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

Disclaimer: Disney owns POTC.

Chapter 11

"And?", Will raised his eyebrows, staring at Tia Dalma expectantly.

Barbossa chuckled. "Perhaps yer wife-to-be decided not to be yer wife", he said somewhat amused by the entire situation.

Will shot him a murderous look.

"Silence!", snapped Tia Dalma impatiently, looking intently at her black glass globe.

"Why is she not coming back?", asked Will irritatedly, turning away from Barbossa, and looking at Tia Dalma questioningly.

"Or perhaps the whelp stole the medallion, after all. Was quite foolish to trust 'im with that in the first place", observed Barbossa disinterestedly.

Will glanced at him, reluctantly admitting to himself that the idea seemed disturbingly plausible.

Tia Dalma stared at the globe with her eyes narrowed. There was only a quarter of an hour left, and after that...

She scolded herself inwardly for ever coming up with the idea of sending Elizabeth back in time. She should have known that the danger was too great, that she should not have risked bringing such perils upon the girl. And upon herself, for that matter too. Chronos, the god of time was not the one to be trifled with, but... She had just felt so sorry for the lass when they had found Jack Sparrow, a dead Jack Sparrow in the Locker.

And right now he was not even dead anymore!... He was merely unconscious. So there was really no reason for sending Elizabeth into the past. But it was too late now. She was in the past, and it seemed that she was not coming back. Either because of the blasted kid's negligence, or...

Tia Dalma squinted, and huffed in annoyance. Or because Elizabeth was doing something that she was not supposed to be doing. Which was more than likely, unfortunately. And Jack Sparrow's coming back to life was the best proof of that.

One thing that bothered her most, the one thing that Tia Dalma had not mentioned to anybody on board was that Jack's miraculous come back could have been caused by only one thing.

It could have been only caused by some changes being made in the past, by somebody playing with destiny, by somebody trying to change what must not be changed.

And yet it was strange, because she was certain that Elizabeth did not tell Jack anything about the future, or else she would see that in her globe. And yet, something was happening, something that was transforming the past; something that was putting the girl in danger.

If she was not to come back, the medallion would burst into a thousand of pieces which would fall over the Chronos' Palace signalling to him that somebody was interfering with the order of the world, and then...

And then he would send his messenger, to find out what was happening, and catch the thief who was trying to affect the course of history.

Chronos' herald... Tia Dalma stiffened at the thought. She looked at the black globe intently, as if hoping that she might drag Elizabeth back with her thoughts. She did not wish Elizabeth the grimmest of fates - the fate of the person who angered the god of time.


Elizabeth was lying on her side with her cheek pressed against the pillow, her eyes fixed on the medallion. It was almost completely black, the thin stripe of silver hardly perceivable. She wondered how had Jack got the medallion? And why he had not told her that he had got it back? And how could he have possibly got it back in the first place?

Maybe that was why she had not died? Maybe it was only because the medallion was still here, even though it should not be here, and even more than that... She had certainly run out of time, so why there was still a strip of silver on the black plate?

"Ye didn't eat yer breakfast, luv."

Elizabeth's eyes widened at the sound of Jack's low voice whispering into her ear. He felt his arm encircling her waist from behind, and pulling her closer to him.

She wanted to reply, or at least ask him about the medallion immediately, but to her astonishment, the only word that escaped her lips was: "Jack..."

He grinned, and buried his face in her hair, pressing her closer against his chest, sliding his hand upwards from her waist, and successfully preventing her from making another attempt at asking him any questions.

Elizabeth's eyes fluttered shut, and she just reveled in the wonderful feeling of his lips trailing soft, delicate kisses along her neck. The feeling was indescribable, or rather – more likely – she was unable to describe it. She could not compare it to anything, that feeling of elation that was making her heart race, and her head spin; that terrifying feeling of sweet helplessness which she could not, and maybe even did not want to fight.

Keeping her eyes closed, she slowly turned around in his arms, careful not to let go of the bed cover in which she had wrapped herself. She subconsciously closed the medallion in one of her hands, while she entangled her other hand in his dreadlocks, pulling his head closer to hers. And a moment later his lips claimed hers passionately, and she returned the kiss with desperation which did not escape his notice.

"Lizzie...", he slowly broke the kiss, and looked at her intently. Her eyes were glassy, and for a moment he thought that she was going to cry, but before he managed to ask her what was wrong, she brought her hand to his face, and traced the contour of his lips with her fingertips, and somehow he forgot what he had wanted to ask.

"Jack", she said with a small, impish smile, snuggling closer to him. It felt safe to be in his arms. Safe and sweet. And when he wrapped his arms around her scooping her in his arms, and holding her even closer, she struggled not to burst out crying at her own thoughtlessness, stupidity, cruelty... She was not sure which one of these it really was anymore. She had once thought that it was bravery, that it was a mature calculation to rescue everybody, to rescue several people at the cost of one person's life. But even when she had come up with that explanation a long time ago, she had already known that it was not true. That it was a lie, the most terrible lie, the greatest lie of all.

And now she was lying in his arms, in the arms of the man whom she had killed, whom she will kill; in the arms of the man whom she had given everything she had, save her life, in the arms of the man whom she...

No. Even if... Even if she did, it did not matter. He was dead, and there was no future for them no matter how much she would wish to remake her choices...

Unless...

Elizabeth's eyes lit up, and then suddenly she remembered the medallion in her hand.

"Jack", she started, shifting in his arms, and trying to sit upright. "Where did you get that?", she inquired with slight confusion, showing him the necklace.

Jack looked at the medallion, and blinked, baffled, until he made an effort, and snapped himself back into the real world from the dreamland to which his mind always wandered when he held her in his arms (which baffled him even more, actually).

"Oh, this, aye", he said smiling complacently. "He brought it back", he explained plainly, straightening up as well.

"Who brought it back?", she asked in utter confusion, looking at him uncertainly.

Jack smiled, and tangled his hands into her gold brown, charmingly disarrayed hair. "That little vanishin' thief. Well, not really a thief, since he brought it back, an' not really vanishin' I guess either, since-"

"He brought it back?", Elizabeth interrupted him, her eyes widening.

"Aye", nodded Jack, slightly amused by Elizabeth's adorably astonished facial expression. "That's what I said", he smiled, leaning forward, and pressing his lips to hers. And for the first time he regretted that he had a ship to take care of, and that he had to take the helm, and leave her alone for several hours.

"Jack, Jack, wait", Elizabeth reluctantly broke the kiss, trying to concentrate. He pouted. She smiled. "Wait", she repeated in a softer voice, wrapping her arms around his neck. "First tell me how is it possible that he just brought it back? You said-"

"I know", cut in Jack with a shrug. "But I guess the kid is just a bloody fast runner", he smirked, pulling her closer, hoping that it was the end of that superfluous discussion.

"What did he say?", asked Elizabeth, looking at Jack intently, her eyes involuntarily shifting between his eyes, and his mouth.

Why was I never that mad about Will? The question floated to her unexpectedly, while she was telling herself off for thinking about kissing Jack even when she really had to concentrate on obtaining some important answers from him. Why was she never feeling like that with Will... The realization startled her, and frightened her, for some reason. She still had to go back, she still had to be with Will.

I have to be with Will?... No, I want to be with Will. I want. I...

"Ah!", Jack nodded, glad that she had reminded him. "Aye, he did say somethin', although it doesn't make much sense, an' I doubt-"

"What did he say?", Elizabeth cut him off with subconscious impatience, suddenly terrified.

Jack looked at her, a glimpse of alertness showing in his eyes, as it crossed his mind, not for the first time, that Elizabeth was hiding something, that she was not telling him something important. "He said", Jack paused, "that ye have three hours", he said, watching Elizabeth's facial expression closely, trying to catch a shadow of emotion which flickering across her face would inform him whether she knew what the boy's words meant, or not.

Elizabeth paled. "Three hours?", she whispered, and averted her eyes from him, looking around the room frustratedly.

Three hours? Why? How? She tried to understand, but did it even matter? Probably Tia Dalma had found the way to give her more time. So that was why she had not died... Maybe it would have been better if she had died... And now... Three hours... Which were almost over, judging from the look of the medallion. The silver stripe was so thin, that she most likely had only some minutes left...

Jack cupped Elizabeth face in his hands, and looked at her intensely. "Lizzie, tell me right now what is goin' on", he said in a concerned, but very serious tone of voice.

She darted her eyes to him, and bit her lip, holding back tears. "I can't", she said sincerely, staring at him unblinkingly, and feeling that if she blinked, the tears would just flow down her cheeks in torrents.

Jack wrinkled his forehead, and brought his face even closer to hers. "Lizzie, ye can tell me everythin', whatever it is. Ye can-"

"No, I can't!", exclaimed Elizabeth, breaking free from his embrace, and trying to get off the bed.

She scolded herself for her inability to remain calm. She should at least appear calm to him, and not let herself fall into some kind of hysteria, which must make her seem ridiculous to say the least. No wonder he had begun suspecting something.

Jack jumped to his feet at once, and grabbed her before she ran out of the cabin. "Lizzie..."

"Let me go", she whispered through the tears which began to flow, because she did not feel strong enough to hold them back any longer. "I have to get dressed, I have to go", she looked around the cabin, trying to locate her dress, which was not an easy thing to do with her eyes misty and full of tears.

"Ah no", Jack pulled her against his chest decidedly, wrapping his arms tightly around her. "I'm deeply sorry, but ye're not goin' anywhere, luv", he said firmly, ignoring her futile attempts to push him away. "First reason bein' that ye don't feel too fine, apparently", he said seriously, steadily returning her stern, if only pretendedly stern gaze. "Second reason bein' that, in fact, ye have nowhere to go since we're at sea", he paused, and smirked at her when she continued to struggle to break free from his embrace, but to no avail. "Third reason...", he propped her chin with his hand, and for a moment she stopped moving, and just looked at him wide-eyed, fresh tears still running down her cheeks. "Third reason bein' that I-", he trailed off, suddenly astonished by what he was actually going to say.

"That you what?", whispered Elizabeth, subconsciously leaning closer to him, and noticing in amazement that his mouth twitched, and that he looked rather nervous. Nervous. Jack. Jack Sparrow. Captain Jack Sparrow. Nervous.

He looked at her, briefly narrowing his eyes. "That I...", he looked at her, hesitating. It was not like he had ever said that before... And he did not really know how to say it. But looking deeply into her brown, glimmering eyes, he began to give in to the urge to tell her... Slowly, he was beginning to think that there was nothing wrong with saying it. After all it was what he was going to say, it was what he felt, and there was no reason to lie to her, and not tell her that he felt it, even if she did not feel it, although she had said earlier that she had, so maybe she still did, which was quite obvious in the light, or rather without the light... He suppressed a smirk, took a deep breath, and looked at her intently, anxiously.

Elizabeth studied his face in silence, trying to decipher his thoughts, which was an impossible task, but somehow, even knowing that, she could not help trying.

"ThatIloveye", he said so quickly that she was not sure if she had heard him correctly.

"What?", she asked quietly, staring at him in bewilderment.

Jack sighed, slightly annoyed by the necessity to say it again. Saying it once was hard enough. "I love ye, luv", he whispered almost inaudibly, resting his forehead against hers.

Elizabeth stared into his eyes, their faces so close that when they blinked, their eyelashes brushed against each other's.

"Jack", she whispered in a quivering voice, cupping the side of his face with her hand. "You can't, you... don't even know me."

Jack's lips stretched into a small, roguish smile. "I wouldn't exactly say that", he said with a glimpse of amusement in his eyes.

Elizabeth blinked, bit her bottom lip, and blushed. "I mean-"

"I know", he interrupted her, silencing her with a kiss, which she broke very quickly.

"I love you too", she whispered ardently, looking at him in dismay.

Jack grinned. "So much for not knowing each other", he said smilingly, gently stroking the side of her face with the back of his hand, hardly believing that she had really said that again, and utterly astonished by the effect that her words actually had on him. He felt as if he was manning the helm in the middle of a furious storm, the waves were high and angry, and yet he was breaking through them easily. And he could feel the wind and the rain on his face, and see the lightnings crossing the sky, the starry, beautiful sky, the sky shaken by thunders.

He pressed his lips against hers, and kissed her passionately, rapaciously, impatiently. Elizabeth wrapped her arms around Jack's neck tightly, the medallion still closed in her hand. Jack's hand sneaked under the bed cover in which Elizabeth was wrapped, when all of a sudden she screamed, breaking the kiss abruptly.

She pulled away, and Jack stared at her in stupefaction, breathing raggedly, and wondering-

When all of a sudden he noticed her hand. She held it in front of her, blood dripping from her palm.

"What's happened?", Jack quickly grabbed her arm, and motioned her towards the washbasin.

"I-I don't know", stammered Elizabeth, staring at her hand. "The medallion..."

Jack darted his eyes from her hand which he was cleaning by pouring the water over it to her face.

"What about it?"

"It... broke", said Elizabeth, looking over her shoulder at the floor, but somehow she could not spot anything.

"Broke?", Jack followed her gaze. "So...where is it?", he asked, wrinkling his forehead, and scanning the floor as well.

Elizabeth shook her head, and swallowed. "I don't know. It burst into pieces... in my hand... but then it just...", she shifted her eyes from the floor to him. "Disappeared..."


Tia Dalma leaped to her feet, and stormed away from the table with an irritated expression on her face.

"What's happening?", asked Will with sharp anxiety audible in his voice, and visible in his eyes.

Tia Dalma paced around the cabin in silence, until at last she stopped, and spun around facing Will and Barbossa, who raised his eyebrows with mild interest.

"She's not come back", said Tia Dalma darkly.

Will wrinkled his forehead in slight confusion. "So when will she come back?"

Barbossa narrowed his eyes, and tilted his head to the side.

"She's not come back", repeated Tia Dalma coolly.

Barbossa snorted, and shook his head, glancing at the ceiling.

"What does it mean?", asked Will, feeling a cold wave of dismay washing over him.

"It means that either she didn't get the medallion back, or that she did get the medallion back, but decided not to come back", snapped Tia Dalma impatiently, changing her own anxiety into unjustified anger toward Will and his questions. "It means that she's still in the past."

Will ran his hand through his hair, an artificial, ironic, helpless smile flickering across his lips. "Decided not to come back? What is that supposed to mean? What is all of that supposed to mean? I want to know when will she be back", he said in a loud voice, glaring at Tia Dalma. "Maybe something happened to her? Maybe she had an accident?"

Barbossa chuckled, biting into an apple which he had produced from his pocket. "Aye. She might accidentally decide not to come back", he observed with slight amusement.

Will shot him an irritated look, and this time Tia Dalma did exactly the same thing as he, perhaps annoyed herself by Barbossa's carefree remarks, while the situation was actually very serious.

"She's in the past, but do ye know exactly when in the past she is?", she asked, squinting, and it took a prolonged moment of silence for Barbossa to realize, that the question was, in fact, addressed to him.

He looked up from his apple, and gave Tia Dalma a questioning look.

Tia Dalma smiled sourly. "She's in the year 1733", said Tia Dalma after a pause, finally deciding to tell them where and when Elizabeth was. She had not thought it important, and it would not have been important, if the girl had come back. But she hadn't.

Will wrinkled his forehead. Barbossa bit into his apple, and chewed the piece of fruit, staring thoughtfully into the distance, a small, sarcastic smile hovering over his lips.

But then, all of a sudden he stopped chewing, a smile disappearing from his face, as he slowly shifted his eyes to Tia Dalma who seemed to overtake his previous facial expression, and now she was giving him a small, ironic smile.

Will shifted his eyes between Tia Dalma and Barbossa.

"Before or after?", asked Barbossa, regaining his composure, and even attempting to sneer.

"Before or after what?", cut in Will, watching them suspiciously.

"Before", answered Tia Dalma, looking at Barbossa, and ignoring Will's question.

Barbossa snorted condescendingly, but there was also a visible shadow of annoyance in his eyes.

"Before what?", inquired Will impatiently.

"Before the mutiny", replied Tia Dalma in a low, firm tone of voice, darting her eyes to Will.

"What mutiny?"

Barbossa rolled his eyes. "An' what do ye thi-", he started irately, but then stopped abruptly, noticing Tia Dalma and Will not looking at him, but staring toward the door instead. And then his mind registered that the voice that had asked the last question was, in fact, not Will's voice. He narrowed his eyes, and slowly turned around to face the door. He snorted inwardly, his lips stretching into an artificial grin, as he said in a low and sour tone of voice:

"Welcome back to the merry world of the livin', Jack."