Fall, Fall, Fall.
Summary: Because love is only blind until the cracks begin to show. One-shot, will-elizabeth.
A faint orange hue had overtaken the horizon, bathing the water in a mirror of it's blood-spilt image. The ripple of the water and the soft lapping of waves against the dock created an enticing, tranquil air to the waters edge. The fresh powerful wisp of sea-salt was tossed upon the whip of the wind, drenched with the faintest hint of sea-spray - barely predicted with such little wind as was provided on such a day.
It was the magnificent closing of curtains to one of the hottest days the Summer had provided yet, and for the dejected slump of a figure, cradling the smooth worn wood of a docking pole in a deceptively strong arm, it was the most unwelcome yet self-inflicted close to the end of another chapter in his young life.
The brilliant oranges, pinks and reds that lit up the evening sky were tumbled and tossed, lost inside the hurricane of thoughts, emotions and confusion that had become of the young lads mind. Legs dangled carelessly over the edge of the dock, catching the wisp of sea-spray that sprang up to kiss his limbs and the sea called to him, soothing and collective - for this was the son of the infamous Boot-Strap Bill Turner.
He had felt the call of the waves before, steadily more often after his adventure concerning the Black Pearl and one Captain Jack Sparrow, but now it hit him with a wave of sweet nostalgia. Unrelenting and heart-wrenching, for now he had nought to restrain him from the seas beckoning.
The faintest of sad smiles touched upon his face, he had done it today. That which he had never in a million years thought he could or would ever do, he had called the wedding off.
He had envisioned his Elizabeth's face a million times before, but not once had he ever expected that stare.. the one that he had feared so much since he had first stumbled upon recognition of what was to be, in her eyes had been realisation. Disbelief, tears, anger... Everything that William Turner had expected was there, everything and then that realisation.
Then she had spoken, spiteful and tear-filled words that would continue to haunt this thoughts he knew for many years to come. For he had never thought to hear those words from his Elizabeth, the girl he had fallen in love with as a child and continued to be amazed by for all of his years. The girl who he had proclaimed that he would die for and the woman who had come to his daring rescue beyond all expectancy.
The woman that no longer existed.
That fact had made itself quite clear to William upon his return to Port Royal. After Jack Sparrows grand escape and her proclomation to the Commodore that her heart belonged to him he had slowly watched that woman disappear. Steadily the spoilt child, the Governer's Daughter would grow, and less of the woman who had waged war against Barbossa's crew would remain.
The woman that he would die for was slowly disappearing and in her place was a woman that he found himself fighting not to hate.
Oh, eventually she would realise that he was not the one she loved. Eventually she would remember that he was not the type of person she could parade at her afternoon tea parties, he wasn't the type that she could wrap up in bows and ribbons and snag upon her elbow like the prized possession that he most certainly was intended to be.
Certainly he would have done any of it for her, he would have paraded like her prized puppy guided by her strings if only she would have allowed him too. But he was not the pedigree pet that she would parade infront of company, he was the local blacksmith and it would not be long before she realised this herself. Before long she would be sweeping him into corners or out of the house when company arrived, for he was not the type to live in the shadow of another.
He would have travelled through the very gates of hell and back for his Elizabeth and at one point in time he knew she would have done so for him as well. For she did love him, though it had become decidedly plain that her love differed from his own. Soon his Elizabeth would realise that her father and the Commodore had been quite right upon their views on their marriage.
He knew that despite the Commodore's blessings that he had never truly given up his pursuit of the fair Elizabeth Swann, he had been the constant shadow to Williams every move. Doggedly pursueing in the not-so-false hope of a chance to win his Elizabeth's heart back. The Commodore had been the aching reminder of latter days that Elizabeth had never really been William's at all and most certainly never would be now.
He wasn't what Elizabeth Swann needed, he was the adoring mangy little stray puppy that she had taken to for a short time, but in time she would realise that it was never the mangy puppy that she wanted but the pedigree dog that she could parade with pride infront of her aristocratic friends and family.
For a time they would have been happy, he could lament upon this for all he was worth, for she had been his dream and she had chosen him for the short while. But he knew that it had all only been little more then a game to his dear Elizabeth, for the entire world was merely a stage for her and until the final curtain fell she would not have fallen from that high that had her soaring through the heavens, not until the final act came to an end would she realise that it had only been a game.
Hours... Days... Weeks... It had taken him quite some time to comprehend the reality behind his dearest Elizabeth's subtle changes, the odd glance that would be cast his way, behaviour... It had all begun to add up soon enough. He had only to look around at the company that she kept and it would become apparent, she was the creme d'la creme of Port Royal Society, and no son of a pirate could ever change that.
Oh but it wasn't entirely his Elizabeth's fault, he couldn't be so biased as to say such things for it wasn't in him to do so. He knew that he was to proud to let himself love someone who would be ashamed of him, to cynical to not believe that they could eventually work such things and much to swayable in the desire he felt to return to the sea. Pirates blood was in him and the sea would call to him, he would not put Elizabeth through what he knew would eventually come to pass.
That was why he had had to do it. Why he had allowed the final act to close and the curtains to fall, before he could allow his dearest Elizabeth to twist the dagger in his heart that final time. The poison that already raced inside his blood caused the wounds of his heart to hurt more deeply then any wound inflicted on him in his lifetime.
His dearest, sweet Elizabeth would find comfort in someone else. The Commodore, more then likely, despite the bitterness that threatened to spill at the mere thought he clenched tighter to the docking post. Crushing his eyelids together a deep intake of breath brought with it the salty taste of the sea breeze.
It had been crushing to realise that the woman who he would have died for did not truly exist, the woman that did not care for society and its quirks. A faint smile brushed his face at this, had he really been so blind as to not realise that she had seen him as a game? She had used him as a scapegoat, a way to escape the pressures of her social stature for a time and he had adored her. Blind adoration that had led him on journeys that he would never have imagined otherwise.
He owed her alot. Despite all that he thought. He knew that he still loved her and that he always would. For she was his Elizabeth and he would never say or think otherwise.
It simply came to be that the final act had come to an end, the curtains had dropped and with it had come the end of William Turner and Elizabeth Swann.
A faint breath escaped the youths lips as he drew his legs back onto the moist planks of wood and hoisted himself to his feet. His eyes lingered ruefully upon the dark skies above him, darkening shades of purple mixing with midnight blue and black, and in the distance he could make out the first star of the night. A smile crawled upon his lips as he hesitated to stare upon the distanct pinprick of light. Sirius, as he had been told.. The brightest star in the sky was shining down upon him.
It seemed a new chapter had begun.