It appeared that they were notes, of what she could only assume had been about the object on the other paper. She read them.

Ara Tempus

Altar Of Time

Four pieces of a half

Clues, directions, hints?

Isle Del Muerta

Piece number one

They looked as if they had been jotted down quickly, for they were a lot messier then the drawing and the words on the previous paper, and they were short and left a lot to be questioned. The second to last written line on the paper caught her eyes.

Isle Del Muerta… Four Pieces? Clues? What was Jack doing? Whatever it was she was sure that all of it was some how tied to the "Altar of Time". She shuffled through the papers once more. Not finding anything, she looked at the map that Jack was currently plotting their course over.

He had only taught her how to read maps a little, but she was sure that Jack was taking them back to the Isle Del Muerta. If her speculations were correct, Jack was looking for something, and whatever it was, it was at the Isle Del Muerta. Carefully, she put the papers back the way she had found them, and picked up her sword. Making her way towards the door, she made a note to ask Jack about it later tonight before she climbed the steps to the main deck.

From the looks of it, it seemed Jack was after something…which wasn't necessarily good.

POTCPOTCPOTC

Elizabeth let out a short scream as the top of Jacks cork covered sword poked her in her abdomen. That was most surely going to leave a mark.

After trudging her way up the steps, she had reluctantly walked over to Jack, who was barking out orders at the helm. He had pretended to ignore her for a few minutes but had quickly given in and tried to hide his happiness under annoyance as he had asked her was she wanted. She told him and refrained from slapping him at the pleased smirk that had appeared on his face.

Now two hours later they were noisily dueling on the helm. Jack had smartly taken safety precautions and had yanked out the corks of two rum bottles and shoved them securely on the ends of the swords. It had made him giddy thinking that he could still poke her without mortally damaging her. Elizabeth on the other hand wanted to break the shiny piece of metal over his hat covered head.

He had proceeded to poke her it least eleven times already and almost in the same spot every single time. She figured it was him trying to accentuate his point of where she should stab her opponent. Little good it did her, for she had managed to not even stab Jack once. He however was having a wonderful old time exploiting her weaknesses to his advantage, and took every opportunity to literally "point" or in other words "poke" out her wrong doings.

"Eli you do realize that I have killed you eleven times now?"

"Actually Jack, I really hadn't noticed. " He snickered as she sent a glare his way.

"Oh…well just thought I'd point that out."

He nearly toppled backwards as she caught him off guard and lunged at him (to his amazement, she did it properly). His sword was up in the blink of an eye, blocking her lunge. Regaining his footing they began to circle each other as if they were tigers sizing up their prey. He tisked at her and shook the finger of his free hand in mock scolding.

"That wasn't very nice luv." Giving him a polite smile, she made like a snake and struck out towards him fast. Her feet moving in a specific pattern as her blade clashed with his. They each pressed their swords together in an attempt to over throw the other, their faces merely inches apart. She spoke, her voice coming out with a slight tremor as she pushed against him with all of her strength.

"Then perhaps you shouldn't spend your time prattling about-" Her foot connected with his upper thigh, and she kicked him. He stumbled back a few feet, his sword still poised and ready. "When you could be doing useful things." She finished with a smirk at the surprised look on his face. Quickly he regained his composer before they began circling one another again. By now a few of the crew had come to watch to display, impressed at her retorts and defiance to the captain. None of them had spoken like that to Jack…but then again, none of them were sharing a bed with him either.

"Do enlighten a fellow as to what useful things he could be doing." He would never admit it but she had slowly begun to impress him through the hours. She was a natural at sword fighting, with strong stances and taunt muscles. Constantly correcting her was just something he had done to make her angry. It pleased him to no end how he could wriggle under her skin so easily.

"Well" A series of lunges and blocks followed before they backed down and resumed circling each other. "Meeting with the business end of my sword would be a delightful start."

Glaring at her, he swung, and she easily parried it before brining up her own sword and turning it so that it lay flat. She struck at the "opportune moment", slapping his wrist. His sword fell from his hand and his eyes flashed to her dangerously. A thrill of excitement ran through her as she pointed her sword inches away from his chest, the end bobbing slightly. Victory flooded through her.

"Check mate." Jack sadly closed his eyes and threw up his hands in surrender. Smiling, she let down her sword…as well as her guard and Jack once again exploited her weakness to his advantage. Crouching low, he swept one of his legs out and knocked her clean off of her feet. Her butt hit the deck with a loud thunk as her sword clattered to the floor. Jack was up once again and he quickly kicked her sword out of reach of her hand, before bending down and fetching his own.

Her eyes were fixed on the cork covered end of the blade as it hovered inches from her face. A grim frown had decided to take over her mouth as she looked up at Jack with disdain. He gave her a toothy grin.

"I believe you are thoroughly mistaken darlin'."

POTCPOTCPOTC

An hour later Jack and Elizabeth were sitting on the steps to the helm as she drank a mug of fresh water, and he happily gulped down his rum. Elizabeth was feeling somewhat content and more than pleased with herself.

She had managed to "stab" him twice. The first time it had made her extremely happy. It had taken Jack's brain a moment to catch up with his body when he realized that the cork was securely jabbed between his ribs. He had somewhat complimented her, but made sure to throw in some constructive criticism to make himself feel better.

She had brushed it off and urged him into another round, in which Jack had proceeded to wallop her, much to her dismay.

Now they sat, quietly drinking their respective drinks in silence as they listened to the ocean and watched the sun still shining brightly in the sky. It was around four in the afternoon and all was as peaceful as it could be on a pirate ship. The comfortable silence was broken when Jack spoke up.

"Well that was interesting." He said while rubbing his newly bruised ribs.

She looked at him and a wave of heat ran through her. For some reason he appeared sexier than usual, not that he wasn't sexy all the time…just right now…he seemed overly sexy. Too sexy even. Dangerously sexy.

Brown eyes met brown as they looked at each other as if trying to read the others thoughts. They might as well have been telekinetic, for Jack quickly grabbed her hand and they mumbled some hurried excuses to the crew as they rushed below deck.

Two hours later Elizabeth had come up with a theory that was backed up by strong, supporting evidence.

Sword fighting definitely made Captain Jack Sparrow sexier.

POTCPOTCPOTC

"Shouldn't we be up on deck?"

"They can hold a bit longer."

Elizabeth and Jack were lying in their bed facing each other. They had been like this for the past twenty minutes, simply talking and enjoying the aftermath that was their spontaneous love-making.

The randomness of it all had surprised Elizabeth. It was like they were just completely taken over by forces beyond their control. Somewhere in the throws of their frenzied passion she had recognized what it was. Lust. Now they just lay there, basking in the after math of it all. A sudden questioned popped into her mind and it slipped out before she could stop it.

"Jack what were you like before you became a pirate?" She asked curiously.

A look of deep thought overcame his face as he contemplated his answers. He didn't really seem troubled that she had asked, actually he seemed perfectly fine that she did…he just didn't know how to answer.

Truth be told she had always been curious. There were all these contradicting traits about Jack, ones that just never fit in to his pirate image. Like the fact that he did seem well educated. For a pirate he had an astounding vocabulary, always using smart and intelligent words as if they were your every day common phrase. His neat hand writing and such. He even had a gentlemanly air about him, not that he tried to show it, mind you, but it was there.

It was silent for a few more seconds as she waited for him to continue. Finally he spoke up.

"Actually…" He began slowly, without looking at her. "I was a bit like yourself Ms.Swann."

Her eyes widened. Like her?

"What?" Elizabeth sounded a bit astonished. What exactly did he mean by "like yourself"? Sighing, he looked up at her with a knowing presence in his gaze.

"High society, aristocratic, propriety life style. Fancy parties and dresses, you would know of it."

Of course she did. She knew all too well. But Jack? She could never picture Jack in that kind of life. An image of him decked out in his pirate attire in the middle of a ball room filled with women in expensive gowns of gold and silver, while the men were in tights and well tailored suits came to her mind, and she had to refrain from smiling at the thought.

No, she most definitely could not picture Jack living that life. He was suited for piracy, it was clearly written all over his handsome face. But here he was, telling her that was the life he once led. It was strange.

"What happened?" Rolling his eyes, he gave her a slight smile.

"Bloody boring, happily left, joyously turned pirate, got me a ship" He motioned to the room they were in before continuing "Currently living life on the high seas. The End."

She frowned, somewhat disappointed with the "nutshell" version of his life story. Sliding closer to him, she gave him a look before responding to his "little" story.

"You know as well as I that there has to be more to that oh-so-exciting story." A funny look over came his features as if he were thinking about something, and for a moment she thought he was going to tell her. Instead, he turned to her and gave her a toothy grin.

"Well, if I properly recall there wasn't much to reason why you left grand old Port Royal, eh?" At this she scowled at him. Once again Jack was right…Jack always seemed to be right. She was going to have to fix that. She realized that he was speaking again and silenced her thoughts. "There wasn't much to it Eli. I wasn't happy, as I suspect you weren't, so I left, savvy?" Pulling her closer, he landed a kiss on her forehead and once again she felt a rush of passion run through her at the tender gesture. "And now, I am. Fairly simple."

She decided to let it go, on the grounds that he had made her heart go all aflutter.

"Say what you will Sparrow, I know there is something your refusing to tell me." Smiling, he kissed her nose before moving to leave the bed.

"Or maybe, you're just too defiant for your own good."

She bit back a smile.

"Maybe…"

Sliding out from beneath the sheets, she stood up on unsteady legs and moved about the room to retrieve her thrown about clothes. Jacks eyes traveled down her back side, and she could practically feel his hands running over her. She bent down to pick up her shirt.

"Am I distracting you Captain?" Clearing his throat, he threw his shirt on and turned away from her.

"You are most certainly, not." Elizabeth chuckled as she also pulled her shirt down over her head. They dressed in silence, each enjoying the company of the other. Elizabeth had been thinking about a refined and high society Jack Sparrow, trying to picture him in her mind…but she couldn't. It was impossible. She couldn't imagine Jack EVER looking like that.

"If you don't mind me asking Jack, what did you look like?"

Elizabeth heard him stumble a little behind her, and she looked around to see him sitting on the bed attempting to pull on his boot without looking surprised at her question. Wow…she hadn't expected a reaction like that. After managing to yank the boot onto his right foot he reached for the other and looked up at her.

"Pointless question." He said shortly. Her head tilted to the side a bit, and she grabbed her own boots as she went to sit by him. She couldn't resist the urge to tease him.

"Why Jack Sparrow." Elizabeth started as she sat down, one boot ready in her hand. "Am I sensing denial?"

"What!" Came his surprised reply. "Of course not!"

"I believe I am." She said smirking. Avoiding her eyes, he finished pulling the other boot on. He was not going to win this on. Elizabeth had gotten a confession out of him before. Jack really wasn't that easy to crack. A little teasing, some indignant, relentless pestering and he would spill all just to get you to leave him be.

"Once again, as the other many times before, you are mistaken Miss. Swann." He stood up to leave, but she quickly climbed over the bed and placed herself in front of the door.

"You know what I think? I think you're ashamed of your looks." Jack succeeded in looking appalled at the very thought, with his mouth hanging slightly open and his eyes widened. Wiping the shocked look of his face, he quickly replaced it with his usual calm demeanor. Holding his hands up in front her face he began.

"And what would I have to be ashamed of Miss. Swann? Hmm? I'm a legend, and my good looks happen to be irresistible." He snickered before continuing. "You should know." Smiling sweetly at him, she countered his comment.

"What about the face your hiding beneath that wild hair, and kohl rimmed eyes? Hmm? What about that Mr. Sparrow?" Her eyes bored into his, and a smile was present on her pretty face. "You know, I think if you cut all that hair off and removed that mustache and beard, it'd take twenty years off you."

At this he actually did look offended. Was she saying he was old? He was not old! As a matter of fact he was fairly young…he was just older than her. She hadn't really meant it as an offending statement, but she hadn't realized how it sounded until it was already out of her mouth. Her eyes widened when she saw what he was thinking. Trying to beat him to it, he won and came out first.

"For your information Ms. Swann, I am under no circumstances old, and my hair and facial hair have sentimental value…as does my hat." He made to move past her. "Now if you'll excuse me, my ship needs a captain."

Grabbing a piece of cloth, she fell into step behind him as she hastily tried to walk and braid her hair at the same time.

"May I see it one day?" Stopping, he turned to face her, a curious glint in his eye.

"See what?"

"You without all you hair…would you show me?" Jack stared at her for a minute. That was an odd and unique question. Opening his mouth, he paused for a moment.

"Only under special circumstances Ms. Swann." Smiling, she moved ahead of him and began to climb up towards the deck.

"I'm looking forward to it Captain."

POTCPOTCPOTC

Ana Maria and Elizabeth were once again stuck scrubbing the deck. Elizabeth's finger nails were cut to the quick and her hands felt tight from all of the salt water. This was not one of her favorite jobs. Slapping the rag onto the hard deck she began to scrub in a clock-wise circle. She and Ana Maria had been talking lightly over the past forty-five minutes, but it had died out when they found nothing interesting to talk about. Elizabeth suddenly found herself interrupting the silence.

"Do you know what Jack looks like without that mess of hair?" She asked.

Ana Maria stopped scrubbing and slowly looked up at Elizabeth. What they hell kind of question was that? Fortunately for Elizabeth, Ana Maria did in fact know what Jack Sparrow looked like without that "mess of hair" and it was a pretty sight. Literally. You could honestly say he was a beautiful man. Sitting back on her haunches, she looked at Elizabeth.

"What brought this on?"

Elizabeth picked at her nails for a second.

"Nothing, I was just curious is all." Ana Maria chuckled and motioned for Elizabeth to lean in. She did as instructed. Looks like they had found something to talk about after all.

"He looks like one of the sweetest men you've ever seen." Her eyes widened. They way Ana had said it made room for speculation that she liked Jack Sparrow. Ana Maria saw her eyes widened and quickly made amends.

"Are you daft? Not like that Elizabeth. I'm meanin' sweet as in innocent lookin'."

Realization dawned in Elizabeth's eyes and her mouth formed into an O shape. Ana Maria snickered and looked up at Jack, steering the wheel at the helm.

"He's always hidin' behind that hair" letting out a short laugh, she continued. "Makes him look more threatenin' if you know what I'm sayin'."

Elizabeth tried to picture it, but once again she found it impossible. She was just so use to seeing Jack the way he was…all Jack Sparrow-ish. She couldn't picture him looking like anything or any body else. Sighing, she began to scrub the deck again. She guessed all she could do now was wait and hope that she could see him like that one day.

She didn't even know why she was so interested…it just seemed so…out there. Something she HAD to see. Gazing up at Jack one more time, she continued to work. Forcing herself to stop concentrating on Jacks looks her mind wondered to other things.

Ara Tempus

Altar of time. She had almost forgotten about that. She had been so focused on other things…stupider things, that she hadn't even asked Jack about it yet. She didn't know anything about it, but she knew that if Jack was researching it, then he must really be getting in depth with the whole situation.

It seemed so…non pirate like. Pirates went after gold and jewels, riches and such. She mentally slapped herself. For all she knew this Ara Tempus thing could be some amazing, spectacular treasure. It didn't sound like It though. Whatever it was, it sounded important.

She gave a short gasp as a splinter embedded itself in her finger. Great, now she had a splinter, perfect. This must have been her thousandth one. Sitting on her knees she worked on trying to remove the annoying spec of wood from inside of her skin, all the while trying to piece together the puzzle of the Ara Tempus thing, when she didn't even have all the pieces.

Elizabeth hissed as she accidentally pushed it deeper into her finger. Telling Ana Maria she would be right back, she got up and made her way below deck to rummage around for a small dagger. Walking into their room, she went over to the desk and fetched the dagger. Plopping down in the chair, she carefully began to work on her finger, letting out a quiet gasp and even a curse every now and then.

Finally she was successful, and it slid out of her finger. She put the dagger back in its place and reclined in the chair. Her eyes ran over the paper on his desk that lay out in the open and she read the words again.

Ara Tempus

Altar of Time

POTCPOTCPOTC

Sniff…sniff…hmm…

Is that a plot I smell? Hehe!

It was really funny, beacause while i was writing this, I couldnt for the life of me figure how old I should make Jack. So i sat there contemplating all of my options ranging from late twenties to late thirties...then it occured to me...Captain Jack Sparrow is...well...timeless. So have fun making up your own age! What the heck, get creative, What say you to that?