"You'll not be wanting to do that, mate."
"Jack!"
Will whirled around to face him, half aghast at what he had been about to do to Elizabeth, half seething with anger towards the man who'd caused all this trouble.
"You bastard! You stole her from me!"
"Aye, lad, but no more than you stole her from your pal Norrington. The truth of the matter is none of us chose where we'll find love. So in a way," he flashed his cocky, gilded smile as a bluff to Will. "You might say Lady Fate is the only one who's done any stealing from anyone. Savvy?"
"You'll break her heart. You'll leave her as soon as you've bedded her, like all those women you left behind in Tortuga. She'll be ruined and you'll have nothing more than another notch in your bedpost!"
"Ah, but there's where you're wrong, young Turner," And there, again, that grin, ever present even in the most inappropriate of times. "I've bedded the fair Elizabeth months ago, and still I come back with the hope of making her an honest women." His eyes darted to Elizabeth, still on the sand. "If she'll have me."
It was the wrong thing to say before Will, who was already reeling. With an anguished roar, he went to take a swing at Jack, who dodged it effortlessly, before pulling his pistol and cocking it.
"Don't make me do this, William Turner. This is not where your story should end." Will, however, made no effort to stand or even acknowledge the pistol pointed at him. His shoulders slumped as his body was wracked with sobs. He had lost. Cautiously, Jack, not taking his eyes off of Will's defeated form, stepped warily back to where Elizabeth lay crumpled on the sand.
"You all right, Lizabeth, luv? No damage?" She nodded in affirmation, eyes wide with disbelief, as she slipped a shaking arm around his waist.
"I love you, Elizabeth. You're all I'd ever dreamed of," Will's voice was distant, thin, and reedy. "Since the first day you showed me this place... since you pulled me out of the ocean... I'd always dreamt that I'd marry you."
"I do love you, Will," she whispered. "But not in the proper ways for a woman to love her husband. I'm unhappy here," she gestured in a manner eerily similar to Jack's. "I could never be what you dreamt of. It was wrong of me to lead you on, but I had hoped that, with time, I would come to love you in the right manner."
"How can you love him, Elizabeth? He's a pirate. You're nothing alike."
"Neither are we, Will. He's a good man, you've seen it yourself... Like your father."
"There's no chance you'll change your mind, then?"
"No. This is where my heart lies, with Jack."
"Then this is good-bye." He did not meet her eyes. In this one moment, he understood just what he had done to James Norrington. He would owe him an apology and a drink later.
"Aye."
Will refused to look up as the couple slipped past him, nor did he acknowledge the item placed by his side until they had long since left the cove and made their way up the path. Elizabeth had left his ring, crafted by his own hand, in the sand next to him. He picked it up, feeling its weight against his palm. He untied the leather thong around his neck and slid the ring on to it, before retying it. The ring was still warm where it fell against his chest. He wondered absently if this was the last time he would ever feel warmth.
"Good-bye Miss Swann... Elizabeth," he whispered. His only reply was the hiss of the waves on the shore. It was a fitting sound that left him feeling useless and empty.
Author's Note: This was a hard piece to write. I had a lot that didn't feel as though it flowed. Many, many thanks go to Libby24. This chapter would have been a lot longer coming without her excellent beta skills. As always, reviews make my heart go pitter-pat.