Pirates of the Caribbean: Bloody Water

Disclaimer: Anything POTC does not belong to me. I'm just borrowing it for a little while…. I swear I'll give it back.

Rating: M

Chapter 28: A Recovered Love and a Broken Spell

As the morning faded into afternoon, Elizabeth Swann sat on deck of the Black Pearl, looking rather mournfully out at the clear blue sea. Despite her best efforts, Commodore O'Connor would not waver in her final decision concerning the heart. This practically devastated Elizabeth.

Ever since her and Will had decided to rescue Jack from World's End, the two of them had ceased to speak. She wasn't sure why, but she could sense Will was angry with her, and it didn't help matters that often times, Elizabeth was angry with herself. Her showdown with Commodore O'Connor had been her final hope. If she could convince Cecily to allow Will the heart of Davy Jones, then perhaps he'd finally forgive her.

"Elizabeth."

She started at her whispered name. Glancing over her shoulder, she found her fiancé standing directly behind her, staring uncertainly. Elizabeth managed a weak smile. "Yes, Will?"

He came and took a seat beside her. For a moment, the two of them were quiet, staring at the the wooden planks beneath their feet. "I have good news," Will said finally.

"What is it?" she asked.

He smiled slightly. "Commodore O'Connor made a deal with me."

A grin spread across Elizabeth's face. "Did she? Is she giving you the heart?"

Will made a peculiar face. "No… not exactly."

She frowned. "Then what did you agree to?"

He looked up from his lap and made eye contact with her for the first time in days. "She's going to make it possible for me to stab the heart," he murmured. "But… first, she's giving it to Barboussa."

The frown persisted on her face. "That sounds complicated," Elizabeth returned.

For the second time, a slight smile played on Will's lips. "It is," he agreed. "But I think it may work. Elizabeth, I… I'm finally going to save my father."

Elizabeth smiled, but sadly. "I'm glad, Will," she said softly.

He stared rather longingly at her. "Elizabeth… when I stab the heart, I…"

"Yes, I know," Elizabeth murmured. "You will have to replace Jones on the Flying Dutchman. And then you won't be able to step on land for ten years at a time. Which means that…"

"That I'll only be able to see you once every ten years," Will finished.

They fell silent. Finally, Will spoke. "Elizabeth, it's not fair," he announced. "It's not fair to you. You shouldn't have to wait for me like that. I can't ask you to."

Elizabeth turned to him in fear. "What do you mean?"

"It's not right," he insisted. "You should be free to make your own way. You shouldn't have to forge your destiny around mine. I can't ask you to."

"But… I want you to ask me to," Elizabeth exclaimed.

Will turned to her in surprise. "You do?"

"Of course I do!" she cried. "I don't understand what's happened to us, Will. I don't! Ever since Jack…"

"Yes, Jack has had a great deal to do with it," Will agreed, and rather sourly at that.

Elizabeth looked up in surprise. Studying his face, sudden comprehension dawned on her. "Oh my god," she whispered. "You think I'm in love with him."

Will turned to look at her. "Are you?"

"No!" she exclaimed. "No, Will… I… I love you. I always have. And I always will."

He looked away. "Still…" he said quietly. "My destiny seems to be pulling me away from you. And…"

"And what?" she snapped. "Don't do this to me, Will. Don't break my heart and pretend it's all for my own good. I don't care if I'll only see you once every ten years. I don't care if I'll spend the majority of my life waiting for you. It will be worth it, every damn decade."

Will stared at her, shocked by her sudden, passionate outburst. "Elizabeth, I love you," he whispered, grabbing hold of her hand. "I love you, I always have, I always will. And if you will have me…"

"I'll have you, every chance I get," Elizabeth interrupted. Will smiled, and went on with:

"If you'll have me, then I'll marry you. I'll marry you, right here and right now, and the two of us can spend what may be the last night of our lives in one another's arms. Will you take me, Elizabeth? Will you marry me?"

Elizabeth's grin was incandescent. "Of course I will!" she cried, throwing her arms around his neck. With that, the two of them lost themselves in a long, passionate kiss; something they'd missed dearly in the long time they'd spent estranged from one another.

Commodore O'Connor was seated in her office that same afternoon, agonizing over her map, and her plans for the morning. It was fairly possible that this would be the last afternoon she'd see, and she knew she wasn't really making the best of it. She was too caught up in the preparations for what would come the following day.

As she sat there, trying to work out all the details of the morrow's battle, she was startled when her door flew open and Nathaniel Easton stormed into her office.

He closed the door behind him, and stood at the office entrance, staring at her. Cecily frowned. "What do ye want?" she asked.

Slowly, he made his way to the desk. "I came to see ye," he announced.

"About what?" she retorted, fairly annoyed by the interruption.

"About nothing," he replied, making his way around the desk to stand at her side. "Just to see ye."

Cecily cocked an eyebrow at him. "What the hell are ye doing?"

Easton stared down at her. "Don't play this game with me, Cecily. Ye know what I want."

Cecily frowned at him. "Do ye know that I want it?"

Easton began to pace. "No, I don't. I don't know what ye want anymore, and it's drivin' me mad. Cecily," here he turned to her again, leaning over her chair. "Ye have to know I'm in love with ye. Ye must know. I ain't ever tried to keep it a secret."

Cecily sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose as though she had a headache. "Nate, please," she said. "Please, don't do this now. Tomorrow is a big day, and…"

"Precisely," he cut her off. "Tomorrow is a big day, and we might all die. And before I die, I want to get this off me chest."

"I don't understand why ye had to go and pick me o' all the bloody women in the world to fall in love with," Cecily snapped impatiently. "Damn it, Nate, do I strike ye as the type o' woman ye ought to be fallin' in love with? Have I e'er given ye any indication o' bein' anything other than a whore?"

"Don't say that about yourself," Easton said. Cecily groaned. "No, I mean it. Ye're not a whore just because ye choose to… to…"

"Stop justifying it," Cecily cut in. "I'm a whore. And I ain't e'er been in love, nor do I expect e'er to be. Ye'd do good to put me behind ye, and ne'er look back."

"I've tried," Easton returned. "And I can't, Cecily. I simply can't."

"Ye're goin' to have to," she replied. "Because I've done it to ye, Nate. I've put ye behind me, and I ain't e'er looked back."

Easton fell quiet, his facial expression unreadable. Cecily sighed. "Don't look at me like that, Nate. Damn it, lad, I warned ye the very first night we spent together. I warned ye what I was like. Don't ye dare say I didn't."

"Ye did," he agreed. "But that don't change a thing, not really."

Cecily rubbed her temples, exasperated. "Nate, can't ye just settle down with… with… with Katherine or something? She's been yer first mate fer years now, and she thinks the world o' ye!"

He began pacing again, furiously this time. "Which one is it?" he demanded.

Cecily looked at him like he'd lost his mind. "What are ye goin' on about now?"

He stopped his pacing and looked hard at her. "Which is it?" he repeated. "What, are ye in love with Hartford or something? Cause I got news fer ye, Cecily, that man ain't interested in anyone but himself."

Cecily rolled her eyes. "Nate, ye're bein' ridiculous. I ain't in love with nobody."

"So, it's the bloody Navy man then?" he went on. "Matthews?"

That one was a little too much for Cecily, who actually laughed. "What the hell are ye talkin' about?"

"Fine, so it's not Matthews," he said, not laughing with her. "That must mean… that must mean it's Norrington."

Cecily snorted. "Nate, this is really goin' too far," she said. "I told ye once, and I meant it: I'm not in love with anyone. I ne'er have been, and I ne'er will be. It ain't nothin' personal – consider it a character flaw o' mine."

"I see the way ye look at them," he barreled on, ignoring her. "Hartford and Norrington both. Ye never look at me that way."

"All right, that's enough," Cecily snapped, standing up and stalking to her office door. "Get out, Nate."

Before she could open the door, he had slammed her into it and planted a heavy kiss on her mouth. Cecily didn't kiss him back, but tried to be gentle as she pushed him away. "Nate, don't," she said firmly. "Get out."

He stared at her. Cecily hated the look on his face. She had always known her one night stand with Easton had been a mistake. It had been unfair to expect out of him what she got out of the other men she slept with. He wasn't like them – he was a different breed, and he didn't deserve the likes of her. He was too good for her.

Finally, without a word, Easton stormed out of her quarters, slamming the door behind him. Cecily winced at the sound. She couldn't help but feel rather guilty for what she had done to Nate.

However, she had to admit the lad had raised one good point. Tonight just might be her last night on earth. Suddenly, with little warning, even for herself, Cecily found herself rushing out of her office. Not to chase after Nate, but to run a last minute errand of her own.

"Captain Matthews!"

Lawrence Matthews started in surprise to hear his name called out. Frowning, he got up from his desk chair and walked to the door of his office. Stepping onto the deck, he found Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann rushing towards him.

"Yes?' he asked, his brow furrowed in mild concern. "Can I help you?"

Whatever the two of them needed, Matthews soon decided it wasn't anything to be concerned about. A huge grin spread across Miss Swann's face. Turner looked every bit as enthusiastic. "Captain Matthews," Elizabeth said, barely containing her excitement. "Might you do Will and I a favor?"

"Certainly, Miss Swann, what is it?"

"Marry us!" she exclaimed. "Please? Marry me and Will!"

Matthews blinked in surprise. This was a request he hadn't quite expected. "You want me to… marry you?" he repeated.

"Yes," Elizabeth nearly shouted. "Yes, please!"

"We would be forever in your debt if you agreed," Will added.

Matthews smiled at their enthusiasm. "All right then," he said, their happiness beginning to rub off on him. "Come right into my office, and I'll do the honors."

The absolutely thrilled couple followed Matthews inside. Not even ten minutes later, they exited the office, with a smiling Matthews watching after them. The ceremony complete, the newly-wed Turner couple wasted no time in finding someplace private onshore, and began celebrating their wedding night.

Tanner Hartford was sitting in his office aboard the Savage Beauty, his nose buried in a book, much like it always was. He was mildly startled to hear a small knock on the office door. "Come in!" he called, sounding rather disinterested.

The door slowly opened, and Tanner looked up to find, surprisingly enough, that Cecily O'Connor was standing in his doorway, looking uncharacteristically nervous.

"Cecily," he murmured, relatively surprised. "What are ye doin' here?"

Cecily stepped slowly into the room, closing the door gently behind her. "Ye busy, Tanner?"

"Not really, no," he replied, closing the book and setting it down on the desk. "Why, Cecily? Ye need something?"

"Not exactly," she returned, approaching the desk. "More like want something."

He slowly raised his eyebrow. Cecily took a seat in the chair across the desk from him, facing the chair back. "Someone pointed out to me," she began. "That tomorrow we all might die."

"Couldn't have figured that out for yerself?" Tanner asked teasingly. Cecily smirked.

"It just occurred to me that maybe I ought to be wrappin' up loose ends, s'all," she said, not looking him in the eye.

"What sort of loose ends?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. The kind between ye and me, I suppose."

Tanner studied his hands. "Are there loose ends between ye and me?" he asked carefully.

Cecily sighed. "Are ye really goin' to make this difficult?"

"It's what I do."

"Look, Tanner," she said briskly. "I think ye know that what I feel fer ye is… different than what I feel fer most o' the men I've been with."

"Is it?"

"Don't be an arse. Ye know it is."

Tanner sighed heavily and looked up at her. "I thought we were in agreement on this," he murmured. "What is here can't ever be anything more than what it's been."

"We are in agreement," Cecily replied. "Perfect agreement. But in this circumstance, well… it ain't the same in this circumstance."

"What are ye goin' on about?"

"Tanner, tell me if I'm wrong. But ye took a bullet fer me. That's got to mean something. Did it mean something?"

There was silence. Then, Tanner stood up, and walked over to Cecily. She watched him with apprehension as he came closer. He stopped directly before her chair and planted a heavy kiss on her lips. Cecily's hands reached up and cupped his face, pulling him closer to her. Tanner swung his leg over her lap, and sat down on top of her, his hands creeping up inside her shirt.

Cecily pulled back rather suddenly, frowning at the pirate man before her. He frowned back. "What is it?" he asked.

In truth, Cecily didn't know what 'it' was. She continued to frown for a moment. Tanner tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Are we going to do this or not?"

"Don't waste me time, Tanner," she said suddenly, surprising even herself.

He blinked. "Waste yer time? What are ye goin' on about, Cecily?"

She bit her lip. "Ye didn't answer me question," she pointed out.

A heavy sigh escaped Tanner's lips, and he ran his hands through his hair in frustration. "Why are ye makin' this so complicated?" he asked. "Ye don't usually do this."

Cecily looked away from him. "This could be me last night alive," she replied. "And I ain't goin' to waste it. So tell me, Tanner. Why did ye take the bullet fer me? What did it mean?"

Tanner sighed once more, and looked away from her as well. "Cecily, I… well, I…"

"Well ye what? Come on, Tanner, spit it out!"

He looked her straight in the eye. "I didn't mean to," he said shortly.

Cecily blinked at him. "Ye didn't mean to?"

He shrugged. "Well, hell, Cecily, I didn't want to see you die, but I sure as hell wasn't goin' to do it for ye. Ye really think I took that bullet on purpose? It was an accident – I was only tryin' to push ye out of the way."

Cecily stared at him, as though finally seeing him for the first time. "Ye really mean that, don't ye?" she murmured. "This is ye bein' honest with me."

He didn't reply. He didn't have to. The look on his face said it all. Tanner was being upfront and direct for once. And the result wasn't pretty.

It wasn't that Cecily wanted him to risk his life for her. She was a lot of things, but she wasn't that selfish. And it wasn't that she expected him to care more about her than he did himself. But she couldn't help but think there was someone else who was worth more than Tanner was. That there was someone else she could be spending the night with, someone who deserved it - someone that, just maybe, she preferred to Tanner.

Tanner sighed. "Sorry to disillusion ye," he muttered, getting off her lap. Cecily didn't say a word to him. "Look, Cecily, it's not that I don't care about ye," he tried. "It's just, well… hell, Cecily, ye knew who I was."

"Aye," she agreed. "I did."

Tanner poked at some of the papers on his desk. "I've been in love before, ye know," he said, as though trying to excuse himself. "I have. But… not with ye, Cecily. I care a lot about ye, sure, but… I know what love is, and this ain't it."

"No one said it was," Cecily retorted. "I never thought it was. I don't love ye, Tanner. I just like ye more than most."

"Or ye did," he pointed out. "Until we had this little conversation."

Cecily shrugged. Tanner sighed again. "Cecily, look," he murmured. "This isn't how I wanted this to be."

"Nor I," she said, but she didn't look upset. The look on her face was pretty hard to read, but it wasn't an upset look. Cecily squinted up at him. "I didn't want to come here at all, I don't think," she announced. "I think… I think I felt obligated."

"Thanks a lot."

"I didn't mean it like that. It's just that…"

"I think I know what it is."

The two of them fell silent for a moment. Finally, Tanner spoke up. "We can still…."

"No," Cecily interrupted. "No."

Tanner took his seat again. "Good luck tomorrow, Cecily," he said. "Try not to die."

She grinned at him. The smile was sincere. "Same to ye, Tanner," she returned, getting to her feet. Then she left his office, and his ship - but she didn't return to the Sunrise. She had another errand - if it could be called that - to run.