The racket from the drums bored into Elizabeth's skull as the official read from a scroll each an every crime of Jack Sparrow. The man to be executed awaited his fate with a half-smile, even a laugh as "Impersonating a clergyman of the Church of England," was read. For a man who was about to die, he was extremely cheerful. Perhaps it was because perhaps Jack Sparrow as half-mad. Perhaps it was because he had never known fear, and saw no reason to harbor it now.
Elizabeth fanned herself furiously, though this time it was not from the corset, which was laced relatively comfortably. She would scream if someone did not do something, if someone did not stop this dreadful deed from happening.
Will stood in the crowd, eyes moving quickly about the courtyard, a plan formed in his mind. He approached the Governor and Norrington, Elizabeth standing quietly to the side. "Governor, Commodore," He nodded respectfully. He fixed his gaze on the young woman, "Elizabeth," He took a breath.
Elizabeth found the sound of his voice to be overpowering, found her eyes to be locking upon his, her breath to be coming in quick gasps. "I am going to tell you something I should have told you every day from the day we met." She prepared herself, and her fan stopped moving. "I love you."
Will smiled inwardly. There, he had said it, he had told her. Her face showed little emotion, but that did not matter to the blacksmith now. He had a job to do. The platform dropped out from under Jack, the noose tightening around his neck. Will's sword found itself lodged beneath his feet, where the pirate danced on the narrow strip of metal for his life.
Soon the boy had fought his way to the gallows, where he sliced the rope that was about to kill his friend. He and Jack proceeded to make their way through the crowd, taking down redcoats right and left, but soon they were cornered near the outcropping where Elizabeth had fallen.
The governor was disappointed in Will; that did not bother him. Nor did the gleaming bayonets pointed at his chest phase him. The thought of Elizabeth witnessing him die, that made his heart quiver. But then, there she was, next to him, hand grasping his. Immediately the governor ordered the weapons lowered, and Jack seized his opportunity.
"Now you are all going to remember this as the day that," He tumbled backwards off the rock wall and into the sea. With a smirk he began to swim as the Pearl rounded the corner to rescue him. Jack Sparrow was the best pirate the Commodore had ever seen.
"So, this is where your heart truly lies?" He said to Elizabeth rather as a statement. She answered with a tender look her lover's way. Norrington set off to prepare his ships for the chase after Sparrow.
"Remember Elizabeth, he is a blacksmith." Governor Swann said as he descended the steps of the outcropping, his heart warmed to see Elizabeth with the man she truly loved.
"No," Elizabeth gazed into Will's eyes, sweeping the feathered hat from his head, "he's a pirate." Will's hand wrapped around her waist, pressing her slight body to him.
Their kiss broke the barrier completely between them, erasing lines of lineage or occupation. For them there was only faith and trust, for them there was only love. Will felt his legs weaken slightly, the adrenaline from his struggle to save Jack fading into a rush of passion for his Elizabeth.
Long after the sun had set they still stood there leaning against the wall. Elizabeth was warm in Will's arms, her hair loose from where he had twined his fingers. Her hand bearing the scar was close to his mouth, lips almost absentmindedly running kisses and caresses along it. He loved how beautifully soft her hand was, how it was like satin to the touch and laid perfectly in his large, rough palm.
Norrington's ring had been tucked into her pocket, a strand of Will's hair wrapped around her finger as a promise. The lovers looked to the sky, the stars seeming brighter than even at sea. "Elizabeth," He murmured, chin resting on her head.
"Mmm." She replied, nearly asleep.
"Every time from now on, whenever I look at the stars, I want you there with me."
As an answer she snuggled against his chest, eyelids drooping.
"Would you spend a lifetime looking with me?" He whispered.
She was asleep. He was now aware that his legs were rather numb, as they had been standing for hours, and for a long time now she had been leaning heavily against him. He scooped his sleeping princess into his arms and set off for the mansion, his cloak half concealing her.
The maid seemed always to be surprised to see him, but now that he bore a sleeping maiden she heaved a sigh. "You will never cease to amaze me, Mr. Turner." She held the door open wide as he carried her through and up the stairs, where the maid showed him to her room. He laid her on her bed, arranging her curls lovingly about her face.
The scene the maid entered to was of Will sitting at the edge of Elizabeth's bed stroking her cheek, eyes so full of love that it made her wish to weep a bit into her handkerchief. "Out now, Mr. Turner. You have fulfilled your duty and brought her home." She said rather thickly.
"Hmm?" Will asked, distracted. The maid tapped her foot sharply. "Oh." He stood rather clumsily and made his way from the house, smiling like a fool. Passing the blacksmith shop he considered working on a project he had started the previous night, but with a glance at his hands, he knew he was not up to it in his present state of bliss. He entered the small cottage, glancing around the modest space speculatively.
Perhaps he could use his father's money to build on to the house to make it worthy of the governor's daughter. He could expand the two rooms off the side, add a story or maybe two, cover the rafters with ceiling—yes with some work he could turn the dwelling into a respective town house. He gazed at the bags of treasure tucked away in the back of his room, feeling the steady motion of time slow its rapid course, feeling the looming future calm awaiting arrival.
Will visited Elizabeth the very next day, after working just enough hours to satisfy his lazy master. He found her sitting beneath a sweeping tree in the garden behind her house on a marble bench, head bent over a book. Will smiled at this. Besides being a tomboy in her early years, she loved books and knowledge. Both aspects did not sit well with society, who thought that a woman should only read and write enough to teach her children or make records of the household, and should sit still and look pretty. Perhaps this was why he loved her so.
He stepped quietly behind Elizabeth, who was so absorbed in her book that she was not aware of his presence. Bending low, he whispered, "How is the story coming along?" She jumped, jarring the side of Will's head that was so close to hers.
"William!" She was agitated, but the next second pushed herself into his arms. She pulled the hand with the bandage to her eyes to examine it. "Will you have a scar?"
"I think I shall." He ran his finger over the thin white line on her palm. "'Tis only a token of our adventures, Milady."
Elizabeth shivered at his touch, the feelings still new to her. She had heard enough of servants' gossip to know what they meant, though. She knew that girls so new into these emotions often did not know how to control them, and it tainted every future relationship with the actions taken in the first.
Will, shut away in his blacksmith's shop for a large portion of his adolescent years, was relatively fresh to these emotions as well, but he had not grown up in a world where people took much control over them. His respect for Elizabeth offered refuge from this inexperience.
He smiled and kissed the back of her hand, eyes never leaving hers. She stepped forward, the lock on her eyes almost seductive. She lowered her eyelids and looked at her lover through the lashes. He kissed her forehead, then her cheek. Elizabeth was shaking inside, the primal instincts threatening to break the barrier of reason. She felt something inside her wishing to stay a little girl, to be innocent once more. Overcome by emotion, she turned away, feeling tears coming to her eyes. She wondered if she was suffering from her monthly symptoms.
Will knelt next to her, concern filling his spirit. "What troubles you, Elizabeth?" His hand ran comfortingly across her back. She flinched, and he stopped the soothing movement to clasp her hand.
"Do you remember what it was like to be young and not know anything, how happy you where? How carefree?" She asked, voice almost a sob. Will smiled to himself, she was endearing even in sadness.
"Aye."
"I remember as well, and... I know this sounds foolish, but I wish things were simple again, when everything made sense and innocence was not a second nature." She did not look at him, eyes staring straight to the ground.
"I know what you mean, but my dear, we must all come to maturity sometime. It is a part of life; but I think you are justified to mourn childhood." He wrapped his arms about her, an innocent gesture in itself and one that made her feel suddenly extremely contented despite her erstwhile distress.
Turning her head she kissed him full on the lips, her heart beating deliciously wildly.
