A/N: Ok, so I'm sure you're all very excited! Two updates, two days in a row? Well, I already had this chapter written so I figured I wouldn't prolong the waiting. Thank you so much to those of you who review and please continue to do so! And please excuse the extreme length of this chapter. I just had to get it all out. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: POTC belongs to Disney.

When Elizabeth finally woke up, she looked around her to inspect the room she was in. It was strange being here… on his ship. On her husband's ship. Strangely enough, she didn't feel at home here. Everything seemed foreign to her.

The room was dark and uninviting, unlike Jack's cabin. It smelled like sea water but not like the Pearl smelled… it was almost too much sea water. It engulfed the entire room, making her feel a little bit sick.

She got out of bed, walking wearily around the cabin. Surely it couldn't hurt to explore.

She noticed that Will's cabin seemed rather… depressing. But then again, how joyful could a ship that spent most of its time in the dark, dreary depths of the sea be? How kind could their captain be… how faithful could his wife be. Faithful? Hardly faithful. More like faithless. Because she was hopelessly in love with another man.

And what a wonderful man he was. But she was worried about him. She wanted to find Will and tell him to hurry up and find Jack. The only problem was that she had no idea where he was. And if he was going after her, he would go to Benjamin's ship. And if he went to Ben's ship, then things would end badly for him… for her… for them.

Elizabeth shook those disturbing thoughts and walked to the window. It was a beautiful day… She supposed she had to go talk to Will and sort things out. However, she had no intention of speaking with him. But it was a necessity. She needed him to get Jack back. She needed him… She needed Jack.

In the meantime, Jack was in his little ship (which was more of a luxurious dinghy) and saw another ship sailing away from Benjamin's ship. And, much to his surprise (and dismay, at that), the compass needle started pointing to that ship instead. A million thoughts rushed through his head.

Had Ben put her on a different ship? Did another pirate take her? Did she escape? Was she safe? Yes… Yes. That was the most calming, if not most plausible, answer. The ship was moving slow, thankfully, and he quickly approached said ship since the wind had picked up.

The skies were blue with only a few clouds in the sky. It was a beautiful day, he thought. But not as beautiful as his charming pirate lass. As he got closer to the ship, he saw that it 

was the Flying Dutchman. And he decidedly was not looking forward to getting aboard. But if Elizabeth was there, which in itself was a worrisome notion, he would have to.

Once he was close enough, he jumped to the Dutchman so he could grab the lines. They were slippery with seaweed and other underwater vegetation but he held on for dear life (literally) so he could reach his Lizzie. Lizzie… he grew distracted with simply saying her name over and over again in his head. And this act of carelessness (or perhaps caring too much…?) caused him to let go of the rope and fall into the ocean, making a rather large splash.

Will heard the noise and leaned overboard to investigate its source. He winced due to the sunlight until he saw Jack Sparrow spitting out sea water, trying to regain his composure.

"Jack, is that you?" he shouted over the perilous waves.

"Aye! Toss a line, would ye, Mate?"

"Hold tight!"

Will ran and grabbed a rope, throwing it to Jack, who held onto it, again for his life, and was determined not to let that distractingly beautiful yet beautifully distracting pirate princess (pirate king) distract him. Although he did not mind that kind of distraction…

There ye go again, ye bloody fool. Yer hopeless…

Aye. Hopelessly in love.

Will helped him up over the railing and shook his hand excitedly, happy to see his old friend.

"So Jack, are you alright?" he asked.

"Aye, Mate. I'm fine." If only ye knew… if only ye bloody knew just how alright I am.

"Elizabeth… is here. I suppose you're trying to find her?"

"Yes… I lost her in Tortuga."

"Yes, she told me about the poker game." He looked at Jack suspiciously, knowing that he had been alone with his wife all this time. "How did you get here, Jack?"

He was about to respond 'me compass' but thought against it. Will knew the powers of that compass and were he to find out that Elizabeth (Lizzie…) was what he wanted most in the world, then things wouldn't end too well for him… for her… for them.

"Luck, Mate. Just luck."

"I hear you're looking for the Fountain of Youth."

How much did Elizabeth tell him?!

"Aye. But Barbossa stole the Pearl again. So we were trying to get a ship and then… well, ye know what happened then." But not about what happened before.



"How dare that Benjamin think he could do that to my wife?"

"No idea… speaking of yer lovely little wife, where is she?"

"In my quarters, of course." He said, failing to notice how Jack cringed at the thought.

"So… will ye take us back to Tortuga?" he asked, ignoring the urge to wipe the smile off of the Dutchman's Captain's face with his boots.

"If it's what Elizabeth wants. But she told me that if she drinks from the Fountain, we can be together always. So, I suppose so."

"Alright, then…" he replied, his face stoic and his voice, unnoticeably venomous.

He could see the look of happiness and hopeless devotion in Will's eyes and couldn't help wonder if his Elizabeth, his Lizzie knew how much the whelp cared. This worried him… because the more the whelp cared, the harder it would be for him to stop caring. The harder it would be for them to be together.

The harder it would be for her to break his heart… And perhaps she did not want to break his heart. Could it be that she was only with him for selfish reasons? To satisfy her own lust? He rather doubted it but there was still a chance… a small chance that there was an even smaller chance that such a thing could be true.

Then, out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Elizabeth emerge from Will's cabin. He smiled as he saw her stretch her arms and yawn, the light breeze catching her hair in its grasp, making her look… beautiful.

She looked in his direction but didn't notice him right away. It was only when she took a second look that she realized he was there. He was actually there! Her instincts told her to run to him, to run to his arms and kiss him with reckless abandon… but then she remembered the one thing that kept her from doing that: she was on Will's ship. And being on his ship meant that he, consequently, was aboard said ship.

Before she could go greet him as unromantically as she possibly could, Will saw her and ran down from the helm to go to her. When he gently took hold of her shoulders and turned her around, she frowned at him, but only for a moment.

"Is anything wrong, Elizabeth?"

"No, everything's fine, Will… I saw that Jack's here." She said, with only mild interest.

"Oh yes. I saw him out in the water and threw him a line."

"I see." She said, thinking of how Will had interrupted her… for if he hadn't, she would be talking to Jack right now. Something that, even in the small time period she was away from him, she missed terribly.

Her musing thoughts on Jack were, once again, interrupted by Will's touch, this time as he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. She frowned inwardly because she liked the look of disheveled hair. It was the look of choice, of adventure… of freedom.

"Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, wonderfully." She said softly, forcing a smile.



"And what do you think of the cabin? And the rest of the ship, even?" he inquired, eagerness overflowing in his eyes.

"I think it's very… quaint. I like it very much…" Oh, how she hated lying. But she was a good liar. A pirate…

"I was just telling Jack that we're heading back to Tortuga."

"We?" she asked.

"Yes, well… you two. And then, I figured that once you reach the Fountain, you could spend some time on the Dutchman… with me." He said, hesitantly, looking away from her, afraid of her reaction.

Would she jump with joy at the thought of being with him or would she resent him for even suggesting such a preposterous thing?

Much to his surprise, she did neither. Her expression changed from one of shock and panic to one of indifference.

"I… I suppose that would be nice."

"You suppose? Elizabeth, if it's not what you want…"

"No, it is what I want. Of course it's what I want, Will." She said, trying to avert her eyes from his. She felt less guilty, less responsible for his tragic fate that way.

As though he had perfect timing, Will's father, "Bootstrap" Bill Turner, came running down, asking him to take the helm. He gave Elizabeth a quick and chaste kiss on the cheek (which she later rubbed off with her hands) and went to tend to his duties.

Finally free from Will, she approached Jack who had been watching everything and looked at her strangely. She hadn't done anything wrong, had she…? There was no way that he expected her to break things off with Will right away… was there? It just wasn't that simple. There were certain times to do things. And now was not the time.

"Jack." She said, sweetly.

"Liz'beth… Did he… Did that coward do anything to ye?"

"Will?" she asked, horrified.

"No, Luv. The other whelp, Ben."

"He threatened to… but he never succeeded, if that' s what you mean."

A smile crept its way onto his face as he caressed her cheek lovingly when he was absolutely positive that nobody had been looking.

"I'm glad ye're alright, Luv."

"Me too." She said, barely above a whisper. "I missed you."

"I never should have bet ye… I never should have been so careless." So caring…

"Quiet down, Jack! Will doesn't know…"

"About the game?"

"No… that you bet me. He thinks I volunteered."



"And why is that, Dearie?"

"Because that's what I told him."

"Ye mean… ye lied to him?" he inquired, putting a shocked look on his face.

"I had to! If I didn't, well… let's just say you wouldn't be on this ship right now. Or perhaps you would, but in a difficultly retrievable form. Savvy?"

"Sounds so wrong when ye say that, Luv."

"I love you, Jack." She said, chuckling.

"But that… that sounds so right."

"He's going to drop us off at Tortuga… But then he wants me to go with him. After we're immortal, I mean… he wants me to sail away with him…"

"Oh… I see." He replied solemnly.

Her eyes began to tear up and she grabbed his sleeve in desperation, whispering frantically as she spoke.

"But I don't want to go with him, Jack! I want to go with you, be with you. I don't love him… I don't know how to tell him, if I do, he'll kill you and then it'll be like killing me too because I just have no idea how we're going to get out of this one. He's immortal so there's no way of defeating him, you know. I have no idea what we're going to…"

"Lizzie, Luv. Yer rambling."

"I'm sorry, Jack. It's just… I don't want to sail with him. Not now, not ever."

"Then ye'll tell him that."

"How?"

"When the opportune moment presents itself."

"I suppose you're right… Perhaps he won't take it too badly then."

"Speaking of the whelp…" he muttered under his breath.

Will, having finished his duties, came down to greet them both. Oh, who was he fooling?! He didn't come to greet them. He had been worried out of his mind when he found out that Elizabeth had been travelling with Jack. Ever since that kiss… that fateful kiss, things changed forever. There was more than trickery in that kiss and he knew it. As he had once told Jack, he was not a simpleton.

And now, here they were, on his ship speaking ever so quietly, probably whispering sweet nothings into—What was he thinking? This was Elizabeth he was talking about. Elizabeth… She would never do such a thing.

"I came to find you!"

She always cared for him, always tried to save him… Right?

"Once we rescue Jack, everything will be alright."

But she was so intent on rescuing Jack as well… almost more intent? More eager? More… desperate?



Ah, but that was attributed to the guilt. It had to be… there was nothing more that could make her want to get him back. Unless… but no, he had ruled that out long ago.

There was no way in Davy Jones' Locker that his Elizabeth, his wife ("I do!") could ever love the notorious Jack Sparrow… Jack Sparrow? He could almost hear her voice correcting him in his mind… "It's Captain! Captain Jack Sparrow."

Why did she care so much? Why did it seem like she was more interested in Jack than him, her own husband!

The calling of his name shook him out of his inner thoughts and he looked at them with a smile. Them? Since when did they become a 'them'?!

"Will?" asked Elizabeth, for the third time.

"Yes, I'm sorry. I was just thinking."

"Oh." She said, feigning interest.

Oh? All he got out of her was a bloody 'oh?'!! If Jack had said he'd been thinking she would have asked a million questions, trying to decipher him, to understand his thoughts.

He knew his only hope to burn out whatever was going on between the two of them would be to separate them so…

"Actually, Elizabeth, I have something to show you."

"Really? Are you sure this can't wa…" she asked, trying to get out of it. To be with Jack…

"No, it can't wait."

Elizabeth recoiled (in Jack's general direction) at how harshly his reply had come.

"I need to show you around the ship."

"The ship." She echoed, uninterestedly.

"Well, I think it's important that you know your own husband's ship, don't you?"

"Yes… of course." She looked at Jack, apologizing to him with her sad eyes.

"We'll just be a moment, Jack. Make yourself at home."

Will put his arms possessively around Elizabeth, who looked at Jack guiltily, and started walking around the ship, pointing out every detail.

Elizabeth would nod occasionally or look back at Jack to see what he was doing.

Jack just stood there watching his Lizzie go off with the whelp. But he knew it pained her as much as it pained him.

"I love you, Jack."



Yes, he was sure that she wouldn't go back to William. No matter what. They were birds of a feather, peas in a pod. She and Will were… well, there was no them… Not anymore. Had there ever been a 'them'? Before?

No matter. The future was the only thing that mattered. However, when Will looked back at Jack who was eyeing Elizabeth, he gave him a stern warning with his eyes… and Jack had a feeling that getting to a happy ever after future was going to be very, very, very difficult.

Even though he was Captain Jack Sparrow, he felt it would take more than wit to get out of this mess… A lot more.