Author's Note: ok, so it's been two months since I've posted anything on ff.net. I'm sorry. I've had an extreme case of writer's block, and I think I really needed the break. I hope that you all find this installment to be just as good as the previous ones, although I'm not sure. I think my fingers may be a little rusty. ^_^
In other news, bobo3 and I have resumed writing our combined story, Twisting Fate, now that my computer and my mind are both cooperating. We're writing tonight, and I'm optimistic that we can get a new chapter up by the end of the week.
On with the story.
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When the Interceptor had exploded, my heart had gone with it. I remember charging Barbossa, armed with nothing but my fists and my loss, screaming at him to stop it. Now, looking back, I can admit that I wasn't thinking rationally. But then I thought Will was dead.
It was more than the loss of a love that could only be cherished but never realized. It was a promise – a long held and honored promise – that had been broken.
Standing on that plank over the ocean, looking at Will as he was surrounded by pirates, his protests gagged and his struggles quelled, I remembered the waterlogged survivor that'd been fished out of the Atlantic eight years earlier.
"Elizabeth, I want you to accompany the boy. He'll be in your charge. Take care of him." I'd known it was a ploy to distract me from the burning wreckage of the other ship, but I'd listened to my father. All my life words like duty, responsibility, and obligation had been touted to me along with the ideals of my class. We cared for those put in our charge because we were the ones with the resources to do so. And this was the first time I'd been entrusted with anything more than a songbird.
Will had been so defenseless lying on the covered hatch, his body engulfed by a rough blanket. Now that I look back, I decide that the feeling was akin to seeing a beaten puppy, and I wonder if that's where the phrase "puppy love" came from.
Taken from the start, I reached down to brush some hair out of his face. He'd started, I'd calmed him. "I'm watching over you, Will." Fateful words. One's I've never regretted until recently, because they placed me above him when all I wanted was to be beside him. Yet now, my protection, my patronage, is all I can ever offer, and it burns me.
Fate.
Was fate in play that day when I stole his medallion? "You're a pirate," I'd gasped at his unconscious form. I'd seen the proof, I'd taken it, and I'd hidden it.
But I'd never thrown it away. I'd kept it close to me as if the intangible connection would somehow keep me close to him.
". . . accompany the boy. He'll be in your charge. Take care of him."
Duty.
I know my duty.
But now, as I circle this . . . this godforsaken spit of land, I realize whom was protecting whom. Yes, Will has had my patronage, but I'm the one who had his protection. He didn't have to tell Barbossa who his father was. But he did . . . and I was the first one bought with that name.
I failed. I failed when I used his name to protect myself.
I failed when I had left him trapped below deck on a sinking ship.
When the ship had exploded.
When he'd given himself for me.
Can I survive another failure?
Can he?
I notice Jack leaving, and I follow him. I tell him that we have to go after Will because he risked his life to save us. We have to follow.
"To what point and purpose, young missy? The Black Pearl is gone, and unless you have rudder and a lot of sails hidden in that bodice – unlikely – young Mr. Turner will be dead long before you can reach him."
I hate Jack in that moment. But I don't let it stop me.
I remind him of his impossible escapes of the past . . . only to learn that they weren't so impossible. He's willing to sit here and let things play out without him. Well, I'm not. I need to get to Will. He's proven himself to me. I have to do the same.
The sloshing bottle of rum in my hand is what eventually gives me inspiration. I have a personal dislike for the liquid, but I do know that it's an excellent fuel for fire. And if I can make a big enough one, then surely someone will be alerted and come to get us.
But Jack won't go along with it voluntarily. I have to distract him, and knowing the pirate, the best way to do that will be to get him drunk. Then once daylight comes, start the fire, alert any passing ships, and go to get Will.
I need to get to him.
I need to rescue him.
I need to keep my word. Complete my duty.
I need to let him know that . . . .
. . . that I love him.
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Well? What say you all? Have I managed to capture Elizabeth's nature? Is there a scene or POV that you'd like to see coming from me in the near future? I'm open to suggestions and reviews. It's been a long time since I've gotten one. ^_^ My own fault for not writing though. I'm trying to work on that, really.