Disclaimer: Blah, blah, blah not mine. Blah, blah just borrowing them for my own twisted purposes.

Author's Note: Once again thank you all for your wonderful reviews! It calms my muse (makes him purr).

After a seemingly endless moment, the Captain glanced back up to her eyes, staring at her intently, as though he was searching for something. She stared back, confused.

'What is he looking for? Permission? No. He's a pirate. He doesn't need permission.'

Then suddenly, he broke the contact and staggered away from her. Air rushed into her lungs, and she realized that she hadn't breathed when he was looking at her. Thoughts whirled through her brain again, too quickly to comprehend and she felt dizzy.

'What the bloody hell was that?'

The Captain was at his bed now, stroking the worn blanket with affection. Elizabeth blushed at the images that ran through her head at the sight of him standing next to that bed. The bed she'd been sleeping in ever since they'd found The Pearl. Will hadn't wanted her bunking with the rest of the crew, being the only woman aboard. For once the Captain didn't notice though. He had moved to his desk, looking over his charts and papers.

'Probably making sure Barbossa hadn't "commandeered" any of his belongings,' she thought.

She knew he hadn't. Once they had found The Pearl, Elizabeth had made certain that Barbossa came nowhere near the Captain's quarters. Her former captor had merely smiled knowingly at her and stated that he had no intention of taking any of "Her Captain's" belongings. She had glared at him and shot back a sharp retort but later she had wondered on the man's comment.

'That man is far too observant for his own good...or mine.'

Once Captain Sparrow was satisfied that his belongings were in their proper place, he turned his attention back to her.

"So tell me Miss Swann...or is it Mrs. Turner now?"

"It's still Miss Swann. For now."

She put that in for her own benefit but she honestly wasn't sure if there was going to be a wedding now. So much had happened. Not to mention what had happened the first time they attempted getting married.

'Beckett said it was fate intervening.' Somewhere inside Elizabeth the words rang true but that was a line of thought she wasn't ready to go down yet.

"Miss Swann then," the Captain seemed to gain a particular sort of glee in saying that, "How exactly did you know where to find me? You didn't get yourselves eaten by the kraken as well did you? That would be a pity considering how far you were willing to go to keep that unhappy happening from...happening."

'Well at least now I know it's really him.' She had never met anyone else who could butcher the English language the way he did.

"Tia Dalma told us where to find you. Or at least she told us how to get a map that would show us where to go. And she brought Barbossa back to guide us since he'd been here before."

"Ah... I did wonder about that, seeing as the last time I caught sight of him he was lying dead on a pile of cursed treasure. Nice to know I didn't imagine that."

Captain Sparrow, as she was still referring to him in her mind, was sitting in the chair behind his desk, hands behind his head, feet propped up on the desk. He looked completely relaxed and completely...alive. For a moment her throat nearly closed up with emotion but she firmly pushed it down. He'd said they needed to discuss something in private and they were going to discuss it now so she could get back outside with the others.

"Captain Sparrow..."

He cocked his head to the side, looking suddenly curious, "I'm havin' a thought here, Lizzie." His feet dropped to the floor. "You keep calling me 'Captain Sparrow' and while I do appreciate the title, surely we know each other well enough to drop the formality."

"I-" she could not force herself to say his name, "Well I-"

He'd began to move toward her again, slowly, somehow knowing that she was ready to flee the cabin should he move to suddenly. The cabin really wasn't that big, though, and before long he was directly in front of her again, staring into her eyes with an intensity she'd never seen in the usually jovial Captain.

"Come on now Elizabeth. You can't have forgotten it. It hasn't been that long, has it?"

"Of course I haven't forgotten it. Honestly Cap-"

"Well then say it!" he demanded, suddenly angry. A black rage covered his normally laughing eyes, "It was not that long ago you were kissing me with that mouth and now you can't even force my name through it."

The reminder of their kiss made Elizabeth's chest tighten uncomfortably, but she couldn't force his name through her lips. Somehow she just knew if she did every wall she had put up between the two of them, starting on that damned island they'd been marooned on, would crumble and she would know exactly what she felt for the man in front of her. And if that happened...Well if that happened she had the sneaking suspicion that she would not be marrying Will.

When she still said nothing he grabbed her by the shoulders and the rings on his fingers dug into her flesh uncomfortably. She winced both from the force of his grip and the look on his face. The touch of his skin on hers, even through her vest and shirt was yet another reminder of how alive he was. Tears welled in her eyes and she blinked desperately, trying to hide them. It was a useless effort though.

"Are those tears I see in those lovely brown eyes, Lizzie? What could they be for I wonder? They can't be from guilt. Remember luv, you told me you weren't sorry."

The tears were falling now and she was helpless to stop them. She still believed what she had done was the right thing to do but the guilt of, in essence, killing the man who stood before her tore at her heart. Once the tears started she couldn't hold them back. Gut wrenching sobs ripped from her throat, the sound causing the captain to release her as though he'd been scalded. Without him holding her up she crumbled to the floor, nearly choking on her tears as she sobbed out her guilt.

TBC... I know this is sort of a crap place to stop but it was the best I could do. I'm still not sure I like this chapter even with all the tweaking I did to it. Any suggestions or comments are welcome! Next chapter should be up tomorrow and in the mean time...REVIEW!