Author's Note:I can't believe the reviews I got! Wow, well I think you guys pretty much convinced me that I really did need to take some time to sit and think about what would happen next. I had wanted to write more but I was trying to keep everyone in character as much as possible, which presented a problem with Will (because I'm not very fond of him, sorry Will fans). Anyways, I don't forsee this being a long and... Thrilling fanfiction because I've got to leave for New York for a week and then when I come back it's off to Scotland. So if any of you guys are in Scotland for the Fringe Festival, come see Chicago!

Disclaimer: It's probably a good thing that I don't own these characters...

My Compass Does Not Lie

by inukokoro

The next day left Elizabeth feeling even more confused than she had been prior to the Captain's return. It had been easy to think about what had happened and not have to worry about what could potentially happen; it had been easier to pretend that she and Will were still going to be married, despite their relationship problems. It had also been easier and much more convenient to write off her muddled feelings of Jack as pre-wedding jitters – after all, marrying someone was a promise to stay with them until either person died!

Her predicament was rather large, she had decided. She would either have to have an awkward talk with Will about ending their relationship because of her feelings for Jack, or she would have to return to Port Royal with Will, wear corsets for the rest of her life, and have children. The latter would have sounded wonderful to her in the past; it was what she had dreamed about since the day she had befriended Will. But now there was Jack Sparrow; who could offer her freedom and a world without corsets. That future seemed a little more than just appealing to her at the moment.

To vent some of her frustration, she took a large and decidedly unladylike bite out of an apple she had found in a barrel. While chewing, movement to her left caught her eye.

It was Will. He was adjusting some of the ropes connected to the mast. She could tell from all of his work that he was truly dedicated to whatever he did; married life with him wouldn't leave her feeling alone or unwanted. He finished securing a rope and turned around, feeling her eyes on him. After scanning the deck, he walked over to her and took a seat next to her on the wooden floor. She swallowed.

"Would you like a bite?" She held out the apple to him. Hopefully today would not be the day for their discussion.

"I've been thinking, Elizabeth." Will started slowly, running a rough hand through his hair. It took a lot of self-restraint on her part not to stand up and bolt to another part of the ship with other men so she could prolong their talk. "And I think it's time you explained what I saw you and Jack doing before the Kraken consumed him." Elizabeth briefly wondered why he couldn't just say he saw she and Jack kissing or if he just wanted her to confess to it.

"The Kraken was after Jack, not us." She finally said.

"Yes, I know that." Will is such a patient man… She thought; knowing that if it had been her in his shoes she would have lost her temper a long time ago.

"And Jack was going to accompany us on the longboat, putting us all in danger. We would have been worse off in the longboat than on the Pearl. The Kraken could have swallowed the longboat whole." The longer she could stick to solid facts to sort this mess out, the better off she would be.

When Will showed no signs of replying, she continued. "After realizing that, I shackled Jack to the mast and got into the longboat." She hoped that Will would follow her logic through instead of having her explain everything she had left out to him; it was obvious that she had kissed Jack to catch him off guard which enabled her to shackle him so that the crew would be saved.

"Why did you kiss him?" He inquired after another awkward silence and his voice made it clear that his patience was fading away. "We're engaged, Elizabeth. If it hadn't been for Lord Beckett, we would've been married!"

"Will, if we had gotten married we wouldn't be in this mess right now because we would still be in Port Royal. I would more than likely be pregnant with your child and would be wearing corsets and ladylike dresses instead of dirty men's clothing."

"But we were engaged." Will protested bitterly, looking in the opposite direction from where she sat.

"What do you mean, we were engaged?" She turned to Will, grabbing one of his arms with her own. "Are you…" Her voice cracked and her grip on him loosened. Even if she wasn't sure that she wanted to marry him, she wasn't sure if she could handle loosing that option.

"I think that we should take a break and decide what we both desire most. If you marry me, Elizabeth, I don't want it to be something that you feel you're forced into. I want you to marry me because we're happy together and we're in love." Will stood up and pulled away from her as he spoke, avoiding looking at her. When he finished speaking he walked away, leaving her to cope with another added feeling to confuse her; the feeling of being broken.

She hadn't meant anything by that kiss and she couldn't believe that Will couldn't see that! It had only been to make Jack less perceptive to what was happening and if she happened to enjoy it a little – no, no she didn't enjoy it. If she had been enjoying it, Jack's compass would have been right and if she knew one thing for certain it was that Jack's compass was mistaken.

Her eyes fell upon her half eaten apple and she glared at it, as though it was somehow the apple's fault that she wasn't engaged any longer. After a moment, she raised it to her mouth to take a bite, but then faltered. Their conversation had made her lose her appetite. With an angry half growl she chucked the apple as far and as hard as she could. Her eyes followed it in its arc over the side of the Pearl, a distinctive plop letting her know that it had fallen into the water.

Damn you, Jack Sparrow. That infuriating man, after all, was the real reason why she was no longer engaged. If he hadn't tempted her, if he hadn't been such a good man by returning to the ship after trying to abandon it and the crew… If only he really did watch the opportunities to be a good man pass him by and wave at them.