Wonderful

Chapter One: Sometimes one push is all that it takes...



"Can you believe it, Will," Elizabeth said breathlessly, leaning back against the walls of the battlements, head resting beside Will's leg. "In less than a week we will be married."

"Mmhmm..."Will murmured noncommittally, his attention not on his fiance, but rather on the endless blue ocean that stretched out before him, as far as he could see. If tried hard enough, he could almost feel the waves rolling beneath him, as if he were back on the Interceptor, or the Black Pearl, rather than the unmoving wall.

"Isn't it wonderful?" Elizabeth persisted, the joy in her voice sounding almost strained, and Will wondered if she was trying to ignore his lack of interest, or if she had even noticed it at all.

"Yes," Will replied, a touch sadly. "Wonderful."

But it wasn't, because if he was honest with himself – something which he had been avoiding doing lately - he knew that his marriage to Elizabeth would be far from wonderful. Perhaps if they had been having this discussion a few months ago, Will would have been more enthusiastic. If only he had asked for Elizabeth's hand, and had been granted it, months ago, before Will had felt the call of the sea, before he had learnt of the pirate blood that flowed in his veins. Before he met Jack Sparrow.

He felt a hand on his knee, and looked down to see Elizabeth gazing up at him, concern evident in her eyes. "Will, is something the matter?"

He shook his head. No, nothing was wrong, nothing. He would marry Elizabeth, be a proper husband for her, and forget all about the sea, and the pirate who hadn't asked for him to go with him when he left. He would forget, and he would marry her, and they would be *happy.*

He hated this feeling, hated lying to Elizabeth. He loved her, and he didn't want to hurt her, never wanted to hurt her, but he didn't know if could keep himself from doing so, if they went through with the marriage, and all he could think about was the sea. He almost wished that Jack had never shown himself in Port Royal, because if he hadn't, he would never have known about his pirate heritage, and would not be longing for the sea, over his marriage to Elizabeth. But if Jack had never shown himself in Port Royal, he would never have found the courage, or the need, to tell Elizabeth how he felt about her, and there would be no marriage between them. It was a vicious circle, and one that he wanted out of.

"Will," Elizabeth said again with a barely noticeable sigh, the hand on his knee pressing down harder, as if she had noticed his attention wandering, and wanted to draw it back. "you miss Jack don't you?" She didn't give him a chance to answer, and he wondered if she was simply telling him, rather than asking. "I do too. He was a good man, despite his...choice in careers, and his love of rum." She sighed again. "You do know that I love you, and that I want you to be happy?"

He nodded. Of course she knew that she loved him - how could he not, when he thought about it almost constantly, and how much his inner betrayal would hurt her if she ever found out. "And I you."

There was something in her eyes, determination mixed with pain, that made him want to comfort her, but all he could do was lay his hand on top of hers, and squeeze it gently.

"Good." She said, and standing up, kissed him. It was a demanding kiss, an uncommon occurrence, and Will fancied that he could taste the salty tang of the ocean on her lips. When she pulled back, he realised that he had tasted tears.

"Elizabeth?" he asked, worried.

Placing a hand on his chest, she smiled, and he was reminded for a moment of the young girl he had first met, the one who had taken care of him on the journey to Port Royal, after his life had burnt away in front of his eyes. "Will, it may take you a while, but you *will* realise that what I'm about to do, needs to be done. Just remember that Jack...that Jack feels the same way that you do - it's in his eyes, and to come back and visit me. And remember that I love you, always."

Before he had a chance to wonder what she meant, she had placed her other hand on his chest, and shoved him hard, sending him falling backwards off the battlements, and into the ice cold ocean that he had been thinking about just moments before.

~*~

It was a cold, and very wet, Will Turner, that was hauled on board of a ship, and dumped unceremoniously at the feet of Anamaria, coughing and spluttering in an entirely undignified matter.

"Well, if it isn't young Will Turner," Anamaria said with a teasing smile. "I'd realised that there was a chance we might run into you around here, but never thought to find you like this. What happened to you?"

"I was pushed off the battlements," Will stood up, scowling to himself. "by Elizabeth. Apparently her way of breaking off our engagement."

The look Anamaria gave him at that was half-sympathetic, half-amused. "Really?" She said, raising an eyebrow. "Why did she do that?"

He scowled again. "She said it was the right thing to do, and that I would realise that she was right in time. Said something about Jack too."

"She did?" Anamaria asked, her smile widening. "Smart girl." She looked him up and down, shaking her head at the state of him. "You're dripping all over my ship, Will. We'll have to get you a change of clothes, then see about setting sail for Tortuga, and dear Captain Jack. I'm sure he'd love to hear your tale."

"How can you be sure that he'll be in Tortuga?" Will asked. In the time that he had known Jack, he had come to realise that whilst the pirate did appreciate Tortuga, he much preferred the open seas, and the freedom that it offered.

Anamaria shrugged easily. "He ran into a bit of trouble with the Royal Navy, and's stuck there until the Black Pearl's right to sail again. He's taking great advantage of Tortuga's 'attractions' while he's there."

Will didn't bother to ask what attractions Jack was taking advantage of - he could easily guess, and judging by the feeling that just thinking about it brought, he didn't want to have to hear it from Anamaria's lips as well.

~*~

Tortuga was just as Will remembered it - bad smelling, full of unsavoury individuals, and not somewhere that he particularly wanted to be. As they headed towards the tavern Jack had taken him to when they were in Tortuga, they passed a group of heavily made up women, one of whom Will recognized as Giselle, one of the woman who had slapped Jack. He vaguely wondered whether Jack was spending most of his time with her, and was surprised at the hurt that that thought caused him.

The tavern was exactly the same as well, and as he scanned the crowded room looking for Jack, he wondered if things in Tortuga ever changed.

He found Jack in a corner, a bottle of rum in one hand, one of the heavily painted women in the other. Even he looked the same, and Will couldn't suppress the feeling of nervous excitement that he got when his eyes came to rest on the man. But despite that, he turned to Anamaria, trying to push his way back out of the tavern as he talked to her.

"He looks...busy." He said in an almost pleading tone, wanting to get away from the sight of Jack pulling the woman down onto his lap, and kissing her heavily. He felt like he'd been punched in the gut.

Anamaria laughed, and took hold of his wrist, leading him towards the corner Jack was sitting in. "I'm sure he'll manage to pull himself away for you."

Will shook his head, but allowed himself to be led anyway. It certainly didn't look like Jack would want to be pulled away, but he suspected that Anamaria wouldn't care about that, and would take great delight in ruining Jack's fun anyway. He just hoped that Jack didn't lay the blame on him for a ruined evening.

"Well, well, well," Anamaria said, folding her hands across her chest as she came to a stop in front of Jack. "If it isn't Jack Sparrow."

"Tha's Cap'n Jack Sparrow." He told her, his words slurring and a chastising finger pointing vaguely in her direction. "What d'you want?"

"Someone's here to see you, *Captain* Jack Sparrow." She replied with a laugh, not in the least insulted by his abrupt manner. "Didn't think you'd mind leaving your lady friend there, to catch up with old friends."

"I don't bloody well think so." Jack said, the slur less apparent in his words. Will wondered if he was being ignored by the pirate, or if Jack just hadn't noticed him. Maybe he'd forgotten who he was, it had been several months since he'd last seen him. Or maybe he simply wanted him to go away.

With a sigh, that he was sure Jack must have heard, Will turned to leave, only to once again be stopped by Anamaria. "I don't think so, Will." She muttered under her breath, then pushed him in front of her, so that unless Jack had suddenly gone blind, he would be sure to see him, and could not pretend that he hadn't.

Jack breathed in heavily, as Will smiled crookedly, and almost shyly, at him, then gave the woman on his lap a none-to-gentle push, sending her to the floor beside him. "Right, luv, that'll be all for t'night." He said, looking at Will in a way that was making the young blacksmith feel decidedly uncomfortable. "Got some old friends to catch up with."

"But..." The woman protested, obviously unhappy by the way that Jack had dismissed her. The pirate lazily waved her off with a flick of his hand, and she glared at Will and Anamaria, before heading off to find a more appreciative customer for the night.

"Will," he said slowly, waving for he and Anamaria to take a seat. "what brings you to fine Tortuga? And where is dear Elizabeth?" The last was said with no small amount of relish, as if Jack were glad that Elizabeth was not there, and would be happy for it to remain that way.

Anamaria laughed at that, clapping a hand over her mouth at the glare that Will sent her way, taking it off once she had her laughter under control, and grinning at Jack. "Elizabeth went and pushed Will off the battlements."

Jack blinked kohl-ringed eyes, looking extremely bemused. "She what?"

Will scowled. He realised that he had been doing that a lot lately, but couldn't help but feel justified. His fiance had pushed him into the ocean, after all. "She pushed me off the battlements, said it needed to be done."

Jack made a choked sound, that sounded far too much like poorly hidden laughter for Will's liking, and lifted the rum he was holding to Will in an imitation of a toast. "Never thought'd last," he said, shaking his head in exaggerated sympathy. "girl's far too proper to make anyone a good wife, unless they happen to have a stick shoved up their behind like ol' Norrington."

He stood, fairly unsteadily, and slun an arm around Will's shoulder, obviously taking great care not to spil any of his precious rum. "Don't worry, whelp," he said loudly. "you'll find yourself another girl - a better one at that - an' live happily ever after. Have lotsa chidlren too while your at it. Matter of fact, I know a pretty lady you might take a liking to. What say you to that?"

Will couldn't supress the smile that arose at those words, the first real one since his fiance had pushed him into the sea, but he shook his head anyway. "No, Jack," he replied, voice a lot quiter than Jack's had been. "I'll be fine."

The truth was, that he couldn't help but wonder what Elizabeth had meant when she had told him that Jack felt the same way he did, and it didn't help much that he wasn't sure how he felt at that moment. He wasn't about to go chasing after one of Jack's "pretty ladies" no matter how good she looked, until he had worked his feelings out, and what exactly it was that Elizabeth saw in Jack's eyes.

~

Next chapter shall be posted shortly, but in the mean time ... review!

Author's note: There's a set of scenarios up on the Port of Call site () for a Pirates of the Caribbean fuh-q-fest. I'm just borrowing a couple

Scenarios used are:

3. Elizabeth pushes Will off the battlements to follow Jack at the end of the movie.

4. Will feels the call of the sea more than he feels the call of marriage to Elizabeth.