Under no common circumstance should waiting in a jail cell feel romantic, Elizabeth Swann thought to herself, but then again, circumstances with Jack Sparrow were anything but common. Furthermore, Elizabeth acknowledged that every moment she shared with Jack held more meaning lately as only one moon cycle remained until the day they would marry.
Imprisonment was nothing new to the pair so there wasn't an ounce of fear in the air. In fact, to pass the time and no stranger to playing the trickster role, Jack crafted a scheme with Elizabeth. Both would wait until the guard's back was turned then activated the pendant and matching ring, switching places in their separate cells. They did this a few times, and Elizabeth clasped a hand over her mouth to stifle laughter when the guard pressed the palm of his hand to his forehead, clearly believing he was losing his mind.
Jack flashed Elizabeth a smile as the guard prepared a leave, the glint of gold in his teeth showing before he schooled his expression. He gave her a nod that spoke volumes without a single word. Once the guard left, Jack used the same trick Will taught him years ago for half-pin barrel hinges. Elizabeth held the pendant in her hands and shut her eyes, willing herself to Jack, and in an instant stood before him out of the jail cell. She caught her smallsword, crafted by her erstwhile husband, with ease then returned the weapon to its proper place at her waist a moment after Jack adjusted his own weapon and placed his tricorn hat atop his head.
"Let's get out of here. Back Caribbean seas," she whispered, straightening Jack's shirt front as if they were the most common couple, about to go out for a walk to the market or to deliver a meal to a new couple that just moved in a house over. "I'm eager to marry the man I love."
Jack rested his hand against the side of Elizabeth's face, his thumb brushing across her cheek. "Still me, I hope."
She smiled, shaking her head at him before taking his hand and making to steal away through the window. However, Jack planted his feet, unmoving.
"I'm not leaving without it."
"Jack!" Elizabeth sighed. "You're impossible."
He kissed her quick on the cheek and she had no choice but to follow close behind. Like Jack, Elizabeth had her hand on her sword, ready to draw it at any moment if needed.
Miraculously—probably because the guard doubted such a quick escape—the box wasn't even returned to its proper place but just outside the jail room. Jack heaved it under his arm and reached for Elizabeth's hand after starting into a run. Elizabeth took his hand in her own instantly, her heart nearly leaping out of her chest from the adrenaline and sharing another thrilling moment with the man she would soon call her husband.
Once at the tower exit, Jack swiftly handed the box to Elizabeth and tossed the rope he swiped, likely previously intended for their necks, after fashioning it to the stone ledge. He tested the rope then offered his hand to Elizabeth again.
"Ladies first," Jack said but at the sight of the guard, returned and with company, he amended, "Always did think chivalry was overrated."
Elizabeth rolled her eyes and tucked in close to Jack's side and the two made their exit. Their feet were fast on the cobblestone after they landed. When they made it to port, Elizabeth couldn't help but frame Jack's face and steal a kiss before working on the sails of the sloop. Jack sliced through the set of ropes keeping the sloop to port with a hanger then helped Elizabeth finish adjusting the sails. Just like that, they were off.
"We're getting too good. They weren't even close to catching us," Jack said, sounding nearly disappointed as his legs folded under him, sitting cross-legged on the deck.
"We could have had a relaxing morning in London," Elizabeth said, breathless and brushing her hair from her face after sitting across from Jack, "indulging on tea and scones but no, you insisted we steal—"
"The only suitable wedding present for a Pirate King."
Jack made a triumphant sound as he pulled the crown from the box. He placed it atop Elizabeth's head and she held onto it for a moment, balancing, then adjusted the placement. The way Jack looked at her with complete adoration made her face flush, and all the fuss seemed worth it in that one moment.
"You're impossible," Elizabeth softly echoed her statement from earlier, absentmindedly playing with the ends of her hair.
"Alright, Swann, I gave you the gift I thought you deserved," Jack started, "but I think it's time you tell me what you want. Don't you want anything?"
"Nothing much at all. Just the world," Elizabeth replied, "with you."
Jack looked thoughtful for a moment, palming at his chin, then nodded. It was decided. "Then you shall have it."
Elizabeth's eyes left Jack's for a moment at the certainty with which he promised it. She returned the crown to its box, tenderly shutting it. When she met his eyes again, she couldn't help but wrap her arms around his neck and kiss him, familiar and unrushed. She gasped a laugh against his mouth when he pulled her down to the deck and on top of him carelessly, his hat tumbling off of his head. Elizabeth played with Jack's hair and the new trinkets he adorned it with, recalling each land, each close call of escape, each memory represented in the charms.
"What's our heading?" Jack asked, smiling up at her with a glint in his eye. This wasn't any destination but where they would sail to as they exchanged vows.
"The Cove," Elizabeth answered without a second thought.
"Shipwreck Cove?" Jack raised his eyebrows. Elizabeth nodded. "Are you sure?" he asked, leaning up on his elbows.
Elizabeth sat next to Jack instead of on top of him, toying with the pendant around her neck.
"It was the place I first knew you found me a worthy pirate—although you were trying to save your own skin. Even so, you wouldn't have voted me King if you hadn't believed in me somewhat."
"Somewhat?" Jack shook his head. "All what," he corrected, and Elizabeth decided she would never tire of that smile.
"It's also where you saved my life," she recalled the more recent memory, just barely escaping Esmeralda's dark magic. "For the second time," Elizabeth added, an afterthought.
"And you saved mine. For the second time," Jack chimed in.
"And where your parents would meet secretly." Elizabeth stood, leaning against the edge of the sloop. Jack followed suit.
"My parents?" He stared at the sea, a pensive look on his face. "Neither of them told me that. Clandestine meetings? How romantic of them."
"An unexpected pairing. How daring of them."
Elizabeth circled her arms around Jack's neck once again, prompting him to slip his hands to her waist.
"One day I'll ask Teague about it."
"One day soon. Don't forget, you promised we would visit your father the day after the wedding."
Jack made a sour look, rolling his eyes at his old negotiation momentarily but he relented, not bothering to argue the point.
"That's right." Jack looked Elizabeth over. "To be married on the way to Shipwreck Cove then reuniting with the Keeper of the Code to follow—you're going all in on being a Pirate Bride, Lizzie," he teased, but there was a question in his eyes, like he wanted to be sure this is truly what she wanted.
Elizabeth smiled softly up at Jack then answered the unspoken question. "Why pretend to be anything other than what I am?"
.
Elizabeth was steering at the helm, something that took three moon cycles in for Jack to finally let her do, not well-accustomed to giving up power. She watched over Jack's shoulder where he sat working painstakingly on the project he started after stealing a set of oil paints.
Jack made a triumphant kind of sound before turning to Elizabeth, holding the leather-bound book up, the pages slightly fanned out. When positioned this way, the edge of the pages revealed an illustrated ship but the decorations disappeared when fully closed.
"Done," Jack proclaimed, sounding rather proud of himself and he should, Elizabeth thought, as the fore-edge painting turned out beautifully. Then he stalked towards Elizabeth and placed his hands on hers, stilling them. Jack stole a quick kiss before trading her places at the helm.
Elizabeth took on Jack's spot, picking up the journal and flipping it open. She ran her fingertips across the first page, finding Jack's name penned in neat, smooth cursive. She looked upon the page often, envisioning him younger, dreaming up the moniker, dreaming up the name of a person he could grow into since his parents who gave him his true name didn't seem to put much effort into helping with the growing.
"Your penmanship is lovely, Jack," Elizabeth murmured, as she often did.
"You always sound so surprised, Swann," Jack said with a smile, and that was their way of things. Only, this time, he surprised her with further explanation today. "Teague not only watched over the Code but was a scribe. He insists on good penmanship or he won't read a lick of the page."
Elizabeth remembered Jack's word of agreeing they would meet with his father after marrying. She wondered if Jack would make the relationship right as it was a lose end he never quite got around to tying up. He ought to make it right, she reasoned.
"Your father is quite the disciplined man."
"So taken with him, why don't you marry him?" Jack muttered, rushed and teasing, sounding every bit like a child.
"Jack," Elizabeth chided, looking over her shoulder at him. "Is it a crime to want to know my father in law?"
"It is to be this excited about it," he huffed.
Elizabeth raised the leather-bound sea journal up, inspecting it once more. Holding the journal bound in human leather was initially off-putting to her, but she didn't mind it so much now. The book was all that was left of the woman she would have called mother-in-law, after all.
"Did you miss her after?" Elizabeth asked from her spot on the floorboards of the sloop, unable to voice the rest as she still had trouble accepting that aspect of life: death.
Elizabeth never asked Jack about the matter before, knowing it a sore subject, but a year went by so fast with all their adventuring and now that they were to be married, she only saw it fitting she learn more about his parents.
"Can't miss someone you never really knew," was Jack's careful reply, unfeeling, which was more troubling than if there was a bite behind the comment. Elizabeth noted the resentfulness in Jack's voice when he spoke of his father, showing there was caring hidden underneath the resentment. But his mother almost seemed a ghostlike figure in the family.
"I see." Elizabeth turned the book over in her hands then placed it back where it belonged, concealed away in a satchel.
"And yours?" Jack asked. "You missed her after?"
"Yes, like how I miss father. Terribly so," Elizabeth murmured. "Only, she was so gentle." She paused. She hadn't thought on her mother in so long, she almost seemed a figment, more of a concept than a person. Elizabeth spoke her next words around a distant smile. "She was really the only person who ever allowed me to be everything I am." Elizabeth faced Jack. "But then I met you, of course."
The two shared a smile.
"Sounds like a right and honest mother. Sounds like she loved you dearly."
Elizabeth stood and rested a hand on Jack's shoulder.
"I wish you had felt that," she whispered.
Jack shrugged. "I learned by rote from my mother I was unlovable. It just kind of sticks. You," he stilled, a thoughtful look coloring his features, "get used to it, I suppose."
Elizabeth thought on how strikes across the face barely phased Jack from a number of women he crossed paths with, herself included. She thought on all of the time he must have spent alone as a child. Her heart ached.
"Well, thankfully matters can be unlearned," Elizabeth said, her voice determined.
Jack offered Elizabeth a small, tender smile before returning his eyes to the sea. "I assure you, you're quite the teacher, Swann."
.
The pair came upon a little nowhere island, the perfect place for a brief stop before going onward towards the Cove. Elizabeth carried the basket she packed and Jack spread out a blanket and it was moments like this, in familiar routine, she nearly laughed at Jack domesticated. In a comfortable silence, they pieced together respective meals.
Elizabeth took a bite of peach, the juice dripping down her chin. Jack took a hold of her face with one hand, leaning forward. Elizabeth shrieked out a scream and pulled away when Jack licked a stripe up her chin and laughed at her reaction. He came down from the highest bit of laughter just as she finished wiping at her chin with her shirt sleeve.
"You're disgusting!" Elizabeth said indignantly. She continued on glaring even as Jack neared her again, slowly kissing the agitation from her lips and she tasted the pomegranate on his tongue. Elizabeth flushed at her own desperation, caught chasing after Jack's mouth when he broke the kiss.
Jack raised an eyebrow at her. "I thought I was disgusting."
Elizabeth floundered for a moment, stumbling over words before giving up entirely and resorting to sticking her tongue out instead, a habit she picked up from him. Jack only gave her a knowing look, and she was sure he made a mental note of his win. She was sure he was well in the lead, but she was just happy to play.
Once the two had their fill, Elizabeth laid out on the sand, pulling her skirts above her legs. She used her arm as a pillow and shut her eyes, focusing on the burn of the sun on the skin of her legs and the sea breeze playing in her hair, brushing it over her shoulder. The churring of insects and calming repetitive crash of waves against land lulled her into such a relaxed state she could nearly take a day sleep.
Elizabeth gasped out a laugh when Jack pulled her forward by an ankle then laid down himself, slinking an arm around her middle her and pulling her into him. Elizabeth nestled into the touch, at peace once again and about to sigh contently when she felt Jack's hand smooth up the back of her calf. She turned to face him and made a show of rolling her eyes.
"Always pursing me," she whispered, a light in her voice.
"Always so pursuable," he praised, the back of his hand smoothing across her cheek.
"I won't always be this way." Elizabeth hid her face in Jack's chest. "One day I'll be old and weathered—"
"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that, Swann. I'll be dead by then."
"Jack!" Elizabeth shoved at his chest and gaped at his light-hearted, closed-mouth smile. "Don't joke about such a thing."
"What? I will," Jack said simply. "Only natural. Only two things to be certain of in this world: death," he waited to continue until her eyes met his one more, "and me wanting you every bloody moment of every bloody day until it comes for me."
Elizabeth screamed out a laugh when one of Jack's hands drew up her skirts again with his last few words only the scream became a sigh when he kissed it from her lips.
.
Only an hour's sail left from Shipwreck Cove, Elizabeth studied her reflection in a hand mirror she ransacked on their way. She ran a hand through her hair, part of her questioning putting little to no effort into her appearance on a day she was to wed, the other part of her remembering it was her third—only second planned—wedding. More importantly, Elizabeth knew that Jack would not care a bit if the day was filled with finery and fanfare or simply the two of them. Even the wedding bands were simple—copper bands Jack sanded, filed, and polished himself. Initially, Elizabeth banished the thought of her former husband, a blacksmith, from her mind moments before marrying another man but welcomed the thought of Will back in after some consideration. After all, he gave them his blessing in a way. Elizabeth smiled softly, sure he would have commented on Jack's process of making the rings but no matter—they turned out with character and when Jack showed her the bands, she loved them all the more for that.
Elizabeth smoothed out the front of her gown, a white gold to match the light of the moon. In another life, she would think it barely more than a slip, however, here and now she admired the understated beauty of the dress, simple and clinging to her frame. She tied a ribbon around her waist then walked up the steps from the lower deck of the sloop, the silk brushing her ankles with each step.
She noticed a single worn sail on the deck, weighed down by two lanterns on either side which added a glow to the boat. A few steps away, Jack was at the tail end of fashioning flowers on the mast. The deep reds and purples of zinnias and wind flowers contrasted the white sail and the snapdragons and vines that tapered off at the sides made the arrangement appear as if it simply grew there on its own accord for the occasion. Jack placed a white gardenia in the center then removed it only to place it there once more, step away, then remove it again, his indecisive nature besting him.
Elizabeth rested a hand on his shoulder and Jack turned to face her. His mouth parted and his deep brown eyes looked her over, drinking her in long and thoughtful, draining the dregs so to speak. Jack was noticeably committing the moment to memory and Elizabeth, flushing and hiding her face some from the near-overwhelming appraisal, did the same. Jack glanced down at the gardenia in his hand and an "ah" fell from his lips in discovery. He reached out to tuck the flower behind Elizabeth's hear.
"That's it," he said, the words a sigh of contentment and finality. "That's where it belonged."
"Late for your own wedding," Elizabeth chastised, unable to stop the smile from forming on her lips.
"Shut it," Jack muttered, wearing a matching unconcealable smile. He wrapped his arms around her waist and leaned in to kiss her.
"That's supposed to come after," Elizabeth reminded, the turn of her face causing the kiss to land just before her ear.
"A little late for that, isn't it?" Jack asked, the memories of the two of them tangled up in each other on many an occasion coloring his voice and Elizabeth felt her face grow hot. Jack brushed the back of his hand along her cheek. "Elizabeth Swann, the quintessence of beauty."
"Soon to be Sparrow," she corrected.
"No." Jack shook his head, stepping in close to her. "Swann fits you like a glove. Couldn't ruin that on my own account."
"Promise me we will share everything if not names, in that case."
"Alright," Jack agreed, "just don't be upset when your dresses look better on me," he murmured the teasing comment into her ear. Elizabeth laughed then straightened Jack's shirtfront, a habit of hers. "I'm," he paused, looking a little helpless, "not ready," he explained, gesturing over his shoulder towards the lower deck.
"You're perfect," Elizabeth insisted. At Jack's look, she sighed, "But who am I to starve you of dress-up?"
"You act as if you haven't waited through a war, a whirlpool of black magic, and countless other near-death occasions for this."
"Exactly!"
Jack kissed Elizabeth on the forehead then took his leave.
"I don't want to wait a moment longer!" she insisted, both of her hands gripping at the helm and leaning against it as she called out to him.
"Impatient Swann," Jack shouted over his shoulder, not looking back as he took his time, walking with relaxed ease down the steps to get a rise out of her, making her wait even longer.
"Infuriating Sparrow!"
Elizabeth couldn't contain another grin as she bounced on the balls of her feet, watching Jack disappear down the shadowed stairs. She turned to face the floral arrangement, wiping the backs of her hands at the corner of her eyes, willing the tears to stop forming. Elizabeth was overwhelmed by a sea of memories, astounded by how the pirate who swam after her then saved her life years ago would soon become her husband. She lost herself in them, letting all of their shared moments wash over her.
Elizabeth felt Jack's arms around her middle and she turned, her eyes falling over all of him instantly. Dressed in all black, it was like seeing Jack in the governor's clothes all over again. But this was different. They were to be married.
Jack took her hand and tilted his head towards the lone sail. Elizabeth followed, sitting in time with him.
"Words," he broke their shared silence. "Yours first or should I take a go at it?"
"I want your voice to be the last thing I hear before becoming your wife," she answered, barely above a whisper.
"Alright, Swann."
Elizabeth took Jack's hands in her own, her mouth turning up as she remembered him reading their palms all that time ago.
"Jack," she started, meeting his eyes, "I never saw you as the type to go through with this."
"Don't talk me out of it," he chimed in, and there was that teasing smile.
"What I mean to say is, I can't believe we crossed paths to begin with, that fate held me in such high favor to send you to me." Elizabeth tried to compose herself as she felt tears welling in her eyes. "You are charming and thoughtful and… admittedly frustrating," she laughed. "But I wouldn't change one part of you. I wouldn't change one part of how we got right here to this very moment, challenging as it was. I thank you a million times over for changing my life."
"Hopefully for the better."
"Of course for the better," she corrected softly.
Elizabeth watched Jack's features wash over with tenderness from such an unwavering declaration, the closest look of shyness she ever saw him wear. His mouth worked around words that wouldn't come then he leaned in close to her ear.
"I think I know your favorite part of me," Jack murmured and he laughed when she gave him a proper shove. He cleared his throat, then schooled his expression before starting vows of his own. "Lizzie," he began then paused, unsure how to go forward. Elizabeth swallowed down her fragile emotions, the moniker nearly sending her over the edge for no good reason. "Elizabeth," he tried again, his eyes tracing her face. "You've seen my best, you've seen my worst. And I for you. Yet we sit here."
Elizabeth adjusted, her knees gently brushing against Jack's.
"I thought I knew the ins and outs of everything, then you come along, not afraid one bit to tell me each time I was wrong..." A smile pulled at Jack's lips and he shook his head at her. "But always there to help me make matters right. I thank you, a million times over, for teaching me it's possible to trust again."
Jack reached into his pocket and slipped the ring onto Elizabeth's finger. She marveled at it for a moment on her hand, swallowing down tears. Jack took her other hand, placing his band into her palm.
"Forever's an awfully long time to be promised to me. Think you can manage it, Elizabeth?" he asked, a challenge in his voice that lacked conviction, an offered way out disguised as a joke. A way out was the last thing she would ever want from him.
Elizabeth laughed a tearful laugh and she brushed away the tracks before placing the ring on Jack's finger. She climbed into Jack's lap and drew him forward by the neck.
"I've managed quite well so far, don't you think?" she asked before kissing him fervently.
"I do, Swann," Jack answered, the sentence serving two purposes.
"I do, Sparrow," Elizabeth echoed in a whisper.
They both smiled into the next kiss and then the next, their hands finding each other's faces with a practiced ease. They tangled up in each other for a moment until Jack fumbled into a nearby chest for something. Elizabeth gasped out a shriek at the popping of a cork and Jack handed the bottle to her in haste, the contents spilling over. Elizabeth drew the bottle to her lips and leaned her head back, drinking away, starting off what was sure to be a night of merriment.
.
Once they reached the Cove, Elizabeth lead the way enthusiastically. She was in the middle of talking about how this time she would truly take in the Cove and all the history there when she looked over her shoulder. She found Jack looking at her in that particular kind of way, a light in his eyes.
"What?" Elizabeth stopped just before the entrance, resting a hand on her hip.
"I'm just trying to imagine where you would be right now if I hadn't stolen you away," Jack said with a sense of self-importance. "A scarf on your head, picking apples—a little countryside maiden," he teased, looping his arms around her waist. Elizabeth shoved him off, but not until after Jack pressed a kiss into her hair.
"On that again," Elizabeth huffed, smiling at him. "We saved each other in more ways than one, you know."
"Oh, I know."
Elizabeth gasped when Jack picked her up with ease without asking. She clung tighter to him and swung her legs some, just about to admonish him about the awful habit when she realized after a few blinks she was about to be carried over the threshold. Elizabeth looked up to Jack and met his lips with her own. She clearly wasn't one much for tradition but she waited all this time to get married, and this was one of those traditions that just felt right.
Once inside, the two started at lighting the candelabras, making a game of trying to get all of them lit before the sun went down. When they reached the last candle, lighting it together, they looked up at the opening in the cavern and noticed the sky turned dark a moment after.
Elizabeth looked at the Cove, imagining Teague holed up inside it with nothing more than the Code, scrolls, and artifacts to keep him company. Then, remembering that he reclaimed the space as his sanctum, stealing away with Jack's mother here in the night, she felt light once again.
"Did your father ever take you here?"
"No, he didn't." Jack paused, looking thoughtful, recalling early memories. "He didn't even talk about it much. He didn't like me knowing."
Elizabeth looked at Jack expectantly.
"How trapped he felt," he finished.
"But Teague told me he made this place his own. His sanctum."
"Perhaps he likes viewing it that way some days. But on days when the sky was dark, even in the mornings, I know he didn't like it."
"How?"
"I knew enough it gave me night terrors, Swann." Jack waited for a moment, mulling over if he should continue, but he ran on. "When I was a boy, sometimes I dreamt he would never come back, immured in here somehow, boarded in the cavern walls." Jack glanced over to Elizabeth then down at the cavern, a forced, half-formed smile pulling at his lips. "It's a joyous day, yet you're tricking this out of me."
"Excuse me for hoping to know the man I married."
"You don't see me interrogating you about governesses and your life of propriety."
"Because that about sums it up. All I had was dull expectations—limitations," she corrected. "Elizabeth, sit tall. Elizabeth, women do not speak of such matters. Elizabeth, learn your place," she imitated, her voice cold and clipped. "So I did. To remain in one place, stagnant, wasn't my place at all. There was no place for a woman like me on land."
"A woman like you," Jack echoed, smoothing his hand across her cheek. "Do share what you mean, Swann."
"You know what I mean."
"You ought to be the one to say it," Jack offered with a lopsided smile.
"A woman who chooses freedom," she replied, wrapping her arms around his neck. "And knows exactly what she wants," she whispered, leaning closer. "And exactly how to get it."
"And what is it you want, Swann?"
"You know already," she murmured. "You."
"Just wanted to hear you say it."
Jack was about to kiss Elizabeth deeply when she noticed a stone lectern with the Code placed on it. She rushed forward and circled around it, feeling like a little girl.
"Don't circle a third time, Swann," Jack instructed suddenly.
Elizabeth stopped in her tracks. "Why not?"
"Men lucky enough—or unlucky enough, I suppose, depending on how you think on it—would bring their women in need of extra hope to ask for a son. Have her circle the lectern three times in hopes of her falling pregnant."
"Sounds like an old wives' tale." Elizabeth waved away the words with a smile.
"And me, I suppose I'm just an old wives' tale?"
Elizabeth stepped away from the Code, the coldness in his voice and the desperation of his instruction setting in, making her throat grow tight. Esmeralda wasn't the only person who slighted Jack, weighing down his heart, this Elizabeth knew. But reminded in this way, reminded of the unspoken feeling Jack wondered if he ever should have had the opportunity to walk this earth, was a heavy subject for such a day. Elizabeth tucked away her childlike interest for now. It was their wedding night, after all. She would explore the Cove tomorrow.
"You have to admit," Elizabeth murmured, at Jack's side once again, wrapping her arms around his neck, "a child with your eyes would be the loveliest sight in the whole world."
"And I hope that's all it would have of me," Jack replied, ending the conversation there by kissing Elizabeth and taking her by the hand, leading her further into the Cove.
Elizabeth wouldn't press upon the subject now, but she fought off a smile, knowing if she managed to domesticate Jack this far, she reasoned she could go further.
Jack stopped just before the long table, his eyes drawn to a far corner. He left briefly, and Elizabeth looked upon the table, playing with the pendant around her neck to busy herself.
She lifted a lone fork from the furthest spot of the long dining table and toyed with it for a moment, watching the light from candelabras overhead catch the silver. An idea glinted in her mind just like that light.
"I do hope the cook doesn't burn the pheasant this time." She sighed, performative, before continuing, "Oh, and Jack, I meant to ask earlier, should we redo the guest room?"
Back at her side, Elizabeth met Jack's eyes which colored with interest. She swallowed down a smile, refusing to be the first to break character. Jack, now holding a guitar, lowered it to the floor then stalked around Elizabeth, brushing a hand along her hair on the way. He walked to the other end of the table, trailing his index finger across the grime. He pulled a face.
"Ought to remodel the kitchen first, I reason."
"Yes, and cutlery." Elizabeth sat gracefully in the ornate chair, smoothing down her gown, imagining a much fuller one. "New cutlery."
Jack sat across from her. "The finest money can buy."
"Oh, Jack."
"Anything for you, my pet."
"And new books for the library?"
"More than we could read."
"Naturally, as we will have more important matters to tend to."
"Yes, like keeping watch for those dreadful pirates. Worthless breed, the lot of them."
"Most dreadful," she agreed, nodding to emphasize the words.
"Speaking of more important matters, I meant to share something earlier as well." Jack stood, crossing over to Elizabeth. "A plan of mine."
"Yes?" Elizabeth's eyes fell to Jack's mouth at his closeness. "What plan?"
He leaned in close to whisper in her ear. "To fuck you over every chair, every gold-trimmed table, and every Persian rug in this God-forsaken residence."
Elizabeth exhaled a sharp breath then a surprised laugh bubbled out of her throat when Jack lifted her onto the table and kissed at her neck. She took his face in both of her hands, kissing him properly on the lips and sighing into his mouth. She was grateful to spend time, the rest of her time on this Earth, with a man who was not only willing to play but inspired and encouraged the playfulness in her.
"How they stomach it, I'll never know. You were so far away," Jack whispered, and the unabashed want in his voice stirred something in Elizabeth.
"They put their passion into their music and art because they don't allow it in life."
"Passion," Jack echoed with a small smile. "Even then, don't get me wrong, Swann, big fan of concertos and idealized paintings of pompous miscreants, but even their forms of expression are too restrained, too focused on their encouraged version of reality. The art of India, Africa, so on… that is art. All searching shapes and vibrant colors. What the eye can't see. And us," Jack murmured, "we have the chance to see it all. Living it. Our lives are art, Lizzie."
"So sentimental, Jack," Elizabeth teased, knowing the drink had a way of bringing that out of him, the heartfelt monologuing.
"I blame you," Jack said, the redirected blame shocking her for a moment. "You have a way of doing that to a person, you know that?"
Elizabeth slowly shook her head, helplessly. "I'm not doing anything."
"Exactly." Jack gently pressed his forehead to hers. "Without even trying, you bring out the best parts of me."
"Well, let's stop dancing around it then," Elizabeth started, "and let me have one of my favorite parts of you," she finished, picking up his joke from earlier.
Jack's hand drew up her dress for a moment, barely brushing against the skin of her calf. However, he took her by the hand instead towards the sail they shared their vows on earlier smoothed out on the floor, resting beneath the opening in the ceiling of the cavern. Although they shared a bed before, quite a few times now, Elizabeth grew nervous if not somewhat shy. She stood in her nerves for a while, watching Jack place a lantern on either side until she casted aside the worry.
Elizabeth kneeled next to Jack then kissed him, deepening the kiss as her hands drew up his chest. Jack's hand slipped from closing the lantern to find Elizabeth's jaw, fervently drawing her closer. Feeling the heat already settling in, she urged him forward, a hand clasped around his belt as Jack rested a hand on either side of her.
She felt him smile into each kiss and she smiled back, unable to contain the wonderment of promising themselves to each other forever. Elizabeth slipped her hands underneath Jack's to press their lifelines together. She absentmindedly ran a finger over the new addition on his left hand, his wedding band, and the other over the ring matching the pendant on his right. When Jack leaned back to remove his rings save for those two, Elizabeth drew her lip into her mouth, her anticipation nearly resolved.
Elizabeth sighed when she felt his hand brush against the exposed skin of her knee then smooth along her skin, higher. His fingers drew inside her, familiar and with ease. Elizabeth wrapped her arms around Jack as he kissed at her neck and gasped when his fingers curved forward, reaching a particular place of longing.
She stilled him for a moment to lean forward to peel away his jacket, vest, and shirt with nimble, anxious fingers. Elizabeth raised her hands to the sky, letting Jack help her out of her dress. His eyes drank her in before pulling her forward, on top of him, pressing a rushed and messy trail of kisses from her neck down the middle of her chest. Elizabeth gasped when he sucked a nipple into his mouth and circled his finger around the other, teasing.
"Jack," she whispered. "I have to have you."
"Done," Jack answered, the corner of his lips turning up as he spoke his next words, "Forever, remember?"
Elizabeth laughed high and girlish as Jack turned her over, laying her on her back. Her eyelids fluttered closed at a feather-light kiss at her inner-thigh and she couldn't help the breathy moan that fell from her lips at his tongue searching. Elizabeth's fingers threaded into Jack's hair, threading deeper when he coaxed her open further and further. She arched into his mouth, blinking up at the full moon hanging in a sky full of stars. She hid her eyes with the back of her arm, pushing away sentimental thoughts or she was sure to weep. It was the drink, she blamed, although the spirit long wore off.
Elizabeth felt Jack climb up and brush her hand aside, tilting her chin up to kiss her. She gasped some at the feeling of his hard cock pressing into her hip. She pulled her lower lip into her mouth and met his eyes. He was speaking now. She tried to focus on his words.
"Lizzie. Elizabeth," he murmured, pausing when he noticed he caught her attention, pulling her back down to Earth. "Ask me again," Jack instructed and a quiet laugh of confusion fell from Elizabeth's lips.
"For what?" she wondered. She hadn't asked for anything.
"Ask me for the world once more." Jack looked upon Elizabeth carefully, studying the way her hair slipped through his fanned-out fingers as he played with it.
She remembered now.
"Don't you want anything?" he had asked.
"Nothing much at all. Just the world with you," she had replied.
"Please," Elizabeth whispered, "give me the world, Jack Sparrow. I want the whole world with my whole world of a person."
"Well then, you shall have it," he murmured, his thumb playing over her lips, "Misses Sparrow."
Elizabeth's breathing faltered at the shared surname then pulled Jack in close, only breaking their kiss at the feeling of him inside of her.
Elizabeth felt the chain around her neck and Jack's ring digging into her hip scald her skin. She gasped at the feeling then sighed in satisfaction, welcoming the burn of their undeniable connection. She hooked her legs around Jack's waist as her eyes trailed up to the visible sky, thanking the high hanging moon.
.
The two laid tangled up in each other illuminated by the moonlight. They kissed in the feeling of complete comfort, complete protection with the other. After they respectively rose, tenderly dressing the other, they studied the history and lore surrounding them. Elizabeth marveled, pulling a few books from the shelves and tucking them close to her chest to read before they sailed on. Jack retrieved the guitar he pulled from atop a pile of scrolls and wreckage earlier. He took the instrument, once belonging to his father, in one hand, leading Elizabeth back to the sail on the cavern floor with the other. Cross-legged, Jack played a soothing, climbing melody. There was a repetition in one line, near-hypnotizing, followed by a higher, searching line accompanying it. Elizabeth smoothed her hand over Jack's hair as she leaned against his shoulder, letting the melody rush through her, riding the waves. There was a longing in the song, the kind of song that someone can only craft having experienced a life of true loneliness.
Jack fingers stilled after picking one last string, ending the song with a one final note hanging on the air. An opportunity, a hope, a promise. Jack was careful to set the guitar aside when Elizabeth, taken with him, couldn't help but curl into his lap. Her presence was welcomed by him, his dark eyes shining with a different kind of longing. Elizabeth's high gasp followed by a trail of laughter echoed in the cavern when Jack's hand reached between her legs, smoothing over her entrance while he mentioned there was something else entirely he would like to play next.