Will lashed out in anger as he always did. If a pirate got in his way, he slashed him aside to get to the next one. Combat had erupted in the treasure cavern as Jack and he battled for their lives. Barbossa's men did not stand a chance against the rage of a blacksmith and the seasoned skills of a man who is fighting for either his reputation or his treasure. Within Will was turmoil, not only in fear for his life but fear of what would his life be like after these events, if he survived. How could he go on, knowing he had come so close to having Elizabeth for his own, only to have her promised to a man she obviously despised? She certainly couldn't expect him to just go quietly back to life as a blacksmith, watching the children that should be his grow up without a passing glance his way, watching her grow old with another while he retired alone.
It was all very confusing, as the woman he had always thought her to be was caring and headstrong, someone who always knew what she wanted and stuck to it. Well, Will thought, he supposed he wasn't what she wanted.
His musings had affected his fighting, and now a pirate bent over him with weapon raised, manic glint in his eye. "I will teach you the meaning of pain." He hissed, prepared to vent every angry emotion consigned from years of the curse.
"You like pain? Try wearing a corset!" And then Elizabeth was there to throw the villain off him, dressed as a soldier with honey-colored hair that curled down her back. The two made a good team, defeating several pirates at once, fighting with the force of a canon.
Just when things began to turn in their favor, Will saw Barbossa impale Jack with a sword, the rogue blinking in surprise. Will expected him to fall over dead, defeated for once in his life. Instead, he merely stepped back into the moonlight, copper flesh becoming pale bone and rotting clothing. He twiddled a coin in his skeleton fingers, his deranged grin becoming grisly with his new cadaver. "Couldn't resist, mate." He chuckled, launching into battle afresh, the confidence of immortality doubling his efforts.
Elizabeth and Will finished off all the pirates, Will leaving her side to jump before the chest, hand sliced and awaiting Jack's signal. Suddenly Barbossa halted his combat with Jack and pointed his pistol as Elizabeth, the world coming to an abrupt halt. Will prayed through his teeth that Jack would kill Barbossa before his beloved met her end. He closed his eyes briefly as a gunshot sounded.
To his relieved surprise, it was not the traitor's gun that smoked but Jack's. A grin spread across Barbossa's face. "Yeh just wasted your last shot, Jack."
"He didn't." Came Will's voice, gripping the bloody coin Jack had tossed him with his own. He let the two drop into the chest, feeling the burden lifted as the curse did from the pirates.
Slowly Barbossa peeled open his jacket, a red stain growing from his chest. He looked up, a pained, yet amazed expression etched upon his face. "I feel," He said with reverence, having not felt anything for almost a decade. Then slowly the revelation dawned as death took him, "cold," and with that, the mutinous pirate fell dead to the ground.
Will moved to Elizabeth's side, gripping his shirt as blood spread from his wound. She looked up at him, eyes full of love and happiness. Will's heart was warm for a moment, and then... He remembered. "Your fiancé will be wanting to know your safe." His voice sounded cold even to Will, and he supposed it must sound icy to Elizabeth. She looked away, moving jerkily to the boat. In the background, Jack approached, covered in jewels and a king's crown. It would have been a comic sight had Will not been in emotional pain.
"If you were looking for the opportune moment.... That was it." He pointed to the girl, who sat despondently in the boat, head bowed, staring at her hands. Will's heart urged him to comfort her, but the thought of her in the Commodore's arms stopped him, and he grabbed the oars without looking at her.
"We're sorry Jack." Elizabeth said, eyes looking to the ship. The governor would not find it hard to pardon Will, for he had performed treasonous acts merely to save her, but Jack had committed a lifetime of crime in full defiance of the King's law. He would no doubt go to the gallows. Jack was subdued for the first time in his life, calmly awaiting his arrest aboard the Dauntless.
Commodore Norrington was not ashamed to clasp Elizabeth to him in full view of Will, glad to finally have the one joy in his life that did not involve hunting pirates. Will was fully prepared to turn and hurl insults at the two of them in the privacy of his mind, but then Elizabeth looked up from Norrington's arms, the expression on her face stopping him in his tracks.
Her face grieved, wistfully imagining the life she could have had with Will, wondering what she could have done to bring the Commodore to his rescue than promise herself to him. Then, she remembered he reasons, though they only made her even more sorrowful. Any sacrifice for Will was worthwhile. He was worth her life a thousand times over. Will offered a small smile, then turned to his cabin.
Back in her room at Port Royal, Elizabeth turned over in bed. Her exhaustion came not only from her arrival late at night, but also from the emotions draining her spirit. She touched the closed wound on her hand, which had been thinning each day, the scab slowly becoming skin. She knew she would have a scar there, a constant reminder and symbol to her of Will. She glanced at the digit next to her little finger, the diamond of her engagement ring sparkling innocently on its gold band. She closed a hand over it, the sight too much for her too bear.
Elizabeth had never preferred the life of the gentry, but she did love the extravagant beds, how the sheets kept her so warm and the mattress was soft. She had a canopy over her bed, making it almost a tent and when the curtains were drawn protected against the rare sharp breeze. However, having slept on sand and lumpy pallets the past few days, she wished she could give up the life of the gentry and their luxurious beds just to be with Will.
The maid came into her room and threw open the curtains. "I know you've had a hard time, miss, but the governor wishes you with him today." She moved to the closet to select a gown for her mistress to don.
"I do not wish to witness the execution of one of my rescuers and a good man." She said angrily, pulling the covers up to her nose. The maid briskly turned down the covers so that the sheets might air and continued preparing the dress and dressing table.
"Aye miss, but he has committed crimes against the king and must die for them."
"And I am no child for you to reprimand." Elizabeth muttered through her teeth.
"Come miss, you must dress." The maid brusquely changed the subject and began untying the laces of her gown.
Will, too was finding it hard to rise that morning. The housekeeper had breakfast cooking, the delectable smells having no affect on him for once. The feathers in his pillow were permanently bent from his gripping it tightly all night. Throwing the pillow aside, he looked to the chair beside his bed that his clothes lay across. The one fine outfit he had indulged to impress Elizabeth was wasted. The official engagement had been announced, even a ring placed upon her hand.
The outfit consisted of the usual short trousers that ended at the knee, and a crisp white shirt on his chest. Instead of a vest or jacket there was a tunic of scarlet that was embroidered with gold, a long cloak attached from his shoulders. His head was capped with a jaunty hat featuring a large, flowing feather. The housekeeper thought he looked very dashing indeed as he buckled his sword beneath the tunic, pulling leather gloves over his rough hands.
"Off to the execution, I suppose, Mr. Turner?" The old woman asked, placing a hot bun in his hand lovingly. Will took a small bit of the loaf with a half smile.
"Yes... 'Tis a shame that such a good man must die."
"We all must at some point, Mr. Turner." She replied, remembering her husband.
Norrington sat near Elizabeth in the carriage, his finger tracing over the ring on her hand. Elizabeth herself barely felt the timid gesture, her mind far away, eyes to the distance, to the sea. Trivial things such as this did not matter at sea. People did not have to die for crimes, even though life over the treacherous waters was far from assured. People did not have to give themselves away unwillingly, at sea... One was free.
