A/N: Thanks guys for reviewing and reading. Ever since POTC: DMC came out, I've gotten inspired. Hopefully that's a good thing.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Pirates of the Caribbean. I only own Anna Searles/Wilson, Katy Searles, Matthew Anderson, other made up characters, and the plot.

Chapter Ten: Regret and Separation

Elizabeth Swann didn't leave her room for a week after Will had left with Anna and Jack. She was angry at herself. She hated herself for leaving him like that to fend for himself when the going got tough. I'm not worthy to be the wife of such a brave, honorable man. I should just go marry Norrington and make the whole world happy. She would think to herself. As much as she tried to say she didn't love Will so she would have some excuse for being a coward, all she could think of was guilt. Guilt for being the coward she truly believed she was now.

Everyone was fussing over her. Making sure she wasn't sick. The maids would bring her meals up to her, which were refused most of the time.

"Miss, you have to eat," Estrella would say, pleading to get Elizabeth to go back to her normal self again.

"No, I don't," Elizabeth would reply simply.

It got worse when Governor Swann would try and coax Elizabeth into eating.

"Elizabeth, I realize you are terribly upset over Will betraying you and running away from you days before you were to be wed, but you must live. Move on. He apparently isn't worth it," Governor Swann would say, wishing he never put any trust in the boy.

"You know nothing of worth," Elizabeth would say and keep her eyes away from her father's gaze.

"Elizabeth, please, Will obviously doesn't care about you like you thought he did," Governor Swann said, pleading with his daughter.

"He rescued me from certain death, Father! Of course he cared about me!" Elizabeth would argue.

"Then…forgive me, but why, my daughter, did he leave you?" Governor Swann would counter, leaving Elizabeth unable to speak again. Unable to state the truth.

The conversation would end with the governor sighing and leaving Elizabeth alone, where she would fight against tears she so longed to shed.

After getting tired of feeling sorry for herself, Elizabeth stood up from her chair by the window where she'd sleep and simply exist. She looked in the mirror and saw nothing but a ghost. What is wrong with me? She asked herself. I'm blubbering here, feeling sorry for myself. That's not going to get me anywhere. I need to find Will. I need to tell him I'm sorry.

She ran a brush through her hair, throwing it up into a messy bun and changed into some old pants and a shirt, very unfeminine. She walked out of her room, surprising a maid as she walked by. The maid was too shocked to curtsy or say anything polite, she just gaped at Elizabeth.

Elizabeth made her way to her father's office and walked in without knocking.

Governor Swann looked up from his paperwork and other logs and dropped his quill in surprise. "Elizabeth, what-"

"Father, I'm leaving," Elizabeth said, cutting her father off.

"Wh-what do you mean?" the governor asked, clearly confused with the situation.

"I'm leaving. I can't stay here anymore. I'm going to find Will and there's no one that can stop me."

"E-Elizabeth, please, do tell what you are talking about."

"It's my fault that Will left and I need to tell him everything. I need forgiveness. I need him," Elizabeth said simply.

With that she turned and walked out of the office. She made her way downstairs and grabbed one of her father's cloaks.

"Elizabeth!" her father yelled after her.

Elizabeth ignored him as she walked outside, slamming the door behind her. I won't be a coward anymore. I'll face Will. I need him. She said to herself once again.

She made her way through Port Royal and onto a ship headed for the general direction of Tortuga. After three days of posing as a crew member on a merchant vessel, she found her way to Tortuga as the crew took a "pleasure trip" to the pirate port.

Tortuga had only just begun to fall asleep at the crack of dawn. Most of the sailors and pirates were too drunk to notice. Many of the wenches were cleaning up after the night before, or still sleeping with their partners for the past night. No one seemed to notice a lone figure walking through the "port," obviously in search of something.

The figure just appeared to be a man, probably sailed in early in the morning, looking for a place to stay for the time he'd be there. No one took notice that the man was not actually a man, but rather, Elizabeth, searching for answers. Where could they be? She thought to herself. She fidgeted with a simple engagement ring on her left hand. Why wouldn't they be here? How come they haven't been seen in the last week? Surely Jack is falling short on rum or something of that sort

Elizabeth decided to make her way to a now quiet tavern to think. The events of the past week, maybe even a little more, were replaying through her head.

Elizabeth sipped a bottle of rum as she sat in a dark corner of a tavern, remembering what happened. She felt she needed all the rum she could get for this journey. She finally found the courage and stood up, walking around and asking everyone if they've seen the Black Pearl.

"I'm sorry, lad, the Pearl hasn't been here for a week. Ye could wait around 'til he gets back," a hung-over man said to Elizabeth.

"Thank you, sir," she replied and made her way to another man.

"Captain Jack, eh? Yeah, he just left a week ago! He'll be back soon, no worries, unless he's on a hunt for something. Which is always likely…dunno what to tell ye, mate. Good luck," another man said as he dozed back to sleep.

"Thank you, sir," she replied in the same fashion she did to the others.

"Captain Jack, ah yes. I saw him not too long ago. He was with this woman, feisty wench, I tell ya. He was talking to her about some treasure and certain directions. Something about Poseidon's Medallion. Not sure what to tell ya mate, but if he's on a hunt, and I hear the Navy's out after him too, he won't be back until he gets that treasure. Who knows how long that'll take. Good luck, mate," the most helpful man replied.

"Thank you, sir," Elizabeth said, and felt horrible.

Don't know when they'll be back? What am I going to do? I sure as hell am NOT staying here. Once I'm found not to be a man, I could very well be recruited into being a wench. I need to find Will!

"Ye looked troubled, lass," a voice came from behind her.

"Wh-what are you talking about? I'm no lass," Elizabeth lied, not turning around.

"Don't be silly, no man in this town has as much courtesy as ye. Ye must be a lassie here, disguised as a young lad looking to be a sailor, am I right?" the voice asked, revealing itself more female.

Elizabeth cautiously turned around, seeing an old woman dressed in exotic clothing. She had dark skin and her hair was messy and ornamented with exotic beads.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"My name is not important. That's all ye need to know. Jack Sparrow and his crew, including you're beloved William are far away on St. Vincent. An island about 4 days from here by ship…on a good voyage," the woman said walking away down an alley.

"Wait! Please can you help me?" Elizabeth shouted after the woman desperately, following her down the alley.

The woman laughed. "'Elp you? Maybe," she said. "Do ye have payment?"

Elizabeth groaned. She had spent most of her money already. "I-I don't have any money."

"That's alright child, I'll take care of you. I can see your heart is troubled," the woman said, leading Elizabeth into a tiny apartment from the Tortuga alley.

It was only one room with several candles and other strange items. In the center of the room was an old wooden table which had seen better days.

"Sit down, child," the woman said. Elizabeth obeyed. "Your heart is burdened with guilt and grief. What's the matter?"

"I left him," she said, surprised at how open she was with the woman.

"Ah, you were scared and ran away when you should've been supporting him in a trying situation. I see," the woman said running her hand over a plant next to the table. "Now he's gone and you want to find him."

Elizabeth was shocked, "How would you know?"

"I know lots of things, child. But your case is not a strange one. Many times people have come to me with such issues, looking and feeling the same way you do. Anyone with my experience with advice could've guessed your story as well as I."

"What should I do? Where do I go from here? How do I know where to find the Black Pearl?" Elizabeth questioned, not caring about how much she was revealing, just wanting to find Will.

"Unfortunately child, there's little you can do. You either risk going on a wild goose chase by going back out to sea looking for you're beloved, or you stay here and wait and risk the Pearl never coming back, which I highly doubt."

Elizabeth sighed. It's true. There's nothing I can do. "I guess…I'll…stay…I don't know, I should just give up and go home."

"Child, do not give up so easily. Stay here. Wait for him. He'll come back. Beware of what you might find though!" the woman warned.

Elizabeth nodded, not sure what to believe. She stood up and left the woman's "home." Stay here I guess…I don't know what to do!

She made her way back down the alley and out onto the main street where she saw Will standing directly across from her.

"Will!" she screamed.

He didn't answer. Elizabeth ran to him, but as she got closer she saw another woman with him. Oh no, she thought. She stepped closer, Will still didn't recognize her.

"Wi-" she began to say but was cut off as she watched Will kiss the woman, who now appeared as none other than Anna Wilson, and it wasn't a meaningless kiss from a whore. It was a true, meaningful kiss. One that Will had once given to Elizabeth.

She froze in place, not believing something like this could happen. "No," she whispered. "No!" she said again louder.

………………………

Elizabeth sat up in her bed, safely in Port Royal. It was all a dream. She said to herself, reassuring herself. Will wouldn't leave me like that, would he? But he's better off with Anna. I shouldn't of even thought to marry him.

"Elizabeth?" the governor's voice came from the other side of the door. "Are you alright? You were speaking in your sleep."

"Yes, I'm fine!" Elizabeth shouted, putting on her robe.

"Well, that's good. Commodore Norrington is to call today. Perhaps you'll give him a chance," Governor Swann said loudly from the other side of the door.

Elizabeth ran to the door and opened it furiously. "Father, all of Port Royal does not need to hear of this conversation."

The Governor walked into her room and sat down in a chair. "Elizabeth, please. Mr. Turner has left and he didn't take you with him. Obviously your fantasy isn't playing out like you had hoped."

"Father, it was not a fantasy. It was reality," Elizabeth said feeling her temper grow short.

"It was just a fantasy, Elizabeth, all of it. Please. Stop wasting your energy on a man we cannot trust. You need structure. You need a fine man like James," the governor pleaded.

"Will is a fine man," Elizabeth said. I just don't deserve him. My dream has proven that I lost Will forever, and it's my fault.

………………………

St. Vincent was just waking up. The sun had crawled its way over the horizon. Anna still wasn't asleep. She sat on the deck of the Pearl waiting for the rest of the ship to awaken. Jack came sauntering out first. Anna stood up.

"Jack, how much longer are we going to be here?" Anna asked a little more anxious than she wanted it to sound.

"Why?" Jack asked, still trying to wake up.

"I-I just had something I wanted to do…" Anna said suspiciously.

Jack eyed her suspiciously. "What exactly?"

"Nothing…never mind, it was nothing," Anna said walking away from Jack.

"Aye, you'll have time to meet with Will today. Don't ye worry," Jack said knowingly and sauntered to the helm. "We'll leave with the tide this evening."

Anna blushed a little at the thought but rolled her eyes and acted as if Jack was just out of his mind again.

The crew began to wake up slowly. They prepared to spend their last day on land before they went off in search of Captain Anderson and the medallion.

Katy was one of the last people to wake up.

"Morning, Anna," she greeted as she lugged her way up to the deck with a sour look on her face.

"You seem happy," Anna said sarcastically.

"I'm not a morning person," Katy said simply.

"Well it's a good thing it's only morning for another hour or so," Anna said cheerfully to annoy Katy.

"Shut up," Katy said glaring at Anna. "Are you going to spend the day with Will again?"

Anna's smile quickly disappeared, realizing that Katy had said that very loudly.

"Katy, be quiet!" Anna said just above a whisper and walked away.

"Oh if you can bug me, I can bug you," Katy said rolling her eyes.

It was then that Will had finally found fit to wake up and grace the crew with his presence. Katy smiled evilly and stood up straight.

"Hey, Will! Anna wants to talk to you!" Katy shouted, grabbing Will's attention.

Anna's eyes widened. She ran over to Katy in a fury. "Katy! Shut up! I don't need you to help me…" she started to say but was cut off by Will.

"Yes?" Will said looking at Anna expectantly.

Anna froze. "I-I uh…Katy's just being annoying," she said not as strongly as she had hoped.

Will's face fell. He had hoped to talk to Anna. If she didn't want to talk, then he'd respect her wishes. "Could we actually talk, though?" Will asked cautiously.

Anna looked up and blinked a couple of times. "Y-yeah. Of course!" she said smiling, trying not to screw anything up.

"Great," Will said smiling back at her.

Katy was still sitting by them, listening intently.

"Don't you have a medallion to help Jack find or something?" Anna asked Katy.

"It can wait," Katy said simply, obviously not going anywhere.

"Just go away, please," Anna pleaded.

Katy smiled mischievously and rolled her eyes. "Alright, fine. Have it your way."

Will and Anna were silent for a while. Will led Anna off the ship and away from anymore eavesdroppers to a quiet place on the edge of town.

………………………

Albert Bailey had been watching the Black Pearl ever since he was assigned to kidnap Katy. The only person he saw on deck for a while was a blonde girl, pacing impatiently.

There's no way in hell that I'd be able to kidnap Katy. She's too strong. She'd kill me in an instant. Maybe that girl…she seems weaker…a little at least. I'll go for her and if Anderson doesn't like her, then I'll just come back and get Katy in time for the tide tonight. I know he asked for Katy specifically…but what harm could another girl do? Why would he want a feisty wench like Katy aboard his ship making his life a living hell, like she made mine?

He waited for the girl to leave the ship, hoping for his chance to deliver his plan. It wasn't for another hour or so that the girl left with a man. A fully grown, strong looking lad of course, but he had an air about him that was too gentlemanly to be a pirate. Bailey looked down at the rum bottle in his hand and back up at the man. Perfect.

…………………………

"What do you need to talk about?" Anna asked, facing Will.

Will was quiet for a while. His eyes couldn't meet Anna's. He was suddenly extremely nervous.

"I-I'm sorry about last night," Will said finally.

Anna was confused. "What do you mean?" She believed he was apologizing for what happened when they were on their walk together.

"On the ship, I just took off. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to leave you there. I don't want you to think you did something wrong," Will confessed meeting Anna's eyes.

Anna let out a sigh of relief. "Oh that? It's okay. It was late and we all were pretty tired."

Will nodded.

"What was it that actually made you…act…that way?" Anna asked cautiously, wanting to know.

Will sighed. "I saw her."

"Who?"

"I saw Elizabeth. There was this look in your eyes that reflected what I saw in Elizabeth's eyes so often that I saw her as if she were standing on the ship in front of me," Will said, averting his eyes from Anna again.

Anna felt a slight pang in her chest, but her sympathy for Will overpowered it. "Oh, Will, I'm…I…" she wasn't sure what to say. Should she be sorry? Should she be happy for him? She looked away from Will. "You still think about her?" she finally said, not sure of what she really wanted to say.

Will nodded reluctantly. He didn't want to put Anna back in this situation she was in a year ago. "I'm sorry Anna," he said looking down.

Anna paused for a moment. She didn't want to say it, but she knew she had to. "Don't be sorry, you can't help your feelings. I understand if you still…love…her," she managed to say without much of a break in her voice.

"I just don't understand. I thought I had gotten over her! Especially after you told me about…Norrington," Will said. He leaned against a tree, feeling so confused. "I was so in love with Elizabeth, then I met you and everything changed. Is it possible to love two people?"

Anna looked up at Will. She realized he was rambling, but she couldn't help but wish he was genuine in everything he was saying. "I-I don't know Will…I've never been in love with two people at the same time," she said quietly.

"I never expected you to know, but I just wish I had answers," Will said hopelessly.

Anna moved closer to Will. She hated seeing him like this. "I wish I could give you answers."

Will smiled at Anna. "Thanks," he said simply, feeling comfortable that he had someone like Anna around. "I hate to put you in this situation. I'm sorry," he said quietly.

Anna smiled a little. There was a slight pause of silence. Will reached up and touched Anna's face lightly. She closed her eyes at his touch, wanting him to do so, but knowing she shouldn't let him. He's already going through some crazy emotions; I should just leave him alone to sort things out. But I can't move.

Anna reached up and touched Will's face, bringing him closer to hers. Finally, their lips met into a searing kiss. Surely this means SOMETHING! Anna thought, hoping that Will's emotions had sorted out by now.

Will pulled away from Anna, looking into her eyes. "Anna, I-" he began to say but was cut off by the sight of a man sneaking up behind Anna.

"Wh-?" Anna began to say but an arm slipped around her waist and roughly jerked her away from Will.

"Anna!" Will screamed, lunging after the man.

The man just raised his bottle in the air and let it fall hard on Will's head, knocking him out.

"Goodnight," Bailey said as he dragged Anna away from Will.

"Will!" Anna screamed before Bailey's hand clamped around her mouth.

"Ye won't be seeing him anytime soon, lassie," the man said.

Anna's heart pounded. She couldn't breathe with his hand clamped around her mouth. Oh god, this can't be happening. Will! Wake up! Or for God's sake get someone!

A/N: Okay don't kill me. The whole main character damsel in distress thing is quite over used but it needs to be done for other things to happen. And the beginning in italics was a dream. (I'm sure you caught on to that though) Anna was referred to as Anna Wilson because Elizabeth doesn't know she's a Searles. Please review! You know I love reviews!